Neat looking speedo panel, is it aluminum or steel? Looks like it would be quite easy to fab up!!!!
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Neat looking speedo panel, is it aluminum or steel? Looks like it would be quite easy to fab up!!!!
Thanks for that info Jack. Good thing I'm unemployed, huh? :LOL: That is a good point, and I'll discuss it with my insurance agent to be sure I'm not left out if I were to drive it to work some day.
Dave: I think it is cast aluminum. I felt that I could fab one up from steel too, but for the finish welding I would have to get my Kid involved to do it neatly, and I just don't want to take any of the few days he gets to the shop away from his project. The clock is ticking for him too, and I want to see him devote every second he can to getting his running.
If I can just send this guy a template and get the finished product back all done, it will allow me to be doing other stuff while I am waiting. His website shows his '32, so being a hot rodder himself should insure me getting back a pretty nice piece. Sounded like he knew his stuff on the phone.
Don
Bob,Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter
Not to beat this insurance thing to death, but your comment on stated value and agreed value is a very good point. I looked up my policy sure enough I did put it as agreed value. If I remember correctly that's how the premium was established. I had $64,000 in receipts so my premium is $965 a year if anyone is interested in what they charge, with a 0 deductible. Rate code is "C" classic/modified.
Ken
Don have you consider going with a saddle shoe look, black with white inserts on the seats. That way you would have a cool spot to sit, instead of a black heat furnance.
Brad
I thought of that too, but there is going to be such a small area to roll and pleat that it almost won't be worth it. I'm also not sure how the third color (white) would look throw in the mix.
Maybe I can have the upholstery guy mock up some white vinyl in there to get some idea though.
Don
Don,Quote:
Good thing I'm unemployed, huh?
I've been unemployed. It's overrated.On the good side, I've only been unemployed once, for six months, since 1967.
- Pro: I had plenty of time to work on my projects.
- Con: I had no money to work on my projects.
You're right Jack, not working is overrated. I sort of took this past six months as a trial to see if I wanted to retire. I can do it as I am 62 now. I found out I really don't like not going to work every day. Sure, I have time to do my stuff, but I also have lost my "purpose" in life. I've worked since I was 18, and for the most part loved all of my jobs. Now I kind of roll out of bed late, goof around all day, and then go to bed late. I feel useless to some degree, so I am going to start shaking the bushes to find another job pretty soon.
As for the T, well now when I step down on the gas pedal, the carb opens up. :D I got my Lokar stuff yesterday, and today I installed the throttle portion, and when the body is back off I'll do the kickdown to the tranny. Like everything else, the Lokar bracket kit didn't quite line up with the carb arm, so I had to tweak it a little so that both cables have a straight shot instead of pulling on an angle. But the pedal works smoothly, and the carb goes to full open when I stomp it.
UPS left a note on the door that my alternator bracket came, but I wasn't home, so it will be here tomorrow. My goal is to get the body back off and wrap up the little things so that I can fire the engine. It would be a bummer if there were some internal problem and I waited till the end to find that out. :eek:
Here is where the linkage ended up. I bought a 36 inch Lokar kit, and ended up using about 6 inches of it. But it clears the intake and valve covers fine.
Don
That little vortec should sound very sweet Don.
Don,
I approached the throttle linkage from a different angle (pun intended). My carb is a Speed Demon. The lower cable is the throttle. The upper is the TV cable for my 700/R4.
Although the upward angle looks odd, it's pretty much a straight pull from idle to WOT.
Nice looking engine you have there, by the way.
Thanks guys. Oh, now I see how it works Jack, actually looks pretty good that way though.
Don
No offense but it looks like it would hang up, maybe I am just overly cautous.
It doesn't. Smooth as glass.Quote:
Originally Posted by brickman
Hey Don, I just bought some fabric for my track-roadster's interior (I know it's a long way off, but I got a deal...:) ). It is a lightweight, yet very durable vinyl that looks like distressed leather. This stuff looks like an old brown leather bomber jacket circa World War II. They also had another distressed leather-look fabric that was more the color of a basketball or football. Sounds weird, but it was really cool looking.:cool: When I saw it I immediately thought about how it would compliment the orange on your car. Just a suggestion; maybe the right shade of brown would look good if you are wanting to avoid black...:rolleyes:
My Son has made that same suggestion. He says there is a vinyl out there that looks like an old baseball glove, sort of distressed, but not in a beat up way. What do they call the stuff you are talking about? I mentioned that to the upholstery guy, and he didn't seem to know anything about it.
Don
Hmmm... my wife found this stuff in an upholstery fabric store in Rockledge, FL last Monday. I don't remember seeing a brand name on the fabric tag. The receipt says "Sierra". Could be the brand or could just be the style...:HMMM: The color is "Port". The guy said he never knows when he might get more of it, so I better jump on it while it was there. He had just got four new different bolts (rolls). Here is a scan of the four swatches the wife brought home. This would show up better if I could post it full size... I bought ten yards of the stuff on the left. I think the 3rd from left would look good with your orange accents...:cool:
The name of the store is Medlin's Upholstery Fabrics and the phone # is 321-632-6773 if you want to talk to them or put your upholstery guy in touch with them.
Thanks JR, I'll be at the shop tomorrow and walk down and talk to him again. We really didn't look at any swatches, as our discussions didn't get that far along yet.
Appreciate the info.
Don
Jack, run dual return spring's, they do break.Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Rifle
Ron
Yep, I've already got dual springs on the one I just installed, but am thinking of adding a third coming off the front . The reason is because I like a stiff throttle pedal in a car that rides rough, like a hot rod. If the pedal is too easy to push down, as the car bounces around so does your foot, and it tends to keep pushing the throttle up and down.
My alternator mount came from Summit yesterday, and it is going to work out fine. I painted it last night (some of it was raw steel) and sandblasted the billit portion to make it look non-billit. Now I can get the alternator installed today. I'm also going to clean out the entryway to the shop so that Dan and I can push our cars outside tomorrow to get a better perspective of how they sit and look.
Dan decided last night he doesn't like the way his bed looks, and is going to lower it an inch. Looks fine to me, but there is something about it that bugs him. :confused: Plus now he has decided to repaint everything on the car a different color combination, so it looks like we will be blowing it all apart while the body is in the paint shop. :eek: And only about 4 months left until Daytona. It must be hell being a perfectionist.
Don
Ron,
Unlike most Holleys, the Demons have a very robust return spring on the linkage, so I already have two springs. I have the other spring from the kit, so I'll probably install it also. Thanks for the reminder.
Don---I tried a double return spring system on the RPU. What I found was that when leaving a dead stop, the car either didn't want to go at all, or else wanted to go like stink, all of a sudden. After laying about 8 foot of rubber when coming off a red light, right beside a local officer in his cruiser downtown one day on hot pavement, I slunk home with ears burning, and went back to a single spring system.---Brian
Come to think of it, that's why I removed the center spring from the return set. With about 440 HP, the gas pedal felt like an on-off switch. I'll double check, but I think I still have two springs.
.....and you are saying laying 8 feet of rubber from every stop light is NOT a good thing? What kind of teenager are you Brian?? :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
Don
Well actually---I run the stock GM "spring inside a spring" accelerator return setup that came with the engine. In an overabundance of caution, (and because I was trying to get the engine to rev down to a respectable idle) I added what was actually a third spring from the other side of the throttle pivot out towards the front of the engine. It certainly did bring the idle down, but you needed an ankle like Hulk Hogan to step on the darn gas pedal, and then, as I explained in my earlier post, you went from zero to "too damn fast" almost instantly. As to what kind of teenager am I---well----I'm the kind of teenager that looks all around in front, behind, far as I can see off into the distance, checks the rearview mirror---- and if I don't see anything resembling a uniform---THEN I squeal the tires!!!:3dSMILE: :D :3dSMILE:
The Geico caveman says:
"Binary computer - good . . . binary throttle - bad."
Jack
- There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary . . . and those who don't.
Worked on getting the alternator mounted tonight. Got half way through and we had the worst thunderstorm I think I have ever seen. Lightning was striking all around the shop, and finally knocked the electric out. I had to close up by using my generator for lighting to see where I was going. Finally about 9 PM the electric company called back and said it was fixed, so the Kid and I went back to the shop.
Dan has decided his bed was one inch too high, so we pulled it off and he cut out some bracing and put it back on. Darned if he wasn't right, it looks so much better dropped down that little bit. Once I was done helping him I got back on the alternator mounts.
When I switched from the long style Chevy water pump setup to the short style, I had two choices of where the alternator could go. One place was on the drivers side header flange, and the other was down low on a special bracket made to do that. I first tried the header mount, and the alternator just sat too high for my liking. I ordered the low mount, and I painted it last night and installed it today. It is tons better than the other one, and the entire top of the engine is clean now.
It was a pleasant surprise that an aftermarket kit actually went on without the need to modify anything. I bought Summits billet one, and sandblasted it to take the billet look away. Nothing else on the car is billet, so it stuck out. It will darken with age to match the silver parts I painted, and not look too bad. This position is ideal, and clears everything.......headers, motor mounts, block, etc. Now I can order my starter and some lines and get ready to fire this baby up. :D :D
Here are a couple of pictures of the alternator once I got it installed.
Don
Billet :eek: . Just kidding Don. It looks great. I like it when the top of the engine is clean and simple like you have done here. We got those storms over here on the Fl east coast too. Nasty weather indeed.
Yeah, I couldn't get the billet pieces into the blast cabinet fast enough. :LOL: :LOL:
I honestly can't remember many storms that severe. The thunder was cracking right on top of our shop, and the rain was going sideways. WIthin a half hour it filled the drainage ditch outside the shop, and that thing is deep enough to sink a car in.
I didn't realize you guys got it on the east coast too.
Don
That looks really good, the motor looks really clean. Well done.
Looks like you guys got some of our weather, weve been getting it bad , every afternoon. i like where you put that, my power steering is right there, so it would not work on mine, im stuck with it up top.
Now that you have media blasted the mount, could you paint it if you choose too? Or maybe powder coat it?
I'm telling you John, I can't remember a rainstorm that hard. Looks like all of Florida got it from what you and Gastrick said. You are right about the power steering thing. This bracket goes into the same holes normally used to mount the p/s pump.
Brick, the bracket looks lighter in the picture than it really is. It is pretty close to my water pump and intake in color, and I think it will age darker as time goes on. But if not I may paint it. I debated on doing them the same engine color, but I didn't feel like mixing up paint and using the touch up gun for such a small job. If it starts looking really different, I may do that however.
Today Dan and I are going to push the cars outside to get a look at them from a distance. I've never been able to stand back and get a really good look at mine because of all the stuff cluttering up the garage. I'm anxious to see how it looks in the sunshine. (assuming we GET some sunshine today and no more rain :eek: )
Don
Got to roll the T out into the sunshine today for the first time. :D Well, what little sunshine there was, had to beat the raindrops, but finally got to stand back and look at it from afar. I'm pretty happy with it, and it really looks small outside the shop.
I just came home to grab a bite to eat, Dan is still there working on his, and we are going to pull the body off for hopefully the final time tonight when I go back. I just found out tonight Dan bought me a mini starter and two new front wheel cylinders (the ones I have had some surface rust in them, which I only discovered when I pulled out the bleeders after they were installed) He says he is repaying some of the parts I helped him out with when he was first building his '29. Now I have to find a way to sneak the money back to him......this gets so confusing sometimes. :LOL: :LOL:
Anyway, here are some pictures of it sitting outside.
Don
Oh, and I found an original steel grille shell on another forum today. We can cut it up and modify it to fit better than the Total Performance one I was going to use. They no longer make the steel ones......the dies got old and they don't want to spend the money to make new ones, so either original or fiberglass is all the choices you have anymore.
It's terrible, nothing is right, you should sell it to me right now.:D :D Really though you have outdone yourself, if you never did another thing it would still be great. Now comes the expensive part all the "little" stuff.
Also now I know mine doesn't sit just right, oh well winter work. Thank's alot.
Ron
Hope you got more sun than we did ,third weekend in a row our cruise-ins got rained out. the car is awsome, ive never been a big t fan, but yours makes me think about it a little more, ive always been partial to the 27 body.
Yup. Got the old school look without having to resort to rust, old road signs or tractor parts. Good job!
DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! PICK ME! PICK ME! I'd give you...um....3k for it right now. Seriously though, it's awesome, a real credit to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron B.
Man, I'll bet you just can't wait to fire her up and have a wee blat around the block. When they're at that stage, they appear so tantalisingly close to finished that ya tend to get impatient.
Be-a-u-ti-ful!
Thanks fellas, you're right, I can almost smell the paint burning off the engine right now. :D :D We pulled the body back off tonight, and I started those dreaded little tasks that everybody hates. I got my kickdown linkage on, and also my chrome flywheel cover. I will never, ever buy another one of those $ 20 chrome flywheel covers that everybody sells at swap meets, and that are made in China or Taiwan. I spent a couple of hours grinding and bending it to just get it close to fitting. Luckily, you don't see hardly any of it, and I'm sure it will rust through the chrome pretty quickly, so I will just replace it when that happens.
Monday I am going to pick up my rear brake parts and order my brake lines and transmission lines. Guess I need to make a list of all the little parts that I'm going to need. I'm also debating about just giving the body to my buddy and let him do the final body work and paint it in his booth. He does top notch work, and doesn't delay getting the car back, like some body shops I have seen. Dan is pushing me to spray it the Fusion Orange rather than black, now that he saw it in the sunshine today. I have to admit I was entertaining the same thought. Have to think a little more on that one.
Don
Ahhh... We all suspected that stance would look good, but the outdoor pics have proven it! It's right on, Don.:D :D :D
Yeah! I agree with your son. As small as the car appears, a bright color would look good on there. That Fusion Orange is a beautiful color; maybe do the scallop in bright lime green metallic outlined with a bright yellow pinstripe...:)
Whatever you decide, it's going to look good. The car is just right even if you paint it olive drab with spray cans.:HMMM: :rolleyes::cool:
Don the stance looks great and your getting to the part I like routing brake lines, fuel lines, and wiring. ( I must be sick to enjoy that part of the build )
I've been know to throw away a brake line because I didn't like the bend and start over. When I run multiples line side by side I use a ruler to get the same distance between them the whole length..........LOL I am sick.
Brad
No, you're not sick, just a perfectionist. I hate tangled wires and dress them out in the loom before installation. It just makes for a cleaner look. :)