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Projects My Last 40lb hot rod

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Mr Gangrene Genes, May 8, 2019.

  1. Greetings, this is intended to be a build thread with a bit of my history as an introduction. Fortunately first car was a hand-me-down Plymouth my parent's bought from the Missouri Highway Patrol, with all that entails. Have always liked sedans with real door handles, vents and side window frames. Was seduced by a one year newer sporty 2dr model with flush wipers, inset door flappers and such. Ending up buying several and ultimately a convertible version that turned out to need a lot of metal work. Being cheap and mostly broke, in '93 decided altering the wheelbase of a '65 Dodge Coronet would provide all the welding/grinding lessons I ever needed. Finally got started on it in '96 and took about 2 years till completed. Turned out to be a fairly decent effort and a good driving car. Between '98 and 2000 drove to Topeka, St. Louis, St. Paul, Tulsa on Power Tour, and twice to the Mopar Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. Here is a picture from Car Craft in Minnesota. MNSN.jpg
    Also one from Columbus in 2000, some of you may have seen it. 2Awb.jpg
     
  2. fastcar1953
    Joined: Oct 23, 2009
    Posts: 3,558

    fastcar1953
    Member

    cool car . lets see more of it
     
    Deuces likes this.
  3. Yes cool car...

    Question is you still have it or is this going to be a different build?
     
    Deuces likes this.
  4. I don't understand the title. What is a forty pound hot rod??
     
    Deuces, dan31 and SDhotrod like this.

  5. bschwoeble
    Joined: Oct 20, 2008
    Posts: 1,014

    bschwoeble
    Member

    Yea. What's your point?
     
    Deuces likes this.
  6. Thanks for the kind words, most of my pictures are on an old computer that is currently sleeping. If you have interest, please search the innerweb for 1965 Dodge AWB Mopar of the Month, April of 2000. Sold the Coronet to a painter in Pittsburgh in spring of 2001. He made it his own by painting it yellow, vinyl dyeing the interior beige, and replacing the 4-speed with an automatic. It was sold at his estate sale and had green ghost flames and foot tall DODGE letters painted on the side. Last saw it was bought by a H.A.M.B. member who was contemplating a similar scheme to Color-Me-Gone. Reached out, but got no reply. It drove well, but needed more power for the weight(hemi). Sold for what I had into it for parts and materials, did pay off the credit cards bloated from the big final push. Hopefully this will chronical a different build.
    Not sure how other fellows gauge their progress, my milestones are usually marked by having to drop everything and go buy another 10lb spool of MIG wire for my lil Lincoln. I tend to puddle it on thick and then grind a bunch off. If you are a good welder, your mileage will certainly vary.
    Back in Y2K, mine was a bit of an outlier, partially by design. Nearly 20 years on, Los Punk Rods has Greaserama and The Rumble at Thunder Valley with a '64 cutoff, Midwest Misfits has a '65 cutoff "Da Misfits" show at a BBQ joint close enough for me to ride there on a minibike(done it). Also the H.A.M.B. Drags at MoKan down the road, so I collected up scraps from a wrecked car and started looking for a '64 Barracuda to build an imitation of home town hero Sites Bros. Mostly just to see who pointed a bony finger in my face to say it wasn't the Scoot'n Cuda, because it was in their garage. Bought one in pieces, but the kid lied about the clear title. Cars without legal plates have no place in my stable, so I put it together and sold it.
     
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  7. blowby
    Joined: Dec 27, 2012
    Posts: 8,661

    blowby
    Member
    from Nicasio Ca

    ^^Was the 40lb. answer in there somewhere?
     
  8. Moriarity
    Joined: Apr 11, 2001
    Posts: 30,595

    Moriarity
    SUPER MODERATOR
    Staff Member

    I think he meant that he used 40 lbs of mig wire building it
     
    chop job, scotty t, Old-Soul and 8 others like this.
  9. Yes, exactly. '65 Dodge was my first 40lbs of MIG wire hot rod and the '64 Plymouth will be my last. Everything else I work on will certainly be less. The voices are clear in my head, sometimes they don't transfer thru the keyboard. Here are some pictures that should have been included in my previous post.

    IMG_2023.JPG
    DSCI0454.JPG
    047.JPG
     
  10. lumpy 63
    Joined: Aug 2, 2010
    Posts: 2,603

    lumpy 63
    Member

    Never gauged my builds by mig wire..but the picture's speak for themselves ...well done:cool:
     
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  11. 41rodderz
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 6,540

    41rodderz
    Member
    from Oregon

    I am digging the Mopar theme .:cool:
     
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  12. Dick Stevens
    Joined: Aug 7, 2012
    Posts: 3,708

    Dick Stevens
    Member

    You've piqued my curiosity, so I'm subscribed! :D
     
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  13. dan31
    Joined: Jul 3, 2011
    Posts: 1,097

    dan31
    Member

    Early b body stuff...i'm in!.
     
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  14. dan31
    Joined: Jul 3, 2011
    Posts: 1,097

    dan31
    Member

    Oh, i see now you are building a Barracuda [early a body] .I'm still in.
     
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  15. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,595

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    [QUOTE="Mr Gangrene Genes, post: 13074117, member: 294246" The voices are clear in my head, sometimes they don't transfer thru the keyboard]

    I hear voices but they never have anything to do with welding wire;)
     
    scotty t, loudbang, Just Gary and 2 others like this.
  16. ...that's a cool Dodge!...got the" look"
     
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  17. I don't see how anyone could use up 40 lbs of mig wire on one car. :confused:
     
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  18. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,672

    Deuces

    Think I seen it at the Dodge gathering on Woodward Ave. Some years back ... I just might have a picture of it....
     
    loudbang likes this.
  19. alanp561
    Joined: Oct 1, 2017
    Posts: 4,595

    alanp561
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Starts, stops, wire sticking, too little heat, too much heat, going to slow, going to fast, inability to control puddle, wire burns off inside guide, etc It probably didn't actually go into the car.
     
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  20. Kan Kustom
    Joined: Jul 20, 2009
    Posts: 2,739

    Kan Kustom
    Member

    Prime example of persistence pays off. Nice job on your car !
     
    loudbang and alanp561 like this.
  21. gas & guns
    Joined: Feb 6, 2014
    Posts: 370

    gas & guns
    Member

    40 lbs in Michigan might not be enough.
     
  22. s55mercury66
    Joined: Jul 6, 2009
    Posts: 4,333

    s55mercury66
    Member
    from SW Wyoming

    Skootin' Cuda? I'm in, one of my favorite cars.
     
    loudbang likes this.
  23. Unfortunately the drag Barracuda was a stillborn stumble and has been sold. Going to build the '64 Fury in my avatar.
    Here is the last picture I have seen of my first 40lb hot rod. Obviously my memory was wrong about the green ghost flames.

    [​IMG]

    To give an example of the welding involved in altering a unibody, the rear axle was moved forward 15". The wheelhouses were split and mini tubbed with the inner wells moved closer to the frame rails which were also narrowed. I lowered the rear portion about 1-1/2" to avoid the Z shape of the lower quarter. So two four foot welds there on each side, plus eight to get the pieces all back together for a total of 12 welds just for that portion.
     
  24. From reading other posts and talking with fellow automotive types, it seems most hotrodders and car crafters are reactionary. All trying to build something we like, while being different from the next one over. A good trait I think, not just being contrary for its own sake. On this project I am trying to build a sublime, somewhat traditional appearing car that might be seen at a drag strip in the mid 60's by starting with a $200 '64 Plymouth.
    DSCI0545.JPG
    Why a '64 Plymouth hardtop? Because already built a '65 Dodge sedan. My wife also prefers the hardtop roof line, while I like it as well. What color? Black, already built a white car and most of my buddies have white early B-bodies. Why was it $200? Had already been parted out, missing engine, transmission, front and rear suspension, front clip, interior, half of the firewall, most of the floorboards and ALL of trunk floor and rear frame rails, but the carcass was fairly straight and had a clear title. No guilt for modifying this hulk. Compiling a bunch of scraps from previous projects that are not bad enough to throw away, or valuable enough to sell. Why an automatic? My wife's knee won't allow her to drive a stick anymore, as long as this may take, mine may not either, and I have a good one from an OT car that got T-boned by a red light runner. Also don't have any 4-speed stuff anymore. What I am doing would not be any sort of class legal, but I will refer to it as a B/MP. As in production parts that be modified.
    I seem to work better toward a goal if it is clear cut and concise. In that regard, am looking for a car that can drive to any track within a day's drive of Kansas City and run a 13.20 in 1320 feet. Unprepared, just as it pulled off the highway and ran thru tech. Not looking for quicker or faster, but exactly 13.20. My own private bracket race at Gateway, Topeka, Odessa, Bowling Green. Would also like to run the Autocross at Car Craft Street Nats. Not building an autocross car, autocrossing a 60's drag car. Another self limitation is 15"x7" steel wheels all around, with a matching full size spare in the trunk at all times. Here is a tracing of body modifications in the works.
    Scan_20190513 (2).jpg
    Plan for the car to set level, maybe a little lower in the rear. Something similar to the Blair's Speed Shop car, only with a flat hood.
    th4Z5IEKQB.jpg
     
  25. I saw that yellow Dodge at a cruse night in Westchester Il around seven years ago. I remember it having a 440 with a paxton supercharger, and thinking the enferno flames made it look like shit. Around two years later I saw it again dismantled at a shop in the Chicago suburbs. I wouldn't hold out much hope of seeing it in one piece any time soon.
    Your hard top looks like a cool project.
     
  26. Tim
    Joined: Mar 2, 2001
    Posts: 17,040

    Tim
    Member
    from KCMO

    I can dig it,
     
  27. When said the previous '65 Dodge drove well, what is meant was going down the highway and normal around town driving. Several contributing factors; it was stiff because I was afraid it would fold up. Other than the single main hoop, there were triangulated reinforcements everywhere. Too many in fact for the application, trying to dial it back on the current '64 Plymouth. Subframe connectors, dash bar, down tubes front and rear will have to suffice. The AWB Dodge was also sprung quite firm with 50" Imperial torsion bars(hexes ground down to fit the intermediate body). So they carried about 1000 lbs. less than designed for, along with the XHD rear springs. With the engine setback 3-4" and the tires moved forward 10" & 15" respectfully, Coronet was fairly well balanced, with a high polar inertia in the long tail and battery in the trunk. The biggest single influence to stability (not darting around and being a handful to steer) was following the advice Mr. 4-speed McCandless gives on moving the K-member forward 1" relative to the upper a-arms. Herb said this was a modification that "we" did back in the day to add more caster for steering Super & Pro Stocks at the top end. Whether it was just he and mechanic Gale Mortimer, or from his time spent at Sox&Martin with Dave Christie, I do not know. Have never seen reference to this modification in any of the Direct Connection manuals. Do know that it adds around 6 degrees of caster and is much better than jacking around with offset bushings for 2-1/2 to 3. Have heard following good advice from an experienced expert called the "Science of Listening". I do try, no matter how it may appear otherwise. Since my '64 Plymouth is the other side of the same modified production coin, am going to try moving the engine back more and the wheels forward less. Also bobbing the rear quarters and keeping the battery between the wheelbase should lower the polar inertia, basically it is easier to spin a bowling ball than a barbell. Hopefully will only spin out on an autocross track, my first car was a bit like a loose date, get it sideways and you are ******! This version will be closer in external spirit to a 2% version with the 383/727 tunneled back under the cowl similar to a "modern" car. Both Plymouth and Dodge '64 cars have tucked under front bumpers and less room in the fender clearance than either of the squared off '65 offerings. Whether that was designed in, or just a happy coincidence, who knows? Basically this will be slightly less freak show, a half + 1/2", so 5-1/2" forward in front and 8" in the rear. May question why the odd front number? The torsion bars I am using are 47" long from a '66 big Dodge Polara with the hexes ground down to fit. If you are still following my long winded explanation, the K-member is 6" forward, the front frame rails were split longitudinally, internally boxed with square tubing and the upper control arms are only forward 5" to get the recommended 1" difference 5+6/2=5.5" The K-member is from a 1968 slant six Belvedere. Wanted to use the 15/16" front sway bar Mark gave me years ago and the motor mount stands were going to be cut off anyway. Hate wasting "good" parts. Fully welded the seams around the K-member and added steering box reinforcements. Here are some pictures to hopefully further explain how madness has taken its toll(please have exact change). DSCI0650.JPG DSCI0646.JPG
    DSCI0651.JPG
     
  28. When you are using rusty junk someone else threw away, often the patches have patches.
    DSCI0828.JPG
     
  29. The engine is back about a foot, limitation is the underdash wiper motor. Push it back until an open 14" air cleaner touches and then flip the mounting bracket over for 1/2" of clearance.
    DSCI0661.JPG
    Factory wiper motor under the cowl, dash bar on left barely clears.
    DSCI0806.JPG
    Ruler is where the firewall was(not counting the bump out for the heater). Master cylinder is seven inches back and about four inches to the left for exhaust manifold clearance. Basically where the clutch pedal would have been in a handshaker.
    DSCI0810.JPG
    Using a '66 & later non-pushbutton trans. Notice where the transmission crossmember was.
    DSCI0660.JPG
     
  30. Doubled up the hinge support area to help reduce torsional twist. DoubleA.jpg
     

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