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Folks Of Interest FOUND Model A roadster Drag roadster/land speed car?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Pete, Dec 17, 2015.

  1. general gow
    Joined: Feb 5, 2003
    Posts: 6,407

    general gow
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    Eli, I am beyond excited for you. All the pics you sent via phone hardly tell the tale. Today is the first time I've seen them on a bigger screen. Holy smoke what an awesome find. I can't wait to see what you make of it.
     
    AHotRod and volvobrynk like this.
  2. i would like to see it in person, after it is done and before. thanks for the pictures.
     
    Stogy and volvobrynk like this.
  3. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

    First of all..... This is exactly why I don't usually post on here... Second of all I do this shit for a living and build very high end hot rods... You know... The ones that cost more than most peoples houses... I know what is safe and what is not! This car has just been pulled from, basically 60 years of storage ( some of it in the elements) and has survived harsh, east coast elements fairly well. Do you really think that the famous restored survivors like the Pierson Bros. Coupe ant the Niekamp roadster were safe when they were built let alone, when they were found after years of storage and neglect? I bet not! Traditional and survivor hot rods are in general "not safe" ( I should know, I have several survivor cars in my shop right now) if you have a "safe" hot rod, you have a "street rod" and you should not even be on this site!!!! As far as " cobbled together and rat rod" that my friend, is all that the technologies of the day allowed! Not to mention the fact this thing was built in 1947 by a 13 year old kid who had a passion... And made it happen with a set of torches and a stick welder!
     
    Stogy, ratrod40428, seadog and 28 others like this.
  4. BobPer
    Joined: Feb 15, 2009
    Posts: 284

    BobPer
    Member

    Eli, This is an awesome find and to be able to trace its history in such a short time is amazing. To think that a 13 yr. old started this build with limited tools and a vision and got as far as he did really raises the bar for the rest of us. I'm sure that you will preserve the intent of the car and make it an accurate representation of the times in which it was conceived. I can't think of a more appropriate custodian. Bob
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2015
    Stogy likes this.
  5. Pete
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 4,748

    Pete
    Member

    AMEN.....
     
    Stogy, bowie and BrandonF like this.
  6. Pete
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 4,748

    Pete
    Member

    It would be cool to see a few of your builds, how about a few pics?
     
    Stogy likes this.
  7. If you have a safe hot rod you have a street rod.....bwahahahaha. that is the best! Fuck these naysayers. Like you aren't gonna fix the axle or any problem areas.....some people have no vision...but they probably pay guys to tell them what's cool anyways... So screw em...
     
  8. general gow
    Joined: Feb 5, 2003
    Posts: 6,407

    general gow
    MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    let's keep the drama off the thread, and give Eli the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this car's resurrection, okay?
     
    el Scotto, deadbeat, kiwijeff and 5 others like this.
  9. Pete
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 4,748

    Pete
    Member

    I have piles of the old "little pages"

    I often look at the motor swap articles.... Put a Buick in your ford, everyone of the motor swaps was accompanied by torch cut angle iron, flex pipe and super sketchy dropped tie rods to clear oil pans.... No doubt old school mentality....
     
    AHotRod, kiwijeff, volvobrynk and 2 others like this.
  10. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

    I know! Just crazy! And being able to talk to the cars original builder, who built it 69 years ago... Is just plain over the top!
     
  11. patmanta
    Joined: May 10, 2011
    Posts: 3,872

    patmanta
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Woburn, MA
    1. MASSACHUSETTS HAMB

    Hell, I wish I knew now what the OB knew when he was 13.
     
    volvobrynk and Hitchhiker like this.
  12. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

  13. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

    image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg
    image.jpg
    image.jpg
     
    Stogy, AHotRod, kiwijeff and 7 others like this.
  14. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

  15. Pete
    Joined: Mar 8, 2001
    Posts: 4,748

    Pete
    Member

    That Chevy sedan in righteous!


    But unsafe.... Lol
     
    Stogy likes this.
  16. Especially since they didn't even come out for another 3 years! First year for those wheels was 1965! i think they had been added by the time of that 2003 article
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2015
  17. Donald A. Smith
    Joined: Feb 19, 2011
    Posts: 272

    Donald A. Smith
    Member
    from Brook In.

    Caddy Whacked I like what you said to the guy who said it looks like a rat rod boy that way of thinking is growing thin. I have A rat rod for fun and a Model A for T R O G . I like what you are doing!!!! Don
     
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  18. onekoolkat1950
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,865

    onekoolkat1950
    Member

    Seems like the "new" HAMB is all about the drama. That's why most of the real talented hot rodders have moved on , leaving us with this watered down , uninformed and over opinionated crowd of key board tappers.
     
  19. volvobrynk
    Joined: Jan 30, 2011
    Posts: 3,587

    volvobrynk
    Member
    from Denmark

    @caddywhacked I would be very sad if you desited to leave this place or stop posting! Is there any way to keep you here, or get some brownie points by telling you that I like your work and you are one of the reason why uninformed guy should come here, and see what a good build looks like, but have there posting ability put under supervision!!!

    If you desites against posting here is there a way or place to follow the "return of this phonix"? Where one can ask questions to you progress or methods?

    Despite my past experience I will come out and say I don't get the whole mentality about "only street rods are safe"
    But it migth be a matter of my weird logic.
    To me an unsafe car is badly welded, not planned well and has a total disregard to important stuff like; brakes to engine power ratio, front brakes for a street driven rod, scrub line, Ackermann, good structural welding and common sense.

    I don't get the whole deal on Hot Rod's not being safe! They are every bit as safe as a Model A, and if the posibility of surviving in a small wreck is there, that's the premises we all has to accept to be a part of this game. I know they will never be Prius-kind-of-safe, by that dosent make them unsafe.
    I would even go as far as saying; if a modern car owner knew as much about his own car, as most HAMB does and show do-diligence and restraint in modern traffic, we could all get away with a lot more old cars in modern traffic!
    Just my two cents and loose change.

    I hope/wish/begs/plee for progress/updates and more beautiful stuff like this in the future!!
    And less drama!!!
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2015
  20. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    FOUND IT LOL :eek:

    pissar.jpg
     
    Stogy, bowie, pitman and 1 other person like this.
  21. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,006

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Well, I certainly disagree with this. The "panty-wad" preachers have always been here, and they have always been told to shut the fuck up by the "Old school Hambers", just as this panty-wad yayhoo was told in this thread. Same old same old.
    Amen, brother! A great signature line for somebody.

    Outstanding thread, good luck Eli!
     
    Stogy, AHotRod and mike bowling like this.
  22. Doodlrodz
    Joined: Feb 6, 2006
    Posts: 1,439

    Doodlrodz
    Member Emeritus

    The facts are this car was built by a 13 yr. old teenager (just barely) with limited materials, knowledge, and I'm sure finances, he didn't have the HAMB or any web sites to go to to see how to do it. He was a racing junky and still is to this day who shows up to car shows with his sprint car in tow and still travels the N.E. racing it in antique shows. He's probably got grease under his finger nails older than some of the keyboard wizards that are trashing his build. It's friggin' fantastic that his car has ended up in the hands of someone capable of preserving it. As far as safety goes none of the cars rolling off the assembly lines in '47 would be considered safe by today's standards. If you stop and think about it how many of us could build something like this at 13 yrs. old fighting pimples and a raging hard on ??? Not many.
     
  23. If you stop and think about it how many of us could build something like this at 13 yrs. old fighting pimples and a raging hard on ??? Not many.
    So true ! LOL
     
  24. Petejoe
    Joined: Nov 27, 2002
    Posts: 12,264

    Petejoe
    Member
    from Zoar, Ohio

    That's bad ass. What a timepiece. I wonder why the the fatty was set back so far? Thanks for sharing.
     
    Stogy likes this.
  25. prpmmp
    Joined: Dec 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,129

    prpmmp
    Member

    Ok!! No drama!! I will make a statement and then ask a question!! For the people that think and use the term Streetrod as an insult should look at the origin. The forefathers of our hobby and the topics of this site coined that term(Tex Smith,Strocker Mcgerk Medley? and others) They lived what we preach here,insulting the term insults them!! Now the car question, cool and it was built long ago by a 13 year old! Some have mention that its unsafe and does look like what is termed a RR(I too hate that word as my car in my avatar is called that all the time even though its a Streetrod according to what I'm reading on this site)Well I have to agree it's more than questionable!! To the owner you must have great incite for this car to vision a finished and driveable car as I would most likely ruin it. Do you change how the front suspension is mounted? How about the steering box? What about all the other cobbled stuff?? This is a question and not a argument or knock on the builder,I just don't know how I would fix it with out ruin it! Good luck and I hope you do a build thread so I can learn!! Pete
     
    tb33anda3rd likes this.
  26. stubbsrodandcustom
    Joined: Dec 28, 2010
    Posts: 2,273

    stubbsrodandcustom
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Spring tx

    saying it was never really "road" worthy.. would be a cool piece to tow behind a old truck on a single axle trailer unload at events and race the dirt ovals etc.and or the Race of Gentleman. Too much history to destroy. And goes to show that crazy stuff was being done at the dawn of Hotrodding.

    Some people need to get off their high horse put the matching rows of 32 wires, sbc and so-cal accessories aside. Let this car really sink in. Think about how this car was Built on eastern seaboard. Information and photos were not accessible like they are today. And built by a 13 yr old with a dream. He engineered this car. So casting stones while you were his age, playing with Hotwheels or building bicycles, he was building a car. And its lasted through the years.

    Thankfully this car ended up in the right persons hands. Who at least cares about the history. I know 75 percent of those here would have pulled the body and scrapped the rest calling it a failed RR attempt with a bogus story!
    Say I'm wrong?????
     
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  27. BobPer
    Joined: Feb 15, 2009
    Posts: 284

    BobPer
    Member

    Here is just a theory: Inverse Model A frame.JPG On the left is a representation of a stock Model A frame, on the right, the rails are reversed (left used on the right, and right used on the left) so the open channel is to the outside. The theory would be that this allowed him to make the floor pan lower for his seat. Just guessing, Bob
     
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  28. caddywhacked
    Joined: Jan 20, 2007
    Posts: 59

    caddywhacked
    Member

    Hi, just to clarify... I am not knocking street rods... I build them right along side the traditional and survivor cars in my shop! I am talking comparative safety! I am building an 54 F100 with Roush 427, 8 stack injected monster,?with 14"cross drilled, vented, ceramic rotors and 6 piston calipers, right next to a 33 5w with a Merc Flattie with a 39 juice brake conversion.... Which one is safer? That was my point.... I have not posted pics of the truck on this site.... Because it is not really a traditional build. As far as the safety and cobbled stuff on this car.... I plan on keeping most of it as is.... To pay homage to the builder.... It has survived this long as a complete car! Will I repair some of the welds... You bet! Will I over restore it like so many of the famous survivor cars are? No way! Will I restore the rust and put a nice green paint job on it,.as the original builder said it had? You bet! What I will not be doing is replacing the body or crazy inside out frame, because someone said that it looks unsafe.... I talking to the builder, there was a lot of thought that went into this car.... For instance.... The belly pan is shaped like a barrel , so that from the side... You don't see a floor hanging down below the frame, the rails are inside out to give 4" more width to sit down in between the rails... And to allow a square surface to solid weld the cross members in with a stick welder..... That, I feel, is pretty good insight and engineering for a young kid in the late 40s! To me.... The most important thing about this car (and all of the other cars and automobilia in my collection) is the story! And that my friends is what I intend to do with this cool little roadster.....preserve it for others to see.... And drive the shit out of it!!!!
     
  29. prpmmp
    Joined: Dec 12, 2011
    Posts: 1,129

    prpmmp
    Member

    Hoping for a Build Thread!!!! Pete
     
  30. Pete,
    Just being the devil's advocate here, when the term street rod is used most of us think 1-800 hotrod, or we used to think Gold Chainer. I don't think that we are really thinking historically although we should be I suppose.

    I think it was in the last year or so that I actually saw a photo in print from a SoCal show in '58 (maybe '59) tat actually had a section for street rods with the sign clearly hanging in plain view, also sections for customs and hot rods could be seen in the photo. From what could be seen in the photo what they considered to be a street rod would have been called a show rod in some later shows or in more modern vernacular perhaps a custom rod, or maybe even a trailer queen. A simple refinement of what one may have seen driven to and from on a daily basis. Hmmmn driving one every day now there is a concept.

    I think that @caddywhacked will probably do alright with the car. Pedigree or no there are a lot of guys building cars that don't do it for a living and do just fine we don't berate them for their skills we just accept it. it is a neat car and if all it ever does is get finished and yard drive it will still be a cool car. ;)
     
    Max Gearhead and birdog like this.

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