Thread: I couldn't build it for $3 K either!

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Well I finally got a chance to work on the T some more. I've been working on the 46 lately. We have a trip planned in it and I had a few things that needed taking care of.

I don't think I'll ever be a prolific poster like Itoldyouso or J Robinson,but I'm going to give it a try. As I take things apart in the future, I'll post pics of the stuff built up to this point.

This time I'm going to show how I built the windshield mounts and posts. I didn't get it completely finished and it looks like it'll be week after next before I can get on it again. This will be a long post for me to start with and may take a couple of nights to get done. I'm going to post in small sections to keep it from being so big.

I started by buying some short windshield posts from Total Performance. I fabbed up a dummy windshield frame from 1/2" pipe so I could see what width frame I needed.

I started with 40.5" since that's the widest commercially available frame. I figured I would just keep shortening it until it fit. Turns out 40.5" was the width I had to have. Trouble is the brackets were nowhere near fitting. The corner of the cowl was hitting the bracket and it didn't fit anywhere else. If these brackets hadn't been chrome, I would have ground them till they fit better. If I did this again, I would buy plain brackets and have them chromed later.

The really big problem was the HUGE 1/2" gap on the driver's side. It turns out that the "accepted" method of fitting these brackets is to build up under them with some kind of filler until they fit. I didn't like that solution and I didn't like the look. It was typical t-bucket. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not what I wanted.

Sooo, I decided to try my hand at building my own brackets. My first attempt didn't look very good either. I had already built a 40.5" windshield frame(I'll post that build later) and the wide frame looked out of proportion to the rest of the cowl. I felt the windshield needed to be narrower. It was about this time I got the idea to build a folding frame like the later Ford roadsters and the older British sports cars. Looks like I'll have a nice set of chrome TP windshield post to sell.

Here' a pic of my first attempt.

I started by making some patterns from cardboard. I like to use tablet back type cardboard. It's easy to cut and it gives a better indication of what the metal will do. If the cardboard won't bend to fit easily then the metal is going to need persuasion.

The back piece is flat. No problems there. The side piece needed to be formed to fit the complex contours of the cowl.

First I "cupped" it slightly. I used a medium ball peen hammer and used my vise as a "shot bag" to support the metal. Open the vise slightly and work the metal in the opening between the jaws. The object is not to beat the hack out of it either. Just work it using not much more force than the wieght of the hammer. I used my hand to hold the piece while I formed it because it didn't take much effort. I don't recommend whacking your fingers.

After I had it cupped I tacked the back and side together. Then I heated the top of the side piece and wrapped it around top of the back piece. You'll notice the slight angle on the top of the side piece. That was needed to get the two pieces to mate up when I made the wrap. I figured that out with the cardboard.

After I rolled it there was a gap in the front. I knew that was going to happen. I heated the area and used a cresent wrench as a forming tool to gently work the edge into a curve. Kinda like working the bill on a baseball cap. I had to do this a couple of times to get the fit right.

Then I buffed the piece up with a belt sander and DA sander used as a grinder.

The rest of the pics.

Next I made the upright hinge pieces. Not to complicated, but I managed to screw them up by drilling them to 3/8" instead of tapping them to 3/8-24. That stuff happens when you work too long and too late.

So I made them twice. I guess practice makes perfect!

I made a quick jig to hold them aligned while I tacked them to the bottom part. Just a piece of 3/4" square tubing and 5/16" all-thread. Working by myself means I spend as much time figuring out how to hold things as I do actually building. Vise-grips rule!!

At this point I haven't finish weld anything on the brackets. I wanted to make sure it would work first.

That is an absolutely great solution to the windshield brackets. I wish you had done that before I did mine because I really like the way you did them.

You are right about the one from the body people never fitting right. My '27 is a Speedway body and I bought a Speedway windshield. When I started mounting it, there was about a one inch gap on either side. They finally had me make a cardboard template and send it to them so they could make me one that was about two inches narrower. Their body, their windshield, and it didn't fit.

You are doing not only a great job of building your T, but in presenting the info too. I'm loving all these build threads going on, so interesting to read them.

Don