Projects Romeo and Juliet - A 1950s Period 28 roadster build.

The story begins while on the road to the Hotrod Showdown in Wimberley, Tx a few weekends back. We made a stop in New Braunfels to see my friend James of Taylor Made motors. I had met James during our TROG roadtrip last October and found out he had a very nice 28/29 model A roadster he was thinking about letting go, and NOT needing another project on my hands I of course decided to buy it...

Fast forward to February of 2022 and we were finally picking the car up, and man, this car is clean. Like needs no patch panels what-so-ever clean. Once belonging to a man who bought the car in the 60s with high hopes to build it had disassembled the car and put it in storage, and there in storage had sat until James dug it out nearly 60 years later.



My plan was to build a banger powered “TROG style” racer using as many model a parts as possible. I was always way into the prewar style cars and wanted one of my own. I love my late 40s style flathead v8 T, but theres something about driving a slow banger car fast that looks like so much fun.

That brings us to Juliet. Juliet is my extremely supportive girlfriend that has always been eager to help me with my Roadster, be my co-pilot in that loud windy car, or even jump the fence to get a better shot of me flying down the beach.



You see, what Juliet didn’t know was during the same weekend we picked up the model a, I was also going to propose to her in Wimberley.



Inversely, what I didn’t know was that she would fall in love with a 1950s style 28/29 roadster belonging to a San Antonio Barons member. She had grown up around hotrods and customs and had always had an appreciation for these cars, but I had never seen her take a liking this much to a car. Light bulb.

After verifying she said yes to my most important question, I brought up the possibility of us building the 28 for her and she was instantly sold on the idea. For reliability and safety reasons I think a banger car with mechanical brakes isnt the right path to take with this one (Ill have a banger powered racer someday!) luckily I had a lead on a sweet little 1950s powerplant that would be perfect for what we are trying to build.

In 1955 Ford introduced the 292 Y-block as part of their shiny new answer to the Chevy Corvette; the T-bird, and I knew where a complete freshly pulled drive train was and wouldn’t cost me an arm and a leg to obtain it. So this past weekend with the help of my dad we went and grabbed the motor, the 3 speed (with overdrive), and the dana 44 rear end.



That brings us to now. The current plan is to use the stock frame. We will probably have to stretch it a couple inches at least in order to fit the motor in without cutting the firewall up too much but we will know better how much when we do the mock up. We will need to be careful not to mess up the proportions so It’ll most likely still end up being a shoehorn fit but that’s hotrodding for ya.

It seems a little early to be posting a build thread when no actual work has been done but ive been excited to share my good finds and to start teaching my now fiancé about hotrods and to see her build her very own period correct roadster. True love is making sure your lady has a way cooler hotrod than your own… More to come later!

 

Congratulations on so many levels...talk about a moving romance......neat mix of goodies in this Hotrod adventure...look forward to the adventure back in time...

 

Very cool! Thanks for sharing and congrats on the engagement! I will be following along on progress.

 

Congratulations! Great to see a young couple so into hot rods and keeping the hobby/addiction alive!!

 

@Texas36 could you share the Hotrod from Trog your Fiance was inspired by?

I'm thinking your planned Hotrod albiet good and vintage it may not meet the Trog guidelines...It's obvious yours does...



https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...cle-style-fronts.1189241/page-5#post-13533568

So you have met a Veda Orr or perhaps a Helen Root who piloted this gem of a 29...most gals settle for the passenger seat but I sure understand the desire to drive over sitting side saddle...if this early 50s Hotrod your undertaking makes the Trog cut you can race each other...that'd be a hoot...

Your pretty fortunate to get such a solid base...makes for a more expeditious build...

Bttt for Romeo & Juliet the Hotrodding Duet...​

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...genized-hotrods.1002926/page-50#post-12434634

...A Go fast flaming heart for you Lovebirds...

​

 

we were at a pre 48 show a couple weeks back where she saw the car she fell in love with. Ill have to see if she had any pics of it! Was a neat car, SBC on a deuce frame. We arent planning to do TROG with this one Although I did see a Yblock powered rail at TROG that was pretty neat

 

Congratulations, getting married is the best thing (for most of us) that will ever happen to you...especially if you get a "car girl".
39 years for us.

 

I guess Helen Roots (maybe it was Barts...) Roadster fits that config your describing drivetrain aside...

 

I have a '30 sedan with a 292 Y block and to get it in without cutting the firewall I stretched the frame 4 inches. No fenders so I did not have to worry about wheel placement but I also run the axle behind front end which puts the wheel base back to close to stock. Some will not like the spring in front/axle behind set up but I'm sure it was used many times back in the '50's and it works for me.

 

All good stuff!!! Congrats

 

Touches my heart.
You guys...
ALL the luck.
And I mean every bit of it.

 

Man, what a story. Congrats on your engagement and your new project! I will be following along.

 

Great story and congratulations!!!!!!

 

More congratulations here! Happy wife, happy life. She sounds like a keeper. Tell her you love her all day every day. And remember, it's the small acts of kindness that will make her believe it.

 

Neat story. Congrats!

 

You are a blessed man, @Texas36! Subscribed

 

Did she say yes?????

 

if she said no then Ide be building this one for me

 

Congratulations!

 

Two great starts. Congrats from Texas57 to Texas36

 

another oddity.....you joined the Hamb just one day before me in '12!

 

Congratulations!

 

Ha! well thats a real coincidence!

 

So no real updates, just gathering small odds and ends, taking care of a couple other projects, and devising an attack plan for this one.
Ive been drooling over my buddy @TexasSpeed killer roadster the past few days. This car has been one of my favorites since I first saw it in person at Austin Speed shop. I ran it by my Fiance and she really digs it too. I think this will be roughly the same "vibe" we will go for. Check his threads out here and here . Its well worth a read or two... or three...

 

Congrats on both new projects! I am glad you have internalized the proportion thing. You CAN stretch the frame to move the front suspension forward - it actually looks better that way on a highboy. But you CANNOT move the radiator forward to get engine clearance and maintain good proportions. If the stock hood won't fit the original proportions are gone. This is one of the reasons Ford motors aren't a really good choice for a Model A. Your only option with a Y-block is to move the engine back by modifying the firewall. A lot of guys will tell you that 2" isn't noticeable. Perhaps to them it isn't, but to us "seasoned" hot rodders it is the difference between a successful build and a not-so-successful attempt. Good luck!

Here is a project of mine from years ago. Two-inch stretched frame with radiator in the stock location. Stock hood would still fit. The stretched wheelbase improves the look of the car in my humble opinion.

 

Love it !!!!! GR8 story & car. Made my day.

 

I don't see any reason to stretch the frame and not move the radiator. The entire reason for stretching the frame is to make room for the engine without cutting too far into the firewall, but if you leave the radiator in the same physical location relative to the firewall you've gained nothing, but stretching the wheel base; and whether that improves the aesthetics or not is subjective.

As far as needing to maintain the stock dimension so the hood will still fit or the look is ruined completely defies the general opinion of using 32 rails, which is extremely popular modification, so I think that thought also flies out the window.

And to slay one more dragon here, the idea that you can't move the radiator forward using the stock Model A frame is also false. Example A here, where the builder did move the radiator forward, in front of the cross member, to accommodate an Olds V8, looks damn good IMHO:


But I don't think that's the style that @Texas36 is going for here, just an example of what you can do.

Hey T, take a look at what Nathan Stewart did here on his Model A coupe with a y-block; it's a fantastic build thread, the car turned out incredible, you might pick up an idea or 2.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1931-model-a-coupe-y-block-build-father-son.1004188/

Also, now that I think about it, @dana barlow has a y-block in his Model A roadster, you might check with him about installing one with minimal cutting into the firewall. Dana is a wealth of information, having been at this game since the late 50's, he's built more than a few cars.

 

what happened to the vacuum pump on that y block? why does it feed into the manifold, shouldnt it feed into the wiper motor?

 

Im in agreeance with this. Im in the camp that believes where ever the front axle ends up the radiator and grille must be directly over, just my cup of tea.
Thanks for the info, Ive definitely studied that thread and found some great tips in there!