Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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One of the things I didn't like that Total Performance does is they mount the gas pedal on a wooden block that is glassed to the thin firewall fiberglass. I decided to install a full piece of plywood in there instead for a couple of reasons. First of all, the firewall would have the tendency to flex when you push down hard on the gas pedal, and I didn't like the way they just put self tapping screws into the wood block. I wanted to use bolts and nuts so the pedal couldn't pop loose at the wrong time.

Another thing that a flat piece of plywood will do is give the firewall carpeting a flat surface to be glued to, instead of humping up over a wood block. It would just look better, I think.

So I cut a piece of 1/2 inch plywood and drilled a couple of holes for the bolts that hold the gas pedal on. Then I used some stainless steel T nuts that have spikes on them and installed them from the backside. They are for 1/4 inch bolts, and will be much stronger than the screws it was originally designed for. I then put a thick coat of fiberglass reinforced filler all over the backside of the plywood and weighted it down until the filler cured. Finally, I glassed all around the perimeter of the plywood to tie it into the side pieces. Now there should be no flex and I can use bolts to hold the pedal to the firewall.

Another weak spot was the dashboard. It was just thin fiberglass, and I could envision it shaking under way when you get a speedometer, tach, and four other gauges in there. To stiffen it I cut a piece of 1/4 inch plywood and did the same body filler routine to bond it to the backside of the dash. I clamped it tight to really squeeze the two parts together, and am letting it set up overnight. Tomorrow Dan is going to holesaw the gauge holes in there, and I think I will also make up some simple aluminum braces to further keep the dash was shaking.

Here are some pictures of what I got done today. Just a little touch up and the body will be ready for me to drop off for paint on Monday. Sunday I plan to do some filling and priming on my own T body, and maybe next weekend I can spray it in color.

Don

Don with as much fiberglass you work with maybe you should have been in the boat business LOL
Your sons T look's like it coming along, won't be long you will have it on the road.
Brad

Don you are moving along quickly . Soon i imagine you will be doing another YouTube biography for us . I kinda like the grabber colors of the day very distinct cars they where .

Yep, it really is coming along pretty fast. What is really helping is that Don bought just about every piece we need and had it sitting there ready to go on. Sure makes it nice when you don't have to guess and actually have the part there to mock up with.

Fiberglass is my life!!! At least it seems that way. I don't even itch anymore, so I must be getting immune to the stuff. I think I am destined to have dry, cracked hands from all the laquer thinner.

Today Dan came over and cut the holes for Don's gauges. I'm glad he did it because they actually came out straight. Must be nice to have good eyesight. Then he dug in and helped me work on my T body. We DA'ed it again and filled all the little pinholes and voids with spot putty, then Da'ed it one more time, then shot two more coats of primer on it. It looks like we are finally there, and just found maybe two or three little pinholes that still need filled before paint can go on.

I am back to thinking that I might drop off my body at the body shop when I take Don's on Monday. It is coming out so nice it would be a shame to shoot it outside and screw it up. Brent can throw it in his booth and bake it when he is done. I'll talk to him Monday when I am there and see if he wants to do two of them.

Here are some pictures of Don's gauges just stuck in the holes for now, and also my body after we shot the primer tonight. Really owe Dan a big thanks, he busted his tail today to make the body as straight as it came out. Much better than I would have done alone, that's for sure.

Don

Don,

I don't have a good eye . . . but I have AutoCAD. Nice parts combo on the 'bucket, by the way.

So, Don----You on strike, or what? Surely something "hot-roddy" must be going on at your shop, Now that my RPU is finished, I have to live vicariously through your posts.----Brian

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

So, Don----You on strike, or what? Surely something "hot-roddy" must be going on at your shop, Now that my RPU is finished, I have to live vicariously through your posts.----Brian

Hey Brian, to heck with the vicarious stuff, you can come help me anytime, just a few miles south of ya!!!



Don, both look great!!! What's the projected date to make the big first cruise??????

Hey get in line Dave, I already extended that invite to Brian for him to come down and give me free labor...LOL
Don with the site down a week I figured you got alot done not having to update every day.
Brad

Originally Posted by BradC

Hey get in line Dave, I already extended that invite to Brian for him to come down and give me free labor...LOL
Don with the site down a week I figured you got alot done not having to update every day.
Brad

Heck, he'll probably go to your house seein' as how you live closer!!!!!!

Looks like a lot of good work on both of them Don.

We have gotten some stuff done, but nothing photo or post worthy, just little piddling stuff that needs to be wrapped up.

On my T I got the stainless steel and braided brake lines ordered from Inline Tube, should be here late next week, and I am waiting for the body to come back from the paint shop. I have to pull that darned starter down again and see what is going on with it. $ 280 for a starter and it is still not working right. Seems it is either too close or too far away from the flexplate because shimmed one way it hangs up, and shimmed another way it grinds like I have never heard one do. All my life I have just bolted a starter on and forgot about it, not this one.

We have been spending most of our time on Don's T. The other night Dan wrapped up welding the through frame tubes in place for the front shocks, and then Don and I welded on the battery box to the frame. We also tapped holes for the fuel filter, electric fuel pump, and starter solenoid. The plan is for he and I to get an early start tomorrow and get the frame primed and painted.

Today he had to leave early to go play, but we got his waterpump installed and a few little things. So hopefully by Sunday night the frame will be blue, then Monday night he and I are going to sandblast all the other parts like rear end housing, radius rods, etc.

I hope my buddy gets both bodies painted in the 3 weeks he quoted, otherwise things will get tight timewise for Thanksgiving. He is pretty good about that stuff, so I am not too concerned.

Don

".... otherwise things will get tight timewise for Thanksgiving......"

Don I can't believe how fast this year has flown.

The speed your moving on these should give you a LITTLE wiggle room.

Hopefully you'll have better luck than mine when getting something done with outside vendors.

I know Mike, the older I get the faster the years fly by. You are right about using outside people, they all promise the moon and stars to get you in the door, and then everything comes to a screeching halt. I worked at the body shop with Brent, my friend, then he opened his own shop. He was the go-to guy when we worked together, and all the other bodymen came to him for the tough ones, and the owner gave him the Vipers, Mercedes, etc. because he was the best bodyman there. I know he will do a good job, and I believe he will stick to the schedule pretty well.

Don and I needed this window anyway to get our frames all done so we can just plop the painted bodies back on when they come back. Don's is going right to the upholstery shop first, but I am going to have to skip that step for a little while until I can afford it. The $ 1500- $ 2000 I have to pay for the paint job is going to strain me for a while. However, I am not opposed to sitting on a boat cushion as long as the car runs. Upholstery can come later on.


Don

$ 280 for a starter and it is still not working right.

Tell me about it. I just had to dump a Holley Red electric fuel pump with only 20 miles on it. It was louder than a hammer drill, and kept shutting off on thermal overload. I pulled it apart, and there was no apparent problem inside. The warranty won't be any good, since I've had it for three years - ever since I finished the frame mock-up. That's the trouble with those of us who fabricate our stuff. By the time the car's running, all the warranties have expired.

I'm going to have to live vicariously through your project, Don. Since I got my '34 on the road (less upholstery), all I have to work on is miscellaneous stuff on my daily driver Vette - and that's no fun.

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

I'm going to have to live vicariously through your project, Don. Since I got my '34 on the road (less upholstery), all I have to work on is miscellaneous stuff on my daily driver Vette - and that's no fun.

Oh, I can only dream of the day I have to live vicariously!!! I don't think I will mind at all sitting back and watching someone else spend money and work hard.

I'm like you JR, I am not at all sold on these little starters. I can't remember ever buying a starter, even a reman, and having it not bolt on and just do it's thing. This one is Powermaster's top of the line one that will crank 18 to 1 compression and all that stuff, and I can't get it to mesh right. I know my flywheel is bolted on right, and a few times it has cranked and worked fine, but sometimes it sounds like it is tearing the bottom off the engine. It makes this unGodly screaming sound like it is taking teeth off the flexplate. I'm going to recheck the clearances according to the info that Powermaster gives you on the very vague instruction sheet and see if the starter gear is close enough to the flexplate or if we have now got it too far away.

As for Holley pumps, I have run 3 or 4 of them on various cars, and yes they are noisy sob's. The one on my Jeep truck is insulated in rubber and people who ride with me ask what that air compressor is doing running under the car? On my '27 you couldn't hear it for the exhaust, so hopefully the one on my current T will not be a problem either. I know they don't like even a spec of dirt, so I always put a good fine mesh fuel filter before the pump.

It seems sometimes the more we buy good, well known brands of products, the bigger the problems are that we get.

Denny, I think you are right, the next car I put together I am going to try to use a mechanical fuel pump.


Don