I definitely want to see more of that car! Interesting the use of hairpins instead of a split wishbone, but the fact they split anything at all in the 1950s in Aus is surprising in itself. A split wishbone or hairpin possibly suggests the use of something other than a model a banger due to clearance issues otherwise it'd still have an unsplit wishbone under it. Edit: Has some interesting details on it.. shock mounts look like late 40's ford sedan brackets. Has '39 lights on it, possibly a recessed number plate.. A chopped '32 headlight bar.. Don't know if they are indicators on the sides of the rear? God i wanna see more of it.
I found it on Australian hot rodder web site bottom of the main page and loved the photo will be ordering to read and see more of this rod
Google is your friend! I know it's not what you're after, but here's the history of the So-Cal Special, written by Frank's daughter! http://www.motormarques.com/community/drivers-and-cars/item/569-so-cal Lots of era pics too! Cheers, Glen.
Glen, it's the right decade. Note how short the radius rod is, must have almost no suspension movement. Mike.
note how far back the gearshift is? I would bet those big instruments are black rimmed Smiths , out of a Jag. the shaped seat back looks like a MK11 back seat...maybe jaguar driveline too??
I was thinking at least a Riley gearbox... I'd agree on the instruments. The English liked instruments like railway clocks.
Car is featured in Australian Hot Rodder Number 3 and was built in Melbourne in 1953 by Peter Thomas. Ran a 24 stud flathead with home made twin carb manifold, Lancia Lambda gearbox and 32 diff on quarter elliptics made from Austin A90 semi-elliptics. Body was shortened by 7" just behind the door pillars and chassis was shortened the same amount. Seat is rear seat from a Humber Super Snipe, extra gauges were Smiths but doesn't say what speedo was. Ran spring in front of axle set-up to get it lower, shock brackets made by owner, lights were MG TC on modded 32 bar. Hairpins made by owner copied off pics of Veda Orr's roadster. He sold car in 1958 and it has had numerous owners since but is now owned by Katsanis boys who plan to restore it to as built condition. There's a 10 page story in the mag which is a good read and has a number of pics. Claims to possibly be the earliest built hot rod in Australia. I know of a couple of 32 roadsters which would be earlier but whether they were hot rods or "specials" would be open to discussion.
Swifty, I went through all my magazines including Australian Hot Rodder before I started this thread. I couldn't find any references to 1940's hot rodding in Aussie except as you indicate "specials". It's starting to look like there were no cars built or if they were no one remembers. That '32 in the article you found is a great example of Australian ingenuity with the Lancia 4 speed conversion. A good example of English and European automotive influence here. Mike.
Swifty is talking about the current series of magazines by Graham Smith. These are devoted to the history of Hot Rodding in OZ, along the lines of TRJ. If you haven't got em, get em. http://www.australianhotrodder.com.au/Home
Thanks Swifty, that's great information! I thought the car had a shorty look to it but felt it may have had something to do with the camera angle. Glad to know there is a real reason for it.
OK, some more progress. My front axle is an original Model A dropped 2" by Gary Page in Victoria, a real nice guy who did a top job. I am using a 1946/48 wishbone as I don't want to bend steering arms. It took about half a day to shorten the wishbone. I cut it 7" ahead of the Y section and inserted 18" of steel bar after cutting two and a half inches out. I made a number of plug welds along the sides and welded it after v-ing the cut. I still had to bend each side about 2 degrees in my pipe bender to fit it to the A axle. The modern shackles fitted now will be replaced by repro originals, and I know the sharp eyed among you will pick the steering box. Yes it is HQ Holden. I have a '46 ford box but it is too tall and the wrong angle. This is one compromise I have to make as I will probably need a collapsible steering column in New South Wales for registration. Next step is to mount the rear axle and tackle the torque tube and driveshaft. Mike.
That Model A axle looks great, how long did it take Gary to do yours? He has my axle at the moment and haven't heard from him in a fortnight at least.. was supposed to have it back end of last week and still waiting. Mine is getting dropped 3.5". If you need clearance on the wishbone at all at the back, a good alternative is to cut the yoke off and use a Model A yoke you will get a bit more clearance at the back end. As far as steering goes i'm going to run a '42 - '48 in mine, but will need to run two uni joints to make it collapsible. Am going to have a straight column tube to the firewall and then was going to try and hide the engine bay side with another tube but it may not work out that way.. Might end up just having to run them exposed. Lucky i'll be running a hood.
Nick, 6 weeks. I know its a long time but he told me he tries to do a few at the same time. I've got plenty of clearance and the caster angle is perfect. I reckon that's due to the Vern Tardell '32 crossmember. Speedway sell a steering uni that is much more compact than a Borgeson or Flaming river one. I'll need 2, I reckon the one off the steering box will be hidden by the side exhaust and I can hide the other inside the firewall. I will also disguise the steering box by smoothing it and rounding off sharp corners. I have a very basic Ididit column that was recently released. It is designed to be cut down if needed. I'm sure I can make a collapsible column from that. Mike.
Ah okay, i guess i'm not the only one then thats taking a while! Its a bit hard to get a hold of him at times though. I've only got the shop number, not a mobile or anything.. Clearance wise, its just a thought if you need to bring the bones out further towards the rails a little. A mate of mine did it to clear his flathead and top loader in his Model A chassis. He hasn't used a '32 K member though.. I don't know about NSW but i think in QLD we have to run a flaming river or borgeson.. I was thinking that as well. Have one on the steering box and one up near the firewall and just have a tube to go from firewall to the box, if you saw the car side on you would probably notice the change in angle but i don't think it'd get picked up on with the hood if someone took a 5 minute look under there. I'm using a '42 Ford column and steering shaft at the moment for mock up. Will likely get a solid bar machined with the Ford taper / keyway and threads on it and use that inside the original Ford column tube so it all looks era correct. I'm using what i believe to be a '42 deluxe wheel.
Nick, uni joints are a pain the arse. Plenty of rods use Torana unis and they are crap, the new chinese ones would be worse, so I think I can get around the problem here. If I have to I'll fit Flaming river and change after rego. The '46 wishbone is wider at the rear so clearance is fine. I will use a 3/4 inch round bar instead of DD shaft, just machine the ends with the flats. I have a repro Bell speedway 4 spoke wheel, It sorta fits the era and looks great. Mike.
I've been building a early style model A V8 for a few years here in Brisbane, it looks like there are a few being put together in Oz. Mine has 34 running gear and a mix of original body parts, brookville and home spun. Cheers Steve.
Steve, you should have more space using the '32 chassis. It's always hard to squeeze in steering, exhaust and a starter on RHD cars. That is one reason I used a Holden steering box and will use steering uni joints even though they weren't used in the '40's. Mike.
Were the steering uni joints available in one way or another in the 40's? Whether it be an aircraft, marine or racing application? Steve, that roadster looks great! I believe i know the bloke that sold you that running gear, but i'm having trouble remembering who it was.. i think it was Vince? Where abouts in Brisbane are you? I'd love to have a gander at your roadster sometime if you aren't too busy. It looks awesome.
I have a lot more room to play with, being a Banger So I'm just running the Original A box, with the bushes replaced with roller bearings and a short pitman arm
I considered this originally as i had a RHD steering column and box, until i found out that: 1. They steer like shit. 2. They are heavy to steer. 3. You can't run any wheel on them BUT a model a, due to the steering shaft being a different size or something or other.. That was enough for me to not bother, and just use '42 - '48 spindles and the same steering column / box and do a cross steer setup instead. Its still within the time period so i was happy with that.
I did some quick research on flexible or universal joints and yes they were available, and yes mainly in aircraft. I do think it would have been unlikely that anyone actually used them in automotive applications. So if anybody takes issue with their use point them at Google. That also applies to nylon locking nuts. I would never use them on this car but I use them everywhere on non HAMB hotrods. They were definitely available in the late '30's.
Come on guys there has to be more early rods out there that 32 can not be alone the A steering box rebuilt works very well (2 tooth or 7 ) the problem is in the rod ends that's where they get heavy to steer
Colin, I've been asking about old Aussie rods for 2 years. The reason I started this thread was I couldn't find any evidence. So I am coming to the conclusion that Australian Hotrodding really did start after 1950. Mike.
In all honesty, there is no mystery in that. As I say, what we call 'hot rodding' did not exist outside SoCal in the US prior either. Modified cars, race inspired cars, all sorts of hop ups were done everywhere since day one. A lot of it was speedway or circle track influenced. You only need to see the stuff that was made for T's and A' engines in the Midwest of the US. OHC conversions, all sorts of things. And guys in Australia ran those parts back then too. People with the money to spend. So yes, you will find plenty of modified cars from the pre-war days, but not Southern California dry lake type hot rods or modifieds. BTW did you know there was a high banked oval race track a-la Brooklands in Moroubra in Sydney in the 1920's? Yep. Had 75,000 people on the opening day. Long forgotten unfortunately.
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