Very cool bucket . What are the chances of getting you in Mountain Home AR. for the Buckethead bash next July http://bucketheadbash.com/ http://http://www.cardvds.com/2006trailer.wmv
I will check the calendar, sounds like fun. No updates this week maybe first of week we will tear down and get started painting etc.
Latest update. WOW time move on these days it seems like. The " Simple T " has been just sitting int the showroom of the trailer park as i have been pretty busy with trailers and Mikes Roadster ( another thread) not to mention the HA/GR rail project. And then every now and then i have to actually work . My goal was to actually drive the T to the 500 World of Wheels Car Show 2nd week of Feb! Pretty ambious thought but i think we can get er done. ( at least drive it off the trailer in the building) My engine plans have been all over the board with two motors being built for this car , one a full race engine ( i dont expect it untill Sept) and another driver engine that just got the mains ( babbitt) poured last week. My spare motor that i just had done last year broke a crank on our last T tour and it is still in the car. A warranty fix but will take some time. In the mean time i need a T engine that is complete and will just run for set up and final finish of the chassis. Bingo found a deal in Cinci Ohio and traded some parts etc and picked it up last week. Its a complete chassis running gear of a 1926 T Coupe. The owner is building a hot rod and didnt want the old parts. The 26-27 is the most desirable of all the T's ( at least to me) with all the good stuff. Wide pedals. big rear end etc. Got it home and it looks pretty good , now lets start it up. There was pieces missing on the old spark box and i set them aside and used one of my swap meet buys a " clamp on deal" from the 20-30's. Some one had taken a old Thomas drive and welded up a model a distributor on the top of it. I bought it based on the fact it had all the gears etc. Screwed the gear on the threaded end of the camshaft, and installed my friend Tonys latest T tool he invented. Its a piston TDC tool designed to help you time a model T as there are no marks and you cant see the piston thru the plug hole. Comes with a led to hook to a coil and tell you when the distributor sparks. WOW ,works pretty good! Note: I wish i could say we just set the timing and it ran but i dont have time to tell ya the actually hours of messing with this set up before it did finally run, so just understand there was a period of pain before this damn thing started...rbg The old carb was pretty rusty and i had a new unit for my dual carb manifold and used one of them with the Bubba Fuel Tank and orginal wood bracket. ( got to be orginal every now and then) OK, sat it didnt run and I went home to dinner with a engine that would just cough and smoke every now and then. I was beat but didnt wish to admit this engine had consumed my day and got the best of me. You know stuff like this keeps you awake at night and at one time 4:44 this morning i actually considered going to the shop and starting all over!! Thats a guy thing i am sure. OK back in the shop today i just started the entire timing process all over, i knew this engine had compression on all four cylinders and it should run. No sticking valves and the engine (at least cranking) had no unusual noises. To compound the timing issue, the model a distributor was welded solid to the clamp on mount and timing had to be moved tooth by tooth by removing the entire unit. The model a points can be changed as well by loosening the screw under the rotor and i decided i would use Tonys LED set up and kinda split the difference with the cam movement. I also had to remove the carb and blow some rust out that i had got in the needle and seat yesterday . After some carefull thought i hooked up the primary coil lead to my battery and hit the starter. BANG it not only runs but sounds pretty good, needs a bit of spark timing but with a couple adjustments to the dist cam in the model A. It sounds really good !!! The smoke actually cleared up after a minute of running!! Makes a guy feel pretty good!!! Next week we will take the car apart for frame paint, clean up this relic of a engine and paint it black, install my accesorys etc and hope the trans mission will adjust and pull the car ?? Maybe by friday i can have another update and show you all more stuff.
Monday update: The car has disappeared ! We took the car totally apart this morning and took the body to the upholstry shop to get the tent canvas seats sewed up ( like the a on the hamb board) Cliff has the frame ( going gloss black) and all suspension parts are apart getting ready for a burgandy paint job tomorrow at Cliffs when he brings back the frame. I have a couple machine shop issues with the rear axle and will try to get them handled this week as well. The old taxi tested tough engine needs to be cleaned up and hosed with paint as well. Trying to bring all this program back together by weekend. First of week at latest. Was one hell of a busy day at Bubbas!!!!
Had to do a double take of the pic on the right. At a glance, it looked like you'd put some kind of wild-ass "I Dream of Jeanie" top on it. Thank God. Can't wait to see the finished product. Great job.
I would never do that! " I dream of jeanie" i like that ! I never took a double look on the picture next to the canopy for my teardrop camper.
Ok lets start this thing all over, the car no longer exists!! The frame is at the painter and returned, the engine is apard, the rear axle is on the bench and the body is gettin the seats made down the street. The car just disapeared, the wheels are all leaning up against the wall and Cliff just picked up the front suspension pieces to make them turn burgandy. I will redo the posts as we assemble this car getting it ready to take to the car show in two weeks. Will we make it ?? Beats me but we will try !!!!
OK, hang on ! You asked for updates so here goes. I had meetings at work today and didnt get much shop time in at Bubbas but: Cliff brought back all the suspension and steering stuff ( minus drive shaft and rear end) painted burgandy. He did this last night, the dude never sleeps. Mel wont let him i heard ?? I had to stop by the upholstry shop on the way home just to check the progree and is it ever cool, Heres a sneak peak of the canvas ( tent) side panels etc. a HAMB tech tip idea I will send more tomorrow as i have to get in early and put the front axle under the car just to see the burgandy contrast to the rustoleum black frame. The old engine got cleaned up today ( thanks to Mike my part time dude) him and Walt got that done without me. ( The elf shift works pretty hard from time to time) I will hose it with rustoleum and Eastwood hardner tomorrow morning.
I like the way they did the upholstry.Looks great. It is starting to take shape a little at a time. Cliff (Burlew Auto Body)
That car is amazing, can't wait to see it around indy this summer. So you and DB got a little rivalry going yet? Who should I put my money on for king of the hill?
Nah, there are no Kings in this empire, just pals in crime! DB is the keeper of the lower tribe. Van, Steve Long, Denny and Yogi Behr. I just do the upper corner. I have got DB hooked on "T's" though, and he is building a model T Speedster thats going to be pretty cool.
I'd love to see both those cars in action at Newport this year. Your influence flows down, hanging around DB's has almost got me hooked on Ts! Those suckers have fascinating little powertrains.
Had a lot to do today and didnt get much done, but got the front end mounted ( back from paint) , put in two new king pins, and mounted side bars and wheels etc. The front end is totally done except the side steering bar and i have the pieces but cant install untill the engine is in so clearance on oil pan can be seen. Love the look of the burgandy and black together!! Got the motor pretty clean and will shoot the paint after "hot rod breakfast" tomorrow. DB got the bat wings for the rear axle done and i think i can use the orginal T radius rods with the bat wings moved inward about 4 inches to clear the disc calipers. I will put up some more pics tomorrow as we get it done.
Sat update. Got the old engine cleaned up and painted. I love rustoleum and use some eastwood hardner in the mix. Mud Dobers had moved in under the valve cover and then died an oily death. Put the poished side covers and head/intake set up on the engine and its almost ready to put in the chassis. DB got the bat wings made up for the rear arms and the pinter is coming after the rear axle assembly tuesday. Gettin it done !!
The Jalopy Journal
