Projects 27Roadsterguys Roadster Build... (starting from scratch)

Any other clues he gave you? I have what I believe is a 27, and I, like yourself, looked all over the HAMB for a good picture reference.

My drivers side door sill has "Ford" but my passenger side doesn't!
My doors have the larger holes and the post hole on the top pops up about 1/16", as if there was a washer integral to the skin. I can't find any picture references for the sill holes you mention.

 

The door sill clue was the first thing they asked me to look at and since mine didn't have it on either side we quit looking. All I do know is you can seem to buy a "correct" 27 sill plate replacement, so I would guess if you have it on one side, it probably had em' on both sides and someone repaired the side that is missing at some time. You could always call em', they seem pretty knowledgeable. 800-375-6663 and ask for the Model T Tech expert. That's what I did

 

Found this image today. Another way to check. I'm now sure I have a 27. Thought you would like to see this as well to be certain that your 26 has the bump shown.

 

Cool, i'll check that out

 

On 32 Rails I hope?

 

It's going on model A rails

 

I hope you know that your '26 frame is a narrow Model T.

Model A is a larger frame, MFD 1928-1931, and is considered a 'perimeter frame', as its width reaches the 'perimeter' of the body's width.

 

Yeah, going to narrow the Model A frame to the model T width

 

Mine does not have that little door stop bump, but it looks like that portion of the door has been replaced with new metal, I'm just going to go with 1926 since mine has those drill holes where an aluminum door sill plate would of been installed.

 

Call it a 26.5

Got to change your username now

How is the flathead coming along?

 

I'm going to pull the pan off this week, I've been spraying it with more and more penetrating oil and had no luck. I'm guessing I have rusty main or rod bearings or there is rust behind the pistons. I'll know soon though.

Yeah, I'd like to change screen names, but don't know how. I'm gonna try and figure it out though.

 

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday and we decided to build a new frame from 2x3 tubing instead of using my old tired frame. I'm going to go get the tubing later this week.

 

Hi, congratulations on finding such a nice body. With a flathead and that body it's going to be a very nice car. Personally I would keep the model A chassis. A box section chassis is just not the same in my opinion.



I am building a similar car, flathead, 27 T body but mine is on a 32 frame. As I am in the UK I could not easily find a decent body so I am building my own from scratch. Here is a link to my thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=596032


David

 

I hear ya, I wanted to stick with the A frame, but safety was the issue. We found a lot of stress cracks in it, so in the interest of safety we decided to build the box frame instead. I don't want to get this built and have it be a death trap, like most the rat rods I see running around these days.

I'm still thinking about buying new model a boxed frame rails from speedway motors as another option to keep the traditional looks.

 

I'm trying to sort through some stuff for the frame and can't figure out what crossmember/lower radiator suport to put in the front of the frame I build. I like the Model A and 32 front radiators, does it matter which front support I put in or do I need to install a specific year one? I plan to use the
Model T rear frame support/crossmember to keep the back of the frame narrow enough for the 26 roadster body.

 

I figured out the radiator issue and ordered a custom support from Macs for the new frame. It should be here in a week or so.

I also picked up a Ford 9" rear end today off of craigslist for only $75.00! My original gas tank came in the mail today too!

 

Well, I went out in the ol' garage and got after it some more this evening.

I broke out the wrenches and tore most of the engine down to see what I have, the crank looks pretty good (I think it's Ford, not Mercury cuz I don't see any numbers on the front of it). The motor was stuck for two reasons... The first reason was the last cylinder on the drivers side had a piston that the rings broke in... The second problem was the second piston from the front (sorry I don't know my flat head cylinder numbers yet) was so frozen in the cylinder I had to punch a hole in the center of the piston, chip away the portion that holds the rod, the chip away the rest of the piston till it broke loose. Two hours to get it out, but I never whacked the block or cylinder with the hammer

Here's several pictures of the progress so far... I still have the valves and cam in the block, as I don't know how to remove them properly and I'm assuming I need a special valve spring compressor tool...

I'm not sure if the cam is stock or not, it looks sorta pointy to me, I guess I'll know when I get it out.

Here's some of the little ring pieces I found in the oil pan when I took it off.



Just getting started...



Pistons and crank are out...





a shot of the top of the engine with the intake removed.



The Crank...





I have a book coming on how to rebuild this beast, so I should know how to remove the valves and cam soon.

I'm planning to take this block to be magnafluxed and pressure tested as soon as I get the rest of the parts out. Then the plan is to save up and buy a big bore / stroker kit and bump up the C.I.D. to 304

 

I got on the good ol' interweb and found this handy little video on removing valves and figured I'd ad it to my build page in case someone else is doing this.

I got one side of the engines valves out and had to call it quits to go to work. I'll probably work on it some more tonight or tomorrow.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8iGXa9H294

 

Good luck on the valves. Seized guides are a pain in the ass. Check out my 27 t coupe build.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Cool build! I also have a '27 T roadster going together right now.

My '27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t= 734383

 

Actually, I got to thinking (that hurt a little) and the valve was stuck in the guide, but the guide wasn't stuck in the block, so I took a pickle fork and popped the mushroom off the top of the valve then tapped the guide down a little, removed the keeper and slid it out the top. SUCCESS!!!

Compared to the seized piston last night, this was a walk in the park. Last night it took me about 2 hours to tear down the block and pull the first 7 pistons and rods, then it took over 2 hours to get the piston out of the last cylinder. Ahhhh.... the joys of hotrodding

Only 8 more valves to go Then hopefully the camshaft will slide out without any issues.

 

Hey 27Roadsterguy the car you posted for inspiration is truly inspiring. No wonder your doing a T. I've messed with a few of these myself and was going to bring up the bump on the door jamb, but got beaten to it.

I think your going in the right direction with the rectangular tube replica frame. I've gone this route for my A roadster, your motive of safety first is the best approach. Here is a little help to get you started.

http://www.wescottsauto.com/WebCatalog/Tech/FrameDiagram1928-31.pdf

I've complimented Wescott for making this page available to the public, and I'll state it here. If you ever need a product that Wescott stocks I'd recommend buying from them at least once because of the information they make available for free.

You start your frame using 2X4 1/8 wall rectangular tubing if you want an exact Model A replica.

I've gone through the engine dismantling the same way you have, but for a cracked block. Hope yours turns out solid.

Have fun.

 

Thanks for the info and the encouragement. it sucks about your block, keep your fingers crossed for me. I'd hate to think I spent $450 and all this time and energy on a cracked 600 pound boat anchor.

 

Getting ready to hit the sack, I got off work at 3am and came home to work on the engine some more

I got all the Guides out, the cam is out, all the lifters are out... I guess you could say the engine is GUTTED now I'm planning to drop it off at the machine shop tomorrow and get the engine cleaned, magnafluxed, and pressure tested to check for cracks. My fingers and toes are all going to be crossed for a while till I get the results of all my labor.



I'm also going to try to find a good gas tank shop tomorrow to get my "new" 84 year old gas tank cleaned and leak tested and sealed up. I'm going to see if I can get a sending unit installed too, so I can have a functional gas gauge in the car.

Later....

 

Hope that is not a sign. Read post 18.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=647348&highlight=at+snail+pace+in+slow+motion

 

Looking forward to the results from the machine shop. Nail biting times

 

They said about two weeks, they're backed up a little. He did a close visual inspection and said it's one of the best looking cores he's seen in a flathead in a long time and doesn't see any signs of cracks yet. He also said it looks like it's been resurfaced once.

Dropping off the motor...

 

This is cool - your 'idea' of how your roadster should look is just about exactly the same as mine. I am also getting ready to build a 27. Although I am probably going to end up with a glass body, not sure yet. I do have a '50 Merc flathead that supposedly runs, but I think I am going to use an Olds 350 that I have for power instead of the flattie. If I can get it running and it runs good enough, I will probably sell it (the flattie) to help finance the project.

 

Thanks, the whole idea of my build is to build what could of been done in the 1950's with the exception of better brakes, a c-4 automatic and a 9" rear end.

 

So far so good, machine shop has cleaned the block. No signs of cracks yet, magnafluxing soon my fingers are still crossed!!!