Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[brickman]

You have said a mouth full Bob and I agree with all of it. Patience is a virtue, I too know that it is usually not as bad as the media portrays with anything they report.

[J. Robinson]

I agree with you, too, Bob. You elaborated on what I only hinted at. Anyway, whatever the true cause of a downturn in the economy, it is apparently happening and some people are becoming a bit more tight-fisted. In particular, those who are afflicted with what I call "Barrett-Jackson Syndrome". Those are the posers who are only in this hobby for the money they can pull out of it and have artificially driven prices up. I and others like me who have been involved with cars forever will plod along and make do regardless of what happens to the hotrod market economically speaking.

By the way, Bob, you aren't hijacking the thread if I started the discussion. Besides, I always enjoy reading your well-thought observations.

[J. Robinson]

Alright everybody, breaktime is over. Get back to work! All this yammering isn't going to get a roadster built...

I picked up a pair of headlights at the Turkey Run, so... I began fabrication of the mounts with a couple of short pieces of 2" x 2" x 3/16" angle iron. I cut two pieces 3 inches long. After deciding on the shape and location for the brackets, I marked the pieces with soapstone. Then I cut and ground them to shape. Sometimes there's no easy way to do something; I cut these by hand with a hacksaw and finished the shape on my bench grinder. Next, I drilled them, stuck them in place with welder's magnets, finalized their position with a protractor and level, and welded them in place.

The final appearance is somewhat like a startled frog, but after it's painted and has a grille insert it should look a little less amphibian...

[brickman]

May I ask a dumb question? I like the nose on your car, it seems shorter than the one on the blue car for sale on the previous page, but then I have been looking closer and I am not sure. Is your car set up basicly the same dementions as the blue car?

[J. Robinson]

Without being able to measure it, I have no idea what the dimensions are on that car. It does look longer than mine, though...

[J. Robinson]

Hooray! We're back. Thanks to Brent's dedication to this site, we can rock & roll again.

Aside from buying a couple of things, I haven't done much on the roadster. For the last month or so, I have been helping my son with his sedan. He is trying to make it to the "Groundhog Gala" in Orlando next month. Things were looking pretty bleak just a few weeks ago, but the "holiday thrash" we put in on the project got him "over the hump" and it looks like he'll make it. We have just a couple of small things to wire (windshield wipers, gas gauge sending unit) and the car will be roadworthy. The pic below is the induction system.

Next on my list for the roadster is mounting the fuel cell and fab'ing the rear bumper. I'll keep you all posted...

[brickman]

Sweet engine J.R. and glad to have you back, looking forward to seeing more progress.

[Hotrod46]

Yep, it's good to see the old build threads back.

That engine looks great J.R.

I got a question though. Who did the recoloring on the carbs? I'm going with 3 dueces too and will soon(I hope) be needing to get some carbs slicked up for my engine.

Mike

[Rickomatic]

There is way too much talent on this site. I feel soo inadequate at times here. I am a learner.

[Gastrick]

Your son's engine looks nice J. I like the plumbing. Is that distributor fit as tight as it looks in the photo?

[Itoldyouso]

Jeez Jim, I thought maybe you gave up rodding and took up fishing or something! Glad to see you posting again.

Your kids car looks sweet. Bet he is really getting stoked about it making that Orlando event. Funny how the kids grow up to know so much but every once in a while we Dads come in handy, huh? Every so often Dan will be wrestling with some problem on his build and I will offer some solution. He gets this strange look on his face like " Oh no, now I have to actually admit the old man had a good idea!" Problem is, I usually have to lay down and take a nap after one of these revelations. I'm only good for about one idea per week.

How about some more pictures of your Son's Tudor??

Don

[J. Robinson]

Mike - After a really good cleaning and re-assembly, my son sprayed on a light coat of Dupli-Color #T367 Light Almond Pearl so they would all look the same. It's just a spray can he picked up at Advance Auto Parts; the color looked very close to the color of a new carb.

Rickomatic - Put those feelings of inadequacy right out of your mind. We all had to learn whatever we know and so will you. Besides, we're all here to help so you can access what we know without having to make the same mistakes along the way.

Bill - It's not quite as tight as it looks in the picture. I can get my finger between the distributor and the back of the carb adapter. With the distributor back under the top of the cowl like that, though, the cap can only be removed if the rear carb is removed first.

[J. Robinson]

Don - Many times I have considered giving up hotrods / race cars and trying something less frustrating... like maybe stamp collecting or gardening!

Yeah, every once in a while ol' dad has the answer to a problem or two. The latest stumbling block was the electrical system. Jim Jr is an Electrical Engineering Technician who repairs and calibrates test equipment, but he's never wired a car before, so... I have spent the last two weekends and a couple of evenings standing on my head under the dash of his sedan running wires. Tonight I'm going to hook up the wiper and the dash lights and I should be finished. It will be nice to get back to some good old steel fabrication.

Here are a couple of pics as requested. The first shows the other side of the engine. This was shot before the linkage was installed. The second pic is a 3/4 view, but it's not too good. These are a few weeks old; I'll try to get some better ones soon.

PS. It's a 4-door

[Itoldyouso]

That's right, I forgot it was a fordor. Looks cool, and I really like the green for a change. Just the other night I was looking at my red wheels and thinking I am finally burned out on doing almost every car with them.

Has he been driving the car yet at all?


Don

[Hotrod46]

Thanks for the info. They look nice. The whole car looks good too.

The last price I got was $300 for 3 carbs. And that was with me cleaning them and no other work.

The paint idea sounds really good to me!!!