Features Who's Building a T?

...just awaiting my DVD order....

 

Had to cut up my Howells deck lid to make it fit. Made my own inner support.

 

Grrrr.... but I'm trying not to stress about it until it needs to be done.

 

Them repop deck lids are kind of pricey and originals are hard to find to say the least. I went the 3/4 square tubing, heat and bend for a frame, then skin

 

I had an original deck lid along with a really cherry 27 roadster body that I had in a shed for over 20 years while I was trying to make a living and raise my family.

I became so disillusioned with the whole thing that I gave up on being able to build it and sold it.

Crated it up and shipped it out to Hortons in Ontario for a guy who had them build it for him.

I had a wife that’s now an ex who wasn’t supportive of the hobby and I had pretty much given up on the dream.

That was quite a while ago now.

 

Good looking job. I thought about doing the same thing but I wanted to keep the original look. The two round spots are where the gas tank mounting straps were brazed on and a little bit of the 1952 paint when this thing was first built. I have "Not Fake Patina" with two arrows pointing at them now.

 

Here is my latest deck lid attempt. I had stuffed a piece of wood in the trunk opening and traced the curvature on it and cut it with my bandsaw for a template. Also made templates for the curvature under the rear window and the top of the panel under the deck lid.

 

I had a piece of leftover fiberglass sheet from my old teardrop trailer project. This stuff is available from places like Home Depot in 4X8 sheets. It has a pebbled texture on one side and smooth on the back side. I find that it is commonly used in the washroom facilities at campsites. I cut the curved side pieces out of this with two layers per side glued together with kitty hair body filler.

 

I made the top and bottom pieces out of scrap wood cut to fit the contours of the templates I had made previously and screwed them onto the side pieces with drywall screws that I countersunk.

 

Incidentally, the deck lid is a trapezoid shape so there are not a lot of 90 degree corners anywhere. I made this with an 1/8" gap along the sides and the top edge tucks under the rear window frame. I managed to find one trunk hinge and made a mirror image for the other side.

 

Now I am at the point where I am adding horizontal straps and little vertical ones. This is getting a lot stiffer. I have leftover stiff paper from my 3 piece hood pattern making exercise for making the outer skin.

 

This should theoretically be like doing drywall where I screw the fiberglass sheet to the wooden framework but the various curves in the panel could possibly be my downfall.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Like that a lot. Years ago when there were HAMB Tech Weeks things like that were worthy of prizes. Bob

 

Received it and watched it. Good stuff and I know I'll be studying it at length.

 

Went to the next step of making the pattern and since the framework is mostly wood, thumbtacks work great. No silly rare earth magnets needed. Next problem was how to mount the fiberglass sheet on straight since it is a whole lot stiffer than the paper pattern. Established a center line and went off that, hoping for the best.

 

Drew lines where the horizontal bars were to screw to and started from the center. Just making it up as I go along. Started out easy but going to the reverse curve on the top became a struggle so out came some clamps.

 

Just as I feared, mounted the thing crooked. On the plus side, once the clamps were used, the fiberglass sheet pulled into place quite nicely. My fears of the mild compound curves were unfounded. Kitty hair should fill the gaps. I decided to mount the sheet with the textured side out assuming that it would give me more surface area for the kitty hair to adhere to. Have to fill in the screw holes anyhow and I'm sure that there will be low spots that will have to be dealt with. Overall, I am quite pleased with how this is turning out. I have very little money invested in this, mainly wood screws, thumbtacks, a sharpie, and a tub of kitty hair body filler so far. For anyone following this who want to copy, Lang's Old Car Parts have the trunk hinges available.

 

I have one you can have , complete with bullet hole

 

I have had my 26 T sedan for awhile.
It's got a 327
350 turbo
Quick change rearend
Cawl steering.
It is fun to drive, easy to work on. Been a great car.
I have also been building a 26 T coupe for about two years now.
It's got a 383 stroker, 700r4, and a ford 9" positive rearend with 3.50 gears.
I bought the body here in Missouri and started with that. Built the frame 2x3 square tubing then moved on to making it a rolling chassis. This last summer I built the floor and roof top. Once I gather all the pics I would like to do a build thread on it. Still have the steering glass and interior to do, and hopefully work out any bugs. Thanks for looking.

 

I like those wheels on your Tudor.

 

Sitting here relaxing with my new I-Phone 11, pro trying to stay warm.

Weather like this (-26C with a wind) makes me want to hibernate

Going outside reminds you that you’re still alive

My day started out with my Stihl backpack blower cleaning snow from my driveway and sidewalks.

Now I’m day dreaming about when I can get my RPU out and go for a ride.

I had intended to get the upholstery done this winter but I’ve been chasing other little things like small leaks and minor stuff.

I switched to a better cooling fan and then cut down a deep aluminum transmission pan to stock size for better sealing and ground clearance.

I bought a set of exhaust hoses to vent the exhaust through the door of the garage so that I can run it to set the timing and tune the carbs
But it’s even too cold to cut the hole through the door to install the exhaust hose porthole.

I do have other things to do but right now I’m thinking about warm days and fun cruising.

 

Start build 35 yrs. ago now retired so end in sight. 27 2dr. shortened to a club cab, full fendered, home made box, 351 Windsor and lots of odd parts.

 

Build thread for this beauty would be nice.
Great work and a good chance to burn up some of the numerous T Tudor bodies out there, especially in central KS on the I70.

 

What's the round thing near the front of the engine.

 

Looks like a factory gauge with the oil pressure in it? Short line run just to hook it up?

 

That is a 50 plymouth oil gauge to hook direct for initial startup.

 

NOT mine found it on the web and it's the first T stock car I have ever seen.

 

^^^ That guy needs to eat a truck load of Chubby Chuck Burgers or something....sheesh

 

A few more pics. Of my 26 model T sedan.