This project came about after seeing an ad on Facebook Marketplace in September 2019 for a 1927 T RPU with model A chassis. I was short $$ so I showed dad and he thought it was too good of a buy not to get so agreed to go halves in the purchase. I went to the US in January 2020 for the GNRS lots of inspiration and was inspired to get home and start. Of course Covid hit which made collecting for a new project near impossible. So I kept going on my 2nd '25 Chev build 1925 CHEV ROADSTER BUILD, 2 ARE BETTER THAN 1... I have that to where I need to start the body but that has stalled due to health issues, been having cancer treatment (Chemo Pills, 9months in) for skin cancer which I've been dealing with for 20 years, it got to the point conventional methods weren't doing shit. One thing I was told was limit welding due to the UV, great thing to hear when you want to build hot rods If I must weld cover all exposed skin & use sunscreen. backtrack to 2021 a mate of mine contacted me about a '69 Ford Fairlane, I showed dad & he bought it, I did the rust repairs, he did mechanicals & 10 months later was on the road after being off the road for 24 years. Dad has been enjoying driving the Fairlane with mum the past 18 months. We try to drive to the local Pub once a fortnight. Sorry about the long winded intro Anyway I always wanted a 283 in a Hot Rod so kept looking and this one came up for sale, pulled from a running driving Australian delivered '65 Chev best thing aluminium Powerglide. I have a Hurst style mount from Speedway. I was given a 9" F100 diff housing with 28 spline axles. Front axle is 1935 Ford with spring over, '35 wishbones. 1941 Ford drums on aftermarket round back spindles So-Cal stainless steering arms. Steering will be push/pull, box from a 1940 Chev, out of dad's '40 Chev 3/4 ton truck. Rear spring either T or A will decide once I set the chassis up will purchase a set on rear ladder bars in the new year. I have an older repo T radiator shell will nickel or chrome it. Eventually it will be full fended but be a highboy initially. Pickup box is original T roadster pickup and will remain stock length. The major inspiration for this project is Blake's awesome T RPU one f the coolest hot rods out there. I would like run steel T guards (fenders) but will likely run '28/'29 Model A guards. Anyway I have had chassis sand blasted and I have straighten it next few days I am getting back to it after rearranging and cleaning out the shed. This is where I'm at, trying to use this thread to get me motivated and back into the swing of things. If you have made it this far thank you. I hope I can stay motivated. kind of nice to be back posting here, been lurking a little too much. Cheers Jimmy
Thanks dad. My second car was a Fairlane like that (a '70 ZD with a 302W), except it was only a 10 year old car at the time. Then I bought another one with a 351C because they came with a 9". I needed a 9" and in those days you could often buy a whole car cheaper than buying a 9" diff on its own. Looking forward to the thread, it is good for motivation.
G'day Tony, totally thanks dad, should have mentioned this is to be a joint project, I will be doing bulk of the fabrication and where needed dad will kick in extra $$. He has his long suffering '40 Chev truck which took a back seat when he bought the Fairlane. His truck is on the cards to get back underway and I have the materials to start the '25 Chev body but for now want to get this Model A chassis rolling by March/April. The Fairlanes are great riding cars. Funny you say that about the 351C Fairlanes that is the thing people have said when I have been out cruising with Dad. Seems like it was common buying good driving cars cheap striping running gear and scraping the rest. It is crazy how expensive they are now, ZD 351C with factory T-bar are well over 100k. I am keen to get cracking, got what I need to start will chase up boxing plates in next few weeks.
Mine was stolen, then I got it back after the cops found it. The engine sounded like gravel in a concrete mixer. That kicked off a total bare metal resto, including all the suspension, steering, window fuzzies, the lot. I even got new door hinge pins machined from stainless. Ford had new bushes on the shelf. That was when you could still buy parts for those at the Ford dealer, even though they were long in the tooth by then. I still have tubs of extra factory body bolts, screws and stuff I had cad plated. I wish I still had that car.
Sound like a very kool project. You are correct on Blake’s pickup. We metBlake and his pickup several years ago in Pleasanton. It’s a gem that’s for sure. Good luck on your build from one T guy to another.
So been a little slow doing some small jobs. Dipped the wishbones after cutting off the ends. Then cleaned them up and drilled ready for bungs, had to turn them down to suit outside diameter of the bones. Purchased another '33-'36 axle off my mate Josh it is one of the best I seen for a long while. This weekend may work on assembling front end and do some work on front crossmember Sunday after picking up the axle I dropped into Frenzel HQ to see Tim as he had a package for me. I swapped a copy of my book 4 for a Frenzel T-shirt. Really cool to see the supercharger they are making for the Lincoln V12 to go with the V8 version. If you are at GNRS this weekend checkout the Frenzels at the H&H flatheads stand.
This has been slow going but moving forward. I have assembled the front end for mock up, worked on front crossmember repairing damage and cutting back section out. I have removed centre crossmember as I will make a transmission mount for the Pwrgld that will tie into the ladder bar crossmember, will order that & Ladder Bars next week. Have purchased boxing plates & they will be here Monday. I was originally going to just box in rear crossmember in but the more I looked I wasn't happy with all the rust scale and crap build up so after 5 hrs I got the bastard out. Rear crossmember is soaking in citric acid, I will bolt it back in making sure is square then weld and box. I will make some plates for bolting the running board brackets on and also body mount plates while waiting for boxing plates. Normally would just change the chisel tips with my thumbs, having fuck all energy and loss of strength had to improvise, so much easier ps on my last month of Chemo pills to round out the 12 months of treatment. If any further issues arise can resume treatment. Am looking forward to getting back to normality and been able to grow hair, especially eyebrows
Love the plan for the truck, early progress looks good. I have a set of fenders for my T. I don't know if I'll ever actually put them on, but when I see pics of full fendered ones, it makes me think I should.
Jimmy B , I enjoy Your builds . You are making good progress . Good to hear that Your health is improving and Your on the mend .
I'm glad to hear your feeling better. My friend Wayne and I built similar versions of my barn find T. Our chassis are very similar with differences in the front and rear cross member areas. I thought I'd show how we did the rear.
Thank you! I'll ramp up the build now so hopefully regular updates. I love Ts that are fenderless especially when built as tracknose lakes/Bonneville style, but there is just something about a T with fenders that look and stance can't be beat and changes the style completely Your T would look good with some T fenders. Thank you Pete! Things are going good really looking forward to what is coming up. Thank you Blake, your T is so rad, I've poured over the photos you have posted and they have been invaluable while formulating what I am planning. Those shots are great and I will reference for sure. If my wishbones spring hangers hadn't been cutoff I would have used spring in front but I think the lowered spring and '35 axle should get the height I am chasing, if not run drop axle like your friend Wayne's T, that is awesome too btw! I will be running the rear crossmember in stock location, after watching Irontraps series on their shop truck A RPU build I think that is the best course and will help when time to engineer & register the car.
Bit of a photo dump. Want to get in the habit of posting. Spent time cleaning up rear crossmember area ready for welding.
Will running the rear Model A cross member in the stock location with an A spring place the spring on top of the rear end? If so the ride height will be very tall. If you locate the spring behind the rear end, you will probably need added clearance frame to axle housing. These pics of Rusty and Wayne's kick-ups are what I'm talking about. In Wayne's case he left the flattened cross member loose until he located the spring.
Sorry been awhile since I updated this thread. @Blake 27 thank you for the photos they definitely gave me something to ponder. I decided to stay with spring over, I do have a couple T springs so will put one in when time comes, currently I have main leaf from Model A. After my 12 months of treatment I got in and boxed chassis set Ladder bars, engine placement, did this while on 2 month break from treatment I have just completed 2 months of treatment now on next 2 month break so hope to get a lot more going currently mulling over Transmission mount. Also decided to do cross steer and have purchased a HQ steering box much like a Vega box.
Placed body on chassis to get a feel for proportions and what I need to do will start disassembling & stripping body. Will do the same with the RPU bed. Bought this cowl 10+ years ago, will use the RHD firewall in place of LHD will get the citric acid dip happening in next few weeks and start moving on the body.
How it sit currently just formulating what I want to do A couple pics from my collection, couldn't be F'k'd watermarking them. This is how it will look initially before going full fended.
Not much progress, little bits here and there waiting for parts drags things out. Also after my cancer treatment I did hit the beers pretty hard so that didn't/hasn't helped progress or my health. Getting back to things slowly so hope to have more regular updates on this build and the 2nd '25 Chev roadster build.
Sometimes I wish my T had a pickup box, would be a bit more useful that way. Progress looks good! Hope your health issues are sorted. I like your period inspiration pics, too.
The Jalopy Journal
