Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

As promised, I've returned with a handful of updates. I've been away for the past two weeks in New York and Chicago, and now is the time to get down to business.

I'll start by saying this. San Francisco's Old Car Picnic is this Saturday. Part of me thought I was going to make it with the roadster, but life had other plans. Like David and I always say, there will be plenty more shows.

On my flight to the Big Apple, I made the comprehensive "To-Do" list before the first drive. It's called "To Do (front to back)" and it lives in the Notes app of my phone. There are 34 items that range in difficulty and complexity. Some will take five minutes, while others may take a month. All I can do is keep chipping away.

Moments after pulling into my driveway, my friend and fellow Michigander Xander was at my house. We immediately jacked up the car and got right into re-bleeding the brakes. We found more leaks, but did everything we could to correct them. After about an hour of work, the car had firm, consistent pedal pressure. To say I was relieved—and excited—would be a major understatement.
I have no photos to show from that first night back, but I do have this snapshot of a clean Chevy more-door in Chicago.

 

Throughout the week, I tried to check little things off the list. That meant installing the new radiator drain plug (huge shoutout to the Johnson's team for shipping me a replacement) and adding three gallons of distilled water to the system.

All leaks were addressed, and I'd say we're looking good on the cooling front for now.

 

More updates tomorrow. And yes, I will be at the Old Car Picnic with the Harley, so I hope to see some of you there.

 

Slow on the updates, but here are a few items.

You are correct, Tim. I have a long set of NOS glasspacks that I will be running with the V8. I'll eventually do some proper exhaust, but something along the lines of this will be in place for the first drive. I love the sound.

 

Some of you may have seen on my Instagram, but I hit an unfortunate road block over the weekend. As I was installing my tie-rod cotter pins, I noticed some brake fluid dripping from the LF drum. Not from the hose, but from the bottom of the backing plate. My heart sank. Looks like the wheel cylinder failed—again.

These days, I'd say I'm pretty level-headed about this project and things in general. But at that moment, I was angry. Here I have this brake system with all the best parts put together by the book and it still lets me down. I wanted to pack up the tools, close the garage door, and not think about the car for awhile. I wanted to, but I didn't. Instead, I just focused on other things. Like installing my auxiliary gauge cluster (compliments of @corncobcoupe). In order to do that, I had to temporarily remove my temp gauge cable, which sent water dribbling down the driveway. (Just in case you thought this was all brake fluid.)

Filling out the control room.

 

Sunday started with some research into wheel cylinders. I polled my friends on Instagram, and here's where they recommended I buy my new LF cylinder.

Napa (2)
Third Gen (2)
CW Moss (2)
Raybestos (2)
Boling Bros
Millworks
Young’s Auto Supply
Bob Drake
Midwest Early Ford

I ended up buying one from Raybestos and one from Third Gen, plus new copper crush washers. We'll see how they work.

 

Next, I had some holes to drill in the seatbelt mount and rear fuel line support bracket. In my effort to not disturb the neighbors above the garage, I tried out my new lab.

If you look down the street, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Watching paint dry.

And again on the fire escape. That's all for tonight. Stay tuned for more soon.

 

Great gages BTW.......

 

Thank you all for the words of encouragement. I'm hoping that I'll get it right on the next time around. As I type this, the front left wheel cylinder is leaking, and there's a slight weep from the right front fitting, left rear fitting, and rear of the master cylinder. Really frustrating. I read online about annealing the copper washers. I've done that for Triumph motorcycle heads and it works well. I wonder if I should do the same on my reassembly?

 

Even with the dismal state of the brakes, I knew I needed to keep going.
I recently acquired/installed a Herman Miller Nelson Saucer Bubble Pendant in my dining area. I'm really excited about it because 1) It's era correct for this project and 2) It allows me to work at my kitchen table at night.

Naturally, that meant making my new coil lead wire after-hours. I love working on my car and bike projects in the house (note the upside-down placemat). Looking forward to more of this!

 

Tonight's tasks weren't huge, but progress is progress. I managed to track down the right Allen wrench to get the Stromberg's linkage adjusted. As you can see, I also started thinking about my coil wiring. I'll tackle that soon. Whenever I look at my crazy thermostat cable routing, I can't help but think of Lloyd Bakan and his e-brake setup.

 

Thank you! It's been a slow process, but I'm happy with how it's coming together. You should stop on by sometime.

Yes, I'll give the annealing a shot when I try it all again. I agree with that last statement although, in my case, its often three or four times. Whatever it takes to make this car safe and roadworthy, I'll do. Thanks for the continued support!

Hmmm good to know I'm not the only one. We'll see how the new ones stack up!

I'm curious to see how the Raybestos and Third Gen products hold up.

Thanks, Tim! I loosened and re-tightened the left rear, but I'm not confident that it fixed the problem. It's not leaking right now, because much of the fluid has leaked out elsewhere hahah

 

I'm doing everything in my power to not turn this thread into "Building My First Hydraulic Brake System in San Francisco." Last night, I was able to bolt in my seatbelts and lower seat brackets. Part of that process was jumping behind the wheel and buckling up.

Everything felt great, from the belt size to the pedal and steering placement. Longtime readers will know how much planning this took.

It feels like a lifetime since I've driven this thing. So long, in fact, that I forgot which way I had the buckles configured. Luckily I had this snapshot of me and my childhood best friend Kevin on the move on Arguello.

He showed me how to drive stick when we were in high school, and I was able to repay him by handing him the keys and having him drive through the Presidio in San Francisco. I've always loved this shot. It's spontaneous, and the way the door is swung open reminds me of images from the early dry lakes era.