Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Looking good Don, yes I can get out of the weather, but still cold in the shop plus dark, need to run 200 feet electric wire from the house to the shop. while putting in the foundation I cut my old wire....LOL well I could only run one 60 watt bulb if the air compressor kicked on. Never thought I would say this I hope work slows down till after I get the wire in the ground.
Your going to make the Turkey Run, I have a feeling it will be with both cars next year 3 cars.
Brad

dont everybody do burnouts at midnight in parking lots??????

What's with the batman seats in Dan's car? Are you guys hiding something? First the vault of money, then stealth plates, now Batman seats!

What are Batman seats?? Yeah, we hid our money so well we can't find it any more.


Speaking of seats, yesterday I finished webbing the seat bottoms to my T and took them to the upholstery shop. I used a yellow tow strap and cut it up and stapled it over the cutouts, interweaving it like a basket. The upholsterer has made some progress on my interior and has the foam all cut and in place. The vinyl is supposed to show up today he says, and said by Friday or Saturday it should all be done. I got to sit in it to check the comfort of the foam, and it is fine.

Don

Nice. What color vinyl did you go for? I know you were thinking old baseball glove leather. Clever idea for the use of tow straps, they'll never break!
Dan's seats look very modern with sort of the bat mobile front cut out shape where your legs go.

Originally Posted by stovens

Nice. What color vinyl did you go for? I know you were thinking old baseball glove leather. Clever idea for the use of tow straps, they'll never break!
Dan's seats look very modern with sort of the bat mobile front cut out shape where your legs go.

Oh yeah, he has bomber seats in it........I see what you mean.

The closest I could find to the baseball glove thing was a color called "saddle." The upholsterer gave me several sample books that I took to the shop and Dan and I picked that one because it seemed to go well with the Fusion Orange suspension and engine color. There were a few that fit that need, but it seemed to be the closest. He also found matching carpet.

He made one change in my interior that at first I didn't think I would like, but after thinking about it have to agree it will be better. I originally planned on him just gluing carpet to the inside firewall and leaving my underdash roll bar exposed, kinda like bare bones of the car. Instead, he is making a starboard upholstery board panel that covers all of it and is going to notch it so my gas pedal comes out through it. Then he will carpet it all. I have to agree it will be cleaner looking that way.

I'm anxious to see the interior done.

Don

FINALLY! Page 183!! I can't believe I read through this whole thing! And I'll tell you out straight, I've rarely enjoyed anything as I've enjoyed this project! I didn't find it and start into it until you were nearly finished, Don. And there has been days/nights when I'd have loved to inteject some blurb, but I knew the effect would be lost because of the time warp between where I was reading and you guys at page 183. Not only has the actual build been a real education for me (read Rookie) but the banter you guys have had, the well placed pictures, friendly cajoling, etc. has been more entertaining than watching TV, which I don't do anymore. And it couldn't have come at a better time in my Life. I have been in Depression and on Meds for most of the last 25 years, since the death of my Father and the manner in which it happened. But since last January/February I took a dive into Major Depression. Been seeing my Med Doctor every three weeks or more often, getting 11 medications a day now, plus insulin, for all my Physical and Mental problems, A Psychiatrist (sp.) and nurse every three weeks, and on my fourth Therapist now, once a week every week. I had to give up my job (or I would have been fired), lost my Health Insurance, my paycheck, all other benefits like vacations, sick time, holidays. Of course that don't matter now, because i have every day off. I signed up for Social Security in September (will be 64 in December) which helps, it pays the Mortgage payments, but cut my earning power by more than half. And my Savings Account wasn't like Don't back room stash! Until then my oldest (of 5) Grandson and i were working on a '47 Ford Pickup project for mounting on an S-10 chassis with my old work van motor, 350/700r4. Have barely touched it since mid-February. Got a lot of new parts sitting there waiting, frame all stripped, derusted (the hard way) and painted with POR-15 and overcoated with Rustoleum rattle can hammered black. Got the front suspension and steering all apart and new bushings, ball joints, etc. installed. New steering parts sitting on the shelf along with a bunch of other stuff, waiting for us to come back out. Mainly I just sit in the house, day after day. Doing the computer thing, reading the paper and whatever rod magazine might be most current and hating myself. i can't be around more than one or two people, in stores, and barely able to pry myself out to the Doctor Appointments! We have a bunch of other stuff waiting for us too. Got a '29 Essex Coupe (rusty shell) waiting for a frame, suspension, etc., got a '52 GMC Cabover that we were going to pull off the old chassis and mount on something different (better?). I got a '79 Dodge Cut-a-Way van 1 ton dually with a 440 and a 727 tranny that we were going to use, but can't see how to get the box off and salvage it for storage without destroying the frame or the box. So it's become a permanent storage unit now. I have a Model A frame and front end with a spring and wishbone and an S-10 rear that could be used (maybe) for the Essex, but it is a real project. like a cowl like Don's 'A', a stack of doors of which only one is correct, and the rear section of cab/rumble seat. No floor, no roof. Oh, I'm sorry to be rambling on like this, please forgive me. I REALLY have enjoyed your build and your boys (Dan is kinda like me, GOT to be JUST RIGHT) not perfect, but JUST RIGHT. And I also got an education from Brian's post on building a chassis. Sooooooooooo, as you've been complaining about the heat in Florida, let me issue you an invite to come to Maine. I'll buy you a Lobster feed, in fact, for each of your boys too, and give you the five dollar tour of Mid Coast Maine. We can chat and i'll feed you all the beers you can down (in a couple of hours) haahaaa. And then you can scoot over to see Brian. He's not THAT far away. If I am lucky enough to get to Orlando area this spring I'd love to meet you. Best Regards to you, your boys, and all your internet forum helpers! I've had lots of great laughs from the banter etc. Perley

Wow Perley, you actually took the time to read all 183 pages??? you are one tough guy! Thank you so much for taking time to post and for the very nice words.

I'm 62 also Perley, and have been through some real ups and downs in my life too, and one thing I learned a long time ago is that there is a very fine line from being happy and being not so happy. I have also had some extremely low points in my life, most notably during my divorce from my wife of 28 years. I pretty much got a little crazy then and became a person I didn't know existed inside me. It took some very good friends and the love of my two Sons to pull me through it, and now that I look back it is like viewing someone else's life.

It sounds like you are coming to terms with your issues too, and that is good. Talking about it to others is the first step. Once you hear the words coming out of your mouth it puts it into a different context, and lets you start the healing process. My Son Dan is also on insulin as he is diabetic, and I see how tough of a disease it is to deal with. When he is low he is a different person than when his numbers are balanced, but he struggles to keep them stabilized.

I am so glad you took the time and effort to say hi, and hope you get back on some of those projects. Working on cars can be very theraputic. Another thing I have also learned Perley is that no matter how bad things are, there are always a whole bunch of people who would trade problems with us in a heartbeat.

We'd love to see you jump in and post often, and maybe even take some pictures of those cars for us to see. We LOVE pictures.

Take care bud.

Don

No pix, but just a little update. Went to my insurance agent this morning and then to the DMV. Got my plates so the T is now legal to drive !!! As I mentioned earlier, someone scored my NOTA KIT vanity plate, so I can't use that one any more, so I settled for simple antique plates. I questioned them at the DMV when they suggested antique plates, and they said they were ok on a modified car (and mine is only SLIGHTLY modified ) and there are no nightime restrictions or milage restrictions (I don't have a speedometer or odometer anyways) so I went with them.

Stopped at the upholstery shop, my carpeting is done and he is still waiting for the vinyl to arrive from Pheonix, should be here tomorrow. He says he will work through Friday and Saturday to finish it up. Maybe Sunday I can go for a little legal trip now that I have plates.

Don

Maybe ya shoulda gone with STOR BOT .

I think you should have gotten "not 4 3k"

Originally Posted by Gusaroo

I think you should have gotten "not 4 3k"

That's got my vote, Don that would be perfect.

Oh, that's cold !!! But true. I also thought of PROJ 3K.


Don

I really dig your cars, they are beautiful. I have to ask....looking at this now from the other end....what would you think that is the bare minimum you could put one together for? I am really ready to build one, but have to spend my cash wisely on projects.

Thank you Brick. Ya know, that is a tough question. I still think (and know) I could have come in at a lower fiqure than I ended up spending. As I have said, I just got caught up in this T and started putting some more expensive parts on it as I thought it deserved them. But if a guy shopped wisely, used some preowned or similar parts, and did most of his own work like painting, etc, I think a car could be done for $ 5,000.00 and be pretty decent. It has been so many years since I had a rod on the road, I wanted this one to be kinda special.........hence, more costly.

Obviously, there would be some corner cutting. You couldn't expect to use $ 260 each rear tires, or pay a pro to paint and upholster it, but you could still incorporate some good parts if you were patient and shrewd in your haggling. You would also have to forego things like a total machine job/rebuild on the engine, but if you found a good running/sound donor, that would be fine. That is something that turns me on about the rat rod movement.........not the crappy ones, but the low buck, built at home, inventive, cool ones.

Look at the build JRobinson is doing. He is making great progress, and I bet he is keeping the expenditures relatively low by building and modifying most of his own stuff. He also used a good running engine tranny combo, and other parts from the same donor. I really like that about his build. That track car will be a blast to drive, and he won't be sucking up tons of gas every time he uses it either.

A big part of how cheaply a person can do something like this is how self sufficient they are at performing needed work. If you can weld and fabricate it yourself, you obviously save the cost of paying an outsider to do it for you. It also plays into this what connections you have for cheap parts. If you have buddies who will swap stuff with you or donate unneeded parts, that sure helps too. Someone just posted that a friend was offering them a 351 Cleveland engine just to take it away!! Those are the kinds of friends I need.

Don