Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Sidebar 947: Making the Cut

I’m sitting in a barber shop in Riverside, California, waiting to get a haircut. There are two gentlemen ahead of me, so I figured now would be the perfect time to get this thread up to speed.

Things have been busy with work, but I was able to dig into the rearend project on Friday night.

Using the technique I learned at David’s, I tore down the old spring. Next, I greased the leaves with Lubriplate and transferred the seven-leaf pack onto the new rear.

Sometimes I forget that not everyone works on projects like this on Friday nights here in the city. As I was moving axles, a stranger walked out of the house next door. “What are you doing?” he said with a sense of wonder. “Working on my 1930 Model A to get ready for a race in SoCal next weekend.” He couldn’t believe it. “Can I look at the car?”

As he walked into the garage, the whole scene didn’t seem to register. An old hot rod, seemingly levitating on jack stands, tools, and vintage motorcycles in a neon glow. “Thanks for letting me look,” he said. “I’m going to the liquor store—can I get you anything?” Realizing how much I still had to do, I declined, but thanked him for his generosity.

When he returned, he handed me an ice cold Corona. I thanked him and popped it open. “Cheers my friend!”

By the time I went in for the night, the new rearend was ready for the swap.

 

The following morning, Yama came over and we were ready to rock. I made sure everything was greased, lubricated and that I had the proper gaskets and cotter pins.

David gave me a great tip: use rubber bands to keep the U-joint in place as you roll up the rearend.

Worked like a charm. Thanks to Yama’s help, we had the car back together in no time. As the rain fell, I rolled the roadster out into the cul-de-sac. Even though I was nervous, I was confident in our work. I fired up the engine, let it warm up and clicked it into first. Driving down the terrace, I didn’t hear any grinding or strange noises. “No noise!” I yelled to Yama. He ran down the street and hopped in. From there, we ripped around the Richmond with high rooster tails flying off each tire.

“We’re going to T.R.O.G.! We’re really going!” My face hurt from smiling. We did it. Now, we needed to get the rest of the pieces together.

 

I’m up next at the barber shop, but here’s a sneak peek of the next chapter.

 

I'm back after an incredible weekend. High highs, low lows and stories that I'll be telling for the rest of my life. More updates happening soon. Photo by @Greg McElwain

 

This just in: my full report of The Race of Gentlemen is live on The Jalopy Journal. Click here to check it out.

 

That's the spirit. I haven't even been out to the garage since the race. I'm excited to hit the ground running in the new year!

It was one for the books, that's for sure!

Hahaha you know me—I hardly ever drive this car anywhere! Not in the city, not to go on dates, not to go camping...hahah. In all reality, it would have been so much fun to drive. But Yama needed to get his bike down there and I didn't want to leave him hanging! Don't worry, once I can get a decent flathead in this thing I'm going to be driving everywhere—and hopefully avoiding tow yards.

 

My Jalopy Journal and Ridetech articles covered most of the T.R.O.G. saga. I still have one more print article in the works, but that'll be showing up in the new year. I'm still feeling much like I did in the moment where I took this photo at Flabob: grateful.

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed a new tag topper on the front of the car. David and his late friend Sonny formed a club called the Barnstormers. They asked me to join a while ago, and I felt it would be fitting to have them both with me at the races.

I went for the early high school shop class look. The shape is based off of David's roadster. The brass was free from an estate sale, and the letter stamps are from the 1950s. As you can imagine, the engraver is NOS Craftsman from the '60s. I've never engraved before, but I'm excited to give it another shot sometime down the line.

Click here to see a quick video of the finished product.

 

On Saturday, I made my last trip to Petaluma of the year. The "to-do" list is still as long as ever, but I was more excited to see David and catch up. His project for the day? Build a commuter bicycle. Mine? Get the master cylinder mount figured out.

First, I tried Sean Smith's roadster out for size. David has done some incredible work on this car, including building the Brookville body. Won't be long and we'll be taking this same shot in my A-V8.

Naturally, the bolt holes for the master fall where there are already holes in the '32 frame. I cut out this little plate that I'll be welding into position.

I also notched the K-member for the clutch pedal.

David got his $0 commuter put together and ready for a ride around the parking lot!

After being away from this thing for so long, I took a moment to appreciate all the hard work we've put in on it over the course of the past year. All the parts hunting, all the parts that were wrong that we made right, everything.

This is a special car. We're going to find the right engine, swap that body on and get it on the road in 2023.