Featured Hot Rods Building my first roadster in Kansas City

Superfastmatt is deep into this stuff, he did something that makes sense once you realize potential. He did an alignment on his car by scanning it!

 

Karl explains things in a way that makes you think you should try it. I really enjoy his stuff, and it's awesome he's a Canadian

 

The 3-4 Canadian hot rod channels I all coming together for the weekend thrash to build a roadster finally got me to follow the ones I hadn’t yet

 

Made over to see @atch and @EV34 and loaded up with some great bits and pieces. Still trying to find where they all land in the shop but for now here’s the dash insert Atch had for me. I’ll be heading back over this summer for something even more adventurous stay tuned!

 

So I while I had never met Atch in person we’ve both been hamb guys for over two decades and have a ton of mutual friends. It’s cool to finally put a face to a name. We had a good picnic lunch with the kids and played with the cats before loading up a home made A deck lid, truck dash insert and some welding caps to be turned into hammers and forms. We tried to have Ev34 meet us all at the same time but schedules didn’t allow so we went to visit him down the road for some more goodies lots of steering bits and pieces, pan hard bar, shocks and a really neat tool box he took of an early Studebaker running board I’ve known him a few years now but it’s always a good time to see him and usually his family as well. Fun to have a trip full of laughs, ice cream and parks to think of with these parts.

Lots of this stuff will make it into the roadster

 

Great parts! It always amazes me how many cool pieces are stashed around the country.

 

Now what I’m most excited for. I’d been thinking what I really need to find is a mid 40’s ford to harvest all the good hot rod parts from.

When I built my 46 almost all of that good stuff got sold, given to buddies building stuff or disgracefully, hit the scrap pile. Life was different and dragging that stuff place to place with no where to put it just wasn’t the option. I’ve regretted it a lot of times,as I hunt those exact pieces now for builds.

This trip the kids had cut around the backside of the shop and I wanted to go check and make sure there wasn’t any poison ivy or anything that they could have gotten into. I found no leaves of three but what I did find was this staring back at me. The dash caught me first. 41 ford. Shoot got a good banjo too. Atch brought me around the front tell me more about all that was or wasn’t there.

It was all the stuff I wanted and none of the stuff I didn’t.

Suffice to say I went home and started finding willing friends, a truck, winch and trailer and we are going to go get it!

I’m re organizing the shop and I’ll put the roadster parts up against the wall temporarily while I apply gallons of kroil and take this bad boy apart. This checks a lot of boxes and a big chunk of it will go straight to the roadster!

Tempted to make a time lapse video of me tearing it all apart but it’s more likely to happen a few minutes at a time. I’m so SO excited that when I made it in from the shop my brain was going 100 miles an hour and @J.Ukrop caught a heck of a speed ramble from me lol.

hot rods will do that to a guy.

 

Tim I wish it would have worked out to be able to catch up with you at Mikes place! I did get over and catchup with @atch the next day though! Thanks for the hospitality Mike!

 

I can’t wait to see this part of it! Lots of good parts still there!!

 

That @atch seems like good quality folk. Always wanted to meet him. It isn't his fault we haven't, I keep bailing on the drive out that way. Someday.

Enjoying your thread Tim.

 

Thanks @Bandit Billy I enjoy yours as well

 

Stop it y'all, you're gonna make me blush.

Seriously, I've been reading @Tim's posts about his '46 and now this unique creation for a long time and am glad we finally got to meet up.

And I've known Ethan @EV34 since he was a youngster being part of the club (with his parents) that used to put on one of the favorite Fathers Day car shows in the Midwest.

@Bandit Billy, you've gotta come see how we do things here in the heartland.

 

One of these days sir.

 

Somewhere on this site is a thread where a guy makes a slightly smaller '32ish roadster body from panels from a VW Bug. There may be some helpful information there.
Here it is: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/32-roadster-body-a-new-approach-aka-beetledeuce.945382/

 

The beetles I’ve was a good thread back when it was active! No shortage of creativity on the hamb

 

Well after a week of evenings I’ve almost got the spot cleared for the 41 tear down. I was due for a re organizing anyhow.

Planning on going over Wednesday and getting more deck templates made. With this new contour gauge it should be way way faster.

Think a TON of this 41 will go directly to the roadster and not even find a shelf in between.

I need to scrounge up a model A front spring and I’m thinking maybe a guest mount and I’ve got enough for it to roll stear and stop etc.

I was going to use side mounts in the chevy but I’ve been thinking maybe I’ll use the 41’s frame mounts and a Hurst front mount . In theory if I use the 41 radiator and cap half the outlets like I’ve seen on a million swaps you could swap the flathead in with only radiator hoses, headers and maybe throttle linkage changes.

I doubt I’d ever do that swap but it’s something that popped into my head while making a list of what to pull off the 41 carcass.

 

As an aside note Tim, we would like to see some video of you riding that skateboard.

 

Keep me posted when you’re planning on running back that way! Love that a sedan of yours too!

 

@vtwhead thats all the kids these days lol

@EV34 I’ll drop you a line

 

Tim,

I've got some cross springs but don't know what they are for.

Bring dimensions with you when you come for the 41. Maybe I've got something you can use.

I'm pretty sure it won't help you but the 41 still has the axle, spring, wishbone, etc. That stuff will probably wind up on a shelf for future use.

 

@atch awesome I’ve starting making a whole list of bits and pieces that will be useful off the 41. Its a perfect pig to slaughter. I’ll find everything a good home eventually

 

Grabbed pipe for the second and third radius’ for my Winfield bender/ pipe anvil.

some square tube for legs and I can put it together

 

Alright spent another hour and a half maybe two hours yesterday taking notes from the quarter/deck side.
I think I’m probably about 7 or more hours into it about now. Best part is probably bringing my buddy who’s been driving olds powered hot rods since before some peoples grandparents were born a new hop up magazine to look at while we bs and I measure and sketch This visit I used my new contour gauge. I like that it has a lock to hold the contour but I could see the benefit of one with more/thinner pieces. It makes some curves a little zig zaggy but it’s nothing I can’t sort out manually. That’s the entire drivers side of the deck from 9” up from the bottom over to the far side of the T strip; and of course more notes.

 

If u have a few minutes u should “google” & watch “ 41 aluminum coupe willys body”. Might give you some ideas

 

Thanks Mike.

I started in on the Covell video on making the turtle deck. Tons of good information and process ideas. Big thanks to Eric for sending it to me. I started it after the kids went to bed and I kept nodding off having the weirdest dreams so I need to try again but what I was awake for was grade A haha.

one of the things he did was the T strip/ bead we had talked about here previously. He just made a set of dies for his pullmax and put the bead and the 90 deg turn in at the same time.

im curious if i could put a bead in the panel and then put the short turned down section in a brake and push the side with the bead up to get the bend? Seems like you’d want to anneal it before doing it for sure.

That’s about all I’ve got for updates. Gonna try to get another afternoon of template making in this week and hopefully get all the way through viewing the dvd. Then it’s time to visit Atch for the 41 parts car

 

I have one very similar to yours, but this one might work better for the fine details.

Empire 6 in. Contour Gauge 2754 - The Home Depot

Of course, not for use on a buddies painted car unless it's protected somehow.

 

Talked to a metal shaping friend and he thinks my bead roller/ metal brake idea should work for that top bead. So next I’ll make a little 4” long test piece, just to do something with metal and check it off the “figure it out” list.

Monday @Austin kays and our buddy Davie go to @atch to grab the 41. Looks like a rainy day so maybe I won’t have to hose it off when we get back home haha. I’m probably going to just soak every nut and bolt in kroil for at least a week if not two before I put a wrench on it while I get the transmission cross member for the A put into the chassis.

I also have another afternoon of taking templates off my buddy’s T scheduled. This contour gauge makes everything so much faster!

 

Try to grab a pair of thin, soft gloves and after getting approval, 'feel' the body too. Let it talk to you.
Remember that there is no spot that is dead flat.

 

Alright update! turns out you don’t need the back half of an old fords frame to have a roller! got the 41 home from Atch’s. Had a great day and now it’s sitting in the garage soaking in kroil. hasnt moved in 25 years! Going to pull the majority of the sheet metal and send it down the road and brake down the chassis etc for roadster parts. If you see any 41 stuff you need let me know I always feel a 41-8 ford is about as perfect of a pig to slaughter for an early hot rod as a guy is going to find. Really happy about this

I need to figure out how to get this front clip off, looks like maybe 3 bolts hold each fender to the cowl and maybe a few in the front center? Shouldn’t be too complicated I wouldn’t think.

get rid of the rotten tires and I’ll have a lot of breaker bars and cut off wheels in my future. Should have a mocked up roller by winter

 

Still trying to figure out how this is supposed to come apart, really thought I’d find a thread of video easier but it is kind of an odd ball one year only car.

After a couple hours of researching I got the jist and will start picking at it when I get a chance. For now we vacuumed dirt, leafs, acorns and ants off it for half an hour lol.

I also think that the front wheels will turn/steer with the tires off and the axle on stand.

The cowl is pretty toasty so if I have to cut it to get stuff off I don’t think I’ll be hurting anyone’s feelings but trying to take things apart with out destroying stuff is typically the route my brain wants to take.

not much of an update but there it is. Really looking forward to having this a little more stripped down so it’s easier to work on and around.