1930s Era Champ Car - new project

I made these strips to hold on the body panels. Way back when, the body panels were usually held in place with angle flanges riveted to the edges of the panels. Now it would be soooo much easier to attach them with quarter-turn Dzus buttons but to stay close to original I just embossed rivet heads on the flanges and will spot weld them on to the body.

 

Maybe it's just my retired aircraft mechanic background, but I think I would have just gone ahead and riveted them.

 

I'm looking for jobs to do with my new spot welder.

 

Frenchtown, It's nice to find Threads like yours, it gives us not so talented
hambers drive to finish meager tasks.
I really get tired of seeing posts like
"How do I get the window cranks off
my chevy ?" I know we all gotta learn
but come on ! Great fabs on here, and THANKS to You and Others that take the
time to Post and take photos.
Great Build !

quote: "I don't do Body work"
Ian Berky

HaHa

 

What kind of motor is that?

 

Thanks Smokey2.
terryble, its a Ford 300.

 

I made some additional body mounts for the rear section. A couple of these were a bit tricky as they had compound bends in the flanges, i.e., they bend in two directions:

 

The driver's cockpit gets trimmed and wire-edged, using 1/4" soft steel rod. Because this piece was too big to get into my bead roller easily I did most of the wiring with hand tools.

 

I placed all the semi-finished panels on the chassis to mount the body to the frame using the flanges, like they used to.

 

Looking good! Gary

 

I haven't looked at this thread in a while... I'm glad I came back to it. Inspiring work, it looks incredible.

 

Hi there TFTF . . . Like the way you are shaping the body mounting strips. Also like all the vintage details that you will add to the motor and ignition system. Hoping to add something like that to the mill in my Modified. Got to get it made more vintage era. Maybe they will let me sneek in on the local hill climb race . . . .

Dave

 

Hi TFTF ! thought my previous post had failed. It is there so I am modding this one with some other thoughts. I wanted to know if you would have detail pix of all the little items that will post date your 300 I-6 ? I wanted to see if I could get some ideas to post date the mill in my modified. I do belief it will somewhat disguise my newer motor.

Dave

 

Beautiful build sir.

You are one hell of a metal man.

Obviously a not too shabby engineer as well.

Can't wait to see this thing finished.

 

41 Dave, All the retro details I have done so far I have posted on this thread: the DOHC valve cover, the 'crab' distributor, the intake and headers. I plan to add orange plug wires with Rajo clips to a set of dummy plugs sunk down between the cam towers and a few brass oilers and maybe a tapered cooling manifold on the 'head'. The real plug wires will be routed under the headers and hidden by a loom cover.

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

 

I really like this style of car. Nice work !

 

Yes, EXCEPT, you need to make the bend in the front two pipes a 4 pie bend rather than a single pie. That doesn't match the rest of the quality. And grind off the welds. It will have that mandrel bend look then.

 

Pete1, The photo may look like I pie-cut straight pipe to make the bends for the first two pipes, but actually there is a piece of tight radius tubing in there to make the transition "smooth". I did this so all the pipes coming out of the hood all have a uniform straight look to them when the hood was closed. I will polish all the pipes to give them an even color before I "heat age" a lean mixtured blueish patina into them. But I don't want to grind the welds smooth, rather leave them more functional and less show-car like. I hope the final result will take the abuse I intend to give it without having to worry about premature weld joint failure. We'll see.

 

Ron Covell, aka "Professor Hammer", did an article in Street Rodder (January, 2014, pg 132) answering a question I had about how to make a head rest for the rear body section on this car.

I will take Ron's advice andbuild a buck and make two sides welded together. When I built the rear body buck I made a headrest pattern so I have a starting point done.

 

any chance there are new/up-dated pics of this project since photos in Street Rodder Jan 2014? Would you share building techniques?

 

sorry, I posted previous message, before looking at pics in thread. I have had this style build in mind, for lots of years now. Your project has re-motivated me. I don't begin to have your talent, but will persevere somehow. Thanks for sharing

 

allenrussel,
There is somebody making repop sprint / champ car bodies now. Joshua Shaw, a HAMB member built a tribute car from one that was featured in Street Rodder a couple years back. A 'glass body like that will put you way ahead of the game.

I also will let you in on another dirty little secret: When I decided to built this one, I hedged my bets by building the chassis so it would accept a '27T roadster body in case my home built champ car body didn't turn out. That is why I chose to not pinch in the ends of the frame rails, like so many of the cars of that era had. But I've committed to finishing the champ car body as most of the hard decisions are solved.

Come to think of it, wouldn't it be cool if I did make a '27T body to interchange? Or maybe a belly tanker since I'm center steered?

I will continue to update pics as progress warrants. Thanks.

 

Subscribed!!
Don't keep me waitin'.

 

OK xpletiv. Thanks for subscribing.

Today I showed a pic of my car to one of the ARCA execs and he invited me down to one of the tracks they sanction (Toledo Speedway) to make some hot laps. Oh boy! I gotta get krackin'.

 

Nice projekt, fun too see other builds. You probably right, some holes could be good.

 

Question Frenchtown. I've been following the build but somewhere missed a bit. What front axle and spindles are you using on the build? I have a similar looking piece that I acquired for a future build and was wondering of it's parentage so I could find parts as needed.

 

The fromt axle is from a 1953 Ford F100 (F1?) pickup truck. I modified it by narrowing it 6 inches in the middle. Then I cut off the original spring pads from the parallel leaf suspension. Then I drilled the I-beam. Then I welded on the batwings to hold the Model A spring perches and sway bar. Then I cut the steering arms off and lengthened them so the shortened tierod will clear the new batwings at full steering lock. A little sanding with an angle grinder removed the forging flash marks. The last thing I want to do is use the original spring pad locating bolt holes to attach lever arm shocks. I welded nuts inside the front frame crossmember to anchor the shocks which I will fabricate. The spindles and brakes are stock Ford. I may fill the brake backing plates with lightening holes.

 

hey there mate, im an engineering student currently trying to build my own inline six sprint racer midget, any chance you could share with me your plans as well as any advice you might have on the build up of this project?

 

Hi. I did not do a set of blueprints for this car - merely some sketches and then built the body bucks. The frame is 2 x 4 rails spaced 23" apart (outside dim.) and the wheelbase is 110". It is longer than most champ cars because I am tall and will be using a 3-speed auto trans. Most midgets are in the 80 - 90 inch wheelbase.
Hope this helps. Good luck with your project.

6re6

 

Hey flier any progress on the champ car?.....really cool build,....im'e kind of kickin around the same idea for a v8-60 and speed goodies I have, MAYBE in a streetable version ...kind of watching your build as a guide!


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