You mean around the back of the body? I left that factory lip for now. I am going to have a buddy do upholstery for me on the body and I want to see what he prefers before I get rid of the lip. I think rolling the interior fabric over that lip sort of like stock may work. Honestly haven't given it much thought yet. I was busy picking up raw materials and putting a lift up this past weekend so I didn't get any work done on the T. I'll be back on it this week. Engine comes out this weekend to go to the machine shop.
Didn't even realized you had this thread! I've been following you for a bit on YT. Ever thought about doing a walk around of the Sports Poupe? Us Sporte coups guys would LOVE it!
@IronTrap What size tires did you end up going with? Firestones? Im new to the old ford stuff, so far I am about 600 into my 28 A sedan. Been pickin up parts here and there at swaps, looking for the good deals to flip when I can to create extra cash for A parts. Got a body, A frame, front axle, bones, and spindles, and two chevy big blocks that will be sold or traded for a flathead (those motors were a screamin deal) Lots of studying and thinking I am going for approximately same era hot rod. Been following the channel for a few months, some of your videos are going to save my butt when it comes down to replacing the lower 9" of the body. Your builds have been inspiring.
Thanks man, glad you're digging the channel! I am tinkering with the Sport Coupe in between other projects and rarely get to fully focus on it, but here soon I may start making some moves on it. Just been a lot of making panels for it in prep for replacing a LOT of the metal in the back end of the car. I also just got some baby hemi speed equipment for the red ram I'm going to be putting in it. So I'm probably due for an update video! I'll put it on my to-do list. Thanks! Hi Corey, I ended up going with the Excelsior tires as they were a little cheaper and had a cool look to them I thought. I am running 6.50-16's in the rear and 5.50-16's in the front. I didn't want a crazy big tire rake with such a small car. I'm trying to fight the cartoon-y look a lot of T's get when the proportions get all out of wack. This is why a lot of people turn their noses to earlier T's because most go the route of 60's-70's T-bucket show rod. To me what you're describing is the TRUE essence of hot rodding. Today it seems a lot of guys have this idea that it takes huge amount of cash to build something cool. Sure it takes more work/leg work to do it on a shoestring budget, but that's partially what it's all about. Back in the day guys were just trying to pay their bills/live and build a hot rod at the same time. That meant they had to do whatever it took to get the parts/car they wanted. ALL of the old timers I've talked to that "lived it" tell stories of how they swapped/flipped/worked extra hours to get what they needed to put a car together. The only difference is you and I can't just go to the local junkyard and strip a 32 Ford or an early 50's Caddy, Olds, etc for it's drivetrain. We have to work harder to find the stuff, which is half the fun. I think when you build a car that way you appreciate the journey a lot more and the car gives you even more of a satisfaction when done. I always tell people I have a story about EVERY part on my cars because I'm always horse-trading and buying/selling, and scrounging to get them. I definitely like the journey of building a car as much as driving them! Keep it up man, you're figuring out the formula! Last night I started on a new door for the T from scratch. I had a crap night and decided to just toss it in the trash. Need to decide if I want to go at it again or just replace my old doors. I REALLY want to build new doors that are restyled a little, but it is sort of more to challenge myself than anything.. Oh well tomorrow is another day!
Been busy doing small odd jobs to the car the past couple weeks. I made some side filler panels between the body and turtle deck and I finished up the Header to frame braces/mounts. I decided yesterday to whip up a quick steering column brace/mount. It still needs some blending and a quick pass through the blast cabinet, but I think it is a cool, simplistic design. I'm hoping this weekend to get this engine pulled and send it off to the engine builder. Then I can focus on finishing up the rust repair and metal work on the body. I have a semi-unrealistic goal of driving it to the Gasket Goons show in September.. so we'll see!
Thanks guys. Spent the weekend adding more cowl/column bracing so the cowl doesn't flex/move around as much. We also took the motor to the machine shop and dropped another mock-up block in its place so I can make a driveshaft, torque tube, and pedal linkage. I'm also working on some of the last patch panels that the tub needs. Really gonna try and push to get the body ready for body work by the end of this month. I'll be call in some help from friends to have a sanding party once I'm at that point! A photo from last night.
Cutting up radiators to make a silhouette for my radiator guy to add a core to. Model A top tank that we'll add dual water inlets to the backside straight out on each corner. A fill neck will be placed out the back since the grill shell is filled. Then he can add one more outlet on the bottom of the Model B lower tank. I melted the side plates off of the B top tank and he will solder them to the A top tank. I've found this is the best way to do a chopped/sectioned flathead v8 radiator with a 32 grill. The A top tank has the room in the backside to put the dual outlets as the 32 tank is meant to have the inlets coming out of the bottom of the top tank and then the hoses interfere with belts and the upper radiator hoses end up being an S shape or guys use the flex hose which I don't prefer. I also got a bead roller die to make the beads found on the T tubs last week. I began making patches for the lower rear corners of the body. These get welded into the restyled side panels I made and I made the beads taper down to match the curvature of the body. I also shaped up the patches for the back corners as well. I just have to make the patch panel for the back of the tub and I'm almost done the major rust repair on it. I'm really pushing to get moved onto body work on the car in early August.
Sounds like a cool plan, pun not intended but I’ll take it lol. Will it be a pressurized set up or no?
Been busy tying up loose ends and little stuff. Finally took the time to focus on the doors last weekend. I need to do bracing and mount the latches and hinges next. I need to adjust the door jamb/gaps a little where the original sheet metal is tweaked, but overall the doors fit well with a 3/16" gap all around. Full video on the door skin build process coming next week on the channel. Subscribe for a notification when it goes live!
If you had the T column you could run the original gas lever doesn't look like room for a pedal in there
Man. Your really doing a beautiful job. The doors really look nice . Good job. Keep us updated. Bob....
The pedals are all the way down in the first photo. The indent in the tunnel I made allows for a spoon pedal and your toe to operate the throttle like standard. Stuff is a little cramped using the earlier cowl, but I tried to make the best of it. Straightened out the original door hinges and got them attached to the doors. Still need to add additional bracing and mount the door latch, but it's progress. Little video below of it opening on my IG. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmrtC45ngLg/
I decided to skip rushing to get this done for this season and keep building the car to my vision. I recently got both doors I built 99% done. A lot of work to make them latch and hinge smoothly without flexing. I will say I'm super happy with how they latch and shut now. So solid! I'm now on getting stuff like the dash, firewall, and floors/tunnel welded in place. Soon I can separate the body from the frame and start finish welding everything. Custom radiator should be back soon and I'm dropping a Merc crank and 8ba rods off to the engine builder this weekend.
I don't know what I'm more impressed with? Your car & skill or the garage. Awesome! Thanks for posting.
Awesome build Matt, I have been following you on YT for about a year now. Keep up the good work, thanks for inspiring me to build a budget rod of my own! - Kevin
Decided to make the car more solid yesterday. I blew the cowl apart and cleaned the backsides of the panels up, etch primed and rust encapsulated everything and spot welded the cowl sides and firewall to the inner structure/framework. I am going to seam weld the firewall to the cowl top/sides as well so I can blend the welds in and make it look like one piece. I also started butt welding the dash in place. There are still a lot of little pieces I need to patch in. As I've been fixing stuff I find more thin metal under the old "restoration" and I need to cut it out and make a patch for that area; very time consuming. I do finally feel like it's slowly becoming more solid by the week. I think I'm almost ready to pull the body off the frame and start working on all of this nit-picky stuff. I'd like to do bodywork and paint before the real cold weather hits!
Looks awsome Matt, looking forward to the next video. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is one fine little car. When you first started this thread, I was a little dissapointed that you didn't keep this as a tub since there so few out there. However you did an outstanding job building an all metal bucket.
There is seriously nothing I don't love about this car. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Finally got the body off and I've been working on getting some of the metal work a little closer. Lots and lots of little odds and end things to do like welding seams in hidden areas and stuff I jumped over to get the silhouette of the car done. This is the crap that stalls a project but I'm going to try and get a least something small done every evening if I can. My buddy Mike that has been helping me with the car has been working on filling old rivet holes in the frame and getting boxing plate patterns made. Trying to stay productive! Also finally found a local crank grinder so I can get the Merc crank for the engine cleaned up. That has been a saga all unto its own! Got the custom radiator back from Dicks Radiator here in Pottstown. Chris is always down to help with my silly ideas and I think we nailed it. Now to make some radiator hoses/tubing to drop the lower hoses down. Almost want to bolt the grill and radiator on and put the body back on to see it all together for the first time in a while! Some pics for now.
Working on getting the door gaps a little better and refining the metal work a little more. Mindset is changing now that I want to paint it! I'm hoping to be onto sanding filler and primer next month and maybe just maybe paint by the new year. Below are some photos of the current scene at the shop and the radiator mounted up with some formed hoses I found after hours of google searching. Should work pretty well and is a little cleaner than the typical ribbed bendy-hose you usually see.
The Jalopy Journal
