Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Hey better late than never, at least by not rushing youll end up with a better rod in the end

I guess you are right, and I learned a lesson years ago from the cars and boats I have rebuilt. If you don't put every screw in place before you start driving it or launch it you will never get back to do it. Once you start using them the fun takes over and you just never seem to want to finish the little things. On my '27 the plan was to drive it in purple primer for a couple of months and then blow it apart after I got the bugs out of it. There were no bugs, and after 7 years of driving it the car was still in purple primer.

I am getting anxious, though. Been a long time between rods.

Don

Don, Charlie I can sure relate to what you both said. I had so much stuff laying around waiting for the body to come back (and me to re-paint it after it did come back). It was such a good feeling to actually start putting stuff on the car for the last time (as opposed to mock-up). It amasses me how much bigger the shop looks not that I can see the walls again.

I'm been having one of those kind of frustrating couple of days, when you find the little things in the final assembly that were either missed or were put off. There have been 3 trips to town today for parts (about 45 minuets each time with travel time). The latest glitch was starter/clutch linkage interference that took me completely by surprise. Fortunately, I knew about the smaller gear reducted starters Chrysler used in the late 80's/early 90's that cured that problem. The parts store even had one on the shelf. The price wasn't too bad, but the core (and not having one to turn in) hurts.

Now that the engine and tranny are in having it done seems so close, but like you Don I learned that lesson years and now is really the time that I force myself to slow down and make sure everything is right.

I'm kind of in the same funky place Mike mentions, there is so much to do yet, and the pattern to do them in is not as clear as it was in the beginning of the build. When you are starting the build it is easy. You build the frame, hang the front and rear suspension, etc. But as you progress there are a million small jobs to do, and it is easy to get bogged down with these tasks that seem to take forever and accomplish very little.

I have to get myself focused once again, and start wrapping up these tasks in some logical order, so tonight I decided to tackle getting the front of the car wrapped up. The one job I have been avoiding is building the front shock mounts, so today I made up the oval plates that we will weld to the frame to bolt the shock mounts to. The reason I am using these plates is because with a box tubing frame there is really no good way to use bolts and nuts to mount the shock mounts. I am using circa 1950 Ford truck front shock mounts, as they are pretty much the traditional setup rodders have been using for decades. They mount to the frame with two bolts that were 7/16 inch size, but I drilled out the holes to 1/2 inch, and made up two oval plates out of 3/8 inch thick steel plate that I tapped for the 1/2 inch bolts that will secure the shock mounts to these plates.

By welding all around the perimeter of these plates I will have a very thick surface to bolt the mounts too, as opposed to the 3/16 thick walls of the box tubing frame. By tapping threads into the oval plates I can simply run some grade 8 bolts into them and I will have a strong mounting for the shocks.

Here are some pictures of the oval plates I made up, and the truck shock mounts. I will have my Son weld these to the frame for me when we blow the car apart in the next week or so to finalize all of the serious welding.

Another issue I needed to finalize on the front end is where and how my headlights are going to mount. I have already pretty much decided to use the large '27? Chevrolet headlights mounted to a '32 Ford headlight bar. I like to use a Model A or '32 bar because it looks old timey, and is way more solid than the aluminum hot rod type mounts you get at speed shops. I have always used these mounts, and have never had a problem with headlight shake or anything.

The '32 bar was too wide to fit this car, so I took 5 inches out of the middle and inserted a piece of round stock into the bar to temporarily hold the two halves together until I am sure this is the right dimension. It seems to be ok, and next I will fab up some mounts to tie the frame to the bar. For this I will use the ends of the bar that I cut off, just turned around in a different direction.

Here are some shots of where I decided to mount the lights. I wanted them low, and this seems to be the best compromise while still giving clearance for steering and shocks.

Thanks for looking.

Don

I love the big lights. they remind me of a coupe that my grandfather used to have sitting in his garage.
Z

Thanks, I like them too. Last night when I was mocking stuff up I mounted the headlight bar on top of the shock mounts and thought I might weld it on there. But it was too high and made the car look like a frog. . I think they will look ok tucked down low though.

I'm going to convert them to halogen, so there should be enough light, I hope.

Don

Man, the more and more I see your progress the more and more I just wanna buy a Speedway Motors T and build one cheap as well but I wouldn't have the knowledge to make all my own brackets and such like you I just don't know how or where to put them really. I have been looking into it but everyone says that in the end it's cheaper to get a complete steel T bucket. I can't find any steel T's here in SC or NC for under 4000 for a project, everyone want's 10,000- 25,000 here for them and they are complete pieces of junk. The 20,000 dollar ones are nice but not my style and the others that are priced WAY too high are pieces of junk with NOTHING like no grille, needs a new frame, body rusted, old short block 350, crappy rear end, etc. People here watch too much TV I think and see cars from the West coast all fixed up and nice and think that just because they have an old car that it's worth as much as the real nice one they saw on TV...

Ya know, I am really glad this thread has turned you on to wanting to build one too,. That was one of the reasons I wanted to do this thing, and why I keep posting all these little steps that I am doing, I wanted to show that anyone could build a basic, strong hot rod without a lot of money or even equipment.

Let's talk about me for a second. I am about as far from a professional rod builder as you can get. I am an old time rod builder who is capable of putting together a simple, straightforward rod that runs. Period. There is no way you can compare me to some of the guys on here, or who are out there. I see the work guys on here do, and I am in awe of how really good they are. I refer to my own Son a lot, and mainly it is because I have his creation sitting in our shop staring me in the face every night, and I see how much more sophisticated his car is than anything I could build, and how talented some people are in their vision of what a car can be.

I have learned a couple of lessons also during this project. The one is that I am a terrible welder, and welding is probably the biggest single talent that you need to build cars on your own. I have always tacked stuff and had a pro do the final welding, and now I use my kid to do that for me. But if I were able to produce a strong, pretty weld I could make so much more progress on my own. It is the one skill I am going to work at so that the next car has more of me in it in that respect.

You mention you would not know how to do the car, but that is something I would have hoped you would have picked up a little of from this project. Essentially, a rod is just a ladder frame with a front end, rear end, and motor and trans in the middle. Sure, it is more complicated than that, but there are some basics you have to follow and if you do that, the car will turn out fine.

As far as making brackets and the like, the one thing I have been trying to show is that common pieces of angle iron, flat steel, and tubing can be cut and rewelded into shapes that look nice and serve a purpose. Sure, we have a pretty well equipped shop now, but for years I worked out of my home single car or two car garage. I built my first roadster pickup in a rented garage that had a dirt floor. It was a crappy car, but it ran and stayed together.

There is no denying that the cost of building a car is climbing, and the rat rod craze has made all of the old stuff more expensive. Even I have gone over my original $ 3K estimate, but if I would have stuck to what I originally planned on doing I still think I could have come close. The secret is to start out with a cheap or free donor car for the major items, like engine , trans, and rear axle and shop wisely for the rest, and build everything you can yourself. Just today, Jose at work told me he knows a place where the guy tows in abandoned cars and will sell a whole car for $ 50 or $ 100. Even if you pay $ 500.00 for a running car that is maybe rusted out or hit in the rear, you are way ahead and have a cheap start on your rod.

Ebay is my source for almost all of the stuff I have on the car and parts I have stored for future projects. You have to pass up a lot of items on Ebay and wait and play the game to get the deals. As for bodies, every community or State has some old cars sitting around, and you just have to keep looking. We found my '39 Dodge cab in Georgia and also found my Son's '29 Fordor there. Each one was $ 900.00. He later found an almost mint Tudor '30 body about 600 miles from here for $ 1700.00. So they are out there.

After doing this project, I still think the absolutely very best way someone can get started in rodding is to buy a Speedway or Total Performance kit (OH OH, there's that K word ) and put a good running, but cheap small block chevy into it and learn how these things work. You can't beat the price of them, and you can buy them one piece at a time, as paydays allow. That is how I have always done it, one piece at a time on paydays where the rent and electric isn't due. I save up for the bigger purchases, and they take more time to get. Sure, a T bucket has some drawbacks, most notibly room inside, but there is no rod that dollar for dollar gives as much fun or is as easy to build. Every piece you need is available from many sources.

I also like to buy someones cast off project, because they never ever get what they have in them. You can save a lot of money, and sometimes all the hard work is done. You may have to redo some stuff to suit you, but if the basics are there, you can have a great start.

Don't give up, but just start simple and keep it that way for the first rod or first several rods. I like basic rods because I am not afraid to leave them sitting out in the rain, or to jump into them an drive across the State. There are lots of guys on here who will be only too happy to help you get the thing up and running.

Good luck, and thank you for following the project. I have been having a blast doing it and sharing.

Don

Don
You might want to add that these things can take a lot longer than antisapated. Things come up. Things go bad. It took me 5 years to build my 38. 2or 3 years on my 68 camaro. I had a 64 chevy seems like my hole life until about 2 years ago, all in different stages of repair. I had my 32 chevy 2 dr sedan for about 10 years never did finish it just got tired of it sold a big loss. Just glad to get garage space back. This is a fun hobby. I think you have to realy look deep into what you want and how you want it to be when finished. It's easy to look at a car that is finished and not see half what went into it. I realy don't think I could buy a car(hot rod) built by someone else and leave it alone. You have to personalize them and thats the fun in it.
Don thanks for letting me ramble on your post
Charlie

I would realy like to add that I enjoy following your build. I have this post so I get e-mail when a new post is added.

Don,
I also have followed this thread since it's start and look forward to each installment. I admire your straight forward approach and the common sense you use to tackle the small problems. You and Brian are truly masters of your craft.

Don, I have to go back from page one and re read this whole thread but so far I have learned a lot from you. I have a Ford 302 motor that will needrebuilt (it doesn't HAVE to but since it's out then I would have the machining done and bottom end put together and that's it) and have a 3 speed tranny out of my 66 F100 (which you did say something about not enough room for the clutch pedal so not sure). I also have a 57 Chevy rear end with 3:73 gears and old Cragar wheels as well. The centers of them are peeling chrome but the outer part of the ring is like brand new chrome. So I would have a motor (that really all it needs is head gaskets and a distributor now), tranny (if it can be used because of the clutch pedal), rear end, wheels and tires and a few other little things here and there. I was looking at the roadster body Speedway has, I think it's the 27 one? Not sure I like the back end of them though where it goes up like a T and then it has the turtle deck looking thing attatched. Are the roadster body 27's bigger inside than the T or no? I was trying to find pics of a 27 roadster glass body to see if I like it but don't see any.

Charlie, you NEVER ramble. You are one of the people I really enjoy gabbing with on here, and there are many others.

You are right on the mark on the time thing. The smallest things take so long to do, and the entire buiild can stretch out for years and years. My '27 took 6 years, mainly due to finding the old time parts I wanted to use, and money. I could handle the small purchases, but had to save up for things like my $ 700 headers, $ 600 grille insert, etc etc. I also got sick of working on it and would leave it alone for months at a time.

Even this simple little T project is not fun every night I go to the shop. Many nights I force myself to go there after work. Once I am in the swing of working on it, then it is ok, but getting started takes some effort sometimes. Like tonight. I could have gotten more done on it, but I had to take a break and come home after work and take a nap. Felt good to get away for the night.

You are so right that it is hard to look at someones car and imagine all of the work and time they have spent on it. These "reality" car shows have made it look like a car or motorcycle gets built in a week or some other short period of time like that. Anyone who has done one knows that is not the case. The other thing is money. Even a trip to the hardware store for a handful of bolts and nuts can be expensive, and you do that so many times when building or fixing up a car.

I really feel for a lot of the guys who post on here, because I have been where they are. They want to build and drive a cool rod, but have limited funds or equipment, or knowhow. What they don't realize is that building a car under those circumstances can be the sweetest of times because you are so excited about every little part you save up and buy or one that you make yourself. As we get older, our ability to spend more does increase, but some of the best times I ever had was years ago when I had to scrimp and save up for some chrome goodie (and hide the receipt from the wife )

And, please do jump in on this thread anytime you guys want with your own comments and pictures or whatever. It makes it so much more fun for me, and I have learned a lot from those contributions myself. It would be pretty boring to do this if it were only me posting. You all have made it fun.

Don

Thank you NTFDAY. Really nice of you to say that.


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Charlie, you NEVER ramble. You are one of the people I really enjoy gabbing with on here, and there are many others.

You are right on the mark on the time thing. The smallest things take so long to do, and the entire buiild can stretch out for years and years. My '27 took 6 years, mainly due to finding the old time parts I wanted to use, and money. I could handle the small purchases, but had to save up for things like my $ 700 headers, $ 600 grille insert, etc etc. I also got sick of working on it and would leave it alone for months at a time.

Even this simple little T project is not fun every night I go to the shop. Many nights I force myself to go there after work. Once I am in the swing of working on it, then it is ok, but getting started takes some effort sometimes. Like tonight. I could have gotten more done on it, but I had to take a break and come home after work and take a nap. Felt good to get away for the night.

You are so right that it is hard to look at someones car and imagine all of the work and time they have spent on it. These "reality" car shows have made it look like a car or motorcycle gets built in a week or some other short period of time like that. Anyone who has done one knows that is not the case. The other thing is money. Even a trip to the hardware store for a handful of bolts and nuts can be expensive, and you do that so many times when building or fixing up a car.

I really feel for a lot of the guys who post on here, because I have been where they are. They want to build and drive a cool rod, but have limited funds or equipment, or knowhow. What they don't realize is that building a car under those circumstances can be the sweetest of times because you are so excited about every little part you save up and buy or one that you make yourself. As we get older, our ability to spend more does increase, but some of the best times I ever had was years ago when I had to scrimp and save up for some chrome goodie (and hide the receipt from the wife )

And, please do jump in on this thread anytime you guys want with your own comments and pictures or whatever. It makes it so much more fun for me, and I have learned a lot from those contributions myself. It would be pretty boring to do this if it were only me posting. You all have made it fun.

Don

one dif. in you and me don is once i get started i can't stop. not sure thats the best way though.