Projects My '26 Roadster / Vintage photo search

UPDATE:
A new heart for the beast: Part Deux!

On Saturday morn, my brother and I left the hotel (where we were staying for the wedding we had come to Spokane for) and headed over to the Antique Auto Ranch to pick up the new engine for the roadster. We followed our directions to the industrial side of town to find a small shop (consisting of several older buildings and garages joined together) creating a delightfully awesome shop full of old engines, tools and parts EVERYWHERE!

Tom and Mike both met us as entered and Mike gave us the grand tour...including the awesome "wrecking yard" out back....Here is a taste








After the tour, we headed back into the shop to get my new motor. $2,400 later (Sooo...worth it ) we were on the road headed back to the hotel. Her is what we brought home:

The Short Block:


The Underside:


The new bearings and balanced rods with oil "dippers" (for added oiling to the rods):


The new vales (289/302 SB Ford) with new hardened Stainless Steel seats:


The bottom side of the valves with new modern style keepers:


The new Pistons....yeah, those stamping mean what ya think they do


The rebuilt transmission:


I also received my new carburetors on Monday. I have been asking around on the H.A.M.B. as to the type of carbs I should use and if the pair of 97's I had intended to use would be too much. No matter who I talked to, I always got the same answer..."Go for a pair of 81's, you'll be better off"

So I got in contact with Uncle Max here on the H.A.M.B. who specializes in Stromberg 48 , 97 and 81's and does AMAZING work! He was kind enough to custom build a set of 81's for this motor. Monday they appeared on my desk at work:





That concludes this update, but there shall be more to come as we tear into the roadster to install her new "Heart" .....Stay tuned!

Clayton - Mr.ModelT
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GORGEOUS!!!

Did you two eat a meal off of that engine?.. looks like you could

 

We certainly could have, it is clean enough to do so! So are the carbs for that matter Tom and Mike did a FABULOUS job and I am super excited to get it all assembled, in the car and fired up!

 

Holy monster Flivver engine, Henry! I love it. Good work, sir.

You need to come to Michigan, and stand in the room where that engine was designed. It's a religious experience.

-Dave

 

Looking great Clayton! I think this car should be a BLAST to drive! Keep us updated!

andy

 

..Why did I have flash backs of Adam West and Burt Ward as I read that?

I really want to drive my T "home" to Dearborn and visit the birth place of "Tin Lizzie" ...That and The Highland Park Plant.

That is exactly what I'm hoping for....this new motor to have a LOT of pep and really move my roadster down the road!

 

You'll have to come a little further east. Lizzie was designed and first built in the Piquette Avenue plant in the City of Detroit where the N, R, and S were built.

-Dave

 

Ya know......I do know my Model T history Dave lol!

I would like to actually see both, as both are very important the the T.

 

MrModelT...WOW! That motor of your's looks brilliant! I think you got way more than you paid for. This is going to bring you years of fun. How stoked you must have been when you saw it for the first time. So clean, So ready to go. Such a shame we have to bolt them up and gettem greasy. They look so fantastic when their at this stage.

80 Over!?! Wow, I cant wait to hear that thing come to life w/ thoes dream boat 81's.

What a package! We can see your smile from here dude.

 

Some dude in a button up shirt, and then some freekin' pornographic stuff!! You should change your HAMB name to "Clayton the pimp"

P.S. I love the close ups.

 

Thanks man! Tom and Mike at the AAR sure did a nice job.

That is right, .080 over bore Mike said that when they set her up on the boring bar, .030 wouldn't even touch the walls.....so they set it up for .060 and that would barely kiss the walls....so they took it to .080, had Egge make up some pistons and called it good

Those 81's are completely custom built for my car by Uncle Max here on the H.A.M.B. His carburetors are truly works of art...I will certainly be having him restore the special 97's from my Grandfather's AV8!

...You know me, that's how I roll! I do have a knack for this kinda thing, but I thought my current screen name is perfectly fitting.

 

Fine. MrModelT it is

 

Awesome ride you've got there!!!!

 

*UPDATE*
A little paint...and little blasting...and some Model A bones

Well, not a whole lot to report right now except that the new short block is now in color!.....Red of course, like it's predecessor.



I also bead blasted the Burns intake and picked up a fairly complete Model A front axle for parts (courtesy of fellow H.A.M.B.er North Portland Custom) ...as I intend to put the Model A wishbone to work as a replacement for the Laural lowering brackets currently on my car.





The Laural brackets don't allow the front suspension to flex much...at all really so as part of the "Bonneville Build up" I am taking the time to completely redesign the front end with a new Model A split wishbone style setup.

More to come!
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Looking great Clayton! Now, to hear this girl run!

Trip is getting closer! Can't wait!

Andy

 

Clayton ... first of all you have an awesome T. Bet ya heard that before huh?

A suggestion concerning your A front axle set-up. I have a '21 rdstr body on a basiclly A frame. The front crossmember is a T rear crossmember with a bulldog spring perch.

The problem is I only have about 1" between the frame and the A tie rod. I picked up a pair of '32 spindles to replace the A spindles this weekend. The later spindles have the tie rod arms off the bottom king pin boss, lowering the tie rod under the wishbones as apposed to over the top as the A dose .With the "Z" bar spring mount you have on your T I think you'll run into the same problem.

Ron

 

Ron,

...I've heard that once or twice

This is very true...which is why I will be retaining the stock T front axle and spindles. Much like the '32 Ford, the Model T tie rod arms also mount to the bottom of the spindle boss. The only things I plan to keep from the Model A setup are the wishbones, tie rod arms and tie rod.

I want to keep the front suspension mostly T...but also want to beef it up with the Model A tie rod/parts for safety.

 

It certainly is!

...I can't wait to hear this thing either.....I just hope it runs!

 

Love this.

 

Thank you Cactus ....I just hope it turns out as well as I envision it..and that it all works right! lol!

 

*UPDATE*
.....IT BEGINS!....

As much as I hated to do it.....I started pulling the roadster apart last night ....in preparation for the Bonneville rebuild and new engine!

Here are some pics from the "party"...







The new pan....painted and ready!


More to come....stay tuned!
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That is an awesome picture. Turn it grayscale and it could pass for something off Shorpy. And I love how badass the roadster looks even stripped down like that.

By the way, I shorted you with my last e-mail. I've been meaning to write a longer tome, but I seem to be without time lately. Expect to hear from me in the intermediate/near future. :lol:

-Dave

 

MMT ala shorpys
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NOW YOU DID IT !!! Great update Clayton.

Now that the rainy season is hear, I'll be getting my T in the shop for a little lovin' too. Nothing like you're doing though.

cheers, Gary

 

Whoa! I've been away too long! I've been seeing updates in my email but haven't had the opportunity to go through the thread. VERY COOL, Clayton, good work. This is going to be a stout rig.

I would have said all the new work (save for the engine upgrades) wouldn't be needed... Gary drove his all over on his way to B-ville, I'm sure you'd be able to do the same. However, I like the axle change-over. I'll be sure to pay attention now.

 

Thanks Dave! ...I will certainly be looking forward to your email.

Nice work Jim

I've TOTALLY done it now! ....I'm committed My 'ol T has been needing this kinda "love" for a few years now.

The way I see it, if I'm gonna drive 1,500 miles in this thing...it better be up to par. There are a few things that I have never been happy with, so I'm changing them while I'm at it.

The T front axle is staying.....just changing out the 'bones and the lowering method.

 

*UPDATE*
Demolition continues...

As painful as it is, I continued my disassembly of the roadster Saturday with removing the body and getting the car taken down to a bare chassis....a state that the car has not been in for 6 years

..But we all have to think positive...it's for a good cause

Here are the visuals:









After 40 more minutes, the body was off...




The body on it's new stands. Bill used these 5 foot tall saw houses for painting for years. Saturday I widened them by 19" to allow the chassis to roll under them.


And the final package: It's new storage situation while the chassis is being rebuilt.


...All in a days work

Stay tuned for more!
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YEAH! Dude your into it now. Good job. I bet it does feel really creepy taking apart something that has worked so good for you. HOWEVER, you did it once and this time your going to do it even better! You wont loose any of that killer patina, and you'll have a chance to make thoes improovments which were bugging you.

Killer man, this is going to be awesome.

 

It does feel REALLY creepy, but the end result will certainly be worth the effort!

*UPDATE*
...More Demolition....

I continued on the disassembly of the roadster this weekend. With the help of my lovely girlfriend, we got the chassis pretty much stripped. Just the suspension remains. Here are the visuals from this weekends exploits:


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My girlfriend Julia even got into the fun....and had a great time!











I did find some damage to the Chicago overdrive which I will need to fix. I will do a post on that next time as I pull it apart.

I also wanted to post up a few pictures from a photo session with Julia and her boys. One of her good friends is a Pro-photographer and is always looking for models to expand her portfolio, and she cut us a great deal

Here are a few:

Caleb, Andrew and Jonah reading my vintage Car Craft mags




Julia and I...


Caleb, the youngest at the wheel







Andrew, the oldest waiting for a ride..


"We might be out of gas"


Awwwww!


More to come later, stay tuned!

Clayton

 

So cool... I have a feeling if you left those boys alone with the T long enough they could get into some real fun, err... trouble with that thing. Great photos, man.