So now that TROG 2017 is finished and I have a little time I wanted to document my thrash of a '29 Phaeton that I bought in August of 2016 with the intention of making TROG '17. I've wanted a Phaeton for a long time and when one came up that was in my price range I convinced Mel, Mr. TROG, who had a deposit on it to let me buy it to build if for TROG '17. As you know TROG has rules for all cars. So I had two goals: First to build a pre 1940 race car, sorta, as a Phaeton is not really the traditional TROG. Two after the TROG to build it the way I want it to be.
So here is the Phaeton as purchased. It was running and driving so the plan was to strip it down paint it and hop up the motor.
That's it? Come on man, what a tease! I love the number of phaetons that have resurfaced over the past couple of years! Looking forward to seeing you update your thread for this one.
More tomorrow but check out my album to get a preview of the pictures. Sent from my Nexus 6P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
So I paid for the Phaeton and happened to look at the passenger side of the motor and saw that the head had a huge crack in it and my heart sank. Now I bought this from a friend and he had bought it from and 80 yr old guy that was selling off all his stuff. My buddy drove the car into his enclosed trailer and it ran great, the old guy told him to be quick as there was no water in it as it had been in storage. I got a good deal on it and didn't really care about the head as I was changing everything anyway and crossed my fingers that it was only the head. Knowing that most likely the motor was shot. BTW you could not see the crack from the drivers side and that was the side the door to the trailer was on. I then trailered it out to my 1860 Sawmill that I am restomodding (build thread here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314920) to put in my 20' shipping container to work on until it got too cold. So after tearing into the motor I found out the head and block were cracked beyond repair and the radiator was trash.
Plan B. Sell the motor and chassis under the Phaeton and use the other chassis I have. I lifted the body off using a chain hoist and with chains across the container and discovered that the rear half of the subrails was replaced but not attached to the front the body came off in two pieces, which was easier for me as I was working alone. I needed to paint the body and wanted it to be navy blue. Rustoleum had just come out with a semi gloss navy in a rattle can and so I painted the doors to see how the color was. I really like it so I bombed the body before it got cold. I also got some 16 inch wires and brush painted them with Massey Ferguson orange paint from Tractor Supply. Lots of pits and runs and drips but from 20 feet everything looked good. Goodyear Deluxe All Weather tires went on the rims, They really hooked up on the sand. I wanted white walls but that is a no no at the TROG so black walls it is. Before rolling the chassis into the container I dropped in the spare motor with a '39 trans with a Clings adapter The body was hanging from the chains and the chassis was ready to go so it all sat in the container over the winter.
My regular mechanic for my daily and family cars is a buddy of mine and he said I could use one of his bays the end of March to get the motor and drive train sorted out. I got the body mounted to the frame and then I towed it from the sawmill in PA to his shop two blocks from my house. It was the last weekend in March, I had plenty of time right? Wrong.
I'm along for the ride. That's almost exactly where my model A head cracked Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I started the engine the first week of April and boy did it have blow by. It was really bad but I figured it was a stuck ring or two as it had been sitting for a while. It all looked good top and bottom when I had the head and oil pan off so I figured a little Marvelous Mystery oil and it would be all good. I ran it hard for two weeks and finally made the decision to replace the motor with a know good one. I bought a replacement that had been rebuilt and 1100 miles ago and had just been pulled. I pulled the old motor and dropped in the new one with with two weeks to spare. It ran really well but at the TROG it would run out of gas as the top end of acceleration and just fall on its face so I never had a clean run but it was a blast. Next post I will detail the specs on the motor and speed parts and some of my observations.
Motor Specs Motor 1 Came with car and was stock. Supposedly rebuilt and low mileage. Water left in motor and froze causing a massive crack in the head, typical hairline crack under the water pump and radiator totally blown apart and could not be repaired or re-cored. Motor 2 Came with a doodlebug I bought for parts and was supposedly rebuilt, bored 60 over, and never started. Stock exhaust Tattersfield downdraft intake with Holley 94 gravity fed Lion hi compression aluminum head machined for 4 plugs (can be eight) Wico JEM1509 bought from a HAMBER 1932-36 flathead waterpump with Ansen adapter Motor 3 Purchased from a rebuilder with 1100 miles on it. Transferred all speed parts to the new motor but changed the intake to a Scalded Dog downdraft. Observations. -Holy Crap is it fast compared to stock. Its a blast to drive. -The Tattersfield intake sits up too high for gravity feed, needs a fuel pump and I did not want to run one as its not in the spirit of the build for TROG. -The Mag runs great but is not really streetable and runs really hot as once started as the advance is fixed at 29 degrees. Great for sprinting but not cruising. The car overheated fast unlike my last car that also ran fanless but had a '32 distributor. -During the race I ran out of gas at the top end of each gear and it would fall flat on its face, due to either needing a fuel pump or the float needs to be adjusted or maybe the power valve is bad, I bought NOS so that could be the culprit. I'm running .050 jets and a 6.5 power valve which is recommended for a banger. It runs a little rich but better than a little lean. I'll upload some better engine photos. The first photo is as I ran it for TROG The second photo shows how high the Tattersfield sits The third photo is the result of keeping the mechanical foot starter switch and wanting to not have to get in the car to turn it over. It allows me to push the rod down from the engine compartment. It is a bronze ground rod clamp found in the electrical department of the big box home centers.
So now on to the real build. There is lots to do as I really just threw together stuff I had to make the chassis sem-roadworthy and some concessions to look period correct for the TROG and of course sand and salt. First on the list is to get it roadworthy so I can drive it for the rest of the summer and the fall before putting it away for the winter. 1. White walls! I wanted white walls and 40 ford wheels but whitewalls were not allowed. So I picked up as set that were listed here on the Hamb. Not sure about the red but the paint is really nice for now it stays. Next is headlights. I had a set of Guide 802's so I converted them to H4 glass lens and mounted them on the stock headlight bar using the forged fender braces cut down. They are not wired yet but at least they are there. I have put the magneto up for sale here on the HAMB https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1931-wico-jem-1509-magneto-for-ford-four-banger.1069546/ I am replacing it with a '32 distributor for better drive-ability on the street. I need to run wires for it and I am going to put a voltage regulator on the generator.
Quick update. Been chasing a no spark with the 32 distributor. Upper plate was shorted. Fixed that and replaced the coil and condenser. Still no spark. Electric in all the right places, new condenser and coil from NAPA check out OK. Gave up for now and ordered a Mallory from Bubba. Sent from my Nexus 6P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Now for sale in the classifieds. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1929-phaeton-333-the-half-devil-special-trog.1072597/ Sent from my Nexus 6P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My son and I visited you at the mill last fall when looking for an A chassis. You gave us the grand tour. It's a cool old place. Glad to see you made it to TROG. Al
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