Ford T hot rod (1908 - 1927) - T rod

Built in 1958 by John Gates in Grants Pass Oregon. 1915 Ford T Roadster It will be at the Grand National Roadster Show this week and the Sacramento Autorama. Real Steel Ford Survivor Hot Rod built in 1958 in Grants Pass Oregon, Drag Car from 58-62. A regular at the Medford Drag Strip. 1955 Cadillac 331 bored to 350 CID, super rare 4-71 Cragar Supercharger, 6 freshly rebuilt Holley 94 Carbs, Rare original Edelbrock Valve Covers, 1937 LaSalle Transmission, 50 Oldsmobile Rear Axle. Painted in the mid 60's. Interior was recently restored by Tri-Valley Auto-Glass Upholstery. New Wheels and tires.Will be fully featured in Hot Rod Deluxe Magazine next month. 8 MM Footage of car in the early 60's.

HISTORY: This car was built 10-15 years ago by a professional shop in Pennsylvania . it was purchased by a private collector approx. 5-7yrs ago for his personal use. he did not use the car all that much and decided to thin his collection. I don't know much other history than that. it a very well built car.

DRIVETRAIN: late model mercury v8 flathead (appears to be freshened) runs and idles great w single 2bbl carb. 4 inch crank mercury heads,generator(12volt) 3 speed tranny was told 1939 ford but not positive shifts fine.has dual shifter ,one lever for 1st and reverse and 2nd for 2nd and 3rd gears.very neat and cool once you get used to it. (vintage glass door shift knobs) rear end is out of 80's chevy truck. all wheels 5x5.5 bolt pattern

Body: steel 1927 ford roadster body in great shape for age! has few patch panels and etc but great body deck lick is homemade sheet metal that fits good.. doors open/close sheetmetal floor w bracing . the body is welded to frame in areas for strength. the frame is custom built 2 x 4 rectangular tube very well engineered not some amateur job.dash is crafted from old ford hood and seamlessly integrated into the body. paint is old brown that fits the car nicely(obviously showing its age)but fits style. the windshield is very cool homemade using antique boat stations and custom cut plexiglass.

wheels and tires are in great shape 40s for style w dragster slicks on rear and bias ply fronts w ford dog dish hubcaps. buggy style springs front and rear

this is a great one of a kind traditional style hot rod....this is not a rat rod I repeat its not a pile of thrown together junk parts

1927 Ford Model T Roadster Hot rod. It is an all steel body with the exception of the grill shell which is fiberglass. According to the prior owner the car was done up in the 1970's and at one point was a drag car. Later on in life it was made road worthy for the street. I really don't have a lot of history about it. The car definitely has a vintage look. The frame appears to be 3 inch heavy duty channel. Has an early 70's Chevelle 350 V-8 that has been rebuilt with a 350 Turbo Automatic Trans and a 8 Inch Ford Rear with Ladder Bars. We pulled the valve covers and intake to take a look inside and it is clean as a whistle. Motor runs nice and strong. Has a new 650 Holley with Aluminum Performer Intake. Transmission shifts positive. Has a Straight Axle Ford front end with Granada Disc Brakes and GM Calipers (brakes work fine), Chrome Front Spring, Arched Spring in the rear. Has a home made fuel tank with electric fuel pump. All the tires are new with G78-15 on front and L78-15 on rear. The interior is done old school in a striped design. Has Vintage Speedometer and Temp gauge and the others are Classic Instruments. Has various vintage accessories. There is a hairline crack in the windshield that is to the very far right behind the sticker. Does not interfere with your vision.  There is a stress crack on the drivers side where I believe a door used to be but has since been filled. The right person could probably redo that area to make an opening door.

This incredible Model T is a replica of the Moonshiner shown in the 1959 Oakland Roadster Show and later owned by Mickey Himsl in 1962. Micky traded this car away in 1965 for a 1932 Ford Vicky and regretted it almost immediately. He searched for his original car for many, many years and kept running into dead ends and in 1995 decided to build a replica, located a Touring body and the journey began.

The Touring body had the back removed and was painted a Chevy Skymist Blue and pinstriped by Art Himsl. The upholstery was done in white vinyl by Freddy Diaz at Concord Auto Upholstery. The dash was welded and molded in place. Correct vintage gauges installed. Period correct Bell steering wheel connected to a 1956 Ford truck steering box. 1939 Ford pedals. Finally channeled 7" and dropped on a shortened Model A frame.

The engine is a 59 AB flathead with Edelbrock heads. Fuel delivery is handled by 4 chromed 97 carburetors (2 dummies) mounted on a very rare Baron Tattlersfield 4x2 aluminum intake manifold. Ignition is handled by a Mallory dual point distributor. Chromed waterpumps, a custom radiator and electric cooling fans keep the temperature in check. The exhaust system is comprised of chromed headers, pipes and Glaspac mufflers. The transmission is a 1939 Ford unit.

The front suspension has a rare "Axle" Stewart chromed front axle. The rear is a chromed 1940 Ford unit with 3:78 gears. Rear brakes are 1940 Ford as well. Wheels are 7.50x16 tires on reversed 16" rims on the rear and 5.60x15 on stock style 15" rims on the front.

The car was finished in time for the 50th Anniversary Grand National Roadster Show in 1999 and then basically put in storage from 2000-2014. In 2014 Mickey decided it was time to dust off and freshen up the "Moonshiner" for the 2015 indoor show season. The car was mechanically gone through including: new coil, distributor, battery, rebuilt waterpumps and completely rebuilt rear brake system. All fluids were changed and the car received a major detailing to show quality with paint and striping touched up by Brandon Flaner from East Bay Speed and Custom.

All of the work paid off when the "Moonshiner" won first place in its class at both the Grand National Roadster show in Pomona and the Sacramento Autorama. Now, with another recreation in the works, Mickey has decided to let the "Moonshiner" go to a new home. This car runs and drives excellent with under 1,000 miles on it and couldn't be built for near the asking price. Currently titled and registered in California. As an added bonus the car was just photographed by professional photographer Tim Sutton and will be a feature vehicle in volume 11, issue 1 of Hop Up magazine due out in April 2015.

1923 FORD T BUCKET,HAS A VERY WELL BUILT SQUARE TUBE FRAME, HAS BEEN Z'EED, SUICIDE STYLE DROPPED AXLE W DISC BRAKES AND NEW BRAKE LINES, BIG 9 IN REAR END, GREAT RUNNING 350, ROLLER ROCKERS, PORTED 4BBL HEADS, TRUE NICKEL 1970 4 BOLT MAIN BLOCK, UNBREAKABLE 3 SPD SAGINAW TRANNY!! OLDSCHOOL EDELBROCK TUNNEL RAM W 2 550 EDELBROCK CARBS THAT ARE TUNED GREAT, TACH AND GAUGES LIGHT UP AND WORK, WRAPPED ZOOMIES WITH BAFFLES SO ITS NOT TOO LOUD, BODY IS A GLASS BODY THAT HAD A WILD CUSTOM PAINT JOB ON IT, PROBABLY FROM THE 60s OR EARLY 70s.

Features:

• Rebuilt 8BA Flathead with Offy Heads and Intake, Geardrive torque tube headers
  
• '53 Mercury Overdrive trans
  
• '32 rearend converted to open drive
  
• Model A frame, smoothed and painted.  Dropped axle, SS hairpins, 40 Ford brakes and wheels
  
• Nice dry WA state touring body, Deuce grill shell
  

 This is a nice 1927 Ford touring body from Washington State, it comes with a clean WA title and a 1927 vintage WA plate.  Cut down windshield with a sticker showing the car was at Bonneville.  The VIN was issued by the state.  The body sits on a Model A frame that has been reworked for the 8BA flathead, the '53 Merc OD trans and a '32 Ford rear that has been reworked for an open driveline.  The front end has a dropped axle, stainless wishbones, Speedway spring and shackles.  Steering is via a '50's VW bus box with a Limeworks repo '40 Ford wheel.  '40 Ford brakes all around, all in good shape.  Repo '32 grill shell and a reworked '37 Ford radiator (about $800 of pro radiator shop work). Guide headlamps on Speedway SS mounts.   '40 Ford wheels and nice bias ply tires.  Hubcaps could use some resto but appear to be vintage Ford.
Engine is a rebuilt and machined 8BA Flathead.  I don't know the exact internal work done, bought it from a friend who runs a hot rod shop.  He gave me some machine shop receipts for over $1000 and assured me it was ready to fire and I trust his flathead work.  Offy heads and intake.  Comes with two Holley 94 carbs in good shape.  Engine has a new wide belt conversion.  Beautiful Geardrive Torque Tube Headers made for me by Matt there and they have his handbuilt baffles.  Engine is all painted and clean.  Starter and Generator professionally rebuilt and converted to 12 volt.  
Trans is a '53 Merc OD unit.  These are pretty cool, it will give you 5 speeds including a highway gear.  This appears to be a vintage Ansen 3 speed shifter.  I restored it and made a thick steel mount for it that also holds the parking brake and the OD engagement cable.  The '32 rear end has been professionally converted to open drive, no more torque tube.  Everything is cleaned and painted, wood has many coats of spar varnish.  I used almost all stainless hardware.
My plan was to get the car running, drive it in the current jalopy status with Mexican blanket seats and then take it to the next level with paint and upholstery.  So what does it need to get it running and driving?
Engine: Needs the dizzy installed, it comes with one but I was going to upgrade.  Oiling system needs mounting and plumbing.  Radiator hoses needed.
Chassis: Needs the brakes plumbed and adjusted.  Rear Speedway reverse eye spring is too low, either needs a standard spring or the eyes reversed back to stock.  I'll throw in stock A and T springs as well.  Body mounts done but loose right now.  There is a lower firewall that I made from heavy steel plate, it was AWOL for the pics.  Shift rod and and brake and clutch rods need to be fabbed, I'm including a bunch of stainless rod in various sizes and bunch of new Heim joints.  Front floorboards and a trans tunnel need to be made, I'll include the same Maple plywood used for the rear floors and fold up seat bottoms.  '33 Ford brake and clutch pedal needs a $35 rebuild kit and a mount fabbed.
Electric: Battery mounted, new hot rod wiring harness included.  New starter solenoid and voltage regulator.  All this mounts under the front seat.  You can get repop wiring harnesses for the OD trans.
Fuel system:  Holley 94 carbs reportedly rebuilt, I would redo them.  Linkage needed.  New Speedway problem solver spoon pedal included.  Fuel pump and regulator included.  Cowl tank is clean inside, I planned to coat it.  Outside painted. 
Dash: some metal working needed to the nice original T touring dash.  It comes with a new set of 6 gauges that look vintage.  If you don't want the gauges, a friend does and will buy them from you.
Interior: Not much, just cut up the included Mexican blankets and cover the included foam.  New white with chrome buckle seatbelts for all four seats.  New rear door latches. 

1926 Ford Model 'T' Roadster



This is a well known and regarded Hot Rod among its peers.

A magazine cover car that was built to 'show-n-go' specifications.

Not often does an automobile come across like this one, this Model T teases our emotional core and projects images of summer nights cruising down Main St having fun doing hole shots from light to light. No, I'm not re-citing moments from American Grafitti; Truth is, most of us have had those experiences directly or not because that is part of our automotive culture.

No matter what generation we classify ourselves as, our passion for distinct automobiles span all age groups.



The story on this Roadster goes as follows...



Born or should I say "created" by the well respected Hot Rod builder Ron Williams out of Davenport Iowa.

Don't forget that the well known 'Goodguys heartland Nationals is in Des Moines, Iowa. Hence this guy is no stranger to quality Rods...

In September 2001, Northern Rodder Magazine did a cover page credit and full article "Semi Fast & Delirious" around this 1926 Model T.

This '26 was built in 1995 though it looks like it came out of a 1950s time capsule. Ron was an engine builder as the article states so obviously the '26 packed a bit of something special.

The engine started out as a 283ci punched out to a 301ci with a bunch of special internal speed parts.

Even an infamous Duntov camshaft was installed.

The induction system screams 'cool'! A vintage GM Rochester Fuel Injection System was reworked to accept newer fuel injection components mostly for reliability.

A Vette dual point distributor fires up the GM small block and LimeFire Headers gets rid of fumes.

The Engine is fully detailed and rides atop a custom Chassis by Bob Southwick of Illinois.

The front suspension is hand made torsion bars with chromed dropped beam axle.

Ford drum brakes with vents are up front while the rears are S-10 drum brakes as part of the rear package with air bags, ladderbars, 3.73:1 gears, and panhard to keep things lined up.

The power is transferred from the mighty 301 to a reworked TH350 running a 2200 stall by TCI.

The beautiful body is chanelled over the framerails and it adorns a custom made frameless windshield.

The Deuce grille is chopped and has a billet insert.

The paint was a group effort as it was completed in phases as intended by the best at their craft.

First, that incredible deep PPG Black was applied, then over to another painter for the amazing multi layer Flame Job and finally the custom fine line edge pinstriping applied as a final touch.

Stewart Warner Gauges keep you posted on vitals.

Early Wheel Company supplied the 15x4s on front and 15x8s rears while BF Goodrich and Hurst supplied those ultra cool wide white tires.

*

Our tale of the Rat Tub picks up midstream, at a local hot rod gathering in northern New Jersey back in 1995. “Midnight” Mario Colasuonno had just arrived when a slick, jade-green 1923 chopped-T touring rod entered the show playing a big-block Chevy symphony.

Mario sidled up and looked over the brilliant T. He tried to play it cool and walked away for a while—you know the drill of a man pretending not to be in love. As Mario was pulling himself together for another peek, he heard the big-block start up and watched as the tub headed for the exit. “I bolted back and stopped Dave [Hanley, the owner], just to get his phone number,” Mario says. He nearly drew blood while “engraving” Dave’s digits on his hand.

A day later, Mario headed over to Dave’s house. “All I was thinking was that I had to have this rod,” he says. But he didn’t buy it that day. Two years went by, and Mario saw an advertisement for the tub. “I flipped out because I thought the tub was long gone, so I immediately called Dave and closed the deal,” Mario says. It’s like the car waited for him.

Tub Timeline

The history of the tub stretches back to 1972, when a fellow named Danny Turrello wanted to build a hot rod. He and his good friend, Johnny Bianco, had previously purchased a Steve Archer T-touring four-seater tub, and the two were interested in turning the fiberglass body into a full-on street rod.

Steve Archer was an innovative fiberglass craftsman in the 1970s who designed and built 1923 T-bodies, pickup beds, and turtle decks, as well as the first production fiberglass 1932 Ford roadster body. He was a crafty hot rod builder. He went on to win several high-profile awards for his hot rods and had his first fiberglass 1932 build featured in the June 1974 issue of HOT ROD.

Steve made a very limited amount of these T-bodies, so Danny and Johnny were lucky to find one. They had Curt Hamilton of Cal Automotive build them a frame, and he installed a Jaguar XKE independent rear suspension out back. Once that was accomplished, the frame went to famed East Coast rod builder Randy Bianchi.

Randy glassed the floors and made neat removable seats. He then made the motor and transmission mounts, and built the tall top out of copper and steel conduit. All electrical wiring was run through the frame for a clean look. He then installed a big-block Chevy engine and TH400 transmission. Up front, he used an original 1923 radiator and grille shell along with a Moto-Meter temperature gauge. Myers Welding made a custom 14-gallon fuel tank, and Randy finished the car with a brown diamond-tufted interior and deep black paint.

The tub was completed in late-1973 and Turrello went on to show it, winning several awards. It won Best Roadster Gold at the New York Coliseum and was in numerous magazine features during the 1970s. From there, the history gets fuzzy; the tub was sold, traded hands several times, and then landed in Dave Hanley’s mitts in 1990.

Handy Hanley

Hanley’s a pretty crafty guy. He decided to make some changes to the tub that quickly turned the 1923 into an aggressively stanced, road-ripping roadster. To do this, he took 12 inches off the top, pulled back the upper front seat 16 inches, and the lower part of the seat 5 inches for more legroom. This made the roadster into a sleek, air-cheating two-seater. He also had a Carson top made, put in a black roll-and-pleat interior, and painted the tub a deep jade green. Up front, he made the headlight stanchions out of aluminum connecting rods he had sitting around.


Of course, Dave also modified the drivetrain, building a big-block Chevy with a tunnel-ram and dual carbs to power this beast. This mill gave the roadster a new life, morphing the subtle rod from basically a sweet Sunday cruiser into more of a Saturday-night, street-freak rager. He also made the massive set of zoomie headers so the tub would draw in stares from the polarized perimeter. He dubbed it Rat Tub, and it’s the Rat Tub’s look and brashness that really grabbed Mario’s attention.

Mario’s Toy

Mario’s ideas for the tub were slightly different than the other owners before him. In the winter of 1997, he tore it down and prepared the car for a total rebuild. Surprisingly, the first thing that went was the engine. “I knew I wanted to put a crazy blown motor in it, so I acquired a 402ci Chevy big-block and added the 6-71 blower,” Mario says. He purchased a set of original Dean Moon valve covers and had Ed “The Mad Hawaiian” Stinson mill them to fit Moon breathers.

The final touch was the color. Mario picked a House of Kolor candy UK-17 purple paint over a BC-04 Shimrin Blue basecoat, finishing the car in time to attend the second annual Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, in 1999, where he took the Terrific T award. In 2000 he hit the Goodguys Nationals in Rhinebeck, New York, and took the Street Rodder Top Ten and got ink in the magazine. Finally, in 2006 at the International Show Car Association (ISCA) show in Washington, D.C., the Rat Tub pulled in Best Altered Touring rod.

Finished is a Dirty Word

When chasing perfection, nothing is ever finished. In 2011 Mario started totally dismantling the hot rod again. He pulled the body off and turned to painter Scott Clemente to strip it down to its fiberglass. The rear of the tub was cut, frenched, and lipped to make way for the Halibrand quick-change cover for the Jag rearend, and the frame was notched and boxed by Mike Hickey to clear it. After gel-coating the body and doing some minor body repairs, Scott was ready to paint.

He first painted the frame with a candy violet over House of Kolor BC-04 silver. The tub was sprayed with the same purple paint combo, but heavy purple flake was applied right before the last coat of candy. Five coats of House of Kolor Flo Clear were applied and then wet-sanded down. Scott finished off the paint with another five coats of the clear, and then final-sanded and buffed the car. The paint looks a mile deep on this radical roadster. East Coast legend Joe Sulpy III handled the pinstriping and added some classy silver leaf.
Mario had Roger Wagner of Wharton, New Jersey, redo the interior. Roger’s been doing custom cockpits since the 1960s. The interior is mainly white, with the roll-and-pleat tied together with purple stitching. A purple carpet was added to break up the snowy monopoly. The shifter and brake bezels were made out of an aluminum sign that was polished to a shine. Ben Gaudiosi built a neat interior rear-lift compartment to give Mario someplace to stash his stash.

Roger also covered the dash with the white and added a slew of Stewart Warner gauges. Mario designed a custom shifter and had it machined out of 3⁄8-inch steel. Last but not least, he acquired a super-rare 4-inch-drop brass T steering wheel. He wanted the engine to continue the radical eye-candy theme, so he went with a Weiand six-deuce carb manifold topped with a sextuplet of Holley 94s. Original engine builder Randy Bianchi jumped in to help tune the carbs to work with his raging Rat motor.