Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Bill Blake is a real treasure. Getting to profile him was one of my favorite newspaper assignments, and it was an honor to see the story on the front page. I don't really do any newspaper writing anymore, but I would like to get back into it on a local level later in life. And thanks for sticking with me!

Such a nice break. It's always tough to come back home after such a great time, but I have a car to build here in the City by the Bay.

Yes we are! Next step, transmission rebuild 101!

 

I have a few more small updates that I'll add later, but I figured everyone following this build would get a kick out of this short video. Here's the engine turning over with the starter and the transmission attached. Seems simple, but it's a huge milestone. This engine will run. And when it does, we're all going to celebrate together.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/guXSXDAozyI

 

Today, I popped the top off the '39 trans and everything looks pretty good. I still plan to rebuild it to make sure it's road ready. I also ordered my first batch of transmission parts, and I plan to buy more tomorrow. I didn't have a ton of time in the garage, but I did start soaking the lower brake adjusting nuts to prepare for disassembly tomorrow.

No update too small—we're making progress.

 

It’s a 12V battery, and I believe the starter was converted to 12V back in the 1990s. I’ll take a picture of the tag next time I’m in the garage.

 

It's been a weekend for the books. Hot rods, choppers, hamburgers, surfing, warm weather and so much quality time with friends. I have a lot to share, but I'm exhausted. Before I go to bed, I just wanted to post this here. We did it. We finally fired up Version 2.0.

Full story coming soon. For now, here's the video.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DG-x7cGqEzk?feature=share

 

Major updates, replies, recaps, tall tales and more happening soon. We've just been having some fun in the sun with old cars!

 

They're Firestone 600 x 16s up front and 7.50 x 16s on the rear. I think I got them through Summit or Jegs because they had free shipping.

 

Thanks for taking the time to check out the thread. It's been a long, winding, extremely fun road thus far. It's amazing to think how far we've come in the past three years (!) This thread has turned into a gathering of friends from around the world, and I've learned something from each and every one of you. Welcome to the party!

 

I'm on the move again, but I have a full update of the Northern California Roadster Run and transmission rebuild day #1 soon!

 

When I returned from my stay in Southern California, I immediately began thinking about the next steps. That Saturday, I made my way north to catch the beginning of the Northern California Roadster Run and then start the transmission rebuild at David's.

Rolling into the lot, there were roadsters as far as the eye could see. Nearly every single one was flathead powered.

I soaked up as much as I could, taking notes for my car.

It's amazing how far away all these cars felt when I went on my first roadster run. Now, I'm closing in on making it a reality.

After the cars roared off, I sat in my truck daydreaming of being there next year with my A-V8. About 10 minutes later, I saw two roadsters roll up. I felt like I had seen them before, but I wasn't sure where.

"Charlie?! Kelli?!" I couldn't believe it. My friends from Portland had bombed down there to go on the run. After catching up for a frantic second, they linked up with the rest of the group and were on their way. Such a small world!



Charlie and Kelli host the Harvest Drags every year in Oregon, and it was so good to see them in my part of the world.

 

From there, I made the short drive to David's, more excited than ever. After catching up on the latest projects, we started the transmission disassembly. To make things more fun, David and I both tore down transmissions at the same time. His was a side-shift 1940 trans and mine was a 1939 out of a running 1932 five-window.

Looks good. It shifted through all the gears and the teeth seemed to be in nice condition. But, like any project, there's a lot more than meets the eye.

It didn't take too long to empty the case.

And we then inspected every part.

For better or for worse, most parts weren't up to par. That's why we're rebuilding it!

I even got my own coffee can!

We were able to take a customer's Model A to the post office to burn some old gas.

I thoroughly enjoyed being in a sedan (especially one that had a full interior). There were a few similarities to Version 1.5 of my car—and plenty of differences.
Parking lot inspiration.