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New Dallas Area Member - '27 Turtle Deck

jmel

Member
Hello from Dallas, TX area - Rockwall (Northeast of Dallas) to be specific.

I'm new to this hobby. Built my first car this year under the supervision of my father-in-law. Have been around the hobby since meeting my wife (her family is in it heavily), but i had zero knowledge - had never even changed my own oil. Decided it was time to dip my toes in and try to learn a new skill. Acquired a '27 turtle deck body last January and with the help from my F-I-L, buit it from ground up, including home made frame. Learned how to weld on this car - and it hasn't even fallen apart.......yet. Took her to Biloxi for Cruisin' the Coast last October, and am planning to take it to the Lone Star Roundup in Austin next April.

When I started the car, the initial intent was to be a rat-rod, but got a little carried away and think it might be a little too clean to be considered a rat. Made a nice shiny chassis with front end out of a '46 ford with big shiny disk brakes. Rear end is a .308 Positrack, and is powered by a 305 SBC with a TH350 w/manual shift valve body. Body was in really good shape, just a little bit of rust here and there, and a nice variety of dents, dings, and pits. Rear pannel below deck lid was rotten and deck lid was missing - so we made those from scratch as well. Slicked off the firewall, but most of the dents and dings throughout the rest of the car are still there. Finished it off with a nice coat of flat black via rattle can, as dents, dings, and pits won't look too pretty with glossy paint. The chassis and engine have enough shine by itself though.

Its been a fun little cruiser. Have learned a lot, and still have a lot to learn. Hope to pick up a few ideas and learn a few things from this community.

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Welcome to the best T site on the net. That is one COOL car you have built and you deserve to be especially proud because it is you first. You father-in-law deserves some credit for taking you under his wing and you for being a good student.

Jim
 
Hi
Pretty T. Stands just right
Gerry
 
Welcome to the forum jmel.
 
Nice job on your T. Looks like it just came home from a '55 photo shot for Rod & Custom.

Oh yeah ... welcome to the site.

Ron
 
Welcome, sweet T :good:
 
Welcome that is what I would consider an awesome first project
 
Thanks for the warm welcome and comments on the car. I am proud of it, and appreciate any input on her. The car has been a blast. Looking and toying with a few upgrades for it. Have a nice thumper cam that i need to put in it, but need a high stall converter first. That should be coming soon. I'd really like to run a 3 deuce set up, but my wife is fighting me on that. She really likes the olds/caddy air-cleaner (probably because she bought it for me for our anniversary). I honestly really like the air-cleaner too - but i love the three two barrel look.

The big argument right now is that i want to chop the window - maybe by a third, if not in half. The wife is fighting me hard on that one - claims that she'll refuse to ride in the car if i do that. She admits that it'll look good, but she doesn't want to get the hell beaten out of her by the wind. Also, we live on the other side of a lake, and HAVE to cross it if we want to go anywhere. I have to admit, crossing that lake is interesting in that car in the spring & summer. That large flat piece of glass plays hell on the bug population in my area. Have had to pull over and clean glass just so i could see a couple of times. So maybe chopping the window isn't such a great idea afterall. Every one of those little buggers would be smacking me in the forehead i'm sure.

Again, thanks for the welcome and comments. I look forward to being a member of this community.
 
Great little car, if you still deem it a rat, maybe a rat in tails and top hat. My windshield is very low, about 8", but I wear a leather helment (I have long hair) and goggles. Even it gets a lot of bug strikes (as the Fred's Fun Run gang will atest after I drove it 1100 miles) but since it is so low it is not in my field of view. I like 3X2 carbs because the off idle throttle response is great with a single 2 barrel, and they look right, BUT if given a Caddy air cleaner as a gift from a loved one, well I wouldn't change it. Welcome to the forum.

Bob
 

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