Projects Model T roadster on Model A chassis

The speedway windshield was a PITA for me. Pretty sure I mounted mine too high but I sent it anyway. Looking good!

 

I'm not the only one then... Before I do anything else to mine I'm going to see what the top header looks like. I'm concerned looking at the posts that if I drop the windshield down there will be a big gap between it and the top. Will mess with that today.

 

Wish I had the welder at home. I need to weld the tops of the stanchions on so I can see exactly where to put the brackets on the header. Once I have those located I just need to slide the hinges down the middle bow & cut the excess off and trim the rear bow, then this top frame will be ready for material.

 

Wood bows soaking in oil. I think they will revive pretty nice. I must have pulled 400 nails out of them...

 

As an aside, I have had this top frame kicking around for years. It goes right on the car and looks like it will work fine, but I think it is like a brass-era runabout top and not anything from the twenties. These are 1913/1914 cars.




Cut down, I actually think this will give me more headroom than this generation's correct top and might even look better on the truck body than the twenties tops would.



The 26/27 top has very different geometry.

 

Assorted pictures of today's progress.



Got the stanchions welded, brackets on the header relocated, and the front verticals trimmed where I want them. They are coming to work with me tomorrow so I can puzzle out a way to get the wood out of them or at least get enough out of the way to slide the bows in.

Looks like it might be really hard to get in and out but somehow ducking under the top forces my body to twist in a way that made it easier to slide in.

 

Got the wood cores on the metal bits knocked out enough to fit the bows in. I was gonna put the top together today, but it's honestly just so humid I couldn't stand to be outside anymore after being in it all day at work. 96 degrees out and so humid there was thick fog in the air in full direct sunlight. But soon.

Anyway, this means I'm going to have to figure out how to make the wood tack strip that goes around the rear of the bucket. I have no idea how to bend wood. Is this feasible to do at home? Is there a cheat? I can buy this wood but it's $200-280 depending on source and if my experience with Model A wood is anything to go by, it won't fit anyway.

I feel like this particular piece of wood is pretty thin. Maybe I could clamp it at one end and attack it with a steam cleaner to pull it around into shape? Then bolt it all down tight and sand it to a nice finish.

 

I'm sure there are tutorials online, and may be a thread or two, but if you want the real deal, PM this guy. Here's currently active on this and a woodie build.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/building-a-copy-of-a-50s-wood-row-boat.1333359/

 

If the tack strip is going to be upholstered you could possibly use something like nylon bar stock

 

I'd be temped to buy a 1/2 plywood sheet, cut it out, soak it in water and screw it down, but that ain't right. Talk to the guy I mentioned.

 

Easy way to make curved wood parts is a stack of thin 1/8" strips glued together. Its stronger too. Just get the body or top bow to the shape you want, then glue the next layer on. Nothing has to fit perfect, only the shape of the curve matters and in the end you will sand to get the final shape. Just be sure you are happy with the shape of the curve because after a couple layers have been glued it wont move.

 

This was my thought. I was thinking of getting some oak and running it through the table saw to get the thin strips. There are some wood tack rail kits at Snyder's, but $200. https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/product.htm?pid=983268&cat=

I also found this on the MTFCA: https://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/599638/693702.html?1479332012

 

A guy in that thread suggested plastic tack strip. I didn't even know that was a thing to know to look for it, but he said it needed to be 3/4x3/4". When I googled that I found out Lang's carries it for $32.50 for an 8.5' strip. I swear I looked...

https://www.modeltford.com/item/TST...-xMqqZam8nwIDxSyRtuf9FigZKQ1jrLGp-ZYMzrb8HAJg

 

Yeah, I saw that as well. I may just go that route to save the hassle of setting up the table saw.

EDIT: I ordered that tack strip from Lang's this morning. They called to ask if it was okay to cut it in half to save on shipping. Mine should be covered with upholstery, so not a huge deal for me.

 

Good to know. I think I'll be wrapping mine in some kind of fabric just to hide the plastic, but I won't have a full bench like most Ts...

I found a guy that will cut me glass (supposedly) if I provide him a template. I have dimensional drawings of the glass so I will have my print shop print a 1:1 template, make sure it fits in my frame then drop it off with him.

I got one of those DIY lake header kits. I think I'm going to let a local hot rod shop weld it up. The kit didn't come with enough bends to clear my intake (not the kit's fault, it's intended for a stock updraft intake) and my bender won't make a tight enough bend. I was just going to have them bend up the tubes for me, but then I got to thinking I'd rather sweep all the pipes back before they join with the megaphone, and then I might as well just let them weld the damn thing up since they'll be doing everything else.

 

I have put 45 miles on the car since reinstalling the odometer last week and have not had any hiccups. I haven't had much time to actually work on it, but I have been using it for every single around-town errand. I got tired of the shift knob falling off (the threads are just gone on the lever) and had an idea.



There is no brass anywhere else in the car and likely never will be, but this antique brass doorknob makes a great shift knob. It has a big ass, slightly offset set screw that lets it bite the lever and hold on tight. It works pretty well but I think I want to find something with a little more flair now that I know I can do this.

Oh- also, I put a starter button in the car, so I can finally start it... inside the car. I have never stalled it in traffic but it would have been awkward if I had.

 

keep up at this rate --you'll have cruise control and a heater next!

 

Had a little energy still, so I employed CAD to make a floor template.

Should you use an angle grinder to cut plywood?



No.

 

not w/ that blade no...but

 

Floor fits good but it's too high lol. My foot can get wedged between the floor and the gas tank. Probably gonna use this wood piece as a template and make a dished metal floor at Robin's.

 

I once sat in a chopped Deuce five-window that had a depression for your heels just around the pedals. Seemed pretty slick, at least sitting still.

 

That would be easy enough to do. I should probably hold off on spending hours on a permanent floor until I get the permanent seats in so I know exactly where my heel will rest. In the meantime maybe I'll just cut a hole in the floor for my feet and zip screw a scrap of metal under it to buy myself 3/4".

I was envisioning a depression in both footwells with a bit of a "transmission tunnel" in the center but I'm not sure if I know how to form that with the tools we have access to.

 

Do you have a jigsaw with a tilt feature? Cut out the area you want dipped down, with the blade tilted out on top, tilted in on the bottom. Take the cut part and screw 'n glue it to the bottom.

 

I don't have a jigsaw period. I cut that 3/4" plywood with an angle grinder. Two angle grinders, technically.

 

Would you like to buy the warranty? Yes, yes I would!

 

The back wall of those tubs are really wimpy, and get all the strength from the wood. Cutting the plastic in half to ship it would make it worthless IMHO. Laminated wood strips are better than Henry made it. Its easy, i'll draw up a how to

 

Took the hot rod to the bar today with Saul and on the way in, a girl with a sign reading "FREE CAR WASH!!!" waved us in to a bank parking lot. Her church was doing car washes and hot dogs for donations, so we availed ourselves of the dogs and the car got a quick spa.






I am pretty impressed with how good the paint looks overall once cleaned. I donated the tips from today that were in my pocket for that good bacon-wrapped hot dog and hand wash, which came out to $40.

After we got back from the bar we got busy getting the car dirty again. I cut out all the rusty carriage bolts holding the skid strips in the bed. We prepped & primed the inside of the bed and got a bed floor going.




Not pictured, we temporarily secured the battery in the bed, made a more permanent wiring solution for the fuel pump with a switch, and I made a starter button so that I can start the car completely from inside. I still need to fix up the skid strips and paint them, and work is continuing on the top frame. As I predicted the glass guy has changed his mind on doing it, so I'm back on the hunt for glass.

I have a thing cooking for the battery box which I am picturing living under the bed floor, accessed through a hatch.

 

I'm fed up! Out of five glass shops within my local spread, all of them have either squirmed out of it (uhhh that bottom corner looks really hard/uhhh liability/uhhh) or straight up ghosted. I will always choose a local business first but I will have glass in this car soon thanks to Vintage Glass.

I was out and about yesterday and a girl asked for a ride. She was not impressed when the busted Tudor seat frame poked her in the ass, so I pieced a bench seat together that will last me until the bomber seats come in using some decent coupe springs I've been hoarding. I need to grab a better blanket... not really a duck dynasty kinda guy but this is the only blanket I had that I was OK with getting fucked up.



Somewhere while cruising around the odometer rolled over 100 miles since I installed it. The car purrs like a kitten, shifts like butter, cruises at 65 mph and even stops when I hit the brakes. I don't know exactly when it happened but I have a hot rod.

 

Be careful giving random girls a ride in your hot rod. That's how my mother met my father in 1953. He was home on leave from the Navy, he took her for a ride and they married in 55, been together until her passing last year! But that's how it all starts!