hi there... i joined up on this site just to be able to pop in on THIS specific thread. my name is christine, and i am the daughter of the man who originally built & raced FAT BOY'S FOLLY (jeff wright, sr.). the car was built in tacoma, wa (usa) and my dad sold it when i was 8 or 9 years old. he still has pictures from the very beginning, even before it got that crazy & amazing paint job. i am beyond excited to see that it is still racing! thank you for letting my butt in ;0)
Welcome to the forum! Would be great i you could scan any of those old pictures your dad has and post them here!
This is what makes the H.A.M.B. so great! History History, History, Thanks for taking the time to let him know. Can't wait to see some old pix. Mike
Hey Mick, what color blue is that ? is it a special mix, or on a chart ? that is a beautiful shade of blue.
Its not a custom mix, but I dont have the code either. Im working on that. I got the car already painted this color which is one of the reasons I liked it. Previous owner was going to get me the paint code as I do have some touch up to do, but it does change with light some and has a good bit of metallic in it.
I'm trying to close the deal on a 4 dr. If i can get it, thats the color i want. If you get the paint code, would you pm me with it. I saw gassermans ( i think ) build of his austin on gasser madness. I want to build one like his 4 dr he started with. Thanks, Art
My Austin is little different from everyone else. I've got a 1956 Austin A50 Cambridge that I'm starting to dig into. This is what I started with. Than plan... This is where I'm at. I've only got a couple pics, I'm going to start taking pics with my real camera soon. Sooo, as per my drawing, it scaled up that the rear fenders needed to be cut this much, to fit a 29" tall tire with some clearance at the stance I was shooting for. Friends and family thought that this looked ridiculous and couldn't see what I was seeing.... Until I did this... This tire is 31" tall and I just used it for reference. I lower the back till the rear end was on the ground equaling about an 8" drop giving me 8" of rear ground clearance. My tape line makes sense now! I love the shape of the little fins with the big tires. Next my friend lent me some skinnies, 15x4", 25" tall for a mockup on the straight axle. I got too excited and just took a stock wheel off and put a pro-star in it's place. This thing is gonna look killer IMO. Then I pulled the Chevette drivetrain someone had crudely installed, their shitty work made for easy removal. The whole front suspension is held in with 4 bolts, got those loose, with a little persuasion with a air chisel and a sledge hammer and she dropped out. I called it a night on friday. Yesterday I got the spindles and brakes mounted on my drop I-beam axle with the wheels bolted up and stuck it under the car. It's a little wide looking, especially head on from the front. Looking from the rear, down the side of the car, it doesn't look to bad... I might looking into wheels with more backspacing if there even is anything out there in a 15x4 with the vintage look I plan on going for. So my Austin project has begun!
Nice start Awall! You might have to narrow the axle, or find another donor. Sure don't want the tires hanging out up front; save that for the rear!
Thanks! Thanks! The front end is a little on the wide side but I think with front runners with more back spacing it wont look too bad. I can't really run a narrower axle because I'm going with a mono leaf setup. Here what it looks like with Pro-Stars with a 1.875" back spacing. I kinda want to run some skinny steelies and reuse the original Austin center caps.
Thanks Langy! That seems so long ago now! Nearly a year since that picture was taken, and numerous changes since then. The Austin is lettered now, plus has new red window tint, and finally carpetted as of a few weeks ago. Bucket seats changed out again, and starting to refine the drivetrain with a few upgrades to engine, trans and rearend. Someday I may get it finished, but until then I'll drive it and keep working on it!
Here are a few a pics of our 48 Austin. I'm lucky enough to have a dad who let's me race it. It was an Old Gasser from the 60's. Dave McCauley restored it back to a street/strip gasser and then we recently got it 10 or so years ago. It is a blast to drive!
The black one looks like Mike Kalinowski's, can you say Hi to him for me, he spent a day with me in the UK early this year. Love the injected green Austin too.
Yep! That's Mike's Austin! I will say hello to him for you. I saw his pics from your place in the UK. It was really cool! That is Frank Zieminick's green austin of the Z. Bros, they have a trio of gassers... one Anglia, One Austin and one Henry J, one for each brother!
Got that right Micky! Here is a cool pic of the car back in it's day, had 2 different pain jobs... I believe Mike plan's to paint it someday and restore it similar to what it was. He has been in contact with Len Cotrell about the car. Currently running injection on the Big block engine. That Car Hauls Ass!