Projects 28 RPU "problem child" build thread "first try at a hotrod"

Took it out for a test drive again after changing jets in the carb.. Turns out that was a bad idea.. WAY to rich.. Still getting a good bit of shaking around 55ish..



Went to the guys place I bought the truck off of to borrow the wheels and tires he has on his 28-9 rpu (750x16 & 550x16).... New steel wheels and...I hate to say it... Ra ra ra radials....



Turns out they do ride and drive a lot better.. So I might try to dig up a set for a driving set for around home and keep the wires for shows..

The offset on the steel wheels made the tires rub the fender brace.. So I figured I would fix the fender edge while I had them off..

Bought a new shrinker stretcher as I would like to learn more about metal shaping and equipment..



So here is what I did..

Cut a 1 5/8" strip



Bent a edge on the bench





Here is the edges that need fixed





So ran the piece through with the stretching die in


And then switched to the shrinking die to get the other curve in it


Only have the drivers side cut and welded last night

Cut


Fit


Weld


Grind


Install.. Still needs some work at the back and some mud work.. But I think there is a nightmare hiding in the rest of the fender around the spare well


So hope to get the passenger side done tonight.. So I can get to stripping the paint off the rest of the fenders to see what's hiding..

On vacation next week so I hope to get some stripping and prime ring done.

 

Great work. Are you keeping the spare tire saddle?

 

Yeah going to try to.. I'm kinda scared what's under the paint around it.. Would like to make a
Cover for it and maybe a thing to fit inside to hold a few tools and parts.

 

That's ok but with your skills I'd suggest plugging it permanently. I believe it would look better. Or find someone to swap with. To patch it Copy the contour from the other fender with templates every 2" and go for it.
Here's some ideas.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/help-on-filling-spare-tire-hole-on-a.244304/

 

Was my lucky day and was able to swap fenders with a restorer petejoe

Wanted to start to try to get primer on some things.. Tried sanding the old paint on the fenders... That's a no go.. Plugs the paper up and if a da or flap wheel is used it smears around..


Paint stripper would take the top layer off and with a another pass or two I was able to strip them down..






Passenger side has a fair amount of bondo in it.. Having a guy from town give me some help and pointers on getting it straightened out..

Started to fill some of the pits on the wheels to get some primer on them also



I have terrible luck with painting outside with Ohio's weather.. So I had to make something up to paint in..

Made out off all 8 foot 2x4s ends up to be 16x8






I had to make a couple fixes to get it to draft

Added filters to the ceiling and above the door add a furnace fan and long exhaust box to clear the air



Seems to work pretty well. Using one of those turbine paint systems from TP tools and that's going to take some getting used to..

Was able to swap fenders with a guy for a good drivers side fender and give him my welled fender and I thew in the spare tire mount along with it..



Makes my life A LOT easier..

Also turned out a set of new door pins...






Lot less wobble in the doors now.


Hoping to get some more primer on things by the end of my vacation this week.

 

Started to get some primer on a few things... Had the hood blasted and they took it easy on it as not to warp it.. Handed sanded all the old primer off..




Wanted to learn how to bump metal and had a guy come over and give me a hand.. Showed me the basics and took off.. Spent about 3 hours banging around on the passenger fender... Started with this



Ended with this


The more I looked at it every time I felt the shifter I made didn't fit the truck.. So it will probably go on the other roadster.. Welded up a mount for it so I didn't have to change anything and attached an old ford shifter to it..



Put some primer and paint behind the sill plate before welding it it.




Was still having trouble with a stumble when accelerating.. Started switching jets and power valves around.. Ended up at 45 jets and 67 powervalve.. Still a small stumble with an air horn on... Borrowed a air filter from a buddy and it runs better then it ever has.. Amazing how one little thing will change so much..


Started to think about colors... Would like to figure out what color is on this A


Made a few test sprays.. Left is a 71 thunderbird... It's out. And on the right is 78 jaguar regency red.. Kinda like it but going to keep looking.. The paint stores around here can't come up with old color formulas going off codes I find on the net.


Here is one on Craigslist that the color looks stock from what I've found on the net.

 

Also wanted to change how the tail gate stayed shut.. As I didnt want chains to knock the paint off when sliding the link to the inside of the hook.. Quickest thing I could come up with..

Cut a small piece to attach to the opposite side of the spot on the bed..


Welded and drilled it so i could move the chains to the outside..


Attached a small piece on the bottom side of the tailgate itself




Then using spring pins to keep it closed




Put the hood and fenders back on and the dropped headlight bar so I could get the hood shelves fit..


And that's where I'm at as of tonight..

 

Coming along nicely looks great Jared. Great idea on the spring pin.
The only problem with removing chains is regulating the position of the tailgate in the open position without damaging paint and metal.
I haven't seen a good filter for those small air intakes that doesn't starve the flathead of air.
I began using mommas nylon hose material and change it regularly. Also gives me an excuse for putting my hand up her skirt.

 

Thanks!! Yeah I think while I'm driving it I'll have the chains off it.. Seems to still sit pretty flat when opened. Hope to get it off to get blasted soon..

I tired some filters in the airhorn and it wouldn't flow enough and killed it..

Haha I don't have a woman around here and I'm not about to go buy some of those..

 

nice work. And a lot of it!

I need to get a RPU body one of these days.

 

Thanks!! Hopefully not to much more work

Rpu is the best of both worlds haha

 

Hey Jared. The truck is looking great! Can' wait to get mine blasted this spring and get going on some body work. The color of the A's in your pictures look to be close to a Roosevelt Maroon. My mom's '28 Sport coupe is painted that color and looks great. Original for color for '28 too!

 

Well made some progress over the last couple days..

Installed and lined up the hood shelves.. Took a decent amount of grinding and even had to shrink the front to get them to fit half decent..



Annnnnnd back apart..



Did some more body work on the fenders edges



Sprayed some Evercoat super build primer on the fenders... This stuff is THICK!! Basically spray bondo.. Should block out well... Couldn't get a good smooth finish on it when spraying it..





Put the top pieces in primer sanded them and recoated the side pieces... Also welded up some brackets on a cart I made along time ago to mount the bed to to send to the blasters Monday..



Also got all the boards removed and looking at making new ones since I'm doing away with the spring plate in the middle..



That's the end for these couple days.. Hope to get the fenders blocked out and primed again tomorrow

 

Also wanted to say a BIG thanks you to kkarlsrud for digging up the year and paint code from the sport couple.. [emoji106]

Hope to do a test spray of it this week also.

 

Got the bed blasted and back





Wanted to figure out something for the front that's a little different since the gravel pan that was on it didn't fit well after boxing the frame horns and it was kinda beat anyway..

Cut some cardboard out in ruff shape


Used a cut off broom stick to bend the corner around by hand


Made it in two pieces..


Had to heat the bead with a torch and hammer it back out after bending.. It pinched it but not bad..



The one that was on it was pinched flat in the corner.. So I wanted to try not to do that.. Not like anyone will see it anyway..

End result welded the two halves together.. Doesn't hang down so low, covers the spring plate, and let's the axle show..


Went to weld the frame horn boxing plates on and tried to scrape a little piece off the cup.. And wouldn't ya know at 10 on a Friday night after 4 years of use.. Crack..


Not near as fast but it is traditional.. Had to break out the O&A torch to weld it up..




Have to get back by the radiator and the bottom when I strip it down..

Hope to get some primer on the bed and tailgate tomorrow..

 

Glad I could help, I hope it's the color you were looking for! It sure does look good in the sunlight!

 

Had a little bit mixed up and i think it's going to work out great.. He said it's probably a little off since mixing such a small amount (10oz)

 

Great work on the gravel pan. Creative engineering. Looks great.

 

Thanks!! When I get this thing all done and together this summer we will have to get together sometime [emoji106]

Stuck the bed in the hokey paint booth and got some primer on it and the tailgate today..




I don't know how guys pour out of a full gallon can and not make a mess.. Haha..

Back to work.

 

Chipping away slowly...

Tired of stacking things behind me to sit in to test drive.. So out goes the blue board insulation.. Needed to make this up anyway..

Glued two pieces of 3/4" ash boards together for strength and laid it out.


Cut and drilled pieces of angle to the back structure to hold the top of the wood.. Then bolts through it and screwed the uprights to the bottom..


Blasted and primed a few other things


Can't quite get this turbine hvlp system to spray the heavy stuff smooth but it's just build primer that needs sanded anyway..


Went to the swap meet and scored a couple good deals..

Picked up a nice set of rear fenders and a clear title for my other roadster.. Few little spots to hammer and Dollie out but they fit really nice..

View attachment 3205567





And obviously set the bed back of to see how the fenders fit.



Kinda nice to see a big part in primer and on the truck.

Have to get some screws tomorrow to attach the wood down to the sub rails and need to attach the seat pan also.

Maybe try to get a few other things in primer also..

 

Been a couple crazy weeks.. Haven't had much time to update this thread or document a lot of things due to a great friend passing

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/lost-my-role-model-today.1018313/

Before that happened I was working in the rear fenders I had purchased and wanted to fill the hole from the step plate and the taillight.

Took out a stud gun and welded a stud to some scrap sheet... Used a drill and a grinder to make a good round piece to use to fill the hole.




When sanding around the hole I noticed some dents on the inside of the fender that wasn't showing on the outside.. Wanted to remove the cheap spray primer that was on the fenders anyway..

And found a decent amount of bondo..



There were some pretty fair sized low spots.


Did my best as quick as I could to make the low spots smaller.. Someone with more metal finishing experience could have done better. Ended up with just smaller low spots that should take less bondo.


Same deal for the taillight hole




The rear of the one fender needed addressed also.


Not perfect but better then it was.. Had a lot of pin holes and really thin on the wire edge so few passes with the tig fixed that.


Applied a couple thin coats and sanded till dark..

 

With the funeral scheduled for the upcoming Monday (he passed on Tuesday/Wednesday) I had to make my truck drives me for the funeral..

This was Friday night..


Had to get primer and some body work done in the splash aprons.. Quick work so they need to be sanded again and more body work done.. Primer will really bring out the dents that ya miss..



Also needed to get a good cover coat of primer on the front fenders since I had block sanded the high build down and had a few small bare spots showing..

Using the tp turbine system I have found that the thicker primers need to be thinned to give a nice smooth finish..


And didn't have time to document things but sunday afternoon had it back rolling and running again.


The forecast called for rain (imagine that in ohio in the spring). So at 8:30am on Monday the day of the funeral.. Out came the rattle can primer and masking tape.. The doors and quarters were still bare metal.. It's getting blasted anyway so wasn't to worries about crappy spray can primer..




Held cardboard up as I sprayed the doors to keep the overspray off the inside..

We had picked up a quick fold top for the trip also


First trip away from the house.


Couldn't think of a better maiden voyage for the truck since he had helped me get started in old cars..


Luckily the church had an overhang I could park under..


Got it back home drying out now and just on the short trip I found a few things I need to fix..

I think I need to notch the frame for the front spring to make more clearance and switch to f1 shock mounts and gas shocks on the front as much as I hate to.

Overall though no major troubles. [emoji106]

 

Been kind of out of the mood since my friends passing but slowly starting to get back into it..

He wouldn't want me sitting around, he would much rather see me working on cars.. So I have been going back to it and selling things to raise some money for a deal in hoping works out..

Anyway back to it..

I noticed on the way back from the church that day the front spring hit the frame so I had to make some provisions for that..

Hard to cut it while it's all together but found it easier to drill holes all the way through to make the corners round and line up..



Cut and narrowed a piece of rectangle tubing


Set in and ready to weld


Welded up both sides


Took it on a test run of about 45 miles and didn't have any troubles.. Wanted to try it while it was hot out.... Right about 95 that day




Took a little dirt road trip on the way


Only one part didn't want to come back home.. I must not have tightened it


I noticed that the rear of the frame was hitting on the axle on big bumps.. Trying a 1/2" spacer for now till I can get a new spring made.. The old one doesn't have much spring left to it..

Made a template out of cover tape used for doing vinyl lettering







Going to try to get the top structure painted this weekend and start laying out the wood for the back top part of the cab..

 

Also sold the other roadster that I had to drum up funds... Had to take a few pictures while they were both here







Got it all loaded up and delivered it to a good guy in Kentucky

 

Sold the roadster and kept the RPU. My kind of guy!!

 

Haha yeah I don't think the roadster pickup is going to be going anywhere for a good while

 

Yeah, don't make the mistake I did and let your first one get away.

 

Glad to hear you're back at it. That's a heck of a bite out of that front frame. I wish I could suggest an improvement. Maybe someone here has one. Did you box it in from the back side?

 

Yeah the frame is completely boxed front to back. I was a little worried about it but have seen some that are cut farther and never seem to have any trouble. Hopefully I have the same result haha

 

'Just read the whole thread from the beginning. Great work. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished. You do good work!