Projects 1920 T Roadster Build Thread

I love this build. T's are my favorite, and early style roadsters with turtle decks are the coolest.

 

honestly, do not use shocks like that. the car is just not heavy enough to actuate them. wrap the springs in friction tape, and you may find that is all you need. build looks great.

 

That's quite the change.
Looks a little easier on the Dakota.

Jeff

 

That's the most interesting thing I've read in weeks. Is this why Ts didn't have shocks from the factory? I figured it was a low-speed thing.

When you say "wrap the springs", do you mean the entire spring pack, or the individual leaves?

Thanks for the tidbit, FB!

-Dave

 

wrap the whole pack in friction tape, the brown stuff electricians use. go around twice. on cars with rear ends as light as a T roadster, it does not take very much to keep the rear end under control. my gut feeling is that the amount of "absorbtion" provided by those 2 chevy shocks will make the ass end of the car bounce around, be super skitish, and very tail happy. I imagine that he is going to cut the spring pack down anyways and have them rearched for clearance. Once that is done, remove the second to the LARGEST spring leaf, this will help soften the suspension, which will make it ride nicer.

 

Wow, thanks so so so much guys. I do appreciate it. I haven't dug into anything else too much yet. I ordered a few things like a couple special tools and some consumables so I can thrash once life settles down after Bonneville and the following week's canyoneering trip. I do think about it every day which is making me increasingly antsy to get back on it.

There was a ton of consideration and reconsideration with running shocks and for the moment I'm more tilted toward running them. If these shocks were gas, there'd be no way I'd run them but being that they're oil and MUCH softer than my stock A Houdaille shocks, I feel pretty good about it.

The spring that's in there is the mock spring. A new, softer, pack is going to be made. It'll most likely be wrapped with leather, twine, or tape like some of the Indy cars of the era.

What has made me relax about the shocks working successfully or not is when I was towing it home. Whenever I hit a bump or expansion joint I'd watch the car unload and squat/rebound and settle right into place. Granted, it was only on a trailer and was strapped in but the suspension was free to do its business.

I'm glad you posted that up, Fur Buscuit, because you put into words how I was thinking AND if it happens at all when this car is roadworthy, the shocks will be replaced with an alternative. The only area I do disagree with you, is not having anything. I'd prefer to have something to dampen/absorb the shock... it's just tough to tell how it'll react with the spring that's currently in it.

Remington's car had shocks and my rear suspension is very much based on his (and Webb's) set-up. The only difference will be he ran 16" wheels versus my running 21", yet another reason I'm looking to absorb some shock.

 

Also, a couple other things I took into consideration, let me know what you think.

It's running all Model A running gear and a TT frame which has significant weight and modifications over the stock T and T frame. Plus, the weight of the fuel tank and battery is now closer to the rear axle. Both are just forward of it.

Hypothetically, the rear end of the car is now heavier than a stock A would be and certainly heavier than a stock T.

 

Brent,

The mockup looks great! Don't know if anyone's asked this yet- how much distance do you have from the drain plug in the oil pan to the ground?

Thanks, Bill

 

Not enough! Hahaha. The car is going to sit about an inch higher than at this stage. That's with un-reversing the spring eyes.

I had measured it but I've forgotten the distance. The ball cup mount area is too low at this point. That is what rubbed when putting in on (and taking it off) the trailer. At this point it's still below the scrub line and it's likely an inch will get it close with 21" rims.

If not, then I may try a reverse eyed stock arch Model A spring. The rear spring is custom and I'll keep it reverse eyed, in case I need to bring that up in the future there'll be room for adjustments.

 

Cool build

Looks like it will be an incredibly fun car when you get it all put together.

 

Great looking build...

 

Thanks guys. Life has been pretty busy so there's not too much to report as far as progress. However, a HAMBer (BCChopit), sent me over a spy pics of an intake flange for my intake. We've got something pretty cool coming up...

He'll take your requests for banger intakes and such... just PM him. Thanks, Bill, can't wait to see more!

 

Brent, Those are some super clean and neat flanges you have there. Is my banger knowledge right in that there were two intake flanges? Haven't played with the "A" mill I have yet. Loving the parts you can use on them. Real neat way to celebrate this part of Hop Up history.

 

Thanks for the compliment and, yes, there are two flanges/ports on the A engine.

A tiny update, I started pulling the car apart. The body has a some issues to be tended to, as well as a few modifications I'd like to make. It's going to Salt Flats Speed Shop (where my coupe was) to get the metalwork done.





The area where the wood ("rail") tack strips would be around the top of the body will get a piece of sheet metal mimicking the door top (and the area across from it on the driver's side). This is going to accomplish a few things. It'll ad some strength to the body, provide a better area for the wood kit I am fabricating, and a neat/clean area to secure my saddle leather interior.





Also, Chris is going to fabricate a patch panel to replace this area. In the rear corners of this body there are some pin holes that will also be attended to. He's got a lot going on for the next few weeks, so, it'll be a little bit before I am updating progress on the body and it'll give me time to get the chassis squared away, too.



I stopped for fuel with this in the back of the truck and some guy referred to it as a "sleigh." I thought that was pretty funny.

 

Chris like Salt Flat Speed shop? Enough said, it'll be awesome.

 

Ha... I should have said that (edited to fix). Yes, it's not a lot of stuff but he's got the tools and talent to knock it out with ease. Plus, since it's easy stuff I can keep to my budget.

 

Brent, Good update. Looking forward to what you will be doing getting ready to detail out the frame and drivetrain. I am really liking the current color on the wheels. Has an old feel to it.

 

I hope you corrected him. That's plainly a dune buggy.

-Dave

 

You know, I didn't correct him. I was satisfied with him thinking he just saw a guy with a sleigh...

 

All it needed was some bells!

 

Here's the latest on the T. I took full advantage of the three-day weekend and set out to get a long list of things done. On Saturday, I spent the better part of the day chasing down materials and running other errands related to this project. I dropped my frame off to the place that had blasted my coupe and picked up sand for my own at-home sandblasting project. A task that I soon won't forget.

Anyhow, here are some pics... clean ones. Sorry I have no grimy, dusty photos, just take my word that it's a super super messy job. I have a new-found respect for blasters.







When I was waiting for my too-small air tank to refill I cleaned up a bunch of parts. Aside from the front bones, most of the other chassis stuff is ready for finishing.

 

After two days of a dusty, cuss-filled fight, here's the body ready for metalwork.













This section is getting a new patch panel made.



The same goes for this pinhole-filled area.

The body looks a heck of a lot better though, huh?

 

Awesome Brent! I've been itchin' for an update. Rock on!

 

This is a super awesome build! Good work!

 

Here are some detail shots of the frame and some stuff that was done after I broke down the car.





I popped some holes in the back boxing plate to make it easier to keep it clean... plus it looks cool.



I trimmed off the ends of the rear cross-member where it interfered with the how the turtle deck will mount.



I blended the weld. Not to worry, there'll be a full bead in the seam below.



I made some notch pieces (out of remaining T frame steel). This is roughly where they'll be cut in. The headlight mounts will be welded right above this. I'll have this stuff ready to rock by the weekend.



I wrapped the rod end balls in electrical tape so they wouldn't get damaged by the sand.








That's it for now. I've got some other stuff waiting in the wings, the intake is nearly finished, the 21" wheels are getting blasted, the color is chosen (but not yet ordered), and the fuel system (very cool) is all figured and I have all but the tank squared away.

 

Badass frame you have there. When I used a TT under mine everyone thought I was an idiot.

 

Lookin' good! Brave soul, I would have never sandblasted that body myself... Did too much of that as a teenager working in shops many years ago. I do remember what silicosis feels like!

 

Well then, Skip, I'm an idiot too... hahaha... I stole a bunch of ideas from your car.

Dude... no more blasting for me. It's not what it's cracked up to be. I couldn't have the blaster do the body though, with the pressure that's used vs. the body not having any support (wood frame, etc.), it would have gotten trashed.

 

Thanks, fellas, I appreciate it. I'm learning a ton as I delve deeper into this thing.

 

Freakin' groovy, Brent! Looks awesome...