Projects '29 Model A Roadster - First Hot Rod

It's all in the name: "ROADSTER", not garagester, or parkster...

 

Oh no, I trailered it down there for the sake of time. We only had 3 days and I didn't want to turn a 6 hour drive into 10+. I guess being young and dumb, that kind of trip does sound appealing though.

Absolutely, I have to be honest and admit it has spent some time on a trailer. I'm determined to make that change this year, the weather is getting too nice here to not be in the driver seat of it.

 

I'm awfully close to being up to current day with this, but this one needs some detail. November of each year is when the Memphis Rodders Reunion always happens. Without failure, some of the coolest cars always show up. One for example, was the Tennessee Bo-Weevil that Ray Godman and "Red" Dyer got top eliminator runner up at the '60 US Nationals.



You can see it in this video just after 15:15. As an added bonus, Jack Friend and George Root were also Memphis Rodders and their drop tank rear engine dragster can be seen just after the 9 minute mark.



This is like the Super Bowl of gatherings for us so naturally, my friend and I had to make sure we were there with our cars.



The things that the Memphis Rodders did from the 40's through the 70's make them hometown hero's in our eyes. They helped build and shape hot rodding here in Memphis and kickstart a lot of the performance companies in this area. I still feel honored and that I need to do more to actually earn it but at this reunion, we were invited to become members. Like anyone's natural next step, we decided that our cars needed a club plaque. There were a few original ones floating around between some of the older members and a couple new ones, so we decided to borrow one and make our own.

Now enter the start of our abbreviated adventure into sand casting.

It took some time to figure out the sand, but we finally got a few good ones cast that weren't incredibly porous. This was, and still is, a massive and constant learning experience for us.







I'm stilling playing with how to mount it to the headlight bar but overall, excited is a great way to describe seeing this.



There is only a little more left to get up to current day but I think I can knock it out in one more post. The weather is starting to get nice down here so it's time to really start putting some miles on this car.

 

What an honor! Well done, lads!

 

Yes well done, what an honor this is a great thread, love your attitude & you have a grouse roadster, keep up the great work!

 

Thank you!

Thank you, that means a lot. It's easy to be excited about it when there's great people around to enjoy it with.

 

In January of 2024, we got a nice amount of snow for our area. It was maybe 4"- 6" but it was good and powdery instead of the standard ice and slush we normally have. I've never seen snow like this down here so naturally, I had to see what it was like to drive my roadster in it.



It actually drove much better than I expected, the tires felt like they just cut right through the snow. A trip around the block and an attempt at doing some donuts in our cove was it for the snow journey. I'm a warm weather person so 15 minutes in that weather was good enough for me.

 

Hot rods in the snow can be a blast glad you went out and had some fun

 

In January I got busy with my old C10 that is too new for here, so the roadster had to be put on the back burner. During that time I also got some new front tires and had the front wheels powder coated to match the rear. A few weeks after I bought a new wood kit. I didn't like how light it was so I took a shot at staining wood for the first time. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I need to go back and sand the part numbers off then re-stain it.





I'm really happy with the color and it surprised me how much tighter the body feels after it was put on. I thought I had a close up picture of it on the car but I'll get one this week.

2 weeks ago, I took it to my friends shop and we fixed my drivers door. I owe a thank you to @303racer for schooling me on D nuts and where to get them. We welded up the cracks then buck riveted some new D nuts in the door to replace the stripped out old ones. Before I could clean the wheels or put the door handle back on, I had to get this picture. I love how the car is starting to look.



Now, we're finally up to present day. This is how the car sits now but there is still a ton of work left to do. More updates are to come, but this coming weekend should be a fun one.

 

It was such a fun time, especially waving at neighbors and seeing their faces as I went by.

 

I bet! Car looks great

 

The "tech inspection" was basically the promoter saying he didn't care but the event isn't liable for anything that happens from our dumb decisions. No fault at all to him though, we were basically doing exhibition runs and limited to the half mile. We do plan on going back this year and road tripping the car up there. We'll see what happens.

 

Here is the close up of the wood kit. For the L piece that goes in the quarter, I think I need to make a bracket for it to connect to on the subrail? Has anyone else done something similar? I'm also not too happy with the fitment of it all. Any recommendations or advise is appreciated.



I was originally planning on taking the roadster to an event this past weekend but plans change sometimes. I did still get to cruise it over to help out a friend of mine. He has a new to him '48 Plymouth with a seized engine so we got that yanked out. It's a pretty solid car overall.

 

The roadster had to take the back seat again as life unfortunately gets busy at times. If the worst of my time consuming problems are helping my dad buy his first hot rod project though, I really don't have any "problems" in the grand scheme of things. It's a '28 PU that will be a father/son project and will probably end up as it's own thread on here.

Getting back to the topic of the roadster though, I'm determined to throw some hours at it this week.

 

This past weekend, my friends and I did a short cruise up to Blytheville, AR for the ECTA Spring Fling. The overcast that morning looked questionable and there was a very brief drizzle on the way to breakfast. We ate in Marion, AR then hit the road for Blytheville. The clouds started to clear and it turned into an absolutely beautiful day.



Our route took us down old two-lane highways for the entirety of our 60 mile journey. The scenery, old buildings and absence of traffic was amazing. Unfortunately, a poorly kept stretch of highway completely wasted my front driver side shock 15 minutes into the trip. This limited us to about 50mph but we still made the best of it.



Once we got there, we caught up with some friends and checked out the pits before finding our place near the starting line to spectate. I opted to hang out with my friend in his coupe to get a break from the sun.



My friend talked me into painting some numbers on my car the week prior. I really like it since I got rid of the worn down white walls that were on it. It really helps break up all of the black.

The X is a nod to the old NHRA 4 banger class from the mid 50's. From the little bit I have found, it seems like it was pretty short lived.

After a few hours, we said our goodbyes and made the trek back home. The same stretch of old highway that abused my shock also showed me that my welds and hanger weren't up to par. As we were pulling into the parking lot to regroup then part ways, my exhaust broke.



To top it off, the alternator on my friends '30 coupe got rattled loose and his car wouldn't crank when we initially tried to leave. We found some jumper cables and limped both cars the last 1/2 mile to his shop.



He's nice enough to house my car until I get over there to fix it this week. I'm calling the weekend a total success though; it was a great time with great friends. The car did ~150 miles of driving and made it almost home in almost one piece.

 

Thank you! I like to think it organically came to look that way. The tires, shell and lights were all leftover parts from friends that I was able to get for a good deal and add to the story of it.

I like your idea on the battery. I completely forgot seeing that in your build thread a while back. That does give me an idea that I'll take a shot at.

 

I got my exhaust fixed for it and put a new hanger on it. It isn't my proudest work, but it worked. I'll clean up the welds and hit it with some high temp paint. My mom wanted a ride in the roadster on mothers day so function was the priority over form.



She had a great time and it was a good day to enjoy the outdoors.

 

Earlier this week, I jumped back on my Model B. From what I can see, I think the babbitt and crank are in great condition. The rear and main measured at .003 and the front measured at .002 clearance. I'll have to double check how many shims are on each but from memory, I think there are at least 2.





I did find a couple issues and this leads me to two questions.

Problem #1:
The tappet was completely broken off of this lifter. I do have another set I can pull from another B engine. The cam looked like there was some wear but very minimal scoring.

Does anybody have any recommendations for a cam and lifters for a B engine? I was also told Egge Pistons in CA or Ron's Machine Shop in OH may be able to resurface a set of lifters. I can get the cam reground locally but I'm not set on getting that done either. Just trying to weigh all options.



Problem #2:
To me, it looks like someone previously struggled with getting this main cap off and chipped it with a hammer. Does anybody think I should be concerned about it or will it still seal up okay?

 

I would replace it...

 

The roadster unfortunately had to take the back seat for a while as other things cropped up that needed to take priority. Now that everything is slowing down a bit, I wanted to knock the cobwebs off it. We have a weekly cruise in on Wednesday evenings at our little town square. It was a pretty cool turnout and just nice to get out and enjoy it.





It did leave me with a project though. After about 500-600 miles, the bolts on this bracket gave up. This is now at the top of the to do list.

 

I love your story & the roadster, it's perfect!

As for the rear man cap, if you replace it you will have to re-babbit it, not just that half. it will be very tricky finding another that the white metal is the same size as the one you are removing.

 

Thank you! I really appreciate that. I was afraid of that regarding the babbit.

 

I haven't had much time to work on the car, but I was lucky enough to be able to get it out this past Saturday. Summer Ave. used to be the hot bed for cruising here in Memphis. The story is the same as anywhere else. People would cruise down the strip, hang out in various parking lots, and wait until they heard some guys were racing on some vacant road somewhere.

A few guys were feeling nostalgic and wanted to get a group of old cars back out on Summer again. It was a perfectly warm night to listen to them tell stories and feel nostalgic, and for others like me to get a hint of how they spent their time on nights like these in their youth. It was such a cool experience that I'm glad I could be there for. You just get a special feeling watching a man maybe 3 times my age hammer the throttle and kick the tail end loose on a '33 coupe as he's leaving.

I only took a couple pictures because I was too wrapped up in enjoying the night.





Thankfully by good friend Ben shared his with me to put on here. He gets the credit for these below.











Another friend of mine is a writer/photographer by trade and he was able to get some really great photos of the rest of the cars there. You can check them out on his facebook page here if you're interested.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/K9stunzRKQzCnAPW/

 

I'm fighting what feels like a loop of not being able to make it out to the garage but we'll get back to cool stuff sooner or later. In the meantime, I was able to get a copy of a polaroid my buddy got of us at a cruise in the other night . I'm a fan of the poor quality.

 

A/B lifters are the same...that said, you probably want to upgrade to a modern valve guide/valves and adjustable lifters, I would. Antique Engine Rebuilding has the kits available.
New lifters on old cam can be just fine, I use a High Pressure grease with Zink for assembly lube.
Consider AER insert rods for your engine build...you like to drive your car and it is an upgrade for that.
Also a modification to the oil pump for additional volume and pressurizing the mains.

The rear main is not an issue in my mind...I use 5699 Loctite gasket former to hold the cork gasket on. Trimmed to length and some rare earth magnets to hold it in place. I let it all set up prior to the installation of the oil pan.

PM me and I will go over setting main bearing clearance using aluminum foil....or there are some threads on the Ford Barn that covers it

Good luck

 

Noted on the lifters and assembly lube/grease combo. I'll do some digging on what Antique Engine Rebuilding has.

I found a few threads on the Ford Barn about using foil for the bearing clearance. I'll try that and double check my measurements from before when I used a bore gauge. I'm not sure if it was adequately torqued.

 

It was a simple weekend. No major tasks checked off, no big parts scores, just simple stuff. The idle circuit didn't seem like it was working so that prompted a Friday night cleaning. I slapped it back together with fresh gaskets and it was right back to running like normal again.



Saturday was spent helping a friend with a project and enjoying the weather. We all piled in the hot rods for a lunch break at a local deli. Kwik Chek is a must visit lunch stop in Memphis.

 

Just found your build thread and I really like your progress, will be following from now on.