Projects Beebe Bros, Vinson, & Sixt "Cackle Car"

Time for another Vintage Kodak.... Starting to look like something!!!



Fuck'n Love it!!!!!

 

A bit more hunt'n and Poke'n round about the internet turned up a great fella back east that was done running his 417 Donovan and he had an Ass-Load of goodies up for sale... It came at a perfect time because Harvest was in full swing at the winery and I was working my Ass Off... Each night I would roll home late and it was all I could do do have a glass to calm my nerves and choke down some food before passing out for a few hours. Until this night came along!!! A fresh issue of the Rodder's Journal and more HEMI parts! Can you say relaxing??? I knew you could...



Donovan Gear Drive. Crower Cam, and a killer set of Roller Lifters.

WIN WITH DONOVAN!!!

 

Collecting parts is all good but at some point we gotta start work'n on shit... So I loaded up the 2 cranks and headed down to the Bay Area. These need to make it to the proper shop with a guy who still knows his shit... They are becoming few and far between... This One is still the PLACE.



The cranks are looking pretty good. The one is a simple stock crank but the other one is the winner! It's either a "Hank the Crank" or a "CrankShaftCo." deal from the 60's. Added counterweights, lots of grinding and polishing, full groove Main Journals, etc.... We are focusing on this one and just checking the other one to make sure we have a good spare lying around.


While I was down there I was stoked to get my Favorite Mask Back!!!! I have worn this for every pass I have ever made down the ole 1320.... So glad to have it back!!! And glad I will get to use it again!

 

kool stuff, cant wait to see it going together!

 

Subscribed!
Bitch'en thread...Beebe Bros was one of my favorite TFD's of that time...Cool Project

From right down the road in Windsor...if you need any heavy lifting or ? give me a holler

 

Wow! This thing is really coming together. How long have you been collecting parts?

 

Fred! That's outstanding! Good to know we have some local fans.... There's a few other locals that have actually been involved with the car.... Those stories will come soon.

Thanks! I think the first pieces roll'ed in the door about 5 to 6 months ago now... There is much more stuff here and I will add a few more posts over the next days to bring y'all up to speed.

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

this is going to be bitchin!

 

Well Steve it's an interesting tale.... This car actually transitioned in to the 1st Beebe & Mulligan Green Striped Car.... The car that John Mulligan drove during the '68 season! I will do a little Photo spread on this in the future showing all the variations but the story goes like this.. Without expanding of course!

1. Car built by Lee Sixt and a new team is formed in '65 as Beebe Bros, Vinson and Sixt.
2. Vinson Drops out after not too long and it sticks as the the 3 main guys.
3. The next few months of transition are not too clear... Either Lee Sixt opted out and it became just Tim and Dave, or John mulligan hopped in in place of Dave cuz he didn't want to go out on the road, and then Lee departed after that??? Regardless there was a big change up sometime in late '66 and in thru '67.
4. I won't go into the work done on the car quite yet but it was extensive... John Mulligan continued to drive this car all thru the '68 Season.
5. Leland Kolb was the next fella to own it and proceeded to lump in a 426! He raced the car a bit in the US and then crated her up and shipped it over to AUS.
6. The car was then stationed at Surfer's Paradise Drag Strip.
7. After a lot of Ya Ya it became Jim Read's Car.
8. It was then turned into a Rear engine car and traded hands a few more times... It finally ended up in Rod Bradshaw's home and was determined to be scrapped at this point. But remember.... Only the frame was scrapped! There's a bunch more shit out there!!!

Rod Bradshaw was the final Dude to have his hands on this car and he has been a monster help in bringing this beast back to life!

More news soon....

Robert M.

 

Thanks for sharing your build!
Here is a blown gas 60's FED from B.C. Canada
Syndicate Scuderia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE_SbhrVuBg

 

That is a bitchin Car!! I'm pretty sure I remember that car from some of the Nostalgia deals held at Fremont back in the late 80's. Absolutely beautiful.....

Thanks for sharing that!

 

this is gonna turn out great. i love how your collecting the parts for it!

 

If the truck in your avitar is yours, you have the perfect tow car. Here is a Dragmaster chassis I built in the back of Biggens 58.

 

And I owned and raced the old Beebe & Fedak dragster for numerous years. Ask Frank about this one!

Best of luck on your project!

 

So What's Next??? Hmmmmm... We need some Spark in this deal... Now here comes a cool part... Every Picture of this car I have seen has a Cirello Frankenstein MAG in the car. Well the last time I checked these are OFF THE RICHTER SCALE on price... Why?? Well Shit they only made like 360 of them and they are commanding quite the price... OK Cool... So I call up Lee Sixt and have a chat about the MAG, He Chimes in, "Well yeah that Franky was cool but we didn't have that at first...." Really? "Oh yeah we certainly had a Schiefer in there to start..." One more call to Tim for a back up and you bethcha!! "Well yeah... We had that Schiefer in there but Hell it wasn't long before we switched...." Keep in mind that I'm trying to build this car just as it rolled out in '65.

Well Hot Damn! Let's find one! So I'm making the rounds thru the Old Dude Phone list and end up chatting with Chuck Ridgely, a fellow that was always hang'n round and work'n with Tim Beebe and John Mulligan. He tells me of a Spare Mag over at Dave West's Compound and that I should give Dave a call! Sure Nuff! It's there and we made a deal! Dave West is the fine Gentleman that has gone thru every hoop possible to accurately re-create the Beebe and Mulligan Car as it was in 1969. A true Kick Ass guy and a major help for me in this project. Here's the Mag...



But wait! There's more..... Just so happens that Dave is a Wine Guy... So we strike a deal for the MAG and then spend time assembling our shipments... Here's mine the night it arrived! Perfect for Thanksgiving Dinner I Say!



Drink Up!!!

Robert M.

 

Wow No Shit!! Yeah that car is Identical to this one... Frank and I have had many chats about it!! Too Cool... I heard it was in a BAR down in Florida??? Is that correct? I have a great picture of your car that Frank Sent with my Roll Bar. It's the classic night shot from the rear quarter, Flames Up and waiting t the tree.... Such a cool car...

Did it still have the hand brake in the center when you got it? That was Dave's location of choice. I have recently seen some photographs of the car as it was after Jim Read rebuilt it in AUS and it finally shows where the damn handle needs to be.


Thanks For chiming in!!!

Cheers,

Robert M.

 

Dude... For Sure!! I built the '56 to be my period perfect Push Truck for this COMBO.... It can't wait to get Nitro Sprinkled all over the hood!!!

Dig IT BABY!!! I haven't built the Push Bar yet but that will come when the time is right...



~Berto

 

Wow!!! havin been involved with a gas digger in the 60's, I remember bein" in the lanes at Long beach with the "Irish" sittin' next to us. Wow what great memories... Bowtie40

 

Time for more Go Fast shit....

So I'm having a multiway e-mail chat about sleeving the block and the pros and cons associated with it a few months back... Well a good friend of mine Ron Johnson instructed me to give Jim Swedburg a call and talk thru what had been done on both motors for the Ivo Barnstormer as well as the Chizzler Cackle Cars. Ron told me Jim would have some good info and, oh yeah, "he makes some neat stuff as well...." So I pick up the phone and after about 1.5 hours of conversation I have 2 pages of notes and a whole heap of shit on the way to me! He's a shot of some of the spread...

4-Bolt Main Caps.
Killer Race Oil Pump all set up and ready for TopFuel Duty.
Neat little SparkPlug Tube seals that are designed to work with stock steel covers.
The slick little plug that you need to direct 100% oil flow to the filter.
And Last but not least, the trick Remote Oil filter adapter that allows all this shit to fit in between tight frame rails!



There is much more he has and I look forward to getting more loot as time allows! Great Guy, Great Data!!!

Fire the next pair!!!!

Robert M.

 

Awesome! If you need a hand, come over to the shop and steal me away. I won't mind if its for this!

 

Here's the butterfly I kept from the Fedak car...



Not sure if it's the original to the car but I'm kinda thinking it is. Frank might be able to tell you. Holes could be welded up once that brace I put on it was removed.

More pics here...http://rides.webshots.com/album/38623934nWPlrX

 

And it is the same one as seen in the shot with me sitting in the car with the cowl off.

 

Well as you can see from the last few posts Mr. Sweeney has stepped up to the plate with a bitchin piece of history.... That steering wheel has done it's share of Haul'n Ass and it has done so in the hands of Dave Beebe! As well as the years of fun I'm sure it provided for Bill! So classic...

Here's a good shot of the car in it's Heyday that the steering wheel came out of. Dave Beebe started to drive this car in a partnership with Frank back in '68. This would be his new ride after passing the torch to the late John Mulligan in the car I'm building. Take a look:



That photo is just too cool..... OCIR, at night, big load in the thing, Staged with the Flames Just right.... And Dave has a firm grip on that very steering wheel... Shit Howdy!!!

 

The cool thing about a Cackle car is that you get to build a race car without totally building a race car. You need to do shit right for sure but you really don't need to go Balls Out in the performance world. Matter of fact you want the thing to be as solid as it possibly can be.... Well within reason of course... Let's not forget that we will be still playing around with 90% Plus of POP in the tank.

Here's a little bit of clean up work on the heads. Nothing serious here in the world of porting but just more of a clean up. You want to leave as much MEAT in the heads as possible to help with absorbing heat and being able to idle for awhile. So I just laid out the ports like normal and cleaned them up for a good Gasket Match. The Bowls are not cleaned up quite yet but they will get a simple blend after the hard seats are installed. Here's a few Kodak's for ya:



And then here we are after the grinding... Not much material removed at all...



Exhaust side is next......

 

Time for a few more Black & Whites..... Need more inspiration.....

Check This Shit Out!


Side Shot.....


And Bringing up the rear..... Gotta Love it!

 

He must have red lighted!

 

Funny how things come together.
Read this story in the November 66 issue of Drag Racing about a month ago and then see this here today.


Not sure if this is the original Adams-Wayre-Mulligan car but when you get finished these two need to get together.

 

Fantastic!!! Such a Bitchin Article... Thank you so much for posting this up! I have yet to see this article in it's entire format. Tense Times for these boys!!!! Some awfully good racing in those days. Yep the Adams & Wayre car is a redo I think but it's a perfect one! And Yes How cool will it be to have the two cars together at the starting line on full tilt??? Yikes.... Almost Pee myself thinking about it.

Thanks Much!

~Berto

 

BTW.... Rod McCarrell, a huge help in this whole deal has informed me that the Dave's Visor that read's "KING" is still hanging in Frank's Shop..... So Bitchin!!!

 

I'm Robs Dad (Bob) and I wanted to get in on this post since I have been promised the job push starting this car with his 56 pickup when done. I included Rob in my life while he was growing up. He was always around my older friends and took it all in. We made many a trip to Fremont drags and lived there when the last drag race went down. I could see how Rob admired drag racing so when he was in the 6th grade I promised him that if maintained Honor roll through high school I would by him a dragster on his 16th birthday.( I'm sure he will post a picture of this car) What an incentive that was. Not only did he maintain it he continued on until he graduated and then went on to Graduate from UCSB with his degree in Mechanical Engineering. For 7 years we raced the nostagia circuit with all of our friends. I never knew that Rob had a secret desire to build this new car until 5 months ago when he started collecting parts for it. Am I proud of him ? You Damn Right I am. Enough said for now.