Hot Rods Homogenized ‘28 roadster build

I have entirely too much going on right now, and the roadster is suffering for it…but she sure is purty.

 

OUTSTANDING!!

 

Just a little bit of progress…

I blasted my now matching set of wheels…a couple had black paint remnants, there were a few areas of grunge, and none of the oxidation matched. After reading up on how to age them quickly, I decided to just spray them down with vinegar to get the process going and to let them age naturally from here on out.

When I got wheel #3 from Cory, he was a peach a sent me a complete set of vintage American Racing lug nuts to use. They were 7/16 thread and even though this car is Chevy pattern, all the lugs are 1/2”. So I redrilled and tapped the nuts to 1/2”-20 and Bob’s your uncle. I didn’t think too much about my lug nuts until Cory sent me these and I saw the light. They’re perfect for the car.



I also made my attempt to dye the carb bodies. Per an experienced friends advice, I blasted them to remove any oxidation and other stuff, then got them soaking in “Alodine” asap. The stuff they sell now is “Bondene” and probably a little different. I left them in there for over 3 hours all in, and this is what I got. It’s something at least…

 

I found with the alodine it helped to do a couple dipping sessions. Those are looking good though!

 

One day I’ll take pictures of this car outside of my garage and driveway. Been a little under the weather but found some time to get the rest of the wheels swapped out. I’m pretty happy this set came together, it really completed the early ‘60’s package.

 

Sweet. Pure Hot Rod.

 

Man I love this roadster!

 

No major progress. I did collect another pair of matching center caps, so now I have original cast ones all around, no more plastic here.

Sometime last year I spotted this ad in an old magazine for a Covico Golden Mustang steering wheel. I had never seen or heard of it before but I really liked the thought of having one on the car. Well a couple weeks ago I happened to come across one for sale here in the classifieds and had to snag it! Now that I have it I’m not sure if I like it better than my octo-spoked wheel, but they’re easy enough to swap out.

 

well that's pretty cool! did'ja have to pay the full $18?

 

It was a little bit more than that

 

That’s pretty neat, can’t say I’ve seen one before.

 

Thought I would start wiring today…didn’t work out.

Was going to start with the gauge panel. Remembered that the pick guard material I had used was delaminating and I’d need to cut a new one…but it was such a pain in the ass last time. Then remembered I had this vinyl material I had bought for the O/T project and didn’t use. It’s like a black anodized brushed steel, but with a little metallic in it? Anyway…I made sticker inserts! I think it looks ok. Also final installed the textured stainless with some double sided tape.

 

I dig it.

 

Yeah that’s pretty rad

 

Great car

 

Are you selling this thing?

 

It is for sale.

I know a lot of people feel differently but I just don’t care much about actually driving these cars anymore. I enjoy the build and collecting all the perfect parts. The way I see it, the car is built. I’ve been trying to get myself to wrap up everything else it needs to hit the road for the last 6 months, and it just ain’t happening. I don’t like to have a lot of projects sitting around, and I’ve got more now than I ever have before. So putting this on the back burner (again)…no, time to move on. While I want to see this thing in nice paint with real upholstery and a fresh top, I cant afford any of that. It was always going to get sold anyway (I’ve tried already before it was this far along).

 

Send me some info on what’s left to get it road ready

 

The ad is up in the classifieds here

 

Wow! Somebody I can relate to. I too, love to create. Once it's done, time to send it down the road.

 

Hey @Anderson, Check out this screen grab I did. It's in the new Speed & Kulture video on Youtube.
Talk about nailing the period look you were going for.

 

That above roadster is really cool. Almost makes me wish I had stuck with an A grill...almost! I've also had some thoughts of adding a little paint detail to the beltline a cowl checkmark. We'll see if I get around to it.

While the car is still for sale, I have found a little motivation to start wiring. I have all of the wiring run from the tail of the car and the front of the car (including engine stuff) to the dash. Now I have to wire the gauges and finish routing everything, place headlight relays, and wire all the switches and turn signal stuff. Once everything is wired, I will remove and loom the harness before final installation. I'm also adding a megafuse to the alternator circuit, and there's a perfect little spot on the "generator" bracket for it. But the commercially available fuse holder for the megafuse is too big and ugly, so I designed my own and am having it printed. Should be here in a week or so.

 

you having it printed in aluminum?

 

No…would probably be a bad thing for the alternator wiring and fuse to make contact with a solid chunk of metal.

but also it’s in a pretty hidden spot and not worth it to be pretty.

 

well duh. that makes sense.

 

Sorry to see that the car is for sale. Been following the build from Day 1 and was hoping to see pics of the finished car at the Gathering at the ROC. That may still happen but with someone else behind the wheel.
I can understand your situation, working on others cars during the day then coming home to work on your own.

 

Wiring continues. Unfortunately it's looking like my megafuse holder has been lost in transit so I'll have to get another one coming. On the other hand, I had a few better ideas for it since then and have changed the design a little so version 2 should be an improvement.

All thats left is to wire the volt and fuel gauges, all gauge lights, the headlight switch, and the turn signal switch. I installed a 70 amp midi fuse inline from the battery to the fuse panel. I ran all wiring from the back of the car inside the passenger rocker. The panel is easily removable for access should I need to, though I can't imagine why. From there it runs up the passenger A-pillar and along the tank seam to the firewall. Everything going to the dash splits off around the windshield post and will run inside the bottom edge of the dash.






One of my new co-workers, who I have worked with in the past and is one of the best wiring guys I've ever come across had this idea. I split the main strip of the fuse panel to allow a key-on set of fused circuits I'll use for the gauges, coil, and turn signals. Many off the shelf wiring kits do this too, and it's nice to be able to have all the circuits going in/out of the same panel. I have relays for low and high beam headlights and for the horn. I'm using brake light and neutral safety switches located on the pedal assembly.



The flasher holders were the idea of the wiring guy at Race Street who had used these on builds at the shop. They're broom holders! To hold them in place, I tweaked some "trailer wiring" clips and riveted the holders to them. They pop onto the angle thats against the firewall and keep in place pretty well.

 

I also needed a license plate bracket. One complaint I always have with the Hollywood lights is the bracket is usually flat so when you bolt it to the tail panel of a hot rod, the hardware for the license plate is usually hitting the body. I thought I'd make one with a little offset to it so help that problem, and also out of 10ga so I could drill and tap it. But the closest SendCutSend could get the bends together was just under half an inch, so it sticks out pretty far. I'll probably run it as is, but might also do it again but bend it myself.

 

The flasher holders are nice!

 

Couldn't you just section the license plate bracket along the bend offset where it is too wide? You definitely have the ability to do that with ease. It would salvage the purchase cost, plus solve the existing problem without having to make a new one. 60 Special