Thread: I couldn't build it for $3 K either!

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Well everyone, I guess I'm back. These last few weeks since my last entry have been a real roller coaster ride.

First it was health problems, then it was high school graduation and teenager issues. The health problems turned out OK, but the teenager issues are ongoing.

Actually though,I have managed to get a few things done on the T, but not as much as I had hoped.

Here's a quick list:

The fuel and brake lines are plumbed.

I swapped the front discs out for 39 Lincoln self-energizing drums just 'cause I think they look better.

I fabbed some supports for the header mufflers .

The 3x2 setup from Hot Rod Carburetion came in and it sure is purty.

Right now I'm in the process of getting my serial number and title from the state. I'm about ready for paint and finish work, but I really can't start that until the state gets through with the inspection process. That shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks if I'm lucky.

Oh, one other thing, I picked up a metal lathe and vertical bandsaw for my shop. The lathe is an 11" x 24" Sheldon. Small yes, but campared to the 6" x 20" Atlas I've been using, it's down right huge. The bandsaw is a 14" Delta for metal and wood. The saw will come in handy as I've gotten real tired of converting my Harbor Freight saw back and forth from vertical to horizontal. Still need to get them moved, though.

I'll try to get some pictures up ASAP.

As promised, here are some picures of the work I've done in the last few weeks.

This is the trans cooler lines and Lokar trans dipstick. Had to fab a new bracket. I'm using the cooler in the radiator. After Don's experience with his car running so cool, I don't think heating will be a problem. I'm running an aluminum radiator very similar to his.




Front brake lines and hold-off valve.



Front brake hoses and new drum brakes. Had to fab a support for the middle of the hose. The quarter eliptic front end is pretty far out away from the frame.



Master cylinder and valves.



Fuel pump and filter

Here are the exhaust supports. The cushions are poly sway bar ends. The band is a 3 1/2" stainless exhaust band clamp that I cut in half. It's polished and blends into the chrome pretty good.

And now(small drum roll please) here are the final build up pics. All that's left is paint,wiring and a little minor welding. This is pretty much what the Coyote Special will look like on the road.







A couple close-ups of the engine.

Looking good, nice stance.
BradC

Thanks guys. It sure feels good to be this far along.

After I got it all together today, I just sat and looked at it for awhile.

Don, I don't know who made these lights. I got them from The Hot Rod Company. They're supposed to be Guide repros.

Mike

Hi everybody! I've been MIA for a while.

One of my other interests is my motorcycle and it has been taking up most of my time. I sold my Kawasaki Nomad and have been concentrating on the GL1500 Goldwing I got from my dad. The wing sat for a long time and the carbs were in pretty bad shape. My wife and I rode it to Missouri last year, but it just didn't run quite right. It stumbled pretty bad on take off and stalled easy if you weren't really careful with the clutch. This year I pulled the carbs and went through them. Not a job for the faint of heart, but well worth it. The old bike purrrs like a kitten now. We took a little trip through New Orleans and down the Gulf coast last week and it never skipped a beat.

My bucket project hasn't been completely at a standstill though. The good news is that I did get my serial number and plates from the state. It had to be registered as a 2008 assembled vehicle which I didn't like, but so far no one has said anything about emissions. Louisiana doesn't follow the SEMA model that allows replica vehicles to be registered as the year they represent. I hope that changes in the future.

Buying a title for a T would be pretty risky here since the state workers make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed. You would probably still need a notarized bill of sale from the person listed on the title since Louisiana will not accept a witnessed title transfer. If any "red flags" go up, you will have to get an inpection by a state trooper from the "Towing and Recovery" department. Getting the registration I did is not ideal, but was less risky.

It's still a very convoluted process that has taken over a month and 2 trips to the state office in Baton Rouge. As an example of how persnickety the state is, my insurance card had my car listed as a "2008 Ford T Bucket", but the state would not accept that. I had to get new cards that listed it as a "2008 Assembled T Bucket"! While I was there, I ran into a guy trying to get an assembled motorcycle registered. He was on his 4th trip and didn't think he was going to go home with papers. I can assure you that very little "rule bending" will go on. Worse yet, the lady that processed my stuff said the rules change so fast that they have a hard time keeping up.

I had been given the numbers for Towing and Recovery before I started building and the trooper had told me what kind of paperwork I would need when the time came. I have a long temper, but got very frustrated a couple of times. I knew that getting an "attitude" would do me more harm than good, so all I could do was sit there and say "Yes, mam" and "No, mam". You are completely at their mercy.

I've also been contemplating an engine change. I picked up a '66 283 and have it at the machine shop getting checked out right now. If it's rebuildable, then it'll be my new powerplant. I'm thinking something along the lines of a 300HP 327 cam and better heads than the old Power Pack units that it has now. Maybe bump the CR as high as I can on pump gas. Should be good for 250+ HP and really sip gas with the 3X2's.

I've also just got started doing a little sanding and body work.

Mike

Looks great Mike, should be a blast cruizin'!!!!

I'm not big on rpu's, and in fact, don't really like them, but this one grabbed me, even as a work in progress. Maybe it was the side view in your opening post that showed how you created (in my opinion) pleasing proportions by moving the front axle so far forward.

Very nice job so far. Nice photos, too.

Mike - Here's a suggestion on the taillights... I have the '50 Pontiac lights on my coupe and they didn't show up worth a hoot. I didn't realize how invisible they are until I let my son drive it and I was following him in my truck. (Thank goodness I have a third brake light in the back window! ) Anyway, I took some spray-on glass frosting and coated the inside of the lenses. They still aren't perfect, but the frosted inside difuses the light and makes the whole lens show up instead of just the little element in the center where the bulb is.

By the way,.. nice work!

I have '39 tail lights on my '29 roadster that are dim at best, even with Halogen bulbs. I sprayed the inside of the buckets with "chrome" paint, and that improved them quite a bit. I also have blue dots in them - I don't whether that helps or hurts visibility, but I really like the look.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions on the lights.

I might have to try them. The regular 1157 bulbs look pretty good on the bench, but that doesn't mean they'll be OK on the car. I do know that the LED conversions Speedway sells for these lights might as well be invisible!

BTW J.R. How is your T project coming along? I may have missed a few of your posts. I've been kind of stretched thin lately.

Mike

That's surprising about the Pontiac lights being dim. Don has them on the back of his T and when we were following Dan driving it the other night, both Don and I commented how bright they are. They sell some "bright bulbs" but I have never used them, but I did paint the inside of the '47 Chevy lights on my '27 with silver paint, which helped a lot.

Don

Driving at night is not the issue - you want them to be seen when someone is behind you with the sun at your back. I've had the police do me a favor and stop me under those conditions to let me know that my brake lights weren't working. The lights were fine - they just couldn't be seen in sunlight!

As a result, I don't trust people to see my turn signals during the day, so I use hand signals for turns. I think that is still being taught in driver ed, even in the new millennium. In the 16 years this car (shown at right) has been on the road, I've not had any problems/accidents, or even close calls.

Dorsey is correct. My lights are fine at night and the blue dots show up nicely. It's daylight that is the problem. I have '48 Ford lights in the roadster with glass lenses and they are really bright. Both have 1157 bulbs...