Hot Rods I'M GOING TO BUILD AN ALTERED.

God knows what is going on with the Hamb these days as I don't get notifications anymore so miss all the updates !!!

Great xmas pressie from the lads Don.

 

Thanks Don for the kind words, you and your sons are first class hot rod fabricators , i really enjoyed "talkin shop"

 

Ron Pope is a regular at my swap meet, and he did the front suspension for the Altered I'm building. GREAT guy, and the parts are great at a fair price. (whoops--continued reading and saw that you've read my article in HR Deluxe.)
I went with Rocket wheels up front--they've got the look, but they'll allow me to run front brakes... I'm a big fan of stopping, and even the old-timers I've talked to about this car all agreed that front brakes are a smart choice. I went with the Chevy spindles from Ron, and can run '75 Camaro front brake assemblies, for $150 complete at the local auto parts store: rotors, bearings, seals, dust caps and calipers. Not a bad price to go fast.

-Brad

 

Is this car from New York. ?

 

That yellow T Altered is awesome... I hope you consider coming up to the NHRA New England Hot Rod Reunion. I would also like to see that red Fiat your running come up. That was originally from Boston. It was Joe Salemi's "Ali Baba", it was sponsored by Hub Auto Supply.

 

Would like to see some pictures of this project.

 

Paul, liked meeting you a lot, but next time leave the cold weather in Pa when you visit Florida.

Brad, I didn't realize that article and altered were yours...........VERY COOL, enjoyed the article a lot. Paul put me on to the Hot Rod DeLux issue with the build in it and I ran right to Barnes and Noble and picked it up. I checked out every picture and your text, very well written and photographed.

Looks like a lot of us are building cars that are meant to be fun to run down the track, not necessarily trying to break any records, just win a race now and then. Kinda reminds me of when drag racing was fun and uncomplicated.

Don

 

"Looks like a lot of us are building cars that are meant to be fun to run down the track, not necessarily trying to break any records, just win a race now and then. Kinda reminds me of when drag racing was fun and uncomplicated."

Maaaaan, that is EXACTLY what I want to do!!!
I want to go to fun events like my Gear Jam vintage drags, the Meltdown Drags, Steel in Motion, and maybe be semi-competitive at the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green.
I want to hang out with the other guys in the Atlanta Area with nostalgia cars at Friday Night Test And Tune up at the Atlanta Dragway.
And every once in a while, I want to see if I can go a couple rounds at the Saturday bracket races.

I want to build something kinda fast, with a driveline that's durable as an anvil, in a car that's just as simple.
I don't want something expensive, finicky, high-strung or too fast.
I want to have fun, and look good doin' it!

-Brad

 

X2
Have a number of threads I follow and this is one of them I no longer get updates on (some others also).
Earl

 

Just click on this link to see any updates on the threads that you are watching ...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/watched/threads

I just added it to my bookmarks and it is my first stop when I want to look at the HAMB.

 

Thanks. I've been clicking on the Forums tag to get the drop down menu for watched threads. I just put the link you sent on my desktop. Perfect.
I have always found in the past that most of us, no matter how fast we go, once we're get used to it, we always want to go faster..... the "need for speed" is a terrible addiction.

 

It is an addiction, but is it really terrible?

 

Maybe I should have said terribly expensive....

 

Today I decided I have waited long enough for the people who were going to build my rear end assembly for me and it is time to do something else. I have been sending them emails and phoning them, and they keep telling me they are "swamped" and can't get me a final quote, so I see the handwriting on the wall and have told them to cancel whatever they were doing and that I have gone another direction.

That direction is, I have ordered a new bare housing from Currie Enterprises, cut to my length, and without the ends welded on. I have also ordered a four bar setup from Ron Pope and he is putting that together for me right now. Then, when the housing comes and the four bar setup arrives, we will weld the brackets on the housing ourselves, then send the housing back to Currie for final truing and to have the big Ford ends welded on.

This gives us total control of the final product. My Son and I can put the four bar brackets and coil over brackets right where we need them, cut and weld the bars to the right length, and generally make it a custom fit for this car. It is the way we have always done it and should work out much better and faster. Dan has gotten very good at tigging, so this should end up done right.

I am also glad to be able to give Ron Pope more business. He did me right on the front end, and his stuff is top notch. I know his new parts will be right and perfect for what I am building. So it looks like in the next two weeks I should have all my parts and can finally move ahead with finishing the frame.

Don

 

I find it difficult to understand why businesses do that, why not tell a customer that they are swamped to begin with and will not be able to do it for how ever long it would take, so the customer can decide how they want to go. It will leave the customer feeling much better about it than to string you along until you get fed up with waiting. This isn't brain surgery, simple courtesy when dealing with customers will help your image and maybe they will need something again when you aren't too busy to do it. Sorry, my rant is over, I'll return to reading and enjoying.

 

Good move, do it yourself and then you know it's done right and on time too
BTW, what issue of Hot Rod Deluxe is the old school altered build in? I'd be interested in seeing that.

 

It is in the current issue that is on the stands right now........January 2015 issue with a maroon 32 highboy roadster on the cover. Brad on here is doing a great job on the article and the car. I found lots of this issue at Barnes and Noble just a week or so ago.

Dick, I know what you mean about stringing you along. Here I am, trying to spend money with them, and they are too busy to even get me a quote. But I am happier this way, Ron Pope is great to deal with and we can also custom fit all the parts under the frame as we go.

Don

 

Hey Don, what rear brakes are you planning on running?
I'm running a solid-mounted Mopar 8 3/4 rear end, but with late-model GM bearing cups, and then running modern GM 9.5-inch finned aluminum drums. They're lighter than the stock iron Mopar drums, which isn't REALLY a factor, but even if it's a bracket/index car, it's still a race car! (If you throw a part up in the air and it comes back down, it's too heavy!)
The finned drums are better at shedding heat than steel, and they'll look nice peaking out the windows of the American 5-spokes I'm running out back. I was originally going to run 12-inch Buick finned drums, but it's just cheaper and easier to run these--I've got the 12-inch drums, but backing plates were difficult to find. Economically, figuring the price I can get for selling 12-inch drums, versus the price I paid for the smaller ones, backing plates, brake hardware... I'll be into the smaller drums for a couple hundred less than the bigger ones.
Finned aluminum drums, even if they're not the big 12-inch Buick pieces, always look nice and nostalgic.

Just something to think about if you're gonna run drums.

-Brad

 

Don,
I know you already made your decision to go with Currie, but just wanted to put in a plug for Moser. They have a two day turn around on custom axles and same day shipping on parts. I don't have anything against Currie, but found that shipping over the Rockies gets expensive.

If I thought you had any interest in a Quickchange, I would have offered to build one for you.

Bruce

 

Brad, I'm actually going to run Wilwood 4 puck racing disc brakes on the rear. I remember all to well my old racing days and trying to get the car stopped before the last turn off road and I didn't want to end up in a cornfield !

Not traditional, but I am making a few changes in the car to make it more modern and more easy to pass tech with. I am planning on both my Sons being able to take turns driving it too, so I want it as safe as possible.

Thanks, Bruce for that info. I was just tired of waiting for the other place to get around to starting my rear end , so I decided on my day off Thursday I was going to get it put to bed, one way or another. The guy at Currie couldn't have been more helpful, and other people (like Strange) were telling me I needed a fabricated housing, which I didn't want. So, when Currie said it would ship next week I said do it. Plus, now I get to deal with Ron Pope again on the other stuff, and that was my original intent.

Don

 

Don't worry about "not traditional," especially for safety items.
I know in my case, my uncle is very pragmatic about those kinds of things, and I think a lot of his fellow gray-beards are too. If you're building a car to look like they did, that's one thing.
If you're building a nostalgia-style car to RACE today, they'll tell you to put the right cage in it, put a trans blanket on the automatic, and put good brakes on it.
Remember, a lot of them didn't stop racing in the '50s and early '60s, a lot of them kept racing up through the '70s and into the '80s.
They evolved with the safety gear.

-Brad

 

To brads comment about having fun at the local races, he is dead on I picked up a 48 Anglia project in of all places in a small shed in downtown marreta, ga last nite gasser project!


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How about some pictures ?

Don

 

Don,
Had another thought (sometimes a long time between them). If I was building your rear end, I would strongly urge you to use full floating hubs and axles. You can find lots of snouts, hubs, axles, and disc brake components at oval track swap meets. The 2 1/2" Grand National stuff is indestructible. The 2" (Howe style) is lighter and probably more than sufficient for your car. You didn't say what bolt pattern the wheels are, but the standard for the hubs I mentioned is 5 on 5", with 5/8" studs. The most common axles are 31 Ford spline on the inboard end (24 spline at the hub).

I have a pet project rear end for a car similar to yours. It uses the wide 5 components, which would be another option if you didn't already have the wheels.
Bruce

 

I called American Racing and the biggest studs I can run are 1/2 inch with the wheels I have. I considered 5/8 inch, but this will be ok......the car is light and not a ton of HP. I ran a 68 Mustang with more HP, four speed, 11 inch slicks, and a heavier car, and those studs never had any issues.

But good thought though.

Don

 

Frame is pitted, will probably build a 2x3 chassis


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Don,
I was thinking more about the safety of the axles. There are studs that will work with your wheels. I'm sure you're right, but I like the idea of the floater.

Bruce

 

I am a big fan of floater axles as well but what Don is planning to run will be way more than enough for his car, even the 1/2" studs. Pro stock cars have run flange axles forever and they have 1400 hp and weigh 2350 lbs (and have REALLY big tires). The circle track floaters are a good deal but the axle/drive flange is not really designed for drag racing style shock loads at the hit. Better to go with a Strange/MW/ Moser package that is intended for straight line applications.

Roo

 

Likely a little late for this, but I find coating and rubbing dish soap into the entire inside of the tire totally prevents the leaks. Had a lot of trouble with slicks going flat if the car sat for a few days because they would leak through the sidewalls .. now the slicks stay inflated for years without losing pressure. I use the same procedure on the front tires as well.

 

Don in 69/70 was helping build a dirt car. we were talking about brakes on it. one of ownwers said ,what is your butt worth, don't out run your brakes.