Projects The Brooks Special - louisb’s 29 lakes roadster build

Think I fixed it.

--louis

 

Aok now Louis...she sure was a Hottie and quite the songstress...

 

Yeah I agree.

 

Been making slow buy steady progress on the roadster chassis. Buttoned up the brakes and lines, put the tires on and now it rolls. Pushed it and the body out of the garage for the first time in months so I could clean up the place last weekend.



Next up is running the exhaust. You can see the planned placement for the Smittys and side pipes here.



Cutting up some 36 drive shafts for the side pipes.








@thunderbirdesq gave me this cool idea for end caps for the side pipes and I asked my buddy Dan Solis to whittle up a set from some old Ford flathead pistons.





Lastly I picked up a set of the sweet new Belond Flathead headers for the project. You can find them at: https://belondexhaust.com/


Planning to start mocking up the rest of the system tomorrow if the rains hold off.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Love the pipes and caps.

 

What a great build thread with a lot of details. Keep the updates coming.

 

Temps have been in the 90s all week and the garage thermometer has been hitting over 100 so I am not getting much done. Welding and grinding in 100 degs sucks. I did spend a couple hours this morning modifying the Smitty mufflers for use with my 1.75" pipes. Out of the box they are set up for 2".






Last weekend I spent a couple of hours trying to get the exhaust run from the Belond headers to the side pipes. Unfortunately I just couldn't get enough clearance with the unsplit wishbone. I know it can be done but it is just to complicated for my first exhaust system. So in keeping with the KISS principle I will go back to the Reds rear exit headers and keep the Belonds for a future project. To bad as I really wanted to use them.






Sometimes you just have to know when to say when to keep the project moving forwards.

Thanks,

--louis

 

More progress on the exhaust. Unfortunatly I was unable to get everything to clear with the Belond headers and the stock wishbone. It can be done but in the spirit of KISS I decided to run with the Red's Headers that exit at the back. Got one side done and the other half way. I will finish getting everything but and fit then weld it up after I can check it with motor in place and the body on.









Someone had previously cut a hole for dual exhaust in the 32 rear cross member so I decided to keep it that way for character. (Not that anyone will ever see it.)




I will finish up the tips once the body is on.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Temps are finally down a bit so I was able to get into the garage and finish up the exhaust.







The last major thing I need to do on the chassis is rerebuild the pedals. More on that in a future post. Then it will be time to get back to the body. I don't think it needs to much more work be for final paint. Then it is just 10,000 litille things to finish up.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Awesome job on the exhaust @louisb the KISS principle is what I used on my roadster, you'll be driving that roadster real soon, way to go man.

 

Tied up a loose end on the chassis this past weekend in getting the brake and clutch pedals squared away. I had to redo the brake pedal to make the arm longer and move it to the right place. Also added a return spring. Before anyone says anything I replaced the welded up clevis with a new one from M&C.












So now it is time to shift gears and get the body painted. I ordered more primer and black single stage from Eastwood. So far I have been pretty happy with their paint products.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Just read through your build thread. Awesome work!

 

Switched to finishing up the bodywork. Lots of priming and blocking.Doors and desklid are ready for a final prime and top coat. Cowl, hood and hood sides are ready for their first round of blocking. Fortunately they won't need much.






I have to say that sanding louvers is now my least favorite part of this build.

Thanks,

--louis

 

Getting SO close to driving it though! Keep sanding.

 

Looking great! I thought I'd subscribed to this build, and only just found it again!

 

A real Nice Louver Profile...and a great period in Hotrod...great stuff @louisb....Hotrod panels on the Ground...very El Mirage...Tuning Up after a Good Run

 

Quick update. I am still priming, filling and sanding. You would be amazed at how wavy these repo bodes are. But I am getting closer. We did have one major setback though with the engine. After lots of work the 59L block was just not going together. So after some back and forth with Dan at Hill Country Performance we decided to buy a new french block. That just arrived at his shop Friday so he is all set to start the machine work for the third time. (He was kind enough to waive his fees on the 59L block.) If you are keeping track this is the 12th block we have checked and discarded. If I ever do another flathead I will just start with a french block. It is to much of a crap shoot with the originals.





We also decided to go ahead and swap in some Ross forged pistons for the cast ones I had originally purchased for the project which were for the wrong stroke. Stay tuned for more.

--louis

 

I don’t know how I’ve missed this thread, but WOW! Several things that I really dig.
1- my pops built an A V-8 using the Tardel book as the Bible. So this build really hits home.
2- I admire your stick-to-it attitude, you keep at it till the jobs done.
3- I like seeing a good Craft Beer enjoyed after a long day of hotrod building!
I build my stuff by trial and error with a lot of steps backwards to get a step forward.

 

Love the thread, great work so far! Looking forward to more

 

Bummer about the 59 block, I thought he had the internals pretty much installed?

 

He had mocked it up and we could have maybe made the block work but it was a big question mark. At this point it had been sleeved, pined and partly filled so we made the call to get a better block. It just happened that a French block came up for sale for a really good price at that time. So we made call to go with a block we knew would last a long time.

—louis

 

I am still slowly knocking out the paint prep. May have some stuff in color next week. Dan has started on the French Flathead. Here is a video where he talks about port matching the block. Check out that intake.





Thanks,

--louis

 

Took off the rest of the week with the plan of getting a few of the body panels in color. Cowl came out nice but will need to be color sanded. You can see a little dust in the paint. I am painting in the garage so not to bad. I do wonder if they would have bothered color sanding a home built hot rod in 1948. Hopefully more tomorrow.




Not to bad for my first paint job. Kind of actually enjoying it which probably means I have brain damage from the fumes.

Thanks,

--louis

 

...Henry's Favorite whistling dixie...Milestone...budda boom...Looks just fine to me...

 

Still trying to make progress on the paint but as usual it is two steps forward, one step back.




Not sure what happened here but it looks like I will be sanding this one down and respraying it.





Fortunately the other door and deck lid came out okay and will just need color sanding.

Thanks,

--louis

 

From the pattern it looks like a rag with some oil or solvent was left on the panel. if so you will need to sand it down to get it out then properly clean it with a wax and grease remover or it will come back to bite you.

 

Might also be either water or oil in the compressed Air. I use a oil/water extractor just as short as possible before the airgun ... that helps a lot..

 

Killer build.
The paint issue is a cleaning issue.
Contaminants in the air, on the car, the person cleaning it, in air lines or all of theses.
If any inline oiler, don’t use anything past it.
Use a filter for the air system.
Disposable filter at the gun.
Clean clean clean. Those new bodies can have oil from the dies. PPG make an excellent metal cleaner.
I use a water based cleaner first before spraying. Denatured alcohol cut with water works. Then a wax and grease remover.
A paint only air hose, oil from tools can contaminate it.
No silicone products in or near the painting area. Especially open containers of silicone products.
Dig the ride.

 

At this point I am pretty sure it is solvent. I had touched up the primer there which is why you see the pattern even though I sanded it with 400. I wiped the panel down before spraying with wax and grease remover and I think some got trapped in pin holes in the primer where I touched it up. The other two panels I sprayed at the same time and they came out fine. I am learning a lot here.

—louis

 

Using a clean rag with clean compressed air is good for making sure any solvents have evaporated.