Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Good questions. To be honest, I don't have an answer to those yet. I'm going to make a note to discuss strategy on this front with di Falco on Saturday.

Thank you! I completely agree. It's always fun starting with a rough idea and slowly dial it in with the right tools. I'm digging how the motor mounts are coming along.

I love the sound of that. It's such a neat little town. It seems as if there's something interesting or historic around every corner. Seeing that the weather is traditionally gloomy here in San Francisco in May, I make it a point to drive up there on my birthday weekend to enjoy the spring sunshine. I can't wait to make that trip in my roadster half a year from now.

 

Between Sunday's Yerba Buena Antique Motorcycle Association 49-mile Ride and my recent trip to Seattle, I haven't had a ton of time to turn wrenches on the roadster. That being said, I've been collecting parts, little by little.

The big one was the '39 Ford trans. It's been completely rebuilt, and I can't believe it's mine.
Of course I had to customize it right away. With any luck, we will succeed. Thanks, Lucky!
Other highlights include my front spring and shackles. The spring is a new, reverse-eye setup that will eventually be painted to match the rest of the suspension. But more on that later.

 

Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I was able to work on the car all afternoon. So what did I do? I addressed some big and little things.

While I was in Portland, my Holley fuel pump died on me. This had happened twice before, but I wasn't able to figure out why. Well, when I pulled the pump, I tapped a whole lot of sediment out of the metal filter. I found this surprising, considering there's a screen filter in the tank. Now that I think about it, my car's fuel is triple filtered. 1) Tank screen 2) Pre-fuel pump filter 3) glass filter bowl in the firewall. Nonetheless, Yama and I replaced the fuel pump with a fresh one on the side of MLK Boulevard in Portland. The whole process took about 15 minutes.

When we returned to SF, I wasn't happy with how the car was idling. For whatever reason, it was just too high. I played with the timing and the mixture, both of which only made it worse. I was pretty perplexed. Then, while it was running, I checked the fuel pressure gauge. At one point it was close to four pounds of pressure. Reviewing my Stromberg's instructions, it said 2.5 max. The new pump was identical to the old, but it was pushing out double the fuel pressure. My guess is that, with unrestricted flow, it's able to crank out max psi. But...that's too much.

So, what did I do? I bought one of Holley's 1.5-2.5 psi pumps and hooked it up. I then re-timed the engine. After a whole lot of driving yesterday, I can say that it definitely helped. We're back to regular idle, and the car runs well.

Just in the nick of time, too. I really wanted to drive it to the Balboa Theatre to see "The French Dispatch," which is a movie by my favorite director, Wes Anderson. It's a story about magazine journalism, so naturally you guys know how much I enjoyed it.

Rolling up to the theatre, I was worried about finding a spot. With the car idling out on the main drag, people poked their heads out of the neighboring bar to see what the fuss was all about. As I waited, I saw a couple approach their car, which was positioned right in front of the marquee.

"What is that?" the woman asked.
"A 1930 Model A," I said with a hint of pride.
"Model A?" she said. "My dad learned to drive on a Model A. He always talked about it, but I've never seen one in person until right now. Is it all original?"
"It is," I replied. "Sorta!"

She and her husband pulled out of their spot, allowing me to take the best spot in the house.
And for those of you who are neon fans, here's the sign in action here.

 

Thanks! We're lucky to have so much historic neon here in SF. The Balboa's is especially nice.

To each their own.

Thanks! That's one of the new-ish parkettes—essentially extra patio seating for eating and drinking before and after the movies.

 

Hi Louis, sorry to hear about the mishap. I know you guys will get to the bottom of it. I feel like if you posted this on the main board, it would likely get more traction. That is such a neat car, and I'm glad your friend got it!

 

Quick lunchtime update:

I've just been dialing things in during my neighborhood excursions. It was sunny here yesterday, so you know I just had to drive the car to the grocery store. An older woman pushing her shopping cart took a look at it and said, "Wow, that's a big project!"

 

After reading the updates on @Six Ball's roadster thread, I was inspired to share a list of my own. As all of you very well know, this is basically two projects happening at once. The 'banger version is close, and I'm slowly but surely gathering parts for the V8 version.

To be honest, I've been spending a lot of my free time parts hunting. Whether it's on here, Instagram, Cragislist, estate sales or garage sales, I'm always looking. That being said, some parts are proving more difficult to find than others.

Here's what I have collected thus far:

'32 Frame
'32 axle, dropped by @jackandeuces
'32 wishbone, un-split
Posies reverse-eye front spring
'32-'34 spring perches from @Hitchhiker
Repro front shackles
Round-back spindles
'40 backing plates from @gimpyshotrods
'40 brake shoes
Vulcanized '39 trans mount bracket w/ hardware
Model A rear crossmember
Model A rear spring
'34 rear axle bells
'40 rear brakes (complete)
4 x tube shocks (more on those later)
'40 Ford steelies
Original '32 grille insert
'48 Ford flathead V8, rebuilt
'39 Ford trans, rebuilt
2 x air cleaners
2 x Fenton mufflers

Here's what I'm looking for:

'32 Ford radiator
'32 Ford grille shell, steel
Front U-bolts
'40 Ford front brake internals
Steering arm/tie rod/drag link
F-1 front shock mounts
F-1 steering box
59AB headers, preferably old
'32 Ford rear transmission yoke
Emergency brake components
Torque tube
Rear U-bolts (Model A)
Rear shackles
Halibrand 201 Quickchange rear (I have a lead on one, but I'm still on the hunt)

I'm sure there are a lot of other items that I'm missing, but this is where I'm at. I would love to buy some/all of these directly from you. Please let me know what you have!

 

Haha you're right! Subliminal for sure. I have a set of '34 pedals and '39 pedals, which I totally forgot to include on the list. I'm going to try to figure out which I want to run as more components come together.

Amen to that! New list happening soon.

Thank you again!

@wheeldog57 hooked me up, so it's looking like we're heading in the right direction.

 

What a weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all filled with hot rod hijinks.
On Friday evening, my friend and fellow photographer Xander Cesari dropped by the house. He was out in San Francisco on assignment, but he was able to carve out some time to take a rip around town in the roadster. We had a blast putting this old car through its paces on these historic streets. Richmond, Haight, Sunset, Marina, Presidio, you name it—we were there. People were extra excited to see this car out and about on a warm fall night.

The following morning, I made my way up to Petaluma to pick up some critical pieces of the puzzle. As much as I would like to share the details now, it's getting late. I'll continue with the full story tomorrow.

 

It's beautiful country up there. Although the coast gets all the hype, I love traveling north on the inland route—when it's not summertime on my motorcycle!

Glad you got to see The French Dispatch. I agree that there were parts that felt a little drawn out, but overall very enjoyable. Just like you, I hadn't been to the movies in well over a year.

I love the Castello Cavalcanti short. Such a hidden gem of the Wes Anderson universe. For those who haven't seen it, you can view it in its entirety here.

Hahaha you know that's not my intent. I'm doing everything I can to keep the ball rolling. Sometimes it's better for me to post updates in sections rather than bogging you guys down with too much stuff at once.

 

As promised, we're back with the weekend recap.

Saturday morning, I made my way north to Petaluma to meet up with fellow H.A.M.B.er @bushwacker 57. Although it was sunny in San Francisco, I ran into some heavy fog as I rolled into Sonoma County—usually things go the opposite way. The air was crisp when I stepped out of my truck, and it wasn't long before I was in Mike's driveway. Boy, was in for a surprise.

There, front and center, was his freshly finished 1932 three-window. After decades of collecting parts, he put the pieces together to make a first-class hot rod. I was blown away by the hot flathead and incredible detailing throughout.
Next level stuff right here. A huge inspiration.
Flathead goals.

This is the engine in Mike's survivor '32 roadster—one of my favorite hot rods of all time. With any luck, you'll be seeing more of this one in the not-so-distant future.

For the rest of the morning, I got to hang out with Mike and hear some amazing stories about everything from racing Gassers to tearing around San Francisco on a brand new Harley Servi-Car. I can't wait to go back to his place soon.

So, what pieces did I pick up? Well, first and foremost, I got a really nice F-1 steering box. I also bought my F-1 shock mounts, pitman arm and drag link. Thank you again, Mike!

My latest acquisition basking in the sun at di Falco's.