Clayton...that's it man...I gotta have that top!! I've always thought that the Dust Bowl would look great with a cap on!!!!
hey- Jay pointed your build out to me....very cool man, welcome to the "i was born in the wrong decade, and current hotrod trends do nothing for me, and it was as good as it gets in the 1930's" club. I'm the president of the club. you can join if you like. We're weird, opinionated, narrow minded and all about gow, magnetos, goofy manifolds, etc. that little whip is right up my alley. i built one very similiar in '05....a '28 ford rpu, on a frame, a banger, magneto, dual carb intake etc....it was supposed to be what a farm kid built from his dad's old truck with limited funds to run @ el mirage in the late '30's-early '40's. here's some pics from Billetproof '05: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=901452#post901452 also...if you need a "Kansas wheatfield timing association" brass dash timing tag i have one. send me a PM with your address and i'll mail it your way. from one Kansas hodad to another. (yeah, I am from Kansas though i'm on hiatus in California)
Yes. Did some minor changes and maintenance with a rewire, brakes, and some body and suspension fixes. Your roadster is looking real nice, con grads. The farmer hit it. We're weird, opinionated, narrow minded and all about gow... And that's a good thing
Farmer...that's me in a nutshell. I appreciate cars from all eras but have always been drawn to the 30's to pre-war. Ever since I was a kid, I've been drawn to this time period. I'm kind of intrigued eveything from this period, cars, airplanes, boats, houses etc. I'm a history buff and am really into WWII and our grandparents generation. I admire everything about them and like a lot of us, feel like I've always been a few generations late. Anyways...I LOVE all of the modifications and speed parts and ingenuity that came from this time. Thanks for the comments and YES...Sign me up for the club!! I think it fits me to a T (no pun intended)!!
Saxon...Very cool!! It's also nice to know that I'm not the only weird and narrow minded "gow" freak!! T N A...I just looked at your rides and that single-seater is SWEET!!!! Very nice!!!
Thanks Bugsy.... your roadster is one of my favorite cars on here. simple and srtaight to the point. I have also added a bunch of new pics of the single seater for your viewing pleasure.
here's a few more shots i dug up of my old '28 rpu.... thought you might dig it. It took me 2.5 years to gather all original sheetmetal from the hamb, ebay, fordbarn, and craigslist. then a few months to build. Stock a Banger, tattersfield dual carb hi-rise intake with 2 Holley 94/81's (same as stromberg 81's), Wico magneto...stock tranny, rearend, mech. brakes. '32 steel dash with 50's mercruiser boat gauge panel and vintage SW gauges, 30's Mobil gas station door knob shift-knob, custom steel tank in bed, and old '30's Pontiac cast iron hood ornament welded to radiator cap (to pay homage to my indian blood). most pics show either 16" wires or 16" '40 ford steelies, but the finished truck had a full set of Ford Artillery wheels with Firestone all black bias plys, and "Little Dude" hubcaps custom mounted to the wheels from a '50's Little dude travel trailer. Thus the name of the truck was "the little dude". I sold it when i got custody of my son, Kris in 2006. A true hotrod guy by the name of Randy Canarozzi bought it and it went up to Redding. Randy runs a roadster out at Bonneville and is a friend of the Gow love movement....so it went to a good home at a bad time. i miss it. I wish i didn't have to let it go, but the next build will be much better, and will be kept for life.
oh, btw...i did a floorboard much the same as yours....i dug it when i saw your pics. i made mine at home too, out of old tongue and groove flooring from the 20's that we found up in the crawlspace of my neighbors 1926 built garage, then i trimmed it out in redwood wainscoating leftovers found up in that same attic. it came out nice, and lifted out in two sections to access the transmission, a lot like your floor.
yeah, that T is amazing. it now belongs to Speedy Bill Smith though....he bought that Red Lion Special T rpu with the hot banger a year or so ago and had it shipped to his museum in Nebraska
Farmer, Thank you for posting those! That RPU is SLICK! I dig the old seat cover. Was that for a Model A seat or did you cut it down from some other vehicle application? I also LOVE the Wico mag. I'd love to eventually run one but heard that they can be finicky to use on the street?? That truck was built the same way that my roadster is. It's about a 2 to 3 year collection of parts from all sources too. I know that it sucked to sell it but it was for a damn, good cause and congrats on getting your son. Ironically enough, this pile of parts that I'm putting together is just about the last thing that I haven't sold to fund my custody battle for my 4 and 6 year olds but I would have sold EVERYTHING to make it happen. After 4 year battle, it paid off BIG TIME last summer!! Putting the "Dust Bowl Special" together finally is kind of an additional, prize for my kids and I as they love this thing too!
i have no idea what the seat was from, just bought it that way, and still have it and other small things from the truck
Got some "eye balls" on the car, Interesting brake/turn light setup i like it! also the photoshop top looks pretty good also.Your build brings the johnny cash "one piece at a time" song to mind...Keep on plugging away
Uh....I'm planning on putting seatbelts in the "Dust Bowl" but I suppose it could use a couple air bags too. Actually...I don't think that all of "them" would even fit in there at once. YIKES.......
HAHAHA!!! That's exactly the song that comes to mind of when I think of this car!! I'm really starting to get a bit impatient now and want to get it on the road but I'm down to a lot of little things now and it seems like they take the longest!! I'm also itching to get all the little "goodies" put on it like the down-draft intake, exhaust system Mallory distributor etc. I just want to really get it dialed in, in a stock configuration first though before I go messing with all of that. I'm still looking for a high compression head for it as well. Then i want to lighten the flywheel, put in the V8 clutch and tranny and the list goes on and on......BUT!! I really just want to FINALLY get it on the road after all these years first!! I need to FOCUS!!!
I've been working on my beat up deck-lid and finally got it mounted. I ended up sing some old, trunk hinges that I have. I'm not 100% sure what they came off of but I kind of like them and they work. They have a nice, deco look to them too. This lid is going to require some more "convincing" to fit better but it's better than nothing.
So, I'm starting to think about working up some sort of seat. Basically just going to be plywood based with a couple of inches of foam and then material on top. I've got some original, wool uphostery that came off of the rear seat of a Model T touring car that I've had sitting around forever. It's really pretty solid (other trhan it needs a cleaning). It's pleated and has the original batting under it so it's got a bit of padding to it already. I think that once it's cleaned up, it would "fit" the look of the car but I'm not 100% convinced yet. I've come across some really cool, blue plaid with red striped, material that I like and think would fit the car as well. I also have some heavy, cotton material with blue "ticking" that may work. I don't know...any suggestions or opinions are welcomed!!!
Jay....They might be. I know they are from the 30's and that's about it. We can compare them to your in a couple of weeks!!
Those hinges look great! Nice work! ...Ya know, looking at that deck lid.... I finally figured out why it doesn't fit right.....that is not a '26-27 Model T lid. We talked about that before, about the fit. Your lid is Model A. The curvature is too stark and not correct and the T's never had a handle/latch...just a key hole. Your's must be '28-'29 Model A...I think '30-'31 is bigger. With a little cutting and some re-arching the top....that would fit perfect! ...better then trying to find a real '26-'27 deck lid. you just might be on to something....might be a good way to go for me as far as a real steel deck lid too. ..Heck I already have a '28-'29 hood
Clayton...I think that you're right. It is going to require some "manipulation" to get a better fit for sure!! The funny thing is that I had a repro, 26-27 lid and it was way, too short!! It fit another 27 body that I had but not this one. I was surprised when I hauled it out to use on this body. I don't kow if the panel above the lid or the one below the lid is shorter on this body but that repro lid was a good, 3 to 4 inches too short!!!
Hmmmm.... Measure the upper or "Tulip" panel above the deck lid and the lower panel...from top to bottom and I will compare them to mint that have not been cut.
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