Chassis Construction begins

This build has been published in the New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine but I took so many photos of when I rebuilt the car into Project 29 as it is known. This text is taken straight from the magazine:

"This month we look at the design of the centre crossmembers, boxing the chassis and mounting the driveline. How many cars have you built or seen that are not maintenance or user friendly? As you look at your bare perimeter chassis, now is the time to look at various ways of mounting your hardware in a way that is user friendly in final assembly stage and for future maintenance.
Questions need to be asked and in some cases a list followed by a diagram of the componentry you intend to use. Some things to consider are the mounting of brake lines, hand brake fitment, exhaust system routing and how this affects the design of the centre crossmember. We were looking at the following things when it came to our design; rear wishbone mounting points, removable gearbox mounting point, brake master cylinder mounting to ensure hassle-free final assembly as well as sufficient clearance around the gearbox and pedal area.
We established where the engine and gearbox were to fit and mocked that up along with the rear end and rear wishbones. This gave us the basic parts layout within the confines of the chassis so we could start to work out where the centre crossmember could run. We were somewhat restricted by the chassis kick -up and the leading edge of the front cowl. Therefore the centre crossmember mounts within these points of the chassis rails and is of an “X” design. Manufactured from 4”x2” channel with oval holes for form and function, the crossmember also mounts the master cylinder, gearbox mount and rear radius rods.
As we decided to box the chassis rails in a step box style as per SO CAL Speed Shop we also had to notch the centre crossmember to sit in tight against the boxing plates. However, planning ahead we cut half-circles into the crossmember at the point of intersection with the boxing plates to allow the brake lines to be fixed along the boxing plates. If you don’t have a right-angle drill it’s best to drill and tap the chassis for the brake line mounts BEFORE you weld in the centre crossmember.
The boxing plates were cut by tracing the shape of the chassis rails onto 1/8” steel plate and cut out on a band saw. We then measured in 3/8” and tacked the boxing plates in before final welding. Engine mounts were cut down from Rocket mounts available from Rocket Speed Equipment. Things were starting to take shape and look more like a car."

Influences from the USA

Before I carry on with the Project 29 build I wanted to highlight some of the influences from the USA when it comes to my interest in cars. As I said in a previous post its cars from the thirties, forties, fifties and sixties that really appeal. The styling of these cars is timeless and have stood the test of time. These cars ooze character too.

This is just a small selection of the cars that play an influence in ones grey matter.

A forties looking dry lakes roadster makes such a statement mainly to its simplicity.

Keith Weesner's chopped and channeled A pick up is what started me on my pick up but I guess mine is way more mild. Weez still ribs me that he would like to see mine hot rodded some more.

I went on the HOP UP Reliabilty Run one year with Geoff Mitford Taylor. We got to Morty's place and the T Tourer you see here was being built - very cool and very different.

Dennis Kyle's roadster is one awesome car. First built by the late Tom Senter with the "white paper" R&C magazine Ardun between the rails this car is very legendary. I have become friends with Dennis and he has been a huge help with ideas, photos and measurements to the 32 project flaoting around in my head.

Then there is Steve Coonan's roadster - what a car! Check out his California wheels and tyres! Big tribute to the Gary Kessler roadster here! Steve sold his Barry Lobeck roadster when he started The Rodders Journal. A year or so ago he was able to purchase another Deuce hiboy - a Brizio built car that he has DRIVEN!

Wheels make or break a car

The beauty of traditional hot rods is that they dont date like some modern stuff can. That is why with a traditional hot rod you can have a number of wheel and tyre combinations for a car. Jim Jacobs did this with his famous yellow Pete & Jakes coupe. The car had red Kelsey Hayes on narrow dirt trackers, black steelies on wide whites and Halibrands/ET's on dirt trackers. The car could be a forties, fifties or a sixties car in minutes.

Another car like this is the famous Dennis & Debbie Kyle '32 Roadster originally started by the late Tom Senter. This car is one of the 75 Deuces chosen for the 75th Deuce Anniversary in 2007. It has run steelies, Moon discs, Americans, Halibrands/ET's to portray the car differently.

In New Zealand, Bert Van Wijk has run Halibrands and radials on his '34 five window until recently switching to red steelies and wide whites.

With all that in mind I had always wanted to build up a collection of wheels to swap out on to what ever car I have at the time. These photos show the switch to the black steelies. These photos were taken on the way home from Kumeu one year. I still have the red wires and also a set of wide five '36-'39 rims, a set of 18 inch Deuce rims and also a set of 15" magnesium Americans. With the right tyres, any of these wheels can work to give a totally new appearance.

"T" Time

After the first rebuild of my '29 and just after a trip to the USA I purchased a '23 T Roadster body to build a 'gow job" as they called them in the day. I had always liked the Isky T roadster but even that was too new for the era I was aiming for so I looked in my Don Montgomery books and looked at some "gow jobs". The photos here show my '23 T body on a T frame, with a suicide mounted T front end, an A engine mocked up and an A rear end out the back. The wheels are 21 inch Model A wheels. The Multi Aldrich T roadster was also an influence.

Unfortunately this is one car I regrettfully sold. I would like to do something similar again one day. Maybe a tourer?

The first rebuild

After driving the three week rebuild around with no rego or cert I decided to rebuild the pick up. I had been to the Hot Rod Blow Out, Beach Hop and a couple of Nostalgia Drags in it and I think it was after coming home from the drags one day on 2-3 cylinders I thought I had better do something about it, I also recall Tony Cassar, from Australia coming over with his mate who I took to Puke's Just-A-Cruise one time. He had this brilliant white hot rod show T shirt on and between the oil coming through the floor and the water coming through the the windscreen from the radiator his "new" white shirt looked like it had been dragged across the floor of a wrecking yard.

I blew the pick up apart at my parents ranch in Pukekohe and proceeded to get the car ready for cert. I had to add fishplates to the chassis joins, strengthen the centre cross member, fully seal the firewall and floor and use clips on the brake lines as per the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (LVVTA) regulations. I also fully wired the car - turned out that the electrictian that came round used to be a part owner in my Dad's Vanguard powered midget in the mid sixties and it was him that fitted the Vertex magneto.

I worked at Pioneer Auto Parts at the time and purchased a few boxes of VNT black engine enamel to paint the car in the yard! Together with the powder coated red 16" '35 wires it looked okay from a distance! I fitted twin Holden Stromberg carbs and an outside header too.

I thrashed like crazy to get it to the Rotorua Street Rod Nationals but a mixture of no sleep and teh fast approaching deadline led to a radiator cap problem. Once I came home and relooked at the car I realised how small the problem was. The car was certed, regoed and on the road, the T5 made open road driving a true breeze for the eighty year old banger! The car was featured in this new guise in the May 2005 issue of New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine - www.nz-hotrod.com

The concept

After owning a number of hot rods that I hadnt built - just modified to suit my tastes, I wanted to build a car that interested my preferred style of hot rodding. I wanted to build a traditional hot rod. Inspired by clubs like the Shifters and the Burbank Choppers as well as such builders as Pete Chapouris & Jim Jacobs of Pete and Jakes, traitional rodding from the thirties to the sixties era is what appealed the most. In particular, the Model A's of Jim Jacobs really struck a chord. This 29 closed cab was located from Geoff Mitford Taylor and we threw the car together in a period of three weeks to attend the Scroungers Hot Rod Blowout.

The car was built with no fenders as it didnt have any to start with so I dragged my parts to Graeme McNeill's shop www.macsspeed.com and Graeme, Howard Bond, Royce Everett, Graeme Gordon and myself threw the car together using parts I had collected. I got a running A motor, adapted the T5 S10 gearbox, got a diff that Chris Piaggi set up and Keith Golder dropped the axle. The looks on peoples faces as we drove it across Auckland City was priceless! The Scroungers Hot Rod Blow Out is a superb traditional Hot Rod show that has been running for approximately 10 years.

Bernie Beckett stitched up a roof and seat for me before me and Steve Levine headed to the Beach Hop in Whangamata - it was quite a spectacle as the car was VERY primitive!

Welcome to the blog for Project 29, a 1929 Ford Model A Closed Cab Pick up built by me (Greg Stokes) and my father Mark Stokes. We have covered this build up in the New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine - http://www.nz-hotrod.com/. There are an incredible number of people who have also helped on Project 29 - they are: Mark & Janne Stokes (Dad & Mum), girlfriend Rebecca, Ange & Marcus, Paul & Liz Grace of the New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine, Geoff Mitford Taylor & Paul Servantie of GMT Hot Rod Parts, Dan Tyler of Rocket Speed Equipment, Graeme McNeill & Andrew Foote of Mac's Speed Shop, Colin Willoughby at Com Tech, JR & Flick at Rods By Reid, Mark & Gaylene Homan at Morris Sheetmetals, Kelly O'Donnell at Stitches UpholsteryRob Watkins for chassis paint, master metalman Mike Roberts for inspiration and panel help and adviceChris Piaggi for the rearend set up, Haydn Mitchell, Garth Hogan, Gary "Grease" Martin & Andrew Rea of Early Times Motors, Kiwkstrip, Dave Levien, High Performance Coatings, Dynamat, Automotive Sandblasting, John Antonvich for paint, Peanut Martin, fabulous engineer/fabricator John Hinton, Steve Keys, Chris Walton, Phil Game at PG Hydraulics, Keith Golder.