Projects A Speedster Comes Out of the Weeds—Build Thread

Did you happen to get any pics of the car when first built?

 

Thanks for that, Uncle Bob. I get what you're saying about how splash aprons could affect fender choice. For now I'm going "minimalist," but I saved the old aprons for possible consideration. I'll post mockup pictures if/when I get to that stage. It could be that smaller of the originals in back and cut-down yellow ones up front would look good, in conjunction with aprons. Lots of fun ahead on this!

Sadly, no. I asked, but the PO didn't have anything.

 

Obviously not your car, but Hot Rod magazine did a feature on a Mercury bodied Model A speedster a gazillion years ago. I'm not positive, but I think it might be in the 1969 mags if anyone has a way to search their archives. It seems to me that it did have lighter styled cycle fenders on it. If nobody else can find the electronic copy I might be able to scan some pages of the original if I can find it and you are interested. My old car magazines are not well organized and I'm not sure it will tell you anything you haven't already learned from the videos of other cars.

 

Subscribed. This is such a fantastic find. Love all the progress so far. Carry on sir, carry on.

 

Great project!! I will be following along.

 

Clark,
Just went through this complete build to date......Very kool find and I like the direction you are going with it. Looks like your skills are coming along fine also. I like your wife's paint idea and you know what they say happy wife, happy life....

 

Really? I had no idea. I'd love to see that article if you or somebody can find it.

Thanks you guys--and everyone--for the positive responses. I'm enegized to get this car on the road.

 

With the holidays over I’m back at work and my build posts have slowed down. Which is OK, since I’m getting close to caught up on current progress. But I’m committed to getting the car on the road this summer, and will keep the HAMB updated frequently.

Also over the holidays, I finally made progress on fixing the deck lid (aka, “toilet seat”), something that’s been bugging me for a long time. In the previous build, the original deck lid and trunk opening were trimmed and leaded together to make the tail section smooth. I separated them early on and set them aside, figuring I shouldn’t do anything until I could study an original.




I recently got to examine an original. Here’s what it’s supposed to look like:



The deck lid pictured above is actually a reproduction. I’m told somebody made a short run of these a while ago, but finding one is hopeless. To fix mine, I made an oval shaped form out of plywood and ringed it with a half-inch wide section of 16 gauge. Then I cut out the center of the form so I could lay it over the deck lid and tack the new lip to the edge. Finally, I removed the form and welded it completely.







To fix the lip I made a form and hammered out the basic shape, then dollied and filed everything smooth. For now it’s held in with screws while I get everything fitted.






Here’s how it came out. Still some filling and filing to do, but I’m pretty happy with the result.

 

Wow, nice job !

 

Great to see all the work youve been doing on it Clark. Thanks for all the updates.
Its coming along really nice.

 

it sure does look like a toilet seat.

 

I love checking in on this thread!

Amazing work
Bobby

 

Where did you go Clark??? Need my fix!!!

 

Thanks for the nudge, Bob. I'll post an update this evening. Work's been a little crazy lately, slowed me down a bit.

 

Work caught up to me this month and I haven’t had time to post. But I did make time for the speedster, and now have some progress to report.

For starters, I found a commercial grill shell. To be more accurate, the grill shell found me. A few weeks ago I was contacted by 55willys (Jim Ford of Highway 101 Rod and Custom), and he offered me a shell out of his parts stash. He’s just down I-5 from me, so I was able to pick it up and spend some time with him talking about the cool projects he’s working on. Now he’s agreed to modify the shell for me, making it fit my passenger car radiator. That will buy me the extra inch I need to get the lower radiator hose up an over the front cross member. So, two issues solved. Thanks again, Jim.



I’m reaching the final stages of bodywork. I’ve gone as far as hammer, dolly and file will take me, and am using All Metal and Rage and for the final touches. It’s too cold out to paint, but I should be ready when the warmer weather returns. I expect I’ll run it in primer for a time until everything’s finished.



Also, I made a good start on the fuel system last week. The fuel tank fits in the tail section behind the driver’s seat; there’s an inlet built into the tail section. I spent a long time looking for a tank that would fit. I didn’t want anything modern, local swap meets were a bust (nothing but big leaky T tanks), and the reproduction stuff was all the wrong size. I’d reached the point were I figured I’d have to use a little temporary tank for a while when this cool vintage aluminum tank popped up in the HAMB classifieds:



The size is almost perfect. When placed in the car, the tank’s fill neck is slightly above the fuel inlet on the body. But this was easily fixed by cutting a hole in the floor and lowering the tank a few inches. Here are some pictures of the cradle I made out of 1/8” scrap from a local salvage outfit (torturing my little jig saw in the process):




The support brackets are 12-gauge bent by hand over a form.






So there it is. The tank fits nicely and I can use a standard fuel inlet hose with a 45-degree bend, and yet is still high enough to feed an electric fuel pump. I expect to finish the hold-down straps today or tomorrow, work-permitting. I'll post some pictures when done--I promise not to let an entire month pass this time!

 

Very cool, and I applaud your patience to gain the experience and research you needed before moving forward. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

Just fantastic & thanks for the update.

 

Cool tank any idea what it was made from? Looks like a small 55 gallon drum or something.

 

It's made of aluminum, and the guy I got it from thought it was military/aircraft. It certainly has the look, but there are no markings on it. I see what you mean about looking like a mini oil drum, but those pics are kind of deceiving. Here's a side view that show's its oval shape better. I did the math, and it holds about 12 gallons. Whatever it came from, it's cool.

 

It is cool and aluminum won't rust.

 

Thanks for the business plug. Looking forward to meeting up at the Early Bird swap meet. Thank you again for the tail/license light, it will be perfect on the back of the teardrop trailer. I disassembled and cleaned it and might send the body off to be plated. I applaud your work on the speedster and the learning of the metal working skills to pull it off. When I get the grill shell done I would like to deliver it and see the car in person if that would be ok.

 

Love it, Love it, Love it!! - with that being said: My idea of this car is a blurry line between speedster and an 'Art Deco' type of car - It looks more like the latter to me.....hence the fender aprons, long wheelbase and semi-covered wheels, the builder used - No one more than me understands low budgets & easy parts availability - I definitely like where you are heading with the project - Have you ever seen a 'winter grille' (not sure of what they're called)and are placed over existing grille, w/screws, etc - these have adjustable flaps & can be closed to retain heat in the engine in frigid weather - They are a rare aftermarket type accessory & sometimes were a universal fit - Sorry, no pic but I do have one hanging in my shop - I believe it's been cut down smaller than an A shell, though

 

I don't know how I missed this thread before now, but it just became my favorite. This is what dreams are made of, man. You are doing a great job and indeed, the hotrod gods are with you. I can't wait to see the final product but in the mean time I'm enjoying the hell out of the journey.

Oh yeah, I'm feeling very prideful about your choice of shift knob.

 

I'm glad you can use that light--I figured it would look perfect on a teardrop. Look forward to seeing you in Puyallup.

Yeah, I think that's a good take on what the original builer was going for. I'm keeping some of his vision, adding my own. The winterfront is an interesting idea, but I think I'm going to be challened with "undercooling" as it is, at least until I get the fan sorted out. Oddly enough, one of the grills I tried initially was off an old Hudson--the kind that had adjustable louvers from the factory. It was too big, so I sold it for twice what I'd paid--it was a nice change to actually make a profit from one of my trial-and-error mistakes. Here's what one looks like:

Thanks for that, Saxman. I'm honored to qualify as a "favorite." The gearshift knobs you created are pieces art--I absolutely love mine, and am fortunate to have gotten one. As a bonus, the winged design is evocative of the Mercury Body logo--at least in my eyes.

 

A little progress to report. I finished off the fuel tank supports last night. Welded some brackets to my base, made straps from 22-gauge, and pulled everything together with turnbuckles. The strap material was cut freehand with a jigsaw, and it took a bit of time with a hand file to get them smooth and square. I crimped 1/8” plate in one end and rod in the other to keep the straps from tearing out. The turnbuckles are a little small, but should be OK. I may check out the local marine stores to see if I can find nicer stainless ones. There’s a thin rubber band between the straps and tank, which I’ll align more neatly when time comes for the final install.

 

Nice clean gas tank install...I would suggest some kind of rubber gasket between the aluminum tank and the steel straps to cut down on the corrosion from electrolysis.

 

flatford: Didn't he just say he had rubber under the strap?
"There’s a thin rubber band between the straps and tank, which I’ll align more neatly when time comes for the final install."

 

Thanks for the the compliment on the install. It's hard to see in the pics, but I did put some rubber in there, both to prevent corrosion and provide a little cushioning.

 

And he will be adding a ground strap to prevent the spark.
Your welcome brother.

 

Thanks for the tip, Part Junkie. I’ll look for you to get right on that, while I sip a beer and supervise.

I should explain to everyone that when Part Junkie calls me “brother,” he is being literal—he is, in fact, my brother. He’s also a man of few words, as his post count indicates. His weird handle “Part Junkie” is not a reference to illicit substances, but rather his addiction to swap meets.

I owe my brother a debt of gratitude for his help on the brakes a few months ago. You’d think a brake job would be pretty straightforward, but man! First we had to get a hub puller. Then install a new master cylinder. Then my parts went on backorder. Then when they arrived, one set of shoes was mismatched and had to be exchanged. Then when I pulled the wheels, I discovered they didn’t have spacers, so those had to be ordered. Then several of the wheel cylinders turned out to be frozen and needed lots of coaxing. Then, after it was all back together, the things wouldn’t bleed—turned out the rear line had collapsed internally, which was really just the Car Gods saying, “Don’t be a dummy! Replace all the lines.”

One cool side-note, however. When I went to pull the wheels, I discovered the left rear didn’t match the others. Turned out to by a Kelsey Hayes! I took this to be a sign, and have slowly collected a set of five. Thanks go out to HAMBers Chris and Sledge, as well as some random guy at the Portland Swap meet who accepted my offer because he was sick of the rain and wanted to go home. I'll get them blasted and powder-coated once the final color is decided. (OK, yeah, anybody who’s been following the thread closely knows that color has pretty much been decided for me. )