Projects '29 Model A Roadster - First Hot Rod

It's all in the name: "ROADSTER", not garagester, or parkster...

 

Oh no, I trailered it down there for the sake of time. We only had 3 days and I didn't want to turn a 6 hour drive into 10+. I guess being young and dumb, that kind of trip does sound appealing though.

Absolutely, I have to be honest and admit it has spent some time on a trailer. I'm determined to make that change this year, the weather is getting too nice here to not be in the driver seat of it.

 

I'm awfully close to being up to current day with this, but this one needs some detail. November of each year is when the Memphis Rodders Reunion always happens. Without failure, some of the coolest cars always show up. One for example, was the Tennessee Bo-Weevil that Ray Godman and "Red" Dyer got top eliminator runner up at the '60 US Nationals.



You can see it in this video just after 15:15. As an added bonus, Jack Friend and George Root were also Memphis Rodders and their drop tank rear engine dragster can be seen just after the 9 minute mark.



This is like the Super Bowl of gatherings for us so naturally, my friend and I had to make sure we were there with our cars.



The things that the Memphis Rodders did from the 40's through the 70's make them hometown hero's in our eyes. They helped build and shape hot rodding here in Memphis and kickstart a lot of the performance companies in this area. I still feel honored and that I need to do more to actually earn it but at this reunion, we were invited to become members. Like anyone's natural next step, we decided that our cars needed a club plaque. There were a few original ones floating around between some of the older members and a couple new ones, so we decided to borrow one and make our own.

Now enter the start of our abbreviated adventure into sand casting.

It took some time to figure out the sand, but we finally got a few good ones cast that weren't incredibly porous. This was, and still is, a massive and constant learning experience for us.







I'm stilling playing with how to mount it to the headlight bar but overall, excited is a great way to describe seeing this.



There is only a little more left to get up to current day but I think I can knock it out in one more post. The weather is starting to get nice down here so it's time to really start putting some miles on this car.

 

What an honor! Well done, lads!

 

Yes well done, what an honor this is a great thread, love your attitude & you have a grouse roadster, keep up the great work!

 

Thank you!

Thank you, that means a lot. It's easy to be excited about it when there's great people around to enjoy it with.

 

In January of 2024, we got a nice amount of snow for our area. It was maybe 4"- 6" but it was good and powdery instead of the standard ice and slush we normally have. I've never seen snow like this down here so naturally, I had to see what it was like to drive my roadster in it.



It actually drove much better than I expected, the tires felt like they just cut right through the snow. A trip around the block and an attempt at doing some donuts in our cove was it for the snow journey. I'm a warm weather person so 15 minutes in that weather was good enough for me.

 

Hot rods in the snow can be a blast glad you went out and had some fun

 

In January I got busy with my old C10 that is too new for here, so the roadster had to be put on the back burner. During that time I also got some new front tires and had the front wheels powder coated to match the rear. A few weeks after I bought a new wood kit. I didn't like how light it was so I took a shot at staining wood for the first time. I'm not sure what I was expecting but I need to go back and sand the part numbers off then re-stain it.





I'm really happy with the color and it surprised me how much tighter the body feels after it was put on. I thought I had a close up picture of it on the car but I'll get one this week.

2 weeks ago, I took it to my friends shop and we fixed my drivers door. I owe a thank you to @303racer for schooling me on D nuts and where to get them. We welded up the cracks then buck riveted some new D nuts in the door to replace the stripped out old ones. Before I could clean the wheels or put the door handle back on, I had to get this picture. I love how the car is starting to look.



Now, we're finally up to present day. This is how the car sits now but there is still a ton of work left to do. More updates are to come, but this coming weekend should be a fun one.

 

It was such a fun time, especially waving at neighbors and seeing their faces as I went by.

 

I bet! Car looks great

 

Tech inspection letting you run with ancient tires is something.

 

That'd be funny.

 

The "tech inspection" was basically the promoter saying he didn't care but the event isn't liable for anything that happens from our dumb decisions. No fault at all to him though, we were basically doing exhibition runs and limited to the half mile. We do plan on going back this year and road tripping the car up there. We'll see what happens.

 

Here is the close up of the wood kit. For the L piece that goes in the quarter, I think I need to make a bracket for it to connect to on the subrail? Has anyone else done something similar? I'm also not too happy with the fitment of it all. Any recommendations or advise is appreciated.



I was originally planning on taking the roadster to an event this past weekend but plans change sometimes. I did still get to cruise it over to help out a friend of mine. He has a new to him '48 Plymouth with a seized engine so we got that yanked out. It's a pretty solid car overall.

 

The roadster had to take the back seat again as life unfortunately gets busy at times. If the worst of my time consuming problems are helping my dad buy his first hot rod project though, I really don't have any "problems" in the grand scheme of things. It's a '28 PU that will be a father/son project and will probably end up as it's own thread on here.

Getting back to the topic of the roadster though, I'm determined to throw some hours at it this week.