No, there are one or two vehicles kicking around with them but they've been swapped in after cert . .
Yeah they are very cool belts. Nice 'n long and come in a good range of neat colours. I'm using charcoal to match the planned steering wheel shade. Best of all they are reasonably priced too. Check out Kruzin Kustoms in Palmy - Details are usually in NZ Petrolhead mag. Hope that helps out....
Yeah-Nah! Some old geasers have used these on their restored roadsters for years and even they are now having a hassle at WOF time too! Certainly NOT an option for my coupe!! I've had an aftermarket electric wiper motor kit sitting in it's box for a while but I really wanted to go all original hence the outside mount vacuum wiper. I'm really going all out for traditional!
Been super busy on this thing lately getting impatient again so more late nights (Im getting my sleep at work). I got that damn generator bracket finished finally. Dont know whether Im that happy with it to be fair but it will do for now. Ive spent way too much time thinking of the best way to do this job and Im kinda over it! Hopefully it will work out okay and I can forget about it. So I bought a new vee belt to drive the generator and water pumps. Im not going to run a fan to start with did I hear a gasp? Hopefully that big flash radiator and modern water pumps will be up to the task. Flatties love to heat water - yeah I know but Ive seen it done fan-less before without problems. Well see Ill just keep moving fortunately no traffic jams where I live. The wiring is basically all done now too. I just drew up a simple wiring diagram and made up my own loom running out all the wires first and branching them off at the appropriate places like lights and switches etc. Man that can all get a bit confusing at times didnt dyslexic I was so realise! Im using one of those old style turn signal switches (with the little green blinking light on the stalk) and used those wire colors for the light wiring etc. Once everything was temporarily taped in place I hauled it all out onto the floor, sat down and wrapped it up using black HV cable jointers tape. Still looks pretty old school which is a bonus. I might even use cloth overlay tape if I can get some in time. Ive kept with NOS old Ford stuff for all the electrical components; original style (but up-rated 30A) Model-A ammeter; Ford headlight dimmer floor switch; Ford starter relay etc. Im using a repro '40 steering wheel therefore no steering wheel light switch anymore so I used a NOS light switch mounted in a little panel I made to mount the accessory 3-gauge set. Engine wiring is pretty basic and Ive used a key-start ignition switch and coil ballast with by-pass etc. I would have preferred an old Ford starter button (even bought one) but couldnt decide on where to drill a hole for it. This was a good time to install the cool old remote oil filter on the firewall and run new lines to the engine. I hooked up the Moon 3-gauge set and mounted it under the little panel I made that sits down next to the steering column. Shit ....its getting close to finally kicking this thing in the guts! Better go off and buy some gas
Well, it goes! I hadnt run the engine since buying it and trying it out on the little stand I made. I poured some gas in the tank; fixed a weeping fitting inside under the dash [tank]; primed the fuel pump [Ive got one of those Canadian pumps with the little primer lever on the side] and turned the key. The engine fired up with less than one turn. Excellent! I had to shut it down straight away as engine oil came spewing out of the filter. Bummer! So after fixing that small setback it was time to make this thing move under its own power test drive time! All went well to start with but then I had a reoccurring fuel blockage issue with the carbs then flooding! I couldnt work out where the black snot was coming from as it was after the fuel filter. It had to be the fuel pump. Turns out the rebuilt fuel pump had a bead of silicone sealer put behind the mesh screen to hold it in place! That took some figuring out. After the initial frustrations and changing out the pump I managed a first drive - Yeah! A few laps around the block and back for some adjustments. I had to lean off the fuel mixture quite a bit [exhaust was a bit stinky] and put that rear spring leaf I left out back in after bottoming out a couple of times. The engine was a bit noisy alright with no mufflers raspy more than loud really. Then this old buddy of my dad turned up...I bet you forgot the chicken netting. What the..? Apparently [us] young fellas dont know shit about how it was done back in the day. So I pulled the centre section of pipes out and as instructed cut a 1 foot piece of chicken netting off the roll for each pipe, rolled it around a broom handle a slid them into the pipes. That engine straightaway sounded totally different nice and mellow and flattie-like. Well bugger me! Yep you do learn something new every day. So with that and the fuel issues sorted I drove around and around our area pretty much all the next day. I even had to refill the tank! Real pleased though engine runs sweet; brakes work good; even the speedo seems to be reading right and yes the wiper works. It just had to rain! This is my first hotrod and is definitely totally different to drive than anything else Ive ever owned. The seat and steering position is surprisingly comfortable although I dont know for how far. Ill still have to look into the power valves as it is a bit rich when the gas pedal is stomped on. The best thing of all is that big radiator works real well. The engine never even got close to getting too hot. Even sitting running in the driveway while messing around with stuff it only got up to about 195F after 20mins or so. When driving around the suburbs it only got to about 160F right on the thermostat. It looks like no fan required so far. So all in all Im really chuffed with the first outing. Time now to put it away again and finish off a few things and get that tuck n roll upholstery done for the seat and doors. The attached pics are of the car in the driveway after cruising around [and getting rained on] the second day
Yeah Chris! you nailed it. Congrats on the first drive. I'm really looking forward to seeing the coupe in the flesh somewhere in the future. .
Well done man. You just built a whole car in under 6 months! Looks good mate. Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
Thanks have me a lot of ideas for when I put the 28 roadster back together in my profile. I've got a 59a flathead ready for it and Halibrand QC rear end. Like the stance well done!
REALLY nice car, well done. I am at the other end of a build and love reading these build threads for inspiration. Getting it together outside the US makes it that little bit harder. Now, go enjoy it!!!
Thanks to everyone for the nice comments! I been looking at all the similar build threads since before I started my build and still do! It's really great to see so many cool old traditional hotrods being built these days and the HAMB has been an absolutely awesome source of information and inspiration. I've still have some work to do before the car is finished - I have already pulled the seat out to get the tuck 'n roll upholstery started. It shouldn't be too long to go before I can start putting some miles on the thing! I'll keep posting.......
you should post a video of how it sounds with straight pipes. i think mine is a little to quiet.. it just has glaspacks and stainless pipes
Yeah I will have to get a video up-loaded of it running. I'll check out how to do that and get a clip onto the HAMB soon. The straight pipes are 1-7/8" (I wouldn't go any smaller) and they sounded a bit harsh and raspy until I put the chicken netting in. I guess that works kinda like glass packs - er without the glass. Anyway I'm pretty pleased with the old-school sound the car makes. I had a buddy go for a wee drive while I watched from the side of the road and the car has a nice vintage hotrod sound. No doubting it's a flattie powered rod for sure when you hear it! I've done a bit more on the car but I have been a bit distracted with other things over the last month or two - but I'm back to it now. The seat should be back from the upholsterer anytime now. Meanwhile I've been doing all those little jobs that go un-noticed but take a lot of tedious work. I will post some more pics etc very soon.
Yeah, plan to have it there. I've been asked to put it on a trade stand. It's not 100% finished but it will do for now!
The Jalopy Journal
