Thread: Moving ahead rebuilding my '27 roadster.

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About a month ago it dawned on me that I was trying to get the wrong car done in time for the Billetproof Drags in October and Turkey Run in November. I had been working on my 30 RPU but it still needed a lot of fabrication work and welding, and I really didn't want to pull Dan off of his own project to do any welding for me. However, sitting there waiting to be refinished was my '27 roadster that I tore down for a rebuild almost 9 years ago. It was a running driving car that I drove almost daily for 7 years, and it just got tired and needed redone.

Most of the car is fine, and the biggest thing that I need to do is repaint everything and build a fresh motor for it. The purple paint was ok in 1988, but had worn out it's welcome with me over the years. First thing I did was DA the entire frame, then hand sand it. After that I shot a couple of coats of epoxy primer on it and finally painted it black. When I looked at it the next day I wasn't really happy with the finish, so I sanded it again with 320 and scotchbrite pads and shot it with more black that I had added some flattening agent to. This time it came out ok.........not perfect but fine for what I want it to be.

I also took a bunch of suspension stuff to the powder coater and should have those back Monday or Tuesday. Tomorrow I am going to paint the rear end black also. Plan is to have most of the car black with maybe an offwhite grille insert and interior. That isn't set in stone yet and I won't be sure until I see the frame and suspension sitting up on wheels.

Biggest change is going to be in the engine. The car always had a 302 Ford in it, and I had considered building a 347 stroker for it. But after doing some thinking I am going to go with the 30 over 302 block, add some Scat internals, and a set of decent aluminum heads. It had ok power the first time around, but I want this one to be more radical. For sure I am going to run an X cam because after hearing Don's and also the way Dan's idles, I can't let them outdo me.

Here are some pictures of the frame as the purple was starting to go away, and how it looks now in black.

Don

Got to agree the black looks better than the purple, and the application looks pretty good, too!

You're one sick puppy Don------------Tooooo many cars and waayyy too much time on your hands!* You need to get an after work job, give you something to do----------Wow, sure looks better than that purple/pink job!* I think you should get that Dodge going, junk the RPU, Seriously, I am glad you are rolling again.* We've all missed your posts, to be sure!* Best Regards,* Perley

RIP for the PINKlegendary car.

Thanks guys. Funny how our tastes change over time. At the end I couldn't stand looking at that purple any longer. Even the red suspension and wheels were starting to get to me a little.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Thanks guys. Funny how our tastes change over time. At the end I couldn't stand looking at that purple any longer. Even the red suspension and wheels were starting to get to me a little.

Don

PINK is hard to live down! Ha Ha
Seriously the black looks great, the frame looks brand new. Black and white has always been a favorite combo. What do you think about white diamonds on black for the seats? I was thinking of posibly doing that on the truck towards the end of the build(hopefully in this lifetime!

Iwas getting used to the pink frame......The black looks great.
BradC

I'll have to say ...... the black is a step up from the "gold chain street rod" purple.
Not that that was a bad thing ......

Nice work Don.

Ratty 46

Looks great Don. am i gonna see it at daytona this year?

Thanks guys. Yep, the purple is all gone and the last of the red undercarriage is in the trunk of my car ready to go to the powder coater for some black. I got my tires dismounted today at Tire Kingdom and should have the wheels back next Friday hopefully.

I planned to do my front brakes today but had to work on my daily driver instead. I bought Dan's Honda from him and he had those funky projection headlights in it, so I pulled them out and went back to OEM lights. Now I can actually see where I am going at night.

John, I sure hope I have it done in time for Turkey Run. I think it will be a stretch to have it running by the Billetproof Drags in Oct but Thanksgiving is a more reasonable goal probably. I've got some heavy duty buying to do over the next couple of months so I will have to do that as my budget allows. They cut out all of our overtime at work and that was my little buffer to keep this project funded. Oh well, with things as they are I'm glad to be one of the 80% who are employed here in Florida.

Don

How did I miss this thread earlier?.. Anyway, I like the "off-gloss" black on the chassis; it's very "retro". In keeping with the retro theme, how about using something very traditional on the body like Honduras Maroon or Titian Red?

Funny you should mention Titian (or however you spell it) red. Last year at billet proof there was that one roadster with it, and the year before that 27 RPU with the same red. What a great color. It is one of the ones I have kicked around for mine. I won't really know until I get the car up on wheels with the motor in it what color I want. Right now the leader is satin black because I can shoot that myself, but if I go fancier it will involve a body shop and I have such terrible luck with those guys.

I called one shop the other day that does custom paint jobs to ask about painting Dan's car. They told me they do one car at a time and it would be about two months...........his may be satin too with November creaping up fast on us. Dan dug out a 2005 issue of Old Skool Rods for me to see, there is a totally black 27 in there and it looks great. Really hard to decide, and I think I am going to deviate from my usual wide whites on this one and go with blackwalls.

Don

Don this satin black one looks pretty cool. I like the white walls for contrast, but get what your saying!

The all black body and tire theme has more of a raw look

I saved this one from a HAMB thread, really like the no nonsense look it has.

Don