Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Pardon the silence on my end: something big is happening up north and I can't wait to share—but more on that later!

 

I have a few minutes before it's time to turn in, so I'm going to jump right back into it. About a month ago, I asked David if he could help me with the biggest task on the list: combining the body and the frame. Being the amazing friend that he is, he said yes. And so, with that, we put a weekend on the calendar. I've been working behind the scenes to have everything ready to make it as seamless as possible.

Last Thursday, I scooped up a trailer from the U-Haul on Bayshore. Per usual, they didn't want to rent to me with my truck, even though I have driven this very car on that style trailer for thousands of miles. Nonetheless, I kept my cool and ended up leaving the lot with trailer in tow right before they locked the gates.

Back on the Terrace, Yama, his girlfriend Nic, and Benj helped me load the chassis.

I'm so grateful for all the friends who help me with this crazy project.
On my way across town, I swung by the old garage for a quick photo-op. The 2020, page-one-of-this-thread-version of myself woudn't believe this chassis.

As I was waiting at the light in front of the Turk garage, I noticed two familiar figures strolling on the sidewalk. It was my old upstairs neighbors who were around when I started this project all those years ago. We caught up for a second until the light turned green, and then I was on my way.

Yama, Nic, and I stopped for a late dinner at Uncle Boys, a local hamburger stand, before loading up the body. Sitting in the parklet on a chilly San Francisco night made me think back to when Yama and I went to pick up the pieces of this car during the pandemic. So much has changed, yet so much has stayed the same.

I knew the street wasn't busy, so I just parked the truck and trailer next to the parklet. While we were finishing our food, I saw a SFPD car approaching. "They're gonna get me," I said casually. Next thing I knew, the lights flipped on and two officers approached the chassis. I hopped up and walked over to my truck, ready to move it.

"You can't park here," one said angrily.
"Sorry, I was just finishing up," I replied. "I'll move."
The second officer squinted as he looked at the chassis. "What is this thing?" he said, sounding genuinely interested.
"Oh, it's an antique car," I replied.
"Okay," he said. "Well we're not going to give you a ticked this time, but you have no move now."
"No problem. Thanks."

With that, I slid behind the wheel of my truck, turned the key, and was on my way.

 

At the Outer Richmond garage, Yama, Nic, and I got right to work.
Neither Yama or I remembered the body being as heavy as it was, although this time it has doors, wood, and upholstery. Lifting the body off, the quarter panel hit the steering wheel, creating a huge dent. "Just hit it," Yama said. I did just that, and it popped back into place, like nothing happened. We all laughed.

Initially, we planned to haul the body in the truck and the chassis on the trailer. "Let's try putting it on the chassis, just for fun," I said. When we did, I couldn't believe it.

There, right in front of me, was the car that I had dreamt of since I was 10 years old. Even with the stock subrails, I could tell that all of these years of hard work were paying off. The stance. The driveline. The headlights. The overall look and feel. I was speechless, pacing around the car, studying every angle.

As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I had a big weekend ahead of me. We said our goodbyes, and I aimed my truck towards the north, across the Golden Gate Bridge and up to Petaluma.

We'll pick back up tomorrow!

 

Hi all - the classifieds speak the truth, and there's more to come. I'm keeping a few pieces for future projects, but the rest of it is for sale, including wheels, axles, brakes, radiator, hood, gas tank, and more. We're operating on a tight budget, so every dollar counts as we try to finish this car. And the space is equally as important too!

 

On Friday morning, I woke up in my room at the Motel 6 and poked my head out the door. "It's still there!" I said to myself. I threw on my clothes and made the quick trip across town to David's shop, taking Petaluma Boulevard most of the way.

As I drove down the Boulevard, I passed places from years gone by. There was the motorcycle shop where I had my Harley's heads re-worked as a birthday present to myself in 2018, and the Denny's where I got my Triumph's VIN inspected a few years later. In the opposite lane, I spotted a black lacquer Deuce cabriolet that belongs to one of David's friends. I honked and gave him a wave.
The last time I saw the car was in 2019, when David and I were dialing in my Triumph.

 

Rolling the car off the trailer, I was able to see it at its new ride height for the first time. I had to stand back. "It's perfect," I said under my breath.

After re-arranging the shop, we got right to work. For the first order of business, we used David's chain hoist to lift the body off the frame. (This became our main workout for the next three days.)

We then began measuring, lifting, lowering, and measuring some more. Once we had a clear plan of attack, I started cutting.
The first cuts were the easy ones.
For the longer longer ones, David showed me how to prop the body on the firewall with it still being supported by the chain.

Last time it was on its nose like that, Yama and I were picking it up from the previous owner. It feels like two lifetimes ago.

 

For the cuts behind the wheelwells, David broke out the cutting torch. As you may recall, he's an expert on all things O/A. It didn't take long to slice through the old subrails, and cleanup was a breeze with the flap disc.

By Friday afternoon, we had the car sitting mostly how we wanted it.

Hello, new look!
A trio of 1930 Ford roadsters. Does anyone recognize the headlight setup on the maroon car?

 

After heading back to the motel for a hot shower and a change of clothes, I went for a walk through town.

The air was cold, but I very much enjoyed the neon on full display.

I can't wait to shoot my car outside "The Buck" at dusk.

The following morning, we jumped right back into it. With some additional cutting, we got the rear of the body sitting right.

David and I made matching brackets to link the rear body braces with the new subrails.

I also cut some 10 gauge metal to make the front body mounts.

One of the trickiest parts of the project was securing the subrails. David hatched a plan to pie-cut the front of the wheelwheels and use a wooden rod to push them in. For this shot, Yama is doing the honors.

Yama y Rod, 2024 (above) and 2020 (below)

Times change, but friends like David and Yama make it all possible.

 

I couldn't have been more excited to have both cars together in the same room for the first time.

Oh, and remember my dash? I had to mock it up too. It'll be right at home on this car.

It's getting late here, so I'll pick back up with the final part of the weekend recap tomorrow. Looking forward to having this back up to date!