Hot Rods Crude modification picture thread

Dick & Jeff Ackermen Owned Open Wheel Car built in the early 50's(?) is loaded with rough around the edges work...

...But man is it cool!


Homemade Quick Change Rear


Homemade In/Out Box

 

Now that's what I'm talking about! What a cool car. There s a lot going on there

 

F*#k that's cool.

 

I had a set of Homemade Wide 5 safety hubs for stock car racing.

Someone took a stock 37-39 Ford car hub machined the center and machined a 8 lug 3/4 ton floater hub center.
Then welded the two together. They also welded 3/4 ton floater spindles to early Ford side bells and built quick change center. I could not get the guy to give up the center.

I can not find the photos.

 

Cliff Kotary (The copper city cowboy) won the New York State Fair (One Mile Dirt oval) race 6 consecutive times 1960-1966 with this 33 Ford.

Jeff Akerman photos-

Check out the headers, wishbones and Left front spring shackle/Shock mount-

 

Using a stock Ford wishbone end/spring mount for a set of hair pin radius rods. I don't know if it is crude. It would not happen today.



I don't know why my dual point showed up.

 

Robert if you edit your post and go to more options you will see that image along with the others and you can delete it and re-save it...and that thumbnail should disappear.

That is a cool old Hotrod.

 

1956 Tom Dunn dragster restored by my friends Jared (Angry Frenchman on here) and Bob. The frame rails are welded together Ford torque tubes. Its a bad mother!

Its powered by the flathead that's supposed to be in Jareds 34 3 window.

 

This is a a modern clone of an early 60's Lou Lazzaro N.A.S.C.A.R Sportsmen
It has a square tube roll cage built like the original car.

 

It took a lot of carnage to get to that level of protection.

 

235 Chevy rocker cover cut in half for scoops.
I don't think I would call it crude but as a BlueFlame Chevy guy this one hurts!

Iron men in tin cars!

 

What the hell happened to the frame rails...and why ?



Mike

 

Check out the roll bar on this barn find 32


Above photos from-https://barnfinds.com/vintage-hot-rod-1932-ford-coupe/

I missed the roll cage when I first posted this one.
Imagine how bad these plates would hurt you in a crash!

 

That's scary, even by 40s and 50s standards. Ralphie

 

It’s not as bad as it looks. The end plates had been cut off to be replaced before the picture and the frame on frame had been done correctly, but then they’d had welded a huge chunk of 1/4” diamond plate over it. It’ll get re boxed and properly welded but the diamond plate is being left it’s part of the cars history.
This was the better part of the chassis though.

 

Was that built here and then imported to the UK? Bob

 

How kids in the 50's built hot rods with a simple arc welder, and a bunch of cool parts from the local junk yards.

 

Yes, I’ve been trying find some history on it,possibly from Washington/Baltimore area then ended up in California.

IMG_4494 by KFC posted Mar 5, 2017 at 11:52 AM

IMG_4535 by KFC posted Mar 5, 2017 at 11:52 AM

 

This Henry J stock car , not gasser! Ran the Fonda speedway and apaired in the Fonda Speedway book.

The car ran of Warnerville N.Y. and is now owned by Mike Gray.

Check out the tow bar made from the stock lower A frame, the car was changed to Ford front axle.


Form Fonda speedway book-

 

Was a '42 40 series sedanette. Got drove into the wall and Zee'd the frame so I put a Roadmaster front frame and tin on it and shortened rear frame, roof, and door tin 13" to get down to minimum W.B. rule.
The 8th. year I got T-boned by an idiot cutting across the infield & threw off the high side. Made 2 that way and at least 2 Endos. Tore up some tuned pipes and intakes. broke the bellhousing, and made a mess of the tin. Cage got sprung 2", no cracks. No A frame or susp. damage. A lot of hammer & porta power work and we were back on the track the next Sunday. I believe the Roadmaster A frames are bulletproof.
#5 ran 2 more seasons till races stopped. It got 3 season point championships against V8's.
All tubing is driveshaft, even the Megs on the exhaust. Also had a Frankland Q.C., Coils all around and in house wt. crank for Left rear. also an in house lever for rear axle staggar.

 

Old circle track racing through out the 50s and 60s was a huge time of innovation. The guys that were winning, had to keep trying new stuff to keep winning, and the guy that weren't winning had to keep changing things trying to catch up. Everyone had to keep fixing stuff that broke, or was ruined by crashes. Little concern was given to making things pretty, it might all be cut off next week because it didn't work, got wrecked, or was in the way of the "new" thing you wanted to do. If something worked, when you built the next new car, you might spend a little time making it look less crude, but not always. Gene

 

From a coupla posts above.
I've seen much worse on the roll bar attachment.
But...take a look at the fuel lines..! This is to make sure that there is no "cross-firing" of the carburetors..!



Mike

 

Top 2 are the front shock mount on my car, bottom pic is bracket welded to frame for rear shock. Top front mount is flame cut diamond plate welded to frame, lower mount IIRC is welded to wishbone.

 

More # 5 Mods. I guess I was kind of in the wrong forum but thank you for the good replies. It was a very reliable and safe car. A lot of power and eventual good handling made it easy to drive and to stay away from trouble.
It was built entirely with drive shaft tubing, gas welded..We had a 4 post cage with door bars, an X,.front and rear
diagonals, and a cris-cross from L. rear to Rt. front frame. I believe the tubing was about .090 or so and Hi carbon steel, welded with gray high tensil bare filler rods. No Mig, No chop saw. I did make some wrap around thin aluminum templates to chalk the cut line for some common angles. .Also made a pantograph chalk line marker with a
protractor to mark any pre -measured angle.
Both rt. side wheels had full floating spindles and wide 5 hubs. Scared to death of broken R.R. axles. Some may think
.090 is too light, but ours was tested , believe me.
The opposite extreme was a guy that showed up with a new car -- a HEAVY DUTY UNIT..
Cage was built of 6 inch well casing.! When he finally got up to speed and cranked into the corner, it simply tipped over, and broke a lot of the welds.! Another scary one took a hard roll, shed it;s entire body and roll cage. Not one upright was left. poorly fitted regular pipe and piss poor arc welding. to blame.
Buick # 5 was built in '68, raced for 10 years, sat for 30, and was restored by my great friend Dean, who deserves my unending thanks, as do his wonderful family.
Fireball 5

 

The Don Rounds N.A.S.C.A.R Sportsman built in the late 50's early 60's now owned by Mel Ogden of Franklin N.Y.

Check out the flex pipe headers-

 

There you go Frank, beating me to it again. My thoughts exactly. We were learning and not afraid to try. Unlike folks who let "the shop" and "my mechanic" do the work. We become better over time.

Good thread!

Ben

 

U.S.Mule II ! I remember that car at Indy. Great ingenuity. Looking back, that was such a good time to be a gearhead. Not many motels around Indy at that time. We stayed at the Boss Warren Hotel downtown.

 

It is so easy to sit back and criticize those people who where obsessed with building a car back then. If you had an electric welder, you where high tech. People today wouldn't know what to do if they couldn't find what they need on the computer.

 

Not sure if this set up on my T buckets frame wa s safe. It was done in the '70's or 80's. I ended up changing it to a suicide front end.