So it's been a Month since the last update. Some of you may have thought we gave up.... Nope not us. The Cold weather here has slowed us down a bit. We have been unable to paint some key parts that will help us move forward more quickly on the build. In the mean time I've been working on the coil box. Of course I realized that I had no before pictures until I was half way done. But I can say the rest of the box was similar to the lid without all the rust holes. All of the Metal was prepped, primed and painted a nice Ford Blue The Lid was replaced. The Wood looked like it had been blasted along with the rest of the box. It was also very weather and tired. I cleaned it up just a bit. Glued the larger cracks back together and such. Then it got as many coats of poly as I could give it. it took 4 coats before it started to look like it should have after one. Each coat was hand rubbed into the wood. All told it has 6 to 8 coats on it. The Wood is noticeable heavier now. All new Copper contacts were added. The Wood was mounted to the metal case originally with two steel Rivets. In the rebuild I chose to go with copper rivets. I measured everything settled on a size and ordered 250 of them (smallest package McMaster-Carr sells) Before I refinished the wood everything fit fine. Well after the refinishing they were about 1/16th of an inch too short. We found some nice old half inch rivets in the barn (who know what they were for). I chucked them up in the little bench lath and went to town. The head was trimmed down and rounded over. The shaft was thinned. On the left is the copper rivet I started with. The middle on the bottom is one of the 250 I bought. The One on the top right is one of the finished rivets. This is the first time that I've turned copper. The old rivets are 100% copper. They are very soft and like to bend smear and shear off if you try and remove too much material at a time. To be honest... here's some of the ones that didn't make it After they are slipped in the shaft is peened until it's tight. At this point it's one of the prettiest parts of the car! We have larger parts in the works so stay tuned. CBB
Last weekend we finally had temps warm enough to paint! The things that we had to get done were the Rims so that we can get a rolling chassis together in the next few weeks. The black Epoxy sealer/primer is nice... But I don't want to see it any more! After 4 coats of paint can you tell a difference? Here's a close up does that help? No, there's not a big difference between the two. To us that's perfect! Bring on the Weekend! and the rubber! CBB
This weekend we were able to get enough time to mount the tires on the Rims. We did this like most of the rest of the car, by hand. We seated the front bead. Slipped the Tube inside then Seated the back Bead. Then Filled them with Air. All of the Work was done on the back of the rims in case we made and mistakes . Here's a shot of the first tire we mounted. It's on of the front tires. Now let's compare the front and the rear tire after mounting. There is a bit more "Beef" in the rear tire. By the end of the evening we had manged to get all 4 tires mounted and filled with air. We did managed to punch a couple of holes into a couple of tubes while mounting the Tires. We purchased extras...but we will be patching tubes to have as spares. But over all it was not a bad experience for the first time trying it. The Tire spoon has earned a permanent spot in the Lizzy tool box! We may have a roller yet! (I can dream right ) CBB
The Coupe in the picture has suicide doors which indicates to me it might be an Ames-bodied T. Ames made some neat bodies, the spare Buffalo on this car may be on the right quarter of the body.
Dave, Yes, those are 19 inch model A rims. I know I've seen others call them 21s because that is the diameter edge to edge. But they fit 19 inch tires. CBB
The 19" wires were used on the Model A in 1930 and '31 .....the 21" version was used in 1928 and '29. The earlier 21" wheels have a smaller hub then the later 19" wheels.
Right. What I meant was that it's confusing people would refer to the 19s as 21s because of the outside measurement, since there actually were 21s. I guess those people would call them 23s? Does that mean you can't run 21-inch wheels on '30-'31 hubs? Or are you just refering to the center part of the wheel? -Dave
Big-n-Little 19's!? Love it, forgive me if I missed it in a previous post, what size 19" tires are they? Thanks
Sorry I gotcha...I was confused by the confusion No... the wheels centers are larger on the 19" wheels Vs. the 21" .....but the bolt patterns are identical. Ford used the same 5 x 5 or 5 x 5 1/2 bolt pattern from 1928 up until the mid to late 1960s. The only difference in them is the size of the wheel center stamping....they are physically larger. Try comparing '28-29 and '30-31 hub caps and you see what I mean.
Tbone, I'm not sure we stated what sizes they were. The rears are 700 (4 3/4" white wall) and the fronts are 550/600 (3 1/2" white wall). All said and done they are slightly taller then the wood spokes that were on the T when we got it. but they are lighter by a few pounds. CBB
Thanks for the Nice Comments Guys! We did take advantage of the nice weather and did a little paint test. We're not sure how we want to prep the body for painting. With the Rims having some pitting and great character to them, a perfect mirror body just wouldn't look right. We took a red scotch bright on a drill to the part of the body to remove the old paint and the rust. Then we hit it with one quick coat of black (for this test it was out of a spray can, but it was just a test). Here's what we came out with. (it's the area in the upper left... just had a camera phone for these pics sorry ) Now on the other side here we wiped the body down with some thinner and just painted over everything. I think that we have to clean of the old paint, but leave the pitting. it has this smooth subtle feel. That lovingly used new old look that fits this build. We're open to guidance and comments so let em rip! CBB
Just to let everyone know, we decided on sanding off all the old paint, rust and anything else (like the first photo). We still want to leave some of the patina but clean rust and pitted areas. We have the rear axle about ready to finish. During reassembly we found the sleeve of a hyatt bearing needing replaced. So, the rear axle is on hold for a week. We also did a dry fit of the front end and wheels which makes us think we need to drop about two more inches out of the spring. Bruce should be posting pictures soon. Jim
So This will be the Post where I'll be posting the photos to follow up Jim's post. We'll start out with a follow up to the all of the paint Comments we got . I got a little froggy with some 120Grit and a DA. This is about as far down as we'll go. Then Primer and color over. As Jim stated we started putting the Rear End back together We had some extra help putting the outer races back into the front Spindles. With the Races and the bearings reinstalled. We threw on some front rubber and started trying to set the rake. We're happy with this look and we're pretty sure that we can adjust the rear to make it happen. That's where we're at.... We've got the sleeves on order (missed them the first time ) so till they get in the rear is as far as she'll go. Until we get the rear back together we'll have to focus on the body or the engine.. Till then... Let us know what you think, or if you see a mistake! CBB
We Got nothing Done On Lizzy this Weekend.... Instead we went to the ECTA Inaugural Event in Wilmington, Ohio Got to see things go fast and draw on some very nice Hot Rod inspiration. I wanted you to have your Photo fix, and let those of you that didn't attend see a sample of what you missed. Maybe next weekend we'll get back to building. CBB
Thanks for the photos, but get back to work! I can't wait to see a coupe finished in the gow job style.
Big Cheese, We tried to take your advise but this is the best we could do Over the last few weeks we've been finishing up the rear axle. We learned that we were trying to make the whole thing much harder then it needed to be. (Paraphrasing The Model T books) if the pinion gear fits into the Ring gear with a little wiggle room.... Put the housing half's together it will be fine! So That's what we did. Note to the Reader... don't forget the inner bearing when you slip on the right side housing. or you'll have to re-RTV the split when reassembling it the second time. While working on the rear we cleaned up the drive shaft spool in planning for the torque tube reassembly. We also did some more Spring work. Jim flipped the eyes on the rear spring. Looks good doesn't it! And we used the same method as before to take another inch out of the front Spring. To get the inch out we had to adjust all the springs in the stack. We're getting pretty good with this bench press method now. We're hoping that soon we'll have this rear end back under the frame and we can start the "Fun" stuff like fabbing brackets and things. Maybe look at some friction shocks... Or we could slip a couple nice blue Monroe gas shocks under her? CBB
Tube shocks are really gonna harsh the gow vibe. I know it's generally agreed that T roadsters on T frames are light enough that they don't need shocks - not sure about coupes!
Cheese the part about putting tube shocks under there was just to see if anyone was reading this. We're set on some kind of friction shocks. Mostly to take out some of the bounce of the springs. With they way this thing bounces and the area we live it's more of a safety thing. CBB
So how is it that you feel the need to remind the reader to install the right side inner bearing to minimize rtv useage? Is there another segment coming on 'how to determine whether you have installed the inner bearings or not'? Just having fun here, i really do enjoy this build.
CBB, I might have some shocks. Not sure what they were from but might be what you're after. Stop by and take a look. Later, Bill
OJ--- We put the 2 sides of the rear end together and used lots of rtv just like the model T guys suggested. Then I look on the bench and see a nice Hyatt bearing, pre-libed and all! I asked Bruce why we had a spare. We didn,t....... So back apart the rear end comes. We then put the rest of the tube of rtv on it and all is well. I hope we are not the only ones on the hamb that does silly things like this..Or, maybe we are the only ones silly enough to tell Willy--- I will call you about the shocks. Hopefully we can get more done over the weekend. Jim
I want to Start this Post off Right! By Saying a Big Thank YOU! to Our Friends Jeff, Caleb, Nate and Brittany Who came out this Saturday and helped us move forward. With the Crew we were able to get the Motor set back in the frame to help us layout the new tie rod. With the amount that we've dropped the front end we had to contend with not only the oil pan but the frame . The tube was precision bent with a harbor freight hydraulic pipe bender. In this shot you can see the tie rod fitted up prior to welding the ends on. We had Jeff weld the ends on for us (we make goose turds.. Jeff doesn't ) This angle lets you appreciate the tie rod's shapely curves. While Jim and Company worked on the Front end Caleb and I repaired some boogered up threads on the rear Axle and got the Rear tires on the car. We also laid out the templates for the rear shackle drops. At the end of Saturday here's what she looked like. On Sunday afternoon Jim and I worked on the Shackle drops.... Well we found that there is a bigger learning curve on the plasma cutter when your cutting 3/8" plate. But we managed to get 4 acceptable blanks cut out of the plate. The Bench Grinder is going to get a workout but they will do. We had to get the T moved out of Jim's wife's parking spot in the garage so we put the stock Shackles back on.... And pushed Lizzy out into the sun for the first time in over a year! After seeing the Frame out in the Sun, we couldn't pass up a chance to see what this old girl will look like with the body on. That's a 15 degree rake! We sorted it out and when the shackle drops are in the top of the rear tire should be even with the old fender line. That's a 6.5" drop for the rear end. To show you how low the front is. Yes, The Crank hole Clears the Axle! As always let us know what you think. And Again.... THANKS guys we couldn't have got this far with out your Help! CBB
The Jalopy Journal
