Ha I love seeing people this excited for my car!! I am going for a dry lake style. If you look back on my build a few pages there is a Black T that is my inspiration to give you an idea! I LOVE THE NAME!! The NASH-T ROADSTER!!! I might just have to use it! It would be a shame if not!
Hey guys. I am on the look out for a stock model A wishbone.. My plan is to split them and assemble my front end like one of the fellow h.a.m.b. members. So far I have had no luck with finding any... Does anyone have one for sale?!
If you don't clean the grinding residue off your driveway, the next time it rains, your driveway will turn rusty brown! Don't ask me how I know.
Great info here! Just what I've been looking for! Instead of swap meeting out some old parts, I'll save then for a modified!
Hi Amy I have followed your build for some time now and have been greatly impressed buy your determation. At present I am nearing the end of my T build. My build has extended over so much the that I have gotten some items that I am not going to use and would like to see them go to a good home. If I could get a address for you I would forward this stuff down to you It would help you out some. George
Hey everyone! It has been awhile... lots of stuff going on (moved, new job, getting married!) But I am still pushing forward on the the Nash-T Roadster! The most exciting thing is that it is now a roller! It is still essentially just mocked up but it does give us a great idea of the final design. We went ahead and "Z'd" the frame. Mounted the Model A buggy spring, and got the rear radius arms attached! Next we got the front axle mounted. We graciously stole from our friend Old6rodder here a copied the front axle design he did on his flying brick. We also have two Model T wishbones that we are going to split and use for radius arms for the front of the T. Next we are starting to mock the Nash flathead 6 engine in the T. We have decided to change the transmission from the factory Nash 3 speed, to an early ford toploader. We have to do some experimenting but we feel optimistic we can build an adaptor (maybe with some help!) Some exciting new additions to the build is a windshield that I was able to get from our friend Dave. It fits great, and is starting to give the T a brand new look!
Looking good Amy. Keep at it and you'll have it running before I get ours together. Good seeing you guys at the Antique Nationals.
Amy, I have noticed on that other "social media" (time sucking) page that the car is running now. How about an update with pictures here for all of us who want to know the details of how the project came together?
What other media? It's all down hill from the HAMB! Is it the one with the photos and no text, the one with the all the sh1tty videos of kittens?
Hey Everyone! Sorry I haven't been updating the build on the "Nash-T" Roadster. Been a pretty crazy year and half. Having a baby takes away a lot of time from Hot Rods... if you let it! We were determined more than ever to get the T done, and with the little guy with us now it was time for him to start wrenching. Hey even a 10 month old can help out. Looks like the cats out of the bag, and people know the T is "done". Well here is what we have been doing for the past year. Enjoy!!! Our friend and racing buddy Dave McCain offered to help out with the T. Basically get the drivetrain mounted, and the front and rear suspension. We ended up finding an awesome old straight axle with old chrome and got it mounted to the T frame. Then the engine was truly mounted to the chassis using the original Nash crossmember and using flathead V8 motor mounts, no longer need a ratchet strap holding it down. Dave also had a brass T radiator which fit the build perfect! Dave also built an absolutely amazing piece of art for us, and converted the transmission from a column shift to a top shift.
When we got the T back that's when the real fun started! First we had to address the body. It looks like it was a touring that was cut down, or they grafted a different back to the bucket at some point. Our good friend Karrison came on board to help with a lot of the fabricating of the T. We cut out the old weak welds, and added patch panels. Something that we decided to do was to build a sub-frame type cage in the bucket. We wanted the body to be a strong as possible.
Once we got the body mounted we stood back and looked at the T for awhile.... It just wasn't looking right. We had about a 4 inch gap between the engine and firewall. The wheelbase looked way to long, and the proportions just didn't look right. It did't have that tiny runabout T bucket feel. This was the time to do it... So we made the decision to cut 4 inches out of the chassis. That meant shortening the driveshaft we just got made, shorting and relocating the steering box, changing body mounts.
Taking out the 4 inches made a huge difference! It just felt right after that. Everything seemed to fit better. We then built a turtle deck seal, and lowered the deck. Next was the headers. The exhaust is pretty funky. Each port shares 2 cylinders so there are only 3 ports for exhaust. On top of that, the mounting surface is not traditionally flat, but the 2 inch pipe sits in the block. The original exhaust was just one pipe running down the block with the end capped off. Since this build is on a budget we decided to cut up a chevy header we had laying around and adapt it to the original exhaust piping and bracket. Next we had to get the brass radiator recored and had the outlets relocated. Unfortunately there is not enough room to run the mechanical fan, so we had to run an electric fan. We built the wood floor that sits over the steel floor. We also found an amazing T steering wheel! Also the seat frame ended up being the back seat frame from a Model A sedan.
We needed a gas tank. We had the original 25' tank and we shortened it. But unfortunately there was too much rust. We even built a tank within a tank, but it just wasn't working. So my husband found a harbor freight air tank that was collecting dust under the work bench and it fit between the frame rails perfect. we used the neck from the original tank. Holds 6 gallons! Then we started the body work. We didn't want the body to be perfect because then it would look like every other fiberglass bucket out there. So we decided to leave a few imperfections and some love bumps and bruises. After having the car for 6 years, I finally had to truly decide what color to paint it. I've already painted the T a hundred times over in my head in a slew of colors. I told myself that I wasn't going to paint it blue, our dragster is blue, our truck is blue. But. I ended up falling in love with the Washington Blue. So we ended up spraying away, and after a few days of wet sanding and polishing we were finally on the home stretch!
A few years back I bought a large roll of shiny aluminum, we cut some out and put it over the firewall and started adding all the goodies. One of the cool pieces we were able to add was an original NOS Frantz Oil filter with the toilet paper element. Now it was time to get the upholstery done. Everyone was against me, but I was convinced it would look best, and choose a gold interior with cream piping.