My "1927 Mercury" phantom - not a hotrod...

[hotrodfil]

Posted this over on the Fordbarn but thought I'd copy it here since this is where it was 'christened' by our man Dave - Bigcheese 327.

It's evolved out of parts I've acquired along the way. Long time happening this one.
Started this eons ago. I had a stock 1927T Tourer. Well - most of one...



After failing to sell it around 2005, I bought all the interior, sheetmetal bits and top to get it finished. I decided to make it quicker and fit the running gear I'd bought from an early RHD 1928 A roadster. Somehow along the line though I acquired another T chassis - and another '27 tourer body... Plan was an all T panelled creation on 100" wheelbase.



Well. That project failed to reach the road when real life stepped up and gave us a kicking. As a 40 year old widow with two young kids, my car plans changed. The engine eventually went in the Fordor for a while, and the extra Tourer body went to a friend.

Roll on to 2011 and the chance to buy back the Tourer tub was too tempting. I brought it home and started installing her on a completely stock (so far...) rolling 'A' chassis I'd acquired.



I decided to stick with the Model A wheelbase and build a longer bonnet. This would give me a little extra legroom. An early oval T tank sunk down under the front seat just fine. Rear wings were frankensteined from narrowed and shortened '28 A roadster ones. Smoothed out some of the dents and replace a couple of thin sections. Same on the body - the rear panel was particularly transparent in places but luckily I lent the body to a friend and metal guru/god ( Mindover on here - another Dave...) to take measurements from and he made me a replacement panel.





I rebuilt all the rear seat frame, opened up some boxes I've had since 2005 and tried out the seat springs.
I also opened another box from 2005 containing two new full height screen posts from Speedway only to discover... they'd sold me two offside ones. Arse. Probably a little late to complain.
Ah well - Pimms time.

[hotrodfil]

Costs nowt to beat on bits of old tin...
For those that have never darkened my doorstep - behold the horrors of my shed. That's not all my shit. No, I store some of it somewhere else...



For hitting bits of steel I found this recent £10 ebay purchase rather handy as an anvil. Free standing on the plough, polished up the curved section to rough out a few curves.



I cut out all the footboard area to make space for unmodified Model A pedals.
Handy hint no.1. Don't used 1mm cutting discs where you cant actually see what you're doing.
Handy hint no.2 Teach someone in the house where to find plasters before you try to cut your finger off.
Handy hint no. 3 Model A bearing caps with the babbit out are a snug fit round a Model A steering column.



I had a radiator built in Cambridge by Anglia Radiator Services. Superb! T top tank scalloped out to miss the fan and an A bottom tank.

[hotrodfil]

Comes a time when you need to hear it run...



Jury rigged a switch, fitted an electric pump and it fired up almost instantly. Ran like a bag of crap. Knackered condenser and a mile wide points diagnosed plus rust on the valve seats. Probably. So - time to drive it out of the garage? Nope. Stuck clutch.




Still, fading light, cleared the drive and went for a quick charge down the road. Clutch freed off and driven back in the garage. Still popping and banging, big backfire when I turned it off (yup - checked the timing...) but - Brill!!!!!

Bonnet fabricated except for adding the clamps. Hinge gap looks a little wide as I've just rigged it together with 3mm stainless rod rather than the 1/4" rod I used to roll the hinges. I ended up adding some louvres before it was painted.



Outside with the top irons up.



Finally - stripped and painted.

[hotrodfil]

Anyway - a spot of trimming, electrickery and MOT work. Yes, I had to carry on building it on the driveway as we had a few tons of bark chippings delivered and I couldn't swing into the garage.









At the MOT station. Passed!!




Pouring down with rain for most of the summer here. So I spent a day tapping tacks through my fingers in the confines of the garage.
Bring on the dancing bears - it's circus Big Top time!





Finally my registration turned up so took a maiden voyage to town.



And finally time to see if the top actually folds back down. Henry's 'one-man top' took three blokes but tada!





Well that all seemed fine so I'm tore out the engine and box out and changed the back axle...

Diamond B engine (Thomas head, smidgen of porting, a bumpier cam) stolen from the Fordor, close ratio gears, and a 3.27 rear end, all fitted and fingers crossed.

[hotrodfil]

Reason for the running gear change? An 1200 mile round trip to Le Mans for the Classic 24 hour. Background to the trip - the boy turned 18 and left college this year. My new girlfriend Lynda is partial to a spot of vino and I'm the kind of vegetarian well served betwixt fromargerie and boulangerie. Probably the last chance for an epic family holiday so I booked my daughter out of school and the gite about a year ago. A friend Mark with an A Sports Coupe seemed up for a wedge or two of fromage and organised the ferry from Newhaven - 11pm crossing so we'd be twilighting France when we landed. Pre-booked weekend tickets for €49 and some free club parking spots courtesy of the VSCC? Sorted.

Our humble accommodation for the week.



Plotting world domination from the back of our staff car. A rare top down moment from the week away.

[hotrodfil]

Jobs left to do - I'm not happy with the top - too late I realised the top bow was too high so I'll be stripping it off to redo later in the year. Couple of the doors need repainting as they were quite pitted, and one rear door needs replacing as it turned out to be an English Drop Frame one.

Oh - swapped the Holley 94 out for a little 1-1/4" downdraft SU before I went to give us some kind of range out of the T petrol tank. Fastest speed on the trip was a sat nav 61mph with the top up and everybody and their luggage on board - the cold and wind stopped me torturing the kids any further... Top down there's plenty more left, so when I put in the new A engine (ex-Artiki) I'm building, I'm hoping to try a pair of SU's on there to see how much more there is...

By the way - I fitted Ted's Floaters to a set of '32 brakes up front and they're superb!

Apart from that? I took us four up on a 1200 mile journey with nothing but a broken fan to contend with so I'm more than happy so far!

[James D]

What a superb car!

[Sphynx]

So its a T tub on Model A running gear ? Hows this not a traditional hot rod ? You my friend are in denial. Your a hotrodder and refuse to admit it. You need therapy.Nice car you did good.

[willbe]

Rod or restoration, your work and car are topnotch! super job!

[reece]

I really really like this car. Great pictures.

[Okie Pete]

Wow. Amazing metal work. Very nice car.

[The37Kid]

Not at Hot Rod? I don't post much on the HAMB, but have seen photos of it in other threads, one of my favorite T's of all time! Bob

[Hnstray]

Nice car build and a delightful read! Thanks for posting.

Ray

[hotrodfil]

Originally Posted by The37Kid

Not at Hot Rod? I don't post much on the HAMB, but have seen photos of it in other threads, one of my favorite T's of all time! Bob

Cheers Bob! But I'm sure it's a '27 Mercury.... hahahahaha!

[young'n'poor]

Absolutely gorgeous hot rod!!!

[J'st Wandering]

Nice build. Please keep us updated on the progress. I like the car.

Neal

[hotrodfil]

A short fairly dull journey from town to home. Just a pleasant summer evening. I've fixed the loose squeaky steel floor panel now.

[banjeaux bob]

Fabulous!

[Don's Hot Rods]

Great story and great car. My God are your roads narrow over there, but the English countryside is beautiful. That picture of the place you stayed looks like a painting.

Don

[hotrodfil]

Cheers Don. Meant to say that's the main road back home...

And cheers Bob - if I ever take to the hills with the Tourer I'll be sure to send you a video. That's if you're not there of course!