Thread: 1929 Essex Highboy

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After reading these couple of post they took me back to after my heart surgery. I had triple by pass 4 years ago and from what you guys have said has reminded me also of what I went through after the surgery. I fought depression, anger, mood swings to the point where I think my wife was ready to have me committed somewhere till things straighten out. But praise the Lord it passed without treatments though I did have to go on meds for a while so she could live with me.

Hang in there brother Perley, it will get better. Keep depending on our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

kjv-Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Remember my friend you always have us old guys here to talk with if you need to.

Larry

Thank you friends, I didn't realize other people had those troubles too. Very nice to know that I have friends that I didn't know yet. And for sharing your stories with me. God Bless you all. Perley

Hi everyone, been a little bit since I been on here. Latest is---------I got it registered with the State. No problem. Plate is SX 29. Street Rod tag. And I've been buying a little for the Essex, battery, headlights, clutch master cylinder, maybe back up lights. Few little things. Maybe I'll get inspired and get to work on it again! Thanks everyone for following along with the build. Perley

Welcome back Perley, you have been missed by all your good friends on here thats for sure. Glad to hear you managed to get your baby registered and neat plates SX29, very cool. Did you get to pick the plates or like NZ you just get any old plate unless one pays for personalised plates that costs approximately $1000.00 down here. Take care and it is good to hear from you again.

Aha! Glad to see you back at it. I know what you mean about stuff piled in the car - since I've been doing home improvement projects, the roadster has been a "catch-all" for everything loose in the garage. Hopefully I'll have this new garage built before too much longer and I can get back to work on the roadster...

Perley, I'm curious about your choice of battery location. You can put it wherever you choose, of course, but do you have a particular reason for hanging it on the firewall? Convenience? Simplicity? The reason I ask: Without a hood on the car, it makes the battery awfully accessable for someone who might want to steal the battery or hotwire the car. In my coupe I put the battery in the trunk (inaccessable when the car is locked); in my roadster I put the space-saver battery on the inside of the firewall out of sight.

Good to hear your back at it Perley! Jim that new garage is going to be a great space to either clear the old garage, or work on projects! Pretty soon you'll have room for a fleet of electric vehicles!

Way to go Perley! Keep it up and post pics!

By the way I agree with Jim, I have always tried to hide the battery in the trunk or under a seat. But I am sure you have a great reason for you to put yours wherever you want.

Well thanks friends for the helpful suggestions, and Jim, point well taken. I thought about under the floorboard, but there's hardly room enough under there anywhere to put even something the size of a softball. My trunk is a rumble seat, so I'd hate to put it in there! I do have room up under the dash on passenger side on firewall, but that would preclude a heater pretty much. And you KNOW that up here I'd need one! BUT, I do agree with your feelings to not put it outside on firewall. I'll keep looking. Finished up the brake tubing tonight. All that's left is to put on master cylinder and pipe to the proportioning valve, or whatever that is. I didn't have the camera out there with me, so pics another time. I had one piece of tubing that was too long, so I had to cut it and make double flare. I went to town and got a flaring took with adapters for making the double. The tool is junk, But the adapters came in handy. I used my old plumbing tool to do the flare. I couldn't understand the instructions on the enclosed card, so came in and looked on the internet, then did a practice flare. GOOD, so then I did the real one. Thanks again my Friend Jim, and thanks all of you for the moral support and suggestions. Perley

Hmmm... When I built my C-Cab years ago, I couldn't put the battery in the back because that was part of the interior and I couldn't put it out front anywhere (no room). I ended up putting it under the passenger seat. I cut a hole in the floor under the seat next to the right frame rail and dropped the battery down so that the top of it was above the floor only about 2 inches. That way it didn't interfere with the seat and wasn't obviously visible from outside. I just looked back at your pics of the body and frame. I can't tell what the dimensions are, but you might be able to do something similar. The "footprint" of the average battery is about 7" x 9"...

In my roadster, I realized early on that the battery location was going to be a problem. There isn't room under the floor. Since the seats are practically ON the floor, I would have to drop the battery way down and it would be too close to the ground. My first thought was that I would have to run a really small fuel cell to make room for the battery under the rear deck. But Don "Itoldyouso" gave me the answer. In his low-slung lakes style roadster (thread -Project 3K is Underway) he used an Odyssey battery that is only 3" x 7" and 7" tall. He put his on the right frame rail near the rear axle. For my roadster I made a bracket to hang it on the inside of the firewall on top of the trans tunnel. It's hardly visible, but reasonably accessable. It's a dry cell battery and can be mounted in any position. I have attached a pic of the battery and the pieces of the bracket. I was reluctant to use it at first because I like things I can get at any parts store (in case of a breakdown in a remote area), but these things have a life expectacy of 5 - 8 years.

I run a small Odyssey battery in my '32. No problems. You can't crank on them as long as you can a regular battery, but that is the only downside. I've been told the military uses these batteries for some of its applications.

OK guys, I'm on my way out to garage now to see about an alternate location. Thanks for all of the info and suggestions. NOW, while I have your ears(eyes)........When I started I had a front axle from a '49 Ford F1, actually it's still on the car. I found some older ford wheels with the right hole spacing etc., so I went to tire store and found two 185-60x15 tires. So I had them put on the Ford rims. Since then I have put on a coversion kit that gives me Chevy spacing. Now obviously the ford wheels won't work anymore. I thought I would just mount the tires on a chevy wheel and pssst, done! BUT, found that the Ford wheels are 6" at outer rim and the Chevy wheels are 8" or a bit more. So looks like I can't use those tires on those wheels. What now?

Originally Posted by oldrodder43

OK guys, I'm on my way out to garage now to see about an alternate location. Thanks for all of the info and suggestions. NOW, while I have your ears(eyes)........When I started I had a front axle from a '49 Ford F1, actually it's still on the car. I found some older ford wheels with the right hole spacing etc., so I went to tire store and found two 185-60x15 tires. So I had them put on the Ford rims. Since then I have put on a coversion kit that gives me Chevy spacing. Now obviously the ford wheels won't work anymore. I thought I would just mount the tires on a chevy wheel and pssst, done! BUT, found that the Ford wheels are 6" at outer rim and the Chevy wheels are 8" or a bit more. So looks like I can't use those tires on those wheels. What now?

Hey Perley! Your coupe's looking REALLY good!

Haven't been on here in awhile, so I just spent an hour or so playing "catch up."

The wheels you currently have on the front of your Essex are Chevy S-10/GMC S-15, in a 15x7 inch size. Rim width sizing is ALWAYS measured on the INSIDE of the rim, where the tire mounts between the beads. This keeps measurements uniform regardless of material thickness-Imagine how much thicker the outer wheel lip is on a cast aluminum wheel than on a stamped steel wheel, for example.

Anyhow, I believe that some Chevy Caprices from the late seventies thru the eighties had a 15x6 inch wheel with the 5x4 3/4 inch (small GM) bolt circle you need. BE CAREFUL as some of these cars ALSO had a LARGE 5x5 inch bolt circle, same as the fullsize half ton trucks and vans! Won't work!

I also recall reading a post recently on another website telling about a 15x4 inch steel spare tire rim which was used in some GM "G" bodie midsize cars, like Monte Carlo, Malibu, etc from the early to mid eighties. Might be worth a look see, as well, if you get a chance to trek to the local junkyard soon.

Keep up the good work! I always LOVE seeing other grassroots guys plugging away, gives me hope and inspiration!

Regards,
Shea

Thank you Shea. I have a friend up in New Brunswick who is a LaKing, Maurice. Any relation?
Anyhow, thanks very kindly for your input. I will check out the closest junk yard to see what I can find.

OK guys, here is another help needed item. My computer will not send an attachment, like pictures. It does funny things, mostly it locks up and I have to reboot. Any ideas?

The other week I bolted on my '58 chevy tail lights. They look nice. I have two back up lights I got new which I would like to use, but rear end is getting crowded. Need to put number plate on there, and that pretty much fills the space between the tail lights. Got to do more figuring on that one.

I need to work on the sub floor framing now, get the rise up into the rumble seat area. Then need to floor it over. I have cut apart an old washer and a dryer and plan to use the side panels for floorboards. Cost = Nothing!

AND, I need to come up with something to operate my clutch throwout arm. Space is almost non-existant down in there. I was going to use a hydraulic piston with a small master cylinder, but my exhaust is in the way. I don't think a mechanical linkage will work either. Drats!

Next thing is ---- I need a plug attachment to plug into my 1991 Chevy S-10 5 speed B/W transmission for B/U lights and for electric speedo. Anyone got one that you could send me? I can pay.....A little!!!

More as I am able. Got to get this picture issue resolved soon. Perley

Chevy started using the 5 on 4 3/4" pattern in 1949 and I know they were still using it at least up through 2004. Over the years they made millions of 14 and 15 inch wheels in various widths. Your 8" wide wheels probably came off of a Camaro or possibly an S-10 Pickup. If you can find some Chevelle or full-size Chevy wheels, they will probably be 7" wide. Older wheels from the 1950s and early '60s may be 5 1/2", or 6" wide.

A little encouragment:

I built a 30 Hudson pro/stree coupe that took me 8 yrs to build. Hudson and Essix bodies were vewry much the same. The Hudson was longer from the cowel forward, due to it having a Straight 8. I chopped 4" anf filled the top. Thought you might like to see a side pic.

Sorry, I cant figure how to past it on this thing,

Larry