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This here page follows the contruction of my personal project - a Cadillac-powered 1927 T roadster. The aim for this project is to contruct an HONEST car with the ideal of occasional competition, i.e. a racer for the street. Particular inspiration for the build and styling is coming from late-40s lakes racing, hence, no frills, but thoughtful construction. There will be NO air-conditioning, power-steering, independepent or 4-bar front-end, frameless glass, radial tyres, mag-wheels, whitewalls, late-model disc brakes, Falcon (or the like) steering column, stereo, blah, blah, blah.....This is an old car reborn! LATEST UPDATES: July 24, 2008: Well, the time came to start piecing a few of the rear panels together so I could get an idea of where I was at in terms of my next move. As you can see, it does LOOK marginally OK. The reality is that there's some alignment issues (especially with the Howell's lower decklid panel) and quite possibly a couple of things will need to be redone.
July 10, 2008: Rear right quarter patch has had it's patch panel welded in. There's a few gaps where the quarter had previously been cut into to allow for the diff to clear but those little pieces should be easy to make up. The rear corner was also replaced.
June 19, 2008: Rear right quarter patch panel welded. Just need to weld in the patch for the wheelarch....got a little lazy here and sourced one from Howell's in Texas. This also means that the other side needs to be cut out and have a Howell's patch welded in too.
March 24, 2008: Rear left quarter patch panel welded.
March 13, 2008: Rear left quarter patch panel.
December 18, 2007: Here ya go Andy...an update just for you! See pics below... November 27, 2007: I haven't shown any progress pics of these bits, nor do I have any, so showing these ALMOST finished pieces is about as good as I can do...on the left is the new door, on the right is the frame that runs below the panel underneath the decklid. This forms the basis of the rear subframe from which rails run forward to the front of the car below the rear quarters on each side. I've got to get some paint onto these things to protect them from flash rusting...so far they're OK with a coat of WD40.
November, 2007: New high torque starter made by Castle Auto...now, just have to "hide" it somehow! These guys turned the job around in...ONE DAY!
September 23, 2007: Let's blow apart the turtledeck and see what we've got....or in this case, haven't got!
September 15, 2007: Today, I pulled the rear section out of the box for the first time. It's been in there for a good year since Larry packed it in Fresno. Unfortunately, it didn't miraculously heal itself. At the end of the session, I had a bin with about 2 kilos of bog in it! Whoever did the "bodywork" on this thing should be shot...every panel was MIG'ed and bogged to the next panel.
September 10, 2007: Bun panel has had it's patch added. It was a RPU bun panel...not anymore...now, it's for roadster! Same thing was done to the right side bun panel as well.
August 13, 2007: Inner skin made for left door.
July 23, 2007: Work has begun at ACE to rebuild a new inner skin for one of my doors. July 22, 2007: Pulled the stock dizzy on the motor to ascertain whether the military dizzy I bought off ebay (many moons ago!) does actually fit the LaSalle motor...and indeed it does. Just need to find (or have made) some lead caps. I also pulled the water pump to give it a rebuild. It will need a full kit...new shaft, impeller and bearings....
July 2, 2007: Metalwork course started at the Automotive Centre of Excellence down at Docklands. The aim here is to learn the basic welding and metalwork skills CORRECTLY. June, 2007: The roadster has landed! It took a nice heat treated crate, a good friend (thanks Larry!) with a lot of patience and a fair bit of screwing around with paperwork but it's here....well, in storage around the corner, but close enough!
May 30, 2006: Well, not much construction-wise, but a little bit closer to just getting everything in one place. Just missing the engine and the stuff in Fresno. Otherwise, there's a damn heap of parts spread all over my garage floor! Started just cleaning up a bit of metal on the cowl and doors but that's about it. The molasses dip has been pressed back into service so when the time comes, I'll have clean rust-free parts when I want them. Thanks to Steen and Corey for the parts delivery service! January 4, 2006: A huge leap forward! The project has taken a major step parts-wise thanks to acquirement of a HEAP of parts...including chassis rails (Chev), cowl, doors, crossmembers (Ford), engine blocks (Ford), gearbox, springs, bones, brakes and some wheels, plus other odd-and-ends. This was the "remains" of a project that I will push and twist my way to get finished. Unfortunately, until I move house AGAIN, all parts remain in storage. Special thanks to Graham, Mark, Robin, Steen and Mudguts! October 31, 2005: Rebuilt LaSalle trans acquired. October 21, 2005: That damned crossover found it's way into the bin, thanks to a spare that came with the '38 Cadillac block. Dropped in some new plugs and rotor button, but need to sort a bit of wiring before anything else happens. More important to have a relaxing beer on a Friday night... October 16, 2005: Bought a stack of chassis parts to move this project along a hell of a lot further. Pics to come when the stuff is in my hands. Includes rails, crossmembers, bones, axles, brakes, steering boxes, wheels and a few body pieces. July 10, 2005: Put a LaSalle in your Ford! It couldn't have been an easier job if we tried: 1 XR8, 1 500kg hoist from Kennard's Hire and a glorious Sunday made for a quick lift. The LaSalle now has a new home, tucked away in the dry, safe confines of a southern Victorian stronghold of performance engineering. With a few broken plugs and that god-awful exhaust crossover to begin with, there's a few things to change before we fire it back into life. That day will come soon...
July 3, 2005: I've tracked down and acquired a "new" motor, with help from a friend with a sympathetic ear! It's a 1937 LaSalle. These things come in at 322 cubic inches and push 125bhp.It actually sits even better in my plans than the 346, which was missing a good deal of parts and required a complete rebuild anyway, but, unfortunately, the LaSalle wasn't a $50 special this time around! The Cad should be able to yield a few parts to the LaSalle though. The story behind this motor is that it was (and still is set up to work as) a lighting generator. It may never have even been in a car, so who knows, I could be the first one to put it in one!
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