Steve Hale sprayed the T with...
Steve Hale sprayed the T with DuPont Hot Hues paints while East Coast Artie applied the gold leaf numbers to the door as well as some pinstriping on the decklid.
"Once the front and rear suspensions were complete we turned our attention to the track nose and grille, which came from Speedway Motors. We built a tubular cage for the underside of the track nose and mounted that on the frame. Next came the radiator, which we made using a core from Wizard Cooling in West Falls, New York. Then we fabricated a set of headers using a Cone Engineering Lime Fire kit and built the muffler inside the tapered cone section of the header. Once the headers were complete they were sent out to Central Connecticut Coatings for a black ceramic coating. After the exhaust was complete we fabricated a hood and side panels out of 0.080 5052-grade aluminum.
"With the hood done it was decided to use an over-center style latch system with leather strapping to hold the hood down to the side panels. The floor and the rear firewall were made from 3/4-inch marine grade plywood, which was glassed to the body, and the trans tunnel was fabricated from the same aluminum as the hood and side panel.
"We decided not to use a traditional-style interior, so a set of aluminum bomber seats from Speedway was covered with a basic black vinyl. To hold the steering and brake components in place, a ribbed cage fabbed from 1-inch, 0.120 wall, round tubing was made and attached to each other with Welder Series Tucci Tabs. This made all the tubing removable and allowed them to be powdercoated.
"The underdash brake and clutch pedal assembly (from Engineered Components) was attached to the tubing structure, and it was soon followed with a Flaming River column. A custom steel dash panel also went in, which holds the Auto Meter gauges supplied by White's Auto & Speed in Cicero, New York. A pattern was made for the gas tank that fits the contour of the rear section of the body, and that pattern was used by RD Fabs to make a stainless steel gas tank.
"I also just happened to have a rough casting of a Duvall windshield frame in the shop, but it was originally designed for a '32 Ford. The '27 cowl is much narrower, so approximately 2 inches needed to be removed from each side and refitted to the cowl. The top half of the windshield frame was left off to expose the gray tinted glass from Mauro's Glass. A Vega-style steering box was supplied by Flaming River, along with their billet joints and shaft, and custom mounts needed to be fabricated for the box due to the location of the motor. After fabricating all of our components, everything was sent to Ultra Powdercoat in Utica, New York, for a textured black coating.
"A jig was then made to duplicate the front and rear suspension so those components could be removed and the car readied to be sent to Steve's Restorations and Hot Rods for the bodywork and to lay out the Dupont Hot Hues silver paint and graphics. After getting the car back from Steve's, we assembled the Wilwood brakes and wired the car with American Autowire Highway Series 15 kit. A set of headlights and taillights were supplied by Mac's Antique Auto Parts in Lockport, New York.
"Nearing completion East Coast Artie and his friends added a gold leaf number on the side of the car along with some pinstripe touches on the decklid. This made the car complete and the finished product exactly matched what my initial vision for the car was.
"Out of all the cars that I have built in my shop, the '27 track T roadster has been the most fun car to build and to drive. We found this car has gotten the attention of a wide range of people-from those who are into cars as well as people who are not."