Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[deckofficer]

Know what you mean. it's how I did it in 61 when I was in high school

You beat me. I used the 'ol dowel with suction cup and compound in 1966 on my Briggs & Stratton mini bike engine then in 1969 on my 200 cid Ford Falcon engine.

[rspears]

There are "kits" advertised that consist of an abrasive stick, either 1/2" or 1" OD - the bigger one comes with a mandrel. Instructions say to use a lube, like WD40, applied to each position, and to use consistent time & pressure in a drill press, dressing the stick with 220grit sand paper every three or four holes to remove any mushrooming. An old school demo showed a guy using an end mill with the stop adjusted to just kiss the surface, overlapping 40%. Talk about time consuming!!

[J. Robinson]

I haven't done much of anything this week that's picture-worthy. I added the light and ignition switches to the dash panel, stuck in some indicator lights for turn signals and bright headlights, and I have begun the mundane and tedious task of wiring... Until I get to something a bit more interesting, I thought this might be a good time to update the cost of this project. I haven't updated the total since page 33. That was in September of 2008! Since then I bought the Kirkey aluminum seats, bought the front tires from my son (off his sedan with only 50 miles on them), and have plumbed the brakes, fuel, and cooling systems.

Total brought forward from 9-16-08: $3126.96
Front tires: 60.00
Kirkey seats (Speedway Motors): 364.72
Parts (water pump, alternator,etc.): 146.72
Materials (steel, resin, aluminum): 111.95
Nuts, bolts, washers: 115.46
Total (5-3-13) $3925.81

Looks like I might still come in under my (revised) $4500 goal, but it's going to be close...

[deckofficer]

I haven't done much of anything this week that's picture-worthy. I added the light and ignition switches to the dash panel, stuck in some indicator lights for turn signals and bright headlights, and I have begun the mundane and tedious task of wiring... Until I get to something a bit more interesting, I thought this might be a good time to update the cost of this project. I haven't updated the total since page 33. That was in September of 2008! Since then I bought the Kirkey aluminum seats, bought the front tires from my son (off his sedan with only 50 miles on them), and have plumbed the brakes, fuel, and cooling systems.

Total brought forward from 9-16-08: $3126.96
Front tires: 60.00
Kirkey seats (Speedway Motors): 364.72
Parts (water pump, alternator,etc.): 146.72
Materials (steel, resin, aluminum): 111.95
Nuts, bolts, washers: 115.46
Total (5-3-13) $3925.81

Looks like I might still come in under my (revised) $4500 goal, but it's going to be close...

You sure get excellent bang for the buck. You would call Nick and I foolish for what we paid for our Dart 427 engines, when your able to build the entire car for less than 1/2 the engine cost. I tip my hat to you sir, BTW, some of us would be interested in pictures of stuffing the dash.

[Hot Rod Nick]

Nice progress on your project, Jim. I've always loved the look of engine turned sheet metal like on your dash.

You sure get excellent bang for the buck. You would call Nick and I foolish for what we paid for our Dart 427 engines...

Depending on one's perspective, I'm sure some would agree with that, Bob. But I thought long and hard about the best way for me to get to where I wanted to be within the time frame and resources I have, and I still have zero regrets or second guesses about where I am now.

[J. Robinson]

As long as one gets what he or she wants honestly and enjoys it, it is not foolish. I like what I see of your cars in the pictures and if you guys are happy with your rides, I would be the last one to condemn you for what you spent on them. There are a lot of folks who think we're all nuts for spending our time and money on "obsolete old cars" when we could have a "pretty new one" with modern accessories.

As for me, I couldn't cough up the cash for one of those engines or a Brookville body if my life depended on it, but that doesn't mean it's foolish. It simply means I don't have expendable income in large enough sums. I have a few bucks here and there occasionally and I make do with it. It's been that way all my life and that's OK. My lifelong financial status forced me to learn to make the things I couldn't afford to buy and I discovered that I enjoy fabrication! In my 65 years I have truly become a "Jack of all trades" and I frequently trade fabrication skills (automotive or household) for something I need. My favorite part of building a car is chassis and suspension fabrication. Everything else is just necessary to finish the vehicle...

I was going to skip the wiring phase in this thread, but if you think it's noteworthy I'll post some pics and updates soon.

[Whiplash23T]

So does that mean you aren't using wire on your build Jim ? Have one developed something new to get the electricity ( lick-a- tres- tee ) from the tomato sauce to the candle sticks ?

[johnboy]

So does that mean you aren't using wire on your build Jim ? Have one developed something new to get the electricity ( lick-a- tres- tee ) from the tomato sauce to the candle sticks ?

Whip: you put me in mind of this wee story I read in a magazine many years ago.
I don't know who wrote it or what magazine it was in, but I liked it!

Everything you wanted to know about auto electricals.

I will now reveal to you everything you wanted to know about electricity. Forget all that nonsense about magnetic fields and the flow of electrons along a conductor, for it is just that, nonsense…….a myth put about by Auto Electricians to support their lavish lifestyles at your expense. The reality is…….Smoke!

When you think about it, it all becomes startlingly obvious. Smoke makes all electrical things function, and if the smoke escapes the component stops working. For example, the last time you had to grovel under your car to replace the starter motor, didn’t it start smoking before it stopped working? Of course it did!

The wiring loom in your car carries smoke from one device to another, pumped around the system by the dynamo, and when a wire springs a leak it lets all the smoke out and everything stops. The starter motor requires lots of smoke to work properly, so it has a very thick wire going to it.

The battery stores up lots of smoke dissolved in the battery acid, which is why they were once called accumulators, until it became apparent that we unwashed home mechanics would twig to the secret. Naturally, if you try to store too much smoke in your battery it will escape through those little holes in the top, which is why those newfangled batteries with sealed tops explode when they get too much smoke in them.

With regard to Joseph Lucas and his wrongfully sullied reputation, why is he so maligned? Why are Lucas components more likely to leak smoke than, say, Bosch or Marrelli? It’s because Lucas is British, and British things always leak. British motorcycles leak oil, British sports cars leak rain, British hydrolastic units leak fluid, and British Governments leak military secrets.

So, naturally, British electrical components leak smoke.

.

[J. Robinson]

Whip: you put me in mind of this wee story I read in a magazine many years ago.
I don't know who wrote it or what magazine it was in, but I liked it!

Everything you wanted to know about auto electricals.

I will now reveal to you everything you wanted to know about electricity. Forget all that nonsense about magnetic fields and the flow of electrons along a conductor, for it is just that, nonsense…….a myth put about by Auto Electricians to support their lavish lifestyles at your expense. The reality is…….Smoke! ...

Johnboy - I saw that article somewhere before, too. It pretty much expresses how I felt about wiring when I delved into my first wiring job and sometimes I wonder if maybe it is correct after all. I had a problem with the ballast resistor on my coupe one time... Nah, long story... Anyway, suffice it to say that the lessons learned through mistakes sometimes make the most lasting impressions.

[J. Robinson]

So does that mean you aren't using wire on your build Jim ? Have one developed something new to get the electricity ( lick-a- tres- tee ) from the tomato sauce to the candle sticks ?

Good one! Actually I thought there has been so much written about wiring that no one would be interested in that part, but if you all want to see it I'll post it. For the first time, I am using a partial pre-fabbed kit (it was a gift); all my previous wiring jobs have been scratch-built one-wire-at-a-time. They all worked (and most still are), but weren't always pretty. Each one gets a little better, though, so we'll see...

[J. Robinson]

OK. As I said, I mounted the light and ignition switches in the dash panel and put some indicator lights between them. The light switch is a GM piece that I liberated from a wreck in the local salvage yard. The ignition switch is a generic piece from Autozone. The indicator lights came from Radio Shack. They didn't have green or blue in this small style, so I am using yellow for the turn signal indicators and red for the bright light indicator. If I don't like them or they don't show up good enough, I'll hog out the holes and replace them with the the larger ones like I have in my coupe.

Sorry I have to do this in multiple installments; I've tried everything I know to do, but this stupid program will not load the pictures in order if I do more than one at a time. Roger - I tried to drag & drop; it doesn't work, at least not on either of my computers.

[Dave Severson]

Good looking panel, Jim!!!! The black background in the gauges really stands out nicely against the turned aluminum panel!!!! Very well done!

[Hot Rod Nick]

Definitely a great looking instrument panel, Jim. I hope there are no smoke leaks

[Whiplash23T]

Very good and as mentioned, hopefully no smoke yet. I too like the black face on the gauges against the metal turned alloy panel. I need to find some small little lights to for my dash panel and I have been told about these new LED lights to look for.

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, guys. I bought those gauges a few years ago because I thought the black faces and curved glass lenses were remeniscent of old-time S-W's. Turns out that they DO go very nicely with the brushed aluminum panel.

Here is a look at the back side with the wires attached to just the gauges and instrument lights. The larger "pigtail" of wires will go to the right end of the dash, down the inside of the cowl. Some go from there, back along the channel at the edge of the floor to the fuse panel which will be mounted under the passenger seat and the sending unit wires will go to the engine bay. The other smaller pigtail will connect to turn signal wires from the steering column and the dimmer switch on the left side.