Monday’s Update

I hope all of you had a nice Easter with the family and friends.  It was raining here all day but I did manage to repair the leaky power steering hoses on Ruby.  It seems that when the new front suspension was installed the fittings for the braided lines into the rack were only hand tightened and after a few miles became loose.  I have them secured now and the leak is gone.  It seems like a hot rod always has leaks to repair.  I am glad is was not more of a problem.  I know now to carry a 3/4 and 11/16 inch wrenches in my emergency tool kit.  I also took the top off of Lucy for final welding this week.  The wife helped me put it on the bench and I will take some photos of the final structure when completed.  My friend Bob is also building him a top for his roadster using the 7/8 mild steel tubing and a conduit bender.  He is a retired electrician and really knows his stuff when it comes to bending tubing.  We use 16 gauge tubing for easy bending and shaping.  We both need the front header made of some type of wood assembly for ease of upholstery.  Bob can purchase one for his but I have not found one for a DuVall windshield that I like.  I plan to go to Conejo this week and see what Alan recommends.

The 80th Anniversary of the Deuce celebration will be held in building seven during the GNRS next year.  Bob has put together some of the finest Deuces in the country for this show and will feature all models both stock and modified.  It was brought to my attention that Ted Wingate’s famous Hot Rod cover Deuce is being restored and will be in the show.  John who is doing the restoration is in need of a pair of small hole Kidney Bean Halibrands  15 x 4.5, 5 or 6 inch front wheels and a pair of 15 x 7 or 8 matching rear wheels.  If you know of any available, please let me know and I will put you in touch with John.  I am sure this will be a super nice restoration like he did on his Dave Gale (Spencer clone) roadster a few years ago.

The sun is calling all roadsters out today as the weatherman is going to bless LA with 90 degree weather this week.  I am going to push Lucy outside and dream a little myself.

Stay Tooned!

Lynn

The 90 degree elbows were just finger tight and over time became loose and leaked profusely from the lower rack fitting.  The car is very low so it was difficult to get a wrench on the nut but after many #$@%&^ we succeeded.  Patience is the answer on some of the problems we hot rodders encounter.

The Street and Performance P/S reservoir is a neat item but does not have a dip stick for measuring the fluid depth.  A quick call to Frantic and he said the baffle is used as the full indicator.  If you go over the baffle it will push the fluid out the air hole in the cap.  Ask me how I know this!

I needed to push the top by by about a 1/2 inch in order to allow for the upholstery and clearance from the rear body edge.  I will have to relocate the brackets on the top to line up with the body mounts.

I used a 1/4 inch spacer to move the tubing back the same amount on each side.  The lower back tubing should match the body contour with space to prevent rubbing the body.  I don’t like the Bop Top style that sits way above the body but I may have to move it up a little later.

The front header determines the final shape and right now all I have is a flat 1 inch strip following the shape of the windshield.  I will work on this portion this week and show you what I come up with.  This is the fun part.

I also need to put a crown in the middle of the top so it is not flat as seen in this photo.  I am not sure how to do this but I will figure something out.

I am famous for getting distracted from my immedite job and this 39 convertible sedan keeps showing up for sale.  The owner states is is rock solid but from back east.  I would need to go look at see prior to purchasing one but this one is tempting.  Am I the only one who likes these big tub?  Fat Jack likes them and built a beauty.

Fat Jack built this beauty from the ground up and it is my favorite 39 convertible sedan.  All you need is about $150K to have one built for you.

Bob, who is putting together the 80 Deuce Anniversary for the 2012 GNRS has this Boyd built tub that is still my favorite Boyd car.

Sharon, Bob’s wife, also has a Fat Jack built Deuce sedan to go along with the tub.  Both cars are still flawless and they do get driven regularly.

Today’s Roadster….dreaming!

Real Hot Rods, (Custom Auto), built this one and it has a little of the Spencer influence built into the design.  Note the pitman arm in the upright position.  This is an old time trick to make drag link parallel to the bones.