Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

Tweet

Aha! Further proof that great minds think alike! In my coupe and in my son's sedan, I put a tube across from side to side and mounted everything to it. The main difference is, ours are welded in and the column supports/mounts are different because we are both using GM columns. Yes, it does stiffen things up a lot...

As usual, beautiful work, Don. Maybe Dan should put a lexan cowl on this thing so the underdash detail will show. It's almost a shame to hide all the fine work you guys are doing.

Thanks Jim. Haha, funny you should mention the Lexan, I told Dan the same thing. I told him about some show cars I knew of in the '60's where the guy put glass floors in it so you could see the transmission, etc detailing.

We thought about welding it all in, but this way we can paint all up inside it with nothing in the way, and then bolt it all back in. Dan took some extra time to weld square nuts up behind everything so that all we have to do is insert a bolt and tighten it up. To save some time (and work) we are going to have all the stuff under there powder coated, it will keep us from having to paint all of it.

Don

Don,
I too have support behind the dash of my '31. I can't find a decent picture but it is welded/bolted in place and will clear my gauges and a/c fairly well even with the double engine recess. This is a picture BEFORE the wiring was straightened out. I also did reinforcements from the rear door post to the back of the car. Then I reinforced the floor with square stock and a double up of the sheet metal as well. Again, no decent pictures - I did lose a bunch when I had a computer crash. With as much reinforcing, I can pick up the body without the doors and have virtually no bending or deflection vs a 'normal' 30-'31 Model A.

Dave, that is a terrific way to do it. Very strong and neat looking too. Funny how Henry got by with riveted braces in a couple of places...... it amazes us every time we think about how he did those.

Nice job.

Don

Great work Don. Dan amazes me with all his neat welds. It looks as if they were bought from a store(ie professional) but better! I like the look of the round tubing, but bet it is even harder to use when cutting pieces to mate to it, to get it to look so smooth, and fluid! Maybe dan could make two cowl covwrs, one out of sheet metal that bolts on from undernieth, and one for shows that has a clear piece of lexan so you could see the internals. I have no idea if that is even doable, or in the time frame, but it sure would be nice to show all the hidden details! Good Stuff!

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Dave, that is a terrific way to do it. Very strong and neat looking too. Funny how Henry got by with riveted braces in a couple of places...... it amazes us every time we think about how he did those.

Nice job.

Don

Thanks Don - as you are all too well aware by now - a lot of square and round stock, some sheet metal, a few tanks of C25 and mig wire and a lot of hours.

As far as Hank the Crank - these cars were only $295 for a roadster and about $50 more for the deluxe version. Then the roads weren't much more then cow tracks until after WW2 either so flexibility was necessary. Heck, I have more then $295 in the add-on steel by now

Golly, I hate to see him paint this thing flat or satin black. 98% of all the rat rods in America must be flat or satin black. It was cool at first, but it's getting to be so overdone... This car is anything BUT a rat and deserves something different. Check out this place, Don. If Dan wants flat or satin paint, these folks have got all kinds of colors.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/ksflatz.aspx

There are a couple of reasons for the semi flat color he is thinking about, Jim. (Dupont Hot Rod Black) Mainly it is economic. A proper gloss paint job will cost between $4,000 and $ 6,000 for the body and bed. Time is against him for being able to swing that mount in the next 90 or so days. The second reason is that he likes that look, and has enough chrome to offset it (complete front suspension, rear suspension, nerfs, windshield, and engine chrome.

He is frankly tired of dumping money into this car and just wants it on the street sometime in his lifetime. He has no idea how much he has invested, and then turned around and scrapped, but it is enough to build a couple of rods, I bet. He hasn't cut any corners on anything, but everything has it's limits. He still has some major expenses to cover in a short amount of time, like Wilson Welding front brakes, a custom top, paint (whatever that ends up at) lots of chrome plating and powder coating, stainless brake lines, fuel tank, etc, etc.

All told, he probably still has to spend $ 5000 minimum for those items, maybe more, so putting another $ 4 to 6K on top of it just makes it very tough. And, like I mentioned, he is just getting tired of this car consuming his life, both timewise and financially.........it is just time to get it done and go fishing for a while. He and I both need a break from this car stuff.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

He is frankly tired of dumping money into this car and just wants it on the street sometime in his lifetime. ... He still has some major expenses to cover in a short amount of time...he is just getting tired of this car consuming his life, both timewise and financially.........it is just time to get it done and go fishing for a while... Don

Points well taken! I tend to forget what a paint job costs these days; I do all my own paint work, so, for me, it's just whatever the materials cost (even that's not cheap now days)...

That's the thing too, Jim. I agree a brand new body and bed deserve shiny paint, but without a booth it would be hard to get a paint job worthy of the car. If he goes with the satin we can pay the shop that shot my T and Don's T just to wheel it in the booth and shoot it, with us doing all the prep work. Satin will be more forgiving, so the shop won't have to spend lots of time getting it perfect for shiny black.

He is making the body and bed easy to remove, so if he decides a little while down the road he wants glossy paint all he has to do is unplug some stuff and pull them off.

For the past four years he has been dumping every spare dollar into this thing, now he just wants to get it on the road and enjoy having some extra money for a change.

Don

If I lived closer, I would shoot it for him... Did you look at that website I posted? They have all kinds of colors including metallics and pearls that are flat! Good prices, too. You might want something there for your truck, also.

My son is talking about using their midnight purple (flat) with the flames, engine, and pinstriping in lime green (gloss). Time will tell; he changes his mind every week...

Yep Jim, that Hot Rod Flatz stuff is pretty cool, and they now have a bunch more colors and shades than they used to have.

As for my truck, I still have almost a full gallon of black that I bought when I was doing my T, and a full can of flattener, so I will probably use that to save some money. Dan also gave me some satin black he bought to do a Dodge truck he once owned, so I plan on doing the bed frame with that. I hate to think of dragging out the paint equipment again............my sinuses are just getting back to normal from the last project.

Don

Another long day working on Dan's hot rod, but we REALLY made some great progress this weekend. The one job that we have been dreading and putting off is shortening the frame 3 and 3/8 inches to fit the new Brookville body. (it is shorter than the one Dan built originally) So we decided to dedicate this weekend to getting it done once and for all.

It was really hard for us to make the decision to cut up a frame that was basically done, but it was the only way to get it to look right and fit, so out came the sawzall.............we gotta start buying blades for that thing by the gross! It took longer to measure everything up than to do the actual cutting, but it went very well. Dan's cuts were clean and straight, so it only took some minor grinding to get things to fit up tight.

What we did was insert a 1/4 inch plate, 4 x 12 inches into the backside of the frame as a gusset, and it is now fully welded in place. The frame is probably stronger now than before the cut. Dan is going to box the entire frame yet, so that will make it even stronger.

We must have flipped it over and over 10 times or more, so that Dan could get a good weld on every surface, thank God for our Gantry crane. The frame has gotten too heavy for two of us to lift, and when it was clamped to the jig the two of them are impossible to move by hand. But now this last big fabrication job is done, and we can start concentrating on more of the little stuff.

This is the third night in a row that we have put in some long hours, so I think I will sleep in tomorrow. Here are some pictures of how it ended up.

Don

Wow! You guys make a hard job look easy! Nice work, must of felt great getting that done! Also nice to get the non glamerous stuff that you know is going to hurt, over and done with. You deserve a real breakfast!

Hehe, it was McDonalds again this morning, but they weren't serving breakfast yet, so it was a Big Mac this time.

Yep Steve, getting over this hurdle really feels good. Up until now the fact we had to drag out the jig, cut it up, and reweld it has been on our minds. We feel like there is really light at the end of the tunnel now.

BTW, Dan is now thinking gloss paint again. He saw a maroon today that he loved, and thinks the car deserves shiny. That is this week, we will see what next week brings. I do like the color he found, we stopped at a new car dealer and looked at it today, it really pops.

Don