Hot Rods The Arin Cee Roadster

I got the wild hair one day to build a hot rod that cartoon character Arin Cee might have owned back in 1955 when Pete Millar created him for Rod & Custom Magazine.

Retro wasn't cool back then, but thank God the glitzy '60s hadn't begun yet either so there were still a number of late '40s-styled hot rods on the streets and at the lakes. This, I decided, was what Arin - a serious gearhead - would have jumped into on his way to work.

I'm sure you've all seen the B-roll (supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot) which appears in the 1947 film, "Devil On Wheels", and also somewhat edited in another later film, "Hot Rod", which screened in 1950. This scene has played in my head ever since I first saw it, but I had no idea that it would motivate me to morph my entire hot rod focus onto the years 1946 and 1947. Ironically, that's when I was born.

I suspect that the B-roll racing footage was shot on a different day than that with the actors present, and with different cars than appeared elsewhere in the movie. The racing footage, excluding the closeups, features cars that are really right and tight. The cars in the movie itself were far more "average" to my eye.

I also had no idea that some of the stuff I've been lugging around for all too many years would be just what I'd need for a build of this type. But as it turns out, I've already got most of what I'll need. So I talked it over with Arin, and he said, "Go for it, 'Dad." So, here we go!

But, before I go any further, does anybody have the actual B-roll footage from which the above clip was taken? I'd sure like to post it here to show just how addictive it is as well as how classic the proportions are of the hot rods in it.

 

Its at about 21:00 this sequence...Missy...thanks yes this is great old Hotrod...bunch O hoodlums...

 

Thanks, Stogy!

 

Yeah,cool old film.

 

At last! A roadster idea that is different! I like it!

Okay, 'Dad, let's see what you got!

 

Ah... Okay, Arin, I'll get right on it.

Once the idea of building Arin a roadster like those in the "Devil On Wheels" B-roll finally took root I went about building a portfolio of photos featuring cars with characteristics similar to those in the film footage. Here's just a few of the dozens of photos I collected:

All were very different, but with an uncanny "sameness" about them, not just the body/frame combo but the stance and details as well. And so the die was cast...

Thanks for the little nudge, Arin. I'll get back on it later.

 

Not that a perfect replica of the "Devil On Wheels" B-roll cars is my goal - it isn't - there are a few details that just gotta be right. One of them is wheels and tires. Thankfully a trip to my junk pile netted four relatively straight 16-inch Ford wheels, two 4-inch wide and two 4 1/2-inch wide. Cleaned up and metal-finished these should do nicely...and I'd forgotten all about the F100 steering box I had stashed!

 

The latest development...



Yup, it's Ben DeLosier, otherwise known as "Ben D" (T & A Transport), the best hot rod hauler on the H.A.M.B., and he's delivering the new chassis for this project built by none other than Kiwi Kev in Ventura, California! Yahoo!

More later...

 

In the meantime my search for the ideal combination of stuff to build a 1947-flavored hot rod continued. I looked at a LOT of photos, some from the HAMB and some from other various places. The more I looked the more cars I found that really peaked my interest. Here are a few more...



I looked at literally thousands of hot rods with features that I think represent the era I'm trying to replicate, but the closest example is this one...so far...but I'm still looking.

 

And as fate would have it, Kiwi Kev of Ventura, California put an ad for a rolling chassis here on the HAMB only days after I made my final decision of what the running gear was going to be. (Sorry, guys, the flathead/flat-o-matic/C4 are not going to stay and are, in fact, for sale here in the HAMB Classifieds). What will take their place? Not sure yet. Any suggestions...?

 

Well, today my son came over and we lifted the body onto the frame. Voila! It's a car!

(Arin will be so pleased that I've finally made some progress on his car...I hope. He's a little moody sometimes, being a teenager and all. Hormones, don'tcha know...)

 

It's about time you got back on my project, 'Dad! I'm not getting any younger, you know...

 

The majority of your cars you've picked as "examples" of what you want to build are running flatheads and to keep it in the 1946-7 timeframe it must have an early flathead in it. Just toss that C4/flatomatic and find a good 39 box to go behind that flatty. Otherwise you have to run a full hood and I bet those cars in the movie don't have hoods.

 

Going to have to disappoint you, Swifty. The flathead/C4 combo is already for sale (see HAMB Classifieds) in favor of an early Chevy V8/5-speed. I thought long and hard about keeping the '40 engine as you suggest but I'm not all that fond of tinkering with flatheads - especially on the side of the road. Been there, done that and I'm too old to do it any more.

 

I guess this means you are going to run a full hood?

 

Nope. No pretenses. It'll be what it is.

I have no desire to copy or clone the B-Roll cars, just to use them as a "style" after which to model mine. I love "period correct" hot rods as much as anybody else, but I really drive my current roadster - on a daily basis when weather permits. I like being able to get in, turn the key and go wherever I'm going - and back - without worrying that old technology (oxymoron?) will let me down.

I am going to go with engine parts that one might find on a '55 engine like valve covers, conventional distributor and three deuces to help the theme along, but it'll have an alternator and Rochester carbs for dependability. Real gear heads will know it's not a for-real vintage motor but I really don't care...and neither does Arin.

 

I have a 29 tub with almost everything 1940 or olderon it and has been dependable for the last 10 years, flat motor and all. Took one set of points out of the distributor and use the outer set to trigger a MSD-6 box it's a full hood car. Also have a 29 roadster on 32 rails with a small block in it with full hood early style like you are building. I think makeing them safe and dependable is the most important part.

 

Yes, I've admired your tub for some time and even recently tried to tempt you into trading it to me for something more modern and comfortable...without any luck. I'll keep trying!

 

Now I know who you are. I did not make to TMS had grandson and his mom all weekend. Love to see the progress on your car but the traffic from Allaince down to down town FtW is a bitch, may have to try it. Frank

 

Out with the old...

 

Duel point Corvette distributor, Early Corvette valve covers, and 2/4 set up?

 

Honestly? I don't know. I've got several hot SBCs, mostly 350s and 327s, but a friend of mine in Maine offered me a '57 283 that he ran in his '32 Chevy roadster for many years that is very tempting. Too many choices.

Whichever motor I choose it'll have all early-style stuff like a Delco distributor (don't have a dual point, but if I did I'd run it), early Corvette valve covers, cast iron exhaust manifolds and a multiple carburetor setup of one sort or another.

The average person will have to look pretty hard to tell that it's not a mid-50s motor, but if he's a real gearhead I'm cooked. I'll break tradition with the water pump, however, and go with a Snow White unit like the one on my current roadster. And, an alternator with an internal regulator for sure. These are dead giveaways, but you can't beat 'em for dependability.

 

I love the fact you are building old school but keeping the mechanicals updated for reliability a man after my own heart Tom

 

We'll see how well it turns out. The biggest hurdle I face is jumping the years from 1950 to 1955 in terms of roadster evolution. The concept of "retro" didn't exist and everything - including hot rods - was being updated as quickly as possible during that period in hot rod history.

I hate trying to straddle eras. We'll just have to wait and see how well I do.

 

After 55 when the Chevy V8 came out I helped one of my friends put a 265 in a 46 Ford . I had a Olds in my 41 Ford. And another friend had a 32 Ford he put a 283 in back in 57. We were in high school and working at the A&P grocery store and throwing a paper route for hot rod money. There was a channeled 32 roadster in the neighborhood that had a Olds. In it, you can build it in this time period. Almost all had cast iron exhaust, there was a couple of guys that had 2-4 on their cars.

 

...and in with the new.

 

It's been a week any up dates

 

Cleaning out my shop...again...and found some old tin from a long-gone '39 convertible project. Can I get an "amen"...or is it a little too "civilized" for a low-tech postwar Model A? I'm on the fence about it...really.

 

Cool build! I'm gonna keep this one on my watch list.

I'm just excited there's an actual build thread on the HAMB!

 

I think it would look good in there.