Projects 26 T Roadster Pick Up build Thread

Glad to see you out enjoying your Hot Rod. Been a long time coming. Beautiful job!

 

I love the sound of the Quickchange!

 

Thanks Tim, it’s been long enough that’s for sure. Ten years.
So much fun driving it.

 

I pulled the 160 degree thermostat today to put
in a 180.

It cools so well it takes a long while to get up to temperature and 160 isn’t optimum.

10 years and 87 pages I thought I might have achieved featured thread status with my build thread by now

No matter, driving it has been the best reward

Don’t know how to best describe the feeling.
I think the guys who have built their own cars will understand.

 

Yes Sir!! JW

 

The "featured thread" is strange. I think it has more to do with quantity than quality. I saw something a while back where Rayan said they didn't pick them, it was a function of the site settings. I don't know if that is true. You are a feature with those who know the quality of this build and the quality of the thread you created to document it. Thanks for taking us on your journey!

 

Yes, it is geared toward threads that create the most activity, has zero to do with quality!

 

Yep the featured thread only kicks in when a thread is first posted and it gets a lot of views and or replies in a short amount of time.


Yours deserves to be a featured thread but it's too old now.

 

Very nice ride! My first time reading this thread. Excellent work.

Sent from my Pixel 3a XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

I had the RPU out to a little gathering of friends and one of them snapped a few pictures with 35 mm film.

Definitely a different look to digital pictures.
Funny how soon you forget things from your earlier life

I got my helical gears and the parts to replace the input seal and O ring there’s a tiny little leak probably the seal dried out while it was sitting dry during construction and being rolled around too.

I’m standing there trying to find a picture to show one of the guys

 

What a sweet little truck you've built!
Makes me think how half-assed mine is.
Nice work, i hope you have many happy miles in it!

 

The V-8 emblem on the crossbar was an inspired touch. In that photo if it wasn't put on there would be a lot of open space.

 

Thanks, it’s a 50’s Ford Y block V8 fender emblem.
I thought it would look good there.

 

Trucks that small and you still can’t park it between the lines lol

 

Was driving it the goal from the very beginning? It really looks nice. Bob

 

Lines are for conformist type people which I’m not one of

Thanks Bob.

Driving it was one of the goals, the fun and challenge of building was another on the long list of goals.

This hot rod has lived in my head for over 35 years and now it’s out and both of us are having fun.

 

I'm working on my '30 Roadster body again that I found in 1962. Have to make a major investment to go any further. Bob

 

Driving around yesterday enjoying the day rather than changing gears in the quick change, I finally decided that the TCI All American coil overs are gonna be replaced.

When I bought them I did so because they were new on the shelf at the local rod shop and they were a good price.

I suspected that they would be a little stiff with 250 lb springs and they aren’t adjustable for dampening or rebound.

So, I’m going to head out to a weigh scale and weigh the car and then weigh the rear weight by itself sitting 1/2 way on the scale.

Then I can call QA1 and get a recommendation on the right spring rate.

I’m probably going to order a pair of these
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/QA1-Adjustable-14-Inch-Coil-Over-Shock-Kit,39192.html



As for the helical gear swap I’ll probably get to it later today because it’s raining

Besides swapping the gears, I also have to replace the input seal and o ring as there’s a tiny leak probably from a dried out seal sitting dry during construction.

 

Larry,

You might want to check how much the spring compresses now. Along with the rear weight QA1 can probably dial you in darn close.

I had a Corvette drag car that was pretty light in the rear. Wound up with 110 lb/in springs. I'm guessing yours will be pretty close to that.

While you have the yoke off to replace the seal, make sure you put RTV on the splines, under the washer and around the lower shaft bearing. That darn gear lube can find it's way out through the tiniest gap.

 

Looks and sounds great! Congrats

 

While out driving around the other day I hit a couple of bridge expansion joints at 60 mph and the rear bottomed out on my bump stops.

I originally had 3 1/2” of clearance travel there and now it’s 2 3/4”.

I have room to move everything up through spring preload adjustment as they’re at the bottom of the threads on the collars now and they are also on the bottom of the 3 holes in my lower shock mounts.

That won’t solve the harshness though because the springs at 250 pounds are not giving me the compliance that I think they could with a better spring rate.

The rear is jumpy even over regular road joints and normal pavement flaws.

On top of that the QA1s have the adjustable dampening that isn’t there now.

The TCIs are 13 1/4” mounted at ride height the QA1s are 14” so I’ll gain a little there too.

I anticipated having to do this once I had it on the road.

 

@blueone I suspect you weren't involved in that surreal weather mess that went through Calgary the other day...anyone with classic cars out that day are surly not to Happy. Nasty Mother of Earth what's going on with this planet...

 

Dont forget to take off the un sprung weight of the rear axle and wheel/tires from the overall rear weight. JW

 

I’ll have to try to guess what that is.
I could probably figure it out.
The tech guy at QA1 or maybe even Winters might be able to help with that.

 

No, we got some rain here in Edmonton, thankfully that was all.

They really got hit hard in Calgary could be in the billions range for property damage.
Golf to tennis ball sized hail obliterated vehicle’s and homes.
Nasty weather that we don’t get very often here in Alberta.

 

I missed you mentioning it but yes. The feeling of driving a car YOU built for the first time/s is unreal. Totally worth the effort

 

True that. JW

 

So this morning I headed out to the weight scale and weighed the hot rod.

With me sitting in it the scale said 2600 pounds so 2400 without me
That’s with a full tank of gas too.

I then rolled ahead and got the rear weight sitting 1/2 on and 1/2 off the scale.

The scale said 1433 pounds. Again with me sitting in the car.

I called the QA1 tech line and had a really informative chat with the tech guy.

We talked about my present TCI shocks and their shortcomings and then using my numbers and details on my RPU he was able to tell me what I needed.

He said that the 14”( Mounted length at ride height) shocks with single 18 position adjustment was the right choice.

They provide a 5” total range of compression and rebound where the TCI shocks only have 3”.

Based on my numbers and allowing another 200 pounds for various passengers he determined that a 150 pound spring rate was what would be needed.

Quite a bit less than the TCI which have 250 now.

So, a visit to Summit racing online and the order is in

 

Now to determine if you hit the bump stop or hit the bottom of travel in the TCI shocks!

 

Maybe both There are definitely bump stop marks on top of the axle tubes.

I’ll gain some room and better ride control with the new QA1s