'Rattie' 1927 Model T Roadster

The deep red of those Teardrop lights are nice! Caught a pic on ratrod of the complete rear body with them fitted. Looks the part. Not sure if I missed this, but have you already chosen the colour for the Body? Yes, E-Bay must be a decent place to find all sorts of diverse items, also scrap yards?

....At least when you do have it rolling on all four wheels, and not forgetting the steering system, you can have your family push you round the garden!! LOL

[Fl@pper]

i do like the classic lights, just seems 'right' but i am partial to these lenses



for those too young to remember 'ford pops' and jacked up cortina's the blue dot is an old skool mod (60/70's) which at a distance made the rear red lights appear a phsycadelic purple colour, illegal of course but looks so damn good

every dusty oily nook and cranny is a gold mine for spares and ebay is handy too i must admit but ,my favourite are older established scrapyards, recently collected some 1940's bus headlights and an army lorry handbrake that is so cool just to had to have it for a gearchange on the outside of the car

colours in my head/dreams

gunmetal grey all over
black/polished engine
red grille mesh
red/chrome wheels on whitewalls
wine red/burgundy 'waltzer' interior
possibly a burgundy looks soft but hard roof too

colours in my pocket and mrs say so
matt black / red oxide / primer at least until it's tweaked perfect so a few years of rebel fun

and if you hear of anyone offering to buy human souls i would gladly exchange my own for this baby any day

[Fl@pper]

managed to wake up early for a sunday and made the bed (mrs thinks i'm ill) but chopped straight outside to box in the front chassis legs/horns temporarily by bashing in 500mm of flat 2mm steel and tacking it in place ( all of it will be welded properly later by a proper welder )


had a chance for a close look over my bus headlamps and test the Bi-Xenon HID bits (h4) that i have collected from warranty and nroken up kits etc (complete set now)


looks pretty good on the mock up - really like it, and found a design idea for the striping eventually, was close by all the time, been on my leg for 15 years



http://ratrod.photoblog.co.uk/c1734952.html for all the big pics, i'm off on the bike to measure up some shox at the scrappers

[dav3]

Coming along nicely keep up the hard work

Originally Posted by Fl@pper

for those too young to remember 'ford pops' and jacked up cortina's the blue dot is an old skool mod (60/70's) which at a distance made the rear red lights appear a phsycadelic purple colour, illegal of course but looks so damn good

So you have the exact colours already decided by the sound of things

Those lights above look great too, if you dont plan to run this Rod on the road then it doesnt matter if you have the lights above on anyway.

Perhaps if you will make this Rod road legal (I dont know what the legalities are with such a vehicle) then you could wire the centre Purple light into a seperate circuit, with a SWITCH, so you can selectively have them on/off, depending upon the occasion - on road/off road - events?

Nice boxes of goodies you have there. The HID's should be simplicity to fit however made for tricky by those original light units.

[Fl@pper]

oh it will be on road eventually don't worry about that daily run to work too i'm hoping hence the HID's needed but no ya right the bulbs are by no means an easy fit but then the whole car has had every single fitting and bracket etc custom made so part of the course really all part of the fun for me

the blue dot isn't a seperate bulb it's a small optic disc that is drilled/glued into the original lens or into a lens made to fit one buit i do like the look of some of them out lately, that's the same dot but with an added decorative cover on top

Originally Posted by Fl@pper

the blue dot isn't a seperate bulb it's a small optic disc that is drilled/glued into the original lens or into a lens made to fit one buit i do like the look of some of them out lately, that's the same dot but with an added decorative cover on top

I see, so the Purple would shine through anyway, as there's just a single bulb inside illuminating the whole light unit.

The Skull design looks cool but as a rear light unit, could attract alot more attention on the roads - greater potential to get pulled. Maybe you could fit one as a secondary light unit, perhaps in a central location, more for "decoration", adding to the 'image' of your Rattie.

Have you heard of "Run to the Sun" ?
Not sure where you are geographically, but in Newquay, Cornwall, one weekend of the year in summer, all the custom rides from all over the country get together (cars / motorbikes / other) and have ALOT of cruises around the South West / Cornwall.

There are numerous competitions for the most cool / classic / original Rides etc.. I think you'd do very well with this Rod. Plus camping at a local site.

I have always dreamed of being there in a classic HotRod - would really set you apart from alot of the other Rides there - ie: Beetles, Campers, Usual chavved up hot hatches....

[Fl@pper]

never been down as io always thought of it as more of a bugjam than rods really

sounds like a good plan for a weekend though, taking it to holland (relatives) once i get it all sorted but thats a way off yet

reminds me i need to work out volume sizes on a decent fuel tank

Originally Posted by Fl@pper

reminds me i need to work out volume sizes on a decent fuel tank

Unbelievable! Never even considered "volume sizes" would become a factor when building such a car. Would just pick any suitably sized petrol tank from a breakers yard and STRAP IT ON !

Take it you will transport your Rod on a trailer to Holland and take it out once there?
(I apologise in advance for the stupid questions!).

[Fl@pper]

no worries i wish there was an easy drop in tank although there are some useful universal ones about but mine will be hidden under the car so i'm limited to space/shape etc but if it was in the open then a decent beer 30L keg is the best solution and as for trailer ? noooo, i might end up arriving on one knowing my luck but intention is to 'drive' it there if possible

i wonder how far the nurburgring is from Echt (holland) as i know my uncle's place is close to the german border - could be a good weekend all round

*edit* about 2 hours away

[Fl@pper]

saturday off work at last - free to lie in bed to the sound of my ears ringing from my mrs shouting 'are yo u gonna do F'all today or what ?' mmm bless her cotton sox.

started with a few kicking idea's for rear suspension


then as usual got stuck in and before you know it i had some brackets made and bolted in and drilled them so eventually when i get sick of it being so high i can unbolt em and flip em and drop it by 3" in one go



going to add a spacer tube to the outside of them eventually but that will be done next week but as i had the brackets i shoved some threaded bar through the shox and pushed it back and forth, it actually rolls on it's own wheels sad i know but felt good even if it is all just there and not bolted together yet



next step is to chop is some asjusters on the front beam so i can lower (sorry adjust) the ride height up front to match the rear and have it scraping cat's eyes one day, and as i was getting backache and my kid wanted something to do i setup a new stencil or two



http://ratrod.photoblog.co.uk/c1737835_1.html

.

[Fl@pper]

Happy as a pig in S**T right now after mrs gets home and wants to cook tea and bitches about me smelling oily and looking a right pikey mucky so 'n' so and kicks me out in teh garden - damn

so i decided as last time i tilted the diff over i got oil everywhere i would drain it out as i had left teh wheels up. with no tags on the back and drained i could rip off the lid and count the crown wheel and pinion and get an idea on what ratio it was for reference later for tyres/speedo etc

undoing em all i get to the bottom 2 and under the grime i spot a tag (43:14) which means it's a 3.07 standard jag diff but last bolt another tag drops off ( PL ) now jaguar limited slip diffs are called powerlock and i couldn't be THAT lucky could I ??

Damn right i could lid iff reveals i got my hands on a full LSD rear axle 3.07 ratio looking inside confirmed the casings etc



i'm away to wash up a very happy chappy

[Fl@pper]

Quiet at work so took an early lunch and got the shocker tubes made and after many calls for an escort LHD rack being mental money i realised i can use a mini RHD rack back to front

£20 later for a recon one and i'm back to LHD - oooh ye

[suj]

updates flap UPDATESSSS!!!!!!! lol

i can't wait to see this finished! gonna be a beast!

[Fl@pper]

gotta sort some pics but been ill recently and not as active sadly but the engine's now proper mounted and stripped all the front and rear suspension again (5th time)

bank holiday so will be back rolling on it's wheels so i can start picking at the loose ends and get the prop made now but downside as it's been so long unused the motor won't turn over now (6yrs or so) but then excuse for a proper rebuild mmm low comp ya reckon ?



forgot to mention the temp garage didn't survive the wind so has been rebuilt in proper wood frame and some lighting and power installed now too

[Fl@pper]

one wooden framed shelter, courtesy of a day off work



just collected another job to do, car for the kids to use as they are all more or less 17+ now but i will be supervising as much as possible on it so they can learn



not been slacking though, after helping Brother stick the tdi lump in the caddy pickup (crezzy knows the one) there was an engine conversion and custom exhaust to sort on this pukka beast i am sooo jealous right now as i adore this thing

[suj]

nice work mate! yeah get them on cars ASAP! i started at like 11 (helping with my uncle who's a mechanic) and i have learnt so much, and it has manifested into a passion/future (automotive engineering at uni)

[Fl@pper]

good on ya, get as much education as you can but as you know you will learn a lot more bent over a bonnet than reading about it

you can start by figuring out the reverse for those flames so i can lay the opposites on my copper ibiza

[suj]

haha sorry i'm kinda crap at that stuff lol
i'm sure there was a guy on here (the one who made the rally winners stickers) who could do vinyls?

what's the next step? rebuild engine, then finish bodywork?

[bondy]

Gonna be keeping an eye on this, starting to look cool. cant wait to see it all done. Im now gonna go to your link and look through the pics.

Keep up the good work.