Now that the chassis was pretty much together I needed to install a floor and reinforce the fiberglass body. I've never done a glass car before and I didn't realize how much work it would take to bring it to the point where it was strong enough to serve as a functional car. I also didn't t realize that the upper cowl on most glass Ts is not contoured to fit the windshield stancions, they supposedly do this to allow you multiple stancion options, but I think it's mostly because it simplifies the molding process, either way that part is up to you. There is a definite lack of information out there related to this work so I'll do my part to try and provide what I can, I found these two articles from 1968 to be particularly helpful in the process.
This first photo shows what I was talking about with the windshield stancions, they're about 3/4" off from the cowl. The process was pretty straight forward. cut out a wedge of wood as a base and screw it to the upper cowl, then just bury the thing in reinforced mud. If you read the article above that's pretty much how they did it back in the day so that was good enough for me. The interior wood structure took a little more finesse but I basically just widdled the pieces out of pine 2x4s. I did the first rough shape with a jig saw and then dressed them with a belt sander. After they were fitted I glassed them in using a roll of fiberglass that I got off Amazon and some marine grade resin from Johnson Boat supply. Later on I ran out of the marine epoxy and started trying to use automotive epoxy resins which are about 1/3 of the cost of the marine stuff, but there was no comparison in the quality of the two products. The Johnson boat brand wets out much easier whereas the automotive resins seemed too thick and when you 'd brush it on it would pull the fiber strands out of the glass. In my opinion it's definitely worth spending the extra money on the marine grade products. Also the fiberglass used was not the thick cloth style but rather the kind that has an asymmetric finish and can be torn by hand. I made sure to have plenty of plastic containers available to mix small batches of epoxy at a time (I found old take out food containers to work well). I also measured the resin and hardener in two separate paint measuring cups and then mixed them in a third single use container. This allowed me to continue using the measuring cups over and over. If it needs to be stated then I will. Wear sacrificial clothes or a Tyvec suit while working with fiberglass. The strands will end up in your clothes and will not wash out. Those clothes will forever only be suitable for working with fiberglass. The resin will get everywhere and onto everything no matter how careful you are. Wear rubber gloves Also if your'e not careful those same strands will end up in your eyes, nose and lungs. I used a respirator while doing all this work, not because of the smell, which wasn't too bad, but to avoid huffing glass.
Yeah those older fiberglass bodies were really just a shell. I did a '27 T roadster with a DuVall windshield and this looks all too familiar. I bonded in oak where the door lines are with the idea of opening the doors but I never did. When I needed to bond in some aluminum brackets and stuff I used the West Marine Systems epoxy. It bonds things to fiberglass better than polyester resin and cloth. Sure looks good so far.
The marine stuff is definitely the way to go. I never used the polyester resin but I've heard it stinks to high heaven and is not as strong. I also abandoned the plan for a functional door, at least for the time being. Thanks for the compliment.
After the glass work was done I blew the chassis apart for finish welding, paint, plumbing and exhaust. I used a brake pedal kit from Millworks hot rod and Brookline Machine made the driveshaft. You can also see the shifter I adapted to work with the powerglide. That process took a little trial and error but seems to work nicely now that I replaced the pictured linkage with some mini heim joints. Front shocks are a swap meet find and the shock mounts are F1. View attachment 4982540
@gonzo , did you end up using those headlight mounts that were on it? If not, I'd buy them from ya. Ive got a set of speedway mounts I could throw in as well. I have a total performance car, one of mine was bent when the car wrecked.
Here's the tank set up I ended up using. Just a generic fuel cell but I had to adapt the flange for the filler to fit the tank.
Car looks great @gonzo, those first pictures are the car in the bed of my old truck. You did a great job saving that chassis, it was quite the hack job originally
Before I got the car someone cut out the dashboard. That meant I had to reinstall some luan backer and cut out holes for gauges. If I had been smart I would've done all this work and installed and wired up some leads to the gauges before installing the floor. That would've been a lot easier than laying upside down with my hands wedged into spaces that they don't fit into. In the first picture you can just see the tube cross bar support I fabbed up to stiffen up the windshield supports. I can't find a picture of it but it basically has two angled plates welded to a piece of tubing and that all got glassed into the body. It also has a plate welded to it for bolting the column drop assembly to. That cross brace added a lot of strength to the body.
Time to make the seat and the door panels. Pretty straight forward except the rear of the interior had a curve that I wanted the seat back to follow so that I could capture every last bit of space. I ended up cutting two pieces of luan and glueing them together while clamped to the back of the car. This worked pretty well and netted me about an inch of extra room. The cleats to hold the seat back in place took me a while to figure out, even though the solution ended up being really simple. You can also see the repurposed 39 Ford brake lever. This is a direct rip off of the George Gould T which coincidentally was built in the same town I live in.
I made this little nerf bar the other night so I had a place to bolt my plate to. I also decided to go with Buick tail lights. You can see in the previous photos that the grill shell was just cut off on the bottom, so I made a patch to tie it all together and welded it in.
Caught a warm day and took it for a rip around the block. Still need to wash the blue off the white walls and tune the carb a little but that's where we're at as of now.
You are looking really good with this build. I like the narrower white walls on the front. What size and brand tire if you do not mind me asking ?
Thanks guys. The front wheels are Rocket Launcher series, tires are Firestone bias plys 560-15s with 1" whitewalls. The rears are 63 Chevy rims with 15 by 8" Towel City white wall cheater slicks. I had a local truck shop powder coat the rear wheels.
Awesome job on bringing this all together! All that wood and glass work is a (necessary) PITA but looks great.
Finally washed the blue off if the white walls but still waiting on upholstery. Shouldn't be long now.
The Jalopy Journal
