Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Looking good Don!!! How goes it with the new tig?

Thanks Dave. Well, he had planned all week to play with it today for the first time, but I kind of got him involved in the T. It's tough when you are the only good welder in the family, because we all depend on him to do our cars for us, and his sometimes gets neglected.

He's pretty good with it though, and I swear the next day at the shop is all his.

Don

Wow, that looks great Don. I still gotta get my rear end brackets welded on and get it installed. It must be nice to have a roller now!!

Yeah, I'm trying to keep up with you. Looks like you are getting all of your major parts bought, so you should be in good shape to get the T running pretty soon. Your UPS guy is probably developing a hernia.


Don

Nicely done gentlemen, you had a great day of it it seems!! It's always great fun to work on the rods with the best buds.

Starting to make a little progress again. Dropped off my engine at the machine shop yesterday, and he says it will be done next week. He also said it looks great, so a hot tanking, freeze plugs, cam bearing, cylinder hone, and maybe a slight decking should do it. I also left the pistons to be cleaned, and plan to reuse them with just new rings. I forgot to take the crank, so I'll drop that off when I pick up the block. I think it just needs polished, as it looks really clean too. By next weekend I should be able to start building the engine, hopefully.

While we were at the shop Don started mocking up his T bucket, and trying to figure out what look he is going for. He borrowed my chopped '32 grille shell from my '27, and as soon as he propped it up in his T, the direction of the car was set. This is the look he was after, so we put my front tires and wheels off of my '39 Dodge on it, and the rear tires off of my '27. So his T will be '50 style, kinda Grabowski-ish.

All he has to do is order some of his own tires and wheels from Coker, and he will be up on wheels. (and I can have my stuff back ) Somehow, my cars are getting stripped to build everybody elses.

Here are some shots of how it ended up looking. This weekend I have 3 days to work on my own car, so I should have some progress to post then. Assuming I have any parts left on my own car.


Don

Little Don has the right idea
I bet his comes in under 3K if he keeps using your parts

Yeah, and mine will be "Project $ 50K."


Don



PS: Machine shop just called, my engine is done. $ 254.93, and he said it checked out great. Tuesday I'll pick it up.

I bought my oldest stepson a elcamino some time back got it north of here brought it home and after working on it for a couple days found out there was nothing left of the frame from the midsection back. Wound up makeing a road trip to an army base in OK. picking up a rust free one with no drive train.That round trip was done over Thanksgiving left here and didn't stop till we were back here. Made one out of two. In all the car cost him the price of new shocks. Me I don't even want to think about it. The thing is I'd do it again,if he asked.

Sure, I understand, that's the pleasure of being a Dad. The fact you did this for your Step Son says a lot about you, especially with your willingness to do it again if needed. I bet he will remember that too, and pass it on.


Don

I like the stance of the car behind your bucket up above. How can I achieve that low stance if I did a 27 T from speedway? Z the back of the frame?

You'll have to ask Don but I think that his sons P/U Z with air bags

Yep, Charlie is right,it's bagged all around, so he can "lay it out" flat on the ground, and pump it up to about 4 inches ride height, or a max of 8 inches. I think it will be cool when he pulls into a parking spot at a cruise and sets it on the ground. Should be a little different for a '29.


Don

Oh yes I remember that one now... From the picture above with it behind your T it didn't look THAT low like it was sitting on the ground. I'd like mine a bit lower than yours but not TOO much. I like the top of the back tires to sit even with the top of the 27 T deck lid and am just wondering how to achieve that and same with the front.

A Z is going to be the way to achieve that kind of drop, probably front and rear. The problem is, the more you drop, the more room for stuff like fuel tanks and batteries you give up. The '27 turtle deck is already pretty tight, so you would have to do some real engineering to get things in there once you did that kind of lowerering.

I take it you haven't built your frame yet, so what I would do is build one out of 2 x 4 lumber, to actual scale, and bolt it all together, just as if it were a real frame. Fit the body to it and see what you have. I like working first with lumber because of the ease of making changes (lot's easier than cutting up steel )

The reason I mention a front and rear Z is that you won't want to channel the '27 more than frame thickness, if possible. Mine is only channelled 4 inches, and I still sit high in the saddle, so much so that I recut the seat trying to get it lower, but only got marginal improvement. I sat so high that people kept commenting I must be very tall.(I'm only 5' 9" ) So I must have looked like Herman Munster going down the road. That is one reason I am putting very low pads on the floor of the current T project, so I actually sit way down into the car.

What kind of rear suspension are you going to use? That will sort of dictate what kind of drop you can get too, as some suspensions take up more room than others.


Don