Featured Projects 1929 Ford Roadster

Got some old tools from my grandfather.
He turned 94 years old last week and isn't gonna use them anymore so he gave them to me.

 

What better to use on an antique vehicle. Something from your 94 year old grandfather. Just think. He was just a child when this car was born.

 

I like everything abut this. Subscribed and enjoying the story. Thank you for sharing it.

 

Feels special for sure.

Thank you, glad you like it.

 

The car was two years old when the grandfather was born.

 

Got started on installing the wood blocks this weekend.
Could immediatley tell how floppy these bodies are, thinking about maybe replacing the B-pillar wood with box tubing to try and stiffen things up a bit, maybe also do some extra bracing from the B-pillars backwards along the quarters and tulip panel.

 

Matt from Irontrap did similar on his roadster pickup. Different body, but might give you some ideas.

 

That's where I got the idea from.
Should really stiffen up the body, I already have a beginning of a crack in the driver side quarter, from flexing I imagine.

 

I have the same size of tubing he used sitting waiting for me to do this to my RPU.

 

Today I kept on with installing the wood blocks between frame and body.
I haven't tightened any of the bolts yet but the door fitment is really bad now.
Guess it's a matter of shimming in the right places.

Also, the rear crossmember on the frame is touching the floor even with the wood blocks in place.
I'm thinking I need to start with shimming the most rearward wood blocks to get clearence between crossmember and floor, and that should also close up the gap at the top of the door/B-pillar.

Or does anyone have other ideas on where I should start to correct this?

 

Spent a couple of hours today in the heat and humidity shimming the body and tightening body bolts to see where it would get me.

I remembered that I had a piece of mud flap rubber at work so I went and picked it up and made some rubber shims for the most rearward wood blocks and for the wide wood blocks that sit just in front of the seat riser.
Used grandpas old hole punch I got a while back because it was just the right size.

After tightening the body bolts things are looking better, the door on the driver side is good enough I think.
But the passenger side door is worse, it opens and closes good but when closed it rattles a bit.
But I will leave it as is for now and continue with rust repairs of the rear floor and installing the seat riser permanently.

Also have to think about why the rear crossmember sits so close/against to the rear floor.

 

This is my 31 roadster and the floor touches on mine. It's been that way for 11 years now.

 

Thanks for the picture @62pan
Guess I don't have to worry about mine touching then.

 

My 4 week summer vacation began today so I better make use of it.

Today I got the seat riser bolted and spot welded in place.
Gonna make some support feet for the rear part tomorrow and then call it good enough even if it is a bit crusty in some places.

Also began patching up the rear floor but forgot to take any pictures of it.
I will just be patching the most critical holes in the rear floor for now.
Main reason for that is the fact that to make it really nice I would have to replace the whole floor and that is just not gonna happen right now, I want to get this thing in to a driveable state.
And the long term plan, or dream is to one day put this thing on a '32 frame and when/if that happens the rear floor needs replacing anyway.

 

Cool car!
The Demontrond dealer tag is cool. I drive past the demontrond Ford dealership everyday on my way to work in Houston.

 

Thanks, it's kinda rough but I like it anyway.

 

What a cool vehicle! I’ve always been a fan of secondhand shopping, but poshmark really opened my eyes to the possibilities. I started selling clothes I no longer wore and was amazed at how quickly they found new homes. The app is easy to navigate, and there’s a sense of community with other sellers and buyers. Plus, you can find incredible deals on designer clothes and accessories that you wouldn't normally get anywhere else.

 

Began the morning with making the three support brackets/legs for the rear portion of the seat riser.
Then I patched up the last two holes in the rear floor, it ain't pretty but atleast there are no gaping holes anymore.
As you can see the whole rear floor is a bit of a mess and should really be replaced completely but it will have to do for now.

After that, as a personal motivation booster I brushed the inside of the floor with Eastwood rust encapsulator.
That stuff sure smells bad.

Still hasn't dried completely in the picture so still a bit glossy but should dry down to a flat finish.

 

I'm excited for you, keep plugging along

 

@Outback I'm excited too, a hot rod roadster is a dream I've had for many years.

 

Regarding the rust encapsulator, does anyone know if it should still be sticky to the touch after 24 hours?
Maybe this insane humidity we have messes with the drying time.

Anyway, when I removed the fenders a few weeks back I noticed some small cracks on the right frame horn so took care of those today.
Looking at the pictures now I can notice that I need to round out the hole a bit more after my welding.

Also tried to adjust the rumble seat lid a bit better but that was easier said than done.
I'll have to look into that one a bit more later on because I was starting to loose my mind about it.

 

So what's next except the rumble seat lid mentioned in the previous post?

I don't really know, I might start tearing down the front end and rebuild and replace what's needed and lower it a bit.

 

This is going to be a kool ride...

 

Thank you @Acres

 

Instead of digging into the front end suspension today I kept on trying to get the rumble seat lid to fit better, with no luck.

I think one of my issues is that the hinge pivot bolts are rusted to the hinge itself, which makes the whole bolt and nut turn instead of just the hinge moving on the bolt, which I think it should do when opening and closing the lid?
Also think it will be easier to adjust it if the lid is in the closed position and I crawl inside the car adjusting the hinges while a helper is on the outside telling me when the lid is in a good position.

Then I turned my attention to the doors.
They open and close pretty good but when closed they stick out a bunch, see pictures.
How do I go about adjusting this? Is it a matter of shimming the body wood blocks or should I focus on the hinges? (I tried loosening the bolts that attach the hinges to the a-pillar but they are rusted solid, drenched them in penetrating oil for the time being)

I know they weren't perfect from the factory but I would like them a bit better than this.

 

Hi Mikko....glad you are getting some therapy time in....

I don't know what specific product you are using, the Rust Bullet I use stays sticky..then soft and suddenly after a couple of days it turns hard and dry....I believe it is the nature of the encapsulator to 'soak' into the rust instead of drying on the surface.

It is a two person job,,,it can be done open but holding the position and tightening the fastener is almost impossible by ones self....

looking at the profile of the body bead and the door bead....the door bead is shallower.... is there play in the latch?
It looks like the door is closed at the top and the gap below the bead is pretty even....I have all late A's with flush doors so I am not much help....and have never looked critically at a door gap from your angle that I can recall...

Keep up the momentum....

 

@winduptoy I used Eastwoods rust encapsulator. It seems like it was less sticky today so I think it will be ok eventually.

When the doors are closed there is some play in the latch if I pull on the door, if that makes any sense.
Passenger door is worse than the drivers door.
I have gotten some advice on adjustments on the Fordbarn.

 

After some advice over on Fordbarn I pulled the quarters together with a ratchet strap, probably moved the doors in about 1/4 inch on each side.

Then I welded up a small crack in the left quarter panel, reinstalled the wood pieces along the tulip panel (with glue between the big middle piece and smaller side pieces) and I also made 2 small angle irons (1 for each side) that I screwed to the inside corners of the wood pieces to further brace them a bit.

I'll let the glue set over night before removing the strap and see if it holds the shape.

 

I quickly realized the quarter panels isn't gonna hold their shape without some further bracing.

So today I began to weld in some bracing made out of square box tubing.
Got the box tubing frame behind the front seat welded in today, except some sort of cross bracing.
I'm gonna connect this frame thing to the B-pillars and also box the B-pillars with the same size tubing.

Hopefully this will give some sort of rigidity to the body.

 

Got my B-pillars tied to the frame thing I welded in yesterday, and just like that my quarter panels stay where they are supposed to stay and the door gap is much better on both sides.
Still have to weld in a cross brace between the two vertical box tubes that I welded to the tulip panel, and box the B-pillars but ran out of box tubing to do it all (I have enough to box one B-pillar, might do that tomorrow).

Passenger door still opens and closes fine while the drivers door requires a bit of force both to open and close.
I'll look into that a bit more but I would still call today a win.