Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Thank you! I'm glad to have the car looking a little more cohesive. And thank you! Our landlords take great care of their 1922 beauty of a building. One time, they told me the color is called Dark Eggplant.

Heard that!

Thank you! Some great info there.

THIS is why I love the H.A.M.B. Thanks guys. I'm gonna keep on truckin'. @Six Ball, you hit the nail on the head. I think I'm gonna print that post out and put it on the garage wall. "It seems that every time you look into your running engine you find a problem. My advise it quit looking. "

Once my car is running again, I'd love to have a BBQ at my place. We'll have more details as things progress.

Great eye. I was going to start a separate thread to see if anyone could ID it. Man, I wish it were hiding in the back of the upholstery shop!

 

Thank you! It's something I've never seen before, but definitely something that could have been done.

Thank you! It's funny, now when I see a Gaz in a movie or a show, I'm able to identify the year and trim model. This car thing is madness! hahah

And if I do, I'm going to have to ask the owner where they have been hiding all these years!

Thank you! So the lights above the plate are both brake and tail lights. Between that and the lower lights, you can tell I'm stopping!

Haha very punny. And thank you! It's getting there.

 

WARNING: O/T content ahead. I may have to moderate myself and delete it. But there's a method to this madness. Anyways, here we go.
Back in January, I drafted up this concept sketch. I had a basic idea of what I wanted to do but, as you can tell, I wasn't sure about the details. After a lot of trial and error, I realized that I couldn't get bright enough 12V bulbs to fit underneath the taillight lenses (only mini ones would fit). I tried different sockets and bulbs, but it didn't take long to discover that the best way forward was definitely O/T for this forum. But I'm driving this car in a major city and I want to be seen—especially at night. So, I went with four low-profile LED lights. Two banks are for taillights and two are for braking. There was no question that I would be running a traditional license plate light for that unmistakable yellow glow.

I cut the aluminum backing plate at di Falco's and proceeded to paint it white for better reflecting properties. I wasn't happy with the internal wiring, so I switched it up after this photo to something a little cleaner. David also donated some cork material to the project. It gives it a neat factory look.

While mounting the light, I made sure to incorporate some era-correct hardware.
I then cut a rubber-ish gasket to fit between the light and the backing plate. Next up, it was time for testing.

The camera picks it up as more orange, but it's red in real life. The aged lenses make the LEDs less obvious. Part of me wanted to keep it a secret, but for the sake of transparency I figured I'd let you guys know.

All wiring is of the cloth-wrapped variety and goes through the spare tire holder hole. It's by no means perfect; measuring stuff on a car like this can be tricky.

Oh, and I should probably add a side note here.

For me, it's always neat when these old machines are a little bit over the top. After running a modified carriage lantern as a taillight on my Triumph, I knew I had to do something a little bit different. Hey, all this is about fun, right?!

 

Right now, they're just going to be brake. I'll see if I can get a deal on an old signal setup for the column and I may eventually turn them to, well, turn. It's nice that I'm just running a two-post junction block in the rear so the lighting options can be pretty versatile.

 

I thought about that too. I've created some accidental modern art pieces out of taillights in my day. I think this was the best route.

Thank you! It makes me smile to walk out to the garage and finally see the plate and light on there.

Well said. I'm just trying to stay visible!

Very true. It's a fun challenge to take this stuff and present it in a traditional way.

A nice, bright idea!

Great ideas, thanks!

 

The weekend is just beginning and we have some progress. The other day I managed to get the oil pan back on, complete with fresh gaskets. Next I planned to install my new crank pulley. When I went to put it on there, I soon realized that it wouldn't fit due to the crank handle housing being in the way. I tried raising the engine, but that didn't work. Naturally, the next step was a logical one: remove the U-bolts and the housing. That was a little bit of a detour, but it gave me a great opportunity to clean up the U-bold threads and apply some grease.

It wasn't long before I had the pulley on there and torqued to spec. Next came the gear, which was pretty tricky to get aligned but I think I got it. I plan to static time the engine later today. Torco gear lube was used on the new aluminum gear (not just on that one part where you can see it!)

Don't worry, the engine was fully supported with a jack and a wood block at this point.

During a break in the action, I traveled up to the Marina to help a friend with his vintage boat project. In a neighboring slip, we got a tour of a boat that looks like something Ed Roth would have dreamed up. Bubbletop anyone?

This 12-foot floating flying saucer was the work of artist Eric Staller. It's fully functional and, coincidentally, has also recently been converted to LED. Talk about some impressive wiring!

 

Hahah I was wondering what happened! Yep, it's all gone—donated it to a good charity in Michigan. Hey, now all my hats fit!

 

Last night around 10:30 I had checked off every item on my pre-fire-up "To-Do" list. Of all the steps, tracking down the zinc additive was probably the most difficult. Luckily, the AutoZone on South Van Ness had three bottles. I bought two.

With everything in position and all fluids topped off, I rolled the car into the driveway. Part of me thought I should wait until the morning, but after checking and double-checking everything, I figured what the hell—let's give it a shot. After priming the engine, I hit the starter and turned the key. It stumbled for a second and then fired right up. I adjusted the idle a little bit and just like that, we are back in business! It seems as if the engine has less shimmy with the new pulley and the noise from the aluminum gear isn't bad at all, especially with the current exhaust set up.

After running it for a minute, I packed up and went to bed early. Hah, nope! Instead I hopped behind the wheel and took the car on its first real night drive. What a blast!
Parking in the red zone for better lighting.

This is one of those times where I feel like my poor cell phone picture doesn't do the moment justice. I've been to this store hundreds of times in the past five years. The fact that I got to walk out and see a 1930 Model A roadster in the parking lot was surreal. If you would have told me a year ago that this was my car, I wouldn't have believed you. Alas, I hopped in, fired it up and drove it home.

I went to bed with a smile on my face, because I knew I was in for a fun Sunday.

 

Today I woke up somewhat early and quickly got ready. The sun was coming out and, naturally, I wanted to put some miles on the car. It wasn't long before I was cruising down the cul-de-sac and onto the streets of the Richmond. First, I swung by one of my friend's houses and we took the car for a rip. He was stoked! With spirts high, I made my way over to the local farmer's market to do a little bit of shopping.

Here's the bounty: fresh tangelos (very tangy) and very plump strawberries from Watsonville. Two of my favorites.

On that same trip, I said "Hey" to my favorite cactus in San Francisco. Hello old friend!
For the rest of the day, I used the car as a car. It was crazy cool. I picked up groceries, took friends for rides, showed it to the guys at the local auto parts store, and even went on a nice late afternoon drive through the Presidio. Everywhere I went, I loved talking to people—both about the car and hot rod history in general. I know a lot of you have been driving old cars for most of your lives, but this is all so new to me. I feel extremely fortunate to be able to drive this old hot rod on a sunny San Francisco Sunday.

Power parking in the Marina.

The roadster and "The Rock."

After a very full and fun day, one of my neighbors asked to borrow my torch. Of course! Nothing like winding down the weekend with homemade crème brûlée. Again, thank you all for riding along!

 

Now, for something technical. The whole day, the only issue that arose was the windshield. Despite my best efforts (including fiber washers, rubber pieces and a small aluminum tab), it tends to angle rearwards as I drive, especially over a rough road. I know the fact that the body is unbraced isn't helping. Right now, I have the posts flipped so that it can have some rake. Even though there have been several threads on this same topic, I figured I'd ask again here. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Also, just for record keeping purposes: there's still a whole lot to do on the car. I'm having my brake shoes arced next week, and my wood kit is on its way from a friend in Pennsylvania. I am, however, still looking for a tack strip if anyone's holding.

In the morning I'm picking up some early hot rod treasure that will most likely not be used on this car, but I believe some of you may find it interesting. More on that tomorrow!