Model T Hot Rod
Lets build a model T Hotrod (Feb 21, 2018). It should be easier than the Falcon pickup. Some work has been done to frame and Tub (body). A nice feature of this T is it has an opening door, so looks much more real when finished. We are going to go Chrome here. Serious Chrome.
We are in luck because I have lots of spare chrome parts and the detailing will be interesting. I think I will have trouble photographing though. The 1st major assembly will be the engine.. A 393 Hemi, the early style ( See it below). It is already built as I cold not stop working on it to photo it. Tunnel ram with dual Hollies. An automatic trans, very common in theses old rods because they make it easier to build and drive in real life. Another possible engine you could consider would be Engine 4 in the Gallery. A small block Chevy, which was used in many hotrods in the day.
We are in luck because I have lots of spare chrome parts and the detailing will be interesting. I think I will have trouble photographing though. The 1st major assembly will be the engine.. A 393 Hemi, the early style ( See it below). It is already built as I cold not stop working on it to photo it. Tunnel ram with dual Hollies. An automatic trans, very common in theses old rods because they make it easier to build and drive in real life. Another possible engine you could consider would be Engine 4 in the Gallery. A small block Chevy, which was used in many hotrods in the day.
The frame was made for 1923 T. I don't remember what kit the tub came from but you can see it is about 1915 or so in the picture at the top of this page. The radiator shell came from a 1915 model T sedan, I think.
I have an old kit (well, most of it) for the frame. Below is the kit box (right) for a complete chrome frame which works with the Hotrod Tub I have. This was a fantastic kit for the day with great detail and lots of cool parts (at $0.69!). Even the box looks cool (to me anyway). The box says 1923 Frame kit. The major frame pieces are on the left. So while this will be a complete "Car", it will not be as hard as the Ranchero, which is looking harder than I thought. I am not ready for painting yet. |
OK, new entry here(2-26-2018). After doing some fitting and testing, I found some problems. The main problem is the frame is not long enough to accommodate the engine. So to solve that: 1. I am moving the bucket body back slightly (~2mm). 2. Replacing the engine with another chrome Hemi that is shorter. 3. Possibly changing the grill shell so I can move it forward.
The body had to have some very delicate modding to allow it to move such a small distance back. This was more an esthetic decision as I think it looks better with the frame set into the body slightly. Probably the amount of effort and potential for damage was, in retrospect, not worth it. I had to use a tiny "Dremel" like grinder, a new Exacto blade and about an hour to do it. And I missed the opportunity to show "How To" in detail, as it was quite instructive. Sorry, I will try to do better next time. Note my photo skills are not nearly as good as my model building, such as that is.
The new engine will be from a set of 3 that I am constructing from old parts. Mostly chrome parts but some damaged and a few parts I completely chromed by Molotow Pen. For example, I found a Chrysler automatic trans cut off another engine and chromed it before gluing it on. The 3 engines may show up fairly soon here or in the Gallery.
As you can see below I have mocked up the T again to see how things align. I put the new engine on a white block and stuck some wheels on. The 1st engine I had was too long and there was no room for fan, water pump and radiator. This one will just barely fit (I think) though I can mount the radiator more forward if I cut it off and sit it on the frame.This front end axle assembly is just a mock up and wont be used. It is just for getting an idea of placement and looks.
To the right and below are a selection of more parts I am considering. Note the cool license plate I found. It was made using a decal from an old kit. If you can zoom in on the gas tank next to the front wheel, it has a Coke decal on it. Some guys even copied car magazine covers and Photoshoped them to very small (1/25 scale) size and printed them (in color). Then cut them out and made them look like magazines laying on the car seat or on a bench with tools (diorama). Decals and then color printing of reductions are evolutionary changes to model building.
The tunnel ram manifold (on the engine) needs the chrome finished and a pair of chrome carbs. The engine will be more horizontal and parallel with the frame in the final product (by raising the rear mount). That will actually give me another mm of room. I found a thinner water pump (in front of wheel) than the one shown already. Saves me another 0.020 inches.
I think it is time to go into some sidebar (links to other pages) so I can detail some intricate work. I made some motor mounts (shown below) and cut down the radiator (right of mounts). Click here to see how they were made.
Recently I have been working on the frame. I needed to make the motor mounts and that means I need to determine where everything sits exactly. Mock up is not accurate enough now. Looking at the frame near the top of the page, we see it has only 2 cross members so we need to add 2 more to support the engine. Below, left, is the trans support cross member added on the frame. But it needs to raise the trans higher to get better ground clearance. So I made a simple bar and 2 tiny pads (see below right) that look like the rubber vibration pads on a real engine mount. It will fit on the new cross member to hold up the trans. There is one of the pads and the tweezers hold an extra cross bar.
Recently I have been working on the frame. I needed to make the motor mounts and that means I need to determine where everything sits exactly. Mock up is not accurate enough now. Looking at the frame near the top of the page, we see it has only 2 cross members so we need to add 2 more to support the engine. Below, left, is the trans support cross member added on the frame. But it needs to raise the trans higher to get better ground clearance. So I made a simple bar and 2 tiny pads (see below right) that look like the rubber vibration pads on a real engine mount. It will fit on the new cross member to hold up the trans. There is one of the pads and the tweezers hold an extra cross bar.
Above left is the water pump assembly that has partial front cross member built in. I added 2 tiny black pads which will sit on the full chrome cross member shown. On right is another potential cross member, not chromed yet. Above right is the engine with the water pump glued on.
Below is an updated mockup. The carbs are now there. a potential header is shown in approximate location. A new front axle is being tried. The axle has an added spring and required 2 very small plastic pins at the end of the spring inserted in tiny holes drilled in the axle. Look closely at the axle below right. the pin glued onto the end of the spring is less than 1/4". A 0.025" hole was drilled through the axle and the pin inserted. Same for the other side of the axle. I used a pin vice to manually drill the hole. I mail ordered a set of drill bits from 0.5 mm to 3 mm for $7 or so from china through Ebay or Amazon. Pin vice is $3 to $8. It may be best to get the pin vice from a local hobby shop where you can examine it. Many of them are not centered well for the smallest drill bits. not too critical for pin vice work but used in a "Moto" like tool, it is wobbly.
Below is an updated mockup. The carbs are now there. a potential header is shown in approximate location. A new front axle is being tried. The axle has an added spring and required 2 very small plastic pins at the end of the spring inserted in tiny holes drilled in the axle. Look closely at the axle below right. the pin glued onto the end of the spring is less than 1/4". A 0.025" hole was drilled through the axle and the pin inserted. Same for the other side of the axle. I used a pin vice to manually drill the hole. I mail ordered a set of drill bits from 0.5 mm to 3 mm for $7 or so from china through Ebay or Amazon. Pin vice is $3 to $8. It may be best to get the pin vice from a local hobby shop where you can examine it. Many of them are not centered well for the smallest drill bits. not too critical for pin vice work but used in a "Moto" like tool, it is wobbly.