First Round of wet sanding and buffing done. Got doors mounted and working on adjusting strikers/latches so it all latches nicely. The tub is off to upholstery late this week. I'm hoping to make the frame a roller in the next week or so.
Been busy as hell! Put together a custom taillight and a plate mount for the T and also got the body back from upholstery. Getting there!
Pretty Darn Spiffy...@IronTrap you gotta be real happy with that...the finish line is fast approaching...
I've had a few free T's too... some are even on going projects like this rdstr I found for sale on Craigslist recently...a friend and I hammered this body together 8 yrs ago from a huge pile of free T tin I dug out of a landfill. It was from a dump that was eventually burned and pushed off the edge of a cliff 50-60 years before then filled over for an orchard... I hope someone finishes it. 20+ yrs. ago I dug about 6 T roadsters and tourings 3 of each + various odds and ends out of the "wall" of rusted tin, from the farm land above it was 20-30 ft of nothing but rusty '20's-'30's junk straight down to the river...including this tub. My buddy and I banged it together inside his house on the living room floor (during a renovation) with a full 2x3 Z'd frame (yes we did all the welding in the house). He still has the Cdn touring body I sold him. I got rid of the rest but I kept the best tin for a '17-'21 roadster...it would be done by now... if I didn't have some damn grandiose idea about having wood framing inside...how did you get those bends in the rear framing behind the seat without collapsing the tubing? actually twice it seems (I've seen it in both square and round tube)...great YouTube channel by the wayalso did you clean these already thin panels with molasses first or sand them?
Sounds like you've gathered a lot of this old Free-T junk too! It takes a little bit of work but they can be cool with some imagination! I relief cut and TIG welded the tubing as I went to get those tight compound bends.. only way I could figure to do it even with a tubing bender at my disposal at a friends shop! It took a LOT of work but it all flowed nicely in the end. The square tubing we heat and bent but it did collapse in the corners and it wasn't very clean.. thus the change near the end to the round tubing. I stripped the entire car with the Eastwood SCT and abrasive wheels to get the paint and major rust off. I then treated the entire body with Eastwood Fast Etch to clean the pits and etch those areas from rust coming back. Then we sealed it all up with primer and such. It should be just fine for my lifetime. Much better than the fiberglass matting they laid over the rust before! Thanks so much for watching and following along. This has been a fun one and I'm close to the finish line! -Matt/ITG
I've been busting ass to get the car together for a "soft" debut at Viva East in Boxborough, Ma. this weekend. Lots of last minute changes and adjustments needed as I've been assembling the car. Some stuff I built/changed once the car was apart is causing some tweaks and modifications now that we're in final assembly. For instance the taillight / plate mount I made I bent to be parallel with the the turtle deck sitting flat on the bench... but when mounted its angled down and makes the plate sit funny. I'll need to remove that and tweak tonight! I also last minute decided to bite the bullet and change the tires to what I wanted from the get go; but was too cheap to buy them. I mounted up a set of Blockley tires to the rear and I'm dropping down to a set of 5/5.25-16 fronts to get a more "sporty" look. Shots show the 5.50 front tires still. You may also notice the dash pinstriping and lettering my buddy Ben Sellman did on the T this past Friday evening. I really think it sets off the interior! That's it for now. More to come next week!
Huge Milestone @IronTrap as others have said a proud moment for sure...look forward to seeing it out and about...
After a hospital stint with a nasty infection I am finally getting back at it. Got the drivers side headers all mounted and the radiator hoses all sorted. Just need a couple more clamps for the hoses and the cooling system is buttoned up. Passenger headers should be on this week and hope to get the fuel lines plumbed here shortly. This crazy heat hasn't helped my progress either!
Wow Matt! Your T is looking awesome! What a great looking little car! I can't wait to see some video of it moving under power.