Projects The Brooks Special - louisb’s 29 lakes roadster build

Yep, 105 miles so far

 

Been enjoying this thread and providing motivation for my own build


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Quick update. My 15 year old Craftsman compressor decided to die so I ended up ordering a Quincy two stage 60 gal standup to replace it. Should power everything in the shop with no trouble. Took a couple of weeks to get it delivered and installed but I finally got the body in primer this morning. Some minor filling, then high build primer and lots of block sanding next.


And yes my shop/two car garage is really packed right now.

--louis

 

Looking better and better. Really nice work throughout.

 

Nice compressor Louis. The Roadster is looking good too.

 

Got an update on the engine. Dan at Hill Country Machine has been working on the 59L block. The block had already been bored 3 5/16 so the plan was to take it out to 3/8s but some pitting in the cylinders was to deep. So Dan ended up installing 8 sleeves and will bore it to 5/16 leaving plenty of meat in the cylinders.



Thanks,

—louis

 

I know it's a lot more money to put 8 sleeves in, but, when I was cleaning my block there was corrosion pitting on the water jacket side of the cylinder walls, some pretty deep. I think with the sleeves installed, it's a little insurance that you won't have any thin areas of corrosion that could lead to water going into the cylinders at some point. I wish I would have had some installed in mine when I had the chance.

 

Dan's making good progress on the engine. Lot's of attention to detail. Sorry if the pics are out of order.

 

Working on the Merc crank and rods.

 

And more



Final size will be 276.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Louis... 276" is 5/16 X 1/4. ("five-sixteenths by quarter", in the 'lingo')
Are your sleeves bored to 3-5/16" OR 3-3/8"?
I read you were going to 3-3/8" above, so did you end up at 3-5/16"?
Thanks...building another flattie myself....

 

Hi Mike,

Since we ended up sleeving all eight cylinders we decided to go 5/16 and leave plenty of meat for a future overbore should it be needed. Good blocks are getting so hard to find. Dan says he is happy we made the call to sleeve all eight because it is like working with a new block.

Thanks,

--louis

 

While Dan is making good progress on the Flathead I have started the body work in earnest. Built a quick and dirty chassis rotisserie from some HF engine stands. Makes it a lot easier and clears up some much needed space in my 2 car garage shop.



Fill, sand, prime, sand repeat until flat.



The dark areas are all low. Lots more priming and blocking needed to get ready for the neon green metal flake paint.

--louis

 

Looking good, @louisb!

 

Ya man, that neon green metal flake will look great with the 24" chrome rims

 

Spent five hours block sanding yesterday which doesn't look that interesting in pictures. But Dan sent me these pics of the heads back from the polishers. Engine is going to look good!



Stock Ford Canadian aluminum heads that have been milled for compression. Can't wait to see the new intake when it comes back from the polisher.

--louis

 

Nice!

 

Tired of seeing flathead engine building pics? Nah, me either. Sometime in the past the 59L block had been mildly ported but Dan wasn't happy with the work and spent some time reporting the block and intake to his satisfaction.



Thanks,

--louis

 

holy crap.. That's gonna be a killer motor /car!
Btw I'll never get tired of those engine build pics!

 

I have this reacuuring dream where I spend all my days block sanding a car and it never seems to come out straight. Then I wake up and go out in the garage and block sand some more. Remind me again why I decided to choose black for my first paint job? Oh yeah, cause it will look killer when done.



In other news Dan is about ready to start actually assembly on the engine. All the machine work and balancing is done.



Dan is making me step up my game for the rest of the car. The engine is going to be to nice for the jalopy I had planned.

In one of the engine photos you can see the fully polished Hemi that Dan is building for a customer. That engine is unreal. If you are on Instagram you can find Dan at @dansoliz. His work is amazing.

--louis

--louis

 

Been a while since I last updated this thread. We bought a new house and are in the process of selling our old house which means the project is on hold for a while. Still trying to get a few small things done. Sent my S&W Wings gauges out for rebuild and the GM gauge panel out for chrome plating. Dan is getting back to the engine soon, he put it on hold while I moved so I wouldn’t have to move the engine too. Not looking forward to packing up my shop and moving all my tools/parts. Same town just a bigger house and enough yard to eventually build a real shop one day.



Hopefully I will be able to get back to it in a couple of months.

—louis

 

I know what that's like!

 

When I packed up and moved 40 miles 40 years ago I had the same problem. Got the kids raised and after I had been here 20 years finally built a 30X60 shop. Still working on cars @ 77.

 

Looking good! A really nice build. That flathead will move that 29 around nicely.

 

Hi Louis hope you were able to get your move accomplished before the fan got covered in the brown stuff.

Does your new place have a garage at all? I suspect you are going to have to find one for the Brooks Special...

I hate moving...I'm still recovering from it near 3 years after...

I hope yours is WAY better...

A wish for good health to you and the ones you care for @louisb.

 

Hey Stogy,

Things are going well, just been swamped with new house stuff. Spent the weekend working on a storage shed so I can clear out enough space to work on the roadster.

Since my roadster is on hold till at least this summer I picked up a side project. Bought a 51 GMC half ton long bed and sent it to Andy Kohler at Kohler Kustoms. He is going to go through the mechanicals, lower it bit and get it going as a daily driver for me. Hope to have it done this fall.



Thanks,

—louis

 

You guys and that southern metal...I know its more solid than it looks...Thunder Andy...awesome choice man...Look forward to what you fella drum up...Stay safe...

 

Small update though I am pretty stoked about it. Got the last piece of my gauge cluster assembly back today. Lots of work went into this assembly.

The gauges are original S&W wings that were rebuilt by Williamson Instruments and they did a great job. Gauges are now 12v, fully rebuilt and all the bezels replaced. He also cut new curved glass for the speedo.

The GM panel was replated by DGM Chrome Plating in Philly. (@dgmchrome on Instagram) was great to work with and very reasonable.

Last but not least Haneline Products did the metal turned insert for the GM panel. It was the first one they have done so I ended up sending the the panel to make a pattern. Now that they have a pattern they can do one for you too.



Thanks,

--louis

 

Dash panel looks killer!

 

Tony at Hill Country Machine has my block featured in his first YouTube series which is about Flat Heads. He just released the first video yesterday:

He told me that final assembly should be done soon. Can't wait to hear it run.

--louis