Hot Rods Just Another 5-Window Build Thread

I like your leather hood straps Tom. At present, I have no hood on my Roadster, but I do have a one piece hood top from Brookville that came with the mocked up rolling chassis and body when I bought it from an old friend who just seems to always start a project and never finish it.
Have sorta had leather hood straps in mind for it if and when I get a chance to do it. Always seems to be something else to do with a higher priority, LOL
Awhile back there was a post on main board that the owner of Hot Rod Leather was seriously ill, anybody know if he has recovered?

 

Shadow Creek - I had NO idea what to call them - started searching using screw rivets or rivet screws and they popped up. Thanks for the label and the cudos!

 

Dirty Old Man - I did call him early then late summer. He sounded optimistic about getting back up and running but his website hasn’t been updated more than most items being sold out. I really like his stuff, especially the 32 hood strap styles. I hope he is ok regardless of his ability to continue the business....

 

Worked on dying the hood straps today.. This was the actual color of the straps as I got them.

I just coated the straps with the applicator given and wiped down the straps with a clean dry cloth after they were coated. I used this stuff

And the result was pretty good ...

The original finish was “distressed black” - and the end result looks like an old leather strap, similar to old leather jackets ....

I really like the look and the result is much better than what I expected.
The steering wheel I am using has a gel coat butted up to a plastic center. However, the gel cost and the plastic had separated over time leaving the center hoop exposed. I was going to use the chrome clips like on a 62 Chevy wheel but they really cannot he used for my application (bare rod). I then thought of using stainless steel rod to fill the void but was too hard to bend. I went to a brass rod and got it in there but not without marring the metal. My present solution was to tie a piece of rawhide into the gap, glue it with gorilla glue, and trimmed off the excess. I then used the same black die to touch up the rawhide.

I don’t know if I will keep this look but it’s something at least for the time being ......

 

In Savannah at the moment - setting up my latest moonshine run lol!

 

While in Orlando we ate dinner one night at The Ford Garage - some really nice iron and such around ..



Cars were sans drivetrains and interiors but the bodies were very straight .... I could not resist the bun pic! There was a 4-door A above the bar and there were 4-5 A engines displayed both inside and out.

The tow truck was at Disney ....

....

 

There is a Ford Garage near Vics. Very cool. In that one they had two car suspended over the bar with the wheels powered.



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Really cool place and even the food was good! Memorabilia all over the place including a big pic of the man himself!

 

Worked on the hood hold downs today - installed the dyed straps onto the hood ...


Hot Rod Leather Eric’s straps are a tight fit but because they are tight they look really good. After a bit of elbow and white lithium grease and making something of a point at the end of the stainless rod, they slid into place.

After a few more adjustments to the hood fitment, I started locating where the cowl side bracket I bought from me a fellow Hamber (sorry - I will get a pic out tomorrow). I lined things up in relation to the edge of the cowl, about where my roadster sits .....

You can’t really see the bracket but it comes away from the frame nicely and should look good. After drilling location marks, it was off to the hardware store for the proper drill and tap. To be continued .....

 

So I got the driver side hood hold downs but n ...


And here’s a pic of the cowl side brackets ....

Ok - so I have a question - here’s a pic of the hold downs I got from Soeedwsy ....

Is the small piece at the top necessary and if so, how does it go on? Or does it go underneath? My roadster has them on the top .... any help would be appreciated. As of right now, I was going to skip using them .....

 

Isn't that what the hook goes into on the hood side? D

 

Tom, unless I've missed it along the way, and if so, please tell me where to look in this great thread for it, I'd really like to see the underside of that hood top so as to understand how the hood straps fasten up under there.
No great rush, just next time you have the hood off and think about it. My roadster I'm now running without a hood, but have a 1 piece top from Brookville.

 

No problem .....

Hood straps use the same rod as when you have hood sides - I picked up stainless rods, put a bit of a tip on one end and used white lithium grease to help in sliding them on ....
Passenger side front .....

Passenger side back .....

They are tight. From the cowl lip to the center of the back strap is 5”, from the backside grill lip to the center of the front strap, 3”. I did not follow the stock holes - just made them close and what “looked right” to me ....

 

Thanks, Dennis D - that makes sense. No wonder why I didn’t think of it! Lol!

 

So, save for tightening a few bolts and aligning the headlights, the FE is done ....


I cleaned up the shop and it’s on to the front floor pan and last bits of the wiring .....

 

Lookin GOOD Tom! I'm a little jealous... you're closer to the maiden voyage than I am. No one could ever imagine how much work building a hot rod really is, unless you've done the deed yourself.
That first trip going to be a BLAST!!

 

Greaser, everything you said is absolutely true. Here I thought having a body and interior all ready done would move things along faster - NOT! It just gives more creedence for other things to go wrong like all my frame problems. And all the little stuff - we won’t even go there.

The first voyage will be great and I am certainly looking forward to it!

 

The small piece is what the latch hooks to.
The straps on my A use a saddle latch.



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It has been crazy - every time I turn around there’s another problem that has to be taken care of, cutting into my garage time big time. But, that’s the way it is sometimes - even my wife feels bad because she knows how close I am trying finishing .... anyway ....

I was able to put the front floor pan in today with the 2 hours I had to work on it. Now I am checking that no wires or anything else are being interfered with. Unless something else crops up, I will have more time in the next couple weeks .....

 

So, got some time in today on the project. Finished getting all my wires out of the way and secure around the pedal area ...

... and here’s the way I ended up when I dropped in the floor pan ...

I finished getting the pan all squared away - I had to shim it in a couple spots so it sat right in the body.

With the pan done I installed the under seat box as the master cut off switch is installed in it and once I had it all hooked up, I had lights! What a relief! When I pulled the starter switch I heard a whirring noise so I did some other checks. I think the amp gauge wires which I have wired to my master cutoff are reversed as without them I have nothing and with them I have lights with or without the master cutoff being on. Anyway, I have some checks to to but I am closer....

The carpet you see in place will not stay - I’ve started on new pieces as I changed plans of how to install them and instead of using the black binding material which I was not happy with I will use 3” strips of semi-gloss black vinyl.

More pics on that tomorrow. Should be warmer tomorrow and looking forward to solving my electrical issues - looking forward to it! Getting closer .....

 

Hey Tom, looking good there and moving right along. Remember the All Deuce Run is June 1 this year. Hope you can make it.

 

Seadog, that’s the plan .....

 

A good day today .... here’s what works:

- headlights, amber driving light, all signals and brake lights
- whirring noise when I pulled the start switch was the wiper motor - I just had to turn it off
- under dash and dome light work but with the start switch on - I will change that to not needing the start switch
- the cig lighter plug works - my gps fired up
- the biggest news is I got the engine to turn over with my start button setup! I am really pumped about this - it’s been a long time coming.

What does not work is my horn - still trouble shooting that. I have some other concerns but nothing major - it’s been a good day.

I’ve also been working on the new interior carpet pieces and their binding. It’s coming along - I do a little at a time.

It’s getting there, boys, it’s getting there ....

 

Hope to see it on the road soon, even if minor details still need fine tuning.

Phil

 

Thanks, Phil - I appreciate your kind words .....

 

Another good day - Car now has about 5 gallons of gas, put in my antifreeze and had a bunch of small leaks. Looks like I have them all squared away for now .....

I remade my carpeting and center section, wiser now with how to work with carpet and not get unsightly pulls in visible areas. Working with vinyl was harder than I thought for the binding but the front floor and hump are done ....

I have to make up some new kick panels. The driver side will be able to be modified but the passenger side maybe not. Luckily Joann’s fabrics has vinyl nearly identical in color to the kick panels. I will reupholster them once fitted and use more of the replacement vinyl for the package tray outside surround. The inside will be carpet.

The shifter is next and the park brake handle boot came out nice. Been going since 10, took a break and had lunch with boys, and it’s 8:30 now. But she is ready to fire up when my buddy gets here after we go through some checks .... Excited!

 

She runs and I have a video but cannot post it - says the file is too large? Anyone know a work around? I’m doing it on my iPhone ....

My buddy Johnny C and I worked on getting her started. There were more antifreeze leaks, some electrical issues, but in the end, it all worked out. And the baffles? They sound fantastic- throaty but not loud. I couldn’t be happier.

Most of the water issues were hose clamp related and one around the crossover grommet. Just little things like no horn - after finding out everything was wired right I had forgotten to install the horn relay plug - duhhhh .... The tach lit up but was not showing any movement. I had that wired to the wrong post - simple fix. I had to modify my steel gas line to the carb (needed to modify its bends as one connecting hose was under strain) and tighten up some water pump bolts. Once we had made all our fixes she fired right off. I had to add a throttle spring as the throttle would not come all the way back - the old spoon pedal spring could not do it on its own.

I have continued work on the interior, making one kick panel and started carpeting the under seat tray. The kick panel did not meet up with the firewall nicely showing an unsightly gap. Made a windlace for the front firewall edge of the panel and that did the trick. I am using the original panels with the new vinyl. It’s not perfect but it will suffice. I also had a heater box leak that went on the carpet - bummer but that’s the way it goes. Cleaned it with some carpet cleaner - hopefully it won’t stink in the summer. If so I will cut a new piece of carpet ....

So, any help on the video would be great - it’s 31 seconds long and focuses the exhaust sound since there has been a lot of interest in that .....

Will have pics for the next post .....

 

Congratulations. First fire up is a big milestone in any build!

Phil

 

@TomT , you can open YouTube on your phone and upload the video to your YouTube account. Or you can move the video from your phone to your computer either by emailing it or connecting your phone to your computer and copy/paste or drag/drop. Once the video is on your computer, upload it to YouTube. Either way, once you've uploaded the video to YouTube, click "share" in YouTube and go to your thread on the HAMB. Go to the new reply box and click the embed video icon at the top of the post reply text box. It's the 16th icon from the left – looks like two little film frames. Paste in the YouTube link into the box titled "Enter media URL" and click the "Embed" button. Then click "Post Reply".

 

Close, very close.
Congratulations on a great car!