Hot Rods Flat tow question...

Have you considered moving closer to the show...

 

Oh hell no, we love living on our little island! I have been considering selling the T and buying a '61-'63 T bird... one of my last "bucket" cars.

 

Wasnt laughing at ya. Was chuckling atad at the thought of towing the jeep with the T. It would definitely be picture worthy. What ever you choose to do. Have fun. And like you said. Dont over think it.... i have the same problem..

 

They make a easy slider mat called the magic creeper, that might make it much easyer to slide under.

 

I keep a folded up old shower curtain in the trunk of my car in case I need to do an unexpected slide underneath the car somewhere. Heavier than some tarps, folds and rolls into a really small size, throw it away if it gets damaged or too dirty to clean. Buy a new shower curtain for the house (it needed replacing anyway) and the old one goes into the car.

 

Good idea, I just happen to have an old shower curtain out in the shop...

 

LOL a 100 miles. sell it and get a car you can drive.

 

And that's exactly what I just did! Sold the T roadster yesterday, bought a '63 T bird today... I loved the roadster, but just wasn't comfortable enough for me. The bird runs and drives great and was one of my last "bucket list" cars.

 

^^ Nice one! ^^

 

ROAD TRIP, ENGAGE!!

 

Thanks!

 

For those that have never seen one a Model T drive shaft is not like dropping one off a 55 chevy.


And the trans is a bit different also.

 

Congrats - Birds are Cool - gotta do what ya gotta do to enjoy life

 

Bullet birds are cool. Plus you made that T a whole lot better. It's back in circulation now, so you ''spread the gospel''.

 

I may be wrong here, but I think most of us are under the impression this is the T-bucket in his avatar, and not running the stock T drivetrain.

 

Why read the whole post?

 

If my regular traveling buddy with physical limitations wanted to go to a show only 100 miles away that I did not want to go to, I would drive his car down there for him, not go to the show, and come back to drive it home for him. That's what friends do for friends.

 

I always chuckle when I read people's comments about fear of flat towing cars. You'd think it was a new invention, or that there were thousands of cars wrecked by flat towing them? In the few instances when a vehicle was involved in an accident while flat towing, there's almost always extenuating circumstances that caused the wreck. Sometimes it's just an accident that could be no different than having an accident with any car. Sometimes you find the driver got distracted, and over reacted causing a crash. Sometimes it's a poorly engineered tow bar setup, like too much angle up or down from hitch to car.
I've flat towed cars for many decades. Started back in the 60's towing my '55 Chev gasser thousands of miles to various strips. It was a 4 speed car, so pretty easy to tow. But I flat tow the Austin gasser in my avatar every summer to the drags and it's a TH350. I just pull the driveline loose from the rear axle, and leave it slipped into the trans. Secure it up under the car, and hook it behind my truck. It tows beautifully, and I don't even feel it following me. Done the same with my larger/heavier Falcon gasser, and it also tows great, but I do feel it behind me more simply because it's heavier; so starting and stopping is felt.
Of course a gasser is a lot easier to slide under to remove the driveline, so that makes things better. I will continue to flat tow, and wouldn't be afraid to do so for very long trips.

 

2017 Lion's Dragstrip Museum Willys display center. (very similar construction: red primer, black wheels, black tow bar under the grille, and a 671 sbc motor waiting to be installed...against the wall)

Hello,

In 2017, while the first, original Lion’s Dragstrip Museum was being put together, there were several days when we all got to wander around the whole Price Transfer Automobilia complex. Meetings, talking about displays, my movies being a part of the presentation, etc. That certainly was a surprise, but, I was all for the general acceptance of my film contribution.

But, the really surprising thing was this red primer painted 1941 Willys Coupe(single grille) sitting in the Willys section of the Automobilia Area. In a flash, my mind went back to the 1959-60 era when my brother and I had just painted our 1940 Willys Coupe (dual grilles) and the look was all black wheels in contrast to the red primer paint.

If you look hard enough, a simple black tow bar was sitting under the motor area of the 41 Willys that was on display at Price Transfer. Now, my mind was really wondering if the owner of the Price Transfer Automobilia had done this build because he happened to drive by that popular scrapyard in Wilmington, near Lion's Dragstrip in 1960. (or was present during our foray at Lions from 1959-60)

When we were finished unloading the wrecked empty shell of our 1940 red primer Willys Coupe in the gravel, it was sitting just behind the gates. We could not drive in farther into the yard as their rules prevented it. They were not going to come out and lift off the empty shell of our Willys Coupe, so they told us to just unload it off the flat bed trailer and put it behind the gate.

As we drove away, we noticed that anyone driving down this road would see the 1940 Willys Coupe just sitting there in all of its empty glory, red primer and all.

We had a black tow bar made by a big time welding shop in the Westside of Long Beach. Our plans were to be able to tow the Willys Coupe with the 58 Impala that just got a heavy duty permanent bumper hitch ball. We had made many tows to various places around town

Jnaki

The short towing was ok when hooked up to the 1958 Impala for our weekly tow to nearby Lion’s Dragstrip. But, when we had to tow it across town to northeastern Bixby Knolls for some machining work, around several corners and over some deep intersections, despite going slowly, the Willys seemed to have a mind of its own. When we turned a corner, it seemed like it wanted to continue going straight for a short distance, then follow along with the black 58 Impala. It was nothing for us to worry about, but, it was slow going, in the short or long distances for us.

For a couple of young teenagers, those longer distance, local towing episodes were a little exciting. People would stare at us like we were crazy. Imagine towing the same "finished" Willys across the country to the 1960 Detroit Nationals later in September of the year. That was our plan that never became a reality.