GOW CART Chronicles

'Swiss Support'

2011-06-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Give me a toe board on Rye and hold the swiss!

You can see right threw the bottom of this front sub. Most of that remaining material at the bottom can be poked threw with your finger, so it needed to be replaced.

After getting the cowl back from the blaster, a few things were revealed. Namely the swiss that was the front sub on the drivers' side. There were actually chunks missing complete. Luckily, I had also brought them the drivers side front sub to clean up too!

The first thing was to remove the cowl side, which also had a fair amount of rust and swiss to it. There is an area that these model A's just get rusted out, right behind that support triangle shape. It must just collect dust, dirt and water back there. But instead of trying to fix the immediate rust I could find, I figured I'd just replace the panel and fix the front sub too.

Here you can see my fresh cut 16 gauge replacement panel I cut on the "beverly" shear before tacking into place.

The rear section of the front sub/toe sub also didn't survive mead blasting so I grafted in the old sport coupe piece to the it so there is something to bit on to between the sub rails and the cowl section. You can also see the tear repair on that tow board triangle support and my pattern that I used to cut.

The welds and clean up aren't pretty by a long shot, but certainly better than what it was and still all original 80+ year old stuff. Besides, it probably won't see the light of day.

Lastly, and the most fun, was the discovery of the production date on the cowl:

It was hard to make out the model year in this picture, so I did a quick render so you can see it on the lower half. So, tomorrow is the cowl/gas tank birthday! 83 year young!

Got some help from Iraq

2011-06-23T07:16:00.001-07:00

Still piecing this body together here. Some old parts came back from the media blasters yesterday and I also got some help from my buddy/club brother Eric, freshly back from Iraq.

Above you can see the split from the factory pressing on the Drivers side rear quarter got touched up, rewelded and ground back to shape.

Eric came up with this idea to make plates from the door screws that will be welded into place on the cowl pillars. All of them are tapped, but some of them still need to be fitted inside the posts.

Most of the cowl now looks like it's brand new! Unfortunately, other areas are gonna need a lot more attention now. Cutting and fitting new sub rail extensions on the driver's side to take care of the swiss cheese-ness.

Hey! Looky what I didn't realize I still needed for sheet metal… Yeah, it's called a "sill plate", not a rocker like it was thought. It's made up of two separate panels that fit together. Time to get out the check book again. FUDGE!

I'm no engineer, but….

2011-06-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

I guess I fall more under the artist category than engineer, fabricator or builder - but though I often only have to draw finished ideas of the outside, I think it's a healthy exercise to be able to show some real, practical thought into how things are actually going to built. Ignore my 10 minute sketch/doodle lines and such… this was really for my brain to relax.

Taking a break on the body assembly while I wait for the cowl to come back from the media blasters, I got to thinking about my rear end and how it will sit.

When I purchased the rear end I was told it came from a 1948 Ford truck. It's a banjo rear, so will go with that for the example sake. Now, I know I want to do a bit of a kick up on the rear so it's not completely looking like a cat in heat with the buggy spring.

I picked up a medium arch buggy spring for a model A which if memory serves it has a 10" rise. With the stock model A frame it would probably look a little goofy with the rear high up so I know a kick up is in order. Whether it will be 4" or 6" I don't know just yet. I have to see the way things sit before moving too far along.

In this blurry cell phone shot you can see the rear cross member sits directly centered over the wheel well of the rear quarter panel. Knowing the mounts on the '48 Ford rear end are sitting 7" off the center, toward the rear, it means I have to move/add/raise the rear of the frame. The other option that I've read about is to make the mounts sit top dead nuts over the axle itself which sounds like many folks do. My fear in doing this is actually a couple of factors: welding to the old tubes on the axle can warp them or ruin them completely, then it's back to the parts hunt. Secondly, I'll have to still do the kick up in the rear, probably higher as the weld on spring perches are now on top of the axle, making the damn thing sit even higher yet, where the stock perches of the '48 axle sit level with the tubes themselves. I'm estimating the difference being 4-5"s overall in height.

So my mental plan is to keep the stock perches in use (unless someone has some logic that I can see that changes my mind) and while doing the kick up, also lengthen the chassis by 7" so the wheels/tires sit right in the middle of the rear quarter panels so it looks just right. My diagram that's at the top is sloppy, but I drew it up quick before my 2 year old got ahold of it and destroyed it or drew on top. I think the general idea should work. The only thing I now see that I didn't doodle in are the radius rods which should help with the offset of the spring location and of course the shocks too.

If the plan goes well, the rear cross member should be sitting right in front of the rearward trunk braces so the body will sit still looking stock with only big mods happening to the sub rails/trunk scoop area to compensate for the kick up and movement from the stock location.

Nip and Tuck on a 80 year old.

2011-06-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a long road even up to this point and the end is still nowhere in site. I often get myself down when working on this roadster project dubbed " The Gow Cart" (psst. that's "Gow" as in Tow, or snow… not as in How)

I've come to some realizations on the sport coupe verse roadster body language. They are pretty much completely different cars. Yes, many folks have told me in the past, but I thought I could pull a fast one and merge the two together… boy, I was wrong. I've seen a few decent jobs doing these cross overs, but I really have my heart set on the look of the roadster, so that's the way it's now going.

So little of my sport coupe body remains going onto the gow cart. Realistically it's really pieces of it being merged into the project. The toe board sub rail area is one, the horizontal sub rail braces is another. I'm hoping now to salvage the trunk drip rails and a few odds and ends here and there for patches and braces. It's being cannibalized to feed the cart.

As of the end of Sins of Steel I started to assemble the body, building on the frame this time after many folks urged me to do so (I'm kinda done with trial and error that I have been doing)

Here are some quick peeks inside the speed barn at the progress (In reverse order, unfortunately)

The new patch cowl side in. Those just don't snap in like legos either. Below you can see the remaining portion of the sport coupe trunk inner that I need to remove yet.

The inside of the cowl patch and new/old toe board sub

Drivers side cowl. It's going to be blasted and see what's left of it before moving forward.

A little clean up here. Lots of clamps as my helping hands.

The firewall got stripped . Lots of holes yet to patch up.

This was the mock up. There is a bit of overhang on the patch near the bottom. About an eighth inch or so needs moving.

Old and the new together here. When it's all cleaned up it should look like one.

A bit more trimming involved to get it to fit in place.

The toe board merger between the sport coupe and the roadster.

Testing out the two pieces before trimming and welding it in.

The fresh stamped pieces are going to require some work. Just placed in here with a few tack welds and clamps.

Pins and screwdrivers are keeping the body in place on the rails.

Here is the first side going in for a test. There was still a lot of trimming to make it this far from the stamping.

Look at all that overhang. The sub rails sit back quite a ways

Here's where I started a week ago. I wish I could say I worked for a week on it, but realistically it was only for a few hours on a few days.

Cadillac in a Ford?

2010-11-23T05:44:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest parts of the Gow Cart project was the mill. In this case it's a Cadillac motor, in a Ford. A lot of folks out there ask me why I would choose the engine for an early ford car.

"Why not a Flathead?"

"Did you think about a Y block?"

"What about a 302 Small Block?"

All valid questions, sure. For the Flathead, I've already got one in the '49 Ford. It's been a great engine for the size, but the price for doing another one, I'd rather have something with a lot more power in a Hot Rod. Y-Blocks are pretty cool, but I don't think they are any cheaper to build up than an early OHV Cadillac motor, not to mention finding vintage speed parts for these beasts. And to the the small block 302 fans, well, I just can't do it in a model A with the focus on the mill. I can't argue with the readily available parts and the cost associated with them, but I think there is a lack of style that comes along with just a plain old 302. I just always associate that engine with a Mustang, which conjures a completely different era of cars.

The Cadillac 390 was introduced in 1959 which was essentially a stroked and bored version of it's original first OHV Cadillac motor, the 331, in 1949. Much like the Flathead it shared the center exhaust ports so you only have three exhaust manifold tubes coming out. I don't know what it is I like about seeing that in old Hemis, Desotos, Olds Rockets and Flatheads, but it gets my blood pumping and screams vintage mill!

The thing I love about the Cadillacs of that time period, outside of the loud American styling was the fact that people were in love with cars and many music artists sang songs about Cadillacs owning the road. Folks like Chuck Berry, Doc Starkes & the Nite Riders, Tex Rubinowitz, The Howlin' Wolf, Hugo Peretti, The Spaniels and more contemporary: Brian Stetzer and many more all have songs about Cadillacs.

It's hard to imagine that a 20+ foot long car was a race car to the folks of yesteryear. In todays terms these cars weren't that fast, but when you are comparing a Flathead that is generating 90 HP, stock in 1949 vs a Cadillac 331 spinning out a torquey 325 HP, stock you can see why it would be the natural choice for a kid building a Hotrod, if he could get his hands on a fresh junkyard crash (or a stolen car!) It takes a lot of HP to push around that kind of steel and chrome on a Cadillac!

Besides the fact I was able to pick and pull a Cadillac 390 for the Gow Cart, it's got some history and some advantages that an early rodder would want pushing their roadster down the road.

Frame Progress

2010-09-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

Well, you have to start somewhere, and the frame is probably the best place to get things going. The search is always on for parts, but it was time to get things rolling on the frame work of this project.

This frame was picked up in Illinois, just a few miles from the border of Iowa. It's an orginal straight model A 28-29 frame.

Step one was to knock out all the old rivets on the cross members for the front and center. Then begin filling those old holes.

A wire wheel and a sanding disk or two revealed the metal under 80 years of rust.

A big task on these old frames is filling up the old holes. There are a ton of them on the top, sides and bottom. I didn't even bother to count, just got down to business. The small holes can be filled by welding with a copper piece to back it, while the larger holes need some sort of filler. A fender washer works well for this.

Here is a larger hole filled with a fender washer and ground flat

Never Never knew there was an 1 1/2" hole here!

Here is the side of the frame with the holes filled.

The old front cross member that was cracked was replaced with a new Model A styled cross member courtesy of Ionia Hot Rods

After as much clean up on the frame that could be done by hand I had the frame blasted to get all the nooks and crannies. After a fresh coat of weld through primer, I started boxing the frame back to front.

The boxing plates are welded in here with clean up left to do.

Heres where two plates came together. It was v'ed on the edges to sink the weld in better. More clean up grinding left to do.

Made some quick gussets for the rear member to the boxing plate. I dunno that it helps all that much but it can't hurt. Passenger side.

Here's a better look at the boxed frame from the inside.

Wanted to finish the box to the other side of the front cross member, but not the whole horn so I did a little looking around to come up with this idea which mimics the curve of the horn tip.

Had to do a bunch of relief cuts to get the curve correct. Here it's roughed out. I sandwiched both sides together then cut away for symmetry.

Here it is all welded in place.

Cut up a small part of my old center cross member to get a nice radius piece to fit at the end of the boxing plate and the front cross member.

the piece worked well with some finessing and grinding.

A quick shot of primer shows the front horn grinding. I may not need much body filler!

Here is the grafted in radius piece ground and primed.

-Up next, Engine mounts and center member.

Dash inspiration!

2010-03-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

Not that I have any components to make an IP like this, but look and marvel at the beauty of the mid thirties automobiles! The upper from a 1936 Ford Roadster brings the dash to the floor and the lower photo shows a star burst pattern on a panel which is a great showcase for some nice instrumentation. I'm planning a more simple 1935 Ford dash for the Gow Cart and while looking at ideas I came across these and just had to make mention of it. Plans still coming together in my head.

Devils in the details :: Brass Horn button

2010-03-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine is an incredible artist in his own right. Eric is a clockmaker who makes astounding hand made clocks in his work shop. One day while visiting he mentioned that anytime I wanted to spin something on the lathe that I should drop by and we'll make it together.

'nuff said, I was there. So my first experience working with metal on a lathe was to make a new horn button for my 1936 banjo steering wheel which will be going on the Gow Cart. The aluminum piece is made to fit a '37 -'39 style steering wheel, so there is still some work to be done to make this all come together.

It's domed and has lines in it much like the plastic original did. I just wanted something a little snazzier! There is still another retaining ring that I'm planning on spinning out down the road out of brass too which should really be an eye catcher on the hot rod. Maybe a little too nice...

Man, I've got the itch. The weather has been so nice I want to be outside all the time to be building on this car.

More updates soon. In the meanwhile, show some support!

Stickers

and

Patches

Miniature Photos

2010-02-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

Michael Paul Smith shoots some great old time photos but modern. How can you find the perfect unscathed '50s town? Ya build it! Check out these beautiful models!

Flickr photos

Frozen Lakes vs. Dry Lakes

2010-01-29T05:37:00.000-08:00

As the Winter takes hold on your sole outside in Detroit I can't help but think what kept people warm back in the day. I get bitter cold just reading that it's 10 degrees outside right now. Awhile back I did a shoot at the Ford Piquette plant and came across a photo of the famous "999" Racer aka The Red Devil. This was actually one of two cars built by Ford, the other one was dubbed "The Arrow" and was painted yellow instead of Red as above. Logic only says that if you wanna race that you'll need two cars right?

The Arrow crashed and killed the driver Frank Day during a race in 1903. What remained of the Arrow was brought back to Henry Ford for repair where its yellow paint scheme was retired and became known as the new 999 as the original 999 was retired.

The new 999 was personally driven by Henry Ford in a "land" speed race in January 1904 after the repairs were made. It achieved a speed of 91.37 on the frozen Lake St Clair. While out on the other side of the country folks were racing the dry lakes like Muroc, El Mirage and the Salt Flats of Bonneville, we had Henry Ford throwing the throttle down on frozen lakes!

I think if I could pull off speed trials on frozen lakes in the winter, I wouldn't mind it only being 10 degrees outside. Something to make plans for next winter....

EDELBROCK new 94 CARBURETORS?

2010-01-23T12:07:00.001-08:00

With all the craze and nostalgia of the two barreled carbs being on every hot rod again, I guess the market is here to help you keep it looking old with something new. Speedway Motors did their version of the two barrel modeled after the Stromberg called the "9-Super-7" after no one seemed to be able to afford the genuine new remanufacture/reengineered Stromberg 97. Speedway made them more affordable then their competition, so I'm curious about these Edelbrock 94's.

Hopefully it's true about the 94's being made in the USA. That would be great... but I wonder about the affordability of them! I'm sitting on 6 originals that I have plans for.. Mooohooohaha!

Press Release:

Edelbrock 94 Carburetor In 1938, when Henry Ford needed a more efficient carburetor for his new 24-stud V8 engine, he contracted development to the Chandler-Groves Company and the 94 two-barrel carburetor was

born, fueling Ford Flathead engines until production ceased in 1957. Flash-forward to 2010 and the
94 is once again available, by none other than Edelbrock! Adding to Edelbrock‘s reputation of bolton
and perform carburetors, the Edelbrock 94 two barrel carburetor is intended for nostalgic and
period correct hot rods and restorations, providing the most accurate and best performing solution on
the market. The Edelbrock 94 features die-cast bowl and air horn with a cast iron 3-bolt flange. It‘s
throttle shaft has been extended to make it easier to set-up dual and triple carburetor combinations,
especially when used with Edelbrock‘s exclusive progressive linkage. Extensive testing, both on the
road and in our state-of-the-art engine dynamometer facility has
allowed Edelbrock to fine tune power valve and jetting
combinations to deliver smooth and strong performance.
It is finished off with a zinc-dichromate coating for
durability and classic looks.
• 3-bolt flange and cast iron base
• Designed and calibrated for use
in small cubic inch engines
• Match with an Edelbrock intake
manifold, cylinder heads, linkage
and fuel blocks for the complete
classic look of the hot rod era
• Will fit Edelbrock Ford Flathead
intake manifolds #1100, #1103, #1108, #1109 and Small-Block
Chevy #5414 and #5418
• Coming in Spring of 2010…
Triple-Deuce manifold for Ford 289/302
Edelbrock 94 Carburetor (Primary)...........................................................................#1151
Edelbrock 94 Carburetor (Secondary).......................................................................#1152

Bid on it!

2010-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

1963 Chevrolet Impala Biscayne

For sale by Road Devil Rob. Get yer bid on and own a piece of Road Devil History.

THANK YOU: SPADES Motor Club!

2010-01-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

They are on they're way! Send me pics of what they end up on will ya?

Balls to the Wall

2010-01-19T05:39:00.000-08:00

Baby, it's cold outside!

2010-01-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

Basically since the body made it back from Texas, there's been a slow in the whole process of moving forward. I could blame it on a few things: Jobs, Lack of money, Holidays, baby, the autorama display, personal promotional projects, and the list goes on. I think the major contributor is the lack of space to work on it. The speed barn is very small when it's all said and done and if I had a place to store the '49 Ford in the meanwhile, I probably could at least start mocking up part of it.

What I really need to get further along is are tires and much of the front end. I have an axle and a wishbone to split, but no spindles or brakes or backing plates. Those would help me much MUCH more. So, if you have a lead on anyone ditching a '37-'41 Ford front end, give me a holla!

In the meanwhile, bask in the joy of a '51 GMC chopped truck by fellow Detroit Road Devil Dave. It's in primer now, but I'm kinda fond of the banana cream color that it is! But don't get too attached to it, it will be flat black again soon.

True Believers on Facebook.

2009-12-19T09:37:00.001-08:00

That's how we roll! Just spotted on Facebook.

A few more supporters and the Gow Cart will have tires to roll with too!

Thanks Junebug for the support. Send your pics in too!

GOW Cart Support patch is here!

2009-12-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

The GOW CART is a pet project of mine that I hope to get off the ground in about 2-5 years total. It started with a rear axle and it's come further than I expected in a short while with many helpful hands and folks out there who want to see a good old Hot Rod on the road. But, like every project, it doesn't come without a dollar sign put to it.

The plan is to build a traditional style 1929 Highboy Roadster on model A rails but lowered with a drop axle and Z'ed in the frame and a lot of rubber raking. I know there are a lot of good folks out there with parts just sitting around their garages collecting rust and dust all at the same time, so here is your opportunity to get those old "door stops" put to good use!

This isn't a "rat rod"! In fact most of us who are younger who are building cars HATE that term. It is a low budget Hot Rod, but trust me, it will be nice. No billet anything, just good ol' parts for a good old A bomb. That's all. So are you interested in helping this poor boy out?

What I'm looking for is a small donation. It can be parts, it can be spare change, it can be leads on parts. I'll take what I can get at this point! What I'm offering right now is a bad ass oval patch (seen above)

This Car-N-Art designed 4.25" x 3" oval patch is fully embroidered and ready to be stitched. Here is you chance to grab one up for yourself no matter where you are in the world. Only $7 plus $1.50 shipped within USA. Orders outside the USA, please contact me for best rates on shipping.

All proceeds go to this car and this car build alone! This isn't a scheme to get rich, it's just to get a jalopy on the road. Down the road I will also be offering support T-shirts, Patches, and Posters that will be associated with the project that will be in the same form of donation that will help this project along, but right now I gotta move a few stickers first!

Patch Panels

2009-12-15T14:01:00.000-08:00

Today I received my first set of patch panels for the Gow Cart Project. They are rear quarter panels that I found for $35 on ebay with free shipping from Texas. I couldn't beat it and I wanted to start feeling like I was making a little progress despite the fact that snow is falling here in the motor city and the body who's probably never even seen snow in it's life is being fallen upon outside. There was a lot of rot to the rear end of that car so this will be the first of many 28-29 patches I'll require. Corporate Sponsorship Anyone?

Meanwhile, I'm reading the story about this '39 Ford Custom from Hawaii and dreaming of what it's like to cruise without a top in 70º all year round? BASTARDS! Notice the Road Devils on the cover?! Read the article here

And speaking of Patches, the GOW CART support patches will be in this week. Help make someones xmas bad ass with a patch... more details later.

Detroit Road Devils year end get together / E & J headlights

2009-12-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

Today is the end of the year get together for the Road Devils Detroit chapter. This is the meeting that we cover all the big things happening over the course of 2010 (it's weird to say that as well as type 2010... seems like we should be living in outer-space now) We also cook up a mass of food, drink all the beer and booze in the fridge and have a the massive double top secret meeting on all things devilish. I've gotta get my ass in gear to cook my meals for this. Picks to follow up in a future post.

I had a lead on some E & J original type 20 headlights buried deep down in Texas for the Gow Cart. Unfortunately, I just got this note from the informant:

"As far as the headlights, there is a pause on that situation for a little bit. The guy who had all that stuff shot himself in the head so he is not around anymore..."

So if you who are reading this know where I can get a pair that won't break the bank, please let me know.

RDFL:: Tornado Alley Video

2009-12-10T11:33:00.000-08:00

The Tornado Alley fellas put together this video of their cars and members. I figured I'd show it off too since they helped me out with holding on to the Gow Cart body

Gow Cart Support!

2009-12-04T11:51:00.001-08:00

Coming up in a short while you too can show your support for the Gow Cart Project. The Gow Cart Patch is the one on top, the sticker is below. Lord knows I could use some help here! Just putting 2000+ miles on the truck, the gas alone was $300! So any help is appreciated. Stay tuned for the Patch launch, probably in time for Christmas.

There already are stickers for sale here:

$2 for a Gow Cart Sticker

Gow Cart comes HOME!

2009-11-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

Is it weird to think of a car as a body alone? I suppose it's what defines a hot rod, perhaps even more than the engine in the sense of that is how it's truly identified. Today the body came off the back of the truck after leaving Texas on Saturday morning, driving over 1000 miles, arriving Sunday morning and resting until today.

So after driving straight down immediately after Thanksgiving dinner, We arrived first in Oklahoma to meet up with some of our Road Devil brethren in the Tornado Alley. Driving straight through didn't allow for much rest for Chris "Hyman" or myself. We stopped in Moore OK. at the Blue Koi Tattoo shop where we both got some ink. It was only fitting that we did something 'devilish' from Prospect Reverend Jimmy Vegas.

Immediately leaving and attempting to play Beat the Clock as the sun was setting over the OK/TX border, we finally rolled into the Tornado Alley HQ where we we greeted by many of the Texas members with beer in hand.

I can safely say that we drank 'til we fell down. I tapped out around 12:30 am and Hyman around 2 am. In the morning the body was hosted into the back of my F150 and after breakfast at Denny's, we drove straight back to Detroit.

There is entirely more than this basic synopsis I just banged out here, but it will take me some time to formulate a way to put it into words. I will break it down later, but for now I can do it in four words:

CHUCK NORRIS ACTION JEANS

Ads: a Necessary Evil

2009-11-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, the Gow Cart Blog contains ads and the reason being is building the car isn't free. I could use your help. All I ask for is a click, and you don't have to buy a thing at all. I've enabled ads on this blog in hopes that the good people who read it also will take a split second even on their way out of reading this to click on the ad bar to the left hand side of the screen. This is doing the build a HUGE favor. So please again, don't be mad. Its a click with no obligation for anything. All proceeds go to the build. Thanks for your time and understanding!

Body Snatachers

2009-11-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

In some strange way I feel like building this hot rod is just retrieving the parts that have been scattered to the four corners of the USA and bringing them back to where they came from, right here in Detroit. These pieces were meant to be together and I'm just a facilitator in doing so.

Catching you up to date on what has been recovered:

The Engine for the Gow Cart was the first piece in this big old puzzle and it was recovered deep in the middle of Tennessee back in 2004 pulled from an old Cadillac by my wife and I about a week after we were married.

The Chassis is currently a 30-31 frame that was recovered in Illinois, approximately 10 miles from the Iowa border.

The Rear axle (48 Ford Truck, banjo rear end) was recovered with help from my friend Jason in Michigan. That was an easy one.

Now, the body is next. 1929 Sport Coupe which will be used as the base for a roadster. It's a long haul but this one has been target practice for kids way down in Texas for years now and tomorrow, right after Thanksgiving dinner, Hyman and I are hitting the road to bring this Original Detroit Tin home. 18 hours straight through.

The body is in the hands of fellow Road Devil Woody from the Tornado Alley chapter.

Stay Tuned for updates because this is looking like it's gonna be one crazy ass trip.