I follow your "fiasco of a "Model A Coupe" build thread". I have used a few of your ideas, too. Thank you for the positive comment.
I like Ron Whites version " When life gives you lemons make lemonade, then try to find someone whose life has given them Vodka " Oh yeah nice save on the project. I like the thicker doors to.
The tops of the doors are actually temporary. They were much taller when I got them. I was so sick of looking at them, I decided to make them fit the car better. I will narrow them some in the future. I'm simply unsure of how much at this point. So, oldschool, thanks for your input. I will consider it when the time to finish the doors gets here. Oh, and if you're quoting Ron White... How far do you think this plane will take us? To the scene of the accident. And I bet we beat the paramedics there by at least a half hour. Classic.
I've got a 26-27 T rough sedan body missing the drivers door. Trust me its rough, but it has a decent sub floor and a possibly repairable pass door. (the top of the door is the worst) Let me know for sure about the tranny's I'd be glad to work something out. Send me a PM Jeff (Check this thread out for more possible treasures: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=413174)
The last few weeks have been filled with dilemma. The first one started with my doors. I was sick of looking at my thick truck doors. So, I decided to narrow them. How much was the dilemma. The hinges proved to be the dictator in that decision. I ended up taking about 1/2" to 5/8" out of them. I also decided that, while I had them apart, it would be a good time to patch them. The next dilemma was seats. I couldn't decide whether or not to go bucket or bench seats. I chose buckets. Then came the choice of building or buying. After do a lot of shopping around, I was unable to find what I wanted for what I wanted to spend. So, I sat down with CAD and started drawing. I drew something I thought would be pretty cool. So, I went to the local "general" store and bought some poster board to transfer my design from the computer to something more material. I put together a mock seat and was pretty impressed with what I had designed. Then I started shopping for raw materials. I found a friend willing to sell me some 063 aluminum for a very reasonable price. Then I had to figure out how to maximize my investment. I spent a good portion of a night trying to figure out how I could get 4 seats out of a 4x8 sheet of aluminum. I ended up splitting the seat backs and made 8 seat sides fit on a sheet. I bought some 18" squares out of .125 aluminum for the seat bottoms. Game on!! Thanks to my friend Bret for the TIG welding and all the other tools to make this happen. I will be making 4 seats out of the material I have. But, I will only need 2. In other words, I will have 2 available to do whatever with. Maybe sell??? Hint Hint. Also, I will be more than happy to share my CAD drawings with anyone interested.
That's some nice nesting with all those pieces. I always loved figuring how to layout a job at the cabinet shop. We had a lot of double sided work that had to be cut on one side then stay together long enough to flip it over to cut the back. pretty tricky somtimes. Did you test fit the seats in the car? The first thing I would've done is make rumbly noises while sitting in the new seats. ... Doesn't everyone do that? Jeff
I put my posterboard mock-up in the car before I made any decisions with the aluminum. I tried my best to sit in the mock-up seat while it was in the car. It was pretty tough to get a good idea at that point. I guess that is why I have only made 1 out of the 4 planned seats. But, this morning I put the aluminum seat in my roadster to get a better idea. It fits in the car damn good. It's still a bit tough to imagine how and where it should be since I don't have a steering column or pedals in place yet. But, that's why I felt it is imperative to get some seats in there. With seats I thought it would be a bit easier to mount pedals and a steering column. It's all a bunch of jagged pieces to a puzzle at this point.
Good for you for sticking with it. I wouldve just left after seeing the condition. Like I said good for you.
I think more than one of us have bought stuff that seems like a bad idea at first. You've turned those 'ruff' bits into a good looking hot rod. Your abilities and skills have saved all that stuff from rotting away at some wheeler dealer's place. Great work.
Since the pics in my 1st post I have completed the welds on the kickups. I have also boxed in the original Model A section of the chassis. I also welded in some 45 degree corners to smooth the appearance of the front kickups. I wish I had a pic to help describe my description. unfortunately for you I have my body sitting on my chassis preventing me from taking a pic for you.
i saw the pic of it stitched in then saw you building the car and went...uhhhhh lol great build! im really enjoying this thread
Alright guys, I'm looking for radiator advice. I have done quite a bit if searching through this board trying to find some info on how you guys are cooling channeled Model As or lo-boys. So far I have been unable to find anything. I would like to put my radiator on top of my front cross-member and inside my 28-29 shell. I also want to keep my shell the same height as the top of the cowl. According to my measurements I need somewhere around 18 tall by 19 wide. A chopped 32 radiator would be ideal. But, I can't find one any shorter than 22.5". I have ready of people using 60's Mustang radiators. Those are a bit too large for this instance. I have considered the idea of putting a radiator in front of the cross-member. That would pose a couple other problems. The first being getting a hose back to the water pump. The second problem is short frame horns and how much shorter they would become if I shoved a radiator and grille shell in front of my cross-member. So, if anyone has any ideas on where I can get a 18x19 radiator, I would appreciate it. I am also open to suggestions if anyone has any other ideas on how I can cool the engine. Thanks for the help.
Doesn't mean much coming from a newb like me, but I really believe what you're doing here is the definition of hot rodding from back in the day. You're working with what you've got, not what you can buy off the shelf. I would consider myself so lucky to be able to do what you're doing. I LOVE your build, it's exactly what i want to do one day....I swear I need to contract one of you MidWestern guys to find a T or coupe body of some sort for me!
There is nothing about my roadster build that anyone can't do. I am relatively new to building cars. When I started building my sedan back in '07 I had never welded before. So, I bought a welder, watched some friends weld, and gave it a shot. I still have a lot of room for improvement but, I have come a long way. Also, my fabrication knowledge has greatly expanded by reading this message board. I still have a lot to learn. I hope I never stop learning. My point is this: Where you say, "I would consider myself so lucky to be able to do what you're doing." is rather crazy to hear. You can do it, and you should while you have this much drive!! As far as "definition of hot rodding back in the day"... after spending as much as I did to get the pile of 80 year old parts I started with, I don't have the budget to buy everything. Not that I would anyway. I appreciate your kind words. I will keep my eye out for a good project for you. But, what makes you think I won't keep it for myself?
I've made some decent progress lately. I after I slimmed down both my doors by a good 3/4" I installed some bear-claw type door latches. The installation went pretty smooth. I guess that's because of doing it once before on my sedan. It's pretty nice to have overcome the hurdle of making pickup doors work on a coupe/roadster back half. I still need to finish welding them together and do some mud work on the patch panels. The long Independence Day weekend was an opportunity to do some serious work. The the first thing I worked on was the steering column. Originally I intended on using a Mopar steering box and having traditional steering. After mocking up the installation I decided it wasn't going to work for me. I simply didn't have enough room for my feet and three pedals. Luckily I had a Vega box on hand to use instead. Next came a clutch and brake pedal assembly. I had a pedal assembly out of a '31 Chevy on the shelf. After some modifications I had some pedals.
There has been more progress on my roadster over the last couple months. From the front to the back.... I built a couple front shock mounts and a front panhard bar. I also built a transmission crossmember. I knew that with a roadster channeled roadster body, the only thing that will hold it together is a rigid chassis. So, I built a x-member. I was fairly limited with this because I planned on running my exhaust directly underneath it. I used some 1.25" square tubing I had sitting around. I sure hope it will be enough. I used some .25" plate steel to pull the two sides of the chassis together. My most recent progress is the exhaust. I chose to use some Speedway block huggers. I found Jegs to have pretty competitive prices on 2.25" exhaust tubing. Of all places to purchase automotive parts, I found Amazon to have a great deal on Cherry Bomb glass packs. Oh, and free Supersaver shipping to make it a better deal. The last thing I have done is mount the rear shocks. I was able to mount them between the rearend and rear crossmember. Currently I am working on mounting the battery. I think I am going to mount it behind the passenger seat. Last weekend my dad and I went down the Greenfield, IA swap meet. We came away with some good stuff. I bought a set of '40 Ford steel wheels, complete front brake setup from a '48 Ford F1, and a Hurst syncro-lock 3-speed shifter. I know we should have came home with more stuff. Is buyer's remorse also passing up on a good deal? However, I was unable to find a decent aluminum intake for a SBC 283 or 327 with the fill tube. Consider that statement a "wanted" statement. Regardless, it was a successful swap meet. I recommend going next year.
My dad and I traveled south to a swap meet in Fremont NE. It was a very good swap meet. There were many vendors with much to choose from. We scored a couple good buys. Along with a couple other odds and ends, my dad found a very nice 26 - 27 Model T coupe windshield frame for his T coupe project. I came home with an Edelbrock "Streetmaster" aluminum intake with the fill tube hole. Currently the hole is blocked with a frost plug but, at least the hole is there. It is a funky looking intake with ribs cast into the runners to slow reverse fuel/air flow from the heads back into the intake. Please feel free to reply to this thread if you have any more insight into my intake as I have never seen anything like it.
Oh shit... I think I talked to you at the swap meet today! I had the '32 rails, X-member, and '32 shell/insert for sale. You stopped and asked about the grille shell. Good to meet ya.. keep the updates coming! Nick, aka "Malcolm"
Hey Malcolm - you're right, we did discuss your 32 rails and 32 shell/insert combo. Good to meet you, too. Let me know if you ever need anything from up in the Sioux Falls area. Have a good one.
I have made some great progress lately. I stripped the car down to the bare chassis to complete some welds and add some gussets. I have also replaced many critical bolts with grade 8 bolts. Today was a big day. We were finally able to fire up my 283. It sounded great with the cherry bomb glass packs. I owe all the credit for that to my dad. He is awesome. He has forgotten more about engines than most guys will ever know. We also bled the brakes and the hydraulic throwout bearing. I now have a very good pedal for both. Tomorrow I am going to focus on cooling. After that I will attack some electrical stuff. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to back it out of my shop and take a trip around the block. Hopefully I have a drivable car to tear down this winter and paint and detail. I will try to take some more pics during the final assembly.
VERY inspiring, man. Great to follow this build through all the major steps and get a whole lot of good info I've got a 283 in my 50 Chevy, I love it (except at the times when I have an intake gasket go bad and find milkshake all over the place....along with bad lifters :/ ). It's one of those engines that when old school mechanics find out what it is, they get this smile and glazed over look....you can tell they're reminiscing about how great they were!
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