Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Don, looks great man! Bronze will look sweet on there if you go with that. If I did a T I always said it would be bronze, gloss black(which there are lots of) or a silverish color and make it have a bomber look to it. I like black with brown vinyle bomber seats and cream colored guages. Ever go to circlecityhotrods.com ? Look at his T on there, I am sure you have seen Jimmy's orange T. Pretty good lookin if you ask me.

Don---Bronzes and coppers are just about the most transparent metallics that there are. When I was doing a lot of custom painting in the early eighties/late seventies, I used to get some really wild effects on custom paint jobs by using 3 or 4 different shades of primer on a car to lay out flames, panels, etcetera, then overlaying everything with about 5 coats of copper/bronze paint. The only way you could get a uniform colour on the entire vehicle was to paint everything a solid white colour first, then spray the copper/bronze over it. I'm not really up to date on the modern paint chemistries, but I know thats the way it worked with acrylic enamels. The yellow base/clear that I used on my RPU was the same.---Brian

Originally Posted by DennyW

No, not yet. If he doesn't get on here soon, I may give him a phone call. I hope he's ok.

I've been sending him email jokes, but he hasn't responded in several days.

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Don---Bronzes and coppers are just about the most transparent metallics that there are. When I was doing a lot of custom painting in the early eighties/late seventies, I used to get some really wild effects on custom paint jobs by using 3 or 4 different shades of primer on a car to lay out flames, panels, etcetera, then overlaying everything with about 5 coats of copper/bronze paint. The only way you could get a uniform colour on the entire vehicle was to paint everything a solid white colour first, then spray the copper/bronze over it. I'm not really up to date on the modern paint chemistries, but I know thats the way it worked with acrylic enamels. The yellow base/clear that I used on my RPU was the same.---Brian

Brian, good points. I have been kicking several colors around in my head, and one day I looked out the window at work and there was a bronze Hummer there. I asked the guy at the parts counter if it was his, and it was. He said the color is called "Orange Fusia" or something like that. I walked out an looked at it in the sunlight, and it really looks like some of the bronzes we used to use way back. I called a paint store and they do show it, about $ 249.00 a gallon.

I never thought about that primer color thing you mention. I'll bet you could alter the final hue by either a light or dark primer. Good points you make.

I'm like most rodders. The final color for the car is the hardest thing to decide on, and we always say "I wonder what it would have looked like if I had painted it ______________."

Thanks Brian for the input.

Don

Originally Posted by FMXhellraiser

Don, looks great man! Bronze will look sweet on there if you go with that. If I did a T I always said it would be bronze, gloss black(which there are lots of) or a silverish color and make it have a bomber look to it. I like black with brown vinyle bomber seats and cream colored guages. Ever go to circlecityhotrods.com ? Look at his T on there, I am sure you have seen Jimmy's orange T. Pretty good lookin if you ask me.

Sorry I missed this post, it was one page back.

Yeah, I have seen that T and it IS sharp. I was on the fence on what color to paint the suspension, had considered a satin black for that, but my Kid tells me he saw one with everything painted bronze and it was really sharp. So, I'm not sure what I will do. I have always painted my suspension a contrasting color to the body and frame, because I thought too much of one color was just too much, but maybe he is right. I could do the interior in an off white maybe.

I was going to put a red vinyl interior into my '27, but one hot summer day I got into my then-wifes Buick that had a reddish leather interior. I was in shorts, and as soon as I sat down I got right back up.

The Florida sun and dark roadster interiors just don't go together, so I did the roadster in white vinyl, and it was always cool to sit on. I live in shorts year round, so having a cool seat is a must.

Don

This weekend I worked on the steering column upper and lower supports, and pretty well got those done. I fabbed up the upper mount out of some 1/4 inch steel strap 1 inch wide, and bent it into an upside down "A." I needed some sort of bearing surface for the 3/4 inch steering shaft to ride in, so I headed off to Lowes and went through everything they had in the hardware dept and finally found what I needed in the plumbing dept. The part I bought was a 3/4 inch brass fitting because I don't want the steel shaft to turn inside more steel, so I figure the brass will act as a bushing. After I ran a 3/4 inch drill bit through it some of the threads were still left, and that is ok. Those will act to hold in a small amount of lithium grease just to add a little more wear resistance to the setup.

Then I needed some sort of outer steel tube to put the brass bushing into, and finally dug around in my spare socket drawer and found that a 7/8 deep well socket slipped right over the brass fitting. I hated to sacrafice a Craftsman socket, but it was going to a good cause. So I chucked the socket into the bandsaw and cut off the same length as the bushing. Then I ground off the chrome finish so I could weld it to the new column support. After that I welded a steel plate to the top of the hoop so I could bolt it to my cowl roll bar assembly. I had planned to put a faceplate on the column support to hold my turn signal switch and tach, but it looked so good left open that I am going to put those items elsewhere.

Here are a couple of pictures of the parts I used and the finished support.

here we go, not another craftsmen/steering story again, just kidding ,looking good, i hope to see it at daytona

you do pretty work Don. looking good

The bushing ended up being such a tight fit into the socket that I had to press it in, so I don't think I will need to put a set screw or anything to hold it in place, as I had thought.

Then I welded on the bottom column support, and put the pillow block on it and slipped the steering shaft down into the u joint on the steering box. It actually slipped in as if I had planned it that way. Never had that happen before.


After that I started to work on my gas pedal assembly. I have decided to fasten the gas pedal mount right to my cowl roll bar, rather that mount it to the firewall, as I wanted to do. There is very little firewall left with so much of the engine sharing space with me in the cockpit, and also by mounting the gas pedal to the roll bar, everything will be a part of the frame, rather than the body. It will give it a little more of a competition feel, wherein the body is just a skin, and the rest of the car is self contained.

I found just the perfect thing in my scrap bin for the gas pedal. It is a very old meat grinder handle. I think it will add a little rat rod flavor to the build, and it just happened to be the perfect shape. I cut off the wooden handle and fabbed up an arm to work my throttle cable. I inserted a steel bushing into the handle and welded it and the arm together. To try it for size, I made a temporary mount and put it under the dash. Once I figure out where my foot will hit the pedal, I will make some kind of a round pad and weld that to the handle, after I shorten it to the correct length.

Here are some shots of the handle, the pedal I made from it, and the mounted parts.

Thanks for looking,

Don

Thanks guys. Yeah, I actually had a Craftsman wrench trying it for fit, but it didn't have the right curve I needed to clear my bellhousing. Plus, I knew you guys would never let me live it down.


Don

Say Don hows the shifter coming??? I like the gas pedal and steering column bracket.

Thanks Charlie : I have sort of shelved the shifter for now. I am going to play around with it some more, and I got the spring loaded detent in the mail, so I will try it to see how it works. I may just buy a Gennie and get it over with, but not before I try one more time.

I put it on the trans to see how it fits, and I do like the height of it, but it sort of is closer to me when in the drivers seat than I would like.

BTW, I have sort of scrapped getting it done for Daytona. Just too much to do, and we are about one month away. I think there is a spring Daytona event, and my Son and I are shooting for that, or something later on. Just don't want to rush things now and throw it together. I feel really bad for my Son though, as he has missed it two years in a row, but he is making some changes to the layout of the air bag components in the bed, so he can run a louvered cover over the bed. It is just taking more time than either of us planned. Oh well, that's building a hot rod for you.

Don

I know that feeling I got my headliner but dont want to put it in until the glass is in. I have my door panels all layed out but can't put them on until I get the glass for the doors. I cant put the interior side panels in until I get my trim back. The hole thing is at a stand still but when it starts again I guess I'll be living in the shop.

Boy, I know that feeling only too well. The other problem is that it is real easy to damage stuff that you have laying around if you handle it too much. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you on your interior.

Don

What a choice of words. Yes it is cut out, and sewn together. Just waiting around. I do have the wifes 57 to keep busy on. So no ideal hands here.