Projects Project Mattitude: the Beginning

Thanks!

Yeah. I'm still trying to figure out where I want it to end up. The ball mount's already been cut off. I've been thinking right under the A-post would be the best spot too but I want to be sure before permanently cutting/welding anything.

You're right, the T spring would drop the rear versus an A spring - however, my rear A spring pack is missing about half the leaves. I think I've only got 4 leaves back there and there's a considerable gap in between the bottom leaf and the spring pack "brace" the U-bolt goes through.. Hence the swap. I scored the T spring last spring but haven't gotten around to swapping it onto the banjo.

Again, thanks for the kind words!

 

Lookin good!

The suspension has drained me. I'm nearing my end, and I will be glad when it's finished. It seems like the rest should be a bit less work.

The stance looks great. What is the height of your from the ground to the bottom of your cross member out front at ride height?

 

looking great matt! one thing though is that I think using a T rear spring as opposed to an A one lowers the car not raises it..... I could be wrong though!
Joe

 

Thanks! I know what you mean.. You chop a top or do some body mod, you see results fast. You do suspension work, you don't see a lot of results right away. I never thought I'd be anxious to start working on the body again. Haha.

I'll have to get that measurement for you tomorrow.

Post from a couple posts up. Thanks!

 

Looking nice Matt!

 

haha I hadn't seen that! its really coming together though!

 

Looking damn good Matt!

 

Hi Matt.Looking good.Like my Grandfather used to say"Slow and sure beats the Hell out of quick and dead".
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Matt, You are doing a great job. Stay focused on the details as you have so far.
My vote (I know this is not "The People's" hot rod) for the bones is near the A post. One reason is if you put it near the cowl you would have 3 large pieces with 3 different angles meeting at almost the same spot. Two frame angles and the wishbone. I think that may be why some frame kickups look broken. Also the longer bone will make the car look longer and lower. I hope I can see it in person when I'm in town in July.

 

my vote is for the A pillar too....

 

Thanks everyone!

I do think they'll be going under the A-post so after I finish up a couple other things on the frame, I'll get started on mating the ends to the frame. Should prevent the "upsweep" from looking too out of place. The hood sides will really help out in that department so the sooner I can get the body solid, the sooner I can make the hood sides work!

 

I can just see you taking off for the first drive and leaving a clanging pile of vice grips and clamps bouncing out of the car as you tear ass out of the driveway. like something straight out of a trosley cartoon haha

 

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you. I measured from the top of the center crossmember to the ground in the middle and it came out to 12.75". From the ground to the top of the frame rail behind the crossmember is about 14". This is with just the frame as a roller and the engine/transmission sitting on it.

 

HA! Not gonna happen, buddy.

 

If you have seen Bill's 29 in the latest issue of Rodders Journal... I think that placement of the radius rods looks great

 

I did note that. While his roadster is on a deuce frame and mine is on an A frame, I do think that's what I'll be doing. They'll go a little past the upsweep in the frame up to underneath the A-posts. That will disguise the upsweep a bit.

I've been making steady progress too, just not updating this thread.

 

This looks cool. Subscribed!

 

you instimatic tease. haha

 

not even a teaser shot?!?! haha

 

Thanks!

Since I found out something real cool and am happy about it, I guess I'll share a little bit with you guys since y'all asked so nicely.

I have the frame upside down right now doing some finishing welding. I also needed to figure out how to resolve my rear wishbone clearance issue. I didn't mock up the rear end with the wishbone in place when I Z'ed the frame. With my luck, naturally, the 'bones don't clear. So I'll be moving them inward slightly then finish welding in the K-member while I have the frame upside down, then I'll flip it back over to do the front 'bones. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with this frame.



This is all I'm sharing with you guys until I do a serious update.

Oh, and that thing that made me happy tonight?



Playing detective, I found out that the numbers (or what's left) stamped on my banjo come out to be "11" and "39 which means if the gears haven't been changed out, I have factory 3.54s. I've had this banjo rear end for 4 or 5 years or so and never had a clue that it had the gears I'd been wanting. Pretty cool, uh?

 

Ya flatlanders have the good gears... In the hill country all you ever seem to find is 4:11's... I believe Zipper said he built all his frames upside down... Easier to work on... Looks like good progress

 

cool!

 

awesome thread man! so cool to see someone else taking a clapped out coupe and making it into a roadster! keep up the great work!

 

What a great project! Just spent a good part of the evening getting up to speed on it. Lots of details I like, narrowed posts, rear deck work, upswept frame and a full hood, I can see the finished car. Look forward to the next update. Bob

 

any updates?

 

Been taking it a bit at a time in between my schoolwork. Not really any major progress just yet. I'll be getting quite a bit of garage time this weekend though.

Check back next week.

 

Keep at it!

A buddy of mine had a buddy of his provide some wise words.

Always be working on something, even if it a tiny little thing, always be working it it a little bit.

This has helped me a lot. Lookin forward to more!

 

I agree with Beau, this is what I do. There is always a little thing that needs to be done, may as well get it out of the way now.

 

Damn, Talk about motivation! I just read this thread from beginning to end and now I cant wait til tomorrow to get out to the garage and g3t back to work on my project

 

it's next week