Roadster pickup build, take two.

[donsrods]

Nice job on the barrel mod!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. Funny how long some of these stupid little jobs take. Dan and I were laughing because we never would make it on Garage Squad or Overhaulin'........we are too slow !

That dumb little barrel modification took a few hours, at least, but it is one more little job to cross off the list. A lathe sure would be nice to have.

 

[joedoh]

fine progress! the details are where the work really is so dont feel bad about taking your time to do things right!

 

[donsrods]

fine progress! the details are where the work really is so dont feel bad about taking your time to do things right!

Thanks, but no, we are just slow ! An example is, today I ran over to the shop to drop off the Corvette master cylinder that came in from Rock Auto, and thought I would make up the little mounting tab that goes onto the tube of the gas pedal assembly.

It took me 3 tries ! The drill bit kept walking and I kept drilling the holes off center, even using the drill press, so the 3rd one finally came out ok. Now Dan can put a couple of welds on it and this part will be finally done.

I mounted the master cylinder temporarily and there is a lot of room under it for the pedal to be moved up an inch or maybe more. That will help a lot.

I already have the Lokar throttle cable assembly, so maybe tomorrow night we can get the pedal mounted and the cable ran.

 

[donsrods]

Ok, one more little chore out of the way. After work tonight, Dan had something to do, but he stopped by the shop for a few minutes and welded the tabs onto the throttle assembly. After that, I found a location on the firewall where it would clear everything and still give me a good position for my foot.

After I got that assembly drilled and mounted, I made up a simple aluminum tab to hold the Lokar throttle cable assembly and got the cable run. I found that, over the last whatever years, I have lost a bracket out of the Lokar cable assembly, or maybe I used it on some other project, so I ordered one from Summit and should have it Thursday.

When that comes I can get the cable hooked up to the tripower setup, and run the kickdown linkage for the transmission at the same time. Not major progress, but one less thing I have to do

 

[BillM]

Looking good Don, any progress is going in the right direction, no matter how slow it feels! Wow it's tight down in there eh?

 

[Tripper]

Not major progress, but one less thing I have to do

That's the way I look at it Don... sooner or later... it all has to get done!

BoB

 

[donsrods]

Looking good Don, any progress is going in the right direction, no matter how slow it feels! Wow it's tight down in there eh?

Thanks, Bill. No, actually, compared to my 27 underdash area, this one is HUGE ! My 27 is a nightmare whenever you have to do something under there, you lay upside down with your feet over the rollbar.

I think I am going to make this one even easier by making the dash unplug and remove with a few bolts. That way I can unscrew it , unplug the wiring, and lift it out of the way to do things inside there. The older I get, the less I like to lay upside down with a flashlight in my mouth.

That's the way I look at it Don... sooner or later... it all has to get done!

BoB

You are right, Bob, every little job is one less thing on the list. I'm glad a lot of the welding type jobs are out of the way, now I can free Dan up a little and do things on my own. I COULD weld these things myself, but they would look like Stevie Wonder did them.

 

[Torchie]

Looking good.
Keep at it.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[soltz]

Looking Good!!! Little steps [cl
//[P//

 

[28sawrig]

Cheater lens in your welding hood?

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. I actually bought those cheater lenses one time at our welding supply shop, and I found out it wasn't my eyesight causing the problem, it is my skill level . My welds hold ok, but Dan's are so much prettier I let him do them for me these days.

I guess my welding was ok at one time, I arc welded everything on my 27 about 30 years ago, and nothing has fallen off yet, but I suck at mig and have never tried his tig welder yet.

As Dirty Harry once said...…..

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...770EB7CA34B4B480659E770EB7CA34B4B48&FORM=VIRE

 

[donsrods]

I THINK I have decided on what I am going to do to paint the rpu. I had a conversation with TP paints today, and they carry the Kirker line of paints, and their prices are really good. tptools.com. Their tech guy was super helpful, and gave me part numbers for paint, hardeners, etc.

What I am pretty sure I am going to do is:

1) Get the whole body down to clean, bare metal.

2) Prime everything, inside and out, with epoxy primer.

3) Coat the body with a skim coat of body filler/ sand smooth

4) Prime again with epoxy primer

5) First coat(s) will be Summit Hot Rod Red matte finish w/ hardener.

6) Next coat(s) will be Kirker Hot Rod Satin Black w/ hardener.

7) Then I will sand through and scuff through some areas to "age" the paint, make it look like it has had years of wear and sun.

8) After that I will shoot a coat(s) of Kirker Matte Clear over it all to protect it and make it look uniform.


The guy from TP was great and even told me to NOT buy their matte red, but to buy that from Summit as he likes their red better than his.


So, at least as of tonight, that is the game plan. In the next few days I will probably place an order so I can't weasel out and change my mind.

Sort of this look, but instead of blue, black with red showing through.

 

[Torchie]

[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[BillM]

I like the sound of your plan!

 

[05snopro440]

That's the same idea I want to do on the fenders of my Model A when I get to that point. It will look great on you RPU!

 

[donsrods]

Thanks, guys. Well, so that I couldn't change my mind, I just got off the phone with Summit and TP and placed my orders for all the primers, paints, clears, hardeners, and reducers. I am not needing them quite yet, obviously, but I need to just make this decision and move on.

Summit was their usual helpful self, and Jim from TP was fantastic with his technical help. I would highly recommend them...here is their website:

https://www.tptools.com/Other-Topcoats.html

I think we are at the stage where the body can now come back off the frame and I can put it on the body cart to begin body work . I hope to have the body and bed in paint by the end of September...……….that should allow me time for interior, wiring, firing up the motor, etc so that I can maybe make Turkey Run in November.

Now comes my least favorite part of the build...…….bodywork !!

 

[Torchie]

It's interesting how everyone has a favorite/least favorite part of a build.
I enjoy the body work/paint part, as to me, that means you are closing in on it. Plus I think it reminds me of my younger days.
Keep chugging away at it ,Don.
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[donsrods]

It's interesting how everyone has a favorite/least favorite part of a build.
I enjoy the body work/paint part, as to me, that means you are closing in on it. Plus I think it reminds me of my younger days.
Keep chugging away at it ,Don.
[P [P [P
Torchie

I just hate all that sanding and grinding, Torchie. At one time in my career , I worked in customer service at a body shop. I didn't do actual body work myself, but I would see our techs out there all day long, fixing wrecks and getting the body ready for paint. I don't know how they did it 5 days a week, every week ! But, I guess everyone is different.

Yesterday, Dan and I worked on wrapping up a few things so we can now pull the body back off and start working on it. Dan got the brake pedal shortened and it now fits a lot better. That phase of the brakes is done, now we just have to run brake lines to the wheels.

He also suggested we move the gas pedal up higher from where I had it to match the brake pedal, so we did that and bent the arm a little to move it inboard. I have to admit that the cable does make a better transition from the pedal to the carbs now. I hate it when he is right !

While he was doing all of that, I worked on painting the alternator bracket, installing the lower radiator hose, putting lock nuts on all the places where we had temporary regular nuts, and generally making sure everything was torqued down for the final time.

Paint I ordered should be here this week, and maybe next weekend I can at least shoot the headlights and "age " them to see how that turns out before I do it to the entire body.

One thing I am going to have to address is that the two end carburetors are sort of hard to open. I used the Speedway conversion kit to turn the end two carbs into just dumpers, and they have springs on their shafts and they are pretty stiff. Combined with the spring I have on the center carb, it takes some foot pressure to open up the 3 carbs. Not a big problem and I will address that later on.

 

[kenny c]

Sounds like you're just about done. I like the the paint plan.

 

[donsrods]

Sounds like you're just about done. I like the the paint plan.

Yeah, Kenny, I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dan had a playing gig tonight, so I went to the shop and wrapped up the gas pedal fiasco. Something so simple shouldn't be so hard !

What I ended up doing was removing the aluminum support I made that holds the cable, and cut one out of a piece of 2 x 3 box tubing with a 1/4 inch wall. Then I shaped and drilled it and mounted it more to the right so the cable now makes a straighter shot at the carbs. There is no bending to this one, and the carbs open a lot easier when I step on the pedal.


Tomorrow, being a holiday, we are going to go to the shop all day, and I think we are ready to pull the body off and do a couple of things and then start actual body work ! I figure , if I can have this thing in paint by the end of September, that leaves me October and a couple of weeks in November to do things like upholstery, wiring, plumbing, etc.


I have been off work with this knee thing since 8/11, but am scheduled to go back to work 9/7. I won't have the same amount of free time to work on the car once I do go back, so I need to get moving here.