My '24 T Roadster Project, Part 1

So, in the fall of 2010, one of my oldest friends Clay calls me up and says he's got a 1924 Ford Model T body, a Model A frame and enough other stuff to scrape together a budget-beater project for me, and why didn't I come down to Santa Cruz to start working on it with him?  How could I say no to that?

Well, I didn't, and in late January 2011, he was pickin' me up at the airport for the first week of work.  Task 1 was sorting through all the extra stuff he had and separating the stuff for myself, items he wanted to keep, and things to take to Turlock later that week.  That done, we had set aside a collection of body panels which would make a '24 T Roadster, a Model A frame with no front or rear cross members, a '38 Ford truck grille, a set of wide 5's, and a 21 stud flathead V8, as well as various other bits and pieces.  We spent the next couple of days driving from one corner of the county to the other, collecting more items:  450 series tires from Tim in Aptos for front rubber, a Model A rear end from one of David's stashes in Lompico, etc.  We basically found donations for most of the stuff we needed, so it was worth the leg work.

 Most of my car was in this shed.

Body panels, what would become the front cross member, etc.

As the front end seemed the appropriate place to start, we lopped off the haggard old horns from the frame and used an early Model T rear cross member to create the arch for a suicide perch.  A sturdy chunk of angle iron with a little reinforcement made up mount for the front spring.  The front end is a Model A spring, unmodified '33-34 Ford axle and juice brake backing plates mated to the Model A spindles with adapters.

 Model T rear member doin' it's new job up front

With the perch

Front end assembled

On the other end, we pinched the frame so that it'd fit under the Model T's turtle deck, which lead to the discovery that the distance we needed to span across the rear was exactly the same size as a Model A rear cross member that Clayton had laying around.  Clay had always said, "sometimes these cars just build themselves," and I was beginning to see what he meant.  We then fashioned chunks of that same old Model T frame as braces over the ends of the rear cross member, giving it a pseudo-Z'd effect.

We also bolted up the body and did some rudimentary repairs thereon, so we could see what it was that we were working on and how everything would go together.  I liked the way things looked already.

Body on the frame

That was about it for the first build trip, but in the summer of 2011, I made another trip down with the family, and on that trip, I sorted out the rear end which was all full of gravel, (doesn't it make you wonder where all these old parts have spent their lives?).  Then I cleaned up the wide 5 wheels and got the big and little rubber mounted to 'em.  We scrounged up a pair of rear wide 5 drums, bolted juice brake backing plates to the rear axle, (upside-down, as we realized that they wouldn't clear the rear spring perch otherwise) then added those drums and finally the wheels and tires. 

Rear end on the frame

Clay had discovered an F1 Ford truck center cross member in one of his sheds, and knowing that F1 pedals are easy to place and mount, we decided to remove the Model A center cross member and replace it.  I tried to get that frickin' stock cross member out of there, but it was stubborn, so that was going to have to wait until the next trip.

And actually, that puts us squarely in the present.  I just got back from Clayton's, and it was a successful trip.  We finally managed to get the stock cross member out and dropped the F1 unit in.  That done, it was time to get the front drums that George Antoline provided, (see the post George and I) on the rest of the front end, and get the front end mounted to the frame.  After that, I yanked the torque tube and drive line from the rear end and mounted that to the frame as well.  Thankfully, Clay has a plastic flat head mock-up block, so instead of busting our backs trying to mark out where the motor mounts would go, figuring all that out was a cinch.  We set the plastic block in place and quickly realized that the F1 cross member put the transmission a bit too high, so sectioning the cross member to drop the transmission mount down seemed to be the best bet to remedy the situation.  Cut out, trimmed down, and welded back in, it was a good time to get all of the body parts out of the shed and see what the whole picture was going to look like.

Yeah, I was pretty happy with how it looked, so we got that chunk of plastic out of there and positioned the real motor in place so that we could start making the motor mounts.  Since the transmission mount was still a little high, this gave us another issue to deal with:  How do we keep the engine level when it's so far above the frame?  Clay picked up some scrap tubing that was within arms reach as well as the motor mount bushing and held it to the gap we needed to fill.  "What if we made little towers to put on top of the regular mounts to take up the space?"  That sounded good enough to me, so I went about creating the little podiums as Clay welded in the standard motor mounts.  Once all that was completed, we bolted the motor in and checked it out.

Our solution to the engine height problem

Now that the weight of the engine was on the frame, we could figure out where to attach the front wishbones.  Clayton gave me an early aftermarket bolt-on split wishbone mount to copy, so I got busy making myself a pair.  Though they didn't come out as nice as the old cast one Clay had, they were definitely sturdy and would do the trick, so we squared up the front end and figured out where they needed to be located.  Clay got those welded in, so what else did we have time for on this trip?

Not much, as we were also going to the Turlock swap meet again for the last couple of days.  We shortened the torque tube and got that bolted back in, as well as took a look at where the pedals were going to mount up, but that was about it.

Motor in, bones attached, this is how I left 'er

Turlock was a good time, and was actually pretty warm this year, for a change.  The running joke was "First Summer Turlock meet ever!"  I scored a set of F1 pedals, (so I could return the ones I borrowed from Tim) a pair of front fender irons and a light bar.

And now I'm back in Washington.  In some ways, it's difficult to be 845 miles away from a project you really want to be working on, but in other ways, I suppose it's good, too.  I save up all my motivation for when I go down there, and when I'm there, I can focus without a whole lot of distraction.  But I will say this:  If you run into me and I have a distracted look on my face, chances are that you could guess what I'm thinking about...

George and I

Standing on the start line at Bonneville in 2009, my friends Bill, Tim and I spy a beautiful bright yellow roadster with a color-matched 30's pickup as a push truck.  "Hey, isn't that George's truck?"  Bill says to Tim.  Apparently, George, the owner of the truck also lives in Washington and my friends know the guy.  We make small talk while they set up to run, and George tells us where we can find 'em in the pits so we can meet up later.  It's obvious he's one of the friendliest guys you ever met, and he's crewing for the Flatliners, so I make a mental note of where they are 'cause I want to get a closer look at what they have under the hood of the roadster.

 George and the Flatliners, gettin' ready for a run...

While George and the Flatliners guys get down to business, Tim elbows me to get my attention, undoes a couple of snaps at the corner of George's tonneau cover and dumps the handful of crushed empty beer cans he's been carrying around for the last half of an hour into the bed of George's truck.  Tim grins, we stand back, and the start line officials wave 'em out on to the course.

Pushing in to a run, our beer cans in tow...

The next day, I go out and find George, Don and Skippy in the pits.  They're working on the roadster as they've been plagued with problems this time out.  The hood is off the car, and I find myself staring at one of the purdiest blown flathead setups I've ever seen.  We chat about the car for a bit, and George asks where in Washington it is that I'm from.  When he finds out I live in Puyallup, we discover we know a lot of the same people, and in fact, I have a bunch of pictures of his cars from local parties and shows. 

But that's only the beginning.  After a while, we put together that he lived in Santa Cruz when I was growing up there, had an auto shop across the street from the high school I went to with his two step-sons, and they were pretty tight with the two brothers that were in the band that used to invite me up on stage.  Small frickin' world, I thought.

Over that week, I hang out with these guys a bunch, and although the car is uncooperative, we had a great time.  Sadly, it's the last time the car ever runs as it finds a new home in a museum in the mid west, retired.

L to R: Don, Myself, George, and Skip's in the dirver's seat.

Somehow, I didn't run into George in 2010, on the salt or at any of the local shows, though we were both at most of the same events at the same time.  However, this year at Bonneville, I did run into him in the pits.  He was talking to Paul Heady, who was running '34 coupe in the Vintage Fuel Altered class, and for whom I had volunteered to lend a hand.  After a hearty handshake he asked what I was up to, and I replied, "oh, I'm helping Paul out on this neat ol' race car."  He says, "y'mean MY old race car?"  Apparently, George used to own the car that Paul was running, and sold it to him with the agreement that Paul had to keep it a racer and run it at Bonneville.  Yet again, another random connection.

By the way, Paul is the current Vintage Fuel Altered and Vintage Gas Altered record holder with that '34, but we were unfortunately unable to better his times this year.

Paul's '34 Coupe race car, (which used to be George's).

So that brings us up to a couple of weeks ago when I happen to find the brake drums I'm looking for on eBay.  Since wide five drums from '37 or later are getting kind of hard to find, I look at 'em pretty hard and they look like they're in good shape and are a great deal.  Plus, I've been looking for a pair for about a year and haven't been able to find 'em, not even at the Turlock swap meet, so I'm super interested.  I notice that they're located in Sequim, which is only about 2 hours away.  Even better.  I can just go pick 'em up rather than having to pay a bundle to have them sent.  Then it occurs to me...  "Wait a frickin' minute... Isn't Sequim where George lives?"  He and I had been emailing back and forth recently, so I shot him a note, and sure enough, he had posted them on eBay himself.

I made a trip out to Sequim a few Saturdays ago to pick up the drums and hang out with George for the day.  It was great to see him and check out his shop, as well as all of the things he was working on.  Here's some of the photos I shot out there:

 In the shop...

 The roof panel for this pickup doubles as a tonneau cover. Pretty slick...

 One of the man's friends showed up driving this great little pickup.

 George has had this 5-window since he was 18.

 "And here's the guest room.  Don't worry, we'll roll the Fiat outta there if you're ever going to stay over."  I told him I thought the wifey would prefer the car in the room.  She agreed.

Mr. George Antoline, in the green room...

Y'know, people keep saying that the hot rod hobby is getting too big, it's getting harder and harder to find "the good stuff" and everything's becoming too mainstream.  Most of the time, I'm inclined to agree, but  George kind of makes me wonder:  If I can keep running into the same dude in such random ways, is that really the case?

Thanks, George, for the brakes, as well as a great afternoon.  See you next time, planned or not!

Summer Dreamin': Mrs. Turner's

Summer is definitely over.  Been that way for a little while now, and it's getting to the point where you think about last summer, and about the things that will keep you feeling warm until the spring thaw.  I'm not one who bitches about the weather much, or who feels hemmed in when it's not 70 degrees and sunny outside.  The Northwest is a beautiful place to live year 'round, and there's always things to do regardless of the weather, but usually, outdoor auto-related events ain't one of them.  Therefore, one of the things that keeps me warm through every winter is the thought of Mrs. Turner's Friday Cruise-In starting up again in May. 

I live across the street from A Diner called Mrs. Turner's, which is one of the oldest establishments in the downtown Puyallup area, and every Friday from roughly Memorial Day through Labor day, they host a cruise-in and back lot barbecue.  The owner/operators are classic car enthusiasts and put this deal on mostly for the fun of it, and so that their friends who have old cars have an excuse to dust 'em off and come visit once a week.  As you'd expect, you do see a lot of the same stuff, and as it's open to absolutely anyone so of course you'll see stuff that isn't really to your taste.  But the variety also makes it kind of fun, too.  Over the years, I've seen everything from old survivor Model T's, COPO muscle cars, Ardun powered roadsters, pastel tweed-clad tilt column street rods, vintage European race cars, and even a complete stem to stern reproduction of KITT from Knight Rider.

Here's some of the photos I've collect from a few years of summer Fridays across the street at Mrs. Turners...

The owners built this little Texaco Service station 'cause they needed someplace to store all the stuff they need for the cruise in:  Tables, barbecue, easy-ups, etc.  Helluva way to camouflage a storage shed.

This 1928 Pontiac pickup has been owned by the same family since new.  It was purchased as a work truck by a local berry farmer and has served as such ever since. 

The original owner's grandson now drives the truck occasionally, and has fitted this old motorized bike on back.

Can you say...

...ARDUN?  Delicious.

Ever seen a Dodge La Femme before?  Me neither.  They were one of the only cars ever to be marketed specifically to women.

The afore mentioned KITT replica gettin' the terrycloth glove treatment... 

And like I said, stem to stern, no stone unturned.

 This is the owner, Starla's T-Bird