Clayton Paddison's 1926 Ford

Calyton's gowjob as we know it from its feature on the Jalopy Journal

Keeping Oregon History Alive - Click here to order your Official Kustomrama Portland Division Supporter Merch.

The framework for the handmade top

Notice the old "sweetheart" picture behind the gauge

Clayton with the restored chassis

The car as it sat when Clayton bought it

1926 Ford Model T Roadster owned and built by Clayton Paddison of Portland, Oregon. The Model T Roadster was Clayton's first build, and it took him 2 years to create. Clayton was 23 years old when the build was completed. He bought the car from the great grandfather of a friend that had bought it in 1967 as a project car. The project was never started.

Clayton retained the stock 1926 Ford body, and considered adding custom fenders, skirts, running boards and a glossy paint to it. After having the car primered, Clayton drove it around for a while. The response on the car was overwhelming and he decided to keep the car in its open-wheeled configiration.

The car is powered by a 1926 Ford motor that was bored .030" over and fit with aluminum racing pistons to lighten the top end and a high compression aluminum head to raise the compression ratio to 6:1. Clayton had the original cam re-ground with a much taller .280 race grind like they did on dirt track racers of the 1920s. A full set of stainless steel valves and a lightened flywheel. The magneto magnets on the flywheel were removed lightening it by 75 pounds. The engine was hooked to a "Mark-E" auxiliary overdrive. The newset part on the car is a single barrel carb from an early 1960s Ford Falcon. With all of the engine mods and overdrive the car cruises real nice at 55, but can make 60-65+ according to Clayton.

The body rests on a modified Model T frame. The front of the frame was fit with frame horns from a 1912 Cadillac 30 in order to use fork mounted 1913 Studebaker headlights and also as a subtle profile changer. The rear was done in the same fashion, but with a front clip from a 1923 or 1924 Buick. The front suspension was lowered 9 inches using old Laurel Underslung brackets. The rear was lowered the same amount by splitting the rear axle housing and switching side, putting the spring perches to the bottom. A set of extended hand made shackles were used to get the finished stance which also lengthened the wheel base by 6 inches. 21 inch wire wheels from from a 1926-1927 Ford Model T were installed with the original Ford wire wheel hubs. Clayton abandoned the original Model T steering mechanism in favor of a stronger column/gear box from a 1924 Willys-Knight fitted with 1913 White GA "30" hand controls and a "push-pull" steering. The steering arms and drag link were donated by a 1925 Buick and an early Dodge.

After enjoying the car for a while Clayton began to construct a top for the car in November, 2008. The top was made from hand bent aluminum tubes fitted with plastic joints.