Looking great Kyle. Nice to see you making some progress. Can't wait to see your vision of the car. Your work is always spot on. I would think your bad luck must be coming to an end after the '36, the fire and this one. You have had more than your fair share.
Thanks Ian, I sure hope the bad luck is coming to an end. I'm finally making some progress on the permit for my garage, so it fells like some good is happening. Hopefully a new, good chapter.
I thought I should do an update, even though there isn't too much to report. I got the permit for my garage, so I am trying to get that going, which made me realize that once the garage project starts, the 2 current vehicle projects will stall. Obviously, the roadster is one of those projects, the other is a '64 F100 4x4. I decided to focus on the F100, so I can get it running, and not only have one of the projects running and driving before I get into the garage build, but I can also use the truck to help me during the garage build. But, some progress is still being made on the roadster. I have tinkered with it a little bit. I made a new trans tunnel, and began mounting my PowerGen. I also planned out my headers and ordered tubing for that this past week. And in the meantime, the engine has been at the machine shop. I got my cam in on the 7th, and my pistons should be shipped out sometime around Nov. 8, then the rotating assembly can be balanced. I really hope I can make quick progress on the garage, so I can get this roadster back on the road by early spring.
Just a small update. I received my pistons back in November and dropped them off at the machinists. While I was out of town for Christmas, I ordered the last of the stuff I needed for the engine build. I got gaskets, timing gears and chain, rod, main, and cam bearings, and valves. I received that stuff this week, so I took the valves to the machinist, and gave him the go ahead to grind the crank now that I had bearings in hand. Shouldn't be too much longer till he's done, and I can assemble the engine. I house/dog/cat sat for a friend in Burbank around Thanksgiving, so I worked on the car a little bit during that time. I made some dies to press round tube in the rectangles needed for the header flanges. Then made the stubs. I got started on the headers, but I'm not really happy with them so far, so I'm going to have to revisit that. I cleaned up the car a bit and took care of some odds and ends. I'm not really sure when I'm going to get back on the car right now. While I was out of town for Christmas, they poured the foundation for my garage, So, I'm pretty excited to get going on that.
Those header stubs look great to me, very well done. And congratulations on getting a new shop to play in.
Congratulations on the new shop and to the prospect. I look forward to seeing your progress as it's a great learning experience.
Not too much progress to report. As I stated before, I'm focusing on getting my F100 roadworthy before the garage build. My dad is coming in to town in the beginning of March to help with the garage, so that's when that build will start. Once that is up, I can make some progress on the roadster. But in the meantime, the machine shop has been plugging away. I picked up my heads on Friday. They still need to machine the crank and then balance the rotating assembly. I believe that's it, there may be some final steps on the block. But, even though all I can do is look at them, I'm still pretty excited to have the heads.
Very nice! Hey Kyle I've got a complete 1949 Cadillac two barrel intake with carb and Air cleaner if you want it for any reason like to break in the motor or something if not I'm probably going to scrap it as it's been kicking around my shop for years
Just catching up on this thread. Man you have had some bad luck. Hoping everything comes out great for you. Sure looks like it is. I just put a hood on my roadster after 10 years on the road. I also redid my top and added side curtains and took another inch out of the windshield. Basically making the car more weatherproof. Wishing you the best! Can't wait to see it finished, garage also.
Ooh, I might have to take you up on that. I was thinking about what I was going to do about break in. I thought it would be nice to do the break in before messing with the multiple carbs. You going to GNRS? I'm going tomorrow for setup, and Sunday. Let me know if you're around and we can grab a beer or something.
I'm probably going to head down Saturday. I'll take it home from the shop and keep it at my house that way you can grab it easily
Yes, we have the Gauntt coupe there again as the previous year Slonaker winner And in the booth we have Troy’s recently built blown Hemi powered Model A coupe, a ‘55 Nomad, and a Mustang convertible. We were supposed to have our ‘60 T-bird custom in our booth, but the interior guy didn’t finish in time.
I've got a small update. As I stated in post 160, my Dad was coming out in the beginning of March to help me with the garage build. He came in on the 3rd, and left on the 12th. My plan was to get my '64 F100 project able to move under it's own power before the garage build. I got close, but didn't quite make it. The last weekend I had to work on it, I got dumped on with snow, so as you can see, no working on the truck that weekend. I got 19". That also had me concerned that the snow was going to cause issues for the garage build. But, we were able to make due. half of the first day was spent shoveling, but then we were able to move forward. Long story short, between my and my Fathers inexperience with erecting buildings, some issues, and inclement weather, we were not able to get the building up in the time I had available to do so. Unfortunately, that means I have to throw in the towel and hire someone to finish it. I was hoping to save that money for other things for the garage, but it's not in the cards. I don't have the time or resources to finish it on my own. Here is a photo of where we got to on one of the days of weather that kept us inside. We did work in some rain in the beginning, but it was light rain. It rained hard enough for it to be miserable to be out there at the end. Anyway, as you can see, there is still a significant amount of work to be done. I'm still looking for someone to finish it, so If you know anyone in my area to recommend, please let me know. Today, I went back to work, and got the call from the machinist that my block and crank were ready to pick up. So, I got them on my lunch break. I still need my rods and pistons, and my rocker assemblies back. Hopefully that won't be too long, but I'm a step closer to getting the roadster back on the road. It sure would be nice to take it out this spring.
Nice Kyle! Be happy for the big steps that seem small, the best part being with your Dad. Treasure it.
Man, you are doing great in the face of a bunch of crap. I hadn't seen any of this before today. You just keep going when life keeps kicking you, and I admire your tenacity. I sincerely wish I was closer, I would gladly help to get your shop erected in any way possible. Keep on going, the roadster is going to look great and put a big smile on your face when finished and you'll have a nice new garage.
I want this garage done, but I'm not overlooking those small steps. The fact that my Dad came out and worked on this with me is not lost on me either. Even though we didn't get where we wanted to be, I'm very thankful that my Dad was here for it and we got to spend that time together. There were frustrations, but I'm very aware that one day those frustrations won't be possible. And that makes me appreciate those frustrations. I don't want to focus only on the frustrations. My dad was an accountant, and never been a builder, but his perspective was still valuable and quite helpful. In short, I have treasured it. Thank you man, I would like to take credit for my tenacity, but at the end of the day, what is my choice? I must move on. It's not always easy, but what the hell is? I sincerely appreciate that offer of help, people that offer that kind if help are rare these days. I'm plugging along, and in that spirit, here are the rods and pistons I picked up yesterday. I still need to install the Spiro Lox for the pins, but I've got enough to start engine assembly. Looking forward to breaking this thing in.
It will be good to see the roadster getting back on the road. It's had a long journey since it's beginning in my shop on the farm in Nebraska. The new motor will be a great addition.
I've never worked on a steel framed building, just woodwork since I was around 6 years old, is it more of a challenge?
I couldn't tell you. I've never built a wood framed building either. I don't think it's that it was hard, I think in addition to it just being new to us, we were also under-manned, and under-equipped.
Another small update. I forgot to post when I picked up the rocker assemblies, but I picked them up the other day. Today we sprayed Cerakote on the block and the heads. I still need to have the oil pan, timing cover, valley cover, and pulleys blasted before coating them. Tomorrow I’m going to check the mains with plastigauge on my lunch break. Then I’ll fit the rings and check the rod clearances. I’m excited to be getting this thing together.
I've been slowly assembling the engine on my lunch breaks. It's slow going, but I'm chugging along. I got my crank installed and all my bearing clearances measured. Got my ring gaps right, and pistons installed. Then, I cleaned up my head bolts, and installed new dowels and got the heads on. They arent on a torqued yet. I need to get my rocker assemblies on and measure for push rods. I think my machinist reassembled my rocker assemblies wrong, so I'm checking that out now. I also got the cam in. I need to send some stuff off the blasting so that I can cerakote and paint some more. Our blaster should be swinging by the shop soon, so, I'll get that stuff out. I also should get my intake to polishing real soon. Slowly, but surely. I really want the car back on the road before spring is over. I'm not sure I'll be able to do it, as I have alot to do for the garage as well. The building should be up this week, but there is still alot of work to do to make it a working shop. I'll do my best though. Anyway, here are some photos and stuff.
Not exactly a roadster update, but the roadster will live here soon. I finally got my new shop structure up! There is still alot of work to do before it's a functioning shop, but to have the structure up is a good feeling. It's been 2 years and 8 months since the fire, so it was starting to feel like it was never going to happen. I have alot of plans for this place, so once I can get electrical in, I'm looking forward to doing alot to, and inside this building.