Instead of primer look at "John Deere " black paint. Cheap and comes in spray and quarts. Paint my hotrod 4 years ago. Touch up with spray can, matches perfectly. Sent from my SM-J337P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So, one of my other bad habits is vintage travel trailers. One of the things I try and do is to eliminate the source of frustration. That is usually tied to lighting. I have a little trick I like to do, which is not really traditional, but it is efficient. I hide LED lighting in the old marker lights etc. I said all that to say this. I have never had a tag light on this car. It has provisions for one, but it doesn’t work. Bulb is new, but I have ran it directly to a 12V source and it didn’t work. The socket was probably loose or corroded. So, I jumped on Amazon and ordered 2 LED tag lights. I don’t need two, but they come as a set and for $8, who cares? So, here is what I did. Now, none of this is groundbreaking, but it may help someone. The roadster has the airstream style vintage tag mount/light. I pressed out the old socket, popped a few holes in it and pop riveted the light in place. Just that easy. It’s all hidden under the chrome hood, so no one will know the difference.
Just piddling with the things that need to happen prior to stabbing the engine and tranny this weekend. Lots of little things to do first. I bought the more modern style of clam shell seal. This was a decent fit, although it should be easier for guys with the later styled split clam shell. You just cut it to length. I got it off of eBay. The 32 has a one piece, which took some acrobatics and a lot of finger strength to get it seated. Don’t ask me what happened to the flange. It must have been sitting on the ground earlier in its life.
Your missing chunk of flange had the ground strap lug in it. A 32's battery was right behind it and grounded the engine through the trans. Looks like somebody broke it off.
Just mainly been working on stupid crap. The stuff that has to be done, but doesn’t make for an exciting post. As y’all know, one thing leads to another. Since I added the stereo, hidden under the dash, then the glove box was too big, so I had to cab one up out of some sheetmetal. Not my best work, but it is what it is. I don’t think Gene Winfield will be calling for advice anytime soon. I figured if it would be more substantial, then I would pop a hole in the back wall and add a 12V power source for charging the phones. Mainly since they will be running the stereo and Bluetooth kills the battery. Got that all squared away and put the clutch, pressure plate and tranny all back together. Mainly prepping for the big show where we stab the motor back in.
We also decided to build a close out panel for the trunk lid. It was just open structure and kinda looked ghetto. We had some ABS plastic left over, so we covered it in carpet. Felt like I should be doing custom vans from the 70’s. It works though. Just wanted it to blend.
More uneventful stuff today. Put the dash back together, built a vent for the rear end, installed the tag mount, crap like that. I did get my NOS staggered pattern Cal custom valve covers back from the polisher/chromer. I have to paint the recesses between the fins, but I am digging the looks. Had to stick em on just for a look. Trying to decide is rattle can would be good enough or if I need to break out the paint gun for the fins. See, an LS doesn’t make your peeper feel funny, like this one does when you look at it.
Where have I been? What a kool thread, I cant wait to see the roadster. She is looking too kool and you don't know any other way. Keep us posted..
Started vacation today. We took a couple weeks off to enjoy the fall weather and work on the hot rod. Trying to get the hard stuff out of the way today. Dad and Lily the wonder dog came out to give us a hand. Pay no attention to the guy with the monk haircut with the dog on his back. Motor and tranny is stabbed, twice. The first time I have the rear tranny mount on upside down. If you have ever wondered if it matters, rest assured, it does. End of vacation day 1.
Right on! I've been off here for a bit, and this is just the kind of build i needed to see. I have always loved Model A roadsters, and yours has the perfect look. To see a truly traditional build done right in a land of LS swapped dumpster fires is a where I need to be. Keep killing it! Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
End of Vacation Day 2. A lot of visible things today. Had to move the generator to the driver side, because it was hitting the fuel lines. Not really sure why the previous owner didn’t take advantage of the factory exhaust manifold mount, but oh well. I did. It bugged me anyway having that giant cast iron boss hanging out there with nothing on it. Plus it saved me a bunch of fab time. I had an old junk generator on the shelf that still had the bracket, so a 10 min Krylon overhaul and it was on.
Stick the radiator on and grille. One thing I did that I really hated to do, was to add the overflow coolant tank. It kinda sticks out like a sore thumb to me, but I had to. The car could never be at full capacity, antifreeze wise, because when it expanded, it always puked fluid on the wife. Didn’t bother me, but she wasn’t so keen on it.
Something has been somewhat of a safety concern for me is no mirrors. I was trying to rely on the wife to tell me what’s behind us and relay to me. Not a good situation. So, I saw @Paul (The Moderator) thread above it driving his roadster a few weeks back. He had a novel concept for rear view mirrors, so I blatantly stole his idea. Since I had to relocate the generator, my custom one off bracket would no longer work. I had just picked it up from powder coat and I was bummed that I was throwing money away. The wife suggested that we use it for brackets to mount our mirrors on. So that’s what we did. We will see how visible everything is once the interior is back in. I bought the smaller, 3” peep mirrors to keep it from looking like Mickey Mouse. Just a little touch up from the powder coating melting from the chop saw.
Everything you change affects something else. That’s true with the change from Strombergs to Rochesters. This is true on multiple levels here. I had to move the generator, now the radiator support rod on the pass side is hitting the carbs and fuel lines....ugh.
The Jalopy Journal
