Projects My '26 Roadster / Vintage photo search

Flyin-t

...BTW, Thanks for the pics you posted of Gabby's T and your 27

 

Clayton,

Make sure you take a look in the monthly banger threads- mostly A's, but every once in a while the odd T comes up with a SOHC/DOHC head.

Plus (and you probably already know this) you have a strong speedster group im your neck of the woods- www.nwvs.org. If you haven't seen their site yet, go check it out!

 

Dude, you get it... this is what its all about! You HAVE to keep us updated on oyur next one! I love how something so simple, subtle, and completely not flashy can be soooo perfect. This deserves to be at the top a little longer hahaha.

 

Just read all the posts and additional info on the car, really amazing that at 23 you have been able to build a spot on early Hot Rod.

 

That's truly a beautiful car there. I do love my T's and feel guilty that I don't use my Tourer so much now. Certainly some inspiration to get my sorry carcass back out to the garage.

Appreciate the well written replies too!

 

You are correct on the shell...33 Chevy truck shell..and a 34 mascot. It is really nice to see a care like yours come together. I alwasy lean towards the roots. I think your T is one of the coolest rods on the HAMB. Traditional as it could be. Looking forward to seeing your next builds!
Tim
MBL

 

I must thank all of you for all of your wounderful compliments on my car. It is very gradifing to get this kind of response to your project (ecpecially your first ) after so much work and as a result, am quite honored. I look forward to keeping you all up to speed on further advances on the roadster (which include a '26-27 style top in white chopped to match the winsheild hight) and my next build which should be starting in the next few months. I am working on a deal for another T that I would to build as an early roadster or touring with an overhead valve set up and a few other suprises ........

 

Mac the Yankee,

I am awair for the NorthWest Vintage Speedsters. Actually I was a member for a while , but got into the roadster real deep and need to re-up my membership. My friend Chris Becker (powerwagonmaniac) is also a member.

VanHorten

Thank you for the comliments. I would like to see a few pix of your car.

 

If you want to save some dough on a high compression head, try milling down a stock head. A friend of mine in my T club is a big fan of shaving 1/8" off. He said the difference is subdstantial. If the head is good and unmolested, an 1/8 should be real easy to take off without compromising the strength of the casting. I'm building an early go job too and that's the rout I took. It cost about $70.00. I haven't fired the engine yet, but I can't wait. I also tossed the buzz coils for a distributor and then threw a 3:1 ring gear in the rear end.

 

That is a really cool car! Good luck with the next one!

 

Tom,

I have been considering a few different options for upping the horsepower and comp ratio without over doing it and milling the head was one of the options I was considering. What is your comp ration now since you milled your stock head?

 

Absolutely Perfect!!!! Nice Work.

I think the BFT will need a make over, or at least the chassis.
I love the stance of your car!!

Here's a pic of the BFT, at the end of a 40 year slumber:


HAMB Threads - BFT:
[thread=137679]The Barn Find T[/thread]
[thread=138748]Starting the T for the First Time[/thread]
[thread=143247]Driving the T in Congress Park[/thread]
[post=2860345]April 2008 at Good Guys[/post]

 

Sweeeeeeeeet little ride!

 

Thanks everyone for posting your T's. I always thought one would be fun to own because of all the tales my grandfather shared when I was young. Last year I got a chance to buy an almost finished '26 roadster when I had some cash from the sale of a car and it was burning a hole in my pocket. A friend who has had many T's over the years helped me get it running. What a blast cruising the backroads with my wife. When dogs chase you, you can just lean out and pet them while their runnning along side. I would love to make a hot rod out of it but it's so nice and the work has been done correctly I can't bring myself to alter it. I'll probably sell it and move on but at least I've had the experience of owning a T and finding out what it must have been like back when they ruled the road.

Frank

 

Barn find T,

Nice T! I thought I recognized you T! I have actually see you vids on youtube. It survived quite well. Im not sure exactly what my car was prior to 1960, but as far as I can tell that must have been some sort of racer or custom in the late 40's or early 50's because of the racing numbers I found paited on the body and the remains of ols custom pin striping on it as well.

 

Clayton (or do you like Clay better?),

You need to get on Chris's case to give us an update on his chassis!!!

You wouldn't happen to know Peter Daun, would you? I would love to find out where he got the body for his T (#69 on nwvs).

Thanks, Bill

 

fab32,

I wouldn't if i was you. T's are so much fun no matter if they are stock or custom. If it is a really nice car, I wouldn't cut it up either. There are however, a ton of aftermarket speed parts that will turn your T into a "Hot Rod" without the work alread y done. Simply adding a high comp aluminum head with kick you comp ration from 3.98:1 to 6-6.5:1 making a sizeable difference in preformance and the addition of a Warford aux overdrive and Rocky Mountain brakes (almost a nessecity in my book) will make a comfortable driver that will move at 55-60 all day long. All of these are easy to find and realitivly easy to install and quite in-exspensive. If you want more info PM me, I love to see more people into Ts.

 

MrModelT's roadster is a real traditional hot rod! Those of you who think traditional hot rodding starting in the Fifties need to be sent back to Hot Rod History 101.

 

I'm not sure what the compression ratio is now. I would imagine it's up near 5.5:1 maybe. That would be 37.5% increase in compression for only $75 bucks.

 

There is SOME reason that "they" say not to do this...but I don't remember what that reason is. Anyone know of a reason not to do this?

 

your T is perfect! thats the style I like. It's nice to see another young rodder, even the same age as me!

 

I to have heard of this being a potential problem if too MUCH is removed. Heard about a guy that did this on 1909 New York/Seattle replica with a '12 mill. He milled it too much and weakened the water jackets enough that they failed while it was running...nasty mess.

 

It also nice to meet other hot rodding "Young Guns", and nice that there are so many out there!

What goodies are you working on 66 elcam?

 

No problem dude, gotta give credit where its due! Here are some pics of me and my brothers car:







Not really a T at all haha only the cowl is model t, its on a stocker A chassis, and the rest of the body is 50 chevy hahaha. Rear section needs some tweaking, lowering, pancakeing but its commin along...

 

Very nice! I must admit that the stance is pretty cool. A good 4 or 5" drop axle up front and a milder drop in the back and would have a mean rake to it, especially on those 21"s. Wide open exaust would also be neat. I like the sound of an A barkin' through a strait pipe... they sound real nasty I like the body work. I have seen simular attempts at this on other cars, but yours really does it for me!

Nice work!

 

haha awesome dude! im glad you like it...Practically put itself together haha the 50 chevy peices really wanted to be a hot rod! wait till you see it all buttoned up though, the rear will flow much nicer. For now its gonna stay at this height... we dont have enough cash to put into a dropped axle. Eventually it may get a 34 axle up front and a later banjo rear, reverse eye springs etc. but the big rims are definatly stayin. haha its funny you'd say that about the exhaust, cause we are gonna run it straight back along the body through a modified torque tube... its gettin a taneau cover, and 2 half circle windscreens... maybe a hood top, and a partial belly pan that covers under the tub part all the way up to the front leaving the back exposed. Over the winter we are gonna rebuild the banger, bore it out like .60 over, hopefully get a high comp head, and some other stuff too. should be bad!

 

My 36, kind of a modern/vintage mix



The Model A I just picked up, which is going to be all traditional, I would like to get the same presence your T has with it. I want to run the banger and modify the stock suspension.



And my parts hauler..

 

Ya know, you could probably build yourself a set of beefy "Laurel" underslung brackets like the ones on my car (Ts and As aren't much different when it comes to chassis)...it would accomplish the same thing as a drop axle and would be way different. You deffinately have welding skills looking at that body, so it wouldn't be to punch out. You could undersling your rear axle like i did as well and give it a nice stance for a quarter of the cost. (I know what you mean by Low on cash, built mine on an extreme budget too). The only thing you would have to do is shorten the frame a bit (a few inches) because when you do it that way it moves the axle back so the drive shaft wont reach the trans.

 

Hey Mac,

This is about as far as I am right now on my chassis. These were late March after the Portland Roadster Show.





I haven't done much too my chassis lately as we are helping my dad with some health issues and on his 1913 White GAF 30 touring car.

I do have a 26 cowl temporarily mocked in place and most of the steering column built also the disc brake system is all plumbed in with no fluid in it yet. But with everything going on with my dad right now I just don't have the patients to work on it right yet now. Keep my dad in your prayers please.

Thanks,

Chris Becker

 

66 elcam,

very nice stuff! What engine you got in the '36?

The A is in NICE shape! how much do you have of it? whole car or just pieces?

Here are a few pix i snapped a while ago of a real nice '25 T with A running gear. I thought of this car after what you talked about doing with it....