So yeah, I'm david. Found this forum looking for inspiring pics and creative solutions. A few years back at the height of my chopper building/motorcycle riding days I saw a '26 T-Roadster at my paint shop waiting its turn to go from matte black rat to shiny and show ready. . . and I was in love. I swore I'd have one someday. Fast forward a few years and I've sworn off the bikes (too many hospital visits and maimed buddies) and and bootstrapped my way into a '26 T Roadster! I get her from a super cool 83 year old man as a straight trade for a nice '66 Mustang that I did some restore work on. Have been working on making it less ratty and more of a sleek hotrod for about a week now. She runs and drives like crazy -- REALLY FAST -- so its the best kind of project: the kind you can drive while you tinker with. Basic specs: Body: Henry Ford steel from the firewall back, 1940s era Oliver 60 tractor nose and grille (!!!) with a B grade homemade hood connecting them up. Wearing lumpy uneven green paint. Interior: bare metal with nice trick real leather bucket seats. Currently there is a mat I made from a doormat with a hole cut for the shifter. Glass door knob shift knob. Its only temporary Instrumentation: a set of mismatched but working gauges, expect the old cable drive speedo (the best looking gauge of the lot) doesn't work with the electronic output of the late model T-5. Frame & suspension: pretty decent homebuilt custom tube frame, with nice solid axle/kingpin/leafspring set up up front and floating coilovers & radius arms on the rear. Disks upfront, drums in back. Drivetrain: fresh 1999 Vortec roller 350 SBC, Edelbrock carb, T-5 Worldclass manual trans (smooth hydraulic clutch!), 8" Ford rear, Disk front. Electric fan & fuel pump. Lake headers with open metal baffles-- surprisingly enough, they sound great with the smooth modern SCB. Here are some pics in her current trim -- believe it or not I have spent hours and hours cleaning her up to get her to this point, including removing yards of tacky decals and stickers, covering exposed wires, weatherstripping rattling parts, and removing handfulls of tacky rat rod crap (as en example, the shifter knob was a beer tap). And I touched up the paint, although it is an open question whether that improved anything. . . On the list is upholstery and flooring, better gauges and dash, vented or louvered side panels (to hide the modern engine), 16"+ wire wheels, '50 Pontiac tail lights, better paint, and a thousand little things. Still making up my mind on whether to keep the Oliver 60 tractor nose and grille. On the plus side its pretty cool looking -- almost like a period racing nose, fits the shape of the roadster body perfectly, is real vintage steel in perfect shape, holds the electric fan assembly and trick aluminum radiator perfectly, and is pretty unique at least in my limited experience. On the down side, well, its a tractor nose Also, rollbar/rollcage -- yay or nay? And, I have a hokey set of homemade bows with no fabric that came with, but I can't sit upright with it in place. . . do those of you with tops ever use em? Is it worth the effort to get/make a top? What do y'all think?
welcome, your plan sounds good, and i agree with you on the looks of the grill. i would keep it! did you try to wet sand and buff the paint?
T'were it mine, maybe a Deuce shell, and a more bench style trad seat. You've got a car that is great to drive. Roll bars and cages serve, depending upon how (and in what arenas) you drive. Then it becomes a question of head knocks or a helmet, and bar padding. A top cuts down on the windburn, get a good design built, (shop around for a pro, a craftsman) it is worth the investment if you drive more often.
Thanks tb33anda3rd! This paint isn't worth the effort of a sand an buff -- it is an uneven home spray and portions of it look like it was put on with a brush I'll probably do some sanding and prep work and then rattle can it matte black until I save my pennies for a real paint job. Right now my budget is probably going to be spent on side panels, wire wheels, roll cage, and better gauges in about that order.
Hey Pitman, I have been thinking of doing a bench seat, but they are expensive, I have a nice handbrake mounted between the buckets that I would have to lose, and the buckets themselves are pretty nice. . . kind of hard to justify the expense. I was thinking of upholstering the rear panel and side panels instead. Any experience with that? You're right -- it drives great -- makes my former C3 Vette seem like a slug! But, as a Oregonian this will be a dry day only car which means mostly summertime. I have extensive wardrobe of vintage leathers helmets, gauntlets and whatnot, so I'm not worried about windburn the notion of a custom removable steel hardtop is appealing. . . but is it probably years down the road. I guess I'll look into the convertible top more. . . Might try to take it to the dragstrip if I can pass the safety check -- part of the impetus to get a cage is for a place to secure a 4-point harness which I could remove for non-track days. I was thinking I'd float a headrest pad on the roll bar. Either way, I'm planning to have it out on every dry day this winter, and as often as I can come spring and summer. Afterall, if I wear out the engine, I'll have no choice but to replace it with an old flathead, right?
Expensive? Nah!! Use a second row minivan seat. Mine cost me $12!!! They fit right in a 28-31 coupe. They 'should' work for you too!! Good luck!
Hey MotoChronicle, Welcom to the site from the east coast (about half hour from pilgrim land! haha)! Cool little car ya got there, good plan and just leave the grille, dont worry about paint and drive the wheels off it. Paul
I also like the grill. As you said, it gives it a different look than the crowd would dictate. Plus, it doesn't look "tractorish" or missized, as many of the other tractor grills do to me. If you hadn't told me it was a tractor grill, I wouldn't have known by looking at it. I think the rounded edges on it make the car look sleek - like it could run at Bonneville. It will look even sleeker when you cover the hood sides. I think it fits the car quite well and looks good. Spun aluminum discs would further the sleek land speed racer look, if you so desire. They would also be pretty cheap, compared to many rims. I don't know if Jaguar wheels will fit your car, but some of them had some very nice wire spoked wheels from the factory. I could be totally wrong about this, but I think I remember someone saying that they will fit on a Ford bolt pattern. You may be able to pick some up for cheap, allowing you to spend that money elsewhere. I'm undecided on the bench seat vs. bucket seats. On the one hand, buckets keep you from sliding around during frisky driving, look more sporty, and you can adjust them independently. On the other hand, my wife can sit closer to me in a bench seat and I can put my arm around her shoulders, resting it comfortably on the back of the seat. They also make the small seating area a little bigger. And, you can hide more stuff under/behind them (radio, battery, gun, small glove compartment, sunscreen, water bottle, a heater, etc.) Your trunk area will be handy for those things, but they won't be within arm's reach. There's no room in t-buckets, so us bucketeers have to get a little more creative with our storage space. I think the sporty bucket seats may fit the sleek look of your car better than a bench seat would. I've never had a convertible top, but one guy I know who has said that the tops tend to fold down and rest on the paint. The natural vibration and jouncing around rubs ugly holes in the paint job and mars a shiny spot in the top fabric. So he wound up leaving the top down to hide it, unless the weather got really bad. I've thought I might try a Carson top, in spite of the inherent inconvenience of being in the garage when you're out driving. If you're really smart, you might come up with a way to fold yours up really small, like one of those instant pup tents, and stash it in your trunk. Or maybe you could make some of the longer poles come apart, like on a regular tent. I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do that, though. Looks like a fun car! 'Hope you drive the snot out of it.
MotoC, If you get curious about having a cloth top, they often are removed to enjoy a fair weather day. If used and to fold down, then there are rubber pads that mount to the panel above the deck lid. Good top bows come from places like LeBaron and Bonney. www.lebaronbonney.com/ shop around ($) (In the Northeast original ones have long ago rusted apart) When you float the assy in place, plan your "chop" and slope-of-rear cloth panel. Get a good side view to lay it out right. Leave an inch+ of headroom for the driver height. Another (Brit?) approach is the Tonneau cover that would keep the interior out of the sun, might have a zipper amidship front-to-rear. Fun to plan it out, no?
I like the look of the front end...I would keep it. If you put on hood sides and Bonneville discs to cover the wheels (cheesy? I dunno, but cheaper than new wheels) it would look really good.
Not bad at all! Even the tractor nose seems to fit, unlike most attempts. If it was mine I'd change the wheels to steel wheels with trim rings and caps, build hood sides, and drive it. Please don't spray it flat black. That would be a big step backwards toward rat-roddiness. Sand and paint it another color if you like, but I like it even in blotchy John Deere green! Ralph
I was prepared to hate your tractor grille and hood, but damn man, they fit that car perfectly! The proportions look great and definitely give you a racer look, all while being unique enough to not get confused with somebody else's cookie cutter rod. Nice car, post more pics as your progress.
Another vote FOR the nose piece...really looks like it belongs. Have fun with it, nice lookin' ride and welcome to HAMB.
That's one of the few tractor grills that could work. I'd keep it. I also think you'll like a bench seat, but those buckets look great in the pics. Somebody would pay a good pricef or the pair, if you decide to sell. Great car! Good luck with the mods.
I to was prepared to hate the tractor grill...but it fits the car..I like it. The color looks good on there, I think I'd leave it alone until you were ready to put real paint on it, rather than rattle can it black. Cool car very unique.
Thanks for all the supportive comments and input! I am more and more leaning toward keeping the tractor nose. I was looking at my mothers fancy chromed wire turkey roaster thingy and damned if Im not tempted to borrow it to make a custom grille out of. . . But the nose is more and more seeming like a keeper,and the grille is a decent stop-gap. Where would one go about sourcing some of those spun aluminum wheel covers? Also, does anyone have pics of a similar Roadster running modern Dayton 20" wire knockoffs and low-profile tires like the city kids put on their Impalas and SUVs? I can probably get a set of those cheap in town from someone who is trying to upgrade to 24"s. . . Could be a vintage statement with more modern performance. . . Or could look like crap.
Also, i have been thinking that instead of convertible bows and a fold down top, to design the rollbar to be the top attach point for a jeep-style snap on top -- with the edges anchoring to the rear deck and the windshield. That way when it isnt being used I can just wad it up in the trunk with no clunky accordion bows or PITA removal process. Does anyone have any experience doing something like this?
Nice dual purpose idea on the "bimini" boat form of top. You might come up w/some images in a search. And ask the question on another thread. As to LARGE late wheels...take a look at what is sought out here, passes muster, the new wires/w/low profile are not typ. seen in HAMB-land builds.
Cool rod! I'd keep the bucket seats, they look great. Unless you think you need a bench seat to allow 3 people to ride in that tiny cabin? I'd also build hood sides and maybe a belly pan to complete the track racer look, if it were mine that is. Congrats and welcome, btw!
So, I have spent a lot of hours tinkering on the '26 Roadster since I last posted. Major additions include fabrication of side panels (I started with sheet metal and using hand tools rolled the edges and contoured them to fit), and made some leather tie-down straps with footman's loops, did some repainting, and a hundred other smaller things. Opinions?
I would change a lot on that car, but that's just me. It sounds like you've got the right idea of what this car needs to make it appear to be more traditional. I'd change the wheels first thing.. That tractor nose isn't too out of place either. It sort of matches better than I thought. As for a top.. I plan on having a top on mine and I know I will use it a lot. Mostly on the longer trips. I don't like being sunburnt. But there are other guys that are more hardcore than me and run without one. It's up to you.
@ Texasspeed I'm thinking at this point that she'll be topless at least for a while. I'm in the cloudy rainy NW and I intend to get the most out of the few months of good weather we get each year. And, yes, a set of wire spoke wheels is high on my list. I have been watching Craigslist like hawk for weeks Eventually, the Centerlines are going to become track only wheels -- the enormous rears are already drilled for beadlocks. And, a roll bar and 4-point harnesses are on the list too. Just a matter of time and money. . .
@ Chopper cliff -- The Oliver 60 was a pretty good looking tractor -- hell most stuff from the 1940s makes todays stuff look like crap -- but I agree that it has nothing on a '26 T-Roadster. And it has a significant advantage over most other grille shells I have seen -- the electric fan disappears completely inside. You can see it in this pic.
I googled my way into another roadster with an Oliver 60 grille shell --it looks like it used to run on the Salt Flats in the 30s. I wonder if it is a true vintage racer that got all cleaned up, or if it was built as a display piece. . . then again, people don't usually put rear-mounted kill switches on trailer queens One thing is for sure -- the grille sure does look better chromed than in the silver rattlecan I gave it. I'm saving my pennies. . .
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