choppinczech
Well-Known Member
Man you're making quick work of this. It'll be on the road in no time.
How's the ease of registration and titling in your state?
How's the ease of registration and titling in your state?
How I scratch built a Modern T
- Thread starter Tbuilder
- Start date
Tbuilder
Active Member
At the same time I glued and fiberglassed in the plywood seat riser support and closed off the area around the driveshaft. A piece of 3/4 inch plywood is screwed and glued on top of this frame and the rails for the seats are bolted to it. I am going to use the bucket seats from the Ranger as they are in good shape, seem to fit in the bucket nicely and are quite comfortable.
The two holes you see in the pics of the floor are to bolt the bucket to the frame. I will use these bolts to fasten the seat belts to as well. I cut a couple of slots in the front of the seat riser to make it easier to get at the bolts and use the under seat area for storage. Not much room in a T to put stuff so any amount is useful.
The two holes you see in the pics of the floor are to bolt the bucket to the frame. I will use these bolts to fasten the seat belts to as well. I cut a couple of slots in the front of the seat riser to make it easier to get at the bolts and use the under seat area for storage. Not much room in a T to put stuff so any amount is useful.
fletcherson
Well-Known Member
You are correct about space being scarce in these things. I spent a LOT of time designing and modifying to gain fractions of an inch, here and there, in the process of trying to utilize every millimeter. I’m a 6’, 200+ lb man... not much space in my standard bob tail bucket... especially with three petals and a shifter to contend with. Big go carts!
James Louis
Member
Awesome thread!!
Can't wait to see more!
I love turtle deck T buckets!
Can't wait to see more!
I love turtle deck T buckets!
Tbuilder
Active Member
Back to the frame to finish it off and weld on the brackets that hold the shock absorbers and the head lights.
At this time I also installed the brackets to hold the rad in place and mounted the rad. Speedway has two aluminum radiators available for their Model T, one for the 350 Chevy and the other for the 302 Ford. They have the inlet/outlet on opposite sides. The 4 cyl engine has the hose locations opposite that of the Ford V8 so I ordered the Chevy one and it lined up perfectly.
At this time I also installed the brackets to hold the rad in place and mounted the rad. Speedway has two aluminum radiators available for their Model T, one for the 350 Chevy and the other for the 302 Ford. They have the inlet/outlet on opposite sides. The 4 cyl engine has the hose locations opposite that of the Ford V8 so I ordered the Chevy one and it lined up perfectly.
fletcherson
Well-Known Member
Looks good. I’m a fan of big v8’s but you have a nice project going here. I’m sure that 2300 will move you around just fine with fewer gas station station visits... turbo? Just kidding.
Tbuilder
Active Member
When I installed the tires and set the frame down on the floor with the weight on the springs it became apparent that the front was going to be too low and there was not going to be enough ground clearance between the engine and the ground.
So I had to cut the front spring mount off the top of the front frame tube and weld it on the bottom. This gave me what I thought should be enough clearance. We need 5 to 6 inches of ground clearance here as the frost heaves in the spring can get high enough to take the bottom out of the oil pan. The Ranger oil pan is of a fairly sturdy cast aluminum construction but I do not want to test it. Not much will ruin your day more than having four quarts of oil spread all over the roadway.
Of course now the shocks are too short so I will have to order new ones.
So I had to cut the front spring mount off the top of the front frame tube and weld it on the bottom. This gave me what I thought should be enough clearance. We need 5 to 6 inches of ground clearance here as the frost heaves in the spring can get high enough to take the bottom out of the oil pan. The Ranger oil pan is of a fairly sturdy cast aluminum construction but I do not want to test it. Not much will ruin your day more than having four quarts of oil spread all over the roadway.
Of course now the shocks are too short so I will have to order new ones.
Tbuilder
Active Member
I thought this would be a good time to build the exhaust system. Four cylinder engine so it was a fairly easy straight forward job. This engine came stock with tubular headers and my research has determined that there is little power to be gained by changing them. A couple of bends, some straight tubing and a glass pack muffler, weld it up and we are good to go. I even installed a catalytic converter to show what an environmentally responsible person I am.
Tbuilder
Active Member
I can see that happening with a metal floor but the floor in the glass bucket is 1" thick plywood, so the passenger is fairly well insulated from the heat. There is quite a lot of space between the exhaust and the floor but I will probably install an aluminum heat shield between them just to be sure we do not burn the plywood floor. Thanks for your concern.
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