Projects Building My First Roadster in San Francisco

Thank you!

Thank ya—still thinking about how good it will look parked in front of Town Topic.

Yes! I should have taken pictures, but we were wrapping things up for the day. For the seals, it's critical to apply even force throughout as you install them. David had a special set of flat aluminum discs of various dimensions. When we found one that matched the seal, we carefully hammered it in until the top of it reached the bottom of the snap ring groove.

For the ring itself, the key is to grind down both ends to match. Stock, one angles in and one angles out. They should both angle in, as highlighted on the unmodified ring below. This will help with removal down the line.
The next major thing is to have a notched screwdriver. You can make this out of any large, flat-bladed screwdriver. Notching the middle lets you get a better grip on the snap ring as you guide it in.

Thank you! This is our year. I want to get this car on the road!

 

We're getting there!

You've got it figured out! Good thing all four brakes are vented!

 

Yes! I'll check next time I go out to the garage to confirm/get a picture.

Sounds good. I'll take a picture of the screwdriver next time I'm at David's!

 

I'm on a flight back from the East Coast, and the Delta wifi seems to be pretty strong. You know what that means? Thread update time.
I realized that in my brake post, I failed to include a finished shot. I'm waiting on castle nuts for the backing plate bolts, but I believe they should be at the house when I return later tonight. Note the chrome hardware for the wheel cylinders. Once I have the backing plates and grease shields installed, I just need to torque everything to spec, add cotter pins, and then the front end will be finished. I'll be painting the drums this week.

 

Tomorrow is the first day of April, and that means we're really heading into spring (my favorite season). It seems like there's something to do every weekend, so I figured I'd share some upcoming events here.
On Sunday, April 14, I'm planning a mini reliability run down to the All Ford Parts swap meet in Campbell, California. I've never driven the roadster down this way, so it should make for a fun day.

The following weekend, I'll be keeping things local at the third-annual George Washington High School car show in San Francisco. It's 0.2 miles from my garage and, if it's clear, we'll get a great view of the bridge.

At the end of the month, I'll be at the Pasadena Roadster Club Reliability Run, but more on that later! If you're going to any of these, please let me know—I'd love to meet up. In the meantime, I'll be chipping away at 2.0 on the Terrace.

 

I love that idea. Right now, the plan is to either use chrome acorn nuts or nylocs with chrome acorn covers.

For sure! Bob Bleed has it figured out!

Thank you! The brake hose covers came from eBay. I ran a similar setup on my Triumph and I knew I had to do the same on the roadster.

 

Last night, I prepped the front drums for paint while watching what’s considered one of the worst movies of all time: “Rock and Roll Wrestling Women vs. The Aztec Mummy.” The critics were right—it wasn’t very good. Nonetheless, I’ll be spraying some primer on these later today!

 

Just you wait until you see the new tweed interior I'm going to install.

hahahaha

I'll have to check that one out (or not?)

Hahahhah only on the H.A.M.B.! Great eye! Those are some of the few reproduction parts on this car. My brother and I had a good laugh about that the other night on the phone. Don't worry, they'll get taken care of!

 

Only a little bit of progress this week. I did also receive my torque tube bearing, gasket, snap ring, etc., in the mail, so I'm excited to take on that project soon.

 

This weekend, I took a much-needed break from the real world to join my friends on their annual spring motorcycle trip. I left the city after work on Friday, which made for a very cold night on the road once the sun had set. By the time I made it to camp, the temperature was in the 30s. Two days and 400 trouble-free miles later, I'm back on the Terrace feeling exhausted but grateful.

My Harley is a throwback to my pre-roadster days. It's an old Bay Area survivor bike, but I've been through everything with the exception of the bottom end of the motor. I've been riding it for the past seven years. It's far from perfect, but it's like a member of the family. As I was making my way down Highway 1, shifting gears and listening to the exhaust, I was imagining doing the exact same thing in Version 2.0. Soon.

All good things take time, and this bike and my roadster are no exceptions. When I got back into town, I immediately swapped two wheels for four. I jumped in my roadster and drove to lunch and then the hardware store. The sun was out, so I finished up a little bit of brake drum painting in the afternoon. I have some fun pieces of the project planned for this week, so stay tuned!