Projects The Brooks Special - louisb’s 29 lakes roadster build

Changed gears from working on the chassis and gutted a nice 29 Model A gas tank today. The tank was very clean with no rust. I washed it out several times with Simply Green and then filled it full of water and cut it with an angle grinder. I did it this way because water and electricity are much safer than gas fumes and sparks. After successfuly cutting the tank without blowing myself up or electrocuting myself I celebrated with some decent craft beer from Sandy Eggo.






Now I need to figure out how to mount the 32 roadster dash. Any tips?

Thanks,

—louis

 

Handy later would be to leave some tabs on the tank's front and rear and drill them...or weld a half dozen flat washers along the edge you just cut... lets you hang anything from a wiring harness to the back of a radio or a rear support for a glovebox...
note 2 on the left and another just left of center, I run a wire tie through the hole and another wire tie through it and slide the wires through them to where they belong as I go...
yup that is an old phillips screw driver as the '32 cowl vent's handle...

 

That’s a good idea. There is enough left ina few places to try the washer idea.

BTW, I think wiring is what scares me the most on this build.

Thanks,

—louis

 

20 years ago it was a 2 or 3 day job... been in there over a month... errrrrrr!

 

Been traveling a lot this month which is slowing progress some. Was in Montreal last week and will be in New Orleans next week. Still I am making some progress.

Got the dash installed this weekend. I could have have used a Brookville 32 style dash made for the ‘28-‘29 body but instead, because I like the abuse, I fitted up a repo 32 roadster dash. Really it wasn’t that bad. Little cutting a little welding and it was done. (Makes it sound easy right.) Still need to cut the dash for the gauge panel.





Also got my intake polished by @agtw31 and it came out really nice. This is the second manifold he has done for me and the quality and price are great. Look him up in the Hambodex. The intake should go well with the polished Canadian heads though now I may need to get them touched up to match.




Thanks,

—louis

 

Had a good lunch and a nice stiff bourbon to steady my nerves, then went into the garage and cut a big ass hole in the dash. Dropped the gauges in the panel with the new grey insert and bolted in the original Ensign panel. I wasn’t sure about the grey insert when I bought it but I like the looks now. I think it will really set the Wings off after I paint the dash black.





Just to prove that no good dead goes unpunished, I noticed the bezel on my oil pressure gauge had cracked. =\

—louis

 

Looking really good Louis.
Aaron

 

Hopefully we will get to cruise together one day.

—louis

 

Wouldn't that be cool!

 

Started riveting in the rear cross member. Hardest part is setting up the bucking tool. Have to make sure it won't vibrate off. Takes a lot of trial and error to get it set right. Another pair of hands would make it a lot faster but I am in no big hurry. I go out each evening and do a few at a time.

I heat it with my midget OA torch till bright orange/yellow and then knock it down with the 5x Cleco rivet gun. Usually takes two passes since it takes a second to turn off the torch and hit it with the rivet gun. Basically I end up with the torch in one hand and the rivet gun the other.



I am getting a nice tight fit doing it this way. Really not as hard as I was worried it would be.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Haven’t posted many pictures, rivets not being that interesting, but making steady progress in the frame. Just have a hand full on the bottom to finish up. Hope to get that done this weekend and will start fitting the body to the chassis next.



While I had the chassis upside down I fit up the Tardel master cylinder adapter and 40 master cylinder. The adapter needed a small amount of clearancing due to the ICE frame stiffeners but the master cylinder fit fine. I was worried I would have to clearance the fram stiffener.



Thanks,

—louis

 

My reward for a productive day in the garage.



Thanks,

—louis

 

You are making it look easy. Great Job - Rock On

 

Major chassis work is FIN!

Here are a few picks of doing the last few rivets to show a little more of the process. The set up is for doing one of the 1/4 rivets for the k-member legs. This time a piece of 3/16 steel is used to back the bucking tool, Right tool for the right job. For the larger 5/16 rivets I used a piece of scrap 3x2 tubing or 1/2” plate. A couple of time on the rear crossmember I tacked the backing plate to the crossmember.

The bucking tool, and pretty much everything else, I got from Big Flats Rivets. The big ass clamps are from HF and worked great. I originally tried big C clamps but they wouldn’t hold tight enough.



Here you can see I added a grade 8 bolt (gold piece) for working with C channel. I found this easier to tighten than just the silver coupler that came with the bucking tool.



Midget welder with a #3 tip and 5x Cleco rivet gun. You can find the rivet gun cheap on eBay. A lot of them are missing the spring but they are easy to find. Just make sure you get one with the right size opening. They come in two sizes and you need the one that fits your rivet tool.



Big Flats Rivets suggests leaving 1 1/2 the rivet diameter to form the right size head. Seemed to work well for me. This is a 1/4 rivet so 3/8s worked perfect. On the 5/16 rivet I went 1/2 which worked fine. To long and the rivet head mushrooms around the base. To short and you get marks in the frame. This ain’t rocket surgery.



Be sure to heat up the whole rivet and not just the tip. You want it yellow but not melting.







Finished product.



Nice and tight on the back side.



One stock dimension 32 frame ready for a 29 body.



Now I just need to beg, bribe or con some people to help me move the body. How about a free bottle of 4 Roses Yellow label to any volunteers?

Thanks,

—louis

 

Louis,
You are doing some very nice work there. I appreciate your craftsmanship.......I also like your choice of libations.

 

looks good man! wish I were closer, I know how it is trying to get heavy stuff moved around by yourself. did you pinch the frame at all or no?

 

Nice work. Thanks for sharing the riveting process. Might have to give that a try on a future build.

 

Thanks for sharing the tech on the rivet process, very cool and looks great!

 

No pinch on the frame as I think it fits the build better and building a stock frame was easier. KISS

Good to see you back to work on your roadster. Get it done so we can meet up at TROG next year. Show them what a few good ol southern boys can do.

Thanks,

—louis

 

You know it really wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. Worst part was figuring out how to set up the bucking tool so it was tight enough. I had to redo a couple when it would vibrate loose.

Thanks,

—louis

 

I knew this project was moving along too well. Been working with a guy to get a couple of 59AB motors, one that supposedly had good compression, for a couple of months. The plan was to run the one with good compression and then build the other later but I am beginning to think it’s not going to happen. Doubt I will have the funds to do a full rebuild before the TROG entry deadline. So I am looking at other options.

Thanks,

—louis

 

On a better note, here is the first fitting of the body. Having not done this before I need to figure out where to cut the sub rails in the back. Last picture is of all the crap I had to move so the garage would look half way clean.





I really need to clean the garage.

--louis

 

On the rear subrails, here's a product by Steadfast that is ready made. Not saying you should necessarily buy the kit, but it should at least be inspiration if not a path to tidy and time saving. http://steadfastmfg.com/products

 

agreed about the pinch. Im glad to be back working on it. hopefully we'll see some painted items this week!

 

Thanks, I have looked at their product. Really nice but spendy. I am sure the quality is worth it but I am a cheap bastard. Plus it is a little too nice for the look I am going for. That of a home built car in the 1940s. Looking at some 1x2 tubing like others have done.



Hacking up those nice, rust free sub rails is kind of painful.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Great job, rock on.

 

Got the rear sub rails cut out this morning. Couple of pics of the body on the chassis. Since the frame is stock width you can see where the body is narrower in a couple of places. Personally I like the look. Going to make a couple of oak shims to fill the gap between the bottom of the doors and the chassis. Now I am going to take a break from the heavy lifting and let my back heal properly. (Yeah right)



Thanks,

—louis

 

Looks good!

 

Been watching your roadster build on IG, really good to see a build thread here on the HAMB. Nice work on the Chassis.

 

Thanks man. The historical pictures you post have been a huge inspiration.

Thanks,

—louis