DEUCE OF SPADES roadster repairs and breakdowns

Sorry no this is not a thread about the film. Per Ryan's instructions, to discuss the film on the HAMB go here instead:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=258


This is about my deuce and it's many repairs.

So the DEUCE OF SPADES has been a good sport and allowed us to drive it to (near) death during the filming. We drove a LOT of dirt roads, and some rough ones too. And we weren't going especially SLOW if you know what I mean

The roadster took it like a man

Amazing how sturdy the old machines are. But it needed some repairs and also upgrades, especially in the electrical department, which I tackled, with the help of a couple friends, starting December 1st.

Learned quite a bit over the last few months. Working on the deuce again was awesome and I found I have a real knack for electrical. I still don't know how to design an electrical wiring scheme for a car, but if you tell me what you want connected I sure can do that. I have become quite prolific at making connectors the ol' fashion way and routing wires. It's funny cause now all my hotrod friends ask me if I can help them with their electrical projects... . Go figure

Enough said. I am still not done with my repairs and thought it'd be good to ask for help, advice and also share what I have learned and done to the deuce, should it prove helpful to others.

A short recap in my next post

 

Nice work Faith.....amazing what we all can do if we put fear aside and have a go !!

Now, I have this problem with my coupe.....the dash lights flicker.....hehe

Rat

 

1. Downgraded the secondary wires from 10 mm red marked to 7mm unmarked black. Distributor connectors, right out of the fifties, donated by Budd (thanks Budd!).





Tore out the ridiculous spagetti jungle that passed for my wiring





Dived in head first with help of Hambers Mark, Jimmy and Jerry and started rewiring FROM SCRATCH




GENE WINFIELD contributes by making me custom tail light housings - Thank you Gene!








A prototype braket is donated by Greg of Allan Grove (thanks Greg!)





I get rid of my ugly alternator and install a generator:





I become "Queen of soldering" and make every single connection on my new harness (donated by Mark - thank you Mark!)




After two months spent laying under the car or under the dash in a FREZZING COLD garage, we are ready to put the pieces back together:





Jimmy, Jerry and I pull a one 25 HOURS STRAIGHT last wiring session and finish the job!



But it's a little rough on my compadres and Jimmy falls asleep, sitting down, and smashes his nose against the 54 chevy steering wheel LOL

 

RECAP PART 2


Our wiring job and my connectors - nothing is crimped. Everything is soldered and then shrink sleeved. The fuse box is an old 80's Ron Francis and they looked gooood back then!





We finally fire up the deuce and it starts from try ONE YEAH!

I use cloth covered wiring for everything under the hood, for a more authentic look.




Cloth covered loom is also used to hide the harness:





My 1969 Rochester center carb is swapped for a matching 1956 carb to complete my mid fifties authentic tri-power Pontiac set-up.





the ugly fuel log and rubber lines are removed and I go hard line unstead:





I repaint the ramshorn "cast iron grey"





we clean up the trunk area, redo the inside of trunk lid, and jerry makes me 50's style home made naugahyde pannels to replace the carpet that once was covering my trunk





Meanwhile, I repaint the inside of the trunk and we fix the broken original 1932 bench seat. It broke, unbeknownst to us, when my actors jumped into the roadster during the jalopy race scene.





DEUCE OF SPADES is now back on the road, and I take Jerry for a test run. Here checking on possible fuel line leaks.

 

OK you are now up to date. Next up is the horn wiring. I got 2 original 1955 horns and was (barely) able to mount them inside the frame, one on each side. (I'll try to snap photos)

I then wired them.

I did such a good job that now, when you steer, the car honks !

No, it was not my doing. My horn wiring job turned out perfect, but what is less than perfect is the 1953 horn mechanism under the horn button. So next I have to get a repair kit and fix that. I'll post my findings here and photos of the process. Meanwhile if you guys have questions / comments / suggestions, post away .

 

Great job kiddo!

Every time I do a car, I still think that wiring is the biggest PITA (Pain In The...).

 

Faith, I have enjoyed all your posts, movie and mechanical, I am encouraged by your enthusiasm. I have trouble just motivating myself to do little items on my car, YOU GO GIRL!

 

Nice job....looks great!
Love the period look!

 

Great to read your post about all of the work you have done on the Deuce. You have done alot on it in the last few months. It is comin along great. Did you get the sticky throttle fixed so it doesn't try to run you through any more intersections? Awesome work, keep it up!

 

Notice how every picture comes complete with a DoS graphic and a copyright. That's obnoxious and exactly why your other posts were closed.

Hot rods don't always have to be about self promotion and money. Sometimes, they are just about learning and fun!

Regardless of all that, good post. I like wiring details. Get rid of that underdash stereo thing!

 

I like it when a She Male knows her way around a Hot Rod. Nice work! How would you like to do it again on my 3W? It would mean a trip North. Would be a nice Road trip to make sure everything you did works long term.
The Wizzard

 

How WONDERFUL!!!

Absolutely AMAZING!!!

Simply FABULOUS!!!

 

Just wondering about the heat shrink tubing. Is it period?

And now the u-joint sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

What did that steering wheel come off of originally, anyway? I had always thought it was a '48 Ford wheel? And where did you get the cool horn button?

 

Faith, my 1965 Mustang honks the horn only when I hold the button and push the clutch pedal to the floor. Obviously a grounding problem, but sorta funny.

 

Faith, Just ignore the critics, they just wish their lady friends had the interest and ability that you do. Looking forward to your film, see you at Bob's. The FOGGER

 

You're doing a great job. Keep it up. I would like to know where you got the braided covering for the harness? That's exactly what I've been looking for. Thanks, Mike

 

isn't that a glass car

 

im looking forward to the movie...with that said( unless i missed a post about it, if i did im sorry) the lokar shifter needs to go...and the billet overflow tank. other then that it looks very period that i can see. great job on the car......john

 

You have done such a GREAT job on the movie and rewiring your car and keeping it period perfect,but please take off that horrible billet overflow tank cause it sure dont fit the period.Sorry I just couldn't hold it in no more.

 

Good points.

 

Hi again

I'll try to answer as many questions/ post as I can in one post.

1. Kevin: Yes the photos were posted before but that is a recap for those who are just finding this new thread. New photos are giong to be added as more work is done.

2. Logos. All these photos are part of the behind the Scene Special Feature which will be in the DVD so they MUST bare the copyright logos. Otherwise I cannot post them on the internet. So the choices are: Photos with copyright and logo or no photos at all. I figured the logo was the lesser of two evils, cause a lot of people do want to see the photos.

3. Period correctness is my desire, but safety is also a concern. Sometimes I elect to sacrifice period correctness for safety, and sometimes I don't. When it comes to U-joint, I didn't. My prior U-joint were period correct and when Troy at HH looked at them he said: This is a disaster waiting to happen, they need to be replaced ASAP.

4. The overflow tank is not on the priority list right now, but I'll get to it eventually

5. Shrink sleeve, not sure when they started, but it's a good question so I'll give Gene a buzz and ask him what he used back then. Regardless of the answer, I would want to sleeve the connector to keep them weather proof.

6. Glass car. Yes, the roadster came from Minnesota and was put together in the seventies from misc pieces. The original 32 frame came from a sedan, the guy wanted to build a roadster so he dumped the sedan body , which was rotten anyway. At the time, glass bodies had JUST made their entrance on the market. He got a Kelmark body. Those were hand made and they used a lot of resin back then so the body is 30 some years old and only one tiny spider on it. It's very solid. They were molded from the exact 32 body and so they are very acurate in shape. Thank God that roadster had a glass body cause if it had an original body on it, I would never have been able to buy it. I am not rich. I had to save for about 8 years to buy that one car. And back in the seventies, they didn't have repro steel bodies . It is my desire to put an original ford body on it one day, when funds become available. But it might be a while LOL. I almost got one two years ago, Dan Fink was helping me with advice on wether to bid on it or not, but then I decided to take the plunge with the film and so I needed all my funds to buy the gear and had to forego the body (for now). Most of what's on the deuce otherwise is original, which is cool so once I find a body, I will be in good shape. Rather than dump the kelmark body for a repro steel body, which is still only a repro in the end, I'd rather keep my kelmark body until I finally find an original body. In the event too many years go by and I still can't find one, THEN I'll settle and shlap a repro steel body. Cause ultimately I am not crazy about glass... but you got to start somewhere . Not all of us are born weathly, you know .

7. Original parts on the deuce include: Grill shell and insert, radiator, hood top, dropped axle, 41 ford brakes, Buick finned drums (not 1955 period correct - those are sixties but I love their look), bench seat, 1953 Chevy steering wheel, Guide headlights (yes they are real), ford hubcaps, gas tank (pretty rusty inside ) mid fifties Rochester tri-power set-up and of course frame.

All in all, with my micro budget to buy a 32, I did well .

In fact, I had the honor to meet Alex Xydias last night. It was at the SIDEWINDERS meeting, he was guest speaker. He took a long look at the deuce and walked up to me and said: "that's a really nice roadster you got there". So I guess if the deuce is OK by Alex, it's OK by me. Ron Main played him the film teaser and he really liked it a lot. "That's some very nice footage you have! Your using orchards was a great thing: It is exactely how it was back then in the valley". Alex invited me to film at So Cal Speed Shop, so if we can figure out a time when they are closed thaht I can have the shop to set up the scene in, then it might happen. That would be way cool.

But back to car repair stuff: I asked Gene Winfield if he could teach me how to weld and he said YES. So once I am done filming I will take a workshop, I want to learn to do hammer welding if I can. Sounds like a challenge!

 

Thats it... I love a girl that is good looking has a hot rod and can weld !
Dave

 

I just noticed the "multi quote" feature so it is going to help me speed things up (cause i got shit to do)

1953 chevy steering wheel. I am about to fix the short and will document it and post it here. You'll have to live with the logos though

That's way funny -

Sure Mike, you can get it at NYZ wiring in CA, they have many sizes and it sells by the foot, but they have a minimum length / purchase if I remember right. They ship. There's a trick to them: they'll keep a shape pretty well so in many case all you have to do is cut the length, split it length wise to open up the "tube" and then wrap then around whatever it is you want to hide. works like a charm and they are Ok with heat, just dont let them touch headers or they will catch on fire. (eventually LOL)
To clean up the edges, burn them with a lighter a bit and then smooth them with your fingers. Good to go. Hope this helped.

I agree with you 500%. But by posting this, I can tell that you do not know me at all. Appearences can be deceiving... But that's OK, one day you'll figure me out. Hopefully .

 

It is actually a great home made device that many many have enquired and complimented about: It actually SWINGS UP and hides. So it allows to have a stereo system in a roadster, but "invisible" and when you need to change CD, or service it you simply pull it down.

If you guys would like I can snap photos of it so you can see how it was made. Welding required. Sorry Gene said he won't do it for you .

By the way, looks like I will be on SCTA PATROL duty at the November meet. The veterans are going to show me the ropes. I'm really looking forward to this. So I guess if someone crashes in front of my station I'm gonna have to go SAVE THEM (if artificial recipitation is involved, I'm GO!" LOL )

Ok, talk to you guys later.

 

Period correct u-joints.

Priceless.

 

hey... the Deuce of spades repetition is a bit much...
Its kinda embarassing... or at least I am for you.
what If I put "LOOK AT ME I AM THE TUCK"[tm] in big letters on every pic I posted?

DISCLAIMER: I just drank a iced mocha so I probably shouldnt be posting right now...

you know... for a wine glass the car looks cool... Nice Progress... but...
there sure are a lot of pics of you in it-

all this self promotion is a HUGE turn-off for us single guys... just an FYI. haha.
please tone it down... A LOT... and you'll get along just fine here...

Tuck

 

We ARE getting along fine..........