Picked an aborted project up in October. The plan is to get it done in time for the Jalopy Showdown this year. Due to "poor planning" on the part of the person who originally began assembly on this thing, it was undrivable (no throw on the clutch petal due to the firewall being pushed back too far). Me and my father decided the best course of action would be to disassemble the body completely and start over, using as much of the existing wood and metal that came with it. Here are a few pictures of the progress. My goal is for a period look, not necessarily period correct. It has a universal poly fuel tank that I picked up at a local swap meet, a 6V electric fuel pump, 1940(41?) Buick hood turned backwards for the top of the tail, stock A headlights with parking lights made into turn signals, 3" aircraft belts, and many other cool odds and ends. It still has the stock engine, but I've been on the lookout for an oddball intake and other speed equipment. I'll keep updating as we progress.
A few closer shots showing a some details. The headlight mounts are heated, bent, and cut stock A headlight bar. The rear sheet sections have almost all been cut and will most likely be screwed together for easy access to the fuel tank if necessary.
Looks great- alot further along than mine (not sying alot since I'm still playing with a bare T frame and some fiberboard cutouts for the profile)! What is the width of your cowl/dash versus the bulkhead behind the seats? If the bulkhead is wider, you could always pie cut the hood- you've got plenty of room on the outside of the seats.
I didn't want to narrow up the body too much because I didn't want the frame to stick out of the sides. I figure I'll stuff the area in between the seat and body with padding and run some upholstry over it. How exactly I'm going to do that is still unknown, but it's getting there.
Quick update on this weekend's progress. **Warning - Red Wheels with WWW!** Finally removed the tubes and tires from the fronts and "freshened up" the wire rims. I was surprised at how easy the beads break on those 21" wheels. Also added nut inserts to the sides of the tail and tied the top to the sides. I still need to make an "end cap" for the rear point of the tail, that should be this weekend's project.
Hard to believe somebody would give up on a project like that. That's gonna be one in a million when finished....have fun
Dash cluster is 1/8" aluminum plate cut out to fit the stock "A" speedo, ammeter, and ignition switch. The temp and oil gauges are the "A" gauges sold by Mac's(both are mechanical), and the Fuel gauge is an Auto Meter that just looks old.
Bumped for update, this week's progress. * Mounted taillights (still not wired) * Registered the car * Made up the extension piece for the center tail section * Welded said piece on * Added the inserts on the side and installed the center section * Installed the trim down the sides * Replaced the bad ignition switch * Took it for a ride around the block (banging and sputtering) Carb is currently an unknown, I'll probably clean it next week or replace it with one I've already done. At least the thing ran on the electric fuel pump. Ignore the crummy 19" wires on the back in the pictures, the other 21" ones are off and in the process of being dismounted and painted. Pictures!!
I've been thinking about a similar speedster. I have a Model A body. It needs so much bodywork, it's easy to put off the project. I have a frame but building a chassis is a major task. I think you have the perfect project. A speedster can be put on the road quickly. You can change the body later or not.
Matt, You are a true inspiration for me. Maybe my banger/modified will be a roller in the near future. 41 Dave
That looks awesome! The day I sold my running chassis I found some pictures of a speedster and wished I wouldn't have sold it.
A comment from my son (2,5 y). I was looking through the pictures, when my son came next to me, looked the pictures and said: "I like that tractor" Nice car, very much my cup of tea.
Update, no pictures. After running her around a bit I found she was blowing out the overflow . . a LOT. Long story short, just because a car has antifreeze in the cooling system when you get it doesn't mean that a mouse can't make a nest in your radiator. I'll make another update when I reinstall the radiator(having it boiled out now)/get a new radiator.
Oh well, after being boiled out, the overflow tube snapped down inside the upper tank and the baffle came loose. Ordered a new radiator, but my dad is having the repair place fix the baffle and move the tube up higher on the old one anyway(he wants to make his own speedster now out of "spare" parts we have laying around). I figure a new rad will help mitigate any other problems with the cooling system. Replacing all the hoses and water tubes while I'm at it (found a crack in the upper water neck). On the plus side, with the radiator off we realized that one of the front spring u-bolts was stripped and a little loose. It also gave me the chance to add the gland rings to the exhaust that were missing. And it let me work on other parts that were harder to work on with the hood on.
Haven't hopped anything up YET. I actually just bought a Burns dual downdraft intake with a couple Holley 94s on it. My plan is to get her running and looking right before I start messing too much with the mechanicals. I know an eventual upgrade to juice brakes will probably occur, and maybe a change from the stock rear gears, but this is all "someday probably" stuff. I just want something fun to drive around in for now. With that said, anyone know how side mounted spare tires are normally held stationary on cars without fenders? I'm considering putting a spare on so I have a place to mount a side mirror (and so I have a spare). I know that the bracket that holds the spare mounts directly to the frame, I'm just not sure how to stabilize it once it's mounted. Anyone have experience with this?