Projects Track-Rod 34 Coupe Build - NZ style

Well here goes... I started collecting parts to build my own car about 15 years ago, I actually started bulding it about 4 years ago...
Blame it on "American Graffitti" - I was gonna be "John Milner" after seeing that movie! so a 34 isn't a Duece but as time went on I gravitated toward the 34 probably beacause it seemed 32's were everywhre and now I reckon the 34 is just a little "smoother and stylish in shape - but hey its
all in the eye of the beholder.... so behold look what I'm doing!!!
I'll start with the photo's that compelled me to travel a 1000 mile round trip with a trailer to our southern Island ( I live on an island off our main island)

 

pics of the car as puchased - travelled to far to go home empty handed...

 

Chassis work being undertaken at "Rocket" speed shop in Hamilton, Tore frame apart, squared it up, made new X member in old style, mounted rear end, eng & trans and front axle, fabricated moly roll cage to old school style but comply with 10.0 sec drag rules.

 

while the car was away I managed to smash up a new "man cave" because to old one was too damn small...
as you can see the first thing in the new space is the CAR!
this is the first mock up which gives an idea of where I'm heading with the build style

 

progress has been slow but steady - time and money - never seem to have enough of either, but progress is progress and every piece you make gets you one step closer to dropping the clutch... I got the boys at Rocket to tack weld the roll cage and just fabricate some of the pipes to save money - so I have taken full charge from here on in, pics show threaded sleeves that are welded top & bottom of frame rails - way stronger than just bolting through or threading into frame rails. Cage has 8 attachment points.

 

looks real good!! injected? or is that a blower sittin there?

 

Fabricating the brake pedal assembly - using Bonus pedal assembly, I fabricated a bolt on adapter to facilitate adjustable dual master cylinders for the brakes and a hydraulic clutch - Oh yes its a 4 speed manual - auto's are for nana's and wives. I welded a plate to the inside of the crossmember where the pedal assembly bolts up for extra strength, painted inside faces with a cold galvanising paint for long term protection. By boxing the cross member where the pedals & cylinders mount it will add strength to that area.

 

more fabrication work, frame is upside down but you can see how the frame rails have been reworked to work with dirt style cross torsion bars - I'm ex speedway dirt racer so I gotta have my own influence in the build - before anyone gets on thier high horse about tradition - go and do some research - they been using torsion bars since the fifties man! anyhow you can see the fuel tank and battery box mounts also - hours of marking out and drilling there I tell you! but worth it for the look - and wieght saving after all it is a race car...

 

Now that things are starting to take shape I have friends that want to help and be involved - bring it on man! fortunately one of them has body work skills so he's massaging the tin work and filling the voids - The body is best described as "scruffy", poor old girl was a stockcar racer and got dumped and lay abandoned down a bank for a lot of years - I feel like a saviour that's given an old warrior a second life... so I'm not that keen to hide all the character and battle scars

 

Hilborn mechanical injector - on the street! it's gonna be wild - the engines pretty stout too...

 

What happened to the original front axle, wishbone and brakes? or even just the brakes and the perch bolts?
I need them for my roadster if you are not using them ...in Tauranga.

 

Nice! Fenderless, injected '34 coupe, you can hardly go wrong with that.

 

Sorry Dude, it had a "Bingham" tube axle in it and it still has, hope you find what your looking for...

 

managed to get my oldest boy who is not into cars to help prep the chassis for primer, (had to bribe him tho) still got work to do on the frame but it is only cosmetic and I want to run the car hard to find any weaknesses or modifications before final paint so I've put PA10 as a primer which is good for 3-5 years.

 

This is the rear end I'm using, it's an early Winters that I bought of "TradeMe" - was a box full of bits for a couple hundred bucks, looked like shit when I got it but was actually really good stuff, looks like it came out of a late model dirt track car, fully floating hubs, big strong housings, and just the right amount of patina. A Gold Track LSD should keep both wheels hooked up....

 

Rear end mounted in the chassis, a lot of time spent getting the geometry right so that it is funtional regarding roll centre, wieght transfer and anti squat/anti dive correct, too many hot rods (in my opinion) focus on looks and end up handling like shit. This car is going to be DRIVEN and hard so I want to make sure it gets the job done without rattling my teeth out and or falling over when I show it a corner.

 

Engine build has been going on in between as well, I always raced Chevs but maintained I would switch to a Ford when they started passing me... I always raced Chevs. This engine is pretty much the same combination I raced - albeit 20 odd years ago but it was good then so should be plenty for a Hot Rod. Steelmain caps, crank & rods, 12-1/2:1 compression, roller cam, Hilborn injector (not EFI!), Vertex magnetto and good flowing heads - I want to go 10 secs down the strip - never drag raced before (not on the strip ) but I'm going to give it shot. I've always put my own engines together but I don't consider myself an expert, haven't had one go bang yet... Keep it under 8000rpm (most of the time) and it should live happily ever after.

 

dropped the engine in and pepared to bolt up the trans, checked the scattershield concentricity with the crank and found it wasn't within tolerance - damn! don't you hate that when you have a plan like get the engine and trans bolted up tonight - and hit a snag, ah well, have to make a couple of offset dowells to locate the scattershield in on centre, just more time but better done right than having clutch/gear selection problems down the track.

 

here's a couple of shots of the "Man Cave" now that it's in operation, I have have to have all my "car stuff" in here as the missus is not really a car person, she refuses to dust trophies and won't have car pictures and the like in the house... ah well it's hard to find the perfect woman

 

check this out... I found this on Ebay, an early Barnes dry sump system circa 70's I believe, this is the first dry sump system made - its now referred to as "the poor mans dry sump" kinda apt really cause I don't have a big budget - just big ideas! it has a scavenge pump on the bottom of the chevy oil pump (adapted from a Windsor oil pump I've been told) that pumps oil out to a remote tank, which then supplies oil back to the chevy oil pump for lubrication - reduces windage, increases cooling and is kind of "old school high tech"

 

Keeping with the track style build I"m going wide 5 safety hubs all round, they are light and strong and to me look real race car cool, I've never seen them one a street car before - not here that's for sure, I'll show the rear end now but wait till you see the front ones adapted to an early Ford spindle by the real deal from way back when - that has a H.A.M.B story to how I got them.

 

here's some shots of the last time the car was mocked up, a few subtle changes have taken place but the overall look is there. Colour will have a large impact on the final look, but I haven't got it clear in my head yet, I like black for below the belt line but above I can't decide - white or copper/gold are my favourites but that's a ways off yet - lets just get him on the road first...

 

Nice work.It'd be a shame not to paint that.

 

Looks like that rear quarter has had a hard life..
Good work, keep pluggin away.
Good job on getting your son involved! btw

 

Thanks Scooter, yes that rear quarter is 50/50 replace or repair, at the moment we call it "character and battle scars"...
I had to pay my boys for that work but it was good value

 

Cool coupe, can see the early speedway look comin' thru.

Scotty

 

hey Slick, i see you got that link done. Awesome!! I been trying off and on all week to link something across again...to no avail doh!! might have to get my kids to show me again sorry I was waiting till i sussed it out to get back to you... PB

 

btw...your coupe is lookin VERY cool!!

 

I can't get into 2 tone paint jobs on highboys,,just too Street Roddy for my liking,,IMHO. HRP

 

I was a little worried to say the least, at first. You have really turned that into a cool car. I love all the dirt track stuff and have thought of doing the same thing for years.

Keep up the good work.

Wilwood has a set of wide 5 front hubs that have a smaller cap and don't stick out as far. I always thought they would look really good with a narrow front wheel.