Projects Not worth saving... 1928 Model A Roadster AV8 Hotrod (build thread!?)

Just figured I would update you guys with a few of my videos that I have never posted links to here on the HAMB. Those of you who are subscribed to the channel have probably seen them, but others may have not. Happy Monday, everyone; only 4 more days (and a handful of hours) until the weekend!!

 

And here’s one more! Just out today, since I’ve been doing the YouTube thing for 6 months now, and the roadster seems to be the main draw, here’s a slideshow look at the entire build so far (including the “For Sale” pic as seen on Rod Swapper (IG).



I’ll be back with some actual new progress soon!

Thanks for all of the support, The HAMB!

 

Happy Holidays!

Here’s a look at some of the cool parts I’ve been squirreling away for the roadster project…

 

Looks like the roadster is coming along great, Casey! I did the same with my tail light. Just modified the stock bracket and used the stock plate mount. Placed it where the spare tire mount was. Keep up the great work!

 

Thanks, Jeff. Looks fantastic!

 

Hey guys (and gals)! So I’ve got some exciting news, and an update.

For those of you who don’t follow the YouTube channel, I’ve been working with an artist named Rico Irdam ( @ricoirdam on IG ) on a new Shop Logo/T-shirt design, and, well, he completely KILLED IT!



PS-Spoiler Alert that this picture will be revealing my planned “paint scheme” for the roadster…















Ta-dah!



Anyway, I’m planning to make T-shirts soon! And I’m hoping to make them on a fancy, ultra-soft ring-spun cotton, so they won’t be cheap, but if you decide to buy one, it will be one of the nicest t-shirts you will ever own. And probably also one of the coolest! And I’m not even biased or anything.

Other than that, since the car has been in storage (I don’t really have room for both cars in my garage), I haven’t been able to work on it lately, and I’ve been trying to figure out a project I could do without having the car physically in front of me. So, to that end, I’ve been thinking more and more about WHAT my desired end result is going to look like.

There are two historic cars that have been the biggest inspiration for my project. The Williams Bros Roadster, and the Morris Bros Roadster. I could go on and on about all of the things that I dig about each car, but the spartan “race car” interior is high up on the list. And both cars used surplus WWII aviation componentry inside, including “bomber” seats and B-24 breathing oxygen tanks for fuel.

Some close ups from the Morris Bros car…





And the Williams Bros car…





Anyway, I intend for the breathing oxygen tank to be a removable auxiliary (or secondary) fuel system, if for no other reason than to get the center of gravity lower and more rearward when racing. Which leaves me needing a “bomber”, or more likely a WWII era trainer or fighter aircraft, style of seat for the car. And with the price of actually aircraft seats becoming quite unattainable, I’ve decided to make my own!

After digging through the HAMB archives, I’ve decided that the seats Frank Wallic used to make and sell, are the best looking and most authentically styled “bomber” seats out there.







They seem to be a “sort of” copy of whatever these seats are:



I’ve heard some people say that these are T-6 trainer seats, others have said T-34, and at least one person said that they’re late P-51 seats (as the early ones were plywood), but I’ve also been told that all of those people were wrong. Lol.

Either way, I find certain aspects of Frank’s seats, like the lap belt p***-through reinforcement plate, and the dimple-die reinforcement brace, to be more pleasing to the eye. And aluminum will be a hell of a lot easiest to work with than stainless.

Since Frank doesn’t make these seats any longer, and since his were a copy of an original seat anyway, I’m going to do my best to sort of “reverse engineer” a set based on the few photos that I can find online.

So, basically, starting with this photo:



And using the dimensions from the Kirkey 55 series race seats in my Mustang as a sort of gauge of scale:



I have come up with the following set of patterns, shown here ***embled with blue painter’s tape.



They still need a little bit of tweaking; the pan is too deep, and the sides are too tall, but I’m at least close to the general shape, and I’m excited to start the process.

The next steps will be to reinforce my Harbor Freight 18” Bead Roller, and see if it will handle 14ga aluminum, which is what I would like to build these seats out of; if it won’t handle 14ga, then I will have to make them out of 16ga.

If you all want to hear me babble about this stuff for 10 minutes, check out this week’s YouTube video:



And with that, thanks for staying with me on this project. Hopefully I will have some more regular updates on the roadster here in a few months…

Sincerely,

-C

 

Awesome Casey! I like the mil-surp concept when building a traditional car that the vets would have built after the war! My wife's grandmother was W.A.S.P. during the war and shuttled B-17s back and forth so I've collected some cool gadget's from their stash to put in my roadster! Put me on the list for a shirt when available.

 

That’s awesome, Mojo. I’ve known a few folks who had WASP’s in their families. My very dear friend’s wife had a grandma who was a WASP, which led them to restore a Ford GPW into a “Follow Me” Jeep. And then they found themselves getting to taxi the Collins Foundation B-24 at our local airport the last time it flew in.

 

Gosh…

Over a year later, which is pretty embarr***ing.

In my defense, my daughter hit Toddler-hood, AND we moved states, so I’ve been a bit busy. Anyway, I finally turned those Bomber Seat paper templates into something tangible, though I didn’t exactly do it in the “traditional” way…

Hope you guys like the video:



-Crazy Casey

 

Glad to see you're back tinkering with the roadster again. Seat looks awesome.

 

Thank you! I’m excited to see them taking shape.

 

are those steel pop rivets holding the subframe together?

 

Sorry, I didn’t get a post notification on this. YES, I stuck the rails together with pop rivets while it was set in my jig, and then I replaced those one by one with real rivets outside of my jig.

Seemed more logical than screws, to me…

Of course I explained that in the sentence below the picture of the rails held together with pop-rivets, so hopefully you haven’t been stuck on the edge of your seat since last April…

 

Nice seat and do like the look of the bomber seats but a ***** to get in and out of. I have made a few but using old school tools and techniques .
Is that your neat little plasma table and how do you like that ?

 

Thanks for the compliment. Though, I would say I’m still using old school tools and techniques to build MY seats. I mean, sure, I computerized the design, and cut the metal out on a plasma table, but I started with a drawing, followed by paperboard templates, and the tools I’ve used to build the seats themselves are a hand drill, clecos, an English wheel, a bead roller, a shrinker/stretcher, a finger brake, a rivet gun, and a bucking bar. I could cut them out by hand, but that’s the least significant part of the process…

To answer your other question, yes, that’s the table from Langmuir Systems. I use it mostly for metal art, which I sell. It’s “pretty good”. I have some videos about it on my YouTube channel if you’re interested. If you think you might buy something like that, send me a DM and I’ll give you all the info I can ahead of time. Stuff I wish I knew going in…

 

Really cool build! You do great work! Next time we see each other there will be plenty to say.
But you Ford roadster guys have it so easy.

 

Thanks Tom,

Now that I finally am going to have a “day job”, I’m hoping I can clear out the customer projects and get back on MY hotrod project. It’s so dang close…yet still a TON of work needed.

Cheers,
Casey

 

Let me know if you need someone to come down the hill and shout encouragement.

 

I was just checking in on the progress. Looks awesome.

 

I have to go back and watch more videos. The cold rivet one was interesting.

 

Fellas, progress has been non-existent, BUT, I’m hoping that’s about to change. Here is an update. Not so much a project update, but a life update. And while it might sound like it means I’m gonna have LESS time for projects, getting a steady paycheck means I don’t have to keep scrounging for paying jobs (as hard), and can actually do some work on my own stuff.

https://youtube.com/shorts/K64AhPNcSBc?si=s45RCtHhH9hmKnyO

 

Looking forward to it!
D

 

You doing that in VC? Friggin' cool! I tried to get intrest in Dayton 40 years ago, Yerington had full shop cl***es and they is all Lyon county cared about.

 

Yessir! My little girl starts here soon, so I wanted to get involved.

 

Very cool! I read the article in the local paper. Congratulations! Let me know when you get to a VC Shop cl*** Bonneville project.

 

Hey all. I haven’t posted here in forever, because I’ve had off-topic cars clogging up my small shop. I got to work on a small side project that will ultimately make its way into the roadster, so I figured I’d post some details here. It’s something I’ve been wanting to try almost as long as the roadster project has been a thing.



Will this be the post that gets me banned for good? Maybe. My last several have been deleted by mods, and YES, this is a 3D printed pattern. NOT a traditional tool by ANY stretch of the imagination…but if my grandpa had had one of these machines at his disposal, he probably would have used it.



Melting some aluminum…



And this was just the FIRST attempt. The learning curve is real. I need more draft on my pattern, and I need to pour more slowly. I’m trying again tomorrow. I REALLY look forward to getting the roadster back in the shop.

Hope you all are well.

SINCERELY

Crazy Casey

 

Looks good and what is more traditional than making your own cast parts. The skull hood ornament on Isky's roadster was cast in one of his high school shop cl***es. It is very appropriate for you to be doing this. Teach the kids to do it.

 

interesting piece but the whole
"if grandpa had it it would be traditional" argument is pointless.

still I have no problem with using modern tools to create traditional style parts.
please show more of the process as you refine it.

 

Thanks Tom. A couple of them a very interested in learning about it. I may do it as a show and tell. To have them actually do it, the PPE bill would be astronomical.

Thanks Paul, I’m glad you don’t. It was more of a jab at the fact that I’ve found it pretty impossible to post here lately. One mod in particular seems to have it out for me. I will post more of the process as I refine it.

 

It might be something the blacksmithing cl***es at Donovan's Mill could help with or some special event at the Railroad Museum or better yet the V&T. Just trying to think of shops in the area that might help out locl kids. There is a big foundry in Moundhouse. My son has a friend that can do that stuff but I don't know if he has the equipment. The 3-d printed pattern is a great Idea. Is it plastic? Is there a way to do it in wax. Or is the pattern used to make a reusable mold? I did a little sand casting with br*** in college but that was a long time ago in the school's foundry.