Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Thank you! It's certainly weathered with the weather here in the City by the Bay.

I have a few updates on the big pieces that I plan to share during a little bit of a slower time around here. The best news? They will all live on!

Thank you so much for the offer. Another H.A.M.B.er has already dropped one in the mail for me, but I'll let you know if there's a need for another. I appreciate it so much!

 

Last night, I had a few tasks that I wanted to take care of. After work, I cleared my schedule, put on my coveralls, and made my way down to the garage. It was unusually warm on the terrace, and in the depths of my soul I could tell that it was going to be a good one.

I could hear crickets in the bushes on the edge of campus, and the families across the street rolled in from their evening bike ride with smiles on their faces. I pushed the car out into the driveway, more complete than ever.

And there it sat, basking in the warm glow of the garage lights. We've seen a lot of this car through the years, but never like this. Note the steering. The stance. The headlights. The headers. I had to take a step back and remind myself that this is what we've been working towards.

 

Work is the operative word there. So, with that, I got down to business. First, I trimmed the steering reinforcement plate. I have some fun ideas for the bolts and washers for final assembly.
Then, I broke out the Dremel and cut down the inner steering column tube to clear the Hudson wheel.

This Dremel has been in my arsenal since about 2007; it's helped me with dozens of 1/25 scale model car projects.
It's a perfect fit!

 

Next, I extracted the bushings from the steering box with the 11:07 p.m. Hammer (TM).
Beat.

With that, I called it a night.

Time for a drive? Glad to see the taillight still works as it should. That's all for tonight. I have a couple of updates from today, but more on those later.

 

Thanks guys! We're moving right along.

On Saturday, I had big things planned. I started off the day by cleaning up the steering shaft and getting it ready to drop in the box. Next, I cleaned the box one final time and got ready for assembly. As I did, I realized that there was some pitting on the upper bearing race.
I knew it wasn't going to work, and a quick conversation with David confirmed it. "Knock it out with a punch," he said. He suggested I find one with a foot on the end, because it's impossible to get at it with a straight punch. Well for the next hour I tried everything I could. I heated and bent an old screwdriver until it resembled a chopper kickstand, but that just bent more when I hit it. I then pulled out the only two punches in my arsenal. I ground down the smaller one to resemble a railroad spike. That seemed to do the trick. Many strategic hits later, the old race popped out. Success!

Using a 23mm socket that also works for Triumph stem bolts, I tapped the new race into position.

 

Unfortunately that's as far as I got this weekend. I did, however, paint the box this morning and lay down some primer on the rest of the components. I'm waiting on my sector shaft bushings, which should be here by the end of the week.

So there you have it. We're all caught up for now. I have some good stuff in the mail heading my way, but more on that later!

 

Thank you, everyone! I like that washer technique. I unfortunately don't have any way to weld it here at the house, but I'll keep that in mind for next time.

It's been uncharacteristically warm here recently, which means perfect painting weather. Over the past two days, I laid down the semi-gloss black on the steering box, plus some extra on a few pieces of hardware.

Also, I received a great care package from @Nobey with the eyelet we were looking for. Thank you again, Rich!

Speaking of care packages, my friend Kerry sent me these incredible additions to my library. Honk! has been a perfect resource for all the little details that will be making their way on to the finished car. Thanks again, Kerry!

 

Last week, I figured I could pick some of the low-hanging fruit as other pieces came together. The lowest, I thought, were the radiator support rods. Due to the grille shell positioning, I need rods that are slightly longer than Model A. I found a set that measured 30.75 that I could trim and make work. Well, when I took them out of the packaging, I was disappointed to see that I was sent the wrong ones.

With any luck, they'll send a new set and we'll be on our way. Time will tell.