Hot Rods 32 roadster…rebuild & shakedown

This one snuck out nicely.

 

Geez that's perfect.

 

I admire your commitment to cutting out the door to put sound deadening in. The oil can sound of doors without it can be awful.

 

Don’t normally put stereos in these cars, but wife and I are enjoying the tunes in the Tudor on longer road trips. So long story short, hit reverse on the wiring and retrofit a tunes machine in the roadster. Couple speakers in the kick panels (little ones designed for motorcycles) and a couple big ones behind the seat in the rear bulkhead. Everything used is for bikes and boats cause I get stuck in the rain a lot (or so it seems).
Fun part was figuring out how to re-use what I have for upholstery already so it’s matchy match and doesn’t look too offensive.
Front side:

Cutting up the interior panels and punching the holes was a little painful/tedious, but wore the right t-shirt .

Back side is a removable box/cover so I can get at stuff easily.



Won’t show the workings as way “not hamb friendly”, but the ‘coverings’ worked out ok.
What you can’t see won’t hurt ya, right?
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Boring…but oh so pretty.
Added a little splash of shine in the sea of black.



Took more nerve drilling into the painted doors than cutting out and welding back in the inner door structures for the dynamat.

Wiring is putting along. Took more to mount and wire in the stereo than expected. Should know by now to double or triple my time estimates for jobs I don’t like any longer.
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The spaghetti saga (aka wiring).
Did the trunk first as outlined above and then did a little in the engine compartment to get some of the wires cleaned out of the cabin. Then it was time for the fun (not so much). After doing a couple of these little cars, I have learned not to put the seats or steering column in unto near the end. Having a flat (ish) floor to lay on and no column to work around does make life a little easier, but never fails that ya gotta do some of it more than once.
And as usual, trying some new stuff that I haven’t used before added some more effort/time. The dash insert is the same material/color that I used in the Tudor, but not sure yet (or still) if it’s gonna stay.

 

If you can hear the radio in a roadster the exhaust isn't loud enough!! LOL
Enjoyed your build and am sure the finished product will provide miles of enjoyment.

 

It seems that a fuse panel that let's you run wires from the electrical device toward the fuse panel, where the wire is terminated, would be easier to deal with?

 

Not sure there’s an easier/better way to tackle these wiring jobs. I just take my time and have a bottle of whiskey nearby. Still swear like a sailor too much, but knowing how many hours these jobs take helps me keep things in perspective.
With the cabin area almost done (still need to final mount the column/steering wheel and get the horn working), it’s time to yank the hood off and finish wiring up front. Did up some new conduits to handle the new wires for the headlights and have that project almost done and then remembered I had a headlight bar stashed somewhere that took a bit to find. Might have to use it on this project but still thinkin on that one.
Also had to rummage around to find the side mirrors and then hang ‘em on so I could see a little forward movement. Is that a bad pun?


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On the stretched deuce roadster we're finishing we mounted the heater in the middle of the firewall and put the fuse panel on the right side so I don't have to stand on my head and struggle with the steering wheel to get to the panel. Much easier.

 

dang, now ya tell me.
jk, but I like that idea.

I was going to build without a heater to simplify things, but the last roadster setup that I did, I put the heater right in front of the p***enger seat as well….so it would blow heat right at my wife’s … (well you know what) and it made life more pleasant for me.
So I did it again this time.

 

Another big mental debate I had on this project was seating.
Do I go bench (have a glide bench I’ve been sitting on - pun intended) or buckets (had a set of TMI mustang style buckets NIB from a project that went south). Love the look of the bench, but I drive like a maniac so having something that holds me in place a little more is a good idea).
So in typical fashion, I had to try both in the car to see what I liked more.
Spent a bunch of time setting up the bench (with slides), but then decided to do the buckets again. Used the same ones in the Tudor project and they were so comfy on the long haul drives that I figured it best to go that way again.



It’s going to be a little more work for my upholstery guy (to wipe the ‘stang look off of em), but pretty sure I’ll be happier once they are done. Car has to go to the upholstery shop at the end of the season for the firewall cover and cabin floor any way.
Probably going to use the same pattern used in the Tudor.



Still trying to talk the boss into letting me change the interior colours to my favourite combo, but she’s been watching the budget on this build way too closely.
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Looks like this will finally be the week. Fingers crossed.
My latest belly****on is getting close to shakedown time.
Jinx.



Still need to wire the starter, coil/dizzy, and connect the wires inside the headlight buckets. Then hook up the battery and check that my whizzy wiring job works.
Then it will be time to double check all the fluids and plumbing, prime the oil pump, guesstimate the dizzy advance, make some plug wires, throw on some belts, see what else I forgot, and then fire this thing up.
Tick tock, the clocks a tickin.

ps: still need to do final checks on all the suspension (torque and lock***e where applicable), one more brake bleed, and the wheel alignment before she comes off the jack stands.
And then there’s the bop top, but….
Dang. Better make a final checklist before I get too excited.

 

Wiring is almost finito. Just inside the headlight buckets to do. Started putting fluids in too and of course, found a couple leaks in the cooling plumbing. Just forgot to tighten a couple pieces when I was doing the ***embly. Musta had some brain cramps. No leaks in the drivetrain fluids though so I got that going for me. That always sounds like bill murray in caddy shack to me.
Only fluid system yet to fill is the fuel. But before I do that (and then fire the car) I want to be sure I’m done under the car so I can loose my ‘***embly carpet’. Don’t mind oil and antifreeze soaked in, but gas (in case something goes wrong) is no bueno.
So playing around under the car needs to be finished up.
Double checking everything I find a couple nits that needed attention (picky picky). So spent a bunch of time squaring up the suspension (again) and tightening/squaring up the exhaust.
Little things but they all eat up time and now it’s August.
Plug wires and pcv lines worked out ok, so here’s a quick pic.



Interior, for now until the seats/floor/firewall cover can get upholstered.


And pretty sure I’m now done with my old plywood floor sections (that I’ve used a few times for templates), so if anyone wants them….

 

Finished off the wiring (headlights), and horn (honk honk),

and primed the fluid systems…

and then fired er up (pic is from the vid I sent to my bro),

This build saga is coming to a close. And another belly****on hits the road. .
PS: whiskey was/is ‘post run in’.
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Lookin good!

 

Thanks Tim.

Was going to have her on the road this weekend, but another grandson decided to enter the world. Happy days for sure, but dang time flies.

The roadster is now off the stands and on her own feet. Gonna put a quick alignment on her tomorrow and then take her for her first spin.

 

Today was to be alignment and first drive day, but the forecast called for rain today and the whole next week so thought I’d tackle a few more ‘little’ things before I get too excited about driving around.



First up, decided to get the hood out of the living room (might have been commanded to) so back onto the roadster it went. Spent a little more time fitting it this time. And…Dang it, just not gonna be satisfied with this fit. Nose needs to come up a smidge.



So out comes my little box of spacers (have a bunch for the rads, trans, etc as I always cut extras in various thicknesses when I’m doing these little cars). Then off with the grille shell and rad raised up so the set of flat washers I was using for baby shims can come out, and in goes a nice set of 1/4” aroominnum ones. Wish I could say I did some fancy math but truth is I just guessed on what thickness would work best. I’ve done a couple of these little beasties so figured a good guess was good enough, so to speak.

Never ever ceases to amaze me how little fractions of an inch here or there can change so many pieces on these little cars. So the shims are in and the rad back on, grille shell back on, hood back on….and viola…imagine that…I may have guessed correctly on my first shot at what thickness to use.



Hood fits better now and the body/belt line is much better now as well.



Now that the hood is on, next up (and on) will be the install of the Chavers bop top and getting that tweaked up too. Pretty sure I have some stainless steel staples for attaching the rag to the header bow, but I’m betting a little woodworking is gonna be necessary to get that header tilted the way I want it this time. Picky picky.

Then I’ll do the front wheel alignment and start putting some miles on er.
Or…I may just find some more little things I want to fix/change first.
I guess I just like chaos.
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Started raining…so I started bop toppin.



Got this far and thought I’d better go watch Sid’s video again.
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Had to drag my table saw out to play with the fit of the front header bow. Dang I hate dragging that out of the ba*****t for one stinking cut. But what’s a girl to do?
I think the header now has a nice drop and angle on it for a sun visor and I should be able to put a seal along the top of the windshield this time. Forgot last time. Another nitpicky tweak, but worth the effort I think.
Was also little haunted by the middle roof bow. Just thought it was a smidge too high for a three inch chopped windshield.



Put a little tape roof on and sat inside to check noggin clearance. Had lots so decided to drop the bow a wee bit too. Why not, right?



Didn’t go hog wild on the drop as I didn’t want to lose the shape (or have it look too flat) or cramp headroom so as Sid says in his video…’just sneak up on it’. So all bends and tubing cuts were minor.
Done messing with the frame now (fingers crossed). It’s all trimmed up for the 3” chopped windshield and streamlined a smidge. Wonder if anyone will ever notice it’s a wee bit different than ‘stock’ installs.
Hah…not a chance.



Still haven’t found my S/S staples so the final stage (stretching and stapling) not yet complete.
Tomorrow is another rainy day so….

 

Finally found my stainless steel staples so I can finally get after finishing the top, but all this rain we are having reminded me of something else. Thank goodness.
Dug out a little elbow and some drain hose and ‘fixed’ it.
Thought I was done under the dash, but a little morning yoga didn’t hurt too much.

 

Probably better/easier with two people, but really wanted to see it done.
I think the mods make the roof line look awesome.

 

And another one’s done, and another one’s done, another one bites the dust (or hopefully just kicks up some dust).

Quick alignment took way longer than it should have. Had to play with every piece, adjusting 1/32” here and there, and every fricken where. Now we’ll see if see rolls down the road straight or dog tracks. Better be straight…



Dang sun better come out tomorrow or she’s gonna get wet.



.
And this should be the end of this weak *** thread. Yo.

 

thanks for taking us along, posting all the photos and updates.
Beautiful looking car !
With your level of commitment and skill, I am sure it will drive as intended…….

 

Out for a couple little blasts around the neighbourhood today and wife made I vid so I could see the cars track. Yippee…straight. Snapped a couple pics out in the sunshine to officially close this thread. I really like the ‘tweaked’ roofline and happier with the beltline now too.



Damn, I better trim that hedge tomorrow.
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edit to add a better pic of doobie out in the wild:

 

car looks so good enjoy

 

Looks great!

 

Looks fantastic. Hope see see it one day.

 

Awesome build and that top is perfect!

 

Even with the limited driving whats your thoughts on the 450 front tires? Like you Im surprised they dont do a 550. Im worried that 450 is small and 600 too large. The 450s look good on your car!