We Did It

Well, the absence of posts does not necessarily reflect the absence of work.

Yes, if you were wondering, we did raise that beam and we did install that plywood. Here's proof:

First, the supplies

Next, some work, fueled by the appropriate beverages

Afterward, a look from below

And a view from above (pre-plywood)

And another (post-plywood)

And, what, you may be asking, did I do with all that space? Well, fill it with a roadster pickup, of course!

The pickup, in pieces

And, pieces of the pickup (these actually went in cabinets)

And then, after some acrobatics and questionable moves, voila!

The pickup bed (and various and sundry pieces)

The '32 frame (crazily, my wife and I shoved this up here from the garage floor). Yeah, it was scary.

Not seen here, but in the other corner, to the left of the frame, is the cowl and other assorted parts.

I can't believe the whole thing fit up there, but it did. And, to prove I'm not the only crazy one out there with a car in the rafters (I know there's dozens of us), here's a photo of another guy my friend and I met at a car museum, who invited us to see his shop and works in progress. I told him I had to take this photograph to let my wife know doing something like this isn't out of the ordinary. This is a T, while mine is an A.

Well, that's enough for this post. Next will be Twice Lucky's first time on the road.

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Plans Afoot

Well, long time no post. Really. It's been a really long time.

But, not without progress. Moved into the new house; emptied the old one. Some good downsizing, bartering and trading in the middle. Just the garage left to move.

But...before moving it, I've got to beef up the new one. Hence, the plans seen here, thanks to my talented new bro-in-law, who exceeded my expectations for some engineering drawings of the garage loft plans.

The plan is to add a 20' 5-1/8 x 12 Glu-Lam beam in the center of the garage, resting upon a pair of 4x6 posts, and doubling up the two other 2x6 joists, then slapping 160 sq ft of 3/4 plywood on top.

This will give me a stout main beam for the chain fall/engine hoist duty, and plenty of storage above, where the goal is to store the '29 roadster pick-up body and maybe the '32 frame.

If I get all the materials in by this Friday, we're supposed to have a beam-raising party on Saturday to put the whole shebang together. If successful, photos to follow...

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Incommunicado

I'm unlikely to post anything for the next month. January 17th is the date; just three weeks away!

Only thing happening until then is cleaning out my house and preparing to move, including (groan!) all the stuff in the garage. Might get tires for Twice Lucky to make 'er a roller for the move, and that's probably about it.

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Maintenance Post

Hey all! Just checking in to let you know I'm not trapped under the car in the garage. Au contraire, I've been playing the role of general contractor on the new house my fiance and I bought. Looking forward to the brick detached two-car garage! But, in the meantime, I get to check up on painters and electricians, plumbers and roofers...it's a good problem to have, though. We're blessed to be able to get this house and and have work done to it, so I'm not complaining. I should be able to get back out in the garage soon; I've got good friends who've offered to help.

So, here are a few photos of where the hot rod is now. Just added the distributor and wire conduits recently. Need to order spark plugs (or round up some NOS ones from my uncle; I'm sure he has them) and wires, and the tires, to make 'er a roller.




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New Old Spring and Other Parts

No witty title this time. Just an update on the spring situation, and a showcase of some additional parts for the hot rod.

So my friend turned out to have not only a better '26-'27 Model T rear spring main leaf, but nearly the whole spring (less the top leaf), so I bought it outright rather than trading him my seen-better-days reversed eye (and broken and welded in the middle) heated and bent main leaf.

This one has something I hadn't seen on mine, perhaps because the eyes were reversed: grease cups for the shackle bolts.


I will have to disassemble the whole thing and wire brush at least the main leaf, if not the whole thing, and mix and match the remaining leaves from my current spring to assemble a decent spring pack so the spring won't rest on the axle tubes like it is currently. Then I'll have to find and install another set of shackle bolts the right length to fit in the 2" wide spring.

Next, I neglected to photograph the '20-'25 oval Model T gas tank my friend sealed (with POR-15) and painted (Rustoleum semi-gloss enamel) for me. This was another timesaver job just to get it done, and I appreciate his having done it, because he was very patient to perform the various steps of etching, sealing, drying, etc. Here are the results. You can just barely see the inside, showing the baffle, in the second photo.



Finally, I decided to paint the spark plug wire tubes before mounting them, as they were only primered. Here they are wearing their John Deere Blitz Black paint jobs. The terrible flat lighting doesn't begin to show what a silky satiny black this paint is. I think it's a hard enamel, too (implement paint), so it should be tough enough for most applications on the hot rod. I think I might just use more of this in other places on the car as I really like the look of the finish, popularity or over-exposure of semi-gloss black hot rods aside.



That's it for now. I should be working on and replacing the spring this weekend, as I've got some "garage therapy" time planned; it's been a while since I've been out there. Until then,

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