MTFCA Forum

Is a metal firewall a hood former on a speedster or would a metal cowl over it be the hood former?

I have a metal cowl with the curved down sides that extend back to the seat area I believe from a speedster hanging in the garage. It appears to fit to a metal cowl so I am guessing about a 23. I also have a 23 engine and a chassis that are taken apart and stored and have been thinking about trying to put together and possibly make a speedster. If a hood was to be put on it what does the back of the hood sit on? Would not have to worry about it I did not use a hood.

Would have to put a floor under the body as there is just a lip around it. I have some 3/4 inch oak veneer cabinet grade plywood that would make solid floor. Does a person just use wood screws to attach the body lip to the floor or use machine bolts washers and nuts going completely thru the floor to secure it?
Also do you bolt body mounts to the bottom of the floor or bolt it with support pads to the mounts on the frame?
I do not want to lower the frame due to personal preference.

Maybe I am just a dreamer but we live longer and we keep active in our mind and body and do work on things we enjoy.

Dennis,

Speedsters have been built in many different ways based on many different ideas from many different people.
I have my own ideas of what is good and what is bad and I am sure they are different from other peoples ideas.

I do not know how much time you have thought about the construction details but my best references are the speedster books, Northwest Vintage Speedsters Club (https://www.nwvs.org/) and other locations with speedsters like shows, tours, and museums like Museum of American Speed (https://www.museumofamericanspeed.org/modelt.html).
There are lots of pictures out there but there always seems to be something missing no matter how many pictures there are.
If you could find a car similar to what you want that is local to you it is your best bet to see how it is built.
Start with something you like and change it to suit your desires, materials, tools, and skills.

To your questions:
I have seen the hood resting on the cowl and the hood resting on the hood former depending on the designer.
You have a cowl already I would look and see what it is telling you about how the hood fits.
And on some cars there was no hood so the builder may not have made provisions to allow a hood to fit.

I have seen floors that were essentially just a platform cutout for the floorboards and seen others that were a border frame and then filled in with floorboards all the way to the back. Occasionally the lower body frame was made from metal like a custom angle iron border.
I have seen body mounts used but most just bolted the body directly to the body mounts on the frame. It lowered the body by several inches down tight to the frame making it more streamlined. Pads under the body mounts is up to you and possibly prevent noise because the body floor is not hitting the frame in so many places.
What fasteners were (are) used all over the place in design but generally bolts in higher stress areas and wood screws filling in the rest. Long joints got an occasional bolt to make sure it stayed together.

If you are still at the dreaming stage look for examples and ideas.
Mock up assemble parts and see how things fit together.
And if unsure about a part make a cheap version from a junk piece of wood and try it out.
Be prepared for mistakes, changes in directions and different ideas but don't be afraid to try.
Once the design is finalized then it can be made out of the expensive quality materials.
We (the forum) are always interested in build stories and pictures so be ready for lots of thoughts and "helpful" advice.

Some day I hope to get to the dreams and ideas in the pile of Model T parts in the corner of the barn making a speedster.
The other projects have a higher priority right now.
Mike

Dennis,

Not sure what your "vision" is for your Speedster build but I thought I'd share some notes and a few pics showing how my '19 is put together.

For the floor boards, I used tongue & groove flooring planks for the floor boards. They fit in the U-channels inside the frame rails. I also used 2x6 body supports running down the frame rails that are bolted (carriage bolts) to the body mounts welded to the frame. A sheet metal cowl installs with tabs folded over the wood firewall, with the hood lacing on the cowl, then a standard 1919 hood is used.

Here's a detail of the cowl tabs folded over the firewall and the hood lacing.

Dennis,
Mike & Dave are spot on 20 years ago I purchased
a abandoned speedster prodject & started the adventure. I had only seen one speedster
(That was broke down on the side of the
road) I used NWVS site, Speed secrets & any info I could find. Put a running speedster together for
$3,000 & we where off and running! Over the years have only made some small changes, added a wind deflector, spare tire, wire wheels, Ruckstell & HC head. Had so much fun I’m building another one using all the neat ideas I
Have found over the last 20 years.

Dennis_Brown wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 24, 2026 10:59 pm

Is a metal firewall a hood former on a speedster or would a metal cowl over it be the hood former?

I have a metal cowl with the curved down sides that extend back to the seat area I believe from a speedster hanging in the garage. It appears to fit to a metal cowl so I am guessing about a 23. I also have a 23 engine and a chassis that are taken apart and stored and have been thinking about trying to put together and possibly make a speedster. If a hood was to be put on it what does the back of the hood sit on? Would not have to worry about it I did not use a hood.
.............................

You need to design around your sitting position as well so your feet meet the pedals comfortably/depress easily & your passenger doesn't rub elbows with you when you steer. Seat height, butt tilt & thigh support are important to reduce leg fatigue.

Here are some pictures of a 26'-27 to you visualize how some sheet metal would flow over the firewall and dash support. -- Supports at dash
-- --
--
Seat position with good butt tilt and back support. Questionable reach to steering wheel - lowered would help