Lindberg '29 "T" roadster pickup hot rod

[JTalmage]

Well since it's very cold out and the weather has been adverse I can't lay down any decent paint jobs. I also can't paint parts to my General Mayhem project. So after a few days of staring at my work bench trying to decide what to do, and try to get some sort of inspiration or motivation. I thought to myself I've always wanted to try my hand at a rat rod or traditional hot rod. So I pulled out the easiest one I could think of from my stash... the very basic lindberg 29 T roadster. Which doesnt make sense because 29's were A's I thought.

I was going to just build it box stock... but the more I kept looking at it, the more I kept realizing how basic and dated this kit is... but how great of a start it would be for a nice hot rod. The frame is already Z'd front and rear so that's taken care of.  Then the more I kept looking at it and messing with the body and frame, the more I wanted the frame channeled into the body. So it was actually really easy. A little sanding on the sides of the frame near the back to remove mold lines and excess plastic that doesnt match the passenger side, and the body slipped right down with a slight pinch of the frame towards the cowl. 

I cut down and removed a lot of the lower firewall which appeared to be useless anyway. I'm sure I'll be modifying it more to fit a somewhat realistic transmission in the future of this build.

I'll be narrowing the front crossmember just a tad to square up the front frame rails now that theyre pinched just a touch and to get rid of the slight hourglass shape of the frame. 

My next thought was how low I wanted this thing. I wanted it low. Real low. I normally dislike slammed hot rods with a lot of channel and frame alterations but it just looked too good on this one and fit the theme. So I grabbed my box of resin parts and pulled out my "wild" drop I beam axle that I got from ThePartsBox.com. Itself includes drum brakes and links. To get more low out of it, I think I'll be trying to imitate a suicide front axle mount. I know I saw a nicely done version of that here somewhere but I can't remember who did it. I'll have to do some research. 

So these were the first few shots of round one of the mock up. This was with no rear axle and I believe the front axle sitting under the frame. 

I'm also using the bomber seats I got from ThePartsBox as well. 

Also patched a large missing section of the rear of the body that was bugging me.

After these pictures I decided I wanted to do the suicide front end. I also found a quick change with drums and links from an old monogram T bucket. 

The more I looked at this frame and body the more I also wanted to put a pickup bed or turtle deck on it. Turns out that Monogram T bucket has a great bed to cover the back of this frame. I just had to cut a new hole for the rear spring perch to get the bed to sit down on the frame. 

Once I finalize my ride height and get my suspension figured out, I am going to build a floor for it and possibly inner door and body panels. 

I also have my withdraws on using the Red Ram Hemi in it since it's so low on detail... So I am thinking about using another engine but that's undecided. Maybe the Hemi from the reissued 5 window revell 32 ford... or a flathead... not sure.

Let me know what you guys think so far and if you have any pointers I would greatly appreciate them. Looking particularly for tips on a suicide front axle mount, cowl steering, and headlight pedestal mounts.

 

Edited January 25, 2016 by JTalmage

[Steven Zimmerman]

Great job ! I have passed on this kit, may have to find a few........'Z'

[Davewilly]

Looks like its going to be a pretty cool rod.

[JTalmage]

Thanks!

Also the fact this thing was called a *29* and a *T* at the same time bothered me. So I went to google... 

The front of the body definitely has that '29 shape and lenght, but the rest of the body very much looks like a 23-27 T bucket. 

So I started googling pickups and sedans and roadsters, and finally Touring roadsters. I looked up a '29 Model A Touring.... and the body shape and doors look the same, with the addition of the back section.... so I'll call this thing a chopped down Touring with a T pickup bed!

[JTalmage]

A little update on this one... 

I stopped messing around on trying to figure which engine I wanted to go with and settled on a good ol flathead V8. However in order to make it fit, I needed to extend the frame. Unfortunately I didnt take any pictures of that. 

But what I did take pics of was my homemade suicide front axle mount. Which was a tad bit wide, but it looks good enough for me. And was a real pain so I don't want to mess with it anymore after nearly ruining it.

So this is basically ride height now. OH, I also chopped down the front windshield frame and put it back together. Looks a ton better. 

 

Here's the wheel and tire combo for it

The rears will have trim rings too once I find some. 

I also started crafting a floorpan for it. Which is hard! I'm wanting to make a bare interior for it so I'm working on building interior panels.

Edited April 4, 2016 by JTalmage

[wayne swayze]

I believe you have a good project going there! I like it.

[charlesdcamden]

Im in.... Awesome start!

[Spex84]

Cool start, good use of some odd old parts.

And nicely done with the front of the transmission tunnel..That's an area I always hate trying to scratchbuild; yours looks great!

I think Lindberg must have copied the body from AMT's Ala Kart kit...see the hump in the center of the cowl? A stock '29 doesn't have that, it's a feature specific to the Ala Kart; it faired into a recessed hood scoop on that car.

[Snake45]

Talk about silk purses and sows' ears. I like where you're going with this! Model on!

[Dave Darby]

On 4/4/2016 at 3:44 PM, Spex84 said:

Cool start, good use of some odd old parts.

And nicely done with the front of the transmission tunnel..That's an area I always hate trying to scratchbuild; yours looks great!

I think Lindberg must have copied the body from AMT's Ala Kart kit...see the hump in the center of the cowl? A stock '29 doesn't have that, it's a feature specific to the Ala Kart; it faired into a recessed hood scoop on that car.

Bringing this back from the dead, Lindberg was never shy about cloning other company's work. In this case, they largely copied the AMT 29 Model A/Ala Kart kit, with a few parts from AMT's 25 T and 36 Ford. The Ala Kart wheels in this kit, though unplated, are even nicer than the newly tooled ones in the Mod Rod reissue from 2016.  The drag slicks are very close to the early Trophy Series units as well. Fun kit. My original escaped down the road. I need to get another one.

[Tarkmucker]

Would love to see more of this. Definitely bring it back. 
and yes, I was about to say the scoop on the cowl looks like the ala kart body for sure. I’ve always passed on these kits when they’ve come up but now that I see some of what’s in one I might have to get one…or five. 

[JTalmage]

Whoa. I forgot about this one. I do need to find it. It's buried from when I had to temporarily get out of building a couple few years ago.