Projects Assembling Brookville Roadster/ 40s style Build Thread

Just ripped through this thread while on the late shift at work, sure helped the past hour and twenty go past.
Reminds me of when I first found the HAMB, man it seemed like there was no end of threads like these!
Great work, you and your friends have built a hell of a roadster. Love the antenna.
Plans for the interior?

 

Thank you very much! im glad it helped pass the time. Having this thread really kept the motivation high, Being at work 50 odd hrs a week and being able to relay what happened the week before really helps.

I love the antenna too, I wasn't sure about the placement originally

Plans for the interior at the moment are minimal. Just having a blanket thrown over the seat, But a full black & white pleated interior is booked in for the new year, along with some bobbed rear fenders & a white canvas top..

I used to work for the owner of Gasoline Alley Harley-Davidson from Red Deer, Here in Aus when he had owned a dealership here. Grant Price, You might even know him..

 

Haha small world hey?
I don't know him personally, but I do know of him as I work for one of the GM dealers in town and we service their vehicles here.

Keep on keepin' on

 

haha it is indeed!
Likewise mate, Take care.

 

Great build ! I just can’t keep my eyes off the Pan in the back ground .

 

Thanks! That’s been my only bike for about 5 yrs now, I’ve ridden it down the east coast of Australia. I’m glad you like it


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Been AN extremely exciting time for myself and this car lately, Saturday after noon my lady and i headed up to Johns place, She had a work do on so she dropped me there took a quick ride in the roadster and off she went..

John and I standing with the almost finished roadster, Ready for the nights work ahead...

Earlier that day I received a message from good friend Big****TIES saying he was gonna come hang out, and he was nice enough to lend a bit of a hand. Ol Bojangles played a huge part in building the chassis for this car. Among shaping my whole outlook for these old cars and the way i wanted to build mine. So it was really nice to have him come hang out for the last night of work on the car at johns house. Plus we got to get our roadsters together for the first time since my car was just a rolling chassis.
Big****ties oxy welding the extended breather tube together. About the same time as all this was going on Rohan rocked up cut the wholes in the seat and installed the strapping/ foam. Originally we had planned to have the seat done for this car by the time it left but we just ran out of time.
Little bit of a break & some beers!
John And I worked on into the night, Finishing just about everything we thought we had to. Re bleeding the brakes painting some inner panels and trying to stop asw much heat comeing up through the floor as possible. We finished up about 1pm that morning and basically said we were good to go. So about 7am that day i woke up, A little apprehensive.. and hit the road I mde it about 150KMs home before i pulled over to send my lady a message. I got out of the car and decided to have a look over it. Oil was pouring out of the back of the sump under the flywheel and all over the underside of the car.
I Phoned John told him what was going on and he told me to turn on around and head back. I went and bought some oil, Kinda bummed cause at this stage i was doing the sums in my head and basically no matter which was i went about it came back to the rear main seal being*****ed and engine having to come out.

By the time i made it back to johns it was about 9am, We had some toast and we spoke about what the plan was.
4 pm he said! You'll be home by dinner time. That sounded good to me because we both basically thought the motor was coming out. But before we took it around to the back shed and pulled the motor it went up on the hoist for one quick look.

John wasnt confident there was another issue with the sump. Because we had already been through this, Finding a sump to suit this motor turned out to be a bit more difficult than we expected with john having every other sump in stock except the one we needed for the 59a.

So we pulled it off, And blew some air around and at first it didn't look like it was leaking but the more air we blew around we begun to notice the hole...

We dug it out with a little pick and this was what we had, It was leaking in between the two skins and was extremely thin.

So we cleaned it up, And john Oxy welded it again..

Getting the sump off was reasonably straight forward, Remove the starter motor, Drop the rear of the wishbone and out it came... This may have acutally been a bit of a blessing cause it gave me the oppurtunity to clean out all the gunk that had been caught in the bottom of the oil pump screen. There was quite a bit of junk, But no metal..
We got it all back together and it started leaking again we found another hole & This time in the dead centre of the sump, ha ha we must have disturbed something.. We dropped the oil again and john oxy welded it on the bottom of the car.

Chucked the oil back in it and i went off again to make the 2 hr trip home. all was going good, Id stopped for a sandwich and a cold drink and no leaks. So i kept going, I was about 15 minutes from home in a No reception zone when the car died.

I dipped the fuel tank with a stick and realised i was out of fuel. So there i was, No way of contacting anyone with a dead hot rod that id remebered i hadnt updated the insurance on left on the side of the road. So i started walking, When some locals seen me and the car about 500 mtrs back and decided to stop, Turn around and take me home.

Lucky theres good people in this world still.. I edned up waking my lady from her slumber grabbed some fuel and bought the car home for the first time ever. The neighbours were all out checking it out, Because id been working on this car for as long as theyd known me. Matter of fact I was working on this car before i had the driveway done.


I had a shower cooled off and decied i was gonna go give the car its first wash then take my dogs for a cruise.. They loved it.

 

At the moment I'm driving the roadster every day, I surprised my dad the other day and took him for a ride, It was really nice to take him for a drive I've driven it to work every day this week. Which has been good to shake the car down a little.

This saturday we take off down south in it for a weeks holiday down the beach Just outside of Byron bay. Got a few last minute things to take care of before we leave ( mostly trying to fit all the stuff my lady is convinced we need to take)


Ive also got my vaccum advance brake working ,This did make a reasonable difference with "pinging" under load. Ive still got some more tuning to go though..

 

Car looks great! Always loved the 28/29 roadsters. Looks like it was a great journey with some great friends.

 

Thanks, What a trip!

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...iday-art-show-11-29-19.1175259/#post-13343647

...well @Nick Agius back a page or two ago you posted a pic in admiration of your newly installed exhaust system and me being a spotter of faces in old cars saw one immediately in it and well look what happened when you were away for the night...

I posted this in the Friday Art Show and gave you a shout and posted a link to your stellar build but am not sure you got it so I felt you would like to see it...

Credit to Photographer, Owner
​

 

Haha thanks stogy! Sure is cool!!


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Hey Nick. You already know I think your roadster rules. I can’t believe I’ve just found your thread. It was good to catch up on some of the details I didn’t know about. Enjoy man, you’ve done well.

 

What a*****in bichin car

 

Very cool!

 

Incredible work. Congratulations on getting it on the road and best wishes on your holiday.

 

Thanks wardy!

I’m glad you enjoyed it man, it’s been a hell of a ride


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Thank you!

Holiday story to come.. hasn’t been all rainbows and*****erflies but I guess that’s hot rodding


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So the week before our trip saw the roadster getting driven to work a lot, trying to iron out any issues before eventually head off. The car went good, but rain the last three days saw the roadster locked up in the shed of no use to anyone.

I got a few things done, blanket arrived for the seat and I got that covered, also wired in a 12v socket to charge phones and what not in, fuel gauge hooked up and a few other odds and sods

Packing the roadster with enough stuff for a week is quiet difficult but we managed to make it happen. The drive down south was nice, it was a somewhat overcast day, which was good in the roadster.

We arrived in Byron bay and I noticed my tire had gone done. So we took off for the service station and o put a can of stop leak in the tyre. Eventually we got setup and it looked a little like this



We took a couple of day trips out to some surrounding ones and local beaches, it really is such a sweet part of the world around Northern NSW.








Everything was going great until we’d pulled out from a bar in the centre of town, on my lady’s birthday..we were dressed nicely. And heading out for her birthday meal when the car started running off and we d to limp it out of the main street of town. It had fouled the plugs so I cleaned them out and went to take off again when I felt the clutch pedal suddenly get lighter.. all of a sudden I had no clutch.

My lady posing with the roadster (before it broke down)



I eventually cooled off enough after What I thought was me having ruined Paige’s birthday.

these situations are never easy, it’s hard explaining what’s going through my head and how b the situation may be before I actually know what’s going on. But this instance was completely different. Paige was upset at what had happened to the roadster and just wanted to get out of there.

We eventually got the car running good enough that I could start it in gear. And had no traffic to get back to the camp.



The next morning we woke up and we’re feeling pretty sorry for ourselves. I pulled the floor and transmission inspection cover out of the roadster and began looking at the clutch spring actuators, one was broken.
We caught an Uber into town, grabbed some coffee and tried to figure out what we would do.

I put a call out to any local hotrodders in the area and there were lots of offers of help, but ultimately nothing I felt confident about pulling the motor and trans out 250kms from home to fix it. I knew I needed a new pressure plate to suit a 37 transmission wasn’t going to come by easily.

So Roadside****istance wouldn’t cover us because we were out of state and the policy hadn’t been taken out on the car long enough to meet there standard waiting times.

Looking for a local ute and trailer combo saw me asking friends in the area if they knew of anything available.
When good friend from Japan Yui san offered new his wagon.
Thanks Yui!!!


John who built the car with me heard the news and was petty bummed, And offered to come grab the roadster and take it back to his where it would ultimately be repaired.

We shot back home and picked up Paiges car, the roadster was picked up by john and is now back at his




The plan is that I get back home on Saturday and will shoot up to johns on Sunday to tear the engine and trans out and hopefully replace the prelude plate.

So this morning I woke to a message from a Journalist congratulating me on my car being featured on the jalopy journal!

This was good news!! And something I wasn’t expecting

I was so happy, my lady and went for a hike up around the cliffs

Then came back to the camp, feeling good about the roadster having not made it here and back but, glad we made it here at all..

We figured we might get some coffee and breakfast. And what do you know but Paiges Bmw won’t start.


So now I sit here, waiting for a mechanic to come look at a bmw in a campsite.

Things aren’t always easy, but the last few months have felt difficult.





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Nick,
I message you all the time about this car and talk about how great it’s turning out.
You and John have done a killer job and it’s turned out ‘right’
I want you and****ties to bring your roadsters to The Boog next year and put them along side the coupe I’m building.
Then I’m going to drive my coupe to Brisbane and we’ll do some driving together when it’s done.
You did it man, who cares if the clutch***** itself, something else will go wrong with it again one day, you drove a car you built from*****ty old early ford parts to Byron bay and that’s*****ing awesome.
Proud of you. It’s inspirational. Can’t wait to see it mate.
Much love, Des

 

great car nick! wont be long time for a ride!

 

Wow!!! Great job Nick!! You'll get the issues worked out. But that's what having cars like that is, always something up with them, but when you drive it, the bliss wipes out all the problems you had to deal with.

Here's the 29 Roadster we just inherited from my father-in-law. Such a nice car and honored to drive it.

 

Thanks Desmond. Its all part of it, And im stoked. Im gld you enjoyed the thread. Ive just finished reading yours, Really great stuff. Frankie will be lucky to have such a great car one day!

 

Saturday saw us get home and get some things around the house sorted. The BMW is still in Byron bay awaiting a new computer from Germany but that's another story. I got home, Cleaned everything up and went to Johns Sunday morning to try get the roadster sorted.



Paige dropped me up there around 8am, John was having a sleep in so i got started. I started disconnecting all the bits and getting the radiator out, By the time John got up it was time to get the car around to the back shed and up on some stands for easier access to the engine crane.



Originally id anticipated having to remove the gearbox, But i started removing the floor section and John told me it wasn't coming out so that was that.

I'd always thought it was a real pain in the**** having to get the engine and trans out separated but maybe its pulling them together that's the painful part? I guess most cases i'm aware of people having done this are possibly doing transmission replacements...


Anyway, In a few hours it was out... I guess this was a good opportunity to have a double check over of everything, Johns engine crane is next level... I cant remember where it came from, He did tell me. But its pretty cool Id already pulled the floor and inspection cover at the holiday park and determined something had gone wrong with the pressure plate But you can see the top right actuator sitting flat whilst the other two were still loaded You can see here the pin has worked itself out, Letting the spring loose tension. It was probably fixable but there were a few needle rollers that had fallen out so it seemed better to replace it.*****ty thing about this is that theres no access to this pin through the transmission whilst the clutch is in the car. I probably could have got it home if so.

Anyway, John yet again went to the stash, And whipped another much needed part to replace the broken one he had already given me. I dunno why he looks after me so well, But i owe him more than a lot!
Thanks John, If you ever read this.

we got the motor back in , Had some lunch and a few laughs and a few hours later i was doing this...



Im still messing with this engine trying to get it to run as well as possible.. It is really tired but for now I'm just trying to enjoy the car as much as possible.. I've ordered some smaller main jets .42 in size ( but i cant remember what we put in there )

I do have access to a good 99a core i think i will start building in the new year.

 

Yeeeesssss.
Back in action.
Awesome man.

 

This is a great build thread. I have enjoyed following your journey.

 

Well, Its been a while between posts. And for the most part we've been enjoying the roadster very much. I kinda rushed to get it finished and there have been a few things that needed sorting pretty soon, This didn't stop me from trying to get the most out of it from the get go. So before i get to where things are at now I suppose I should update the adventures in our little roadster.

We have just finished up our summer over here now, But its still hot. So we've been at the beach a little..


And the Creeks....

And a little driving up through the country side.


It wouldn't be hotrodding without breakdowns, And some super supportive friends...

Made it out to the Toowoo mba Swap meet ate some good food and drank a little to much Gin with friends!


Had a sore head the next day, and the car gave me a few issues that could have been prevented on the way up. But it was a great weekend and nice to be able to take my own car on one of these runs.


Which pretty much brings me to now. The car was blowing alot of smoke and as much as i tried to work with it and think id be able to rebuild it down the track i just didnt have the confidence i needed for the drive i plan on doing in the next few months.

The Annual beach races " Rattle trap" is coming up and is a little under 600kms away.
The plan is to have my car there, with the top done, perhaps some fenders on it and maybe i will try my hand at racing it, But there was no way i could do this the way it was...

So i spoke to my good mate John and we devised a plan, we organised to get the car back up to his for a quick hone a set of rings and be back on my way. We knew the bearings were ok when we inspected the motor originally, So we wouldn't even pull the motor just do it all in the car and save the hassle.

So sunday morning i drive on up and the roadster was running wonderfully.

I get to johns and begin removing the heads and sump, Not real pretty, but nothing i wasn't expecting. I knew the motor was tired.


You can actually see the piston to wall clearance & the piston ring in this one.. haha!



Got the first few pistons out ok and then....


uh oh!. Not going to be able to fix that in the car, We were pretty bummed and to be honest it wasn't what either of us wanted to see. But i had a feeling something like this was going to happen. As it always does.
We moved a few things around and John told me to stop dwelling on it and pull the motor so we can figure out whats going on. So that's what i did

I should probably say at this point that John is a busier man than I am, And is currently re-inventing the wheel to put a C model 4 banger (to blow by my flathead as he puts it) into his 31 survivor Roadster, This is a sweet old car. And Johns a sweet guy, And hes always to happy to help me out
I cant thank him enough.


Looking through a Model A Manual, John found this photo of Snow Sifton. John said this was a full dress car, Snow would drive long distance strip, Race, Then drive home..Pretty amazing stuff, Especially considering this is in Australia. Note the cut down front Bumper

This is pretty much where my photos stopped. We got the motor stripped that night, And found some replacement parts John had in stock. I will have to get photos of them next time, War surplus NOS pistons & rings still in wax packaging.



Next day we dropped the block off to be sleeved and rebored to suit the pistons John had for me. We then went and found some valves to replace the worn out ones in there. I think 6 were still usable.

Australias #1 Rat Rodder loves a good text and in the midst of telling him whats happening he tells me not to worry and hes got my back, With a set of free Johnson adjustable Lifters, Nice guys Rat Rodders!

Thanks again Derek Desmondo




I Hope to have the car back on the road for May, We currently have some timbers being made for the roof bowes, Then the upholster will come out to johns and trim the top for us.

Thanks for reading

 

Nick, it's always a pleasure to ride along with you. Best of Luck.

 

Nick...Good Times indeed...glad you're having more ups than downs and being a real sport with all of this. You won't be doing any more hesitating at cruising to the Blue Yonder...AND no more Smokey the Bear...Cool Friends you have...

 

Nick. It’s always good to read the explination to a few photos I had seen. You are getting the most out of this car and it’s awesome. In your hands it’s only going to get better and better.

That rat rod dude sounds sketchy....