I had a goal this weekend to get the headlights mounted. Some where along the lines of collecting parts I got a model a headlight bar. It was twisted up a bit but the ends were good. I cut the bar in half so I had some leverage to bend them after I got them glowing. I was having a hard time keeping them clamped down though. Every time I heated them up the clamps loosened up. My friend had the idea to put bolts through the holes, and then tighten the nuts down in the vise. It worked really good because once the nuts were squeezed tight you could get the bolts tightened down really good, and then they didn't budge at all while bending. They need just a bit more adjusting to get both sides more closely matched, but they are mounted and looking pretty good.
I took these pictures a couple weeks ago, but just got around to taking them off my phone tonight. This was the first time I've ever tried to make a patch. I think maybe at one point in time somebody hot rodded this body, it had a piece cut out for a distributor or something. It looked like they cut it out with a can opener and then they tried to braze it back in. Here's what it started as. Starting to fill in the holes, and you can get a better look at the damage. I got the round holes all filled in and then cut the other piece out. I had to cut a gap to get to decent metal. Using a small vice I made a patch to match the bends in the firewall. I couldn't get the bends as crisp as the stock ones but they are pretty close. Here it is all frankensteined in. Luckily the metal on the firewall is fairly thick so it was somewhat forgiving. After a little grinding it's not looking too bad. It's a far cry from perfect but with a thin coat of filler it should be good. There's still some work to do and I'll clean up the bottom edge when I know where everything will sit.
We got one of the projects out of the garage, so now we are down to two car projects in a two car garage. It makes it so much nicer and less crowded. I was actually able to get a side shot for the first time.
Looking good!! The headlight stands turned out well. I'm loving this and it's making me want to get crackin' on my modified again!! Keep it up!! You'll be driving her in no time!!!
Got a few more things done over the weekend. I pulled this steering box out of a '52 f1 a couple months ago. To get it sitting lower on the frame I had to trim the bottom hole off and redrill. Then I made a mount for it and got it tacked on the frame. It looks like everything will clear and puts the steering wheel at a decent angle. I need to fine tune the placement a bit and then final weld it. After than I'll try shortening a steering column, which should be interesting. I also got some stands made for the gas tank. Eventually I will weld some tabs on the tank that will bolt to these. Also this is where the straps will attach. I threw the taillights on there to see how they will look.
Got some more work done on the rear suspension. Other than shocks I think the rear is pretty much all finished. I think next on the list is to get the brakes all sorted. I'll add some reinforcement to the transmission mount area the next time I pull out the motor and transmission.
This weekend I got the front wishbones finished up. I didn't take pictures of the process but I pie cut them and welded the bracket for the tie rod to the frame. It's nice to have both the front and rear suspension attached to the frame. Also I pushed it outside so I could get some shots at a little better angles. So far I am pretty happy with the stance and how things are coming together.
Lookin' good! Are you going to run a hood and hood sides? I liek that it sits high and not super low. I like super low, but sitting high is refreshing.
I've been studying your rear suspension and I don't see how your setup will allow the axle to pivot side to side.
Sooner or later I would like to get a hood made. I probably won't do hood sides because I will be running lake headers. I like low cars too but that's not what I wanted with this one. It's kind of crazy that it is lowered about 6" in the front and about 8" in the back and it still sits kind of high. Tjm73- Are you talking about like if you hit a bump or a hole so one wheel goes up or down? If so the heims at each end allow for quite a bit of pivoting. To test it out we jacked one side up pretty high and it doesn't seem to have any binding problems. If you are talking about the actual axle moving side to side, there is a real small amount of side to side in the shackles but I don't think you want that movement.
I made bold the part I was thinking about. Must be deceptive in appearance. Definitely different as a design. Keep the updates coming. I like watching this build.
That's the part I thought you were talking about. I based the design off a couple I have seen here on the hamb. It seems to work good and I guess I'll know for sure when it is running.
Work got busy so it's been a little bit of time since I updated, but I got some work done this week. I notched the wishbones to clear the tie rod (I notched them a bit more than I really needed to) and then added a plate to help make them stronger. When I pulled the steering box/column and the spindles/brakes out of the f1 I also took the drag link and tie rod. The tie rod was too long and had a kink on the one end. The other end of the tie rod was still good so I combined them to make a new drag link. I still need to finish welding it but it looks like it will work good. Unfortunately when I pulled of the brake drum to put the steering arm on I found out that the drum is cracked all the way around. So now I need to get some new drums.
Still working away on the T. I'm sort of at the point where it's a lot of little stuff but nothing much changes visually. I did get the f1 mounts modified and ready to go on this weekend.
Gadman here, KRAM.....wondering if you've gotten any further on this during the summer. I like the progress you made through July. My son and I are joining you-also building a '27.....ours will have a full pickup bed tho. Blessings!
Gadman, that's good to hear that you guys are starting on a t! Keep us updated on the build. With work and a small construction project time has been a little bit tight lately, but still making slow progress. I got the shocks all mounted and now I'm working on the brakes. Next time I'm working on it I'll snap some photos.
Cool, the body is in incredible condition! I wish I could have found one like that, then I would not have dad to make my own. Gonna be a nice modified. David
Mindover- I have been following along with your t build and it is really impressive that you can do that from scratch. Not to mention some of the other threads you have posted about making parts. This body has a fair amount of bondo on it, but I feel pretty lucky with the condition that it is in. It will need some patches in the usual places but that's about it. Also the door that came with it was nearly perfect and the one I found separately is in fair condition too.
You did some interesting work on the front bones. I ran into the same issue and switched to the later dog leg style, but I like the older ones better. Good luck with your build.
Bondo and paint can hide a lot but it looks fairly 'unmollested' if you know what I am saying. I wish I could have found something half decent to copy at least but everything I found here inthe UK was too costly to justify so I am having to work from information gleaned from wherever I can get it. It harder that way. Thanks for the complement. I have done this stuff for a lot of years- its how I make my living. David
The Jalopy Journal
