Projects rebuilding after the crash

On august 18th my 1931 coupe was severely damage in a accident. The best that we can determine is a brake line broke on the left front wheel. The car slid into a concrete barrier. The impact was enough to rip the king pin boss from the axle. The right side king pin sheared into three pieces knocking that wheel off also. The engine moved forward several inches in the chassis. The body bolts on most of the car were sheared off. The good news is i survived although banged up good with a severe concussion. Follow along as we rebuild the car. this pic was taken just days before the crash

 

Sorry for the extra pics im new to posting pics. Here are a few crash pics so you can see what i have to start with.

 

Not to be morbid, but, can you post pics as you assess the damage, frame, suspension etc.

 

Damn. Glad you are ok. Where did it happen?

 

Glad to hear you were not severely injured,cars can be fixed although it is heart breaking.

Might I make a suggestion,go with a forged axle when you rebuild.HRP

 

ouch that hurts looking at it .. when you get it back together you might want to put a set of engine limiters in if you use the elephant ears , we had a set do the opposite and smack the firewall on launch with a standard 413 the limiters are small ( tubing with a heim end ) and not too noticable . but keep the driveline in place .

 

As you can see the frame is junk. The midplate is broken into three pieces and the motor mounts are bent beyond repair. The rebuild will include travel limiters. They prevent movement of the drive train. If i would have hit the wall backwards the engine would have been in my lap. Safety will be a huge concern with the rebuild.

 

Were you on a drag strip or the interstate? HRP

 

I'm glad your OK!! That was a hard hit. Be like a new build, basically is. Keep us posted. Tim

 

To kind of set the tone as to where im going with this car here is the plan. Originally when i built it i wanted a reliable car i could drive on the street. I also wanted it to be fast. It had to be hemi powered as im hard core mopar. I also wanted a shiny finished quality build. things started to get out of hand and i started racing it more and more. It went from a 11.9 car to a 10.0 car taking it easy. The safety of the original build came into question. There is also the promotional side. The car is backed by some well known parts manufacturers. Promotion of the car is key to its survival. It has been in lots of magazines over the years. I feel its all been played out. So to revive things im going away from the show car look. The wide whites will be gone. I need speed rated tires. The plan is to make a street driven fuel coupe. Yes fuel coupe. As in nitro. We have been working on a dual fuel system. One that lets me run my fast xfi-2 efi witha hilborn four port upright for gasoline driving. The other side for nitro would run mechanical injection off the other side of the hilborn. I would run it as a high-low setup the way i ran the altered wheelbase car. I want the look and feel of a real fuel coupe. I run my car on drag week and i thought this could be fun.Stay tuned.

 

Well- AS long as YOU are ok, that is all that matters...... I think it's a well built piece,and any improvements you see fit will be beneficial....... But when stuff happens,it happens...... We can't plan for everything,so, rebuild and get back to enjoying......Sorry for the set back,but- I'm sure you'll "upgrade" things that you see fit.....
Glad your still among us!

 

A few things we learned from the crash i would like to share. I reversed my doors suicide style. Every one has seen the locking pins that secure the doors to prevent a accidental opening. When i was knocked out then later unable to move my arms the safety crew couldnt get the doors open from the outside. I will change the way my fire extinguisher is mounted. It was behind me on the rollbar. Upon impact it flew forward hitting my jaw. And the already mentioned travel limiters and tires. For the game i have been playing i have been lucky. Its going to come out stronger lighter faster.

 

When the drivers side wheel came off it hit behind the door. It should buff out. Lol

 

Both the front and rear window broke. It pisses me off the it took out my drag week stickers. Luckily i was able to get a replacement for it last week during this years drag week. I took my chevelle on it. plan b

 

That must have been a hell of a hit to break the midplate like that, looks like the engine damn near came out of the car. You are lucky to have come out as you did. I'm guessing the makeover is going to involve cage uppers forward of the firewall and 4 corner mounts on the new mid-plate?

 

Was that you in the blue sb '66 chevelle? I really liked that car. Not really a hard-core chevy (or any other single make for that matter) guy, but I LOVE '66 chevelles.

 

The frame has a twist to it. The body survived quit well. The drive train suffered a bent lower blower pulley. The grille and oil cooler are junk. The plan is to go with a double round tube frame. Like a lohge funny car. I want it to certify to 7.5 because thats were we are headed. A straight axle is going up front. It will have a torsion bar front suspension like a dirt car. We are going with spindle mount wheels. I was able to purchase the american five spoke magnesium wheels off the 69 hawiian mini charger. I also bought some bear claws for the rear. You can see now where this is going.

 

racer-x
Glad you lived to tell the story. That was a beautiful Hotrod. There is no doubt that your integrity and knowledge in build helped in the outcome of your situation. I am glad you are rebuilding this machine and look forward to it's reincarnation. All the best on your own recovery as well.

 

Yes that was me. The chevelle had not been to a race track since the summer of 1984. I had just graduated from high school. Drag week is so much fun i had to go. So with a week to prepare we took the 66 and made it the whole week. We even did it with a sealed engine.

 

When i was first building the car i thought about the huge heavy cross member up front. I resisted the urge to lighten it up. That alone saved me. I also put the steering on a angle were if i hit something i would not be harpooned by the steering and the shaft would deflect downward. The crash happened at the pontiac silver dome the week of the woodward dream cruise.

 

Glad you are optimistic.... Rare these days......Back in the saddle/nothing gonna stop you attitude......I like it! a lot of people would've folded........I'm sure your head has spun many ways,but, at least I think, getting back on the bike,and trying to pop a wheelie, is the way to go! Rock on!

 

A few pics of happier times

 

I cant leave out a pic of cassandra. The sweet southern belle from south carolina. I just got word last week the car will be in gear heads for life soon. Cassandra graciously modeled for the pics. She is part of the southeast gassser group. She knows more about cars than most guys.

 

Sounds cool. In my experience, high nines is where the transition between a street chassis that sees track time and a race chassis you can drive on the street is a choice that starts to be pretty much forced on you. I like the bear claws and spindle mounts, they look pretentious on most hot rods, but will be PERFECT for what you are doing, especially with a "load" in the tank. Very cool.

In the late seventies a friend had a Madeira maroon '66 300hp 4 speed chevelle ht. Really nice car. We pulled the engine/trans pulled the numbers matching small journal 327 4 speed and put it in my buddies Vega GT, and put a BB and glide in the Chevelle. I still hang my head in shame when I think about that. Those were REALLY nice cars.

 

Just think about if that brake line had failed at the end of a pass...

 

Mines a real deal l-79 bench seat four speed. The only option is a rear window defogger. Did you catch the real z-11 impalla and the real shelby sohc racing. A few years ago a friend of mine raced a real deal hurst hemi dart on drag week