Projects The Hardscrabble Hop-Up; A 1940's Style 'T' RPU build

Great work on the dash! I just went back through the whole thread again and I must say this is a really cool build. So glad you're sharing it with us. We all know life takes precedence over our hobbies at times but hang in there, it'll all come together.

Blessings,
David

 

Dash looks great, I'd dump my T dash for that setup in a heartbeat. And I bet you could sell the top strip you cut off to someone putting something custom into a '32. Maybe someone would want to weld the T bottom onto the 32 top!

 

Gman... looks great and glad I found this build thread... Funny the dash was just sitting in my garage for over a year waiting for you to find it... must have been devine intervention!

 

I love seeing these "throwaway" 32 dashes being repurposed into something beautiful and GW, yours is one magnificent piece.


"Listen Mr... It ain't broke if I can't fix it"

 

Wow, I have not seen this thread! Nice job!

 

Baddddd ass ! Yeah, you better not delete this thread. It's in real time, and yet a year old. What the hell is wrong with that? Nuttn' !! Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks guys, your encouragement means a lot!

Still waiting on some chassis parts (some in transit, others I need to make a day trip or two to pick up) - once those are in-hand, I'll get the suspension installed and fab up my body mounts. Then it will all get blown apart, blasted, refurbished, and painted. Until then, I'm busying myself with little projects - restoring/refinishing my '37 banjo steering wheel, finalizing instrumentation, and building a proper seat pan. This is going to take forever, but I'm really enjoying the journey!

My OCD over the dash has continued...I managed to dig out a grubby '32 Speedo and scored a 2 3/8" back-mount SW ammeter (date coded April 1944).

The ammeter is NOS - no signs of use/mounting and the face & glass are perfect! As with most wartime SW offerings, the bezel was painted black, but years of 'shelf wear' reduced it to a scuffed and chipped up mess. After careful disassembly the paint was stripped, revealing a VERY thin nickel plating over brass. Not crazy about the color difference between it and the chrome speedo bezel, but I can live with it.

Now I gotta find a matching temp gauge!

 

Looking good!

I think the colour difference helps with your era of build. Exactly what somebody would have done after the war ended... gotten a surplus gauge and stripped off the black paint.

 

I'm running two miss matched gauges in my truck. I did it on purpose. Like one was added as an after thought and they couldn't find a match.

Looks good to me! really excited to see this one come together, as I know you have done your homework.

 

You guys are so on with the gauges. I did mine similarly. I wanted them them to look like they had to be worked on and changed. But to still be old with not to much thought and be believable.


"Listen Mr... It ain't broke if I can't fix it"

 

Spent some time this evening with some graph paper and some old fashioned drafting gear making a template for the instrument support panel (I'm not using a '32 dash tunnel). A scrap of plywood and a hole saw gives the gist of it;

 

Found an SW temp gauge! Postman should be delivering it toward the end of the week!! Funny thing is that it's an EXACT match to the ammeter - same black bezel, brass case, and funky mounting bracket. Even has the same "20 22" inspectors stamps - unfortunately the date code is illegible, so I'm assuming it was probably manufactured at approximately the same time. Supposedly it's NOS and functions perfectly. Only downside is that the capillary tube is ridiculously long. Oh well - guess that just gives more flexibility to route it cleanly and place the probe exactly where I want it.

In the mean time, I hacked up a mid-1930 to 31 instrument panel to make a bracket for my '22 Cadillac fuel pump.



It'll go in the middle of the dash like this;

 

And also an under-dash mount for the fuel tank pressure gauge;

 

And here's the final mockup; time to tear it apart, do a little finish work on the metal, weld 'er up, and engine turn some aluminum for the gauge panel. The matching 2 3/8 temp gauge should be arriving mañana (it'll go to the right of the speedo).

 

Looks fantastic. I can't wait to see it with the aluminum!

 

the wheel choice, gauges and shape of the dash, all go together nicely. the way it should be.

 

Thanks guys! The postman dropped off the last remaining bits to complete the instrument panel; a nice, freshly serviced '32 SW speedo and a SW temp gauge (matches the ammeter perfectly)!

 

Heard from Ross (my engine builder) the other day...there's an issue with the crank, so it'll be a little while longer before she's ready. No biggie, still a lot of little stuff to mess with.

My attention is now being turned toward getting the chassis set up and ready to receive the motor. Need to assemble the front end (33-6 axle, 33-34 perch pins, 33-34 spindles/backing plates/brakes, A tie rod/drag link/wishbone), install the T rear spring and slide the rear axle assembly in place. Once that's done, I'll get the motor/trans in, finalize body position, modify the pedals, and fab up body mounts. Then it all gets blown back apart, blasted, detailed, and painted.

Already getting started on some small parts - these Model A shocks were mechanically refurbished by Robert Paul - but were dinged up and full of pits and left a lot to be desired cosmetically. Sounds crazy, but I've got about 30 hours in filling, blocking, painting, and hand-polishing the set - a good deal of that time was occupied trying to match Ford's 'dipped' enamel paint (shown here against a NOS motor mount for comparison). I think I'm pretty close, and that formula will come in handy when it's time to paint some of the other chassis components. You'd be surprised at the amount of variation in "black" paint!

 

dude...you are seriously anal about the details...therapy time

 

Hahaha if you think this is bad, wait 'til I get started on the frame . Asphaltum- based paint...yum!

Sweating the details is my therapy!

 

Saw the build live this past w/e... thanks for having me over Gary... The RPU looks even better live. As several here have mentioned before, Gary's attention to detail impressive.

 

Thanks neighbor! I was a little afraid you were going to be pissed when I told you I chopped up the '32 dash, hahaha. Glad you were able to see the method to my madness; you're welcome back anytime, really enjoyed the conversation and checking out your MoPar - that's one sweet little car!!

 

Wow....that looks great!! Asphaltum based paint I'll have to look up. I do know what ass fault....ummm, is though. Had a few of those work on my stuff, maybe even me.

 

wow man, great thread!

 

Thanks man...I want to see more of your T! The few pics I saw from TROG coverage were impressive...you freaking nailed it!

Hahaha. Asphalt-based paint was known in the early 20th century for its quick-drying characteristics...Ford used Gilsonite, a mineralized form of bitumen (asphalt) in their varnishes during production of the Model T (used extensively on car bodies), then on the A frame. When pulverized and dissolved with naphtha, suspended in linseed oil, and modified with 'japan' driers; Gilsonite makes a fine varnish (also known as "japan paint"). When wet it looks like extremely dirty used motor oil and dries a deep brown-black with a decent gloss (depending on the smoothness of the substrate). I've done some experimenting and have (what I believe) is a pretty good match to Ford's recipe.

Main goal is to replicate - as best I can - a fairly stock A chassis with a few hot rod improvements.

 

Awesome and this is the very first time on ANY board that somebody used the word substrate and in the correct way. Our total intelligence level just moved upward several points.

 

Wow man. I hope you nail that recipe. Of course it will look cool, but those original frames had their share of good looking years......before the rust and crust obviously. Should hold up, nice. So cool.

 

Damn, and I was worried about hose clamps, this takes it to a whole new level. 30 hours! You have the good kind of insanity.

 

Asphalt based paint. You are a FREAK. I love it!

 

I fear that if you and I ever get within close proximity of each other that the universe may implode.

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