Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

After a very full and eventful week in Las Vegas, I'm finally back home in San Francisco. I had a handful of parts waiting on my doorstep, and I took my roadster for a nighttime drive out to dinner in the Haight. When I pulled back into the driveway, I reminded the car how happy I was to see it again. I know I keep on saying it, but it does feel good to be back.

Full replies and updates happening soon.

 

The kid cleans up...business professional

BTW - Did I see a earlier Stogy post 2709 pic of a Ride Tech shock w/ castle nut - no safety cotter pin ?

 

So many updates for both versions in the works. In the meantime, here’s a postcard from this weekend’s North Bay reliability run/camping trip.

 

Something's lurking out there, that's for sure!

More like between 9-12 every night!

 

As I mentioned earlier, the last two weeks have been filled with non-stop action.
I'll be writing about my SEMA adventures in an upcoming Jalopy Journal article. This was one of my favorite shots from the Shifters' 30th anniversary movie premier on Fremont Street.

Of course, I was loving the neon.

And the hot rods too. Longtime readers will remember this flathead-powered three-window from my GNRS coverage back in January. Looks even better out on the streets of Las Vegas.

 

Last Monday, I drove down to San Francisco International Airport long after dark. Once I hit the arrivals level, I started scanning for a familiar face. Moments later, I saw him. It was my brother, Andrew, all the way from Michigan. From the moment he jumped into my truck, the good times started rolling, as they say.

As we pulled up to Loyola Terrace, we talked about all the fun things we planned to take on during his six day visit. From kickball to camping, sushi to motorcycle shops, we had a big week ahead of us. Before we went into the house, I had to show him the garage. Although the roadster didn't look much different than it did when he last visited, it has come a long way performance wise. The following morning, I took him for his first Model A roadster ride.

We covered one of my favorite routes through the Inner Richmond, and then stopped for some World Famous Turkey Sandwiches at Arguello Market.

And we even had a new friend sit with us, too.

As you can see, it rained for a little bit, but that didn't matter. We were running it! Note hat on carb.

With our camping trip on the horizon, we took two of my motorcycles to the auto parts store to get oil for the roadster.

Andrew servicing the banjo.

Job well done—all before dinnertime!

 

The following morning, we made our way up to di Falco Fabrications to work on Version 2.0. Our goal? Get the flathead running. The plan of attack was straightforward. Replace the water pumps, bolt on the intake and install the Pertronix. As you can see, Rat Fink hats were a must!

Off went the grille shell, radiator, license plate and old water pumps.

I then cleaned the mating surface to ensure a good fit.

The driver's side pump required a little finessing with the belt sander, but we made it fit no problem. Andrew cleaned up all hardware on the wire wheel and then anti-seized it before putting it back into position.

Andrew and I then disassembled the crab distributor. David provided some excellent insight on how to make the Pertronix plate fit.

The old. I forgot to take a picture of the fresh system. I will next time!

As Andrew finished the distributor, I focused on cutting the ignition wires to length. @Hitchhiker provided the wire looms, which are perfect for this project.

That concluded our Wednesday at the shop. It was so much fun working with two of my favorite people on my favorite project. Even though David and I had been chipping away at this for over a year, it felt as if Andrew had been working with us the whole time. As the sun set on Petaluma, I couldn't help but be excited for the next few days of hot rod fun.

 

A slight intermission before we jump back into the latest on Version 2.0. The full story of the camping trip is live on The Jalopy Journal, which you can read here if you'd like.

As an added bonus, my brother made a video of our travels. Check it out below!