finally got to clean the Roadster up from the salt and dirt and oil... wait a minute... where's the turtledeck?! well last Saturday I drove to the grocery store, and as I swung into a parking spot, I heard a bang. that sound was the rear mount that bolts the turtledeck on, breaking off. so after moving my toolbox and anything else that was heavy, I drove it home and removed the turtledeck. last night I finally got around to welding it back together, and I also fixed some other cracks that had come up over the past year. I also added some braces to the inside of the bottom corners so they wont flop around and break. I shot it with paint tonight, its not perfect, but it will be good enough till I get around to rebuilding the whole thing. .
Find much salt hiding when you took it apart? Given the amount of miles you put on this thing between fixes I’d say it’s roughly the same as most parking lot cruisers having to do one fix every 17 years. Shits sturdy lol
Simple life update: I've been working on helping @Austin kays sort out his little coupe and get it on the road *SEE HERE* while we were working last week, I got the roadster out to use as a parts getter Mike stopped by with his deuce, getting it ready for the trip to KC for greaserama after working on Austin's coupe for awhile, I decided I should get my car ready for greaserama too. one of the things I obviously needed to fix from the Bonneville trip, was the tires. so back out came the 12 spokes... and some "new" rear wheels I took it to work, and then for a little drive in the country. I had a leaking valve stem, so before installing them, I sprayed them with a familiar purple ... Juuuuust right. So I headed down midday on Friday. . . and promptly lost one of my cavalier caps. luckily I painted the whole wheel, so it looked ok with no caps. I had a good night helping in the drink tent, listening to the live music. and when I got back home, dad had a surprise for me. I had called him as soon as I figured out that I was missing a cap, and he went on a drive AND FOUND IT! The next morning Mike and Austin met at my house and we made the trek down to Greaserama. we had a good day, and scored a spot right up front. My favorite car there (and the only other car with 12 spokes) was this T bucket. It was sporting a killer full survivor interior we eventually got hungry and figured it would be a good time to head for mexican. On the way home from dinner I got rained on a little, but otherwise made it home pretty easy. I need to work out a balance issue with the new rear wheels, and I'll be dialed for the fall. .
Looks killer with the slicks and caps. Every hot rod should have two or three sets of wheels I think.
I dig the purple wheels! That T shares a bunch with mine. Nice! The bed is a little higher, engine, details and finishes, but kind of similar.
We still here! While I was at Greaserama I noticed my driver side motor mount was failing the same way the passenger side one did in texas last year. So I yanked it off and built a gusset like I already had on the passenger side. I just hadn't got around to doing the driver side yet. with that fixed I drove it to work a couple times last week, getting ready for the weekend. I took my chrome caps to a buddy that does Paintless Dent Repair, to see if he could straighten them out a little bit. So I was capless for the trip to Bethany for the Rumble drags. I took it to lunch with the family, and when Mike showed up we left for bethany. We made it there with no issue, and I parked like usual. We had a fun day at the drags, and had an uneventful drive home. I still need to get the rear tries balanced before I head to Wichita for Kustomville I took the wife to dinner for our 8th anniversary, which also marks a decade of us being together. I'm lucky to have somebody that puts up with my shenanigans. I also un-ceremonially rolled over 20,000 miles on the odometer. lets see how far we can get this year. .
Well I got up Saturday and it was lightly raining, but rain never hurt nobody, so I left for Kansas city. Luckily, by the time I hit KC it was a perfectly clear day. Where was I headed? Well, David Mann Chopperfest of course! I was the only hot rod there, and I got to actually park IN the show. I did a couple smoky doughnuts on the way out, and then cruised out of KC and headed for home. It was going fairly smooth, right up until I ran out of gas. And YES, I have a fuel gauge that works, and is accurate. Luckily a dude stopped, and went and picked up some gas in a can for me. Within a half hour I was back on the road. Made it to st joe, and filled up. I made it the rest of the way home with no issue, and even drove the car to church the next morning. I also found out why my brake pedal is damp. I noticed it on the trip to Bonneville, and had thought it was the brakes, but wasn't loosing fluid, so I put it on my list of things to look at when I took the dash out. Well it decided it wasn't gonna wait for me to find it, and started bleeding oil around my oil pressure gauge! So I need to fix that, my tach, and did I mention I need to balance my tires before thursday? Never a dull moment. .
Well, that's an honor! I tend to wave to bikers no matter what I'm driving, just to say HI and that I see them. I get a lot more waves back in the T.
You guys wanna see another trip? of course you do. I tried to fix my oil leaking gauge by putting a new ferrule and tightening the fitting, but it was futile, it leaked on my way to Wichita. I also balanced my rear tires, but it was also to no avail (note I drove there on the whitewalls, and it still bounced) I left work a little early on thursday, and started my way down to wichita I made it to @travisfromkansas house well after dark, and crashed. I had to take some photos when I woke up friday morning, the yard decor was on point. Travis and the other guys left to go clean their cars or something, and since we aren't about that life, me and shawn (white 59 chevy wagon) took off for the scenic way to downtown wichita, and Artist at Large, the meet point for the morning. on the way there, right after a winding river road, shawn stopped because his steering wheel suddenly turned 90 degrees. Turned out, his rear bolt on his driver side steering arm sheared off. we cranked the other one down tight and limped it to the first stop on the reliability run, a shop with a lift. In short order we had the front end ripped apart and what was left of the bolt came out by drilling it from the backside. We drove the literal ONE BLOCK to the military surplus/ hardware store, and got a couple new bolts. once we had it buttoned up, shawn went with the reliability run, while I went to the venue for the show, to set up my art display. we met back up that afternoon back at Artist at Large, for the evening cruise activities. I parked perfect as usual. after watching some crazy antics on the main drag, (burnouts, taildragging, ect.) @Church noticed his ride had left without him, so I offered a ride to his hotel. we took off in style. Photos by Evan daines. And then I made my way back at Travis' for the night. The next morning me and Shawn wandered our way to the show. After a couple more donuts ( this time with Evan IN the car) I found my way into the show and to my booth. After the show I packed up and had a "12 year old's dream dinner" at a local brewery. It was good. And once again, back to Travis' place for the night. The next morning everyone was moving slow, and after we all said our goodbyes, I hit the road. I found this neat old garage on the way. eventually I got back on the road. I even found a shortcut on gravel! And pretty soon I was home. It was a fun weekend with a bunch of friends (new and old) hopefully they have it again next year! Photo by Ms Royboy. .
Remember how I said even switching the tires didn't fix my tire shake? well when I got back home I was DETERMINED to figure out the problem. I had gotten the slicks balance before the trip, and it hadn't changed with the other tires, so I was confident I could put them back on. I also got my caps back from my buddy that does PDR, and boy do they look better. I dug around a little bit and found my bag of Balance beads. After trying a bunch of different methods, I wound up using this coil boot, and a short chunk of welding wire to install them into the tube. And wouldn't ya know it, it works. smooth as butter right past 70. perfect. so I had to drive it to work. Little did I know I was heading in for a 13.5 hour day. so this was my view when I left. Planning on a short trip up to Des Moines this Saturday, to shake it down before the ROC. see you on the road! .
Hey now! We didn't leave early Friday to clean the cars, I had to lead the run! We left SATURDAY early to clean the cars lol. Had a blast with ya this weekend, glad we could put ya up.
Are you coming up to repossess the fuel pump you lent me in June? Will I get to see you or do I have to wait till next week in Okeyhoma?
haha ok fine, we were just late and lazy. thanks to you and vanessa for putting me up for the weekend! it was a blast. see you in oklahoma!
I may steal the slapper. I don’t have one. lol You can help me decide which pile I’m taking next week.
I have had good results with those beads. A couple things I did was fill as you did but I also jacked the car up to take the pressure off the tire and of course waited till air was out (you may have did that, I can't tell). I believe the fill bottle that came with the beads worked, but I may have poked them in with something as you did here and there. I just used the regular valve insert but did change them to the ones they recommended. I had them on standby. I aired them up with tire rotated with the valve up. A year or two ago I checked the pressure once and was airing up and checking pressure and letting air out and a bead got lodged in the valve insert and I lost all pressure. That is when I swapped in the correct inserts. The reason to have the tire valve up when airing/airing out and checking pressure is the balance beads are at the bottom so there's less of a chance of the beads getting lodged in the valve as they are gravitationally down there...I have had them in for years now...
...How the hell they smooth this out is mind boggling......but I'm good to just under 75mph, after that they start to shake...but I don't get up there to often...usually a pass will get near that... That's 15mph over here on the Freeways...65 is perfect...110K... My tires have been off since I got it in 2016...they are weighted too but the beads did the magic. I have another year on these yet but they are nearing the end... Glad Joe's ride improved...I have tubes too... @BigJoeArt, I edited the ceramic bead instruction in my last post...I did as you did...valve down only I jacked the car up to take weight off the tires when filling and airing up the 1st time. Airing up any time after I still make sure valve is up.
Honestly I wish I could have videoed the tire balancing process for the rear tires, cause they are so messed up. I don't know how they run smooth, but they do, so... And yeah, guys, they have been "rounded" quite a bit. . .
The Jalopy Journal
