Thread: Moving ahead rebuilding my '27 roadster.

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Well Don - thanks for the motivational talk. Sat. I'm back down to the shop - early & I'll be cutting only a few more items out of the frame. Seems ALL of my new stuff has arrived. As soon as its a roller it'll be back at my place for some steady fab'n.

I'm sure I'll see youat the TRR this year - with out the coupe. But next year ........

Paul

Haven't updated for a while because I've been waiting for more parts to show up. The big brown truck came on Friday, so this weekend was spent starting to assemble my engine.

The first thing I did was scrub the entire engine inside and out with Dawn dish detergent and water, then I blew out all the passages and coated it with WD40 so it wouldn't instantly rust. Ran a tap in every threaded hole and finally got to start putting the good stuff in. The components I decided to go with were a Scat Crank and forged rods, and Keith Black forged flat top pistons. I went with the 331 stroker instead of the 347 because I just heard so many good things about them.

For the valve train I am using a Motorsport X303 cam which is the same one my Son Don is running. I like the way his idles and it revs like mad. I chose Motorsport roller lifters and a Comp Cam timing set. For an oil pump I bought a stock Melling pump, saw no need for a high volume. I did upgrade to an ARP oil pump drive shaft because I rounded off a stock one years ago.

So now I am down to having to make a decision on heads. Pretty sure they will be aluminum, but I don't want to spend more than $ 1000.00 or so. I am going to sit down with the Summit and Jegs catalogs tonight and make a decision..........might also have to do some more research on line. Then I can figure out if I am going to go with Comp Cams or Harlan Sharp roller rockers. One thing I need the heads to do is bolt up to my existing 2 x 4 aluminum manifold and my Sanderson headers, some heads have odd bolt patterns I understand.

Here are a couple of pictures of the engine as I left it tonight. Still shooting to have it in the frame by the end of September.

Don

Isn't a new engine a thing of beauty? Keep em coming.

Looks great pops! Looks like I am going to have to build a 347 stroker to keep up with you! Don Jr.

Yeah Steve, I LOVE working with new parts. This thing almost put itself together so far.

Don: Fat chance bud. With your T and Dans car to contend with I had to up the ante a little! Got tired of you picking on my little 350 T.

Don

Hey Don ...... even though that one of THOSE other mnfctrs. engines ...... it looks good. As for the tin work in the RPU - jam up baby. Looks great. Did you get the seats from speedway? Of did you guys do them?

Paul

Thanks Paul. No, Dan found a shop in Roswell Ga called Mercurio's Hot Rod Alley,who custom make bomber seats to your specs. He originally had a set of the Speedway ones but the sides are so high it made getting in and out tough, plus he is going to run a 2" chopped top, so it would even be harder to get in. I bought his Speedway seats from him and am going to use them in my 29 RPU when I finally get back on it.

Dan was going to have the same guy do his door and side panels but then he decided to give it a try himself, and so he got with Bill and got some pointers. The seats are pretty cool, the guy did a nice job.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Thanks Paul. No, Dan found a shop in Roswell Ga called Mercurio's Hot Rod Alley,who custom make bomber seats to your specs. He originally had a set of the Speedway ones but the sides are so high it made getting in and out tough, plus he is going to run a 2" chopped top, so it would even be harder to get in. I bought his Speedway seats from him and am going to use them in my 29 RPU when I finally get back on it.

Dan was going to have the same guy do his door and side panels but then he decided to give it a try himself, and so he got with Bill and got some pointers. The seats are pretty cool, the guy did a nice job.

Don

Knocks me out Don, absolutely KNOCKS-ME-OUT!!!!!!

I thought they looked very familiar ...... Milke is a friend & also a Boston guy like me!! I've been to his house & got him to post some of his pix over on RRR. He does a kick ass seat. He's the guy that'll be doing the complete bomber interior on the Ratty 46 ......
He also has a kick ass Model a cpe. that he's fittn' with a HEMI.

If you got them not long ago you also benifited from me hooking Mike up with my water jet guy. He use to cut EVERY piece on those seats by hand ....... like a weeks work of cutting!! It's a bit less now as the water takes alot of the time away from the process.

Kewl.

Paul

Small world. Mike is a really nice guy according to Dan. Yep, he just got them so they were waterjetted. Still a bunch of work in them. Dan has 3 or 4 weekends in doing the panels so he has a whole new appreciation for the work Mike did.

I'm glad Dan is getting good at aluminum interiors..........I have this drag car in mind and know just the guy to do the interior for me.

Don

I've tried to get Mike to let me do a bit of TIG welding on some of the key spots that would add to the structure & kewlness. I've got a way with the tig torch & aluminum.

Paul

Thanks Richard. Yeah Paul, I've seen some of your tig work on bike parts. You do know your way around a torch. Wish you lived closer. Dan wants someone to teach him the right way to tig. He's gotten so comfortable with the mig that his tig sits in the corner unused.

Don

Itoldyouso, one word comes to mind when viewing your projects. Jewelry! Just like watching Ken Thurm's thread, simply awesome!

wowwow >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>wow

Don , Dan's interior, like everything else looks great.
My curiousity got the best of me, so I'll ask even if it might be a stupid question. With the heat you guys get in Florida, do you put some sort of seat cushion on those bomber seats? I can just imagine jumping in there with shorts on after having it parked in the sun for a while.
Also What kind of glare inside the RPU do you get with all that bright metal? My Harley has a ton of chrome the former owner put on it, and believe it or not, on a sunny day, at just the right angle, the gas cap can blind you, even with sun glasses on.
Anyway I guess all of the above is part of what makes his RPU very cool and unique, so like all other things hotrodding, we compromise comfort for function and fun!