Projects NOT THE TYPICAL '30 ROADSTER BUILD

Happy New Year to All!!

With the start of a new year I decided to start documenting my build thread.
I hope this helps others find in one spot, all or most, the information needed to get them going and inspired when building their own projects. I promise a lot pics.

I've been working on this project for a while now and had decided to start this thread once the frame was here, but since that has been delayed for several months, I decided to start off on the New year to help keep track of time.

This will be a bit of a different build...

To start, I have VERY little to no experience building, fabricating, mechanics, welding, painting bodywork or anything else that is needed to complete the job. I will be learning as I go.
Someday I hope to have the skills and ability I see here at the HAMB but for now, it is what it is.
I know I am going in way over head but with a great desire to complete it.

My budget, even thought a bit more common, will be very limited as I have 2 young kids, full family, a home with everything that comes with that, and even a dog that comes before the hobby.
The tools I will be using, along with the budget, are not the best...Harbor Freight, will probably be the most higher end tool that you'll see here and used HF tools at best.

I will be sharing the money and the time spent. I will be sharing the updated cost as the project progresses.
I've always wonder how many hours and how much money goes into these builds.
I've always wonder, is it worth it or is it just a love for the art and tradition? Is the joy, the learning curve and experience enough to offset the cost to build?
Much like giving details after prom night, it seems like the money spent is something no-one really likes to talk about. I am keeping tabs to the cent, and time spent by the hour. The time includes my trial and errors as I learn.

I am not looking to make a profit or thinking of selling my roadster at the end of all this but wondering if is it an investment, a lost, a gain or a non monetary profit/gain? I seem to always hear when someone is selling their project or their finished car say, " it will cost you more to build one like this than my asking price". I don't doubt that statement to be true; however, how much more will it cost me?

I was introduced to older/classic cars since an early age by my dad and have always enjoyed it...
A Ford Model A is the first memory of a car that I have as child....more to come on that at a later time....
Never had anyone to teach me, guide me or even show me how to do any of this, so I welcome any and all feedback. Tips, ideas and tricks of the trade are also welcome.
I have no friends, family members or acquaintances, other than my dad, that share the hobby; so for the most part, I will be doing this all solo.
My goal here is to do all the work myself and farm out as little as possible, if any.
The HAMB is a wonderful place to learn and the my main source for learning. The search option has been a good friend to me so now I am putting it to practice.
Thank you for all the help ahead of time.

 

Now for the dream. I am building a '30 Model A roadster, sitting on a lowered '32 frame, powered by a 59ab flathead, dual carbs, lakester headers, and a T5 transmission with a rear quick change. '35 wire wheels with Firestone white wall tires, 750 in the rear and 550 in the front.
Chopped & leaned Windshield with a fully functioning top. Louvered rear trunk and front hood with '32 grill, recessed Pontiac tail lights and BLC headlights.
A '32 dash with Ensign insert and warner gauges with vintage tach on the steering column with a bajo steering wheel.
Gas tank in the trunk with a halibrand style fuel cap on the deck.
Running 12volts with passing yellow light monuted on the front. A basic but stock interior with CA YOM plates.

As for body color, the bodywork will help me finalize it and determine final color, but as of now I and down to 2 options.
I would like and I am shooting for a triple black with red accents, but knowing that the bodywork has to be nearly perfect to show black best, I will go for a second option of a deep blue with tan top and brown/reddish interior and haystack accents.
As you can see, I've been thinking about this project for a very long time...

Couple pictures that show the color scheme that I am going after...

 

welcome aboard...
maybe click on the magnifying glass [upper left] and type in what you are about to do.... may be some tips for just what you are doing...

 

I started with a budget of $4,000. That money came after selling an earlier project. '36 Ford Pickup...more on that later on. That project gave me the little welding skills and fabrication knowledge you will see here.

$4k bought me this...a '30-'31 roadster complete, minus the motor and the windshield, delivered to my door.
When I bought it, the roadster had already been taken apart, cataloged and sandblasted, as you see here.
The previous owner, unfortuanely, had lost it to the bodyshop that was doing the work when he couldn't afford the bill after falling in hard times. The bodyshop contacted me , after seeing my wanted ad, and the roadster followed me home.

Knowing the plan I started trimming the fat by selling everything I wouldn't be needing and buying the parts i would need instead. The prices I asked for the parts were fair to good.
I know in some cases I could have gotten more than what I was asking for, but I really wanted them gone since the lack of storage space and an unhappy wife made me a motivated seller.

 

Not a bad body to start with. Rust in the common areas.
The sub rails at the rear wells has the worst condition where there is a lot of damage; however, a stedfast kit will be installed and will remedy that.

 

Looks like a great start.

 

Congrats. I sold my 30 roadster body and regret it every day.

 

Rumble seat car? This will be fun to watch.

 

It is a rumble seat car but I am doing away with it and turning it into a trunk.

 

So far ,I am in it for about $5k. I've sold most of the parts that i didn't need and have bought a whole lot of parts I needed.
I originally bought the car on Nov of '17 and been selling and buying parts ever since. I am almost out parts to sell by now

 

Welding is one of those things that I am still trying to get it right. I thought myself by trial and error while chopping 6" off the top of my '36 Ford truck and by shortening 24" off the bed.
Came good for my first project. I only use a Mig welder for now and just bought me a TIG welder that I am still trying to set up and put together

 

I place the order for my frame on 11/17. I'll be using a Gary Maxwell frame.
I don't trust myself putting the frame together myself so I rather have someone with experience do it for me.
The original order was for frame only. On 3/18, I decided to have him so a rolling chasis that way I can make sure the quick change, front wishbones and other bracket are done right.
Gary has been having a tuff time with his schedule and I am still waiting for the frame to be completed.

In the meantime I am starting to work on repairing the body....

 

Just to get going with welding again, I started by welding shot all the holes for the fire wall

 

I decided to add a 32 vent to the gas tank.
I measured bout 3/4" off the top of the tank and cut all the bottom off.
Made me a quick cardboard template to help me center the vent.

 

You are a "brave man". Seeing your "tally sheets" reminded me of a conversation I was having with a friend about the high cost of our car hobby. My friend gave me this sage advice, "You never want to do the sums".

 

yup...
like it, coming along fine, price tags help the "litte hamber" with their budget...
factory air ! …. go dices go...

 

This is best advice. Currently wrapping up my '28 Roadster project and can't even bear to look at the tally sheet. I just stopped keeping track. As long as I keep getting the go ahead from the wife, why bother?

 

Couldn't agree more. I am bracing for a brutal reality and hoping to soften the total by doing as much horse trading as possible.

 

Next on the list were the lower cowl patch panels. I figured I would get patches from Mac's and simply cut away the rust and weld-in the new panel. Boy! was I wrong.
The replacement panel had the wrong curvature for the bead line, so cutting and welding was not an option since the replacement bead would not match the door's or the rear cowl panel's bead.

Instead, I cut away as little as possible from the damage area, keeping most of the existing bead's butter curvature. I then cut the same patch from the patch panel I bought and hit it with the english wheel to flatten some of the crown off. A little bit of dolly work and it was ready to be welded.

 

Purchase price seems like a bargain, and I like the way you're keeping track of it all. I look forward to seeing this come together.

 

Next it was the splitting metal at the upper area of the convertible top and the damage to rear upper cowl panel. Looks like it was just smashed by the door opening and closing combined with thin metal, it finally gave away.
Little repairs that took some time. A bit more metal finish and lead work and it was done.

 

I removed the rumble seat floor and started working on recessing the Pontiac taillights to the panel below deck lid.
Before that, I removed the old panel, which was bitch to remove since all the bolts were rusted/welded shut.
After a bunch of fire/water/penetrating oil. I was able to remove
Since there was no threads on the old rear cross member, I decided to add and weld in 1/4"x20 bungs

 

I spent a good amount of time laying out the bucket placement in relationship to the license plate and license plate light. I will be using a Hollywood light for the license plate light.

As a side note, Little did I know that there are 2 types of replacements lower panels for below the deck lid. One that has a soft curve to it and another one that is straight across the back. The one that I got from Mac's has the soft curve to it. This will become a problem down the road for me as my deck lid is straight across the bottom.
One needs to make sure to match the right bottom panel to the deck lid to be used. Non of the ads I read mentioned this curve and only became aware until I saw the problem and started asking...it was too late then.
The original deck lid I sold had that soft curve to it; hence I bought the lower panel with the curve. The replacement deck I bought is straight.

 

That's how I wrapped the work I did in '17.
33 hours in all the above. If I would be doing this for a living any shop would have fired me long time ago

This is pure fun and just keeping tabs on hours, same as I am doing for the rest of the project.

 

Haha !! ^^^ Awesome and relevant statement fitting most of us. Go ahead and fire me .....

Nice work sir. Thoroughly enjoying it thus far. Thanks for posting.

 

Time came to tackle the passenger rear quarter panel. That is the part on this body that I feared the most. Man, I hate straightening dent.s I simply suck at bodywork.
For some reason, no matter what I do the low spots always end up lower, the highs spots even higher and the spots that were right to begin with...well, they are not right anymore. I can't feather body filler to save my life.

To give you an idea how much I dislike bodywork; I built this Chevy truck with a patina paint job to take advantage of how straight it was and to avoid doing bodywork at all cost. I can so an ok job painting but bodywork, hell no!

 

Lots of you can look at it and think this is a piece of cake, but not me.
I sprayed a light coat of primer and block sanded the entire panel. You can see all the low/high spots easier.
The bottom of the panel was rotted so I would need a replacement. I bought a patch panel from Mike's and the bead molding was a very good match.

 

Knowing that the bottom would be cut anyways I concentrated on the overall panel.
Without any research, I started beating on the low spots from the back, that was with the body hammer only, then I started using a dolly. I've now learned what I did was called "hammer on dolly". In no time I had an over stretched, oil canned, dented panel.
I stopped and did some research. Google is a good friend. A replacement quarter was too expensive and out of the question.
I found a shrinking disc online that could cure cancer and bring work peace. I bought it and went to town with it....the results were far from better. the panel was very much out of shape.
I did some more research and learned about "hammer on dolly and hammer off dolly"
I bought some spray-on guide coat and went at it little by little with a hammer off dolly. I checked the contour with a cardboard template I made from the other side.
Since I don't have super long arms, I made cut a wedge like piece of wood to rest the dolly and put pressure from the back while slowly hammering the front.
The highs and lows started to go away.
I used the shrinking disc in selected spots to get the oil canning off and I must say, it came out really good!

 

Once I got the panel to where I felt comfortable I cut the bottom off and replaced with the patch panel.
I will eventually replace the wheel wells, once the frame is here, so for now I didn't worry much about the arch well.

 

I am satisfied with the end result. The shadows on the pictures is just dust but it came out good.
Once I do some body filler, a thin skim coat, it should look better. The door aligns very well with the molding bead and the crown on the panel seals well with the door.