Thread: Roadster pickup getting closer

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Yep Steve, this is the most "rustfree" model A body I've seen for a while. Looking at that new metal has Dan thinking shiny red paint........we'll see if that is where it ends up.

Dave, I understand what you are saying.........these bodies are nice, but far from ready to paint right out of the crate. As I mentioned before, Dan and I have a steak dinner bet that when we take a close look at the display bodies Brookville has at Daytona this year we find a lot of areas that need finalizing. There is no way in the world they could or would spend the amount of time we rodders would to make it perfect...........just too labor intensive.

As an example, we spent five hours last night just fitting the back panel together. Dan is a fanatic about things fitting, so we kept disassembling it and he would get out the dremel or air grinder and remove another 1/16 inch of steel so we could try it again. It is still a long way off, but getting better each time.

I'm glad ours came unassembled because we would have ended up doing exactly what you said, disassembling it to start over. I would hate to think of drilling out all the rivets they use to do that.

Oh Dave, about the door movement within it's own skin............last night when we were fitting up the doors temporarily the drivers door is right on, but the bottom back corner of the passenger door is out about an inch and a half. I called Brookville this morning and spoke to a nice guy there named Dale, and he says they leave the skin loose on the doors on purpose, so that you can tweak the doors into perfect alignment, then insert two vice grips up through the big cutouts and clamp the outer skin to the inner skin, then you can pop rivet or weld the bottoms of the two skins together.........just like you did. He said if they didn't leave it loose there is no way to get a perfect jam fit once the car is bolted down.

Don

I guess I'll add some more B'ville war stories.

In general I'm pretty pleased with the overall assembly fitment of the body. Most of what I'm going to "improve" are the areas around the dash where the originals weren't all that nifty to start with. Below is a picture of a pile of scraps that don't look like much, but were the result of repeated on and off placements of the body on the frame (a few pieces are missing, no idea where I tossed 'em). This body was purchased with the extra cost option to fit a pinched '32 frame. Well, as it turns out it's modified by B'ville to fit THEIR frame, which doesn't have the stock Ford shape to the rear kick-up. In their configuration the body ends up about 3/4" above the side rails. So I ended up nibbling away at the subrails to get a better fit and to get the body down where it needs to be. Some material will have to be welded back to regain some strength and seal the floor. To be fair to B'ville, the large rectangular piece was removed from the trunk floor to clear the Model A rear crossmember, my choice not theirs. The other picture shows how I deal with repeated body removal when by myself.

I didn't even know you had that one Bob. Looks like you are going the traditional route on it........pretty cool.

Don

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

I guess I'll add some more B'ville war stories.

To be fair to B'ville, the large rectangular piece was removed from the trunk floor to clear the Model A rear crossmember, my choice not theirs. The other picture shows how I deal with repeated body removal when by myself.

Bob,

I have looked at the B'ville frame and from what I can see, it's a near(exact) replica of the earlier TCI chassis where their rear cross member goes over the top of the differential. The later version of the TCI chassis loops in back of the diff. While it's a pretty good mod for TCI, it did present some problems with fitting up my '32 style gas tank. B'ville was at York this past weekend, but they didn't seem to have much product out while I was wandering by. This is a view of my chassis - but with the gas tank fab added for a comparison.



Now why does a chainfall look familiar while installing a body by my lonesome??

This weekend Dan had off, so we had all of Friday night and all day Saturday to work on his RPU. Put in a couple of long days but it really paid off, the body is now off of the wooden platform for what we think is the final time.

We spent both days getting the door gaps very close and we tied the rear section of the body into the subframe. Instead of welding it we decided to make up some brackets that are bolted on so we have a lot of adjustment to fine tune the body as we go along. We did weld up the 3 rear sections and once we bolted in the brackets we made the body really started to get solid. Now we can't move any of the panels in any direction, and we still have a couple more brackets to install in the rear and also build the entire crossmember system. Once all that is done and the floors and tunnel is welded in the body should be very stable.

We pulled it off of the wooden platform and put it on the frame to see how it is going to look. Dan had to prop a seat up in it and see how it felt behind the wheel. I think I heard some engine noises, but I can't be sure.

Tomorrow we are going to install the engine and transmission so we can cut out the firewall for bellhousing clearance. It will be good to see the motor back in there again. Here are some pictures from tonight.

Don

Don it looks great. I bet that body is getting pretty heavy with all the parts being added on. Looks like it is coming together very nicely! I know you guys are once again on the Daytona timer, but it is nice having goals to work towards! Keep up the updates!

Yep Steve, it is gaining a little weight, but it's sure a lot lighter than the sedan he turned into a roadster pickup, that thing is way overbuilt. The jump we took this weekend puts us in pretty good shape timewise, we should be able to make it now I hope. But we have to keep pushing every chance we get to spend some time on it.

Don

Looks great Don! Maybe a bit overbuilt, but it sure as heck shouldn't suffer from the "bouncies" like some of the featherweight cars I've seen... Should be a very nice, stable car for cruizin'. Certainly no corners have been cut on the chassis or body supports that would comprimise safety issues....

Really NICE guys! Dan is as close to a true perfectionist as I've ever found (I think). I thought I took a lot of pains with things, but he sure goes beyond that. Extremely good craftsmanship (from all three of you). Great going. Perley

Thanks Dave, yeah, I don't think he will be able to hurt anything on the car when it's done. With that heavy Olds up front it's probably a good thing he is building it as stout as he is.

Thanks Perley. He used to drive me nuts when we worked on things together because he analyzes every little detail and if he is a hair off he cuts things off and starts over, but I'm starting to appreciate that because he does get good results. When I see him get into his thinking mode I just go off and pet the cats for a while or sweep up the place until he gets it figured out in his head, then we start working again.

We want to get some time in working on it again today, but Dan and Don tell me we are going to knock off early so we can take our two T's and go out for a bite to eat for Fathers Day. That should be fun.

Don

Happy Fathers Day

Don, I’m sure your Sons are proud of you, and the dinner will be a well deserving treat.

The Roadster pickup is really top shelf; Dan will be a popular builder if he wants to continue doing this, and will have plenty of people standing in line for one of his builds, with help from his No 1 Dad. Good job guys.

Richard

Happy Fathers Day Don. Have a great dinner. Sounds like a perfect day, shop time with family, car cruise and Dinner out!

Thanks guys, and Happy Fathers Day to you as well.

As far as Dan or me doing this for other people, we sort of have a running joke about that right now. When we ordered his body and saw there was about a $1500 difference by ordering it unassembled, I told him we should order a couple and take one to a big car show and sell it.........how hard could it be?? Well, after fooling around with for the past 4 weeks Dan keeps saying to me, "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we buy a couple of these bodies and put them together to sell???" After all, we would love to work for $ 1.00 per hour!!

No, we are too slow to ever earn a living at this stuff. Picking up soda cans would be more lucrative, I think.

The guys bought me new chrome shocks for Fathers day and I got them on the front of my T. Really made a difference over the worn out ones. We are going to Hooters tonight for dinner. Yeah, the food is ok, but the scenery is about as good as it gets.

Don

I think I have had lunch at that Hooters.....LOL You know how I like to travel for meals out. Happy fathers day Don. I still see a sign ( 3D's Hotrod Garage )
BradC

Yeah Brad, they actually have FOOD at Hooters! Whoda thunk!!

The night really turned out nice. It sort of looked like rain when we all met at the shop but we decided to chance it anyway and take our two roadsters. Florida is crazy that way, it can threaten to rain for hours and then clear right up.

Luckily, it never rained one drop the whole night. When we pulled into Hooters we were immediately noticed by everyone on the outdoor part of the restaurant..... I guess two sets of open headers will tend to do that sometimes. After dinner we decided to take the long way home, and Don left Dan drive his T all alone because he had never seen it going down the road and wanted to watch it. His car is finally running great, all the bugs seem to be worked out, and it goes right down the road with one hand on the wheel, no more death wobble (Knock on wood). His engine is finally sealing up and running less rich, and the thing is a rocket ship. Even with 2:79 gears when we would pull away from a light I would have to push mine a little hard just to keep up with him, and he was barely on it. When I have driven his T I got a real push in the back when you just touch the gas. But, I get a lot better gas milage.

Dan was grinning ear to ear about getting to drive Don's car, and the night was perfect for a long drive. It was cool out and the traffic was super light. We found out there is a car show the second Friday of each month at a local Denny's, so Don told Dan to take his car to the July show, since Don works every Friday night. There are also two shows in Cape Coral every Wednesday night, and since Don is off this Wednesday night we are going to drive both cars to one of those shows.

With a little luck there will soon be three cars to take.

Don