whiskey in the jar

Here's a little update on the 27 roadster thrash,
now nicknamed the "chocolate & cheese roadster".

donor steel scrap

Keeping with the "shop cleanup"  theme of the build,
this piece of scrap rectangular tubing was the perfect donor.

rear crossmember humble beginnings

I've whittled out a fair amount of these crossmembers.
First was to pinch it to fit the spring.

widened and dropped

After the drop was cut in,
a piece of the AA crossmember was used to widen it a bit.

about right

With the rear crossmember fitted,
it was time to square up the frame.

frame jig

This one of the flattest sections of floor in the shop,
perfect to build the frame.
After many measurements - diagonals, heights etc.
it was time to weld it up.

frame

The frame was set to the correct spring heights.
High!!

ford AA crossmember

Next was the center crossmember.
I really wanted to use the stock AA crossmember,
as it had a neat curve.

modifications begin

After widening it a bit,
I had a shot of "old grand dad" whiskey and an arizona peach tea chaser,
and came up with a plan.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




whiskey in a jar - clancy brothers

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

metal whittler

I wasn't expecting to get this detailed,
but there was no stopping.

center crossmember

The crossmember was fit to the space of the flathead/39 box combo,
but with the possibility of modification to a later transmission.

center crossmember

There was still alot of work to be done.
First I needed to see what it was going to look like.

27 roadster mock up

I'm contemplating using the 32 truck grille.
It will save time since the track nose isn't finished,
and more importantly it's already orange.

high boy

With no weight on the suspension,
this is as high as it can be.
Looks like a farm rig.
Or an armageddon vehicle with that "large dog" clearance.

prewar armageddon vehicle

Okay well it doesn't really look like a farm rig.

With the tall stance obviously too high even for a prewar jalopy,
the plan of attack was to Z the frame,
front and rear.

contemplation

After realizing the simple top to bottom Z wasn't going to work,
the plan morphed into an even simpler kick-up modification.
A friend Spinner came up and layed the fat beads.

kicked up frame

The frame was also shortened 3".
The stock model A wheelbase is about 103.5",
and I wanted to stretch it a little to about 108" or so.
It didn't look quite right.
Than I found out a stock model T wheelbase is 99".

Later on I'll try to soften up that angled "broke" look.

rear kick cut lines

The precision mathematics calculated a 4" drop.
The same angles were used in the back.
Both kickups may shorten the frame another 1.5" too.

caulk block

Of course the floor first had to be cut out.
Sad it had lasted this long for nothing.

rear kicked up frame

A friend Matt dropped by and helped a bit.
Just like old times,
we were able to finish off the old grand dad bottle,
while getting shit done.

acceptable hot rod rear

With the kick-ups finished,
the project was looking like a real hot rod.

motor mounts

I was on a roll,
so cut out some quick front motor mounts out of the frame scrap.

until tomorrow

With the front engine mounted it was time to call it a day...

TP