Another winter is approaching, and my 40 is running well enough that it made it to the Roc and back so I think I will leave it alone for now and start on something new. I'd gone back and forth for a couple years now on what I wanted to do with a model a roadster. I've finally settled in with a vision and now the process of making it a reality starts. A couple months ago, a friend of mine mentioned he was borrowing a frame jig and if I wanted to build a deuce frame that now was the time. I listened and had them grab me a set of ASC rails on their trip to Memphis. My same friend had a 30/31 roadster for sale and a deal was struck. Big thanks to those guys helping me out with this project so far. Right now I have finished up boxing the rails and need to spend some time grinding on them before we throw them in the jig to fit up the crossmembers and 35-40 x-member. My initial plan is a hi-boy with a dropped I-beam and a reverse eye spring up front and a modified rear crossmember with a reverse eyed 40 spring. 327, 5 speed and a maverick 8". Nothing crazy, just a neat old car with some personal touches. Hope you guys enjoy following along!
Here are some pictures of the car. It’s a solid start, and he threw in a much nicer fitting decklid than the one pictured.
So, being a father to an almost 2 year old, I only get to work a few nights a week after peewee goes to bed. That being said, I’ve always had the motto that working on something at least an hour every night or even every other night will lead to some good progress and that is exactly what I’ve been doing. This week I managed to finish up grinding all of the welds on my frame rails and I got them into the jig so we can start to add crossmembers. I will say, I much prefer welding over grinding
Over the previous weekend, Dad and I made a trip up to the Kansas City area to pickup some parts from a couple of guys. We ended up getting an 8” maverick rear end, some ram horn manifolds and an early and unbored 327 from Bob Brown up in Topeka, and we stopped by Jimmy and Kayla Flowers place in Eudora on the way home to grab a 33-34 front wishbone. Jimmy ended up hooking me up with a set of early international wheels that look like 40 steelies and have a 5x4.5 bolt pattern for the 8” rear. That checks nearly everything off of my parts list needed to build a roller, so I’m super happy about that! Stayed tuned for more updates, I’m hoping to get the crossmembers tacked in next week!
You are becoming worse than me Ben. Anyway, congrats on the roadster! You know I will be following along.
Here you go. They need to be cleaned up a bit, but they are very close and I think they will even take ford hubcaps.
I've collected a few I-H wheels over the years like those. I have noticed that there are different offsets to them, so pay attention that you have a matched set.
Back for another Friday update- I got the chance to work a couple of nights in the shop this week and managed to check a few tasks off of my to-do list. I started with trimming the boxing plates back on the front of the frame to get the crossmember into place and welded. Next, I switched my focus to the rear crossmember. I've decided to go with some 2x2 square tubing that I will eventually be welding a plate to, that will hold the 40 rear spring in place. I like seeing the spring somewhat exposed and this seemed a little more straight forward than finding and pie cutting a rear crossmember. I think this, paired with the ladder bars will work out great. Once I got the rear tubing welded into place, I spent some time filling the gaps between the boxing plates and frame rails on the bottom side (which looks like the top side, since the frame is currently upside down). Overall I am happy with how it turned out. I need to come up with a design for the top and bottom plate that will sandwich the rear spring, so my focus will probably shift there sooner rather than later. This week I am planning to clean up the 35 x member that I robbed from a junk frame and get it fitted into place, as well as build some motor mounts and then the frame will be ready to pull from the jig and taken home to my personal garage so I can start mocking up a roller and we can start on the body at the shop. Anyways, enough rambling for today. Enjoy some photos below!
One side note, I did find a gauge panel that I plan to run in the 35/36 dash I've got. I will probably swap out the gauges, but you get the idea. You can also see my progress on attempting to make the closed car dash fit the model a roadster dash rail. Basically I am cutting the "hump" out of the dash to make the whole thing flat like a roadster dash, it should turn out pretty cool and different.
I just bought them because the price was right, I don’t know anything about them. You think they’re from a boat?
Big progress this week, and I got to check off the first major milestone of this project which always feels good. Motor mounts were first on the checklist this week. I copied a set from another frame that was handy and I have some fun making these plates and gussets out of some leftover steel from a previous build, and I used an old ford steering shaft as the actually round tube where the bolt will rest once the motor is installed. I will still need to do some trimming on the drivers side for the steering shaft, but I will wait until mock-up to see where I’m at on that. The next step was to fit the x member that I had, which proved to be kind of a challenge. The front fit well, and now I just need to cut some small pieces the make the back flow a little better into the frame. Nonetheless, it’s is fitted and welded in. Lastly, we flipped the frame over and I finished welding everything on the top side as well. Once finished up, Jack helped me load the frame up and take it home to my garage so I can start mocking up suspension. I owe @Mo rust for loaning me his space and tools for this part of the project, and @hotrodglass for loaning out his frame jig. It is appreciated!
Looking good! Have you started a thread on the ex four door? Would really like to see what you do with it!
Thanks man. That one is actually Jacks, and he does have a thread on it. I’ll put the link below https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/my-new-flathead-project.1276811/
Agreed! I ended up getting some parts for the roadster from Jimmy and Kayla as well. Didn’t know that was where Jack bought it until I got to talking with them.
You are making progress. Looking great. My Kids are grown up and gone . I’m still lucky if I get a hour or two of a evening to work on fun projects .
Roadster update… I managed to get the front end mocked up before I hit some road blocks and ultimately decided it was time to focus on my 40. That being said, the roadster is set aside for the time being while I finish some winter projects on the 40. Stay tuned, we’ll be back.
The Jalopy Journal
