Projects Model T roadster on Model A chassis

What is the benefit of reversing the firewall? Im a rookie to these cars......

 

On a Model A, reversing the firewall gives you a couple inches to clear a V8 without having to add a hump/tunnel. But not sure what the benefit would be on this T as everything already clears with the 4 banger. There is more space behind the engine than there was on the Model A.

 

Patch panels should be here Wednesday. Dude from Howells called me and said we ordered some coupe part and wanted to be sure we wanted roadster parts. He was a nice guy! Said he was shipping parts as soon as we hung up.

I am going over to my friends house tomorrow to make the hammer forms for those rails that we need. I messed around with it for a few minutes earlier and called him, he had a better idea!

 

@trevorsworth @RMONTY might take a look at this thread if you need some ideas on the patches some of the pictures are gone but the general idea is still there

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...s-from-scratch-for-cheap.613570/#post-6946037

 

Made it over to my friend's house today and was able to get some hammer forms cut out on his bandsaw and router table. This should help make reproducing the channel that the turtledeck side panels sits in, and is welded to, a piece of cake. I have always wanted to try the hammer form thing. I made 2 sets just in case the plywood doesn't hold up.

We cut 4 strips of plywood to the proper width and length. We used a piece of hardboard as the template. We traced the shape of the piece onto the hardboard, then cut that out on the band saw. Then we used a spindle sander to fine tune the template. Next we used two sided tape to stick the hardboard template to one of the strips of plywood, and then rough cut the plywood to the shape of the pattern on the band saw, to within 1/8". Then we stuck the hardboard template to the first strip of plywood, then ran that through the router table. From there, we used the first plywood hammer form as the template, and cut out the remaining three. Thanks to my friend Ben for the use of his woodworking knowledge and wood shop.

I thought I would wait for Trevor to come over this weekend so we can both make one of these that we need. Trying out the hammer forming technique will be great learning experience for both of us!

 

Delivery from Howells Sheet Metal today. Panels look presentable to me! Ordered them on Saturday, here today. Good service from them from my perspective. Ordered through online bay site of course!

 

I'm super excited to get those burned in Sunday! Gotta make sure I bring my hood this time.

 

You are making good progress. Frank

 

Today we got the turtle deck broken down to its constituent pieces.




The driver side quarter is nice, and all the complex internal structural elements are intact. We will have to recreate the bottom channels as mentioned above (didn't get to it today) but everything else is very solid.



Driver side is pretty nice... OK, see that lip? That fits inside a structural rib/rain gutter. When we removed the rivets holding the passenger side quarter at the bottom, the whole quarter just fell off. That lip is completely rotted off on that quarter...



At first we were thinking this whole panel was a write-off. It needs attention on all the edges and the inner fender is junk. But after probing it a bit we realized the compound curves are all intact and most of what needs to be replaced is just flat, smooth sheet metal. So we cut the rot back about 1/2" to good thick metal...




Then we threw everything in Robin's citric acid vat.



I'm planning to get back over there Wednesday... depending on the weather we're either sandblasting the rest of the car or starting on some welding.



Couldn't resist a picture of all this old iron together.

 

I see bubbles in the citric acid.
It's working...

 

sorry it took so long, found the '31 insert but it is a bottom... errrr.

 

Did a little work tonight. This was my first attempt ever at hammer forming. It needs a little tune up along the edges but this will never be seen once the quarters are revived and made to fit. I cut these long until we can get a final measurement.

 

Hi, I'm enjoying this build, I've got lots of the same stuff going on as you do! keep up the good works. Mike

 

Did a little more tonight. Got the roached passenger bucket side off. Trevor is going to wake up in the morning and shit himself when he sees I am tearing his car apart!

 

Hahaha! Be careful with that, it’s an antique!

 

Just as a little inspiration, here's one I recently built for Hacksaw Bill. No show winner but a good runner that handles well.

 

That looks perfect. I was just thinking about a louvered deck lid.

 

@Koz Love the taillights and roll bar! Any build pictures?

 

Need to remember to bring my tail lights tomorrow to see how they look..

 

RMONTY. I believe Bill is going to put a build thread up. I have a a load of pics in the shop. You wouldn't believe what this one looked like 6 months ago.

trevorsworth, We had one '26 and one '27 rear quarter. The rest iss just sheetmetal from the shop. Homemadehardtop57, (Jerry), punched the louvers for me.

 

Having done the research, my concern is relocating the fill neck so I can still use the Model A cap. There are no old school radiator shops anywhere nearby that I could find… and I can’t solder that well. Wish I could because I think that would really work nicely.

 

I know it's out of the way but they are on Mocking Bird Ln. just west of Irving Blvd. and they do radiators for commercial equipment. They can fix anything or build anything brass and copper so this type of repair is right up their alley. Not like the people who crisp plastic tans on aluminum cores.

 

That’s only an hour from me! I didn’t see them when I was searching, I think they are just outside the radius I set.

 

Just trying to help. Was building a 27 roadster on a Essex frank when Uncle Sam grabbed me and left it with my boss and he sold it and gave me the $$$ when I got out. Anxious to see yours done. Frank

 

Building the new bucket side is going to be challenging but I think we can come up with a reasonable facsimile. I'm thinking about flattening what is left of it and then tracing it out on either cardboard or maybe even poster board. My hopes are that we can bend the flanges and angles on the poster board and tweak the poster board as needed until we have the right fitment, and then transfer the pattern to metal and recreate the shape(s). Does that sound reasonable? I have a 3' break, an English wheel, shrinkers and stretchers, and a bead roller with several dies including a tipping die.

 

This body was pretty much made with the tools you mentioned. No reason not to make that panel. Watching this thread to see the great outcome. Keep at it!

 

That sucks man. It's just sitting on the shelf so if you do find someone that can work it out for just let me know and it's yours.

 

@RMONTY if you look at this thread I linked earlier he uses a portion of a Chevy van hood to make the majority of that piece, just another option to consider

 

You guys are really after it! Great job!

 

@Shadow Creek beat me to it. That is a great thread if you haven’t checked it out yet.