Am currently reconfiguring my C Cab into a rear engine with a short cowl styled to resemble an early 20's Mack truck. Other than the 1/25 scale "Beer Wagon" kit, has anyone seen a hot rod Mack before, or am I a pioneer?
Um...'Pioneer'? Maybe I'd call you that, but there are some others that might call you somethin' else... Anyway, set it up and show some pics. (might get 'em going...) My friend Tony Pombo (deceased, he was only 22) built a Model T 'C' cab truck, sorta 'fad T' style... Everybody in town heard about it, and "hated it"...until they saw it. Oohs and Ahs, it was impressive. I built model cars since 1953, when they were all 1/32 scale...AMT came out with the '32 roadster and '40 Coupe and Tudor sedan...in 1/25...I thought I'd gone to heaven!
There was a mack c cab fire truck that was hot rodded around here years ago, haven't seen it for a long time though.
well I learned something new today I did not know where the inspiration came from for the C shape t buckets and trikes till now neat
Pioneer, well you aren't the first, but even the last guy that stumbled down the Oregon Trail is still considered a "pioneer" today.
if you build it like the "beer wagon" give yourself some more legroom. i did some work on it and it was tight to drive. good idea and a real crowd pleaser at shows.
Are you talking about cutting one of these up? You got bigger stones than I do! Probably could buy a couple Deuces for what a junk one of these is worth, but do what you gotta do. I know of one that comes to the large truck shows, looks fairly stock, but I think is running a 5.9 Cummins. He can hold his own on the interstates. (don't have a picture of it) BTW, I'll bet there isn't one piece of sheet metal on that beer wagon that can't be made on a brake, I don't see any compound curves.
Woa! A real life version of the Beer Wagon I see there. OK, this is my C Cab on it's first outing in front engine form in 2010, before the earthquakes here put things on hold: Very Roth-ish, right? So, the engine will be in the back, transverse 4cyl, and where it is currently will be a cowl similar to what's on that beer truck. Interior has been trimmed to match in white & purple since this pic was taken. Funny thing is, when I started building this, C Cabs were out of fashion, and by the time I finished it, they were everywhere! So, now I wanna be different...so by the time I finish, everyone will be building rear engine C Cabs...sigh..
Oh, Wolfcreek Steve..nah, I'm not cutting up a real Mack, too rare dude! Just emulating the look in a cartoony sorta way.
Rear view showing taillights and bubble windows. Picture a transverse motor sitting back there with pipes and carbs hanging out!
Martin, are you familiar with this? http://www.showrods.com/home_page_links/home.html I used to spend a lot of time on the forum there a few years ago, got back into the models after many years until life intervened again. I retain a few good friends from that phase, though. I didn't actually build much then. This is mine: But I did a few drawings. If you're thinking about transverse rear engines in the show-rod idiom, here's some inspiration: Those were supposed to be two blown Renault/PRV V6s cantilevered out the sides of the frame and feeding a common transaxle in a way I have since forgotten. If you prefer a longitudinal rear engine there is this: These are part of a series of reinterpretations I did of the Wacky Racers cars, ten years ago.
Yeah! Thanks Ned, the Showrods site for model cars is one of my favourites, a huge resource and actually inspired my idea for a rear engine C Cab. '58 Morris Minor? My first car was a '57.
This was what got me thinking: http://www.showrods.com/gallery_pages/guber_wagen1.html Revell did a number of variations an this theme. Mine won't be corvair powered though. I'm using a transverse "A Series" motor as used in the Mini and Austin 1100. Skies the limit for tuning on those little engines. You are a very talented artist BTW Ned. I like the idea of the dual engines on the "pram" thingie!
That Red Baron dragster is pretty damn neat Ned Reverse running hemi and a 425t trans, some cool boat headers.... NO - you have too many projects now - NO
Progress on my Mack style nose, still in temporary accommodation due to quake repairs, no garage! Found a VW fan shroud and an oildrum lying around, so that was it. Bit of a trial putting this thin metal together with a small stick welder, but it's taking shape.
BTW Ned Ludd, been checking out your blog. Awesome stuff, very inspirational. BTW speaking of chain drive and rear engines, how about this for something different? http://jeremylawsonblog.com/post/32688292063/built-by-steve-grimes-of-westerville-ohio#.VB5zhNF8NeU
Been a while since I was on here as I've been moving back into our home following earthquake repairs. Progress on the "Mack" has been steady. Front tin is mocked in place and engine pulled. I've got new front coilovers ready to install and have a source for a motor (1.3 liter Austin transverse engine) for which I already have a few goodies, dual carbs etc. Will post pics when I can find my camera!
First order of business was to extract the anaemic old Triumph engine. Years of sitting have left my formerly shiny frame and front suspension looking pretty sad. Lots of cleanup to do. While I'm at it, I was never happy with the rear view of the C cab body, so some restyling work is underway. Rear bumper is shortened Holden front bar and as you can see, only the finest coachbuilding techniques are employed at the immaculate headquarters of Harris Styling Emporium. Steel water pipe bent to shape, with marine ply, bondo and resin, which will be 'glassed over to become part of the existing bodywork. I also remounted the body with a couple of inches less rake to give it a slightly lower profile.
Trial fitting of my Mack shroud, and "Houston, we have a problem". Clearance issues with steering shaft and UJ. If this were the Discovery Channel I'd be having a coronary or throwing tools around, and you'd have to wait 'til next episode. Fortuntely this ain't Discovery, so we just grab the angle grinder and welder and cut up some scrap exhaust bends. Bingo, problem solved.
I wondered what had happened to this. We need pics, lots of em. I remember this from MCM. Always thought it needed larger rear tyres. Always been a fan of C cabs.
You did well to remember my rod from Muscle Car Madness kiwijeff. That was back in 2010, and I was up til midnight the night before the event lashing it together as I'd kinda promised my clubbies at Streetscene I'd have it there. You're right about the back tyres, but anything bigger would have been too much for the puny little 1200 Triumph engine. Now maybe with a more tuneable A series engine in the back making a few more horses, maybe we can go up on the tyre and rim size a little and get the proportions right? It was fun to drive BTW, especially cruising past the cops with no rego or even license plates...and never got pulled over!
Work on the rear bodywork progressing nicely: sanding, filling, sanding, filling....yawn. More trouble afoot up front though. As I mentioned, I remounted the body with a little less rake. However the shroud was constructed prior to this, and now I have a yawning chasm between the top of the cowl and the back of the shroud. Oh, well, I already buggered the lace and striping on the back........ More of that half inch water pipe with a bit of shaped scrap sheetmetal forms a filler strip: The yukky black stuff, if you're wondering, is Mendent Carbon Fiber Filler. Truly repugnant and messy to work with, but is infinitely stronger than regular filler and great for forming shapes. Dunno if anyone else has experience with this stuff, but there ya go. Wait..I see the future...I see....more sanding, and filling and sanding, and......yawn.
Yup. Body, paint, wiring , upholstery, welding, the works. Some welding and machining were done by a mate who is qualified, but I can say 97% "built by owner".
Been a while since I updated here, but work is progressing steadily (I have about a thousand other projects on the go around the house to compete with this one!). Front end is pretty much done, getting into the serious stuff. Diff has been pulled out, existing half shafts and radius arms will remain. Big fugly tube shocks are being replaced by discreet and "old school cool" Armstrong lever shocks. Rear semi elliptic spring is being transformed into two quarter elliptics turned 90degrees, creating a kind of 4 bar setup. I have followed a couple of threads on HAMB on this subject, as well as seeing what the Rock-Crawler guys do, as quarter elliptic seem to be the hot setup for these machines. The reasoning behind these suspension changes is both aesthetic and practical: I want the engine as exposed and accessible as possible. Besides, the stock rear suspension was always a compromise on the Triumph Herald, which is a shame as the rest of the frame and especially the front suspension is hard to improve upon. So anything I can do to improve the rear suspension is a bonus. Drawings and photos to follow soon.
OK, I left off with some "fit" issues being addressed between the cowl and new nose, so here's what we've got to with it: : And I've also tidied things up front with some fabbed sheetmetal to fill the gaps and provide a seat for the Mack nose. ....And here's a new window frame in progress, which my own interpretation of the Mack AC window frame (refer Beer Wagon and restored Mack photos posted by Wolfcreek Steve earlier). Moving to the back end, here's one of the Armstrong shocks mocked into position: ...and one quarter elliptic cut from the stock semi elliptic. And for those who don't know, that spring steel is a nightmare to drill through. I blunted several cobalt drillbits making a new hole for the locating pin!: To give you some reference to where I'm headed with the rear suspension, here's a stock Herald frame: When I first built this rod, I had to remove the frame horns front and rear, and modify the perimeter outriggers to suit the new body. For the next phase, I intend to delete the rear crossmember and diff mount, which is now redundant, leaving just the shock towers. Obviously, this member also ties the rear frame horns together, so the plan is to fabricate a new crossmember that sits further forward (so it's hidden behind the rear-mounted engine) and also doubles as a mount for the quarter elliptics. Here's my mad-scientist scribblings: Time to get out the angle grinder...... More soon!
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