I'm just south of Hamilton GA, my house hasn't lost power and no wind damage. Lots of power outages all around me though. Looks like it's about over, we'll see. I hosted a hurricane party last night, just a few friends. We had fun.
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I'm just south of Hamilton GA, my house hasn't lost power and no wind damage. Lots of power outages all around me though. Looks like it's about over, we'll see. I hosted a hurricane party last night, just a few friends. We had fun.
No damage to my place. Just a big mess in the lawn and streets. The power is out, and probably will be for a number of days, along with about 80% of the neighborhood. Plenty of fences came down. A guy down the street had a tree come through his roof. Zero flooding around my area.
glad you folks did all right
Power went out about 8:30 Sunday evening. No power meant no TV and no computer to entertain ourselves. We spent a long night in the recliners with the portable radio keeping us informed. Our back yard privacy fence was flattened, a few small limbs were down, and the roofing material was blown off my storage shed, but we suffered no damage to the house. Power was restored about 7:30 Tuesday evening. Got the yard cleaned up Monday afternoon and started disassembling the reusable parts of the fence. Today (Wed) I'm re-roofing the shed. The fence will be a longer-term project as I have to replace all the posts! Ugh!
Glad to hear not too bad of damage and you guys came out alright
I'm also glad to hear you all are alright and have light to no damage. That could have been a lot worse for sure!
Times 3.. glad you're okay Jim.
Count me in on the being glad everything seems to be OK.
I think the local power is mostly back.
A friend of mine suffered a Robbery, someone took a whole trailer of pine straw bales - just hooked up and drove off. Her cameras didn't get it, but the cameras across the street got a crappy image, that's all the cops have to go on. Dam thieves. We should be able to line them up and shoot them.
She had a tree fall, but it went in the best possible way, no damage.
I have some big branches to deal with, but no damage.
It's good that everyone seems to have come through with only minor material damage. Fortunately for us we don't get such extreme weathers; so have no first-hand knowledge of what they're capable of.
And for that I thank my Gods.
The best news of all is that we all came through alive and uninjured.:HMMM: Some shingles and some fencing can be fixed. There certainly are many who lost a lot more than me. Just a few miles north of me an EF-2 tornado touched down during the storm and destroyed a half-dozen homes, damaged several more.:eek: I feel fortunate; I finished the roof on my shed yesterday and will tackle the fence next (no big hurry on it).
Unfortunately there are always looters and thieves who take advantage of others. It should be legal to shoot them on sight.:mad:
Progress on my Deuce will be interrupted for a week or so while I'm making repairs to the property. My Vega steering box arrived today (delayed about 5 days because of the hurricane:rolleyes:); I'll get to it as soon as I can.:cool:
it is i texas. you loot we shoot .
??? Make your own what? Did I miss something?
Oh. OK. I wondered; I haven't been here for a couple of days and apparently missed it...
It's been a while since I got to work on the Deuce. I re-roofed the shed, re-roofed the back porch, and finally got the fence back together. I had to replace 12 posts that were broke off at the ground and then reattach all the fence sections. I finally finished all the repairs last Friday, almost a month after the hurricane...
So, during the aftermath my steering box arrived. I had stomped the local salvage yard before the hurricane looking for a rack & pinion unit that I could make into a homemade version of a Unisteer. Having failed to find a suitable donor, I elected to use some sort of steering box. I already had a Corvette box (which has a long sector shaft) that I could have mounted similar to the one on my coupe, but the steering shaft would have to be snaked around the headers on top of the frame rail. Besides looking like crap, it would make installing hood sides impossible if I ever wanted to do that. So, I bought a new Vega box. It has a short sector shaft which allows it to mount down low and I can keep the steering shaft below the top of the frame rail.
The first step was to mock up the Vega box in place using wood blocks of various sizes. After verifying steering shaft access between the headers and frame and bolt access under the frame, I fab'd up the mounting plate from a piece of 1/4 inch plate and some jam nuts for spacers (Vega boxes don't mount flat; they have to be spaced off the plate about 5/16 inch). I couldn't just slap the mount against the frame either, as is usually done, because the torsion bar is in the way down below. I needed to space the mount out from the frame rail 1 1/4 inch for torsion bar clearance. I used a piece of 3/16 x 1 1/4 flat stock to make what I call a "three dimensional gusset". After welding the gusset piece to the mounting plate, I bolted the completed mounting bracket to the steering box, set it in its mock-up position, and clamped it in place. I re-checked all the clearance issues and location and welded it in place with 3 large tack welds (No picture. I will weld everything solid when I blow the chassis apart for finishing). I still need to fabricate the bottom strap that ties the bottom of the mounting plate to the bottom of the frame rail, but I ran out of time for today.
Glad to hear your back to rights at home. Also glad to follow your build!
Hello Jim, old Friend. Just discovered this thread. I haven't been doing anything for some time, but getting fired up now to re-start on the Essex. How are things? Perley
Hello Perley! All is well here. Sorry I didn't see your post sooner. I also got your private message, but just now found it (over a month late!!). Anyway, glad to hear you're going back to work on the Essex. Keep us posted on your progress. If you've read this thread you know that I've started on a '32. The chassis is on wheels and the 454 /700R4 are mounted, but I'm temporarily sidetracked on a different project.
Anyway, to everyone following this thread, I have been busy remodeling the kitchen. This was not just a fresh paint and new light fixtures job; we tore the kitchen out to the bare walls. So far we have updated the wiring, new ceiling, repaired drywall/plaster, new flooring, and new plumbing. I'm doing this all myself (with the help of my wife), so it may be another month before I get back on the Deuce. I've also been racing my Electrathon car when I can find time. You can follow that on my other thread: http://www.clubhotrod.com/hot-rod-ta...nd-hotrod.html
Those remodels are just like an automotive project IMO. You tear into them and find hack work and it takes way more time and money to get the end result you want. :LOL:
Greetings Jim, I am finally here but no pix?
Jim, you won't like a detroit locker on the street unless you don't mind skipping around a corner. My '32 roadster had one and it wass a rush, but nice in a straight line.
Jim, you wold be well advised to invest a with couple hundred in a glass bead cabinet. They are a godsend. Clean most anything without damaging the metal surface.
Jim, I had a uni-steer rack on my black deuce. it is nice but the big drawback is that it has such a slow turning radius, kinda like the old choppers with the log springers.
Good stuff, that complete kitchen remodel. I hope you put lots of outlets, can't have too many. When I built my kitchen, the refrigerator got a dedicated breaker, and the island is wired in 10 AWG on a 30A breaker with a total of five independant GFCI outlets. Short appliance cords, no problem. Run the microwave, crock pot and mixer all at once, no problem! All the outlets in the room perimeter are on a 20A wired in 10AWG, because you never know when an extra microwave or space heater will come into play.
Hi Dick! Glad to see you here. Are you registered as a member? The pics won't come up unless you are signed in as a member (it's free).
The rear end I'm using right now is just an open differential, no posi, no locker, just a stock 9-inch chunk I got from a wrecked truck several years ago. For the steering I'm using a Vega box and cross-steering. My '31 is cross-steered and I like the way it handles, so after inability to find a rack that would work the way I wanted, I opted to go more traditional. I found a brand new Vega box online and it fits in the available space. I plan to put an electric power steering column in the car eventually.
Firebird - Our kitchen is small galley style. There is no room for an island, but I added several outlets. The kitchen is divided up on four 20 amp circuits. The 'fridge, range hood, and one extra outlet are on one circuit, the dishwasher, garbage disposal, and lights over the sink are on one circuit, the other 5 outlets on one circuit, and all the lighting in the ceiling, above and below and inside the cabinets on one. I used 12 AWG on all of it.
Good news! The kitchen is done.:D
Better news - I sold my Track-T so I finally have the $$$ to get a body.:3dSMILE: I have been looking online and there are several places that build Deuce 3-window bodies. I know Bebops has a good reputation and a friend of mine has a Deuce with one of their 3-window bodies. It looks really nice to me, so that's a possibility. Has anyone here seen any bodies from County Line Rods in South Carolina or from Hotroddaveg in Illinois? TRC in Georgia has the original Downs molds and the pictures on their site look good. Anybody seen their stuff in person? Hotroddaveg has a special going on right now and he's about a thousand dollars below everyone else; the others are all just under $8,000 which is about my budget for this body. I'm in central Florida and don't want to drive all over the country to get a body, so distance from here is a factor...:HMMM:
I'm jealous of your T's new owner.
How many miles and smiles did you put on it?
Jim,
I'd say to contact N&N in Arkansas, but Duane sold his molds to some guy that I think was from Oklahoma, and I've heard nothing else about him. I've heard good things about Russ Nomore Bodies out of Chatham, LA. Their website is pretty impressive and they're relatively close for you from Florida - https://www.russnomorestreetrods.com/323window.php
I've got 3 Downs bodies and the fitment and gaps are great------But-I also had them built/assbled on my frames and not just some build jig-------2 are roadsters and one 33 cabrilet----------but of course it isn't just about the molds-----its about dozens of other things in how something fiberglass turns out-all the goo------
You can see some views of some of them in my photo gallery
Firebird77 - I rolled a bit over 2400 miles since I got the speedo working. Probably put 200-250 miles on before that. It's a fun car to drive and draws attention wherever it goes. I probably would have driven it a lot more, but my wife has a lot of trouble climbing in and out of it (back problems), so we drive my coupe to most of the cruise-ins we attend. I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I have. It's going to San Antonio, Texas.
Roger and Jerry - Thanks for the tips. I will look at both of their sites. I'm anxious to get back on this project!
Jim, regarding Downs you need to look at what they've done in the past ten years as opposed to what they made earlier. Recall that their transition to new ownership (Legendary?) didn't go so well, and the Downs family went to court to claw back the physical parts of the business. There's a pretty good run down on that story over on The HAMB - https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...siness.349041/
Roger - I looked at the link you sent for the HAMB. The newest post was in 2010. I wonder how their stuff is doing now (quality wise)?:confused: Anyway, I have looked online at bodies from TRC in Lula, Georgia. The website says they are using the original refurbished molds from Downs. I don't know if that's good or bad. I haven't put any money down anywhere yet, so I'm still researching. Whatever I learn I'll post it here...:HMMM:
Jim, you're an experienced guy and know how to think things through, but (you could see that coming eh?) I'll just throw out something to think about. Like it or not, our little slice of the car loving world is shrinking which is altering what we've become used to. Some long time shows are going through turmoil, some just shutting down. Likewise for parts suppliers. What was good yesterday may not be the same today, whether a respected brand or not. It's always been important to go to a glass body manufacturer or dealer to verify the quality (imo) but even more so today. The poor businessmen in the industry will go down fast, the better ones will make rolling changes as necessary to survive. Glass cars sell cheap today because with fewer buyers they come in second to steel cars (not arguing against a glass car, just noting there are reasons for concern). We're at the beginning of that strange market situation where it's a buyers market that drives down the price of a "finished" car (even worse for "projects"), but the cost to manufacture the components is constantly creeping up...…...not a good scenario for those feisty entrepreneurs. All I'm saying is that our hot rod world is changing differently than it has been the past few decades and CYA is more critical than ever.
for the most part a business is started and built over a 40 year time span. after that it is sold for retirement or even worse passed down to kids who may or may not have the drive and passion to continue. many fail within a few years due to bad management and basically spending into bankruptcy . i have seen it first hand. starting with nothing and becoming successful is far different than growing up enjoying that success .
first thing i learned in school was the # 1 reason for small business failure was treating the money like it was yours .
don "da34guy" has a handle on deuce bodies. he's built all of them .
Jim - Yeah, that's why I said you need to look at the past 10 years. It looked like in 2008 "Legendary" defaulted on the note held by the Downs family, and Jamie Downs (the son - noting Shine's comment here) took them to court and was awarded all of the hardware - mainly the molds, but also other tools of the trade that had been sold by Dad. The next year Legendary declared bankruptcy to get away from their remaining debt load.
I agree with Uncle Bob, I'd make a trip to visit before plunking down $8K or more for a body, especially today. When was looking, I first focused on N&N because of the "Budget Build" article in the old Street Rod Builder magazine spanning two or three issues over a six month period, where they stated that they found N&N to be the best value they had found on a roller package. Then I talked to Duane several times, met him at the NSRA Oklahoma City event and we walked around with him pointing out cars that were his bodies, and also pointing out what others did differently, and why he did what he did. I developed a strong trust bond with him, and felt secure buying from him.
Sorry to say that I believe Uncle Bob's scenario is on target. The market segment is changing quickly, and looking out for yourself is a must.
Thank you all for the input. It's exactly what I asked for. I am a fabricator; this Deuce is the 25th or 26th chassis (I lost count) that I have built since 1968, but it's my first '32 and my first fiberglass body that isn't either a '23 or '27 T. I appreciate all your insights.
I have seen Bebops bodies in their display at the Turkey Run and a friend of mine has a 3-window with a Bebops body. They look really nice to me and they have a good reputation; maybe that's where I should go. TRC and County Line both look good on their websites, but I've not seen them in person. They are 8 - 10 hours away, so visiting them beforehand is a problem. That's another reason I have asked for input - hopefully some of you all have seen some of these other bodies up close and can give your impressions. Thank you all.
(the son - noting Shine's comment here)
what the hell does that mean . why do you always try to start a pissing match with people ? unlike you i have done this for a living not a hobby and have witnessed many aftermarket mfg and suppliers go south after being turned over to kids or being sold off .
Jim I bought fender parts and running boards from Bebops for the 48 ford about 6-7 years ago now, their fit was great, and the quality and strength odf the glass impressive, plus you can call them and get great assistance from knowledgeable people! Hope that helps.