Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

Thanks guys for the kind words. I purchased the fenders off ebay, and yes, they are fiberglass. They are very well made, and I'm pretty happy with them. They are similar to the cycle fenders that were made using the spare tire covers from 1936ish Fords. If anyone is interested, I can send a link. I figure Larry will whip up some magical steel ones that will put these to shame, but I'm happy with them

In Portland, we are allowed to run without fenders in a pre-1935 vehicle, but as Gary said, my reasoning is more for an extended driving season than a legal one. I'll have to make some brackets which I'm hoping to attach to the backing plates somehow, but I haven't ironed that all out yet.

I forgot to mention that I do indeed have a fuel pressure gauge at the end of my fuel log. That is where I'm getting the 6psi information from. I tried a different gauge with the same reading, so it seems I'll be putting on a low psi regulator. I just wonder how the factory got away without running a regulator. Gary and Whiplash, it sound like you both went through Hell to get your multi-carb setups working right, but I know it was worth it as that is my favorite part on each of your cars.

 

3psi on all older style carbs......but reg needs to be holley litedudy that can hold 3psi,they make at lest two def psi groupings,only the low one can hold 3psi... now there a few things that can mess you up,needles to viton is always a good move I think,but vibs of motor can over ride the seats ,or even a ruff road,and for those silly fools{yes I said that,cuz I've seen it way to many times] that mount there motor bolted/welded to frame with no rubber mounts for a street driven rod{drag race only is only place that works an you don't idel at a race],you made your own prob that may or may not of shown it ugly vib head yet. 12volt pump come in a lot of gpm an psi sizes and just like mec pumps that came that way too,the right one is the trick. Gpm is not psi an visc vrisa,don't mix that up,if ya a big ass motor that takes lots gpm rate it can still use it at 3lb psi if lines are the right size. 2cents take it or leve it.
As for fenders,yup if ya must,then bike type are nice,those do look as good as they can. I hated having them but had to have them on my rod at times, but mine were contenenil kit rings I cut an added to tires by brackets made from tubing that wingnutted to my brake backing plates=so I could remove them EZ when ever one asshole cop was working on the other side of town who love to give me tickets for any crap in the late 1950/early 60s.

 

Old carbs [like holley/stromberg] only need 3 p.s.i. or so , that's what the pumps of the time put out....newer carbs[holley/rochester] should work well w/ 5-7 p.s.i. as that is what pumps from that period put out.. if you're having problems , look to the carbs...floats, needles &seats float arms etc. for the problems...
dave

 

I love those fenders too. Koop de Glass here in New Zealand makes fenders that are molded from the '36 ford spare wheel surround. No price listed, but here is the page…

http://www.koopdeglass.co.nz/Various_panels.php

Glen.

 

Although I'm not a fan, the fenders do look good Tim.
On a lighter note since Whip won't deliver beers from the fridge I have found a way to get there and back without too much bother ....I give you the latest from my garage......
the mobile bar stool

P3270002 by k1w1rodder posted Mar 27, 2015 at 3:59 PM

 

Glen, Magoos down my way has them at $75 each.
Jeremy

 

I've always considered myself more like a voice in somebody's head... You know, that person that's having the deep but one-sided conversation with himself.

 

Your problem may not be fuel pressure or even carburetor related. Today's gasoline varies from region to region and season to season, part of the government tinkering with emissions, and has a very, very low boiling point. Spill a little on a mildly warm engine and it will boil like crazy until it's gone.

This is also going on inside your fuel lines and float bowls at relatively low engine temperatures, creating pressure well above what the needles can resist and pushing some fuel (or fuel in vapor form) past them and on into the intake even when all is well with the carburetor. I've had this problem with my SBC-powered '55 Buick with a Holley carburetor.

It will restart perfectly within a few minutes of shut-down but it will be flooded if left more than 5 minutes. After an overnight cool down and the gas which has puddled in the intake has evaporated it will start perfectly once more.

I've purchased a composite carburetor heat insulator to combat the problem by raising the carb float bowl away from the intake and to prevent heat from transferring from the intake to the carb through the existing thin gasket. I've not installed it because it will also involve changes to the various linkages which I simply haven't had time to do.

Also, some carburetor types, styles and models seem to be more resistant to this phenomenon than others. Why? Beats the heck out of me, but they do.

Late model cars circulate the fuel so rapidly with the return line system that it doesn't have time to warm up as it does in our old cars when it moves slowly or just sits in the line and the carb bowl, so they don't suffer from this problem.

Other regions in other seasons may or may not have the same problem at the same time. Rodders in other countries may not have this problem at all. Our wonderful current administration has no ear for our problems so don't expect anything from a letter to the White House except being put on the FBI watch list. So it's unlikely that you'll be able to actually solve your problem in the near future.

 

After I worked out the problem with the cheap chrome fuel pressure regulator I haven't had any carb. problems. I KNOW, I KNOW, I shouldn't brag "it will come back to bite me in the ass" but the four '50s chrome Stromberg 97s with dents in the top from previous owners tapping on them with who knows what and the standard kits i installed in them, running on 4 lbs pressure through old red Edlebrock hoses haven't given me any trouble. And California probably has the worst fucked with gas as anywhere. Okay the next time I drive it the hoses will probably melt set the engine on fire and burn my roadster to the ground. You know maybe I should get and carry a fire extinguisher if I keep bragging on all the things I do wrong.
Gary

 

I guess I had better get one of those extinguishers too cause I also run one of those cheap ass chrome regulator's. Set it on 3lbs a couple of years and have never had any trouble with it.

 

It must be the California gas. You need a fuel pressure gauge though.

 

Got the gauge. Okla gas is always pretty good and we have a lot of it.

 

Hell now you guys have me worried about fuel issues I may have since my T has been sitting dry for a few years now. I know that when I did the rebuild the engine sat on the engine stand upside down for awhile and as mentioned before, all we did was fit the new dress up gear, some new plugs and points and fired the old girl up. She ran fantastically without using oil with heaps of power, good compression up till I parked in the garage again, so I'm hoping that when I fire her up again, she will be oh so fine.

 

Marc, just don't start it and leave it idling, the cam will need oil asap.
Jeremy

 

The Phoenix area was on of the very first in the country to have ethanol mandated in it's gas about 15 years ago. This used to change by the seasons, so you would set everything up for the winter months, then it wouldn't work in the summer months. You'd fiddle to the end of summer, then re-fiddle to get your "tune" back again. It was maddening! Finally, they mandated ethanol full time, so even though it was crappy gas, it was the SAME crappy gas all the time.

Elpolacko and I once did some experiments a this place on the ethanol fuels, and found that it dropped the boiling point of the fuel from an approximate 235 degrees, to about 195 degrees. This sucks because it's too close to the operating temperatures of a vintage car. 'Bout that time I became a believer in things like fuel pressure regulators and insulator blocks for exactly the reasons you state. Anymore, I find running something at 3-4 lbs as a start is pretty much golden. If I take the car out, stand on it and it "runs out " of fuel at the top end, I notch it up a notch and retry. Rarely does it need it though.

 

A couple of technical questions on "T" frames, some I've looked at are 1.5"x3.5" and 3/16" wall and also seen 2"x4" and 1/8" wall thickness and combinations of both.. At what point does strength get compromised by weight reduction? What would the extra length of a touring body add to the equation?

 

Yes the weather here is as good as it looks. Took the roadster to the store and a couple of yard sales this morning. Talked to an old guy at one sale. (I say old he said he is 74 I'm 71 now) He said he built a bunch of buckets in the '50. said the cops were always giving him tickets for no fenders back then. The old California 1,500 lb rule.
Jalopy When I went down to the local steel sale yard when I decided to build my frame. I knew I wanted 2X3 tubing. The guy there said this is what all the guys use to build frames. I really don't know what gauge steel it is. Don't think I have any scraps left to measure. I'll look.

 

Rule of thum would be over 110 wheel base, its good to go up on wall thickniss,1/8in. being small anyway even for under that size,to be safe I like up to 1/4in. wall on longer WB ,even realy needed with over 300HP+ or any big block of anymake. Saving lb.s on frame rail tube is not were you should save at,if your into saving on a hotrod design that is by its make up already is very lite. Lite rims,body are some of the few places that saving canbe done,alum heads or leveing off things that are add on junk any way,much of what has been covered here before. Good design of crossmembers can save lb.s and add strangth=I see a lot of over build or poorly designed cross members,most t-buckets can get along well with only 3 to 4 very well designed with braces on center crossmember, plus smaller brackets for body ect.,

 

Wow, did this thread really just go over 18 hours without an update?

 

Yeah Nitro that's why you are looking at another photo of my car. It's your fault.

 

Ha!

 

Gary, you can tell the wall thickness by the radius on the tubing, it gets larger on thicker wall thicknesses, radius on 1/8 wall tubing is quite small

 

Booked my ticket to LARS yesterday, so any updates on that meet are welcome. We had a great time last year, our rookie year out there. Hope they can compact the cars and flea market this year and cut out the open space in the center. Bob

 

Good to see another photo of your Roadster Gary but, may I ask, with all that blue sky, why is the roof on ?. The other off topic question that I wish to ask is....wait for it.... do you have a pet lamb in your garden or is that one of those Poodle cross dogs with the fine wool coats ??

 

You know whip I've been asking myself the same question about the top. I'm so fuckin old I can hardly get in or out of it with the top on. It just looks so kool I thought I'd try it again. Think I might just take it off again and store it back in the rafters.
No not a lamb that's Trixie Bell the Poodle dog. We rescued her maybe ten years ago. Not a very manly dog but she is a love and has me wrapped around her little paw.

 

Gary, if you would post a closeup photo of your frame, we may be able to tell what thickness the tubing is.

 

minimum thickness over here is 3 mm equivelent would be 1/8th

 

Here it is. Fit the radius of the Tornado headlight stands perfect. Okay shit I need to clean it.

 

It definitely isn't 1/4" wall, it appears to be 1/8" to me.

 

Have any of you T-bucket guys seen the thread "Vintage Video" that Hot Rust started?
It's the John Fogerty music video "Hot Rod Heart", has some shots of Grabowski driving and racing his T both when it was black and in its Kookie car look.

Mick