Projects 28 MODEL A ROADSTER, A BANGER POWERED PROJECT

You know how sometimes you find that weird part that you need even though you didn’t know it before you found it? Well, I have several of those things kicking around, and one day a year or so ago, they gelled in my brain as parts of the same car. I had a really cool Model A frame that I got years ago from my buddy @Preacher (RIP Eric, miss you, buddy) that has a Tardel style step, and filled frame horns. I also had a spare rough 34 x-member. One day at a swap meet I got a pair of cool 7.50x19 Lincoln tires from my buddy @adam401. And, I had the B motor out of the Sachem Model T TROG racer and a super nice B trans.

There’s a lot more, but I am sure you can see where this is headed. I’d been working on putting the 34 X in the A frame for a while this summer when my buddy @Pete decided to let go of a collection of 28 roadster parts that he’d collected a long time ago. I wasn’t planning to have to build a body this time around. I had foolishly convinced myself that I’d just wait for a nice complete body to come around. Of course, those things never really materialize until you’ve blown all your money on a pile of parts. So, I blew all my money on a pile of parts. And I’ve been plugging away at making that pile into a proper hot rod. Initial photo dump of the process so far follows. More to come as progress is made.

6CCEC364-BC2C-49DD-8119-9FD18CF4D7A2 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

AA467B9B-222B-42DC-8F3A-16085871979F by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

82F5B96E-2FD9-45C7-9CE3-0524CBDBA887 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

83E32068-FADF-4F44-8CEE-9E223C5BAE76 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

2EBFE255-CE17-4A7A-8429-6E2CA377C9C0 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

CE24EB5C-078A-49AF-98C4-05A3BEFED899 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

3DF88EF8-E4B8-4B1F-89A0-691C71735CDF by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

07A974E7-F624-4272-9A1C-AF750612CD05 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:05 PM

31CF05F2-E673-4C17-9CAA-CB2B9C7B8D75 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

DC927E23-1E09-4D9C-9CA1-77EAD026F1B6 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

A7334CBA-3F72-49F4-B8C5-E80109976C5A by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

9697B40A-FFEB-4C8E-99B2-F69600FDA31B by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

B86D9D6F-2A84-4D4C-A329-CC6E6245BBFD by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

 

the body parts as when Pete dropped them off:

D9336423-2EA6-40FB-8F34-2039166C98B2 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

working on the heavy rear crossmember i got from my buddy Mike. it was for a sedan, so i had to reshape it a little bit:

F9525CB1-35E0-480B-AC1E-344984B5969C by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

5D8D5760-A3C8-42CB-87C4-A0080344D541 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

cleaning up the cowl feet, and straightening the A pillars:

93D54324-6AB0-4CBE-B7BA-E4EE690A888B by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:00 PM

90465E2D-70C7-4E38-86F5-7419DDFD80F1 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

5BAB567A-329E-4274-AD3F-0CA98061E112 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

cowl coming together. i am using 1x3 rectangular tubing for the main subrails:

61FC0396-CA6D-41C0-B2E0-D0AB79893043 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

A54AAC90-8151-4691-A04C-304DDD6C0B9C by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

mocking up the rear half, and picked up a decent decklid. it revealed to me that i have a coupe panel below the decklid. so i need to get one for a roadster. they are about 1 1/2 inches taller:

3E26A5DE-9014-4163-95A5-2E440E9E9A3A by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

8A39747E-E0B9-40AD-A0BC-CC329B0B6A2B by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

337B4452-2B6D-4B15-BDD9-09AB59A793B5 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

98FDF884-39D5-4F22-82E7-744F77C3201C by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 11:59 AM

cleaning up windshield posts:

EEFA52D9-E4C2-4F00-8B7E-E8E71C645E77 by general gow posted Oct 23, 2020 at 12:02 PM

i might try my hand at nickel plating with the posts. i just need to find a bath big enough for the windshield frame. no pics of that yet, but it's pretty nice.

one thing i do need is a nice driver side inner door. or a nice pair of inner doors. or a nice pair of doors. or new brookville doors. i'm not picky. i just want to work with nice stuff. i think i'll turn my attention to chassis assembly while i work out how to handle my door problems and track down parts.

 

I got sick of looking at those tires in the corner, so I decided I had to build a car for them. Ha!

 

Man I really let this thread go. I also kinda let the project go for a while too. But I am back on it with a fierce vengeance. Been collecting parts and doing some work. Ready to do another deep dive so I can be driving it next summer. Got some new doors and other small parts on order with @cball at Millworks. Got a nice hood and radiator in NH from my new buddy Tebo Barn. Got a new pair of front tires from him too. Some fiddly small parts finally showed up for the chassis, and I think I have everything I need to make it a roller, and then I can swing the engine and trans in and finish up the engine mount arrangment. So watch here for some more progress in the near future.

 

Back on this one again, after a long break. C’est la vie. I bought some new Brookville doors and a set of subrails from Millworks Hot Rods and that simplified the assembly process from what I originally planned to do. I built a platform for the top of the body dolly that is flat and level and laid everything out. picking away slowly over the last few days as I am on spring break for a couple weeks. But, I am also getting prepped for an exhibition of new paintings coming up at the beginning of April. So I am a bit divided in my attention, as always.

Since I worked on this last, I have also totally revamped the workshop and gotten myself out of the little garage. Believe it or not, we actually park daily drivers in there now. I know, crazy talk. But it's a really lovely little upgrade. A clean workshop is a nice upgrade too.

Anyway, today I drilled out the old hinge hardware on the A pillars, and got the new doors and hinges mocked up on it. Pretty good progress for a morning's work.

 

Today’s progress included getting the old hinges removed from the A pillars, the doors mounted to the cowl with new hinges, the tulip panel and panel below deck lid bolted in, and the deck lid freed of its old crusty hinges and new ones installed. Decent progress for a day.

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