Projects My "You didn't build that" 27 T Roadster build thread

Yeah, it really has! Bob had every intent of building this car this nice from the beginning, I just didn't know it. I wanted it to be on the road and driving, LOL. Remember I was just going to have him scuff the body and squirt it!

Damn, that is a GORGEOUS roadster, thanks for sharing! Do you have a build thread that I've somehow missed? If so please post it here so we can all follow along! Nailhead, belly pan, spokes? Just too bitchin' man!!!


Okay, I'll post the drawings I did. Please bear with me as it's been a LONG time since I've done any significant artwork and I'm seriously rusty. When I grow up I want to have Jimmy Smith, Jeff Norwell, Jeff Allison, Del Swanson, Tom Taylor and Steve Stanford talents all in my right hand. Hell, I could draw a LOT better than this in high school 25 years ago but I'm too busy working and raising kids to keep in practice.

Remember this is the color combo, I don't have the right pens to make this color so you'll have to use your imagination.



My selection of markers has dwindled and I didn't feel like going and buying another $200 worth of Chartpacks for a quickie drawing. I don't have any suitable paper (copier paper this time around) and I'm done making excuses for myself....

So I started with a pencil drawing, then inked it in, erasing all the pencil lines. I free hand everything. No stencils, no straight edges, no circle making things. I'd use them if I had them, or could find them in my desk....

I made a few copies so I could get a few different ideas.



The original plan was for a black chassis, maroon body and cream colored interior and other cream colored details. The idea was that in the late 50's and early 60's most chassis were painted black, probably because it was easy, unless it was Deuce. I'm trying to shoot for that era, but of course there are a few concessions. Let's call it a "tribute" not period correct.



After I did that I realized it had the "jalopy" look I originally planned. Cool! But as I stared at the colorized version I couldn't help but think - what if?

The chassis is so nice it deserves to be a focal point and shouldn't "disappear" with black, so it needs to be body color too. The firewall should be the same cream that the details (wheels, interior, backing plates, etc) should be, right? But I think the cream split bones and steering box look a little too street-roddy.



Victoria said that the headers will be chrome, so I obviously have a few more drawings to do. When I have time. Which might be never.

 

A quick reply from Bob regarding the capless bottle:

Eric: you might mention to your readers, just for clarification that the gas bottles in question are EMPTY and fully discharged!! I have two sets of bottles for everything. ALL of my bottles ARE CHAINED. AND yes I know what can happen. Saw a CO2 bottle dropped in the Navy and saw it go through a plywood bulkhead.​

Man, now I want to live! I wanna see one of these take off!

 

Mr modest !! those drawing are very cool as is the subject. JW

 

Jay Dub, thanks but I really AM embarrassed putting those up there as I'm capable of much better work. I tried to defend myself though by calling them quickies... I have about 60 minutes in the whole thing including running 10 copies.

I just hope Jeem doesn't see them, LOL!

 

Just caught your build thread (some just squeak by), looking good! I'll be keeping an eye on this one.
Oh, you get a "pass" on the drawings 'cause of the quickie status....


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Man it would take me a year to draw something that good. Just my 2 cents but I like drawing number 1 myself, but you really can't go wrong with either one. Love those colors, I am going with a green and cream on my A.

 

This place moves so fast, with so much information, stuff gets buried quick! I've come across builds of guys I know (HAMB friends whom I've not met in person) who have had INCREDIBLE build threads going for 5 or 6 years and I was dumbfounded! Yeah, it happens and I can certainly attest to it! And thanks for the pass, I'll post a MUCH better one in the future as time permits, probably water color. I've done a few in the past 10 years, but posting them on this thread would be too far off track, although they're still HAMB friendly. Hmmm, Friday art show someday?

Yes, Bob has built dozens of RODS but he's building a CAR for us.

Curt, I keep going back and forth between pic 1 and 2. The black chassis says "jalopy" to me, but I can't help but seeing this thing really "finished" with a body color chassis. Besides, the T body is so small and short that in MY narrow little mind it needs the help of the chassis being the same color. It gives the overall car a lot more visual height and weight.

I think you told me you were painting your coupe similar to my Tudor when you were down last year. If I were building this car for me it'd probably be the same as the Tudor. I LOVE that color!


Wednesday morning I went to order the bias ply tires and at the very last second something was really nagging at me. I checked Coker's (lousy) website and low and behold, the 560-15's I was about to order have a braided tread pattern. AUGH!!!!! I don't want no stinkin' braided pattern, I want sawtooth! Coker didn't have a solution for me. I'm running Shoebox wheels 15x4 1/2 and 16x4 1/2. Their answer was a 600x15 in front and a 750x16 in back. Nope, 600's up front look like dune buggy tires to me.

Well shit. The Firestone Transforce HT 215/85/15's arrived today. The Firestone F560 155R15's will be here next week. Radials it is.



'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

mythbusters sent one through a concrete block wall a while back. maybe it's on you-tube.

i googled enough to find out it was season 4 episode 21, but i can't find it on the web anywhere. maybe someone smarter than me can post a link...

 

I dig the body color chasis!

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I think that you are referring to this link for the mythbusters sending a gas cylinder right through a cement (block) wall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEJGNLTo84

 

Just to be disgustingly technical, the law says even empties need to be chained and tops kept on.

 

yes, it is. thanx.

now back to a very cool T roadster. sorry i sidetracked...

 

subscribed.

 

No problem, it's actually relevant and a good safety lesson for us all. Thanks atch, pete1 and Bertolasi for the conversation! Bottles are dangerous... and potentially FUN in the right environment. Anyone else want to put wings on one?

Thanks Paul, I hope you enjoy the ride!



'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

By the way, our friend Rick brought the primer to Bob's house a few days ago. I spoke to Bob yesterday and he's moving right along. Hopefully I can post pictures of the chassis in primer in a few days, but right now I'm listening to the family snore in a hotel room in Wendover. Woke up an hour ago to pee and can't go back to sleep!!! Too excited to get some sodium in my diet! Gonna start waking them up soon.

Also, I learned a few days ago hat Gennie Shifter is still n business! Although which shifter I use isn't that exciting I was THRILLED to know they never closed their doors, but I (and a lot of ou) thought they were history.

Go buy a shifter that's made in America, not the American Shifter Chinese crap that Hoffman peddles. www.gennieshifter.com. Of course Lokar is always an option too.



'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

I love my gennie! I'm gonna put a second bend in mine and build a second arm out of a hurst just for giggles!

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RE:The gas bottles.I personally saw one go through the cement wall of a body shop about 40 years ago.We ALL had to call for a wardrobe change.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Eight new Firestone's arrived.

Two F-560 155R15's and two 215-85-16's.



Four 6.00-16's for the Shoebox.





'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

Nice tires. I get your point on the frame matching the body color.
Missed you on the salt, I ended up working need the money for the car.

 

Sorry you didn't make it out, it was great! I was waiting to get buzzed by a low flying rescue craft but never did, LOL.

Stopped by Bob's yesterday afternoon and dropped off a '65 Mustang V8 radiator for him. He's going to build some slick mounts for it and a front shroud (of sorts) to cover the open areas between the front of the '28/29 shell and the radiator itself. Going to be pretty cool!

Had my good buddy Todd wet blast six more wheels for me. Two of the four that were done above aren't going to be used... whoops. This time around I got it all right, FOUR 16" Shoebox wheels, four for my '50 and two for the back of the wife's T. Primer this weekend... maybe.

Oh, and the chassis is looking KILLER but I didn't take any pictures, sorry. Bob is such a great craftsman and perfectionist, this chassis is truly unbelievably beautiful!

 

Those tires for the '27 look very nice,they would also look nice on mine.We just don't have many of the sizes you have.The best I could get for my 16x6 rims were 205/65x16 and 225/75x16. Your Roadster is going to really have the look with them. I also run 600x16s WWs on one of my Willys. JW

 

Hey man, how you gonna fit in this thing? lol... You're as tall/taller than I am I think. I'm fatter though, so I got you there. I couldn't fit my right leg in that car. Looking awesome!

 

I don't think shipping would be very reasonable from the states, but there are several sizes available and would probably be worth the cost. Take a look here: http://www.firestonetire.com/tires/transforce/transforce-ht

Scroll down to "Specs" and hit the red "SEE ALL" button. Great reference!

You callin' me fat? Cuz I am, LOL.

Yep, I'll fit in it! One of my pet peeves with T's is how people look like they're sitting ON the car rather than IN the car. We'll be down real low and we're going to kick the stock toe board forward (more vertical) to gain about 3" of leg room at the heel.

At 6' 1" It probably won't be much of a cross country tourer but we will be piling miles on it. Wife is 5' 6" so she'll be comfy and happy, sunburned and tangled hair! Del Mar and Scottsdale are her two favorite events and we'll drive it everywhere. Maybe even Yellowstone next summer!

 

Thanks Eric, my reasoning was if I had a tire problem I could buy a replacement by the next day. I like what I have just like yours more. JW

 

Yeah I hear that a lot, LOL.

Now back to cars! Understood completely, but I'm surprised those tires aren't readily available in NZ. I know your big trucks run some strange (to us) tire sizes, but this would be a common dually or medium motor home size.

 

I would be very interested in seeing pictures of how he does the mounts, as I will be using basically the same radiator ('66) and shell. Thanks

 

I'll definitely post pics for you Kramer. I will tell you that the although the Mustang radiator fits just fine within the '28-29 grill shell there's a LOT of room around the edges. Enough so that we'll have some sort of "shroud" out of flat sheet metal that mimics the inside shape of the grill shell... if that makes sense. I'll be painted gloss black to better blend with the radiator fins. I hope it doesn't look too out of place. I'll post pics of that too.

 

It's so amazing to see the transformation over just a few days. A solid base of primer was laid down a few days ago when the wife and I stopped by. She approves and made lots of vroom-vroom noises!



I stopped by again today to catch up and deliver some tires to Bob for his T roadster. These were my 165R15's and 235/75/15's. We swapped some more labor! Bob has been sanding down the chassis to perfection. Although only the sides and a short section of the tops will show, Bob is doing his thing and detailing every square inch. Granted, things like the K member won't be Ridler contender finish but much nicer than I ever anticipated!








This is the passenger side rear shock mount. Although it will never be seen, there are a few areas that need a touch of glazing putty.


Driver's side trailer hitch tab. Never seen but it needs the proper attention too!





It will receive a few more rounds of primer and sanding before paint, but if you can tell there are very few high or low spots already. That's a testament to a guy who preps right for a better finished end product.

'27 T Roadster build: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=734383

 

Damn that's nice !! JW

 

Nice, Just read your entire thread front to back. I love the marroon on maroon! Trying to start my "research". A roadster will hopefully be my next in line. I really like the 26/27s. but the 28/29s are right there too. I'll have to follow along and see how well you fit down in this one. I'm 6'2".

Not sure how ill choose year, 32 frame/ lowboy etc... Maybe something will find me.

Thanks for posting up!
-wes