Projects Beebe Bros, Vinson, & Sixt "Cackle Car"

Well Folks,

It was a great week that started off with Hanna telling me that the car really needs the Olds Rear-End to be proper... Ughhh.... Well He's right if we are going for the first roll out, i.e. October~December 1965. So the search begins! Why the hell not? I email my dedicated group of HotRod friends in the SouthBay and the trail begins.

Long story short, I was told to call a guy, who might know a guy. He did know a guy who also knew a guy, and today we met up. During the entire phone call trail I got one helluva story about Terrible Ted and Bruno during one of their "Lunch's" and laughed my ass off.... I drove all over Sonoma County and ended up with what's in the back of my truck! They're all cleaned up and I'm ready to slice up the housing tomorrow and place it in the JIG where the 8 3/4" Chry currently resides. Here's some photos including a Sweet shot that was given to me via Richard Beebe of the original car and that Damn Olds Rear End!

Carry On!!!

~Robert

 

What year Olds rear end are you running? I have a 10 spline spool for a 57-62. I imagine yours is the earlier one. Did they run spool, open or posi?.....Kevin

 

Hey Kevin,

They ran an open rear-end in this deal and I'm thinking I'll do the same. Being a 10-Spline unit you would think that spool is for the early unit? This rear is a 1950 that will be going into the chassis. The other rear I got yesterday is a '55 I think? Not too sure yet as I haven't checked P/N's.

Can you send me some pics of that spool?

[email protected]

Thanks Man!

Robert

 

Alright, I see that brake lever centered in the cockpit, but I can not discern any armor over the back of the differential housing.
If this was an open 3'rd member car, like most were, where is the protective armor plating?
Inquisitive mind here; Tom S. in Tn.

 

Fresh from the Water-Jet Shop!!! Plenty of parts! I love getting shit done by the water jet Dude... So Slick, So Simple....




~Robert M.

 

No Guard.... Fingers crossed!

 

I have seen a lot of gears come apart (chunk) but never to a point of getting to a driver, It has always been the case where the diff had locked up and "SPUN" out of the mounts to which no amount of plate will help at that point. Most of the guards needed were those that ran Q/C's.
A little chassie build 101 here, When designing front torsion arms (I know you coppied the originals)increase the front nose radious and offset the slide hole towards the bottom, this gives you more support area on the top where all the weight is.By the pix you have enough room and I absolutly guarente no one will notice it.
One last thing about water jet and tig welding-- make sure that you always sand the surface areas before welding as there is abrasive inbeded into the material which conaminates the weld. I recently had to machine some W/J alu and wore out a brand new endmill--new this going in and the last few peices were tough.

 

All very good Data! Thanks Bruce! Yeah I should have biased those slotted holes down a touch now that I think about it... I left the center bore on the end cap slightly undersized so it will get a little clean up in the lathe before slipping onto the tube. That should machine away the grit prior to welding! The other surfaces will be polished.

Thanks Again!

Robert M.

 

Such a cool build keep the updates coming.

 

Like this Bruce? Don Long style arm




Roo

 

Originally Posted by Tom S. in Tn.


Alright, I see that brake lever centered in the cockpit, but I can not discern any armor over the back of the differential housing.
If this was an open 3'rd member car, like most were, where is the protective armor plating?
Inquisitive mind here; Tom S. in Tn.

Ok, perhaps I need a little educating here. When referring to an open differential, I always thought that meant non locked or without any sort of traction lock, antispin or positraction, and independent right and left wheels with spider gears.
We ran conventional non locked differentials with spider gears in years past in our dragster because no driver alive could react faster than a narrow dragster when one tire broke traction, which always occurred in those days due to limited tires for a light weight hi horsepower car on poor racing surfaces. With a Chrysler on fuel, it couldn't be done.
If I can find my old rule book, I'm for certain there were specific specifications for rear axles where the driver sat behind the housing, with drawings and all, and FYI, I've witnessed a spider gear pin exit a rear axle on 2 separate occasions. One was an altered with an Olds and the other was a Henry J gasser that was either Olds or early Chev, I can not recall.
There were no spools and only posi units I am aware of until later years and by the book,welded spider gears were specifically prohibited.

Are you guys certain this was an open differential car, or am I missing something important? A championship car such as this that remained on specially prepared tracks for fuelers, could have had a posi or locked rear, in which case the weight of the armor would never have been on the car.
Where is my confusion, I must be missing something?
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Oldsmobile never offered a "posi" for that rear end and the only spool I have ever seen was a custom unit made by M/W around the early 90's for a friend and they were $700 each and had to buy 2. Its a "CACKLE CAR" and what is inside housing really doesnt matter for the most part and that open diff really helps in the pushing around the pits dept.

 

Here's some quick progress pics on the Olds Rear transformation... Lot's of cleaning and prepping! Plus I need to narrow this eventually after all the brackets are welded on and finalized. So for that I need the proper BS to line it up! Too cheap to buy it so I'm building my own.





Here's the Olds Rear line up fixtures. These fit perfectly into the axle housing ends and will bolt to the backing plate flanges. They slip over an 1 3/8" Bar when assembled...



And looking better.....



More news soon....

~Berta

 

WOW!!! Just spent the last hour reading the whole thread, I'm hooked. Awesome work! Thanks for the great and informative updates. Keep up the good work!!

 

I have a line-up bar with that carrier housing if you want to come down a borrow it

 

Yep......

 

Robert, I have someone interested in the Olds drum brake assemblies for a resto.
Call me for details 1-310-768-3163

 

Rear End is now back in the JIG... And the Iron Beast has been hoisted into position via the Mexican Mulisha that lives next door... Set the angle in the AM and Lay some pipe...

Kodaks:





AT LAST!!!!!



~Berta

 

What angle did you end up running with?

 

Well it looked best at about 5+???? I will re check everything now that I'm in the fixture and have the new rear end in the car. The pinion heights seem to be the same as Chrysler but I'm not 100% sure.

 

A few pics of the JIG.





I put it at 6 degrees down... Looks better..

 

I don't think there was ever any standard rake for the engine so to speak, it seemed everyone wanted the minimum ground clearance for the blower pulley and the motor as close to the rear axle as possible. Any way to determine those figures?
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Ah thats not so bad, looked like a lot more than that in the previous picture. Must have been the angle of photo, got me scratchin the ol head a bit haha

 

Robert,
Get yourself a sissor jack and weld a handle to it to raise and lower the engine small increments while up on the table.

 

Damn Bruce... That's a great idea! I used my other option.... My wife came out and helped slide the little blocks under the engine while I lifted up on the bar and raised and lowered the motor! HA!!!

That SumBitch is locked into position now! 27 1/4" Out and 6 degrees down. Almost ready to string the lower rails!

Note: From the MAG article posted awhile back, The motor is 30 1/4" out. This was after the rear-end was moved back 3" in early 1967.

~Robert M.

 

Once the block was nailed down I switched over to making some additional fixtures for the JIG. I fabbed up the new fangled support saddle that sits in front of the motor and rests under the bar. This helps center the deal as well.


You can barely see it on the right in this shot:



Then I built my Ground Clearance support for the low point in the chassis, which is the motor plate on this car. This is some 2x2 tubing that gives me the 4" clearance I'm shooting for.





More news soon....

Robert M.

 

Well Folks...

Harvest is starting today at the winery so the updates will be slow for the next 2 ~3 months. But without the winery there would be no Dragster! Funny how that works... I did manage to slip away last friday and get the Block into the machine shop to begin that major process of building a BOMB. Here's a few Kodaks:



A Bay Area institution for Hard Core Racing Engines....

 

Oh... And after much head scratching and finger pointing it was time to make the first cut in the tubes and get to work! Dad swung by over the weekend and we spent awhile looking back thru the photos, measuring, thinking, etc... Here's the first of many Chops!!!!!

I should have the lower rails strung and tacked before I get really busy this month.

Happy Trails!

 

Awesome I can't wait to see that engine come together. Just PM me the specs so I can have my Hemi done the same way for my '32.....yeah right!!! I think you need to get HAMB Drags in your sights for next year. Get pickin' them grapes because this could be you next year damn it!!!

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Dude JJ... That video is too Damn Cool..... Yeah I think a visit back to Mokan will be in order! Need to do some Drink'n wit you Boys!

~Robert M.