Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

I’m on the bus, and that means it’s time for an update.

I’ve been working hard trying to get this machine more road worthy. Yama took this great shot of me heading towards Market Street in beautiful downtown San Francisco.

Out to dinner in the Richmond.
And tuning in Golden Gate Park.

 

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the Early Ford swap in Alameda.

I struck absolute gold while I was there. I’ll share the full story in this week’s Jalopy Journal column.

Pretty cool, isn’t it? Does anyone know what this cowl vent is off of?

 

Thank you! It's a fun project to do***ent this car's progress. It seems like something is always changing.

Right? Definitely custom. On one side, it's stamped "PAT. PENDING 192_" I wasn't able to make out the year, but it's old.

 

I'm not intentionally glazing over portions here, it's just that I've been plugging away for so long it's hard to keep everything updated. I'm proud of how my horn plate turned out. Note that I installed gl*** reflectors to mirror the Hudson steering wheel. I'm contemplating chrome trim on the edge. Also, my shifter boot is on the way from All Ford. Hopefully it'll be in tomorrow. I'd like to make a polished aluminum top plate to cover the space around the shifter—but that's a project for another day. Glad to have a floor mat.

As I work to turn this into "Building My First Street Rod in San Francisco," I present to you my finished trunk. Highlights include a metal floor, Herculiner paint, and a Model A sedan crossmember cover with a one-inch wooden lift kit. It's held down with Allen hardware. Dynamat tape was used throughout. I'm especially fond of my pebbled, 1/8-inch Rubber-Cal floor mat. New car smell, baby!

 

Thank you! It’s a repop that was supposed to be for a ’28-’29 sedan.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when I found it for $140 from C.W. Moss. I was also not surprised when it didn't fit hahah

 

A 35mm snapshot from a sunny day on Balboa Street. I'd love to make that storefront into my shop space/writing office/vintage store. One day!

 

There's so much I want to say about friends, the roadster, the road—everything—and I plan to do so in my column on Friday. Just putting this 35mm shot here to show that yes, we've been on the move, and having more fun than ever with old Fords.

 

Hi everyone, sorry for the radio silence. I just wrapped up my coverage of the 2026 Northern California Roadster Run, which tells the full story of my car's first road trip. If you have some time today, please give it a read!

 

Also, here are a few snapshots to bring us mostly up to speed.

Nighttime on the avenues.

Outtake from a pre-reliability run test'n'tune.

And, last but not least, I finally was able to drop the car off at Sanderson for a full exhaust system. I'm keeping the headers, mufflers, and exhaust tips, but I decided the flex-pipe has to go. It's weird to have the car at a shop, and I'm anxiously awaiting its return. Maybe it'll be this afternoon, or possibly early next week?