Hot Rods of the 1940's

Neat stuff here. These are photos of dry lakes and dual-purpose roadsters. Notice the inherent beauty in these individual builds, and the differences. And also notice they are all the same car...'26 and '27 Model T Roadsters. I especially like the little black one in the background of the last picture....

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Spreader Bar The Right Way!

Here's more completion on the little buggy car. Its the spreader bar- that little rod going from one frame horn to the other right at the front of the T-V8. This little abandoned project car had a spreader...but it was just wrong. The bar was about 2" diameter heavy tube welded to each frame horn,...

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Sheet Metal Brake

I'm still on the "make it yourself" thing. Well truly, I'm always on it. And this one is no different. The above pic shows my messy, tiny table where I use my standby vise (given to me years ago by my employer). And in the vise is my homemade sheet metal brake. I built this because I recently got...

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More progress...

Wiring diagram and harness is now officially done for the '27. And it was actually fun to do. I was forced to look at books and diagrams, to wrap wire leads, and to install everything neatly and safely. The battery has room only in the trunk, so I decided to use the remote solenoid as sort of the...

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Make it yourself!

I'm back to the wonderful old pastime of working on my 1927 Model T Ford Roadster. It is just like old times: I walk into my drafty shop and start fiddling around with tools until I actually feel like I've fixed or built something. It's nice to feel close to being back in the car groove, even though...

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Completion

Here's the orphan car that patiently waits. It's my '64. It is also the first real all-around project I've ever started. And no, it isn't done...but I can finally say that it's getting close. The picture to the left shows the exciting progress milestone-I finally got the back of the car put together!...

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Going Continental

I may not have mentioned my intention to move to France. Some may have guessed, after I mentioned "driving a lot in Europe" while considering my next purchase, that I may not be long for the UK. Well I can now inform you my specific intended destination is the south of France, somewhere between Nîmes and Perpignan. I'm not sure where yet.And at this rate, the Lotus and the Fiat will be going with...

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The Originals

I like cars, old cars! And I've delved into some interesting types, styles and eras. Heck, I'm sure on a kick about early dry-lakes and street roadsters lately, as well as GM full sizes from the golden years of '60, '61 and '62. But these wonderful moves still take their place when my mind reverts...

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Attempts Successful...Kind Of

Having been electrocuted and all the extras that came with it has been, in summary, exhaustion. Even though the whole list of effects from such an interestingly extreme injury is about ninety feet long, exhaustion seems the biggest reminder now. The others are bad enough they don't deserve attention....

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The End Of The Roundabout

I note with some sadness that the highway powers that be are removing the last of the roundabouts from the A1, a secondary (though still major) dual-carriageway running the length of the country, from London to Edinburgh. Most motorists will rejoice at this, but not the Elan pilot.The only fun bit of driving from London to Newark on the A1 is the roundabouts. Without breaking any road traffic regulation,...

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Oh no...Oldsmo!

1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88. It's a quintessential Dad-style car. It's one of the "flagship three" of 1962; the best full-size roof design, as shared with '62 Impalas and the leaders of the pack: '62 Grand Prix. Now am I opinionated? Only correctly...! And I am daring to say that the Dynamic 88...

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Youth Crime: The Bane Of Modern Britain

I'm going way off topic today, but I need to get something off my chest. Liberals, stop reading now and come back next week when my mood has lightened.I am deeply saddened to report that some idiots of questionable parentage kicked in every panel of the off side of the Fiat and caved in the right-front headlamp, before battering the guttering with rocks and pushing it against a wall. About £2,000-worth...

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Mad French Cars

This car is all my friend Tom has bubbled on about since we got back from Le Mans earlier in the month. Before I took Tom to this year's Le Mans Classic, he wasn't much of a car fan. He was just coming along for the ride, doing something a bit different, enjoying a break. When we left the Le Mans Classic,...

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Electrocuted!

The lull in posts happened because I took a two month stay at the U of U hospital, with six surgeries and many painful days! I was electrocuted and got a nice set of brain injuries, as well as some other extra hard stuff. But I still like old cars, of course, and I will get to work on 'em possibly later this ye...

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A Different Angle On eBay Sales

I have been Following Greg's efforts to sell his car on eBay, and wonder how one venue like eBay, can produce such different results, to a wild degree of ridiculousness.One the one hand there is Gregs Lotus - a well loved, quite well kept usable car that one would think would sell reasonably well for...

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Introductions

We have a new author on the Classic Cars Blog (AKA The Money Pit). Leslie is a blogger from the USA with a keen passion for classic and vintage cars and she has very kindly offered to write a few posts for this blog too. I look forward to reading her posts, as I'm sure you do as well!Leslie's own blog can be found here: Antique Cars Cl...

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Hard Sell

I have to tell you, I hate trading cars privately. It is a necessary evil, since forecourt dealerships are such a rip-off in this country, but it's not a pleasant business. It is a world full of sharks.Everyone thinks it is acceptable to haggle the price of a car and you end up in a Catch 22 situation. You put your car up for several hundred pounds more that you actually want, to account for the inevitable,...

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At The Auction

Well, in spite of my pessimistic post about the British summer (which isn't exactly stunning, but not as bad as it could be) I have actually spent most of the last week driving the Lotus to work. This is an absolute pleasure, which makes it even more painful to see the poor girl listed on eBay.I have really mixed feelings. In a funny sort of a way, even though I've been trying to sell her for ages,...

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Wasn't Summer Nice?

That's all folks. Here in England we had two weeks of beautiful sunshine in May. That was summer. And you know what? The Lotus was out of action throughout, on the ramp in Barry Ely's workshop. *sigh*I just got her back with another punishing bill for leaving her standing for half of the winter. When will I learn? The story goes like this:Some time in late January (I think) was the last time the Lotus...

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Wash Out

April has been remarkably April-like, in spite of dire warnings of climate change, locust plagues, desertification, &c. It has "showered" regularly and constantly all month here in Blighty. So the fact Barry can't come out and fix the Lotus until 17th May is no big drama. I think I'll get the Fiat out later though. It could do with a run and there appears to be a short gap in the ever-present...

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Headlight Stands

Besides other things, I made some headlight stands out of scraps. I tried the lights at every height and depth possible, coming up with this. Pretty low but so is the chopped grill. This height looks as good as it gets for this car.Those "other things" include making a spring spacer to raise the...

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Test Drive

I slapped the car back together for a test drive. Boy was that fun! The car rode absolutely terrible-I felt every pebble. Also, I don't think the trans is shifting into third! Crap...but it was still a blast to drive this thing around the block. In other news, I got my State-issued VIN number...

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Non-Starter

So, with some assistance from my father, I went down to the garage on Monday to try and start the Lotus, to give it a spring airing. Would it start? Would it hell is like. It sat there like a belligerant teenager, daring me to relocate my tools from the garden shed to a council garage 2 miles away, knowing full well I wouldn't. It won.And this is why the Lotus has to go. I'm not an unrealistic person,...

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Chassis!

Don't those skinny bias ply tires look cute on green steelies? And you just can't beat '40 ford caps either... Anyway, I think the chassis is coming to a close. Still some loose ends but mainly it is ready to mate to the body, this time maybe permanently! The four link is...

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Lower links

Now to make the lower links of the 4 link system. My entire plan comes together here- I want to make the split wishbones function as bottom links without losing the look of a split 'bone. Hopefully no hardcore traditional rodders are watching- I am about to butcher a set of '36 bones. But I still...

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Rear suspension begins...

Here's the lowdown on what I'm doing with my rear axle locating system. The diagrams I made show how Ford used the wishbone locater, how rodders split the 'bone for transmission swaps, and lastly how I am making a triangulated 4-link. The triangulation of the top two links serves to locate the...

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Supercar With A Difference?

For those of you who don't know, I work in software. I build things in bits and bytes - things people need to make their computers do useful things. Not hugely useful, I grant you, but that doesn't really matter. The point is, I spend most of my time working with software products and platforms which...

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Motorway Madness

It occurs to me that few people actually appreciate driving any more. It has become something of a modern chore. We are no longer impressed by the technology of the combustion engine. It's old hat. No one utters an "oooo" or an "ahhh" if you roll up in a new sports car any more. They just think you're a flash git with more money than sense. Few people still admire the car and a growing minority even...

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