Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[J. Robinson]

Aw, shucks, guys. It weren't nuthin'!.. Seriously, thank you all for the compliments. I can't remember a time in my life when I didn't draw. I have a picture that my mother gave me of me lying on my stomach on the floor with paper and pencil, drawing; I was 3.

Brian - I can't draw people or animals either. I stick to cars and old buildings.

Stovens, Mike, Bill, & Dave - Thank you all.

Perley - There are lots of things I can't do. I never had any athletic ability and I don't play any musical instruments...

Firebird77 - Excellent idea, but it may be a while before I get to it...

36tudoor - I do seem to have a "full dance card" most of the time.

BradC - I bought a frame for it. I could have made a frame (check out my coupe's dash in my gallery), but I didn't want to delay sending it any longer.

Scott - Give us some details on your build. Also, I'd like to see the full size version of your avatar!

Darren - Welcome back to hotrodding. I'm sorry for the headaches. I hope there is some info here you can use. Club Hotrod is a great site with lots of knowledgeable people. If you get stuck, just ask for advice and people here line up to help.

[firebird77clone]

[QUOTE=
Firebird77 - Excellent idea, but it may be a while before I get to it...[/QUOTE]

I probably can't reimburse you what the art is worth, but I'll send you a T in your size!

[J. Robinson]

Darren - I missed your second post somehow... Yes, I like fenderless cars. My first experiences with hotrods were fenderless; the roadster depicted above in my drawing and a semi-famous Model-A coupe in central Indiana called "Katzass".

Firebird77 - OK with one stipulation. You have to deliver my shirt in person at either Billetproof or the Turkey Run next year. Deal?

Well, here's a quick concept drawing of what my roadster should look like finished... When I'm trying to decide on a paint scheme I do a quick line drawing of the car in question. It is not as detailed as the finished drawing above and is devoid of any detail shading except for the tires. Next, I make some Xerox copies and get out the colored pencils. This is a lot better than just jumping in with hundreds of dollars of paint and then discovering I don't like the colors or the design layout. I did about a dozen different color schemes on my coupe before deciding on the Cream with Green. I only did four colorings on this roadster... This is how I have envisioned it from the beginning and is the first coloring I did. I did some others just to be sure, but I think this is it. The Cream is very light (lighter than the cream yellow on my coupe), almost white. The red is a 2006 - 07 GMC Envoy color, metallic red. The numbers will be done in gold leaf outlined in black.

[to-qwk]

First......your drawings are excellent and the roadster is too....

Second.....you didn't miss the post, it was not put up yet. I was not aware of the forum rules about attaching pics, so it took a bit to get it posted.

I understand the moderators reasons completely though....all is good....

[firebird77clone]

deliver in person.. that might be a tall order.

[J. Robinson]

[quote - to-qwk] I was not aware of the forum rules about attaching pics, so it took a bit to get it posted.[quote]

Uh... there are rules? Hmmm... I must have not violated them yet, but I didn't know there were any rules...

[quote - Firebird77] deliver in person.. that might be a tall order. [quote]

Billetproof is in Ocala in March. Should be about a 6 1/2 hour drive from Hamilton. It's a cool run and there'll be a bunch of Club Hotrod folks there for you to meet...

[bluestang67]

Jim if there where no rules i may not be here today . It's the rules that keep me in tract . Also this car fever i have .

[J. Robinson]

Just a quick update. I have spent the last couple of weekends sandblasting...YUK! Anyway, I have all the little pieces in primer now and the frame is blasted awaiting primer. I still need to sandblast the front axle and rear end and finish priming. Then it's paint time. The frame, wheels, drive shaft, both axles, and the springs will all be red. The radius rods, bumpers, nerf bars, and shock absorbers will be sparkle silver...

[Dave Severson]

Think that's everybody's least favorite part of a build!!!! Oh well, it's always worth it when you're done

[oldrodder43]

OH MAN! That's what I got to look forward to???? Maybe I'll skip that step and have a 'rusty rat'. haahaaaaa. Great build again Jim. Perley

[J. Robinson]

With the sandblasting behind me it is time to move on. I spent last Monday evening getting the frame, rear end, and front axle in primer. The rest of the week was spent in preparation for Thanksgiving, etc. and Friday I went to The Turkey Run swap meet.

Finally, Saturday I painted everything. I spent most of the day making preparations; finally pulled the trigger on the spray gun about 2:30 PM. I painted the bumpers, side nerf bars, and radius rods silver (Chrysler mag wheel color), the frame and everything else got a liberal coating of red ('06 GMC Envoy metallic color). I shot the last of the clear coat at about 5:45 PM. By 6:20 I was on I-95 making a "banzai run" back to Daytona.

I left everything where it was overnight and shot some pics Sunday morning. I tried to upload a couple, but something is wrong with the site this morning. I'll try again later...

[bluestang67]

Jim I amazed at this hobby and how things come together . I am used to taking something apart and rebuilding . This thread and many others I am sure will get some people into I can do that mode . I know I have learned alot of fab technics over the 2 years I have been here . Many and I say many Thanks to you and the other teachers here for your inspiration and knowledge you all have shared . I didn't even have to buy a book .

[vara4]

J Robinson;
I tried to sand blast before with no luck, the compressor I had at the time was to small. Now I have a industrial type compressor with a 80 gal. tank. Is there a good cheap sand blasting kit that would do a good job. I need to do a frame and body,
I've heard that you can warp the sheet metal on the body. What would you recommend
to help minumize damage. And should I use sand, beads, glass or what, thanks Kurt

[J. Robinson]

Bobby - Thanks for the kind words. If I can pass along some of what I have learned to a few others before I depart this world, then my sojourn here will have been worthwhile. I enjoy doing this stuff and I want others to find the joy that comes from being creative.

Vara4 - I bought my little siphon-feed sandblaster for $15 at a local flea market! I have another one that is pressure-fed, but it's a pain in the ass to use. It goes good for a while, then clogs. When that happens, I have to take it apart to clear it. My little cheapie just keeps going and going like the Energizer bunny. It doesn't remove material as fast as the big one, but I actually progress faster because it works steadily... It came with 4 tips. I used those up, made 4 more on a lathe at school and used up 3 of those!

Do not blast the body!! I'm no expert at blasting, but having done bodywork for most of my life I can tell you that, unless you really know what you're doing, sandblasting can ruin sheet metal. Maybe someone else can give you advice on blasting... There are chemical products that you can use to neutralize rust on sheet metal like One Step and Ospho.

Here are the pics I tried to upload this morning and, no, my wife's PT Cruiser was not sitting there when I was spraying...

[hotroddaddy]

Looking good Jim! Cant wait to see it come together.