Project Schism - another offbeat '23 Ford T

[GregWeld]

Worst thing I see people do all the time -- too many projects.... not enough time or money.

Smart to get down to one (two is too many in my book) and get 'er done.


Great score on the body!! Hope you have a nice shop to move to.

[toddshotrods]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Worst thing I see people do all the time -- too many projects.... not enough time or money.

Smart to get down to one (two is too many in my book) and get 'er done...

Thanks Greg - I was scared at first - I thought you were going to rap my knuckles with a straight-edge!

Originally Posted by GregWeld

...Smart to get down to one (two is too many in my book)...

I agree 100%. I actually tried, really hard, to get down to just one but I can't do it. I actually accomplish less when I have one because I put so much into that one project, I start to burn out; but I have to have somewhere to put that creative energy or I go bananas. I am most productive when I have one over-the-top project (will be my bike now) and one less intense project to unwind on (this one now). I agree though that it is actually still a bit counterproductive, but in my case it keeps me from spinning out of control. At least that's the plan...

Originally Posted by GregWeld

...Great score on the body!!...

Thanks! I actually went back and forth a hundred times whether or not to do this, but I am really glad I did, now that it's here. It takes me back to the good ol' days of just wrenching on my cars and driving them - for the fun of it - before I became obsessed with chasing radical design concepts. Being a 70s/80s kit car body, it's hard to take it too seriously, and also not the best platform to seek "perfection" on, so it should help me keep my focus on simple fun.

Originally Posted by GregWeld

...Hope you have a nice shop to move to.

At this point, I don't plan to have one; more like an office. My future is in providing design services and teaching others how to do design and fabrication. I also have some EV market specific products I (eventually) hope to bring to market, but I won't be making them. Ideally, I would love to develop and sell or license them...

[toddshotrods]

I'm having enough fun that I eagerly dove (properly covered, goggled, and respirated, of course) into a cloud of fiberglass dust today, to get the rear clip to fit. Minor reward = no itching. Major payoff = I can't stop !

With the rear clip removed - amazing to me how it looks like it should all be together, despite the fact that this was originally an antique hot rod.



All together now...







I thought I had a lot more work ahead of me to get clearance for the engine, but this is perfect.

[toddshotrods]

If you pay attention, life is an awesome teacher, and has a way of lining things up in time for you to have the info you need when you need it most. Between the point that work stopped on the Model T themed plan here, and has resumed with Porsche kit body, I built a quirky little reverse trike that helped me get back to the simple concept of simply having fun and building something that makes me smile - just in time for the most "me" project I have ever had. Screw the rulebooks, and extreme performance/engineering mandates, just good ol' fashion custom automotive self expression/creative fun.

The number one priority is getting the body mounted on the chassis, and to do that I need some type of upper cage structure. That will allow me to kill two birds with one stone - the rear cabin mounts, and the rear clip hinge pivots. Rather than even looking in the direction of the sanctioning bodies' outdated rules, I am building a cage that I like - period. I am playing on the funny car cage theme, originally intended for Schism, but with one curvy roll bar in place of the traditional, multi-tube, upper F/C cage structure. That gives reasonable rollover protection, and keeps the door openings clear, so we can simply step in and sit down. I call it the throne room...



Instead of a simple, two-bend, hoop I am piecing together something more visually interesting. Except for this dip in the center, all splices will be sleeved and plug welded, chamfered for full penetration at the joint, and smoothed.



This one was just chamfered, welded, and blended, because there are two uprights coming up from the frame; one on either side of the dip.

[toddshotrods]

I think I have too much work in this one little bar, but it's getting there.

There's a slight difference the bends, that wasn't as noticeable as it is all together. Whadda ya want from a Jeg's cage kit? I can compensate when grafting this hoop into the cage.





Almost there. I have to ream the plug weld holes on the frame tubes out to .750" (from .500"), tweak the alignment, and chamfer the tops of the frame tubes and I can make this permanent. I'll probably just weld half of the plugs, tack the chamfers for now, and finish welding it when I weld the rest of the chassis.

[toddshotrods]

I hope you can deal with the barrage of almost identical pics. I try to share the whole process, in as much detail as possible, for those who like to pick things apart. In this round, I had to set the body because the rear upper mounts go on the roll bar, which is a fixed member of the chassis. Once those mounts are welded and bonded in, the body's position, except for minor (shim) adjustments, is set in stone; so gotta get it right. You'll have to imagine that the wheels are out where they belong, as I didn't get to that yet...

This required making a final decision on stance - I wanted a radical, American hot rod stance. I have always wanted to do this to an exotic sports car, which obviously is not easy to pull off because they're already so low. To get the wheel arches to drape over the wheel/tire combo, and still have ground clearance underneath, and headroom inside - not exactly simple. Again, it's like I set out to do this; like all this stuff was designed and created to accomplish that goal.

I decided to follow my heart and go for broke. I channeled the body an additional inch over the chassis.





I'll have to do a little surgery up here to not leave pieces of fiberglass everywhere I go. My plan is to cut an inch or so off and replace it will a full-length carbon fiber composite splitter that will be able to take the abuse. It will also keep the line of body color across the bottom more consistent, as this hangs over an inch lower than the rockers. More on all that later...





Here's the drape over the rear wheel/tire combo. The tires are 26" overall diameter, so with a 18-19" rim (17s up front), from most angles, it should get some paint down into the same plane as the rim. Closing the wheel opening in, and re-shaping it, will accentuate this even more. It should work like slamming a Veyron and stuffing 22s under the back of it.






I love this view. The A-pillars and windshield set down between those huge fender bulges is me, me, me. I know this is a cheap replica, but 917s had absolutely beautiful lines. You can also see how, from a normal viewing angle, the rocker panels are almost skimming the floor.






Channeling the body that extra inch set my roll bar perfectly just under the roof.