'nother update: got the trunk floor panels bent up and tacked in. Had some extra time to kill today, so (against my chiropractors advice; she expects me to lounge around after my adjustments. ) I framed in the seat back. Made a 1x1 frame; cut out the back of the cab to fit it, leaving a lip around it so I could bend the sheet metal once around the frame; gave it a few plug welds; then made some tabs so I can screw the plywood onto it from the trunk. Worked out pretty good. Back hurts; but I ain't bored anymore!
Alas, it appears that such is not meant to be. The coffers have been thoroughly plundered, and I'm left still in need of a few more big dollar items, so this build is gonna drag out a bit longer than hoped. As much as I hate to admit it, the roadster is doomed to be another casualty of our economic downturn. As for the show, though, I will be there in the trusty '28; even if it runs outa gas I'm gonna hitch a horse-team to the front of it! See ya there!
And with another Messaround under the belt, we move ever onward! Nothing inspires like a good car show, so enough boo-hoo'ing about money, and back out to the garage! Always plenty of little details to work on, even without plunking down big cash just yet! Finished up getting the doors in place and working reasonably well. P***enger side went pretty smoothly. Driver's was a bit more of a challenge, but in the end I managed to take two really $hi!!y doors and morph them into one kinda $hi!!y door. Ain't the prettiest, but it'll help keep me inside the car just fine. Big thanks to ***us for the hinges! Also got the seat back cut out and screwed in.
how much extra leg room did you pick up with you seat mod? How tall are you, I am 6'1" and mulling over building one, but not sure if I can get enough leg room...
I'm not sure how I've missed this thread up 'til now- but I enjoyed getting caught up on it. I was checking out your '28 at the Messaround Sunday and if this project turns out anywhere nearly as nice it should be a real beauty! Next year's Messaround is only 51 Sundays away- get cracking. Jay
this is shaping up to be a very nice car, everything looks right at home in there and man does it look nice under the indoor lights! keep it up
Good Grief! When you put it that way, it sure doesn't sound like much time at all! I gotta get back out to the garage!
Yeah, this gained me a TON of extra room. My buddy Ryan is about as tall as you i suppose, and he seems fairly comfortable in it so far. I'm only about 5' 10", but sure am glad I made the mods that I did. I could easily have dropped the seat pan even lower, and that would have earned a little bit of leg room as well. I say build one! Never too many roadsters on the blacktop for me!
I've been in Model A's, 32 roadsters & have owned T Roadsters, I have found leg room wise (length) the Model T's have more. But I used to put my left leg over the other side of the gearbox when travelling longer distances as width wise there isn't a huge amount of room. These cars were Right hand drive though that I'm talking about. Marx - keep up the good work
Here we are in a new year, a new decade, and finally a long awaited update! The holidays are over, at last, so now I can get back out to the garage. I've been making small bits of progress here and there, though, fitting bits of time in when I can. Pulled the 8" ford out and gave it a thorough tune up. New bearings and seals, checked out the differential and turned the drums (thanks to ***us!). Figured since it was apart I might as well clean it all up and paint it now, so I don't have to wrestle the ******* again in a couple years when I get around to doing the finish work. So far it's the prettiest thing on the car! Finish welded the bungs on the rear wishbones, then put it all back up and under. Finish welded all the floor panels. Then I set my new 4x2 cragar intake I scored (thanks Gordy!) at the Pileup in October, and set on a pack of 94s I've scrounged up (thanks Matt!). Maybe the 8" ain't the prettiest thing on it after all!
Long over-due update time. Opened up a new shop since I posted last, so that's eaten up most of my free time, and all of my cash.Things are evening out a bit now, getting a day off once in a while, so time to get back on track. Still no cash on hand, but through the magic of craigslist and a garage attic full of random motorcycle parts, car parts, and some spring cleaning I've been able to scrounge some pennies together to get things back in motion. Got the dash s***ched together for some final welding and grinding. Fabbed up the steering column notch that I've been avoiding forever. I think I'm learning that the longer I avoid certain things, they end up seeming more daunting than they need to be. Dash pretty much done.
Replaced the rotted out rear panel. Plenty of patching yet to do, but most of that will have to come later down the road when I get into the finish work on the body. Gonna drive it a couple years before that. At this point I needed a solid home for the tail lights. Scored a gas tank on ebay last week. At only about 11 gallons its a bit smaller than I had planned originally, but at the price I paid for it I couldn't argue. Now I can drink Big Gulps and take all the pit-stops I need, ha ha. Fabricated a couple brackets out of 11g to level the tank out, and tacked them in place. More trunk space than I'd hoped for.
The dash looks great! All these T threads make it hard to keep from poking at mine. Keep up the good work!
I was just talking about you this weekend. Great looking dash and tank. I'm coming up in 2 weeks and hope to get a chance to catch up with ya and see the car!
I find the longer I avoid them, they turn out better. Because I think them through so much. Beautiful dash.
I think you hit the nail on the head there, Hudson. I only wish it hadn't taken me 42 years to finally embrace my dad's mantra about "pacing yourself".
There are a small handful of tried and true taillight choices for A and T roadsters. I can think of two that are undeniably cool, and you see them all the time. I love them both. I didn't go with either one. I forget what these are. I picked 'em up at a swap for next to nothing, and felt like they might look neat. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If they end up looking dumb, no big deal. In the end its all just metal: I can always cut 'em out and put in the more common choice. I initially drilled and cut the panel; but once I bolted the lights on it was pretty obvious that they looked really out of place floating there on top of the sheet metal. Stuck out real far. They looked like an after thought, for sure. Made a template to heat and bend some 1/4 round stock. Cut out the back panel. Welded them in. Tacked the removed sheet metal onto the back side of that, and bolted them it. Set into the panel just that 1/4 to 3/8 inch really made a huge difference. I think I'll run them for a while.
Cutting down the windshield stanchions (part 1). Started with a nice set, so I cut the tops off, leaving enough material to heat up, curl over and weld back up. Little bit of grinding, and done.
Cutting down the windshield stanchions (part 2): Spent some time flipping through some 50s car magazines that same night after cutting down my stanchions. It became apparent pretty quickly that retaining the original tapered top looked much cooler. I sifted through some old photos I'd clicked a couple years ago of a local roadster I really liked, and sure enough, that was what I'd liked about his windshield. Back to the drawing board. Out to the garage today to chop the tops off and put things right. Mounted them back onto the car. Yup. So much cooler now.
I've had a set of 90 finned Buick drums on the car during mock-up. The price was right when I found them, so I had them machined for the roadster. I had a set of 45 fins in my secret stash intended for another car, but those plans changed, and I never used them. As the roadster has now taken all priority, it'll win the 45's. Painted my backing plates and got the front brakes ****oned up.
Me and the fellas stopped by Marx's on Saturday to lend a hand on some projects. Blew everything apart and installed some new and improved motor mounts and formed rear brake lines. Marx on the left, Jake (50skalpedponcho) and Matt (saltflatmatt) getting things set up. Matt finishing up some welding underneath Looking like a hot rod again...
Very cool roadster! Marx, what kind of clutch and flywheel are you using behind that Olds 394? Also, what is the bellhousing? Any close-up pics of the clutch linkage?
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