Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Genius! That is why I am so happy that I asked. Thank you.

My current strategy has the whole setup coming in around $175. I'll make a custom template and shop around.

 

Thanks for the rec. It's looking like that's what I'll end up going with!

A thing of beauty! After much consideration, I reached out to my friend who is a master of polishing. I'll see how his schedule is, but I may have him give my Cragar the treatment. Neat that you've kept yours for so long.

Damn, that sounds like a big—but fun—project! Looks like the practice will be starting in the next week or so. Then I will know for the rest of my life!

Great info, thank you!

Thank you, Tim. I appreciate it big time. I completely agree that building this thing changes the way I see every old car, whether it's a feature car or not. It's a new spin on this hobby/sport that I've been involved with over half my life. It's a breath of fresh air, and I love it.

 

It's getting late here, but I wanted to report a little bit of progress.

This afternoon, I used Yama's sheet metal brake to get the correct angle on the transmission cover. The brake is a pretty cool piece of equipment with a little bit of a back story.

A few years ago, our fried Sean posted on Instagram that he was giving it away. Sean is a super nice guy who is knowledgable about all things mechanical—especially vintage Harleys. Here's his survivor Knucklehead chopper that he rides everywhere.
At the time, I had even less space than I do now, so I passed on the brake. Later that day, I found out that Yama got it! It now lives at his shop, and he lets me use it whenever I want. What a good friend!

It's made out of the remains of an old shelf. (EDIT: I played around with the idea of putting a decal on there last night, but I soon realized that it didn't exactly fit the era of this wire-wheeled hot rod. Simple is better.) Four 1950s screws from the Midland Multi-Pak will be used to finish the job.

 

Thanks!

Wow. Those are both amazing. The Suzuki-tanked beast looks like it'll take your lunch money!

x2 on that!

I like the way you're thinking!

Hahaha sounds like a sticky situation!

 

Estate sale searching. Street sign slicing. Exhaust pipe exhuming. Drum brake duels. Taillight trickery. Firestone screeching, plus a somewhat nerve-wracking nighttime drive. It was a wild weekend and I have some thread updating to do. Stay tuned!

 

I like that idea a lot. Interestingly enough, I had a Triumph T100SR engine with that same treatment and I agree, it looked really nice. Small world!

Thanks for the kind words. I like putting things together piecemeal. It makes it a whole lot more manageable. You so should start a build thread.

Also, I had to take a closer look at your avatar photo. At first I thought that was the '30 roadster that I checked out before buying this one. It would have been cool to see it getting turned into a hot rod too!

Here I am wondering what the hell I am doing.

Thanks Mike. We're only getting started here!

 

Over the weekend, I wandered over to an estate sale in search of hand-me-down hand tools and whatever else I could find. Well, the tools weren't priced very reasonably, but I was able to pick up a few neat items. Highlights included a 2 5/8ths Stewart-Warner oil pressure gauge, a handful of fuel line fittings, some twine and a pile of various pieces of scrap metal. It was an enjoyable sale—and I especially liked the old Snap-On toolbox that was out of my price range. The story goes that the place belonged to a gentleman who used to race with the SCCA. I'm glad I went.



On the way home, I made a special stop in Berkeley. Remember the search for Berkeley Automotive Center? Well, with the help of @Woogeroo, @Beanscoot and some folks on the Ford Barn, we were able to find the place on Google maps. My estate sale adventure wasn't too far from the address, so I swung on by.
The building still stands. What's most impressive, however, is that remnants of the sign remain visible. Someone went through a whole lot of trouble to paint the building, but they kept the original lettering. Although it was turned into a stereo shop in later years, you can clearly see that this was a repair shop back in the day. I still have some more research to do, but this is a great start.

 

The following day, I was up in Petaluma at David di Falco's shop to pick up some sheet aluminum. I had an extremely fun day catching up with him and asking a million and a half questions about his roadster, ranging from exhaust routing and throttle linkage to top bow construction. Every time I go there, I get so energized by his positive attitude and seeing the amazing things he creates. David (@six5monster) truly is a master of his crafts.

My favorite Model A hot rod.

David showing me the ropes on his bandsaw.
After the tutorial, he went over to work on his wild dual-motored electric bike project. We listened to some Western yodeling while I carved out the backing plate for my Gaz taillight.

 

Haha that sounds like there's a good story there. Noted!

Thanks Brian! I've had two knee surgeries myself and they're no fun. The one small upside for me is that it gave me a whole lot of time to catch up on my hot rod reading. Let me know if you need some back issues of TRJ to keep ya busy!

Hahah right? I have some theories...

This made me crack up. I've found some strange things stashed away in Berkeley—including a very crusty chopper wedged between a shed and a fence. It was about nine feet long and hadn't seen the light of day in at least 40 years. That's a story for another day.

Thank you! I've met some of the coolest people working on this car, and I can't wait to meet so many more in the coming months/years.

 

Right?! While I was there, I did walk around the perimeter to see if there was anything of interest. Unfortunately, there was not. I agree—I need to get inside!

So, according to Google Maps, the building was that original tan/green motif until the spring of 2015. There are no traces of another sign ever going over it. Maybe they figured it was good advertising? Whatever it was, I agree with their decision making!