Speedster metal

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nosoup4u

Senior Member
I'm trying to build a speedster using model T parts and believe it or not John Deere parts. I've been having trouble finding sheet metal like the car pictured here has running from the dash/firewall along the bottom below the seats to the back of the car. Perhaps the one shown here has been fabricated but I have seen other similar that have a more factory look with compound curves. Any idea where I could find something like this? I've looked in Snyder's catalog and a few other but don't see them.

1912-Model_T_Ford_Speedster-may7b.jpg
 
You could duplicate the sills on this car with some fancy work with a bead roller or with half oval steel, aluminum or brass available from Restoration Supply Co. in Ca. or possibly from a local steel supplier.

On earlier cars with wooden bodies, raised trim like this was often done with rattan or wood half round.

If you look carefully on the attached picture you can see the bead on the cowl is rolled in, the bead on the sill is rattan & the bead next the front fender on the splash shield is aluminum half oval, screwed in place. The shape of the cowl does not involve a compound curve. This is all original to the car & was made that way at the Buick factory in 1911. (This car is a real driver & at the time of the picture it needed the paint touched up - that has now been done.)





1911 Buick Model 32
 

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Well Heck!, If your usein John Deere parts why dont you use some Gleaner combine reel bats? Those on the car in the pic look like a cut down version anyway. Monte
 
That may not be metal on the Green speedster unless you know it is.

Years ago built a bug body from ply wood, used quarter round molding on the box sides on the rear, could have done the same design as the Green one, using quarter round molding too, making the flat flare sides, and a riser under the seat the length of the body. Just a thought.
 

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This probably good news, since I am much more of a woodworker than I am a sheet metal guy.
I have a question about fenders; so far I have the basic drive train (engine to rear axle) installed. I now need to figure out the layout of the steering column, firewall, seat etc. In order to do this, it would be best to have fenders installed (at least temporarily) so that I'll know where I can and where I can't put things like the steering sector (not using T type steering). I can get a pair of rough 1927 T fenders for almost nothing. If I had my choice I would prefer earlier square type fenders like on the green car in my earlier post, but I had to spend the money for them now, in case I never get this project done. I guess this is all the long way of asking, how similar are early and late fenders in the way they bolt up to the frame and their approximate overall width etc.?
 
The torpedo style is probably what I will end up using, because I like their more angular look, like on the green car above. I drove 45 minutes to see the 27 fenders that I found on craigslist, only to discover when I got there that they were both rights. I can't believe the guy hadn't noticed that before.
 
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