Projects '23 Ford Roadster build aka The Incredible Hulk

Probably just aluminum paint to start with, I like the paint on the '27s headers, very low maintenance and easy touch up

 

Your talent and ingenuity never cease to amaze me.

 

Nicey done, and thanks for the info!

I'm guessing then, that it was a Barclay-

 

Looks great Paul !

 

Headers came out really nice

 

So many interesting details to comment on. To keep it simple I mostly like the shock mounts front and back. The huge amount of room you have for an early T and everything about the front suspension.

 

What he said and besides, it's just a dang cool little hotrod.

 

Mac, I looked all over for that but never figured it was a toy...I imagine many of these diecast toys were repurposed as cap ornaments...certainly a very unusual aircraft and apparently difficult to fly...

@Paul, does that aircraft have a family connection either as a toy as a kid or the real deal? They are circa 1932 or so...
​

 

Stogy,

The jury is still not out on what plane this slush-mold toy was patterned after. There have been a few pop up on Ebay lately, and there are always seem to be three "windows" cast into the side of plane- if so, it's not a Gee Bee, but more like a Northrop Alpha. Either way, it's a great 30's toy and a clever way of using it!

...sorry for the thread-steal... now back to Paul's T

 

That's what Paul gets for capturing the wings in the foreground......yes Mac I believe you are correct, that dull grey one is pretty convincing...especially noting the lack of skirting on the landing gear...yupp back to Hotrods...

 

I guess I never really looked at it closely, it is not a Gee Bee, it is exactly the same as the picture of the Northrup Alpha toy Mac the Yankee posted above.
can you imagine what it was like to be a passenger in one of those, seated right behind that engine?

 

not much of an update here,
'been pecking away at little stuff, not much worth documenting.
I did snap a few pictures of the dash rail replacement.
the original angle iron dash rail support was bent and rusty
so I replaced it with 3/4" square tube.

 

the stanchions were also bent and fit poorly
so using a little heat I got them to fit the contour of the cowl a little better,
added some little crescent shaped wedges to close the gaps in the front,
relocated screw holes and welded in receiver nuts on the dash side.
fit is much better and they are surprisingly stout

 

Man you do first rate work! Thanks for showing all the step by step shots too. It's great to see different peoples fab methods.

 

All of those little details to make it look like the parts were perfect to start with. Your metalworking skills are amazing.

 

Mr. Detail ! .. nice man !

 

started working on the dash
been thinking about it for a while
had a few ideas but nothing firm.
I bent up some 1/4" round stock to tape some ideas on
scanned, printed to scale and cut out a set of gauges
and taped them to some poster board
tried a few different shapes and layout, oval, oval with V bottom, and trapezoid with top corners rounded,
speedometer and tach centered, with small gauges on both sides
speedometer and tach directly in front of driver seat with all small gauges to the right.

settled on the trapezoidal shape with speedometer and tach in front of driver with small gauges to the right.
bent up some 3/4" .062 wall steel tubing for the outer edge
and used the 1/4" round to define the gauge panel
filled the gap mig welded 18 gauge steel
grind the welds down
cut and bent a strip for the bottom edge
mig welded it to the 1/4" round along the bottom and 3/4" tube at the ends
and ground it all smooth.

taped the paper dash panel in place
and temporarily clamped the whole thing in place.

the dash will get welded in and the gauge panel will bolt in from behind

at least that's the plan today..

 

No big deal, right?
Looks amazing!

 

Just another day in the shop.

 

Welded some 1/4-20 bolts to the perimeter of the opening,
cut and drilled a piece of steel to hold the gauges,
bolted the gauge panel to the dash,
and got the whole shebang roughly where it will go.
Again, dash will get welded to the body and gauge panel will be removable.

 

I'm just going to sell my tools and equipment.......

(hangs head in shame and shuffles off.....)

Lynn

 

Started to fill the gaps,
Passenger side tacked.
It will need a bit more massaging but it's starting to take shape..

 

Can't get over just how GOOD your floor came out. Just catching a glimpse in these shots makes them stand out.

 

Wow, that dash is amazing! Nice work all over this car. A result of having the expertise, the tools AND knowing how to use them.
You certainly have the skills.

 

Yes, I was digging on the floors in the walk around video. I also like the way the headers came out. Relocating the generator was a good move. It's the little things...

 

But of course I say that, my T has no floors!

 

same end welded and cleaned up, enough for bondo anyway..

 

similar deal for the driver side
but this time I welded the two pieces together and rough dressed them before welding them to the dash,
figured without a door to remove it might make things a bit easier.
cut, fit, tack, weld, dress, fit, weld and dress.

 

sneaking a little tip in here,
when tig welding body sheet metal I typically use .035 mig wire.
to make it a little easier to handle and feed,
I unwind a couple coils from the spool,
stick one end of the wire in a cordless drill
and the other end in a vice,
give it a spin under tension
and voila, nice straight easy to feed .035 welding rod

 

Stuck a set of gauges in the holes..
(the space in the gauge panel below the gauges will get switches etc.)

and snapped a couple pictures..
I think this will do just fine.