Hot Rods The deuce in the (pole) barn

Honestly,..... I never seen the floor in Franks shop before !..........

Great Job Lucky !..... I am so happy to see the old 5W getting off dead center. I'm so glad Frank seen that old Hot Rod Passion in you when you were ready to call it quits,.... Looks like the torch of a true Hot Rodder was litterally passed from his big ol' hand,... to yours.....

I can't tell you how much I miss the regular conversations Frank and I use to have,.... But to be honest with you,.... I don't remember many where your name wasn't brought up. He might have thought of me as a Brother,.... But I know he thought of you like another Son,.....

I recently ran into Sharon,... Even now the loss of her "True Love" is still raw,... But she smiles warmly when I asked about you and all you have done for her,..... And she said "Scott is truly a God-Send" ......

Funny how the Lord works things out,..... Huh ?

 

Great story, keep the updates coming. That little coupe looks great.

 

Your story is exactly how something tragic like this should turn out to be. The passing of the torch, so to speak, is what I'm so impressed with seeing here and it really is so cool to see his project finished by you. His wife is exactly right, you are God-Send. And yes, that little coupe is smiling and looking forward to seeing the road.

 

Hey Lucky77,.... Frank ever tell you ths story of the Model Car and his Mom ?

 

Yeah, I think he had a five window model car and his mom took and hid it until he got the real one running? Something like that


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Like almost everything from the 60s this coupe is just way too high so I decided to look into what it's going to take to get it sitting pretty. I figured a tire change 7.50X16 or so and flattening the crossmember would do it. Then I looked at the suspension last night, holy crap! The ends of the springs are welded to plates on the axles with no shackles! Add to that the stubby trailing arms mounted under the chassis which looks like crap, and they're welded solid to the axle so the pinion angle is going to be off just a touch when the rear end moves up a foot!

So everything in the rear of the chassis is coming out. Survivor or not that is a terribly unsafe design that was boogered up fifty years ago, and it makes the car look ridiculous. So to make myself feel better I took the wheels off, lowered it to where I thought it looked cool and started bolting stuff on it. If I end up with the car it's getting fenders and a 3" chop. It looks cool either way, but I dig the fenders. Looks like we'll see if I learned anything from my mentor when I rip out and redo this whole rear end. I think it needs bigger back tires too. The 7.00X16s just aren't doing it for me.


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Not that it matters much because you're going to rip it out anyways, but I see a shackle there.

 

Right. I should've said it wasn't being utilized. Still a pretty scary setup.


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I'll bet the way it rode it you would lose all the fillings in your teeth!

 

I feel like somewhere Frank is really happy about this.

 

Thanks Dave, I sure hope so.


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Lucky your loyalty to friendship is inspiring. When I am at the end of my life cycle I hope that someone like you steps up and help my family with the things that brought joy to me as I passed through it. Gary

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it. It's a labor of love, simple as that.


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Thanks for doing this .The hot rod world thanks you.
Please don't chop it.Let's remember it the way it was.

 

hope ya don't chop it

 

Its stories like this that keep me going in this Hobby. We are a very unique group

 

For the time being it's not getting chopped at least while I'm trying to get it on the road. If the stars line up and I end up buying the car someday it's getting a 3" chop and full fenders. Frank taped out different chops on this thing about twenty times but could never bring himself to do it. It's also something I wouldn't attempt, I know who's going to chop it. Here's an old pic of fab32 fitting the fenders. Probably won't get much done this week. I'm working the next few nights then heading to Pomona for the GNRS. But when I come back the body is coming off and that rear suspension is coming out.


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I think that 3/4 side shot with the fenders looks really, really good! Your project, of course, but I like the un-chopped look. Great save of an old Hot Rod.
Thanks for posting.

 

That stance looks sweet! Love the top, full fenders, and low body. Thanks for posting this great thread.

 

Back from an awesome time at the Grand National Roadster Show, itching to get going on the coupe! Tonight my dad came out to Frank's shop and we popped the body off the chassis for the first time in over fifty years. That rear suspension just gets scarier. The ladder bars are 3/4" thick plate steel. The front mounts are 5/8" thick and are affixed to the chassis by one terrible weld at the bottom of the frame nothing on the top or back side. I guess the builder didn't plan on turning or putting any lateral stresses on the rear end, wow......

Tonight I'll strip everything off the chassis in anticipation of it going into Frank's jig. One of his closest friends was our own Dennis Sisco (Harm's Way) and he asked to be part of this build and I was more than happy to take him up on the offer. So I'll have some graybeard guidance along the way, and that's good, the last thing I want is to screw up this car. That's all for now, I'm going to bed.


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Is there a regular shackle on the other side? if so I think this is called a "dead perch". Kind of a poor mans panhard bar.

 

Think of the weight saving when you ditch that crap!!

 

The shackles are welded to plates on the axle.


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I shudder to think that Frank actually drove this on the street.

 

He didn't drive it much, I've only heard of two instances where he was behind the wheel. I guess the mechanics who built it at the dealership didn't care too much for the kid who received it as a present.


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Had some help the other night from a local hot rodder and Frank's longtime friend Chris Hockaday, (he's not on the H.A.M.B.) We got the chassis stripped down to just the rails and crossmembers. I should be getting the jig next week and we can get to work on the boxing plates, and new crossmembers. Still have to figure out what to do for a center section. I also grabbed some polish and went to town on the 50+ year old lacquer paint job, and it looks like it's going to clean up nice.


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Good stuff...subscribed.

 

Went up north with my dad this morning and met up with Dennis (Harm's Way) and got Frank's old jig and put the chassis in it. This chassis is pretty square and dropped in the jig with minimal effort. I have to get my roadster ready for Autorama in a few weeks, but after that we'll hit this chassis pretty hard.


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I was going to say before how I loved the paint color. Now that you've started to rub on it, even more so.
3wL "That'll buff out"


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Great story. Congrats and atta boys to all involved. We think its about the cars, but its really about the friends, isn't it? I love em chopped, but maybe not this one. And I hope you'll keep the Chevy tail lights. Good luck and I hope you are able to make the car yours.