Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, Whiplash. Yeah, I'm 62 today which means I am now officially an old fart! That's OK, though. Now I can blame all my mistakes on senility!

Your T is lookin' good. It is nicely proportioned. I like the longer bed; it's a pleasant change from the thousands of short ones we see most of the time. Nice choice of wheels, too. I noticed in an earlier pic that the body has steel reinforcement inside. Did it come that way or did you fabricate the reinforcement yourself?

[stovens]

Happy birthday Jim! Do something fun today.

[Whiplash23T]

Hi Jim, I originally purchased the car 10 years or so ago as a finished legal road worthy car that I enjoyed driving over our summer months. I worked out what had to be improved and what needed to be reworked to make it safer and better mannered driving car. When purchased it had a wooden flat deck that once had stake style sides on it which I didn't like so managed to find a fibreglass pickup bed and tailgate for it which improved the look. Again used over the next summer but one of the main problems with it was that the rack and pinion steering was bolted direct to the I beam and apart from been worn out, the car wandered all over the road which made for an unpleasant drive. So, I am sure you can guess what happen then? I pulled it apart to fix one problem and ended up with a bare chassis sitting on the garage floor with the idea of while I am doing that I should also do this etc. The only original parts on the car now are the basic frame, body, 350 block and t400 trans and the 10 bolt diff. After getting it all together apart from final paint and upholstery and using for another summer I decided I need opening doors to aid in getting my old bones in and out of it, hence the steel work. I have also lost my job recently so that has pulled the handbrake on at the moment. I have to get out in the garage and start playing with my tig welder again to improve my welding skills so that when the money starts flowing in again I will be confident enough to get stuck into it quickly.

[Whiplash23T]

Hi Jim, I originally purchased the car 10 years or so ago as a finished legal road worthy car that I enjoyed driving over our summer months. I worked out what had to be improved and what needed to be reworked to make it safer and better mannered driving car. When purchased it had a wooden flat deck that once had stake style sides on it which I didn't like so managed to find a fibreglass pickup bed and tailgate for it which improved the look. Again used over the next summer but one of the main problems with it was that the rack and pinion steering was bolted direct to the I beam and apart from been worn out, the car wandered all over the road which made for an unpleasant drive. So, I am sure you can guess what happen then? I pulled it apart to fix one problem and ended up with a bare chassis sitting on the garage floor with the idea of while I am doing that I should also do this etc. The only original parts on the car now are the basic frame, body, 350 block and t400 trans and the 10 bolt diff. After getting it all together apart from final paint and upholstery and using for another summer I decided I need opening doors to aid in getting my old bones in and out of it, hence the steel work. I have also lost my job recently so that has pulled the handbrake on at the moment. I have to get out in the garage and start playing with my tig welder again to improve my welding skills so that when the money starts flowing in again I will be confident enough to get stuck into it quickly.

[Mr Blue]

Happy Late Birthday J.
Love that intake. Looks realy cool to be sure. car is coming along great!

Whiplash. Cool T. must be different driving from that side!
Don Jr.

[Whiplash23T]

Hello Don Jr, I have just looked up the Atlas to find Bonita Springs and man that place looks to close too aligator swampland. I would be to afraid to let my pet cats or dog out encase their make a meal for something. You haven't told us where your dad was moving too,hopefully not too far from you.I have never been out of NZ and if I had the money to, I would love to fly to LA,purchase an old rod and travel all over your great country. Thanks for the compliment on my bucket. I am envious of your T too.

[J. Robinson]

Hello Mr. Blue! Thank you. Did you ever go any farther on your plans to build a Grafitti Coupe? We'll be wanting pictures when you do... Is your dad moving his living quarters, his shop, or both? Tell him we're all waiting for updates on his '27 rebuild and Dan's roadster pickup.

Whiplash - Looks like the 10 years has paid off so far; nice car. There are a few on this site who will adamantly disagree with me, but putting a rack & pinion unit directly on a sraight front axle is just trouble looking for a palce to happen. You apparently experienced that and I'm glad you changed it. I bet it drives much better now, huh? If you have enough pics of your proceedure for opening the doors, there are some of us who would like to see a "how to" thread on that.

Don Jr.(Mr. BLue) and his dad (Itoldyouso) have two of the nicest T's that I've seen in recent memory. Both are always immaculately clean and impeccably detailed. When I get mine on the road I'm going to park it on the opposite side of the field so mine won't be compared to theirs! Seriously, Don, maybe we (you, your dad, and I) should make plans toward the T-bucket nationals in another year..?

[Whiplash23T]

Hi Jim, Don't put yourself down man, your cars are special to you and I would believe everyboby on this site would appreciate the workmanship that you have put into them. I think it would be a sight for sore eyes to see all your T's together, and I mean,not across the other side of the field. I joined the T Bucket Forum before I was lead to this site, and now I spend all of my time here because of (1) the people are so friendly. (2) most of the people are Christians which I admire being one myself. (3) And there is so many Knowledgable,helpful people here.

[Whiplash23T]

Sorry, but I don't have the confidence on a " how to " thread. I struggle out in the garage attempting to put my ideas I have in my head into fact and I end up asking the Lord for forgiveness because I get so fustrated because my brain says "do it this way,but my hands do it that way,and it is rubbish". So I tend to do most things 2 to 3 times before it passes my inspection. My X-wife always said I was a perfectionist in everything I tried.Maybe she was correct

[lamin8r]

Jim,,maybe if Whiplash takes the pix,and e mails them to us,we could help with the how to..Just a thought..

[Whiplash23T]

Well guys, to be totally honest,I'm just a dumb blonde that has just managed to teach myself how to use this laptop, so to start my own thread would be like asking me to build the next space shuttle. But in saying that, I have taken some more photos of where I'm upto on steeling out the bucket body for opening the doors..so with baited breath... I will try to upload them... Sorry If I am pushing in on someones thread. Sorry I have just previewed this post,and man, have screwed up big time.... now how do I resize those photos again.

[J. Robinson]

OK, I'm almost computer illiterate, so if I can do this, anyone can... Somewhere in your computer you should have a photo editing program like Microsoft Office Picture Manager or maybe Photoshop. Whatever pictures you are going to post on this forum need to be resized. The ideal size for here is 640 x 480. It's big enough to see everything, but small enough that we can see the whole picture and read the text without having to scroll from side to side (very annoying). When I am doing it, I open a picture, click on "Open", click on Picture Manager (the picture opens in a new window), click "Edit Pictures", click "Resize", select the size I want, click "OK". Then click on "File" at the top, select "Save As". I usually leave the name of the picture whatever it is and put an "a" after it and hit "Save". It puts the resized picture back in the same file right next to the original. It sounds a little complicated at first, but after you do it a couple of times you can fly through the steps. If you have problems, send me a personal message so I can give you more help.

When you get a chance, click on "Edit" on your previous post and delete the pictures. That will let this column go back to its normal size. Then you can resize the pictures and re-post them so we can see 'em.

[dlotraf33]

Jim, just wanted to let you know this has been the best build I have had the pleasure to read. The other nite I found this and stayed up too late and read till my eyes crossed just to get to the end. GREATTTTTTTTTTT. You are just as talented with the posts as is apparent with the build itself. I always wanted to do just that. But I would forget to take the pictures at the correct moments. So much was lost. Your teaching abilities sure do show. Can't wait to see it finished. It will surely be a sweet t. Hope the manifold works, I too know only one thing about computer controlled cars, that is that I don't know anything about computer controlled cars. Keep up the great work.

[J. Robinson]

Hey Whiplash, looks like you got the hang of it now... Now that I can see the steel reinforcement you did, looks like a nice job. Bet it sure makes getting in & out easier. I wish I had seen the way you did this before I put the side bars in my body. They are tied to the roll bar, so opening my doors is out of the question now...

dlotraf33 - Thanks for the compliments. There are several really good build threads on this forum. When you have time, check out some of the threads started by Itoldyouso, Ken Thurm, and Brianruppnow.

Funny you should mention my manifold... I built it a few months ago and it is still in my garage, bolted loosely to the engine in the roadster. I was supposed to ship it to Indiana a while back to have the carbs and plumbing installed, but I still haven't done it. I need to make a minor modification to it to include a vacuum port for the PCV system and I am still vacillating on the color. Anyway, I hope to have my home improvement projects finished in another couple of months so I can get back to working steadily on the roadster.

[Whiplash23T]

Hey Jim,Can you help this old dumb blonde fart out please. I have tried to find Brianruppnow build thread and some of the other posters that are quick with a joke or advice, but I keep hitting my head up against the brick wall as I just don't know how?