Thanks Chris,

But you have that big shop too,

last time I did auto work in the yard, this is what it looked like:



That's a condo behind me, I live in a shared driveway with three apartments, mine, the condo, and another apartment across the driveway.

But I am always helpful with there needs so they don't complain too much.

 

And we thought our trucks were simple and archaic....

My 1925 Ford Model T - How to Start & How to Drive - YouTube

 

You and your model T videos...

 

Actually, it's a standard suburban 2-car garage I hope to someday turn into a shop (HA!!!! Yeah, like THAT will ever happen). I actually live in a duplex in a townhome neighborhood, I don't have a yard of my own (nor do I cut the grass).

Oh, boy.... I can see the letters from the HOA now....

 

I am attracted to those cars because we had one when I was a kid... my father got it from his grandfather who had it in a barn, it sat in the back of our garage from the time I was about 4 yo until we moved to Colorado when I was 15 yo.

I was totally in awe at that car, had thoughts of hooking up a battery charger in place of the battery just to play... it had a horn and the optional headlights and all sorts of things! It was a deluxe 4-door sedan, the back windows even had their own blinds - black cloth rolled up at the top that one pulled down via a string.

The floorboards were made of oak.

The windshield was split horizontally in the middle and the top half opened, the steering wheel folded up to allow easier egress/ingress (what as commonly known as a fat-man steering wheel).

Google/YouTube suggested I watch this video.

 

Very cool!

I watched that video all the way through. I love how you could use the battery for an easy start, or you could use the magnetos with a recoil starter to get it to fire. What was even more amazing was that at one point, the guy hit the key without messing with the starter and the motor fired right over! I never really knew a lot about Model T's and how they started and drove and such, so I thought that was very cool. And what about that lever to set your initial timing!

Leave it to Ford to have the very first (or one of the first) cruise controls (set your engine speed and go).

 

And he said that was twice that day, huh.... I wonder if there was an air/gas mixture in a cylinder that ignited when he turned on the key?

Remember the coil box he showed? Each cylinder had its own coil (the coils had wooden enclosures, the top part - which reminded me of a telegraph - could be adjusted), but I have no idea how it decided which cylinder should be firing when nor how it controls that. IIRC the plug wires run from the plugs to the coils, I don't remember seeing a distributor (in the modern sense).

One of the reasons why I never hooked up battery power (battery was located under the floor in front of the rear seat FWIW) was the wiring was SO frayed and deteriorated! The wires were covered with cloth (not plastic) and they turned to dust as you touched them. (Well, the insulation did.)

Yeah, the three pedals with the gas & spark as levers on the steering wheel would take some getting used to.

I e-mailed the guy, he says somewhere on his Web site he's gonna be updating the video so I asked him to SHOW US how he makes the thing move and "shifts gears." He says he'll do it as I'm not the first to ask for that.

IIRC the "transmission" doesn't contain gears - at least not as many - but it used a cloth belt that rode up & down a conical-shaped, um, output shaft is the best term I can think of. No idea how it got into reverse.

 

LOL

Yeah I always assumed it was a garage I guess based on the Winston Racing sign

Well I recently upgraded to a trailer recently to hold all my tools, but I doubt my truck will fit in there... I have a hard time fitting all my tools

 

The work you are doing absolutely blows me away....can't wait to see the finish project. I am redoing a 83 for a daily driver, but your work absolutely puts it to shame....can't wait to see what you do with the vinyl maybe something I might try and attempt

 

What does 115 feet of 1/2" tubing in a cab look like? Here's the answer.






Got the heater controls mounted

These are the original controls out of this truck. I like the way they look, so I took it all apart, polished the lens, powder-coated the shafts and re-assembled.

The center console breaks apart, then the rear section can come out.



The box in the middle rear will house a single 10" sub, just for some nicer sound, nothing too crazy.

Three weeks of bending, cutting, welding and still have more framework to do, so I'm guessing about 140 feet (give or take) of tubing total. Hopefully by this next weekend I can start stretching fabric and laying down glass.

Got a couple of other custom projects (not for me) happening right now too, so it's been back and forth on them too. It's kind of nice to do it that way, because I can work on one thing, while thinking about the others, and when I get an idea, I can go back to tackle that part of one of the others, then go on to another. A lot on the mind at once though.

 

VERY NICE! I'm eager to see what the interior will look like completed.

You're very good with tubing.

 

That's looking great! I am so impressed. Did you notch the tubing before welding? What kind of seats are you going with? I am really looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

Here's a pic of one of the seats



I had them in there before and really like them, so I just had to keep them.

I did not do much notching. Didn't feel it was necessary as it's not structural. Once the glass is on, it should be pretty strong (even though just tacked, it's really rigid already). Still need to wrap the welds around all joints. You can see in the pics, there's a bunch of plug welds done. There's some 3/8" OD stainless tubing at each joint, a hole in the 1/2" tubing, then plug welded together. There will be welds around those joints too. Really easy to get apart for changes. Just re-drill where welded and it slips apart and the inner tube is still usable. Where the center console splits, there's some 3/8" solid rod so it can be drilled and tapped for #8 screws. It's so much easier to do it in sections rather than screwing up and tossing tubing.

Hopefully in a week or so, it will really start taking shape.

 

Great build so far man. just read through it and man do you have some skills, i really want to learn some good fabrication skills and maybe even take some classes at school for it. anyways great job so far man!

 

Well, I've learned a few things today

1. I hate spray adhesive
2. I hate fleece
3. Fiberglass resin is NOT my friend
4. When you mix #1 & #2, you get fuzzy hands


Stretched the fleece over the dash frame and had it looking somewhat O.K. The problem I found is that fleece stretches one way a LOT more than the other, so the direction its positioned is very important. To attach the fleece to the frame, I used 3Ms High Strength 90 adhesive. The resin will release the adhesive and sag and distort the material. What a mess.

Also have a problem with the resin not setting up correctly. I used plenty of activator in the mix and had the shop real warm. Even used a heat gun to try and force it to cure. No luck. Now, two hours later, it's still really wet.

What next? On to plan B. What's plan B? I have no idea.

The fleece is a major problem and I need something better to use. Any ideas??

Another thing, fleece is really thick and has somewhat of a memory. I wasn't expecting that. It's actually a pain to work with. If you don't attach it exactly where you need it and pull it back up, it's stretched so far out, that it doesn't go down correctly the next time.

Right now I'm thinking of using glass cloth, attaching it in sections, hoping it doesn't move and use lots and lots of activator for really fast curing.

If it actually cures by morning, I'll try to get the wrinkles out and see where that leads. If not, time to start over.

I'm open to any and all ideas.