A while back I started to torch and bend the F1 shocks mounts so they would fit my application. Yes I could have cut them and welded them. But this was more fun. The shocks were just something laying around the shop. I took some more junk from the shop to start making a front body mount. The was a piece from an old weight bench. I still need to blend the ugly welds.
I'm also figuring out headlight position. Opinions would be nice. This is not an easy thing. Holy crap those photos are huge. I will resize tomorrow.
Looking good man. I'd move those lights down and towards the grill, about an inch or two both ways. Makin progress, Keep at it bud! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Oh and those gold valve covers look real good peeking out from the hood. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'd say move the lights in towards the shell so there is about half the gap and down a few inches. They look a little buggy where they are at.
Rotten Leonard! Someone just told me about your website last week! Good stuff. I heard you sold a log manifold kit, but didn't see it on the site. Thanks for the input. The headlights are only hose clamped in place right now. It's difficult to get a good look at them holding them in the air.
Thanks, the log manifolds are sold by Andy at Hells Gate Hot Rods, he has tons of cools stuff. http://www.hellsgatehotrods.com/
New position after many other positions and a million photos and stool time. Practicing more sheet metal work. Using hammers, a sand bag and a slapper. It aint pretty, but I'm learning and nobody will see it. Unless you look at this post. I finished welding most of cover tonight but didn't bring the camera so no pics. and with some Model A headlight. Not running them.
Getting closer to having the tunnel finished and the gas pedal mounted. I have been practicing more with the hammers and a slapper I made. The gas pedal is a left over from an 80's Chevy Sprint that donated the drivetrain to my Mini. It's what I had laying around, and fits. I took a pedal off a stock Model A brake arm and welded it on to the Sprint arm. I used the torch to round the one side so it felt nicer on the foot.
Looking good! I took a class with Norm Campeau last year. He showed us a method for forming using hammer handles to beat the roughed in (bag & mallet) piece over a forming head. It worked quite nicely for me. A planishing hammer or, better, an english wheel are faster but you gan get a pretty finished piece with patience and many, many whaps from a $5 hammer handle over a $15 mushroom anchor.
I have not taken any classes yet. I have just gathered hammers, antique irons, a leather purse full of sand, a slapper made from an old leaf spring and whatever else I can make work. I plan to attend the Pate Metal Meet the next time there's one.
Well if you've got something to use as a forming head, like an anvil, mushroom anchor, trailer hitch ball, anything made of hard steel with a shape you like, you can use a wood hammer handle like a slapper against it. I filled my bag with #7 steel shot. It took a little searching to run down but I eventually found it from ballisticproducts.com, fyi if you want to go that route at some point.
I have a rail road track, an 80 pound anvil and the cap off an oxygen tank to bang against. If you look back in this build, I have pictures of a baseball bat I turned down into a bunch of different heads for shaping metal also.
You're ahead of my game there then! I'm a little wayse off from needing to do any metalshaping still. I've gotta get my motor mounts sorted out and my roller weighed down so I can sort the suspension out. Then I can start to focus on my sheetmetal! I've got logs from a tree I took down in my yard that I'm going to try to make a slapper and or some mallets out of.
I blasted the door skins today and trimmed the passenger side to fit. Then it was tacked in place. Bullets After a bunch of tiny welds, hammering, slapping and grinding. Not perfect, but smooth enough for a skin coat. My practice continues, but I'm getting happier with the results. I still need to fill the hinge holes. Where the Model A and Model T part unite as one car. It almost looks like a body now! Bullets holes ground, hammered and filled. This is the last bit of the rear wheel well from the Model T touring back half. Patch penal roughed out, shaped and tacked in. Patch penal roughed out, shaped and tacked in. Then I went home
One more day of filling and shaping. I have been at the shop every day for the past 2 weeks. I love Winter time. Nice and slow at work.
More practice. I should have shaped this patch panel more than I did now that I see a photo. The welds where to fill a gap so they look like shit. Welded up and the first grind. The stock Model T panel was originally pushed in about a 1/2". I had beat it out with a bat a couple months ago. It was still super rough. It's tough to see the dents, but it's bad. The areas you see that are not ground are behind some bracing so I can't hammer the panel from the back side. Again, bondo will cover this, but for practice, I'm going to keep trying to get it smoothed out. Once you put primer on you can see the remaining flaws. I think I need to reach of point of saying, "It's done", and moving on to a different project. None of the panels I started with are flat or nice, so without hammering the whole damn thing, It's never going to be perfect. For now, the practice is good. It's friggin noisy and my shop mates get sick of it.
Another night down. I rolled this 2" tube to give it a curve that fit the shape of the door skin. A bit of trimming and it fit like a glove. I got lucky with the curve. This will be the start of the inner structure. It's gotta be tough so jumping in won't ruin things. The top of the belt line will be welded and smoothed out. Cutting a section of beltline off a door I bought on CL for cheap. I couldn't sell the damn thing for the life of me so I cut it up. My original patch section looked like a star filled night after blasting it. I'm going to attempt to bend the beltline to fit the curve of the Model T panel. The idea here it to cut the back section of the T panel to the height of the beltline. I want to have my upholstery rolled over the top, and a 'beltline' stitched in the vinyl to create the 30/31 beltline around the top of the T rear panel. I hope it works out.
How it started. More shaping. A couple more rounds and it should be good. The dark spot in the middle is from my dirty fingers. It's getting closer. I have stated curving the beltline patch panel and have it tacked in.
I have the left side mostly done, and I was able to finally pull the body back off. Now I can finish the chassis up and get the drive train finished. I started boxing the frame last night, but it's boring work and you have all seen that before.
It's certainly nowhere near as nice as what others produce on here. In Feb. it will be two years of learning, gathering and building. Aside from a shotty chassis swap on my '56 IH truck, I had never done anything like this. I didn't know the difference between a Model T, Model A or any 30's car for that matter 2 years ago. I had never done sheet metal work or heavy chassis work. Knew nothing about American engines or transmissions. The list goes on. I saw a picture of a modified one day, knew that's what I wanted, and here we are today. I'm not rich. I struggle to live since I started. To do this build, I had to learn what everything was, so I could find it cheap and locally. I use what I have laying in the garage. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. It's certainly not for everyone at this point, but that's OK. I have a lady that supports me 100%. She allows me to be on the internet for hours/days/weeks on end. She hangs out at the shop and almost never complains. We don't go out or go to bars often because I pour my money and time into this. I don't want to own my dream when I'm 50 or 60. I want it now. I don't want to be the dieing old guy selling off a million cool projects, and never having that dream. As long as my lady is here, and I can keep us fed and sheltered, this damn car is going to get done. I have the rest my life to take it easy and collect more projects. This needs to be finished so I can take some time off from the shop and enjoy life again before the Model A came along (I'm still having TONS of fun, though!).
Beau, I get you completely! My builds are on a shoestring budget because that's the reality of my pockets. It's either that or don't build at all. Learning as I go (mostly rust repair on the Falcon and custom floor work on my off-topic). Only way I'll ever have the kinds of cars I want to drive. Keep on keeping on! You're doing great! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks again fellas. I have been helping one of the club members in the shop the past couple days. He's putting a 81 Honda CB900 engine in a 50's Ford Prefect for a daily driver. It's OT and odd, but pretty cool. Aside from it lighting on fire this evening, it going together great! In between I have been boxing the frame rails. I'm using beer cases to make a template. Then tracing it out on to sheet metal and cutting it with the Beverly shear. I'm welding it slowly to minimize frame distortion. I have both sides tacked on from the transmission cross member forward. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have the rear sections tacked in.
I Love your build, your take on building and how you modified it in to a real modified!! I like these threads on a build, with Real people building real Hot rods for them self. Like back in the day, basic tools and a little help from friends, HAMB and www. I really like that people ads a little from there everyday life, like you would to a real life friend. Your 215 motor, is this the same motor as the F88 Olds 215, that spawned the Rover V8. With the Buick 215 being the "mother". The get up and go parts is really gonna make it look so nice. I like the odd and weird tell more of that bike motor in a little prefect. Could be in a PM if it's to OT for the HAMB.
The Jalopy Journal
