Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[Bob Parmenter]

Success is a wonderful thing, ain't it Jim.
The two look happy together.

[Dave Severson]

What a great pair, Jim...... What's next, 3 of a kind?????

[J. Robinson]

Thanks, guys. Yes, they look like they'll be good stablemates. I still have to finish the interior and paint it, so I have time to figure out what's next, but...

For a long time I've been considering a street-legal replica of a 1963-64 Watson Indy car. I have a set of chassis prints I bought from Mac Miller in Indy and he has bodies available. I would keep the frame and body as close to the real originals as practical, but use a conventional rear end and engine so it would be mild-mannered enough to drive anywhere. Time will tell...

[rspears]

That's a great picture of the pair, Jim! You're an inspiration, figuring out ways to get things done with different approaches, like using EMT conduit for comparable thin wall tubing, which is the same product but at fractional cost. I look forward to your updates, and for "What's next??"

[stovens]

Ditto everyones comments Jim. I looked up the 1963 Watson Indy car and came up with this pic, very cool project!

[34_40]

That's a great shot of your cars, and it sounds like your rear axle ratio is another hit.. thanks for sharing the build thread also, it is an inspiration for many of us!

Now, about this Indy Car?!?!?!

[J. Robinson]

That's a great shot of your cars, and it sounds like your rear axle ratio is another hit.. thanks for sharing the build thread also, it is an inspiration for many of us!

Now, about this Indy Car?!?!?!

Thanks! This build thread has been fun to do and it's not quite finished yet. I should have finished this car at least two years ago, but other stuff just kept getting in the way... Anyway, I recently picked up some black upholstery material to finish the interior. My wife, who is an accomplished seamstress/tailor, is going to teach me to sew so I can finish it myself! The paint should happen before too much longer, too. I have been doing my own paint work for over 40 years, so as soon as I finish a few other details I will jump into prepping and painting the body.

As for the Indy car... It's still just a collection of thoughts and ideas. I was born and raised in Greenwood, Indiana and my parents started taking me to Sprint, Midget, and Stock Car races when I was 5 years old. Of course the Indy 500 was a big part of every May. I attended my first Indy qualifications with my dad when I was 8 (1956) and I was hooked. For years I dreamed of someday driving one of those beautiful, loud cars. By the time I was old enough to drive anything, however, the rear engine cars had taken over (and ruined) Indy car racing, so the dream was dead. I drove Stock Cars off & on for over 30 years and never even got close to Indy cars, but I've never forgotten the old front-engine "roadsters". The cars of A.J. Watson were the most successful of all the roadsters, the most copied, and in my opinion the most beautiful. I bought the chassis plans about 4 years ago. I get them out once in a while and ponder how I would do some things on it and I have a pretty complete plan in mind. IF (and it's still a big IF) and when I decide to do it, I will start another build thread and I will let you all know.

[lamin8r]

Very nice,Jim.. Looks kool.. Cant wait to see some color on it..

[J. Robinson]

I drove the roadster to its first out of town rod gathering on Saturday. This was the second cruise-in show I've been to with it, but the first time I have driven it any distance. I went to the Gasket Goons show at New Smyrna Airport, about 30 miles away. The car is easy (and fun) to drive and performed flawlessly. It has developed a substantial leak in the clutch master cylinder and lost most of its fluid on Saturday's trip, so I got a new one today and will install it tomorrow.

The car attracted a good bit of attention Saturday, mostly from older guys (like me) who were interested in my build process, the tube frame, and the parts I used. Next weekend is the Daytona Dream Cruise, so it will get another workout and we'll see if it garners any attention there...

[J. Robinson]

I haven't posted anything in a while, so thought I'd catch up. I went to the Dream Cruise as indicated in my last post and it was a total disappointment this year. The roadster did fine getting there and back home with no problems. The disappointment was with the "set-up" at the event this year. The line to register and get photo'd was so screwed up that I never did get signed in and got no picture taken. I finally left the sign-in area and went to one of the cruise areas that's been popular in years past - it was pretty dead. I was back home by 4:00 PM.

As for the roadster, I haven't done a lot of picture-worthy work on it; I've been too busy driving it! I did finally get the speedometer working. Some of you may remember I commented some time ago that I had a mechanical speedo and it is not compatible with the '92 S-10 transmission - there is no accommodation for a cable drive. I went to the Daytona Turkey Run and bought an electronic speedo. I didn't get around to installing it until after Christmas and, when I finally did, I couldn't calibrate it. After some e-mails and phone conversations with Dolphin Gauges it is now working just fine. (Thanks Sean!) Those are some fine, helpful folks and I will buy from them again.

I have all the paint for this car now, so I will be putting some color on it very soon. I had originally planned to paint it Ford Wimbledon White (which is an off-white color) with the dark metallic red scallop on the nose. I have since changed my mind and it will be bright white pearl. It will still get the red scallop on the nose, but may also get a blue scallop around the red. If you wonder what that might look like, take a look at A.J. Foyt's 1964 Indy-winning car.

[stovens]

Like this! Nice touch

[J. Robinson]

That's the one, Steve. I think that scheme might look pretty cool on my Track-T.

I'm still toying with building a Watson replica for the street, too...

[J. Robinson]

OK, let the painting begin! ...Well.., at least let the preparations begin. I've been quiet for a while; I've been just enjoying driving the roadster while I've been finishing up a couple of other things, but the time has finally come. I have all the paint and materials and I have the time, so yesterday (Monday, Memorial Day) I put the roadster on jackstands and began stripping it apart for paint. I have some pinholes and other flaws in the body that I have to address first, but I should be spraying the white basecoat by Wednesday and should have this done in 4 or 5 days.

I'll post up some pictures as soon as I have something "picture worthy" to show, but, for those who are not familiar with the painting process, here is a brief description: (1)After the prep work is done, I will shoot a coat of primer-sealer on the whole body. The purpose of that is to give the entire paint area a uniform color to paint over and also to seal down all the different substrate materials (fiberglass, gelcoat, body filler, steel) so they won't "bleed" later and discolor the finish. (2)After the sealer is dry, the white basecoat goes on followed by the pearl coat. At this point it will be allowed to dry overnight. (3)With the white and pearl thoroughly dry, the layout and masking of the scallops is next. I will lay out both parts of the two-color scallop at the same time. After masking and wrapping all the necessary areas, I will spray the blue first. It will be allowed it to dry for about 4 hours (or overnight if it's too late to proceed), then masked over and I will spray the red. (4)As soon as the red is dry to the touch, I will remove the masking from the scallops. At this point it will be possible to see what the final product will look like. Also, if there are any flaws (paint bleed under the tape at corners or mistakes in masking), this is the time to make corrections. (5)Apply the clearcoat. I will spray on at least 3 coats of high-solids acrylic urethane clear so that I have enough buildup to allow for wet-sanding and buffing.

For those of you who think expensive equipment is necessary for painting, I am doing this entire job with a pair of Harbor Freight "purple guns". These are the guns that regularly sell for $16.99 and sometimes are on sale for $9.99! I started painting when I was 17 (now 66) and have used everything from the cheapest junk sprayers to high-dollar Sata guns. Yes, more expensive spray guns are more durable and are easier to work with, but for a beginner or ocassional painter, these work just fine. Stay tuned...

[stovens]

Can't wait to see the progress Jim. Do you wet sand after the base coat? and if so with what grades of grit?

[J. Robinson]

Hi Steve. No, I don't usually sand the basecoat unless I have to correct a problem and re-shoot it. Once I'm satisfied with the basecoat, everything gets buried in clear. After it's dry I wet-sand the clear and buff it. Wet-sanding between coats (sometimes called color-sanding) is usually done on single-stage non-metallic colors with no clearcoat. If I'm doing one of those I use 600-grit wet paper. Almost everything I paint now days, though, is basecoat-clearcoat. Modern high-build clears have almost eliminated the need for sanding between coats except on elaborate custom paint jobs.