I suck at starting threads when I first get a vehicle but a handful of guys asked that I start posting some updates and more information on this build here since I'm getting back on it this winter. I'll try and do a few posts to get it caught up to current day. If you want to keep up with the videos on the car or watch the full length process up to present you can watch it on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSVjn4kU05GXvUces-zNOc225Gx3Z-Z1y Ok so this all started in 2015 or so when I was working on my coupe build and I got bit by the roadster bug. I bought an early 50's Caddy that was hit hard and used to sit at an old mini-golf place that closed. I parted the car out and kept the engine for my "someday roadster project. After pulling the engine I found that one cylinder was filled with water for a long time and the cylinder was pitted pretty bad but figured I could still make it work since the engine owed me nothing after parting the Caddy out. Fast forward to that fall and I went to a kick ass 32 Ford collector estate auction and I scored a cheap 32 Frame that was under hot rods/dirt track cars its entire life. I got it for a song along with a bunch of other stuff and started mocking it up day dreaming of a roadster project. I collected some parts along the way like a chrome front drop axle, 35 banjo rear, etc. etc. and couldn't find a 30-31 roadster for reasonable. A year or two later I came across a big estate auction (you can tell I love auctions haha) in Northern PA. and it had a bunch of barn find vehicles; most rough shape. I saw this cool little 30 Roadster that looked just shitty enough I might be able to afford it... I took my trailer and my dad 3 hours NW of me prepared to buy this car. In the end an online bidder won the car for a lot more than I thought the car was worth and I took home a bunch of rusty junk and parts to resell to make it worthwhile but I was bummed as hell. A week later a guy that saw me at the sale bidding on the roadster messaged me and told me how the online bidder showed up when he was there picking stuff up and the guy freaked out and refused to buy the car because it was so rough (the subrails were trashed so I don't blame him for the cost he was supposed to pay). I promptly called the auctioneer and worked out a deal for the car for my high bid of $4k minus any fees and I deal with the widow directly... A lot to pay for the car I thought but it was a complete roadster and I wasn't gonna let it slip away again. I hooked up my trailer and grabbed my pup and the next weekend headed back north to grab the car. In the end I'm glad I did it this way because I learned a lot about the car from the gal that I got it from. She told me stories of her and her husband driving it around when they were dating and just married. I promptly named it the "Sweet Heart Roadster" and stashed it in my driveway.. all of this was going on as I was preparing myself to buy a house with my dream garage. It kind of sat around for 6-8 Months or so while I shopped for a new place and then moved in. That winter after moving in my buddy Mike convinced me to start a YT channel documenting all the stupid shit I get myself into and build and this car was the first "series" on the channel.
Once we dug into the car I found out it had a "farmer restoration". Lots of bad repairs including asbestos floor panels screwed in, metal pop riveted over rusty metal, etc etc. We dug into the car hard and ended up cutting all of the subrails out and breaking it into pieces. I made front subrail feet patches and replaced the subrails with repro rails.. I first redid everything on the stock chassis to get the car all built to stock specs, but I fully planned on putting it on the 32 frame I had squirreled away. At this time a friend of mine asked me if his 14yr old son could start coming over to apprentice and learn how to use tools and work on old cars. He had a good attitude and I got him involved doing the nitty gritty of cutting off old brackets and cutting out rust, etc. He went head first into this madness. After getting the body sorta solid again I turned my focus to the 32 frame and we cut all of the old crap off of it and started repairing the frame rails. My young helper learned how to plug weld up holes and how to make patches for the frame. We got the rails all repaired first and then I broke it all apart to install a flat front cross member, Model A rear cross member, and a 46-48 center X-Member. When I built the frame I decided I wanted to build the car so when done the frame and body looked like they were made to fit together. So instead of pinching the frame at the cowl I narrowed the front cross member and let the front of the frame rails naturally taper in until the inside dimensions of the frame rails were almost pinched the on a 32 grill. This set the outside of the rails close with the outside of the cowl sides. I figured I had to build all new sheet metal for the bottom of the car so I'd just make the sheet metal then land exactly where I wanted on the frame when done. Once I had it all stitched together on my table I mounted the body on the 32 frame using modified Model A wood mounting blocks. This mounted the car in a "stock" fashion after I swept the rear subrails to match the 32 kickup. I then had the entire mess blasted and etched it in Eastwood Fast Etch to preserve it while I worked on it. I also radiused the bottom of the rails in the back to clearance for the car sitting low. I wanted this to be a "highboy" that sat like a "lowboy".
With the body mounted I started to get a little side tracked and started fitting a 40 Ford dash into the car but abandoned that idea after a friend found a 33-ish Chrysler Dash in a junkyard that I thought was just too-cool. I mocked up a Hollywood SW panel in the dash that came from the same estate as the frame rails and knew it was meant to be. I used Eastwood rust dissolver to clean the dash and modified it to fit in the car behind the stock dash rail. I found a cool old Gemmer box from a boat at Hershey along the way that has a neat adjustable bracket to change the angle of the box. It has a cool old chrome steering tube so I am going to work on making that fit the car eventually too.. I then made a drivers side cowl panel to start tackling the really bad rusty spots on the car. I made a die to recreate the original shape of the lower beads as the repros are too flat/square. I made the panels a little longer than stock so that the cowl bottom now sits right on the frame and follows the shape of the frame. I then welded it in just below the upper body line. I then got side tracked on the Free-T build and this thing sat untouched for a year or so and now I'm finally back on it. Along the way I found some chrome front drums and backing plates and a blower for the Caddy engine.. so I guess this one is going sorta over the top haha. I also got the passenger side cowl panel built and welded in this weekend. That brings us up to current..
I like where this is going, car looks cool and I like the oldschool look of your workshop with the stone walls. What are those hubcaps from?
Wow, in this day of instant gratification your patience and perseverance is really paying off, going about it like it was done in the past, going to be a cool period piece, good on ya!
Cool stuff! I remember seeing the pilehouse project on the eastwood site a few years back. Been checking out your channel, very cool!
Thanks for the updates and thread Matt. As someone who has seen this car. It looks way better in person. It’s going to be a great ride when it’s finished. Snowman
I watch all your videos Matt, but it is cool to also see the pics and story here on the HAMB. Thanks for posting. The roadster sure is a sweetheart.
So cool!! I'm going to have to sneak up to that garage sometime and pretend I,m lost when your working on it!! Pete
Thanks for taking the time to post this on the Hamb. I watch your videos and love your content. And Moon is a great TV dog too.
... finally !! Love that thing ... amongst other sh*t in your garage. No THUMBS DOWN video idiots here, either ... Matt. Note to self : F*ck those guys !
Matt, your garage wasn't that empty when I was there a few weeks ago. You keep busy with your own projects, and find time to help others with their projects. Keep up the the good work. We need more young guys like you to keep our sport going.
Haha yea I have my young helper busy cleaning up the shop for me like crazy as of late! Also sent the yellow T to my friends place that bought it. Trying to get the shop back under control it's been pretty bad lately! Stop by anytime!
I have been watching the build on your channel and I have to say it’s been a real inspiration for my own projects. I own a 29 Cabriolet Body and 28 Sport Coupe body, 28 AR Pheaton, 30 Pickup Cab, 34 Chev Coupe Ute Body, 34 BB Ford Truck and 36 Chev Truck Cab. All are total basket cases but my main focus is on getting the Coupe and Cabriolet bodies repaired so the tutorials on fabricating the quarter panel braces has been invaluable.
The build looks great, glad you got a worker that likes to help. Estate auctions are definitely where the deals are. Keep a cool head, really look around at what's there, and buy stuff to resell to finance what you want to keep. They're really fun.
Glad you decided to start this thread, Matt. I never miss your YouTube videos. Great stuff as always!
been following you on your you tube channel and previous videos for eastwood. Really great videos ad info . Cudos to you too for spending the time to navigate a young fella around the hobby and helping him collect and assemble the parts for his first project. To be sure there isn't enough young guys coming in for the love of hot rods .. The scenesters come and go .. Looking forward to more of your videos , they really do reflect the real life aspects of the hot rod hobby that we can all relate to, sepecially the garage finds , clearing out old car finds and scoring great deals through putting in the effort . Thanks for taking the time to make the videos and drafting this post .. This is going to be another great project from your stable of great project material .. go man go.. Just a thought Matt, Is Andrew logged into the HAMB. ? Im pretty sure if he were and he posted up his T build, there would be more than a few life long hot rod guys on here reaching the twilight of there hot rodding days that would see themself in Andrew and you never know, Some of them old timers might just spare a part or two to see Andrew fly the flag. He might unwittingly be the spark for the next generaion.. There cant be many teenagers getting into it? There is another young fella on you tube that has built an absolutely fantastic period build A coupe fully documented, the new blood is out there . Thanks again for your posts and videos, long live our great hobby long live Hot Rodding Its uplifting to see young guys like Andrew taking an interest.
Thanks guys for the support. Glad the thread here is welcomed! I got the old firewall out last week and I'm going to start slicing and dicing the 32 firewall to make it fit the A. I think starting by removing the feet will be the first step. I'm hoping to make a creative connection to blend the factory Model A "Feet" to the 32 firewall. I'd love to keep it removable like in the 32 but I'm not sure how realistic that is since I don't want to have a ton of gaudy fasteners on the exterior. It might take a little back and forth to sort it out. I have this ridiculous vision maybe just maybe I could make the firewall removable and have it chromed... but welded in and painted isn't a bad consultation prize.. haha Also a local hot rodder @Hank37 was nice enough to let me come over and talk the glory days of hot rodding and we did some horse trading for a set of old Jahn pistons for 4" bore he's had stashed away. I love the process of gathering all of these vintage parts from all over to put together a unique car. I'm also looking for a "flat top" style Caddy intake I could cut up to use for a blower intake. It seems some of the 2x4 aluminum intakes and oddball 3 or 4x2 intakes were fairly low rise and mostly flat across the top so I could cut the top out and weld in a blower flange. Any leads on a crusty old one I could cut up is welcomed!
Great build. Your work ethic mirrors mine inasmuch as while you may stop working on a project to pursue other projects for long periods it seems to still be alive in your consciousness and the mind continues to evolve ideas for it. Slow and methodical also means parts and deals spring up along the way. I love your metalworking solutions too.
The Jalopy Journal
