29 Ford roadster/chevy powered

[mdlahotrod]

Since this is my first build, it was suggested that I put the progress on here so here goes. Hopefully it will help other first timers to jump in there. Of course I couldn't even have gotten this far without the advice from experienced builders here on RRR.
I've got a 29 ford roadster that I attained as a rat rod on a trade for an 88 softtail custom. (Believe me, he got the better end of the deal).
I want to make a safe Hot rod out of it so I've been workin to take it apart and start over. It came (when I traded for it) with a Pontiac 400 and turbo 400 but have since traded for a chevy 350 with a turbo 350 due to the easy availability of performance parts. My starting point was the motor and now that it's about done, been workin on the windshield install. I found out that the windshield was for a closed car so it was too wide for the car by 2&1/2 inches so had to shorten that. It was kinda scary as it was my first time at welding anything but it seemed to come out better then I expected.

 

[mdlahotrod]

29 ford roadster/chevy powered

I found out the previous owner had cut off the windshield supports so I had to get repair parts and get em all welded into place, plus cut 2&1/2" out of the windshield frame.

 

[Old Iron]

[cl
You've came a long way from your first post
Color scheme on the engine is great and nice job on the windshield too
[P

 

[willyD]

Windshield looks great. How much body work are you going to have to do? Any pics of the starting car?

I think its great that you are posting your first build too. It helps others out but also, I find that it's really good to go back over your own work and document what you've done. I'm on my second build but first full build and first chop!

 

[mdlahotrod]

29 roadster

Thanks old iron and Willy D. You guys are really encouraging. Yall's builds are incredible. I'm envious of the size of your shops you are working out of. I'm tryin it all in a 2 car garage with my bike it in it too. Needless to say, my wife's not real happy about havin to leave her car outside all the time. Oh well.....it's all part of the experience. LOL
I got a long way to go. The only body mods I plan on doin are Frenching a pair of 59 Cadillac bullet tail lights in the back and suicide doors. I'm thinkin the suicide door thing shouldn't be that difficult but then again, there's a lotta things I'm learning are much easier said then done.
I entertained the idea of putting lambo doors on it but I don't think those hinges would work on this body.
Here are a few more pics of the body. I plan on getting a new upper cowl without the fuel filler. I woulda just filled the hole for that in but it's also rusted all the way through on both sides and I don't have the tools (Metal breaks, shrinkers and stretchers, rollers, etc) to do those repairs. I do plan on using the original dash but will have to cut it out of the upper cowl. Same with the original upper firewall. I kinda bent up the frame of it cutting it off the upper cowl but I think I can fix that.
Also....anybody know what all the holes in the top of the windshield frame are for?? Reckon I'll just fill em in if I can. Not a good picture of that but you can see em.

 

[soltz]

Your doing good work, keep it up.
The car is coming right along and the engine looks great [cl

 

[Bamamav]

Looking good! [cl Great job on the windsheild! I would use 39 Ford or Lincoln Zephyr [larger] tear drop tail lights instead of the Caddy's. To me, the Caddy's look better on fat fender cars, tunneled into the fenders. Just my 2 cents....

 

[Torchie]

Good start.
I would try fixing the cowl first if it were me. Good learning tool and if you mess it up too bad then get the new one. I do metalwork as do others and I don't have any of the metal working tools that you mentioned. Just a vice and a BFH. Some clamps and a stout piece of angle iron to bend metal over. Oh yes. And a bowling ball which is my favorite tool to bend metal over.....
Keep at it.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[DozerII]

Your making great progress, it's starting to take shape. Torchie's got great advice, improvise is what it's all about use what you have in the shop to get the job done. Really love the bowling ball idea[cl

 

[Old Iron]

I'm with the crew on this one. I'd make patch panels cut the rust out and weld them in.
A little trick here is to make the patch panel first then lay it on the rusted area, scribe around it then cut the body piece out.
Go to Harbor Freight and buy a couple packages of these body clamps to make you life easier.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-butt-welding-clamps-60545.html

Also buy a copper welding spoon to hold behind the place on the panel seam you're welding.
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding-spoon-66785.html

 

[willyD]

I'd add another vote for trying to repair that cowl. I would add that buying yourself a few body hammers and dollys would be a good idea. HF has a set for not too much or you can get on ebay and find some pretty good deals if you search around. Having a at least a couple of sizes and shapes to start with is pretty helpful and not all that expensive. You'll use them for all sorts of things as you go along.

I'm probably tighter on space in my garage than you are! I have a small two car. My Willys is on one side, my 36 project on the other, the wife's car's outside and I also hear plenty about that LOL.

 

[kenny c]

I'm with torchie on this, try and fix what you have first. You can use all kinds of stuff to form metal over. gas cylinders, trailer balls, pieces of pipe etc.

 

[Skip]

I'm with the crew on this one. I'd make patch panels cut the rust out and weld them in.
A little trick here is to make the patch panel first then lay it on the rusted area, scribe around it then cut the body piece out.
Go to Harbor Freight and buy a couple packages of these body clamps to make you life easier.

http://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-butt-welding-clamps-60545.html

Also buy a copper welding spoon to hold behind the place on the panel seam you're welding.
http://www.harborfreight.com/welding-spoon-66785.html

I just flattened out out a piece of copper pipe and use a welding clamp to hold it in place. I don't have enough extra hands for that nifty little tool.

 

[mdlahotrod]

You guys are all right. I think I will try makin the repairs myself without buyin new stuff. Reckon it'll be like the heads. If I mess em up too bad, THEN I'll buy new replacements. I DO need to save a buck where I can. This IS my retirement project and funds are certainly limited. I surely went waay over budget on the motor.
I just purchased the copper spoon and a short piece of aluminum as a barrier for filling holes too. I'll get some of those body clamps.
Thanks for the info and encouragement my metal working buddies.

Bamamv.....I thought about the tear drop tail lights but everybody's got them. I'm thinkin of Frenching the 59 caddy taillights in the turn down part of the rear body. I'm gonna draw it up first to get an idea what it'll look like before I go cutting any holes. That you can count on.

 

[05snopro440]

Bamamv.....I thought about the tear drop tail lights but everybody's got them. I'm thinkin of Frenching the 59 caddy taillights in the turn down part of the rear body. I'm gonna draw it up first to get an idea what it'll look like before I go cutting any holes. That you can count on.

When you're doing a Model A, I think you'll find there's very few taillight options that haven't been done excessively. I've seen just as many with Caddy lights as I have with teardrop or even 50 Pontiac lights.

Do whatever you want and make it your own.

 

[Torchie]

When you're doing a Model A, I think you'll find there's very few taillight options that haven't been done excessively. I've seen just as many with Caddy lights as I have with teardrop or even 50 Pontiac lights.

Do whatever you want and make it your own.

Agree with snopro. I like the 47 Chevrolet car tailights my self.
Glad to hear that you are going to tackle the cowl repair as well.
[P [P [ [ [
Torchie

 

[DozerII]

Glad to see your going after the cowl repairs yourself, the only way to get a new skill set is to jump right in and give it a try, [cl

 

[Old Iron]

58 Chevy Belair taillights are a good fit too.

With Caddi lights

 

[willyD]

For your cowl repair, a few pairs of long reach vice grips with swivel pads sure are handy too. I personally prefer them as you can have almost no gap between sheet metal pieces which makes the welding a lot easier. The other nice thing about vice grips is that you can twist them and use them as levers to get the two pieces lined up perfectly between tacks. The key is to just take it slow and make sure that the two pieces of sheet metal line up as well as you can get them lined up before you tack. Feel across the joint with whichever finger is the most sensitive, when you can't feel the joint as you lightly run your finger across it, tack it then move on. Worst case, you can always cut it back apart and start over!

 

[mdlahotrod]

29 Ford Roadster/chevy powered

Thanks for all the input guys. You have no idea of how helpful and encouraging it is to hear from you all.
I've been accumulating stuff to bend metal over and around. I just happened to have an old bowling ball and trailer hitch. [cl
I did sheetmetal work on military aircraft for over 30 years as a journeyman but working exclusively with aluminum, and we all know that's much easier to work with. Working with steel I do understand is the same principle, just gotta hit it harder. Of course working in a hanger, we had all the big tools we needed in the side shops to work with so it was a whole lot easier. This is a fun challenge though.
I've been tossing around different ideas about the taillights. Since I am somewhat of an artist (see my pinstriping pics I posted on here) I'll be drawing up some different ideas pertaining to that before cutting any holes in the metal.
Please continue to send in any ideas or suggestions pertaining to building a hot rod. Nice to know there are so many like me in the same boat and I can certainly feed off yall's knowledge.
Thanks again guys. Lookin forward to hearin more from yas.