If you are wondering what a Drag Snake Hauler is you might want to click the below link for a related build thread: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/drag-snake-vintage-terror.1081919/ So from the very start of the Cobra build we have had a hauler in mind. There are lots of great vintage race car hauler photos out there but for me I wanted something that looked era correct. I mean I love a good ole '48 Ford COE but I don't see one hauling a Cobra to the drag strip in 1964. Somewhere, way back in the Cobra build thread I even talked about it when a couple of C600 units in this area came up for sale on Craigslist. But the deal fell through and we simply moved on to more important things. But as the build is in its final stages the topic has come up more than a few times. So about a month ago I decided to see if we could make it happen. I started by searching the internet for photos of the haulers that Shelby actually used. There seemed to be a lot to choose from. Now of course these are way too big. But the above photo caught my attention. Even though I think that is a C800 or something like that. I kept searching and finally ran across this one: Still a bit too large, not to mention, one car has certainly been enough of a headache by itself...LOL! But it got me thinking and really dialing in on the C600 style unit. This is perfect, but of course it is just a model. From what I can find, a figment of someone's imagination. So I guess I will just have to figment something up of my own! LOL. Albeit in full scale!
So I started seaching for other vintage c600 race car hauler from back in the day. There is plenty of inspiration out there... Sorry I know the mustangs are not exactly HAMB friendly but they sort of came along for the ride. No pun intended. But they are certainly not what this thread is about.
So with the decision made, we started looking. Actually our good friend Jackson @wrenchbender here on the HAMB started looking. You see I had few racing parts that he wanted and when it finally came down to how much I needed for them...I said find me a decent old C600 cab and come trade me out. He actually got close on a different truck right off the back but the deal fell through. And then a week or so later while checking up on an old hot rod at a friend's house, he found this... I was pretty excited right off the bat as even though she had a bit of surface rust or patina as they call these days...lol...I could tell by the looks of the glass that she was in pretty good shape. The first thing that really caught my attention was the quad headlights. I immediately did some research and found they are a good tell-tale of the year on one of these trucks. They only came on the 1957-1960 units unless a fire department special ordered them. I checked the VIN and she was indeed a 1960. It had a smooth running HD 292 "Y" block in it which I was not interested in but another local HAMBer was... In fact the day I showed up at Jackson's to pick up the truck, he was there picking up the "Y" block. AND before I got the C600 back home, it was already sitting in a little Model "A" pickup project. Now that is fast! But I am getting ahead of myself.
Search for an old Fire truck, they are usually low mileage and well kept. They are usually reasonably priced, too. I have a C900 twin screw, but I really like the looks of those 1965 vintage trucks that have that short hood! My friend has one with a 5 speed overdrive transmission! Bones
After Jackson had the truck dropped off at his house, we headed over to have our first look. I don't know if it was the lighting with the sun just about to set or not but I thought she looked amazing! Jackson is not too far from MOKAN Dragway and that is a good 1.5 hour drive to my house and that is pushing fairly hard. We contemplated for a bit on exactly how to get this beast back to Republic. We finally decided the only cost efficient way would be to flat tow it. But probably not the way you are thinking. We took some good measurements and beat it back home. I built what would have to be called a pretty heavy duty tow bar. I started with a new trailer coupler and bolted in the hand crank unit we took off my enclosed trailer when we isnstalled a power unit. Hoping our measurements were good, a few days later we were back to put our plan into action. The tow bar fit like a glove and while it was clamped in place, Jackson welded it up for the trip home. After it was secure, we torched the ubolts on the 60 year old rear end, lifted the rear of the chassis up and rolled it out from under it. Then we sat it back down on the trailer crank and wired up some magnetic tow lights. While Jackson was welding Dad and I strapped both the pitman arm and steering wheel in place and hoped it was straight. Then we latched it to the ball on the truck and I took a quick spin around the block to see how she tracked. I saw no issue with the test tow, so we loaded up and headed for home. We sort of kept to two lane blacktop. I mean she seemed to tow nice enough but certainly not something you want to hit the interstate with. But we easily managed 55 or better all the way home. Above we stopped about 20 minutes in to have a look at the tires and make sure the bearings were not on fire etc. There was no visiable issues with the tires and front bearings were as cool as cucumbers. We all had a cherry limeaide to celebrate and hit the road again. We actually made pretty good time, at least we got home before dark. LOL The tow bar worked perfectly. AND to be honest, that trailer crank was pretty darn good idea!
The following weekend, my daughter and I cleaned out the cab and even tried out a leather back seat I snagged from an old Cadillac my neighbor had and took to the scrap yard. It was a pretty darn good fit if you ask me! Comfy too!
Then last weekend, while Dad was wet sanding on the Cobra's new Wimbledon White paint, Zoe took a piece of 1000 grit and the hose over to the truck and before I knew it she had put some much needed color back in the old girl. We carefully discovered where the old girl had spent most of her life. Purket MFG Inc. in Joplin, MO. We did a little research and that was a company that was in the Industrial Laundry business. They manufactured equipment and held several important pattens therein. How ever after doing a Google street search of their old address we found only grass and a vacant lot. So apparently this old truck and the remnants of the lettering on her door is all that is left.
Great find. Now just need a Good 460 to carry it down the road. I would love to have one to haul my 65 Comet SEGA Super Stock project.
Good stuff. The quad lights definitely are cool. I was wondering how you were going to get it from point a to b and your plan worked. Good idea. No doubt it will turn out right after watching your snake thread.
That must have been a sight! I'll bet you got a bunch of double take looks on the way back. Good thinking!
I love C-Series Ford’s. One of my first jobs at my current employer 22 years ago was to R&R a blown up 391 in a C-800 Ford Concrete Pumper. These Ford’s were just being phased out by the time I started in heavy trucks from school buses. Ford built this line until 1990 when it was phased out for the Brazilian Cargo line. More “modern”, but not half the truck the C-Series was. If I remember correctly, the shift linkages were a rather involved deal and would be hard to find gears if they were not kept up on. What are your plans for the driveline? Mine would be O/T but would involve a B Cummins and O/D manual transmission. Certainly an FE would be cool too. If I could offer one suggestion, please get rid of the drum brakes. They were marginally effective at best. Air brakes would be my first choice, but four wheel hydraulic discs would be good too. Great truck and I’m watching with baited breath! Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I a roll-back wrecker I have considered doing something with. What were your plans for the bed? I saw your model, but will it tilt?
Oh sorry. That model is not mine. Just found it on the internet while searching for real examples of Shelby haulers etc. I will go into it in depth as we go but right now my plan is a ramp truck where the treads or flat bed section controled by a winch, actually slides down runners sitting the rear section on the ground. Drive the car on the runners and winch the entire thing, bed and car back up into place.
This will be a very interesting build. Keep us posted as you build this. It should be quite the hauler when you are done
Meanwhile back to the beginning. LOL So when this all began, I started looking for doner chassis and motivation for the would be hauler. I didn't have to look very far. The company I work for has thirty year old GMC one ton bucket truck. It has about 150k on it but for the past 20 years, they have been fire truck easy miles. If it has averaged 500 miles a year or so I would be shocked. It has a very simple and "work-on-able" if you will, 454 with a 480LE. Sorry @southcross2631, there are two things going on here. One if you have followed my Cobra build you know I am not necessarily a Ford guy. I mean I stayed totally Ford on the Cobra because it would be hard to show up with it anywhere running a BB Chevy but I have to tell you, there were more than just a few times when I was ready to do it. LOL Building a high performance Ford is crazy, especially for a die hard Chevy guy. It has certainly been a learning experience but that is a completely different thread! AND we are trying to keep this build simple and cost effective (something I am not exactly know for) LMAO! We are trying to utilize as many parts as we can from what we already have etc. The bucket truck is one such item not to mention I got it for FREE! The truck is mechanically (drivetrain speaking) nearly perfect. I would not be afraid of hopping in it and driving it anywhere. However the generator that ran the hydraulic bucket arm shot craps. Over the past year we have had several professionals have a look at it. They have all agreed, the only option is a new or used unit which is simply not cost effective for the old truck. Besides, I have been working for the past several years to keep us from doing work that calls for a bucket truck anyway! SCORE. After taking a few measurements, the initial plan was simply scrap everything but the chassis and drivetrain, drop the cab on the front, figure out how to fabricate the steering and build a ramp bed. There were a few concern on my end from the beginning. The biggest was aethsetics. The width of the front end of the bucket truck is a bit narrow. About 6 to 8" shorter from hub to hub. I was not sure what it would look like in the already exhagerated large wheel openings on the C600. Then this week, I found this chassis for sale practially in my own back yard: This is from a later model Bluebird 28 passenger bus. It is the correct width and length to drop the cab on and continue the build just using the motor, trans, and other ancillary parts and pieces from the bucket truck, including the title! The other crazy cool advantages of this unit include 4 wheel hydraulic disk brakes and a power steering box. Not only that, but the original bus was a cab forward design meaning the steering is already way up front and engineered back to the axel etc. The rear is not attached that is why it looks a bit twisted. But while it had some killer positive points, the chassis itself was very flimsy. In my oppinon for what we are trying to do it is way too light. I had no idea this is what was under a bus. I guess they get their rigity from the body and frame combination. Sitting back at home looking our cab sitting on it original frame rails we had a very obvious thought... ...NOW THIS IS A CHASSIS! I mean take a look at this thing. The original truck according to the fading hand painted door graphics noted it was licensed for 24,000 lbs. Not to mention, the stupid cab is already engineered to this chassis. How stupid would it be, not to mention heavy duty work to put this cab on any other chassis then the one where it currently sits! So we decided to purchase the Birdbird stuff from above and simply bolt the rear end to our springs out back and swap out the front end. We are headed over this morning to pick it up. I figure we will simply cut it up, keep what we want or need and scrap the rest. Last night after we made the decision, we started unbolting and cutting off all the stuff we don't need. Right now the plan is to drop the motor and trans in a bit further back than the original 292 (sort of a mid-engine design). We really don't care where it sits as long as it does not interfere with the ramp bed. If we are successful with the before mentioned rolling back ramp bed, it should basically expose the motor for easy access when it is rolled back. We are off to snag the Bluebird stuff!
You made the right decision on keeping theC series frame with the C cab. It’s a strong frame and you saved your self a ton of work. I just wish you would have kept this project all Ford . Putting the 454 Chevy in kinda defeats the theme I thought you were going for. I know most folks won’t see the engine, but we will know it’s there. I think the smaller wheels are not going to look right, unless you get adapters and put larger than the 16 inch wheels. I would like to have seen you guys keep the large/ Strong C series rear end and put an auxiliary transmission in it. TruckDoctor mentioned the brakes were marginal. All the CSeries I have dealt with had air brakes and they worked good! Going auto transmission is going to save you a ton of problems. They actually put automatic transmissions in the C series trucks. If you could find one equipped with one you would have a bolt in shifter with a nice heavy cable, that could be adapted to your transmission. I know that two of our old C series fire trucks with chrome bumpers and chrome grills, in perfect shape we’re taken to a scrape yard here on Muskogee a few years ago. Our automatic ladder truck is probably junked there too, by now. There is one thing on those trucks that will give you fits! I don’t know how much of the cab wiring you are going to keep, but Ford put a multiple point connector over on the passenger side, behind the grill. It has a tendency to come loose when you open the cab. You will loose power to the cab. A .02 zip tie is your friend here! Lol I will be following this build, as I did the Cobra. Knowing you guys.... your going to knock it out of the park! At least with this project, you have more room! Lol Good luck! Bones
Well we didn't get the Bluebird stuff home today but we closed the deal. After we got there I decided since the rear end was loose maybe we should just cut the front end free. It would be easier to haul etc. We were not exactly prepared for that call...lol. However I did get some good news while we were there. I was wondering about the rear gear ratio. I just figured it was a diesel. But the front of the bus was laying there too. I looked under the hood for a tag and belive it or not found one...small block Chevy. We should be good to go. Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Good Luck on your build. Lost interest when you decided to go GM power. Nothing wrong with a 454 , but for a Cobra hauler should be Ford powered. Be sure and paint that 454 Ford blue.
I was actually a little disappointed when you got colour on the cobra because I’ll really miss that build when it’s completed. Thanks for giving us something new to be excited about! As to the negative vibes about the big block Chevy, isn’t what you’re doing just the essence of hotroding? Using parts you have available or got on the cheap to improve performance? A free BBC sure beats a BBF that you don’t have. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oh don't worry, that thread is not going anywhere soon. We have not even started to test, show or race it. Let alone completely rebuild the stupid thing at some point (which we are unfortunately known for) LMAO! But right now is when things usually get really interesting so stay tuned. As for this thread, I appreciate the consensus on the BBC...LOL. Honestly I pay very little attention to any of that stuff, you really can't here on the HAMB. You are correct, though, this is just about putting something together with what we have. I mean honestly, if folks would prefer, I can just continue to show up at events with the car in an enclosed trailer pulled with my RAM! LOL But seriously, it is going to be fun and I am looking forward to the build. Here is the general direction...
I was just doing a little ragging about the power for your truck. If I had one and needed a motor and had a Izuzu diesel that's what it would get. I like your concept picture.
Well I got the Bluebird stuff home this evening. As you can see we actually rolled the disk brake rearend under the old girl and set the springs down on its pad. Check it out. Like a glove baby. Dead nuts perfect. That's an industry term. Lol Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Well the Bluebird put up quite a fight this evening but we finally clipped her wings. Now to chop it up into manageable pieces and off to the scrap yard. A few of the valuable pieces that we have robbed: The power steering unit. Which we were really excited about, especially when we found the exact same tilt front yolk on it as the 600. However it is totally bas-ack-wards! The pitman is on the wrong side. The 600 box is inside of the frame rails with the pitman arm toward the drivers side. The Bluebird is way to the outside of the chassis with the pitman arm opposite etc. Unless we decide to go right-hand drive, we have some serious engineering to do and I am not sure if we can pull it off. We did however snag both the cross members for engine and trans mounts. The front end really fought but we finally found a way to get it separated from the chassis and over to the shop. Tomorrow we will make quick work of the ubolts with the plasma cutter and then the springs will be added to the scrap pile. Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Woo-hoo...check it out. I got me another straight axel vehicle. How about that 12" drop...LMAO! We finally got everything stripped off new front axel. I got a good look at the rotors this evening and I think they have enough meat on them to turn. Sent from my SM-G970U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
In! I want one of these too. I don't have a good reason though... just want! I always get a little grin out of the Ford vs. Chevy powerplant thing on these types of builds. IMHO, if Shelby had been approached by Chevrolet instead of Ford with a blank check... well, to coin a Missouri phrase, he was a bidnessman! His car haulers (and Holman Moody's) were Ford powered because they were paying the bills. When I was part of a stock car racing team, we did not have a factory sponsor (surprise!) and we towed our Chevy powered car with a Ford. Many races were still won. I love the penury approach to building a hauler. Put your cash in the Snake!
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