Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Thanks for sticking with me. The NOS Dixco gauges were a gift from @corncobcoupe back in 2023.

It’s fun to reflect on the state of the insert at that point too.

Anyways, I made some major strides on the garage organization this weekend. Tools are mostly where they need to be, and I’m really liking the direction the place is headed. I need to install a few more lightbulbs and organize some shelving before I post a “finished” photo.

 

Although it does have 220v, the place comes with its own set of big city challenges that I'll discuss more later.

 

As I finally prepare to set up my front wheel bearings, I had to buy a new (old) set of channel locks. Figured you guys would get a kick out of the previous owner's customizations.
Also, I'm happy to be giving 2.0 a little taste of the good life.

 

This morning, I woke up early, ran a few errands, and then spent a little bit of time on the car. Being new to the apartment building, I'm trying to limit the amount of noise I make. That said, I had a couple of holes to drill so, when the neighborhood was quiet, I broke out the tools and got to work.

My first task? Finding a home for the master cutoff switch. Longtime readers will remember this plate. It was the first piece I made for the car, and I originally mounted it to the top of the Model A framerail. Well, now that things are configured differently, I decided to install it on the seat riser. Mostly out of sight, but perfectly within reach. I'll take a picture of the finished setup next time I'm down in the garage.

 

While the holesaw was still hot, I cut through the floor channel to create some clearance for the negative battery terminal bolt. With a quick bit of filing, we were in business.

For my final task of the morning, I hit the bottom of the seat pan with the holesaw so that I could connect the cables from the cutoff to the battery. I'm waiting for my grommet, but in the meantime I'll finish up all the heavy duty battery wiring.

 

Although not much of an update, I can't begin to explain how good it felt to get back to work on the car after all the moving and traveling. The first part of the morning was spent looking for tools and wrestling with holesaws, but once I hit my stride I felt as if there was no place I'd rather be. Next time I'm down there, I'm focusing on more wiring. Then, over the long weekend, I'm finally addressing the front wheel bearings and seals. As you know, I'll keep you all in the loop every step of the way.

 

Feels great to be back. I'm very much looking forward to lots of garage time this weekend.

Thank you! The picture is actually a little bit of an optical illusion. The top of the battery bolt is about 3/4-inch beneath the floorboard. I just clearanced it so I could easily get a box wrench in there.

 

Little jump start on the long weekend.

First, I made a friend at the auto parts store on my way home from work. The owner said she just had this vintage Cushman shipped from Nebraska. It had a really neat white interior with Stewart-Warner gauges. Hope to see it around!

Back at HQ, I pulled the drums so I can install the bearings and seals tomorrow. I also sealed up the quickchange for the first time and torqued everything to spec. It'll be ready for oil tomorrow night (!!)
That's all for now. The ball keeps on rollin'!

 

I had a lot to say about how excited I was to work on the car over the long weekend. That may have been foolish of me. Although I faced frustrations and didn't even get close to finishing my to-do list, I ended up spending a lot of time with some of my best friends. I have an early morning tomorrow, but there's no time like the present to try to bring this ever-evolving story up to speed. Here we go.

On Friday morning, I rolled up to my favorite hot rod shop in the world to spend the day with David. As I walked in, I was greeted by Sean's roadster sitting at the center of the freshly swept floor. David had recently driven it to a cars and coffee at Frank Lloyd Wright's Marin County Civic Center, and he was working out the bugs. I took a moment (okay, many moments) to appreciate all the hard work he put in on it. The new rear spring setup really changed its attitude.

 

My task for the day? Install the front bearings and seals. On my drive up, I discovered that there was some spalling on my original bearings. Since everything was already taken apart, David called Petaluma Bearing, who had a suitable replacement. He rode over on this two-wheeled terror as I supervised. David taught me how properly grease my wheel bearings and tap in the seals. He used a hammer and a flat disc with a screw-on aluminum handle. Tap. Tap. Tap. "Listen to the sound change," he said. "That's when you know it's seated."
We spent the remainder of the day turning wrenches and enjoying our time in the shop. Before it was time for me to go home, David took me for a spin in a customer's 1946 Willys Jeep. It's a one-year-only column shift and it was extremely fun to roll around the block on a warm North Bay evening. "How would you say this compares to a stock Model A roadster?" I asked David. "It's much peppier," he said.

A perfect way to end the summer.

 

That's all for tonight. More updates soon.

P.S. I'm posting a bunch of stuff for sale in the classifieds. If you need flathead or 'banger pieces from me, now is your chance!