Hot Rods # 10 Track Roadster Build- Marty Strode

Saw those pics in Joey's post about the event, figured that was some of your work.
For those who haven't read his recap, go here: Harvest Drags: The Full Story | The Jalopy Journal The Jalopy Journal

 

Gas tank looks good. How many gallons? Looks like bolted along side mounts? Love your builds

 

Yeah TA, there was quite a selection, from "T" through V-8" power. The track was a little too soft in places, for me to run Ernie's car. Being it was a gift from him, I did what he would have done, kept it parked.

 

Terry, Brent's car is #3 of the series, he did a hell of job finishing it. The orange Tub was my personal ride from a decade ago. It was nice to see them together.

 

Thanks Mike, the tank is a little over 10 gallons, and has side rail mounts. I am going to get the brake pedal linkage in, this weekend, and it will be ready to leave for a while. Then I can get back on the Olds powered '29 and my own hanging projects for a while. It will be a busy Winter, stay tuned !

 

Roughed in the brake linkage on the Puritan today. Will add the gussets and finish it tomorrow.

 

Got the Puritan finished today, now back to regular programing, a couple of 29's, and #10 !

 

Looks awesome Marty...What a unique, low slung Hotrod...

You made it's day...

Please let us know how things progress on it as it happens Thanks for sharing this close up with past greatness...

Thank the owner for giving it the love it deserves...

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#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10 -#10!

 

Gas tank on #10 looks much bigger then 10 gallons. Looking way ahead on my runabout/modified I expect smaller tank. Google says 1 gal gas = 231 cubic inches or 2310 for 10 gallons. 10 x 10 x 23 = 2300 Do not have a t turtle deck at hand, yours just looks big

 

Mike, I haven't built the tank for #10 yet, the Puritan tank is a little over 10 gallons. However # 10 will get a tank that has a horseshoe shape and will be 10 as well.

 

Thanks Stogy, with the engine ready to go, I am sure the owner will have it on the road this Spring, and I will document it's first spinning of the tires.

 

Well, it's been over a year since I worked on this one, others got in the way. After vacuuming a years worth of dust off the car, and mopping the floor, it time to spend some time on # 10. I had fitted the roll bar, and bent the side bars, and today I trimmed and fitted the side bars. I have a sample tube that made out of exhaust tubing that fits the RH side, with the needed coping. I use it as a baseline to get started, with ink marks showing where to trim. The bandsaw is handy, but a little awkward to use making the rough cuts, however it works OK. After a quick check, and some more ink marks, I use a mop disc on a 4-1/2" Metabo grinder to finish the joints. The next thing will be pulling body and notching the bottom flange on the body, to clear the front mounting brackets.

 

As always Marty - looks great
keep us updated

 

Sam, I have been wondering about you !

 

Old age and medical problems have slowed me down. Still kicking!

 

Somewhere in the recesses of what's left of my mind, I had this image of you never having to use a ruler. You just used witness sticks and your micro-metric eyeballs to get the results you want. However you do it, you do it extremely well. Thanks for all the lessons I've learned.

 

Alan, you are quite the wordsmith, thanks ! It is nice to be back on this project, these are the stages of the build I like the most, bending tubes and doing the aluminum work.

 

Marty has done more pipe fitting than many pipefitters!
I on the other hand have only a little experience, some of it with good results only after trashing some tubing in the process, but, as they say, failures can be the best teacher.
I will say that achieving perfectly fishmouthed weld joints have been some of the most satisfying things I've done on my projects.
Now if I could just weld!

 

Too bad I'm not closer. Only people I've not been able to teach to weld were vision impaired or had a pacemaker. I'd just bet that there's somebody close to you could show you how. Mostly, it's practice and getting muscle memory.

 

Thanks for the excellent pictures Marty. I've been holding off doing this step on the Whatever project because I couldn't visualize how to get to the frame, and this shows perfectly.

Just one question: what thickness is the mounting bracket material?

 

Dave, Here are the frame brackets for the side bar mounting, I cut them out of 3/16" wall rectangle tubing. Now I am making some 3/16" diamond shaped plates the weld the bar to.

 

Doug, you probably remember when I used a cutting torch and a 7" body grinder to fit the joints, much easier now.

 

Thanks Marty. Great way to get a finished product. I've even got some of the exact size in the short rack. Now I know what I'll be doing this week...

 

Marty - I sure enjoy seeing (and learning from) your methods of fabricating!

 

Thanks Cory, it's a pleasure to have you looking over my shoulder. I do things as simple as I can, however I am a blacksmith next to you ! I was showing off your coupe to some old hotrodders just yesterday. Hope to meet you in person someday.

 

Progress report ; I got the side bars fit and tacked in tonight. It required a slight amount of additional bending to hit the centers on the front mounts. Once that was completed, I laid out the bar that will span the distance across the back, to support the seats. The ends have to be curled to get the offset needed. I lay out the centers, and the amount of offset needed, and using a cardboard template that fits the radius of the die I will will be using. The tube will be 1-1/4" with a 3" centerline radius. I should be able to get that bar, bent, fit, and tacked in place in the morning. Then it will be time to mount the seats.

 

I coped the ends of the 1-1/4" crossbar, using a 1-3/4" hole saw. In this circumstance I don't cut all the way through for safety sake, and break the unused piece off. With it tacked in place, I can now remove the bar and body, and bolt the bar back on, to mount the seats and finish the welding.

 

Genius!

 

Marty, I wondered why you used such a large access hole and flat mount for the bottom of the main roll hoop? Did you ever consider a slip-in inside bung welded to the frame, so the body access hole is just a round hole and the bar slides over it and attaches with a bolt or two through the side? Or maybe kick the hoops a bit forward in the bottom foot and have them attach all inside the body?

Or am I being to street roddy?