I started building this 1927 T coupe earlier this year and decided that I should start a build thread for it. I've done quite a bit this year, so there's a little catching up to do. I bought this coupe something like 5 years ago. When I had it then I build the chassis, fixed the bad rust, and started making a floor. I was also building my '40 at the time and needed money to finish that project, so the T had to go. I was able to sell it to a friend, which was enough to fund the final stretch of getting my '40 on the street. Fast forward a couple years and thousands of miles on the '40. I was able to buy the T back and my friend hadn't done much to it, so the project pretty much picked up right where it left off. My dad came up with the name Gimme T because a lot of the parts are just coming from piles and boxes of parts that he has accrued over the years. Other parts came from friends, I actually got the frame for disassembling a model a pickup for a friend. Here are some pictures of the first part of the build before I sold it. So, here it is. The Gimme T build thread.
When I bought it back, it came with an olds that I tried to stuff in the T. Things just weren't lining up , so I went back to the sbc muncie combo. Once the engine was mounted back up the body went to the blaster, the firewall got replaced with thicker material, and I got ready for the chop.
So onto the chop! I had trouble with the tops of the doors, so I studied the bad news t build and saw that they had to widen the whole top of the doors. I don't know how other guys do it, but I couldn't see any other way to make the doors fit right. We took some pictures with my dad standing next to it. He got into a fight with a cutting wheel that day, so these pictures were taken when we got back from urgent care. After the chop I moved onto fixing the rust and replacing the body support where I cut it out for the rear axle. After I got that back panel in I couldn't help but try out tail light ideas. I think this is what I'll be going with.
After the chop, I got the floor structure built. Got the windshield header chopped down and welded in. Then I got the whole body in primer so it wouldn't rust. After that it sat for a bit while I worked on other stuff. I'd piddle on it here and there and I fixed/chopped my grille shell. ( another Gimme part which my dad has had hanging on the wall for who knows how long) The radiator is one of the speedway chopped ones. Got that off craigslist for $100. It came out of an american graffiti replica.
Now we're pretty much up to date. What I've been working on lately is the frame horn treatment. Apparently model A horns are more desirable from the research I've done on here. We had a pair of aftermarket 32 frame horns, and I actually prefer that look. So I started heavily chopping them up. I had to change the shape to make them fit the width of a model a crossmember. I also finished the grill shell at this point. Yes, the radiator is in front of the crossmember. It was either that, or have it sticking 5 inches above the cowl, so I chose to have it in front of the crossmember. Another problem I ran into was that I wanted a straight spreader bar (verses a V), BUT I wanted it all the way forward like a V-bar. Apparently no one makes that?! So I turned some ends, bought a polished tube from the scrap area of my local metal supplier and welded them together. This was my first time welding stainless with tig, and it came out good enough. It only cost me about $10.00 too, so you can't beat that.
Last one for the night, just wanted to get a caught up. Once I got the frame horns all welded up and the stainless bar made I finished off the frame horns with drilled boxing plates. Then I drilled the outside of them. Then to clean them up a bit I put a cap on the ends. The bar gets put in under the frame rather than in the front now. Then today I mocked up the radiator mounts just to get an idea of what it all looks like together. That's it for now, I'll hopefully have more updates soon.
I'm so subscribed! What size wheels and tires are you running? Like the chop, can you sit in it with out sticking true the roof? I like yours better! What's the plan paint wise?
The wheels are 15". I'm not positive what size the tires are, but I need to get taller ones like the tires on the orange rims. I can actually sit in it and not be sticking up, and I'll be making a seat that's probably about 2" high and sits directly on the floor. I still have no idea for paint. It's either going to be 60s showcar metalflake, or maybe I'll go more traditional hot rod with a black frame and maybe Washington blue body. But I really don't know!
I've been busy helping my dad with another car, overtime, and house maintanence, but I was actually able to get something done on my own car today. I got the rear section of the floor made, and added a small tunnel on the cross brace because I raised the engine another 1/2 inch. If the weather isn't too bad tomorrow I'm going to try and get at least some of the front section done.
Here is some more progress I made this weekend. I got the front floor all made, but then realized that I had the linkage on the muncie upside down. Oops. So now I'm going to get the shifter boot all attached and then add a piece from the kicker to the boot box. It looks like my gas pedal wont have to go on top of the tunnel though, so that's a win.
The seats on the floor actually end up being pretty comfortable. Here are the seats in my coupe Keep in mind that my coupe is channeled over the frame about 4 inches or so. The engine sits about 6 inches higher than most installs. The channel and the raising of the engine means a much higher trans tunnel than what you are doing
Nearly 2 years later I feel like I should revive this thread, haha. I'm just about done painting a Deuce for a friend and I feel like the T will finally get done soon. It's been a slow build, but between jobs I've gotten a few things done. Highlights would be, -Visor (no idea what it is off of, had to widen it) -Headers -Seat -Floor finished -Dash installed with gauge panel - Cowl vent filled -Starting to rough in the body work on panels -Trunk lid and panel above trunk lid (Almost finished) -A lot of miscellaneous other little things Hopefully I can get some real progress going on this thing soon.
Here are the deck lid build pictures too. This is the first time attempting to build something like this from flat sheet, and I'm very happy with how it came out.
Great job! It's funny how quick time passes on a build sometimes. We both kinda did the deck lids in the same fashion. Great workmanship and enjoy your build. Good luck!
Great build. Don't know how I missed this. Subscribed as I am building one similar and can use all the help I can get.
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