Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[Itoldyouso]

Looking good Jim. I always liked the turtle deck T's a lot. You are right about all of them having some warp to them. From being stored mine had taken a twist toward the drivers side and I had to clamp in in place while I did the glass work. That solved it.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, Don. I never bothered to mention it before, but my body was also twisted slightly. In order to make it fit the frame properly, I had to shim the left rear corner up 1/4 inch. Everything seems to be straight and level now.

The next step, finally, is to fabricate the rear bumper. For this I used my trusty Harbor Freight pipe bender and some 3/4" OD tubing (1/2" black iron pipe). The nice part about this little stuff is it bends without kinking and you don't have to pack it with sand.

The pictures are pretty self-explanatory as to how I did it. The idea here is to accomodate the license plate in the center and surround the '48 Ford taillights on either end. It all fits within the width of the rear of the turtle deck. I won't get back to this to fabricate the mounting brackets until after the weekend; my son and I are going to the Rumblers' Groundhog Gala in Orlando.

Would a real track-T have had taillights and a license plate? In some cases, yes. Back in the late '40's and early '50's when these cars were terrorizing the local short-tracks, a lot of them were flat-towed to the track with a tow bar which necessitated taillights and license. A few, in rural areas, were driven to the track, headlights removed, raced, headlights re-installed, and driven home. Those were truly the good old days...

[Itoldyouso]

Jim, how did you fishmouth the tubing so it butts up so tight against the other tube? Grinder? I like the style of the nerf bar, it will really dress up the rear.

As I mentioned, my body got twisted from the way I stored it on top of my '27 for a few months. I had to pull it into shape, clamp it, and tape down the high corner until the resin set up.

Storing it that way was not the brightest thing to do.

Don

[J. Robinson]

This small tubing fits so close with such a small gap that I didn't bother notching it. I just filled the small gaps with my welder. If I needed a tighter fit for some reason, like maybe TIG welding, I would have used my Harbor Freight tube notcher. I used it extensively when fabricating the frame and radius rods.

Fiberglass can do weird things. If it's pulled out of the mold too soon, it will warp; if it's left sitting unsupported for a short time, it will warp. The warmer the ambient temperature, the faster it deforms... Years ago, a friend of mine bought an old Anglia gasser body that had been sitting for several years in a storage shed. The body was all steel except for the one-piece tilt doghouse which was fiberglass and had been sitting for years with boxes, etc. piled on it. When they pulled it out of the shed and set the frontend against the body, the fenders were so deformed it looked like it was about to take flight. Needless to say, the one-piece frontend got trashed and replaced.

[J. Robinson]

Well, we made the "maiden voyage" with my son's sedan last Saturday. He and a buddy were in his car and I followed in my coupe. The first stop was at a local Shell station so he could fill up, and then it was on to Orlando.

As we passed through the town of Bithlo, approaching the outskirts of Orlando, the sedan started skipping and stuttering. My son whipped into a jiffy-mart to get out of the traffic. It took just a few minutes to discover the problem - there was water in the fuel! Jim Jr had been driving this car around since Tuesday night with no problems, so the water had to come from the gas he'd just got at the Shell station. This would be the first of four such stops!

We drained off some of the watered gas and added two bottles of gas tank drier, but there was just too much water to absorb. We finally made it to the Groundhog Gala... 2 1/2 hours late. Apparently, we finally cured the problem because there were no further problems on the trip home and no problems since.

Here are a couple of pics. First, a pic I shot through the windshield of Jim Jr's sedan leading the way. Second, the two of us with our cars together at the Gala.

[Itoldyouso]

I bet he is as proud as can be, as he should. That's fantastic that it got done in time. Looks great too.

Water in the gas is becoming a real problem. There is one gas station I avoid now because I have gotten bad gas twice so far. You might consider adding a marine water seperating fuel filter in line. They really do a good job removing water from the system and you can just spin off the filter like an oil filter and dump it and replace it occasionally. I would have put one on the T but was limited on space.

Tell the Boy good job, Jim.

Don

[Gastrick]

Congrats on the maiden voyage and show. I wanted to come up for that but just couldn't make it this year.

[Hotrod46]

Congratulations on your first road trip!

Great looking car too!

Mike

[J. Robinson]

Thank you all. I will have him read your kudos for himself...

The trip over was a trying experience. At the last stop to remove more water, he was disgusted and ready to go home. I convinced him that we were so close (about 4 miles) it would be a shame to give up. Once we got there and he saw some old friends, everything was fine.

He's already planning trips to some cruise-ins around the area. His excitement reminds me of me when I finally drove my own first hotrod to its first event. Also, building this car together has been a great experience and a great way to spend time together.

[Itoldyouso]

Jim, you and we other rodders who have lived with these things for years understand that even the best hot rods break down, but that is hard to convey to younger rodders sometimes. Like when Don's T swallowed that valve on the way to Daytona, these things happen, all part of the game.

I'm glad he hung in there. Driving these things around town is one thing, but when you take them out on the road it sort of becomes like our forefathers taking a trip in their Model T's, you have to be prepared to baling wire stuff together and get going again. Plus, you guys really didn't have a lot of shake down time on his car before heading out.

But now he has a great little sedan to be proud of and has gotten the first outing under his belt. Good for him and for you in keeping his faith up.

Don

[J. Robinson]

With the rear bumper constructed, the next logical step is to mount it. I began by propping it up against the rear of the car with a floor jack. I determined that I like it with the bottom bars even with the bottom edge of the deck. After centering it, I marked the location of the ends on the turtle deck and hole-sawed a 1" hole at each end.

The mounts are fabricated from some 3/4" O.D tubing (that has been trued on a lathe) and some 1" O.D. tubing (3/4" I.D.) deburred inside so that they slide together easily. The 3/4" tubing is welded to the ends of the bumper so that it will slide through the holes in the turtle deck.

Next, I drilled a 5/16" hole in each of the mounts and welded a nut on each one to accommodate a set screw or bolt. The mounts were then welded to a piece of 1" angle.

The last pic is the whole bumper / mount assembly before I put it on the car.

[J. Robinson]

As it turns out, the fiberglass turtle deck is just a little out of square. Not visible to the naked eye, the rear of it is shifted almost 3/8" to the right. This makes it necessary to shift the bumper mounts on the frame so that they align with the holes in the body. Having the mounts together as one piece made that relatively easy. I couldn't get a good pic of the mount attached to the frame, but it is simply welded to the rear crossmember.

The pics below show the bumper in place before and after I mounted the '48 Ford taillights. All that remains to finish the bumper is to weld in the mounts for the license plate and add a tag light.

[Gastrick]

I like it J. Robinson. I think those tail lights are a very good choice to go with the bumper too. That bumper really says "Track T" to me.

[Itoldyouso]

I agree. The nerf and tail lights really finish off the back nicely. Give it a finished look.I like the width of the nerf too.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, guys. After I welded up the bumper, I tried it this way and upside down to see which way it looked best - definitely looks better with the license plate loop hanging down.