Hot Rods LYNDWOOD BANTAM DRAGSTER BUILD....with PICS...detroit bound...

Saving vintage dragster frames from their jungle-gym tubing encased bracket racing hell service has become a bit of a mission for us...
About two months ago my uncle mike (Hilton Family Racing) in Cincinnati came across a dragster for sale that was undoubtedly a LYNDWOOD WELDING chassis. Lyndwood welding built chassis in the early sixties out of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania mainly under the hands of Pat Bilbow. Long story short the frame and the mint condition STEEL Bantam body arrived back at my dads shop in virginia to begin a process of building.

Bantam bodies were used as the basis of COMPETITION COUPES and Altereds en mass during the early 60s.

Being as my grandfather Jim Lee had a Lyndwood chassis dragster as his first dragster it only seemed natural that finding and restoring/creating a competition coupe out of it would be correct.

Heres nanny and pop with his lyndwood car in 62...


Im back at my old mans place in virginia now working for the next week or so on it....Our plans are to ultimately have a blown Olds between the frame rails and have it in DETROIT for the autorama...a close dead line??...


the main rollbar...


Using a chassis research in-out box..running high gear only with a yoke to yoke u joint coupler...note the open driveshaft ford style rear mount...








MINT CONDITION Bantam steel...picture chopped 6 inches, wheel wells moved forward, doors welded shut, louvered side panels...










heres another of the NOS Chassis Research in-out box...

 

building the seat pan...

 

To put it into perspective, the chassis is an ELIMINATOR II style...heres some shots of one originally from our own LYNDWOOD WELDING HAMB social group...





And a picture of what the finished product is envisioned to be...








T.Hilton

 

Tyler
THE BEST! Have your previous posts all bookmarked. Just cant get enough. This photo is from your earlier thread. Thanks. Slim

 

Got a narrowed 60 OLDS rear end from a well known past racer in Cincinnati and brought it to the old mans shop....took it up the road to hamb member OJ to let him get the ends set right using his jig...









Just sitting on the frame rails to mock up...







OJ did a killer job...and he aint done with it yet...thanks man...

Working in a non heated shop with two feet of snow outside can make ya look funny...






Oh yeah, thanks to JOSH SHAW for letting me get a couple weeks break from helping him work on his sprinters to come east and help my old man...atleast there isnt two feet of snow back at SHAW HOT RODS SHOP in CINCY!..



T.H.

 

Anytime.. I got all the chrome back here on my end... I'm WIDE OPEN till the dead line. That thing is looking killer!! See you soon DARNELL.

 

very cool.....good luck with the build.

 

Man that is Beyond cool- give a little thought to bringing the car, finished or unfinished, to the second annual Pocono Drag Lodge Reunion, near Wilkes-Barre, Pa, august 14, 2010. Bob BIlbow had his dad's lyndwood FED with original Blown 392 hemi; will be a Mini reunion for all Lyndwood products!!! Please email me so I can get you on the reunion newsletter mailing list!!!

Charlie Hulsizer, promoter, PDL 2010
e-mail: [email protected]

 

This is going to be a great build. You got to have one of those butterfly wheels that is on Pats' archive picture you posted. You got any 'before' pics of that Bantam? This is too sick. Later, oj

 

Put her on the cushion tex....put some pics of that CHROME up!! Im sure bitchin Ken is in love!







T.H.

 

Just a little advise, Having the housing ends tacked on right now is fine for mock-up, but do not finnish welding them until AFTER the housing brackets are fully welded and then cut the tacks and re-align the ends.

 

Damn Darnell Good thing you posted this so you could get advice like this......BTW Where's Donte?

 

awesome

 

Way cool, I recognize the "finished product," gas-burning competition coupe, run by a couple of brothers from Staunton, VA, but can't remember their names...think they won class at the NHRA Nationals.

Good on you for bringing this car back to life!!

 

thanks for the advice Dr. dre...we got it handled...

296, were not recreating that car, i was just usin that as an example...because i love that car...theres some more east coast rides on the Lyndwood group that are killer!




T.H.

 

Love it!

 

The coupe was run by the LickLitter(sp) Bros. from Staunton Va. It is the car that had an accident at Petersburg Va. when it hit Joe Tucci's rail in the rear after they had just cleared the traps and were crossing over to enter the return lane. I was in my late teens and saw it happen. It was a bad day for east coast drag racing with Joe being paralized(sp). I know a couple of people that can give a little more history on the car if you want to Pm me.

 

Great to see another LYNDWOOD being saved. I think I'm out of the repro LYNDWOOD build plates that were on the rear crossmember, but I'll take a look around. When I had my chassis sandblasted a lot of the original brace tubes tureed out to be EMT tubing. It worked back in the day and "Alley Oop'" was never in a wreck. Merry Christmas! Bob

 

Thanks, I remember now (responded to your PM but it bounced, I don't know the guy you asked about, but if he is an Ardun guy, he is family!)...didn't know it had crashed (crashes were never reported back then, supposedly bad for the sport)

Eastcoast, whatever the finished product, great to see a classic Lynwood back!

 

Charlie: Ron McHugh here. There was a guy named Jim Serafini who had a 32 Bantam that he used to run at Pocono Drag Lodge. Jim ran that car after he traded chis 63 Max Wedge Dodge at Al John's Pontiac in Kingston to dabble with GTOs. His family ran Serafini's Market on S. Main St in W-B, and it would not surprise me at all if the Serafini Bantam was a Lynwood car. You should ask Joe P. Tell him I said Hi.

 

great thread! thanks for posting

 

Now remember fellas, i didnt really mention it before, but this car will be making passes...and lots of em.. Sometimes you just gotta work your magic with the local track director...






T.H.

 

Great to see your putting your time in VA to good use. I was up at Kowalski's in Reading today, and he has a similar old Lyndwood Eliminator II in the shop getting restored. It will get the '23 T modified roadster body that came when I bought Pinocchio's Woody chassis. This car will be a recreation of his Dad's car that ran with an injected Hemi.
I'll be there again Thursday morning and will get some photos.

 

Motor mounts in progress tonight....









T.H.

 

I'm planning to be at Detriot with a high school friend from Wilkes-Barre. We visited Pat's shop together back in the 60's. Wish I'd have taken a camera that day. See you in the Motor City. Thanks for posting Tyler and everyone be sure to visit the Lyndwood Eliminators social group.

 

Tyler

you and your family ROCK with all these killer cars. Dad's coupe is still my favorite old style street rod ever. Can't wait to se tihs one finished and out on the track at the Beaver next fall.

 

Jack, you will have a good time at Autorama, its a blast no matter what your into...but stay in the basement!

Cgas, it will definately be making passes....it and Bob Bilbows rail smokin the hides against one another would be the plan....




T.H.

 

Once the snow is off the ground, I'll stop by and get your dad talking. Hell, I might even hold some parts while you all weld or bang on metal.

You guy's have a Merry Christmas!

Jay

 

No snow here yet, just thrashing on the sprinter.. getting ready for paint tomorrow.

Gas it up Darnell.. Tyrone Force will be proud!

 

Spent many hours in the basement as a kid in Wilkes-Barre (shoveling coal and taking out the ashes) so we should feel right at home. PS you haven't been WARM unless you live in a house heated with Anthracite.