Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

Perley - Yes, the drill tries to run away; you need a strong grip on it. Once you get the hang of it, though, it's pretty easy. If you make a mistake, just go over it again.

FMX- Funny you should ask... As it happens, the guy who gave me my first ever ride in a hotrod (in 1960 or '61) has a louver press. I have a call in to a mutual friend to see if he will punch my side panels...

[Itoldyouso]

Wow Jim, that hood is going to be terrific when done. Starting to look like a real track car. BTW, if your Buddy doesn't come through on the louvers, let me know. We used a guy in Orlando for Dan's tonneau cover and he was really good, and a super nice guy. Price was only $ 2.00 each, and he even offered us a rebate because not all the louvers would fit the way we prepaid him for. We told him to keep the $ as a tip, but he insisted we had a credit on his books. I would recommend him in a heartbeat, and he is right in your back yard.

You are cooking right along there.

Don

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, Don. I really like the look of it with the hood so far. Louvers will be the finishing touch. If I don't hear from my old friend soon I'll be wanting the address or phone number of the guy in Orlando.

It won't be long now until I blow this thing apart for finishing...

[Ken Thurm]

Jim,
It's really getting close, and really looks good. Have you decided on things sticking out of your hood, velocity stacks, headers? I know I should just wait and see but I was just wondering. Are you going to do any of the engine turning in the dash?
Ken

[J. Robinson]

Thanks Ken.

Yes, the carburetor(s?) will be sticking up through the passenger side and the exhaust will come out the driver's side. I am actually going to make two right side hood half pieces. That way, if I change induction later, I will already have a hood piece that I can trim to fit the new system.

The dash will be engine-turned to match the firewall. When I paint the body I will give them both a generous coating of clear urethane.

[Ken Thurm]

Jim,
Sometimes I should keep my mouth shut, but the theme you have I think that will look great. I was hoping you would do that. Maybe 2 extra hood sides fuel injection would look nice.
Ken

[FMXhellraiser]

That will look awesome, the louvers will look great too. If I had a louver press, holy crap, I think every piece of metal around my house would have louvers in it whether it looked good or not. Cabinets, cars, trucks, tables, electrical boxes.... haha
Also, did you say you are using a poster board like cardboard for the shaping of things? It looks like it from the pictures but not sure if it is as thin as I am thinking.

[J. Robinson]

FMX - Yes, just ordinary poster board. In the past I have used all sorts of things (corrugated paste board boxes, notepad backs, manila folders, pizza boxes, shoe boxes ). Thin and stiff is the key. Corrugated box material and pizza boxes were the worst - too thick to cut accurately and doesn't bend well. The others are OK, but don't come in big enough pieces for making body panel templates... So, poster board is my usual choice. It's stiff enough for most things yet easy to draw on and cut...

[J. Robinson]

OK, this will be pretty short. I left off last time with the pattern made for the left hood half. The next logical step, of course, was to make the pattern for the right half. Making these patterns is mostly a matter of "cut & try" until you get them to fit properly. A little extra time spent here can save a lot of time later...

After getting both patterns fit so I was satisfied, it was simply a matter of transferring the patters to the steel I am using and cut them out. Notice that I labeled them so that I would not confuse which was which or how they go later. I did this because the two pieces are not 100% identical (differences in the nose/ cowl from side to side).

Lastly, I cut them out. The good news is I got my air shears working again, so I don't have any blisters on my hands. Now all I have to do is form them to fit...

[OFT]

I like how you're doing the build with what's on hand. Really gave me idea's for my '27 project roadster for rear springs. Your ideas of using "common" parts on hand or local (for breakdown repair) is great. I have drove my '29AA all over the west and agree that breakdowns will occur and there is not "next day air" service to be had at all locations.

I will be keeping a eye on your build. If you want I will post a pic of the '23 dirt track style roadster I built a few years ago. Used the Chevy II 153" four with dual 45DCOE Webers and other go fast goodies (like it only got 9 mpg) It was a blast.

Keep your four banger stock for the best in mph. Which I could not do, just not in me LOL.

Earl

[J. Robinson]

Thanks Earl. Yes, I would like to see the pics of your T. Sounds like you and I think somewhat alike.

OK. I have my hood panels cut out, but the apparatus I was planning to use for forming them didn't work out, so I will have to put them on hold for a few days. I will explain more in detail when I finally get back to them. For now, I am going to move on to another little job that I need to finish...

Some time ago (and many postings) I fabricated a pair of matching plates with holes in diagonal corners, welded nuts to one of them, and then welded it to the frame under the floor near the firewall on the passenger side. The purpose of these plates is to provide the bracketry for attaching the removable center brace of the roll bar.

I began this episode by drilling up through the bottom plate's holes (with a bit small enough not to hurt the threads) through the fiberglass floor. After enlarging the holes slightly from the topside, I bolted the second plate in place.

Next, I made the bracket plate for the top by splitting a piece of tubing down the center, cutting it to length, and drilling a pair of 3/8" holes.

With the bottom plate bolted down and the top one C-clamped in place, I cut the brace to fit. This piece is cut from the same size tubing as the roll bar. Fitting it was just a matter of "cut & try" method. Once I was satisfied with the fit at both ends, I tack welded it to the plates. Then I removed it and welded the plates solidly to the tube.

Finally, I put it back in place, bolted down the bottom end, and then drilled through the roll bar for the top bracket. I put a pair of grade-8 bolts through the top, but this is just temporary. As soon as I get back to this, I will open these holes up and weld a small tube through each one to restore the integrity of the tubing and also to keep it from crushing when the bolts are tightened. Unfortunately, I ran out of time...

[OFT]

My T used a home built frame based on a plan by CCR (Cali. Custom Roadsters). Ran the Chevy II 153" four with a shaved head (.55) Cilfford 280H cam, Rhodes lifters, .30 over flattop pistons. Had a T50 non-overdrive 5 speed feeding a 4:11 8" Ford Mavrick rear. Unknow body with a CCR turtle deck. Homemade nerf bars (Your right on the think along same lines, look at "our" front nerfs lol).

[OFT]

couple more, also notice "we" used alum. sheet (mines plain) on firewal

[J. Robinson]

Nice car, Earl. Where is it now?

The split wishbones with the side-nerfs mounted to the rear ones is VERY traditional. If you like track-T's (obviously you do), take a look at "Roaring Roadsters" by Don Radbruch. If you had put a hood top and a simple roll bar in that car it would have looked like it fell out of that book.

The '23 style body with turtle deck on a custom frame was considered the "hot setup". These cars were called "California style", but were popular all over the west coast from Washington to Southern Cal and in the Indiana - Ohio areas. Most were powered by early Chevy four-bangers with Oldsmobile heads (I've never seen one; that's what the book says). The Ford flathead (surprisingly) didn't really take over until the last couple of years before the demise of the roadsters in about 1955.

Pic below from "Roaring Roadsters" by Don Radbruch:

[OFT]

Thanks,I liked the car. Sold it to a young (30's) guy in Ft. Collins couple years ago plus some other hot rods.

Agree on the roll bar-hood. Just could not fiqure out how to do it and look nice. Really like how you have done yours. Just wish I'd thought of it, or saw it before, when I was building mine.

I have both of the roadster books. Agree on the western style. The midwest were more of the jalopy look. And you are right. The flathead V8 was not the hot setup until the '50s. BTW I saw the races live in early-mid 50's (starting to give my age away LOL). By then the jalopy style was taking over and when SBC came out Speedway Motors '32 sedan had that and was wicked. Won almost all the races. (SE Nebr.)

Yours is really going together nice Keep up the good work and keep the thread updated as you can.

Earl