Here is more of a recap of my RPU build. I thought about doing a build thread awhile back but just kept working away on it instead. Now that its almost finished I thought I'd share. I've always been a fan of modifieds and was looking for a decent body to start with. One day while cruising the web I found a guy about 45 min away with a 26-27 body for sale so I decided to go check it out. Once I got there I looked over the body and decided the price was right. He also had a bed for sale too, so after a little negotiations I had both. The day I got it home rpumine by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 11:46 AM
Next it was time to start gathering some parts. The front suspension I already had which was a spring behind tube axle with hairpins. If I was to do it again I probably would have went with an I-beam but since I already had it I ran with it. The drive train is from my father-in-law, he is a big Mustang/Shelby guy and he and a friend bought a 65 to build into a race car so they pulled the 289/c4 and asked if I wanted it. Which the answer to a free running motor/trans is always YES. He even threw in the rear end. Also got a set of WW wheels and tire from a friend for a deal and was on my way to a rolling chassis. Power and Shoes! by inkstain27 posted Jan 26, 2012 at 4:02 PM Other parts I got from where ever I could score a decent deal. The front brakes are F1 that I traded for here on the hamb. Now I just needed a find a chassis to put it all together. I work/apprentice at a local hot rod shop part time and my boss got ahold a model a body and frame and was planning on A on 32 rails. so I was able to get the A frame for a steal. I kept the stock frame from the firewall forward and built the rear section out of 2x3, stepped it up a "few" inches in the back and retained the original A rear cross member to try and get that low modified look. old phone pics 265 by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 12:12 PM Since I had a bed now I tried to retail as much of it as possible for hauling things like tools/cooler/suitcase to car shows. once I put the bed the chassis with the body in place I decided it needed to be shorten old phone pics 270 by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 12:12 PM
At this point I decided to finish mocking up the entire car before blowing it apart to start body work and paint. So after gathering a few more parts, I had the car into a rolling state. I was a little jealous my son got the first ride in it t roller by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 11:46 AM more to come
time to move on to the body, which was in fair condition. I had one good door and luckily a buddy of mine has a touring project that he had just purchased a full set of original doors for, so had a few extra to spare. I purchased a new back section for the cab and lower rear sections from Howell's and the rest of the patches I made. Also made a stand to get the body up to a workable height so I didn't have to work on the floor. lot of work left by inkstain27 posted Jan 26, 2012 at 4:02 PM Next step after all the metal work was done was to finish out the chassis, so I got it all apart and cleaned up, boxed the front "A" section welded up all the holes and got it all painted gloss black. Then set up the master, rebuilt the brakes and ran the fuel, cooler, brake lines . chassis1 by inkstain27 posted Aug 19, 2013 at 1:46 PM chassis 2 by inkstain27 posted Aug 19, 2013 at 1:46 PM Next on the chopping block was the motor, First thing was to get it painted to match the chassis, Black. Wasn't a big fan of the copper that was on it. Then I had to raise some funds for some goodies so the car sat like this for awhile. Finally got a new intake, distributor, finned valve covers and a deal on used carb that need to be cleaned out and adjusted.
Time for paint. This step seemed like it was never going to end. All primed, blocked and ready for paint primer job by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 11:46 AM body pics by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 1:05 PM Now came the ever daunting task of picking a color. This drove me nuts for several weeks. I kept going back and forth between colors and almost decided to just put the primer body back on and run it like that, but in the end I wanted a painted car. I've always been a fan of greens and one day cane across a pic of a 60 vette that was cascade green and decided that's the one. Once I found the code for it I was off to paint store to get it and some clear to lay down on the T. I painted it all in my garage. I set up some plastic for a makeshift booth and some fans with some filters to keep the dust at bay as much as possible. I very pleased with the results. IMG 1723 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Oct 6, 2013 at 10:02 PM IMG 1727 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Oct 6, 2013 at 10:02 PM
Finally time to mate the body and frame back together, so with the help of a couple of friends we secured the body to the frame. IMG 1732 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Oct 6, 2013 at 10:02 PM The next couple days were spent putting all various parts back Radiator Grill Doors Windshield post Steering Colum Headlights Tail lights etc, etc, etc... IMG 1738 (800x800) by inkstain27 posted Oct 6, 2013 at 10:02 PM IMG 1745 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Oct 9, 2013 at 1:30 PM Now that it looked like a car again it was time to make it run. I have always been a little timid around wiring and looked into maybe having someone else do it or buying a easy DYI wiring harness. But instead I made the decision that building the harness from scratch would be a good learning experience for me. So after spending a couple weeks researching on the HAMB and reading a couple books on hot rod wiring I felt confident enough to take on the task. I took out a piece of butcher paper and made a diagram. Drew all the components on it and after going back and forth between my manuals and notes printed of the HAMB I had something to go off of. A lot of erasing and re-drawing haha the "diagram" by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 2:01 PM After a chasing down a few gremlins in the system I got it all working properly. Got to say I'm glad I did it this way, I feel like I have a much better understanding of wiring now. It was now time to come up with and exhaust. I wanted something simple but aesthetically pleasing. I deliberated on Lake pipes, and roadster style headers but really wanted to build them myself. So again I researched T style exhaust and found a lot of photos of 60's style show t's with crazy chrome pipes which got me steered in the right direction. So I bought some flanges, a box of bends and set out to build a set of pipes. Then I came across a deal on a box of flared chrome tips and snagged them without hesitation and started putting it together. exhaust by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 1:05 PM After I welded them all up I wrapped them but left some the chrome tips showing IMG 2294 (800x533) by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 2:17 PM That about it for now, it runs, drive, stops and is a ton of fun. I've been taking it out every chance I get when the weather lets me. I'm onto getting a windshield installed and coming up with an interior all while putting some shakedown miles on it. IMG 2295 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Jan 30, 2014 at 2:27 PM
Nice work! I can't believe you got the body & bed so straight!! Might have to get you down to Texas to help with mine
She is, its been just barely above freezing here and hasn't stopped me from taking it out Thanks, its not perfect, a few spots here and there. But I'm very pleased with it. Thanks for the kind words.
Took a couple hours today and decided to give upholstery a try. I'll admit I'm not the greatest with a needle and thread but my hot rod budget is getting tight right now so I decided to make my own interior. Nothing fancy, but functional. My mother-in-law is big into crafts and sewing and a few months back dropped of a box full of vinyl. So with a few other materials from the local fabric shop I now have and interior. It will work for the time being but will probably take it to an upholstery shop down the road to get something a little nicer done.
If you would cut a piece of plywood a little smaller than the seat you could rap the edges around the wood a staple it and tighten it up,,BTW,the green piping looks great. HRP
That's what I did, might need to do some more pulling on it. I'm gonna try and get it a little tighter tomorrow The piping does look green in the pic but its actually black, haha.
Thanks for all the positive comments, It means a lot. Going to try and finish up the interior today. Not much left but its single digits here today and no heater for the garage. We'll se how much I get done.
Got seat belts installed and the interior finished up today. the bench is not secured down yet. Still need to pull on the seat to get it a little tighter. Going to try and get it to the glass shop on Friday. Suppose to be in the 60's next week, hopefully get the windshield in and put some shake down miles on it.
I did the same with loose seat covers - it took a hot Texas day to get the material nice hot and then a lot of patience. I really like this build. A couple years back I unloaded a nice T roadster that was given to me. It was missing the back panel due to standing up on the rear for decades. I didn't see the potential that you pulled out of this one - nice work. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Thanks agshelby, Just dropped it off at the glass shop this morning to get the windshield installed. Drove it up there on Friday and said they couldn't get to it till Monday. Decided to put some miles on it and ran a couple errands in town and drove by another HAMBer who just moved to my area. He followed me home and we hung out for a while talking shop. The rear suspension is pretty stiff, going to try and rework the rear spring hangers this weekend and see if that helps.
Picked it up from the Glass shop today and crossed windshield off my to-do list windshield by inkstain27 posted Feb 17, 2014 at 6:07 PM
Got the roadster out to the hot rod shop yesterday and put it on the lift and installed new spring hangers on the rear axle, riding much better. Also ordered a pair of 5.60-15's for the front, should be here in a couple days. Can't wait to get them mounted. Today I decided to install a mirror so I don't have to turn my head as much while driving. After looking at all the different options available I decided I would make a hinge mount. Using some round and flat bar laying around and a mirror from a model A hinge mount here's what I came up with. IMG 2428 by inkstain27 posted Feb 23, 2014 at 5:49 PM I'm really happy with the way it came out.
Finally got the new 5.60's mounted and balanced, put some test miles on it today, a bath, and a few new shots DSCF1021 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Mar 7, 2014 at 4:35 PM DSCF1038 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Mar 7, 2014 at 4:35 PM
Hey, agshelby, will you bring your dog to the LSRU ? He looks so cool sitting there. I see dogs at the show, and he looks very well behaved. See you in April.
My dog died last summer - I stole that swing photo from the web (not my dog). I wont have my RPU done this year and sold the '40 truck - Sounds like a bad country song : Dog died, had to sell my truck to pay bills... Let me know if you have some room in that T. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I'm thinking about going with spider caps eventually, kinda low on the priority list for now. got a few other things to finish up first I might need a co-pilot for the Crawl, Ill keep you updated on that Thanks, the tank is an original oval tank that a friend of mine gave me. I had to open it up and fix one of the baffles, but other than that it was in great shape. I also installed a direct mount mechanical fuel gauge to keep an eye on the fuel level. Here's it mounted inside of the bed, I tried to leave as much room for road trip necessities like suitcase, tools, cooler. It all fits in there perfectly IMG 2482 (800x600) by inkstain27 posted Mar 10, 2014 at 8:39 AM
Went ahead and decided to make a cover plate for my master cylinder. I took a scrap piece of aluminum cut it to size and rolled the edges. After I got the shape I wanted I decided to give it a quick polish. Going to try and get it installed today IMG 2480 (600x800) by inkstain27 posted Mar 10, 2014 at 8:39 AM
The Jalopy Journal
