Also on Saturday, I realized that the location of the steering box was not as good as it could be (that's why we tack things first!). The tie rod and the drag link were not parallel and aside from looking like crap I did not want some weird handling characteristic. My solution was to notch the motor mount perch and mount the box under the perch, making the tie rod and drag link parallel. The trickiest thing was to make it serviceable to the motor mount ,and locate the box in the correct location. Overall it worked out great. I had some momentum going so I figured I would mock up the engine for the first time, and see how it looks with the grill shell and head lights. I also went to home depot and got some material to build a bed riser, and hardware to mount it. More on that project later though............to be continued......
I think it's a great project you got there, really glad you're keeping the fenders. The only thing I'm not feeling is the grill shell, personally I like the chrome T shell like on the trucks Falcon George and Deigochero pictured. Kinda fits the theme better IMHO. The grill you have on in your pic would work if it's sectioned down a bunch, I assume that's the plan?
model A fenders? 4X2 chevy with corvette valve covers? Subscribed! deigochero, theres another one of these that was in Hot Rod around '61/'62 that really knocks my socks off, I will scan it and post. I love how this is shaping up.
Thanks the thing was just speaking to me when I saw it. The grill shell selection is not set in stone, that is just what came with the truck. I would section the hell out of it or just drop it if I were to use it. The bottom edge is pretty crusty, and I am not building a rat rod here. The radius of the commercial grill does speak to me since it is basically the same as the radius on the firewall/cowl area, despite being such a heavy looking piece. I also have a sectioned model A shell that someone gave me along time ago, and that may be more appropriate. I love critical comments because it makes me take a second look at decisions that were previously pure instinct, so thanks metal man.....seriously thanks. What I like about those early photos (like Falcon George posted thanks again) is that guys back then were solving problems, and a lot of what we take for granted today such as welders was kind of exotic (sure you could gas weld stuff but lets face it MIG machines were not common outside of industry). An example of said problem solving is, look at that flat headlight bar on the front of the T in that old photo. If you want your lights to sit low enough to be cool without reinventing the wheel that was a great way to do it! It is just a flat headlight bar, and compare it to mine and my T looks like it sits a mile high.
So the engine fell in my lap. I have a friend who has a 56 nomad and he had to have a 327, so I swapped the engine for him, and he gave me this engine. It is a smooth side 1957 coded 283 that ran like a Swiss clock (I mean there was no good reason to swap this thing because it ran that good!). I am also building a 32 three window Brookville body that also fell into my lap, and I thought I would run this 283 until my dream engine came along at an affordable price. Before said dream engine came along, I bought the old Weiand intake and carbs, the valve covers, and had a customer give me his old tach drive dizzy out of his vette. I even sourced a real Hurst motor mount! When I saw this little T, I new I could use my spare parts and build a toy with more short term goals in mind. The three window is a life long dream that I only have one shot at doing, so I want it to be right. That means I am going to take my time, also I fully understand that no one at my age has any business building a 32 3 window. I am very blessed. I plan to drive the T this car show season, and if I can have fun, and then sell it to free up my money tied up in these parts, then that's a win win. (I don't care if I make anything because the admission is worth the fun of the build.) Then I will have a little scratch freed up to pursue the deuce. I can't wait to see that one from hot rod, The Hemi in the one you did post is really cool. The guy I got this truck from said his brother planned on running a Chrysler 331, and he supposedly has the engine some where. I wonder if he saw this same truck in the magazine?
Unfortunately, my memory was inaccurate, this one had '30/'31 fenders on it, still a really good looking truck, and still worth a look. I really like the direction you are taking with this. I have a '57 283 as well, I am building it as a '57 270hp 283 copy, and putting it in a full fendered '26 Tudor.
sounds like the tow driver is trying to be a stand up guy. not giving you the run around. and coming up with parts. cool little truck you are building .
I had a few things progress this week. I was able to build a bed riser, figure out the pitman arm / draglink situation, got some parts ordered, removed some of the damaged metal that might be salvageable, and figured out how racked the bed is. first off is a better shot of what I did for the steering box..... The pitman arm is a little low for my liking but if I reverse it everything will be in perfect alignment. Two solutions I have come up with is cut the arm flip it and take the arm and the taste of the rockies to my buddy Glen and have him tig the thing back together. The other option is just buy one of the borgeson or pete and jakes arms that can be heated and bent to shape. The next photos are of the bed riser. Nothing exotic for material just 2"x4" redwood. I figured with some tongue oil it will be resistant from rot for years to come. The first thing I did was measure, then make a template for my joints....... Transfer the pattern.... Cut them out...... Dry fit and adjust as needed......... Glue this thing up and walk away for awhile...... Then I carved the radius (sort of like a bull nose) over the joint and installed.......... I had no access to a band saw and had to cut these joints by hand with a Japanese pull saw and chisels. I am happy enough with the results for what this project is, despite the huge glue joints. Norm Abrams I am definitely not, but it is a cool feature on a bed riser for a truck, and is not fine furniture.
Thanks for sharing that picture! The profile is useful for determining the bed height. Also I found the hairpins and the engine set back to be more of that era problem solving , very cool indeed. That thing had to have been really cramped with the firewall like that ! Interestingly the car was from Chula Vista California, which is about 15 minutes from where I live. I am insanely jealous of your 9 fin valve covers too.. Yup he handled business, a good dude for sure.
I love it! The bed riser looks great to me. And I'm all in 100% for the commercial shell, dropped but not cut. That's what I have on my '26 and I love the look. Lots of great period cars ran '32 grilles on 26-27 T's, plus it came with the truck, and any extra pieces of history you can save from the original purchase seem pretty worthwhile to me.
Squablow that's a really sharp looking T you got there! Thanks for the kind words, and yes I agree to use as much as what came with the truck.
Hardly anyone on here ever notices the 9 fins, good eye. But I know, and that's what matters! Take a good look at the distributor, some Corvette restorer somewhere is looking at that pic and gritting his teeth right now. I like the flipper caps and the box riser, nice!
I saw that dizzy! I am going to corvette restorer hell also, because i'm going to run one off of a stingray that also has the tach drive, just need to find the right tach.
Lloyd Cope got it from me, took out the DeSoto, put in a Chrysler, auto, 9", built new frame, Changed Everything about it except "the look" has a '31 model A bed, grille shell is brass, not chrome. Lloyd's widow sold it, it is bee-u-ti-ful now, BLACK, white top, interior, bed cover. Runs out of Portland, Oregon area. I think
I get that, they can look goofy pretty quickly. The bed height has been dictated by the rear fenders, and how they mate up to the existing holes in the reveal of the bed side. Not sure if you saw the profile shot of it in mock up, but I am guessing that is stock model A since that is where everything lines up and is happy.
Please DO NOT let those holes influence yer ugly-ness, that is a MODEL T PU BED, Its not a MODEL A !!! believe or ask the "experts" or google: 26-27 Model T PU and '28-'29 Model A PU and look at the side board pockets.. Model T's have three pockets per side, front ones are close together, your bed has been shortened at the front, eliminating the front pockets. Model A beds have a spacer between fender and bed. I don't know if they are available from MAC, or Brookville or others, but you'll want them.. Maybe trade the "T" bed for a "A" bed? (I always felt bed on my car was shorten to much at back..) it was a shortened '30-'31 narrow bed, >>late '31's were wide-er ..
I see what you mean, the bed is definitely T despite what other "experts" have told me! LOL! Seriously I have had a few collectors tell me it's 1928 A, and doctor google confirms your statement. I am still having to deal with that reveal and how it relates to the rear fenders. If the bed goes down the fenders go up because they still have to mate up with the running boards, and then there will be a gap between the bed side and the fender. That would look really bad. I am paying attention to the height of the back of the cab, and the height of the bed, and trying to get the symmetry of all of the lines to jive.
The gap of which you speak is NOT a "MINOR MATTER" the spacer is quite involved and has its OWN set of holes, where it bolts to the bed, then the fenders bolt TO the spacer with other holes, OF WHICH I SPEAK, The running boards, and aprons on mine were extended about three inches. "its just gotta look correct from side," I hated the area between bed and body. Ford had a filler piece I learned many years later. The coupe, pu, and touring basically used the same front part of the body. O I know that will cause a few arguments, but its mostly TRUE. (alternative facts ) same , 'cept for hinges holes, bolts holes, etc.
Good info thanks. I think when the weather clears I need to roll it out side, print out those images and spend a little time staring at it. I did do some research and found some discussion regarding how those things were mounted with a taller, and a shorter wood block. Supposedly the way you tell which blocks were used is if the thing has the metal pieces in the bed floor or not. I kind of find this hard to believe, and feel further research with interviewing model T restorers may be required to myth bust this.
REMEMBER, your using a Model A frame. forget the restorers, they will just make ya mad or frustrated... wing it, till it looks "right" Also, 28 and 29 fenders are DIFFERENT, and some of us will spot difference as soon as we walk up to car, some people don't notice. A restorer here in town has a 28 on one side and a 29 on other. Doesn't even Know, or maybe CARE. IMO.
It's been a few weeks since I have posted last, so I thought an update was in order. Work has been busy, GNRS was awesome, and I have been putting along with the rear suspension on my little truck. I rolled it out from under the T knowing it wouldn't be pretty.......but damn. What I am seeing is a 1957 or later rear axle with a bunch of home brew brackets, a very usable spring, shackles that need to be cleaned up (probably usable), and a split rear wish bone that has had each side lengthened and bent. On the axle the bones sit about a foot wider than the span of the frame, and they are way too long. The first order of business was to come up with a plan. The bones need to be shortened, proper ends needed to be installed and the mounting location needs to be brought inboard. Only problem is the spring will now need its' own mount because the current setup uses the stock mounts on the bones. First thing was to lop off the goofy ends and put these things to a decent length with good ends going on in place. The next thing was to get all of that junk off of the rear axle....... When I was thinking about how I would now mount the spring, it came to me that I had some fancy brackets I was unable to use on my 32 project, so those got placed over the axle...... Next I introduced the spring , set up a decent pinion angle, and then tacked everything in place....... Next I turned my attention to the bones. I had more fancy brackets that with a little work would do the job. Also I went to my buddy's shop and used his big press to bend the bones back to an "as straight as possible" condition. So, that's where we are currently at, I also tacked a track bar in place up front. The next tasks will be to remove that ugly bar stock on the side of the bones and install the brackets, bones, and mock it all up with the mounting hoop, then I should have a roller again.
The Jalopy Journal
