The first guy that asks if this is a "kit car" is gonna get one of these bronze windshield posts shoved up his arse. ;-) These are probably "Honest Charley" posts, they came with the project, and up until yesterday I'd had them just loosely bolted to the body, and the w/s frame loosely hung without the pivot bushings. Trying to tighten things down lead to a whole bunch of not fitting right, I spent an entire afternoon getting the posts to set at the same angle, the same distance to the back edge of the cockpit, and the w/s frame to rest squarely. It's close enough now, but, what a job. First, getting the doors to fit. Then, the rumble lid. Then, the hood and grill shell. Then, the splash aprons (those aren't quite done, I need another can of Mar-Glas short strand filler for that), and now, the w/s posts and frame. I didn't have the heart to put the top bows back on, but that's the next step, to see what I have to do to make that fit now that the posts are set firmly on the body. I'm sure there'll be some new holes drilled and tapped for that to fit right now too.
Looks like it fits good now, but.... is there room for the seal under it? Not to be a smart a$$ just curious cause I don't have a roadster.
I wonder who's gonna be the first, to ask, if it's a kit car, how come nothing fits together..... Well it ain't going to be me, I like to sit on my butt. Seriously though, ain't this called hot rodding. Taking all those mismatched parts, and working them, so they fit together well enough, so they function good, and look cool doing it. It can be Damn frustrating, but when it finally fits, you get a great feeling of achievement, cause you made it work. That's when you forget about all the grief, swearing, and frustration.
C'mon bud don't hide the kit car status, we're all friends here. However, if it was a kit car your troubles would likely be double what you've done so far. Just gonna toss this into the kettle, door gaps. The top to bottom at the cowl, steel or glass, gennie or other, Ford, Packard, Duesy even, the final gap at the front is best set with the cowl. The degree that you compress the body mounts at the firewall and 'A' post will final fit anything there. On the Packards I set the rear gap that way, or the hgt of the door/body relationship, suicide doors I set the shut faces. The rear most bolts to the door or 'B' post can go toward setting the leading edge up n down relationship too. Don't worry, it'll never move in our lifetimes. Beats the shit out of grinding/filling 'glass. So, ok, is it?
Don't get me wrong guys, I'm having a ball building this. . The challenge is the fun part, if I wanted easy I'd buy a Corvette! Highlander, the door gaps were easy, after I fixed the twisted and broken hinges, twisted the doors with a turnbuckle and made cowl bracing. It was the rumble lid that gave me trouble, but nothin half a can of Mar-Glas and Rage, and hours with a long board didn't fix. . And moving the hinges, and making stops, and...
Hey, anyone can put a car like that together , You just put part A onto part B. That's what I've heard anyway. So you spend a gazillion hours making square pegs fit in round holes so that it looks as if it was born that way. Ninety nine percent of the people won't notice all those little details that took you many, many hours to do. So that in itself is the compliment. Then someone ( the one percenter )looks and points and says to his buddy , look here I wonder how he done that? . Man , I love that guy. Bill
That's the worst. With my '36, it was, "What year is your Prowler?". The "Diamond T gets, "Did that yusta be some kind of fire truck?". People may mean well, but after the hundredth time...
Now for the big one,,, we have a 1950 Chevy Ute from Australia,,, At Pomona we would send 3/4 of our time telling people, no its stock,,,really. Finally one time I said,, yes we cut up a sedan delivery for the rear quarters, a convertible for the frame, four door sedan for the doors, two door sedan rear window, and a station wagon,,,,, he stood there,,, 'Really?"
The term "Kit Car" sounds like all you have to do is insert tap A into slot B,if only it was that easy,having built a couple of glass cars I can assure anyone NOTHING FITS! HRP
Well when I get asked a dumb question like that I just say yep & they walk away happy & I really don't give a shit. On a lighter note Brian I just dropped my grille off for chroming. I may have to be asking for a loan, I hope not. We will see if & when I get it. I have a N O S glass one for backup I can't afford to pick it up.
When asked "Is that a rat rod?" I respond "If by rat rod you mean, Fucking awesome Traditional Hot Rod? Then yes... it's a rat rod... That being said the perception of names like rat rod and street rod have morphed over the years into different definitions. Almost insults . But they weren't bad in their day. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Kit car that's funny. Usually only people who are not Hot Rodders are the ones that make that kind of comment. You have to laugh and tell them its a hot rod. They still wont get it.But a person that does getit and see what you are doing it is a work of Art and to me that is what is all about......
I'm just going to say that from seeing it in the 80's in a Major Street Rod Publication with a bitchin "Flying Flatty" with the perfect shade of purple on Wide Whites when really nobody was doing that, Well it's The Besst Personal Kit Kar that I've ever seen, There I said it, but ya don't have to take credit for it as it was when it was done the 1st time out . Still even better now that you've got ahold of it!!!! I can't wait to see it as you envisioned it. GREAT JOB!!
The Jalopy Journal
