Hot Rods 29 RPU- "Street/Strip" B/SR Build - Marty Strode

Do these look familiar?







I thought they might be Frankland but it doesn't say that on them. They are not welded, appear to be forged.?

The guy I got them from thought they used Pontiac Brakes.

 

Jeff, what is the Bolt spread on those plates? Looks like early Ford.

 

Looks like a match to mine.

 

After showing the Chrysler rear axle being put together, now to show what it is going into.
I have had this car in the back of my mind for several years. Now is the time to see if I can build it, to look similar to the Hank Vincent/ George Santos, "Top Banana" Fueler from 1958-60, and pass tech with a Cert for 7.50. The problem might be keeping the roll cage small enough, to maintain the swoopy rear section of the body. With a Hans Device becoming mandatory on cars faster than 150, will also complicate things. I am building the chassis, and my good friend Chris Kopp with be performing his magic on the body.

 

Marty...

You got stones! I don't think I could release the trans brake with my boys and chap resting up against that diff.

 

The Top Banana was a gorgeous piece. Way ahead of it's time for a dragster.

 

Marty, isn't that seat belt supposed the hold you in the seat, not hold the seat in the car?

Dave

 

Looks like it's going to be one awesome hot rod Marty. I just don't know how you can juggle so many projects. It's exhausting just to read your posts...

 

Bill, they are pretty safe, in that aspect, but I haven’t straddled one since 1989 !

 

Dean, the body is a timeless design, and wait until you see Chris’s top notch work.

Dave, I wasn’t that comfortable on that setup, and will be sitting nearly 3” lower.

 

Marty; I was looking at that and thought you also will probably be a good bit more reclined to get under the lid of that Body Profile? A Hans device and a double roll cage, you're going to have to be able to fold in half and have a removable steering wheel with shaft attached. This will be interesting.

 

Mike, the seat setup I had was precarious at best, and just to figure a few things out. As for getting in and out, will require the cowl and windshield will be hinged and tip forward, similar to a Bonneville car. Hopefully, we can retain the look of the original.

 

My first thought was to tilt the total canopy to the side.

 

Reminds me of a story my uncle told me. When he was an engineer at Northrop he worked with another engineer that was brilliant but a bit out there in every day life. The dude was easily in a 6 figure income in the early 80’s. His daily driver was a Dodge Dart with a sawed off lawn chair for the drivers seat. Claimed he was comfortable in the chair on the deck and it made sense to him to mount it in the car.

 

It's good the guy wasn't a pilot!

 

It looks like a 'bucket' seat to me.

 

I think I have turned to corner and am back on this project. Today I started with some tube with surface rust. So, I cut a couple pieces of the 1-5/8" .125 wall tube, and spun it in my lathe, using some emery cloth, and maroon Scotchbright, and proceeded to make some bends. Starting in the tail section, this will be the building block for the rest of the chassis, and dictate the height off the pavement. Tomorrow, I will clean and bend the shoulder hoop.

 

That's a new take on direct drive Marty.

 

Marty: your work and talent continues to amaze me as it does others. You seem to have the fortitude and desire to never stop and continue to help others when they call. As I get older (80 in June) I have found the need to slow down eventho I do not want too.
As I prep for 2024 Bonneville the old way of one guy, me, doing all the work has slowly caught up and now I call on my son, who readily accepts, to help with the heavier tasks. The last inspect/repair was the clutch which I completed last week.
Watching you inspires me to continue on even at a slower pace. Please keep your progress on the HAMB both on your roadster and new builds. You, my friend, are an inspiration to us all.

 

JD, thanks for the kind words my friend. I haven't been doing much for the last 2 months, not because of desire, but because of a non life threatening medical issue I have been dealing with. In my last stage of healing, I can finally get something done. It's good to hear you are getting ready for Speedweek, weather permitting we will finally get some solid runs on the Lakester that I built for Jim Lindsay. The good part will be spending some time with you ! I walked to work in the snow this morning, (about a hundred yards downhill) and getting ready to bend the shoulder hoop for the slingshot. Guys like you and I don't know when to quit ! I will probably start a separate thread for this project soon.

 

I second Jimmy Six's words, Marty, you always amaze me with what you can do and your help of passing your skills on to other with ways to do things!
I Thank you and I hope you get to feel better!

 

I grew up the youngest of 4 boys, all gearheads, the competitive nature we all had, served us all well. If any of my tips or procedures are of any benefit to those watching, I am grateful for this venue, and all the friends I have found here. Remember, if you ever get to Portland, I would appreciate a visit ! Now, the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can drape my sack over that rear axle, and drop the bomb, hopefully beside Rocky in the Evil Twin !

 

I don't do the long distance chingo like the Famoso years so if you could talk Rocky into coming north, Woodburn, Toutle (Riverdale), etc, that would be very cool Marty!
Still have never made it to the "Volcano" drags in Toutle, I would go for that.

 

Rocky comes to Toutle every August, he had to drive something different a couple years ago, as the Twin wasn't completely back together, after the highway accident. Always quite the show !

 

Marty, I agree with Jimmy. You are an inspiration and role model. I absorb every bit of tech I can, even if I'll never fabricate stuff like yours. It can always translate to smaller projects and fixes.
I do wonder how you are going to snuggle into that dragster, the original wheel was even with the injectors and mag, the top maybe 5 inches taller. If anyone can find a way, it's you!

 

This evening I bent up some round rod, just to get a better idea of the seating position. And I lowered the engine as well. This will take some shuffling, but @chriskopp and I will get it as close as we can. If you have looked at land speed stuff, things get pretty snug, and they are required to do a bailout. Thanks for your interest.

 

Marty and Denny I will be making the trip to toutle this august Chuck stanfill and I will be bringing both of our dragsters mine with the blown Flatcad and his comp coupe “the asphalt cowboy” with a hopped up 6cyl Chevy inliner hope to see both of you guys there keep up th good work Marty

 

That sounds great, we will have a great time.

 

Marty, I'm sure you already have something up your sleeve. The deep layback seating does have me watching close. In most cases a removable wheel does the job. Looks a little more difficult than that with the seating position coming up. My thoughts were a multi splined collapsible shaft or a slide away system like the 60's T-Birds had. Now that I have said that, at one time I actually bought a slide system that at the time was NHRA approved for a Funny Car cage chassis I built. We ended up going a different direction on owner's request. It's probably still here somewhere new in the box. Funny how time does that to ya.

 

Sounds like I better get my legs in shape!