Features Who's Building a T?

repowering my '27 T sedan with a 276 cu. in Merc flathead. The sedan previously had a 383 SBC.

 

Tall works for me.glad to see all the Ts out there. dr

 

Tall works for me too! I love the look of yours!

 

Really close to have this one wrapped up. Have 13 miles on it now and just sorting out a few bugs.











IG: daddio211
FB: daddio211

 

Looks FANTASTIC, Eric. JW

 

In 30 days of building, it is farther than this but the future owner doesn't want me to show it yet.

 

I like !! JW

 

Good move on the Flattie-for-SBC swap.

 

37 days of build time, nights and weekends, from March until the first drive tonight.

 

Just got mine to stand on its own feet.
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

Pushed it outside so I could walk round it and look at it from different angle. Difference between a '40s style Gow Job and a '50s style Hot Rod.
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

Anybody have reference pics of mounting model t fenders on a model a frame?

Austin


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Rolled mine out to sweep the garage. Decided to do an engine mock-up.

 

Sweet lookin Coupe!! JW

 

If you don't chop 'em (or at least not more than 1-inch) you gotta wear the right hat!

 

Absolutely. I've been looking for one.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ADULT-BLAC...a7974f243:m:menuKdk_psN_dDWwWiw8NhQ:rk:3:pf:0

 

Finished the T so I took it to the seaside...

 

Such a great looking car, @hotrodfil

 

When I got my car back from the wet media blasting episode, I was dismayed to see rust holes in the belt line area where these cars are prone to collect moisture and rust. Was thinking that when I try to weld them they were just going to grow exponentially. However, I managed to dodge that bullet. I was done within minutes but it got me to thinking how do you fix them with major rust? There is that reinforcing panel behind there so you really can't get to the backside. Checked out most of the 72 pages of this thread and found nothing specifically on this issue. Would really appreciate a metal bumping wizard to give some thoughts on this matter.

 

It is a tricky issue to deal with.
Obviously most anything can be fixed at a cost.
Fortunately those T's had quite thick sheet metal which was a blessing.
I see this beltline issue as one resulting from the roof failure since the roof at the rear dipped down in the corners and once there was a roof failure in that area the water seemed to be directed to those corners and provide moisture right in to that difficult to repair beltline area.

Mine was a lot like yours where it could be fixed by welding and since it was getting a full steel roof would probably never suffer from that issue again.
I figure if I was desperate enough to do a fix on serious beltline damage, I'd probably try pressing a beltline shape out and welding it in. The curve on those corners is not all that friendly...

 

I just bought this body off eBay, don’t have it home yet. My dad gave me a 57 392 hemi and most of the parts to build it. I bought some forged Ross pistons from hot heads and an Edelbrock X3 6 carb intake for it. I’ve collected 10 or so 97 stromberg cores. Going to back it up with a 50 Packard 3 speed with borg Warner OD, got pre 39 top shifter to go on it. Gonna use 17” Chevy artillery wheel centers in late model dodge dually 17” outer rims. Since they’re 6 lug, Chevy truck spindles and brakes will go on the mopar wavy tube axle mounted suicide style along with a Dana 44 6 lug rear axle from a GMC pickup.I’m going to do cowl steering with an aluminum mopar box like you did. Got a 33/34 Ford Truck grill/radiator shell for the front. I love your car! Mine will get at least an 8” haircut! I so wish I could start on it now but I’ve got a couple other projects to get out of the way first. Love this thread!

 

All sounds good except for the cowl steer. JW

 

I’ve seen comments from some who don’t like it. The hemi is really wide and has a drivers side starter. This rig will also have a clutch pedal. Lotta stuff going down in that little corner so a steering box mounted up above and completely clear of it seems the ideal solution to me and I really like the look.

 

I think the success of the cowl steering may be hit or miss depending on the overall geometry of the whole system. Back in 2015, I was at GNRS and visited SoCal Speed Shop where Jimmy Shine and I discussed some of the does and don'ts of cowl steering. I ignored his suggestions on how to avoid bump steer and my car steers great.
That doesn't mean I knew what I was doing. I think I lucked out. I bought the chassis and body thru an ad on the HAMB. But first it needed some fixes:

• I had to fix the Ackerman by moving the tie rod back behind the axle, where it belonged.

• Until I had the finished car on an alignment rack, I was unaware that the caster was built with a whopping 10 degrees!:

• I tried to keep the drag link parallel with the wishbone (not as Jimmy Shine had recommended) and have the '66 Mopar gearbox at a convenient height to fit 3 pedals.:

What can I say? It tracks like a tractor running down a furrow and doesn't seem to have bump steer. It steers better and easier than my '33 Plymouth with its Vega box and cross steer. And I think it looks KOOL!

Of course it is not going to win any Formula 1 race, but it's only a hot rod.

 

I would’ve thought the best way to do it would be to keep the drag link parallel to the radius rod and the pivot points of each one as close to the same center line when the wheels are pointed straight in order to avoid bump steer. Or at least as much bump steer as possible. Another passion I have is 47-53 Chevy and GMC trucks. They are parallel leaf but same principle applies. The drag link is parallel to the rear half of the leaf spring however the pivot points on the ends are not lined up at all. It’s an example of a factory steering setup that actually has some bump steer designed into it, it’s just so mild it isn’t noticeable. That is until you drive a larger one like my 2 ton then you can feel it some times. The other thing is that I insist the tie rod is going behind the axle! I know the steering arms can be bent in such a way for it all to work properly but I still don’t like it, it just looks wrong plus I don’t like the idea of it being used as a bumper. Is there a thread on here about setting up cowl steering?

 

There is a great thread on cowl steer by Pete Eastwood, look it up. At present i am helping a good HAMB friend fix his T's bump steer and death wobble issues. You can use what you want but when its finished.....it must work and work properly. Before i got my T it had a 331 then a 241 Hemi and manual trans, it didn't need cowl steer. Having your drag link parallel with the radius rod is not correct as the arc the axle swings on is from its pivot through the centre of the spindle, if you use a dropped axle the difference is much more. Not trying to be a smart ars or what ever, just wanting to assist in an overlook of sorts. JW

 

Jimmy Shine said the least bump steer will be if the steering output shaft is close to the pivot end of the wishbone. That's similar to what Henry did on the '32, but that was without hot rodders doing stupid things like splitting wishbones

First on the Ackerman (tie rod):
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/ackerman-question.926076/#post-10469774

Now on the cowl steering, this is the best thread for using the 1966 Mopar manual steering for cowl steering. I did the pitman arm a little differently, but any way to do it with access to the nut on the end of the steering output shaft that works for you is OK:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/oldsboy-_t-sedan-build.549465/page-15#post-10989828