Features Modifieds only!!

Mine, about three weeks into the build.... Chassis is done, pedals in steering and suspensions completed. 324 Olds with #10 heads and J-2 intake converted to run Holley 94s'. '39 toploader and '40 rear with seriously shortened torque tube. Stock a springs with Pete & Jakes reversed bottom leaves, 6 up front, 5 in the rear. Chopped '32 radiator. Plans for a '29 shell, hood sides only, and not much else.







Tried with Kesses wheels, good size but not the look I'm after....

 

Awesome Koz! Just my opinion, it looks loads better with the black stelies and no whites....

 

Oh yeah...thats right on the money Koz!
Agree that the WW's are a bit much for it but damn it has the profile with those size tires.

I'm collecting parts...I'll make it happen as the next project! (once the current half-dozen projects are completed or dropped! LoL)
Seriously though...threads like this are awesome once you've had your face in the wind and miss the feeling.
and I surely do.

 

thanks for the pics Koz....I like where you are going with the hood!

 

I agree on the tires. I'm thinking 16" wheels with 5.60-16 up front on 4" wheels and 7.50-16 in the rear on 4 1/2" '46-'48 wheels. I already have 15" wheels and I was wondering if the wheels on Bob Knaaks' roadster were 15" or 16"? It's hard to tell from the pics. The wheels in the pics of mine are 15". If Ok I would use 5.60 and 8.20 Firestones. I also need to source a smaller steering wheel.

 

Modified built by Jim at Lion's Hot Rods in Illinois.

 

Fighting the urge to make this into a modified.

 

Very nice!!!!! I'm pretty tired of the red/black thing but it looks great here.

 

I made some progress on the body, the doors actually work now! I hope to finish the floor and tunnel this weekend, i got the new axle from OkieJoe a couple days ago. It is beautiful, i'll post a pic of it when it is in the bones.
I stuck a pic of the engine sittin in the frame.

 

Slowly making progress

 

rolled mine out for the first time last weekend. I'm not so sure about the proportions of it. Its going to get channeled over the frame and slid forward to cover the front z, but before i get there I'd like to get it looking right. Something just looks odd about it and I can't put my finger on it-is the back end too long? I guess this is just another downside of building a chassis in a one car garage. My wheelbase as it sits is 110"--too long?. I have the spring mounted on speedway brackets in front of the rear axle. I'm thinking maybe put the spring right on top to scoot the back end up towards the body. Its a fairly rough mockup with the rear end tacked in, so nothing is permanent yet. Luckily I haven't cut my 36 radius rods yet. (and yes they will be triangulated to pivot next to the trans yoke.) It my first build and I'm sure it'll get pooped on, but I'm looking for opinions.

So, whatcha think?

 

I think your wheel base is too long. Try moving the rear wheels forward and and the front wheels back then take another picture. Mine is only 103" wheel base

 

Mine is about 110" too, with a straight 6 and the axle out in front of the grill. I think it seems a little long but with a straight 6 it almost has to be a little longer. My car is wider than yours though.

 

Twin City Knight, Ya, (recovering Minnesotan!) your wheel base is too long. I usually shoot for about 100" give or take an inch or three. Leave the body right where it is and move the rear wheels forward about 5", and set the rear suspension up to raise the back a good couple of inches to get it at least level or better yet raked the proper way. If it were me, I'd honestly cut a couple of inches out of the rear kick up to make it happen. That "too long, too low in the rear" stuff screams rat rod to most of us that have been around this stuff forever.

Then, with what I see of the front end, redrill your holes for the spring perches forward as close to the forgings in the wishbones as you can, and you'll lose another 3", plus strengthen the front end quite a bit. The wishbones were never intended to take a sideways force such as a spring's movement, and the further back you go from the forging, the weaker and more flexible they become.

 

I think Mike what is making yours look more proportionate is the fact that you car's body is a bit longer than the typical "T". You're literally filling more of that space between the engine and rear axle of that 110 inch wheels base.

 

I appreciate the input. The rear end is way too low and way too long so i agree, that's not the look I was after. It was quite a bummer rolling it out and having that oh f*ck i looks like a rr moment. I'm in the process of bringing the rear end in about 8" between shortening the z and spring mounts. It'll have about 8" under the bottom of the rails for clearance once the rake gets sorted. I didn't want to build a rodent, so that's why I'm here on the hamb looking for help, thanks again


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It's all good man! That's why it is so important to roll them out in the yard every now and then to see what your up too. Much better to see what's wrong now than when your on final assembly. I'd still like to see you bring those spring perches forward to the forgings though...

 

G'day Twin City
You mightn't be too quick to full the rear end forward. Mine was 105" on a 3 spring layout. I spent a lot of time looking at proportions and in my opinion your rear end is about right with the tank up like that. Mine had an inliner in it as well so I jammed it back as far as possible to the firewall and then with the grill above the front axle it looked it's best. If yours was mine I'd slide the front axle back under the grill shell correct the rake and leave the back outback!.
Cheers
Tony



This is mocked up outside:

First short with diff up close to the body



Then with rear axle away from the body.


Cheers
Tony

 

Ya, I think so too. There really isn't much of a way to shorten mine besides changing the front cross member and mounting the spring under the frame. The body is quite a bit larger than a T even though the back has been narrowed.

 

All valid points. I measured again before i cut it up and wheelbase was 114"-f that.

i understand the concern about the front end being out front. I think mods look right with an undropped axle infront of the grille shell. Im not a fan of the look of the spring ahead of the grille shell and I like the look of the rolling bones type front end. I intend on gusseting the perch pins I stuck through the bones and sleeved. It seems this will be stronger than your typical spring behind in a hairpin and it uses old ford parts. I'm not here to piss and moan over engineering- but guys like Jason graham and the rolling bones use similar setups. Look at a lot of the cars posted here with this setup, they're all driven and proven. I appreciate the concern and i fully understand your argument and i'll watch it closely when i run it. Once the back end is up nice and close if it still don't look right I'll change it.

Pete

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Well, here she is with the spring on top of the rear axle. This is at 103". Probably going to have to tunnel the tank (think motorcycle) a bit to get it to sit right, but I'm still just playing around for now, nothing is permanent. Anyway, here it is. Thanks!




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Sure are some nice rides here !

 

So, so much better! See how much "tighter" they look without a whole bunch of extra wheelbase? You have it nailed now.

Quickly, I want to go back to your front end. Yes, the Rolling Bones guys and many others before have done a similar type of front end. Hell, if you want to see the earliest example I have seen of that type in print, pick up the Feb. 1965 issue of Car Craft magazine in the third edition of their "how to build a T-bucket" article and you'll see it there. ( Quick footnote, I bought my copy of that magazine from the cool used book store at the corner of Snelling and University in St. Paul in 1981...) The big difference though is how far back you have your perch pins passed through the 'bones. When originally done, the idea with that deal was to go back down the bone just past where the forging plugged into the oval tubing. About 3 1/2" back. This put the vast majority of the side to side forces the spring imparts into the forgings, not the weaker tubing of the wishbone. This is how Rolling Bones has done it, this is how Doanne Spencer did it, this is how many Sprint cars and Super Mods did it back in the day.

The practice of moving those perch pins back came in with the "rat rod" in the late nineties and early 2000s as a means to exaggerate the length of the car more. I have watched several of that type of car go down the road with perch pins mounted as yours back 6-8" or so, and you can physically see the wishbones flex and move. Not real good for the overall rigidity of the front end, or for handling in general. That's my only reasoning in suggesting this, not trying to be doctorial or even traditional police...

 

I love this thread.

 

my Dad just gave me this one this morning,well kinda, I have to bodywork and paint his 41 Plymouth pickup.Plan on changing the rolling stock,head lights and fuel tank.

 

Came up w this stuff today. May sell it or I may just build it.

Later, Bill

 

...And so it starts...

 

Picked up a long abandoned project from a friend of mine, hopefully I'll make this pile into something worthwhile.




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looks like a good start gonzo. There's lots of hate on here for the low modifieds (and given the venue, justifiably so)

But that being said, I love me a low modified.

 

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