Projects Model T roadster on Model A chassis

I got over there today (somehow, despite terrible traffic) and we got a lot done. Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures since I spent most of the day in PPE.

First we took all the parts out of the acid bath.




The citric acid brought the metal to a really nice shiny clean state, from whence we sandblasted the shit out of it for good measure. I didn't get any pictures of sandblasting but @RMONTY may have. It took us a while to figure out how to keep his new sandblaster from clogging but once we got it we quickly burned through 100lbs of media bringing all the parts down to bare metal, which we then primered.

Anyway, we figured the best place to start would be rebuilding the turtledeck, so we started with the passenger side quarter panel, which is the worse of the two. Step one: patch the top where it fits into the rain gutter.



We cut a strip of steel out of this sheet, bent it 90 degrees in the brake, then went after it with the shrinker/stretcher, checking it against the rain gutter piece to make sure it was right. Slowly but surely we got it dialed in.






It needs some final tune-up with a hammer and dolly, and due to the brake's size we have to make the upper end as a separate piece, but once it's done and patched in you will never be able to tell.

The wheel well on that quarter is toast and will need replacement so we didn't bother shooting primer there. But you can see pretty easily now how much good metal actually is in that thing.

We also started after some of the upper cowl damage with the hammer and dolly. The metal is pretty thin there but it was compliant, we were able to get the driver side significantly smoother and will finish it up later.

 

Dang, It is coming along great. I am really enjoying this thread. Thanks for letting me tag along.

 

I looked for you at Dewey a few weekends ago. There were a lot of people there! Sorry I missed you if you were there. Are you still working on that shoebox?

 

Bit of ingenuity and inspiration here:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...20ish-ford-roadster-body-out-of-this.1011818/

 

Wow, that is nuts. I see it but I still don't believe it!

 

Well shoot, I was there most of the day on Saturday. Hanging out with Joel. We were keeping an eye out for you. Sorry we missed you. I haven't done anything with the shoebox in a month or so. I have been helping my son get his truck ready to drive. See you down the road my friend.

 

Amazing work, I've got a few of those panels but you guys have it well in hand. Looking forward to more great progress. Mike

 

Today was a bit short, but it feels like we got a lot done.





Item one was finishing the passenger quarter panel top patch. We made the rest of the length, shaped it with the shrinker/stretcher, and welded it in.

To position it, we made some profile gauges out of cardstock based on the good quarter. We then flipped them over and used them to set the precise location of the patch.




Once we had it where we wanted it, we clamped it, then tacked it, then cut diagonally through the extreme edge of the patch & the old body metal below. In theory the patch would drop straight down into the footprint of the steel we cut out, allowing for great fit-up...







And it pretty much did. There's one spot where the cutting wheel got a little unruly but we were going to need to add a separate patch in that area regardless.

This is a huge step - it means we're starting to put this thing back together. And it's looking great!

 

Yes it is! - looking great - It's great to see the progress unfold.

 

I got started TIG welding the quarter panel to the new panel we made. I'm not a very good TIG welder, but wanted to do this with TIG because I've read the weld's are much more malleable than MIG. The welds are turning out ok with minimal grinding. There will be lots of hammer and dolly work but I was expecting that.

 

I've been wanting a planishing hammer so one might be in my immediate future. I found one at one of the "better" tool stores nearby. I'm starting my new job this morning so I think I need a reward for getting employed after only 6 weeks. Hmmmm! Might have to make a stop on the way home.....more to come!!

 

Saw these two at an event yesterday in Japan. Guys were having a ball thrashing them on a small dirt oval etc. Now I know what I want next Great to see so much progress on yours!

 

Couple of great looking roadsters there... thanks for sharing, it's really fun to pick out the subtle differences between the two.

I notice neither of them have windshields, that is probably going to be the case for mine for a while. I have been looking around for stanchions and they are pretty pricey, and I don't want to run rinky dink repros.

Robin texted and said he didn't want me hanging around his place, cramping his style this weekend. But I did get a title for the car yesterday, and started a new job... Hopefully will be back out there next weekend.

I'm super psyched to be this close to the finish line! It's funny how much faster things move when you find the right parts and things just click. I was never this motivated on the coupe or truck.

 

Hahaha! Sometimes you have to take care of the other half. They will be more apt to tolerate our enthusiasm for our hobby!

 

Thats a fact

 

Isn't it so!

What a great thread!

 

Love this, keep if coming I'm addicted!

 

check out the boat shops, they have some neat stanchions, cheaper than model Ts...

 

Thanks for the posting . Giving me inspiration to keep working on mine

 

Don’t be a tease, get a thread going! Looks like a great start!

 

Hey Pete, I found a video that must have been recorded at that event with some great footage of both those roadsters and a load of other hot rods!

 

Awesome find @trevorsworth It was an epic day. Not sure if you saw but I posted a thread on the day too but my video is no where near the quality of that one. Funny, I thought I was the only Gaijin (foriegner) there on the day, apparently not

 

Try a clear cup on your TIG it helps with seeing the weld better. Also be sure every thing is really clean just bright metal. With the clear cup you won't be dunk your tungsten. I did some welding after Caterack surgery and could not believe how much better my welds got.

 

I'm really in my infancy when it comes to TIG welding. I figured we would need to do some shaping on this quarter so I wanted to use the TIG. I picked up a planishing hammer and built a stand for it this week. Hopefully we can use it this weekend.

 

Jody on Welding tips and tricks has some good videos and a number of other sights also offer a bunch of good tips for novices.

 

A rock fell on my computer and now it barely works so let's try to get through this post. Take two.

Today was really productive. All the taking shit apart, cleaning, straightening, copying, shaping, beating - is starting to pay off.



We decided with the bulk of the cutting and patching on the turtle deck out of the way, the next steps forward would entail re-assembling it as much as possible. So we fit up the "good" quarter first, then started massaging the Howell's replacement upper and lower panels into shape.

I didn't get many pictures of us working with those panels, but there wasn't much to show. We cut any remaining inner structure out of the original panels and set about making it fit up inside the Howell's panels. What we learned is that the Howell's panels are close approximations of Model T panels but have some issues. Namely, the upper panel does not follow the curve of the bucket... it is only curved on one axis, following the quarter panels.

We scoured the shop and tried every metal working tool in Robin's arsenal to put the curve into it, but nothing worked, and actually we only made it worse, until a surely very traditional method occurred to him.



By bending it over the tire, he was able to start putting the right shape into it. When it came time to fit the lower panel, we realized the subframe at the rear was rougher than it looked. Trying to knock out a dent with a body hammer yielded a hollow thud and a big hole right through some structural bondo. We decided to patch that up before going any further. This was the first time in a long time I have done any real welding.






That was a really fun and straightforward job with immediate payoff. With that surface now smooth we were able to fit up the new lower panel.



And then the upper panel...



Obviously it still needs some work... but it's getting there.

Then we decided to try to fit the passenger quarter up. It's not anywhere near done, but we're doing pretty good with it.




The news is not all good, though... I pulled the gas tank out of the citric acid bath and began to clean it. As I was filling it with water I noticed several large holes in the tank which must have been thin metal blown through by the power washer. We are probably gonna try to patch them & then hit the tank with a tank sealer. I have seen some pretty big holes in motorcycle tanks fixed with sealer so it's worth a shot. Failing that I guess I'll have to buy a tank to put in the trunk and figure out a fuel pump.

Something I found interesting about the tank... that tank has been bone dry for probably 30 years, at least. I previously filled it with water, then evaporust, then water again, then it sat for two weeks in a citric acid vat. But as soon as I pulled it out and started rinsing it all I could smell was gas, and I saw it pooling on top of the acid.

Overall, a very good and motivating day!

 

Great progress! Thanks for the tale's.
Interesting about the fuel residue ...

 

That subframe is way better than mine. You got a good one for sure.

 

Today we pulled the tank back out of the acid bath and tried to identify all the pinholes. Then we gave up on that and focused on the big ones. Much soldering was done. This didn't turn out real pretty in some spots but it was just to help the Redkote have something to grab hold of.





This stuff STINKS! But anyway it got the job done, we think. It'll get another coat just to be sure.

We (more Robin than me) also started working on the driver side of the turtle deck. A large patch was made and welded in. There is a compound curve in this wheel well piece that doesn't show up that well in the pictures, but makes the patch a bit tricky.




Some further adjustment is needed before we burn it in all the way to make sure it matches the curve as much as possible. We'll just fake the outer bead somehow.