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Projects My First T

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jake_shake, Nov 15, 2018.

  1. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Hopefully this is the correct place to post this, it’s definitely not a traditional hot rod, but also not going to be your typical 70’s pro street looking T bucket.
    About a year or so ago my wife convinced me to find a project to keep for myself instead of just another car to flip on the side to make a few bucks, I’ve always had a thing for T’s so I searched high and low and ended up with a fiberglass reproduction body, a half assed attempt at a frame and a early olds 9.3” for a few hundred bucks [​IMG]
    The frame was almost completely square , no kick up in the back. 4” front crossmember and when I set it on the floor it was extremely twisted, so I immediately started cutting it up to reuse what metal I could, cut and stacked the frame up front [​IMG][​IMG] then decided a a 4” front crossmember just didnt look right at all so got a 3” and sectioned the front to get the look I wanted [​IMG][​IMG] it has been pretty slow going but thats only partly due to funding and mostly due to the fiberglass body, I’ve just never been able to get excited about it, there is no character, no bullet holes, no stories to tell. A couple months ago I made up my mind that I would switch to a steel body but being low cash flow I decided to list the bucket body and just ride it out until something came along and sure enough I found a 26/27 coupe witch is what I really wanted when this all started [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


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  2. catdad49
    Joined: Sep 25, 2005
    Posts: 6,401

    catdad49
    Member

    I see an extended cab T pick up in your future! Happy building, keep us posted. You will get better responses if you introduce yourself on the main page, Welcome from Va.
     
    a boner, mad mikey and Jake_shake like this.
  3. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    What are your plans for the missing back end? Looks like a cab that I had that was used as a chicken coop.

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  4. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    I posted an introduction last night, honestly I really want to bring it back to a coupe going to buy a few sheets of steel probably end up shaping my own quarters until I get somthing I’m happy with. That’s partly why I ditched the 23 body besides it being glass it was something to play with but I knew I would never be completely happy with it[​IMG]
    This is one of the last pics I took before changing directions


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  5. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Started working on channel today, had some 1/8 steel bent up to get started, not as much as I originally wanted to go but it’s a compromise of what will give me the most floor space and what I thought would look the cleanest [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


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  6. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    I like that “ brass knuckle” gusset and excellent welds. Looks like is going to be a good build. Keep us posted, please.



    Bones
     
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  7. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Thanks, I sketched em up and had a local shop cut them out with a water jet [​IMG]


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  8. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    Welcome to the hamb world. You are traditional with the dog already waiting to ride. :D. I prefer a steel body to matting and resin as well. Good luck. It will be fun and you will learn something new at every turn.
     
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  9. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    Kool beans! You ought to market those! No way you could hold a patent, but a lot of guys would buy them, because it would be easier to buy than to mess with lay out and stuff.
    Ps.. like the ford hat, your T going to have a Ford engine in it?

    Bones
     
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  10. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    They are cut from 1/4” I knew I wanted to do those as soon as I Z’d the frame just to be a little different and searched all over for them with no luck. I tried making my own and they turned out decent but no 2 were 100% identical and I’m too much of a perfectionist.
    Yea, I have blue blood through and through. I’ve got a pepped up 302 I had in my first vehicle that I rebuilt back when I was in college, and I picked up a fresh c4 that had a broken input shaft that’s just gona get a seal kit and go back together. And a couple months ago I got a 8.8 out of an Explorer, 3.73 has a factory limited slip and are very simple to narrow


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  11. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,440

    Boneyard51
    Member

    Ford
    Kool, I love to see Ford engines in old Fords. Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, gets boring. Kudos to you!



    Bones
     
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  12. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Hey Jake, nice work.
    Your project kinder reminds me of how mine started.
    Not they are exact copies or anything like that, but the cabs are close.
    Nothing wrong with a 5 window pickup cab, lots of leg room...
     

    Attached Files:

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  13. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Was that a common thing to cut the backs off back in the day? Yours looks really good, how hard was it to fab that rear panel and quarters? Mine looks like it was just torched and folded around the supports. Also wondering if anyone on here has successfully made quarters for these, I saw a build thread on scratch building doors but the pics won’t load for me


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  14. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Not sure how common this practice was, I'd say uncommon from what I have seen since doing mine.
    You just need to fab a lower panel that fits under the rear window panel which ain't that hard and then shape the subrails to a suitable curve and then blend the rear and side planes together.
    A little tricky but with the right advice/help should be do-able.

    I don't know of any 1/4 panels produced on here but it is possible.
    I always wondered if it was possible to use the back end of a t Tudor body to close off what you have.
    They should be much easier to locate and much cheaper to purchase.
     
  15. Squablow
    Joined: Apr 26, 2005
    Posts: 17,388

    Squablow
    Member

    A lot of coupes and sedans were turned into pickup trucks years ago, sedans usually gettting the rear panel pushed forward, coupes sometimes just losing the trunk lid and having a box jammed into the hole, but sometimes cut off like yours was. They are often referred to as Depression trucks. There is an old wives tale about this being done to get extra gas ration stamps during WWII but there's no truth in it, ration stamps were given out accoriding to what profession an owner had and how critical to the war effort it was seen as being, not according to the body style of the vehicle they were driving.
     
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  16. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Wow thats really cool, sad for the cars but an interesting history lesson. The guy I bought it from was really into collecting pre-war stuff and old gas and oil signs and he just said that it used to be done to haul more gas but I didn’t ask any further and didn’t really know what that meant. I’ve never really seen any others chopped off like that so I wasn’t really sure how factual that was


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  17. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Jake if you don't have doors, this can be a problem, although there are doors out there.
    Obviously good doors cost money but save you much build time.
    If you have some skills, then buying good doors maybe the only big outlay of funds required if you can fix the rest of it yourself.
    Look at it this way, you wont need to worry about finding a decent trunk lid which are also not that easy to do.
    The good thing with Model T's is the metal is a little thicker than later models, so it is more forgiving for guys just starting out.
    It's your project so your call, we just hope to inspire you along the way.
     
  18. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Another thought I had was to finish off the back like you have but stretch the cab in the rear window area, similar to a sedan but a touch longer. I don’t really want to go the pickup route because my frame is 80% done and one thing that I never really liked about buckets was how Disproportional the 14” beds were to the body, I can’t really do that at this point without building a longer frame
    [​IMG]


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  19. I'd buy a pair today !
     
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  20. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    I hear you Jake.
    Mine is 116 inch wheel base.
    Your drawing above almost makes a T Tudor.
    I don't believe you show which State you are in, but there was a lot of T Tudor bodies in a Junkyard in Central KS on the I70
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2018
  21. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    Hindsight I should have had more made, they did it as a favor and gave me a really good deal but they weren’t super thrilled about it when it was all said and done. I think they said they charge somewhere around 150$ an hour and these took 30 min each to cut. Plus they had to redraw them with their software. Probably why I couldn’t find any mass produced. If I have any left over I may sell them, I really dig the look but I don’t want to go overboard with it


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  22. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    I’m near Ft Collins Colorado, I’ve seen a couple adds on CL out there and tried calling but with no response. I know they are out there and I’m not in a hurry I’ve still got a lot to do that I can keep moving on before I’m really ready for a finished body. The hard thing for me is I’m a very visual person so I end up staring and moving things around and staring some more before I can make up my mind


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  23. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    OK, then you are just up the road from Martin's Junkyard, he used to get stuff in there in the Model A era.
    Get him on a good day and you can walk away with a good deal, but mostly he was difficult to deal with.
    I got my T coupe body that we cut down from just on the border where the I76 crosses into NE.
    Keep looking, something will turn up.
     
  24. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    I know Charles, I was out there about a week before I got this 27 looking at a 24-25 roadster, it was difficult because our first snow had everything pretty well covered but I’m pretty sure I saw a t cowl with doors attached but haven’t made it back to investigate. He definitely can be hard to deal with but I understand some of it. Some people will trash an entire door just to get a handle. He told me he has sold most of his T stuff but I have also heard he has a private stash


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  25. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    I forgot his son's name, Ryan I think and he was in MT and I heard that he usually had stuff for sale as well.
    Maybe ask Chuck, what Ryan has available.
    Last item I got from Chuck was a early Mustang roof for a infill panel on a 29 Model A coupe project.
    I called and negotiated a price, left him to cut it off for me and a few days later picked it up.
    A good price and easy deal.
    You just got to work with him and he is fine.

    Also check out Bert's in Denver, he some times get odd stuff in his junkyard out back.
     
  26. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Interesting project that has a lot of potential. Just remember that Rat Rods are verboten here as we are into traditional rods that look the way they did or "could have" back in the the beginning of hot rodding and customizing.
    On the body maybe a T Victoria that never existed with just a little bustle bump out in the back.
     
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  27. Jake_shake
    Joined: Nov 14, 2018
    Posts: 38

    Jake_shake
    Member

    I don’t really care for that term either, I feel like its disrespectful to builders and I take a lot of pride in what I do. However at this point I don’t plan on finishing the body 100% as far as paint goes. A very close friend of mine is a body man by trade and has agreed to do some pin striping and spray it matte clear when I’m ready. Something about it but I Love the natural 90 yr old patina. The nice thing about it is most of it is super solid excluding the rear belt lines and a couple small pinholes in the cowl so who knows I may end up painting it when the time comes. I plan on powder coating for the frame and and axles, wheels ect. I’ve had a shop in Windsor do a few pieces for me on dirt bikes and they are outstanding and very reasonable


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  28. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Jake, I got the lower back of my cut back T coupe body done in a hot rod shop over in Erie CO.
    It is located on hwy 52 west of the I25.
    Good people and been in business since before 2004.
     
  29. indyjps
    Joined: Feb 21, 2007
    Posts: 5,377

    indyjps
    Member

    8 plates, 1/2 hour, $150 per hour, thats about $10 per plate cost. If ya gave the shop some money for the next run, they would at least recover something for the time they spent to put the part into their software.
     
  30. goldmountain
    Joined: Jun 12, 2016
    Posts: 4,442

    goldmountain

    How about this idea? Build a car that is a cross between the "Leg Show" and the "Uncertain T". Finish off the back of the cab like a T bucket, section the body, and extend the window height. I'm willing to donate the pieces left over when I chopped my coupe. Scan-181117-0001.jpg
     

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