Dennis Lacy

There's a T Roadster body in there somewhere!

Anything that I sell on eBay (or anywhere else) I find a box ahead of time, put the item in it along with packing paper / news paper, weigh it, measure the box and punch that info into the postage calculators on eBay or the carriers site and charge the buyer exactly what it costs me. I add a line at the end of the description stating that shipping charges are exact and list the package dimensions and weight. That way people can go double check the cost for themselves and see that I'm not trying to hose them on postage. They can then decide if they want the item bad enough to pay the postage. There used to be a pretty big margin of cost between the Post Office and carriers like FedEx and UPS. That margin is a lot smaller these days.

Execution = Fail.

Man, that Fiat still does it for me!

Wicked, wicked, wicked!

Looks awesome, bro! Glad to see it out in the wild. Keep an eye on this guy, Bill, it's like watching a brain surgeon at work. Maybe KK will share some roof construction photos. The work that went into it is nuts. Far beyond a simple "roof swap."

UPDATE! Been a few months but I drug this thing back out of the box and did some work on it over the last couple of weekends. Finished building up the center k-member, added a master cylinder and cut off the inner trailing arm mounts. Hosted on Fotki Finished building up the "Z" in the frame rails. Hosted on Fotki Built the exhaust system and added a round tube cross member with hanger bracket. Hosted on Fotki Changed the intake to Hilborn fuel injectors and added some bolt heads to the header flange. Hosted on Fotki Overall chassis shot. Hosted on Fotki Built a headlight bar from .040" and .060" rod and mounted AMT '25 T lights to it. Hosted on Fotki Built some front upper shock mounts. Hosted on Fotki An overall mock up with the latest additions. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

The detailed spark plugs make an immense difference!

It's flattering that one of my projects inspired you! I was looking at pictures of that Tall-T I started out building and kinda wish I had stuck with it but I'm happy with the results as a roadster. You're off to a great start. Stance, proportions, wheels & tires look wicked!

Working on paint off and on. Looking to finish it before the end of next month.

I've been working on this thing and taking pictures as I go, just haven't taken the time to post updates. Here's what's been happening! The front axle and suspension are fully setup. It's all Revell '32 Ford series parts with some tweaks here and there and everything secured with mounting pins. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I set the 4-banger up with a 4-speed conversion. The adapter comes from the Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit and the transmission was cut off of the Hemi engine in Revell's '32 5-Window. The cross member is slightly trimmed down from the '32 kits, too. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I stripped the chrome off of the wheels, added the missing lug nuts using detail nuts from Grandt Line and added the correct 60's Halibrand 3-bar wingnuts. Hosted on Fotki I started doing some speed work to the Banger. Built my own lower profile tube intake, carbs from the Ed Roth Tweedy Pie T and modified Chevy header from AMT's '34 5-Window. Hosted on Fotki Out back I built a new rear cross member. The axle & spring assembly is from the Ed Roth Tweedy Pie T and the ladder bars are from Revell's new '29 Roadster / '30 Coupe kits. Made the driveshaft out of 1/8th" tube and kit u-joints. Still need to add shocks. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki And a mock up with the chassis now a "roller". Still lots more to do! Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Comments welcome!

You're off to a great start! The new Revell Model A wheels and tires look awesome on it. Just so you know, the engine in the Thom Taylor kit, although they tried to dress it up like a small block Chevy, is actually a Pontiac. It's the same engine from the ZZ Top Coupe sister kit, minus the "ZZ" logos on the air filter and valve covers.

I think this is fantastic, Tim! I really like the color scheme you came up with. The color you used on the engine looks really close to the antique engine green Ford used in the 30's. Most people use way too bright of a green. The top bows look great, as do the quickchange poking out, the painted front axle & wishbones and the upgraded firewall. I also like the seldom seen '41 hubcaps. I've got a set of those from the '41 Woody that I've been hording for just the right project. This hot rod is a dead ringer for the trends going on in the full scale world right now. I also gotta say, I love the other versions of the kit you shared at the NNL. The dark metallic orange channeled one especially caught my eye!

Thanks! These particular M&H slicks (out of the Revell Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit kit) are about 2/3 as wide as the typical M&H found in other Revell kits like the Orange Crate, Tony Nancy 22jr dragsters and old-tool SWC Willys.

We can just call it a Hot Rod

This came out awesome! I really like the color, the W-motor was a great choice and the lowered front makes all the difference in the world.

Your correction to the stance is just right! The stance out of the box is terrible. I also love the colors you chose. They all look perfect together!

Thanks, John! I think the wheels will respond to painting nicely. Dipped in chrome, it's kind of hard to see (especially in pictures) exactly what they look like. A lot of the spoke shape detail gets washed out. I think that the overall shape of the Revell body is better. Having owned a real '27 T Roadster I can tell you that the shape of the Revell cowl is way more accurate. The AMT cowl is kind of flat when it should be a continuous curve from side to side. The door on top of the cowl is also rendered raised on the Revell body, which is accurate. The door originally opened to access filling the gas tank which fit up into the cowl. On the AMT body the door is flush.The Revell windshield detail is a little better, too. Where both bodies fall short is that there is a ever-so-slightly rounded cap on the doors and pillar between them that, instead of being part of the body, is part of the interior units and makes a ledge to locate onto the body. I'm going to have to cut that cap from the interior unit and attach it to the body. That's fine because I'm not using any of the interior anyway. That'll get covered in a future installment.

Actually, the '29 kit has a Winfield flathead. It's the '31 Sedan/Sedan Delivery/Woodie variants that have the Riley 2-port, which is what I'll be using. I forgot to change the head out before I took the pictures. Glad you like my T!

I'm just over here doing my thing. I don't have but one guy that I can BS about models with so I turn to the forums for my interaction. I guess that's why I tend to go into detail. I also always appreciate thorough explanations from others when I'm checking out their projects. Rather than throwing up some pictures and saying "Here it is.", it's neat to know why things were done they way they were. Speaking of inspiration, aside from my Dad introducing me to model cars, you, Tim, are basically responsible for my love of hot rod model building. So, thank you!

An interesting thing happened in the 1960's. Almost in an underground or cult fashion, nostalgia-driven closet Ford 4-banger guys started to emerge and slip rodded Model A engines back into the rod and racing scene. Engines that had lost they're dominance by the later 1930's as the Flathead V8 took over. Some of these guys even formed a club, Forever Four Cylinder (still active!), and focused on hopping up banger motors while the rest of the guys were building the latest and greatest big HP V8's. Some guys such as a fellow named Joe Gemsa even designed and manufactured new overhead valve and overhead cam cylinder heads to help beat-out the competition in vintage engine racing classes. So, this new project is going to be a 60's Banger Geek's dream. It will have all of the requisite 60's flare such as a bunch of antique looking T junk mixed with bright metallic paint and funky magnesium wheels with a hot Model A engine sitting between the rails. Of course, there will be 60's technology brought to the drivetrain such as an alternator and adapted Muncie 4-speed trans mixed in with earlier hop up wares such as a Riley 2-Port head with dual Stromberg carbs and a Halibrand quick change axle out back. The basis of this project is Revell's '27 T Touring body and the '32 frame from Revell's new Model A roadster and coupe kits. Getting the proportions I wanted meant substantially modifying the frame. I wanted the body cowl to start at the point of the frames side reveal line and have the wheel well start right at the end. That required taking 1/8" out of the length which I did by making a stepped cut for far superior strength over a typical butt-joint. Hosted on Fotki I then constructed a new front frame cross member out of .040" sheet and located it essentially right behind where the original cross member was. I then had to removed the original front cross member and sections of frame rail it spanned between, reattach the frame horns then blend everything together. I also added shelves in the corners behind the new cross member for the motor mount to sit on. Hosted on Fotki Originally, Model A engines had a front mount that attached to the timing gear cover and had a center stud that sat on the front cross member with a spring around the stud to absorb vibration. The rear of the engine mounted off of the sides of the flywheel housing forming a triangle between the mounting points. Since the rear is going to be mounted off of the future 4-speed the front of the engine needed to have a wider mount to form a triangulation so I built a Hurst-style mount. Hosted on Fotki Here is the engine sitting on its new front mount. Hosted on Fotki The wheels I'm going to use are the Halibrand "Touring" wheels from Revell's '31 Sedan kit. I'm also using that kits small front tires and narrow M&H slicks from the Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit. These wheels actually came stock on some of the Studebaker Avanti's and was also available through Halibrand's catalog. They were a true magnesium wheel. As the wheels come out of the kit they have basic rounded center caps but originally Halibrand provided false versions of their first generation 3-bar knock offs. I will be removing the rounded caps and using the knock off's from Revell's Orange Crate which are identical to the original Halibrand parts. As you all probably expect, the wheels will also be getting stripped and paint detailed. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Here's a few mock ups. This is how the model will sit. The front axle will be based on the parts in all of the Revell '32 kits (tube axles were available by the 60's.) I haven't decided what parts to make up the quick change rear axle out of yet but I have a pile to choose from. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki More to come soon! Comments welcome!

I did finish it and posted it here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/116627-27-t-retro-dragstrip-roadster/

Fantastic color combination and ultra clean workmanship! The chopped windshield, painted radiator shell and headlight buckets help the look of this kit, immensely. The functioning louvered trunk lid is a nice touch and the spun aluminum gas tank goes so much better with the styling of the car vs. the Fuel Safe style plastic cell the kit provides. This roadster would fit right into the traditional-style hot rod scene going on these days perfectly.

Roadster Progress! Over the past weekend I managed to finish up the remainder of fabrication for this model. Out back I finished the exhaust pipes by cutting the tails off, drilling the ends out and inserting pins into the pipes which insert into corresponding holes in the rear-most cross member. I also installed rear shocks which (like the fronts) are from the Ed Roth Tweedy Pie T Hosted on Fotki Here's a look at the underside of the front axle and suspension which shows better how some of it is put together and mounted. Hosted on Fotki Here's an overall view of the chassis with fabrication complete. Here you can also see that I added a master cylinder bracket to the frame and installed the master cylinder from the Revell '48 Ford's. Hosted on Fotki Up front modified a Revell '32 series radiator as needed and made up the lower hoses from modified versions of those from AMT's '41 Woody. Hosted on Fotki I loaded up the firewall with all the necessary hardware which includes the beehive bypass oil filter from the Revell '32 Sedan, homemade 2-port fuel block and the voltage regulator from the Revell '40 Ford's. Hosted on Fotki Finally, here's a couple final mock ups. Aside from a few small details the roadster can now be broken down for final clean up and prep for paint. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

Thank you! The sad thing is that I remember where all these parts come from. Couldn't memorize anything for school to save my life. LOL!