I did a bit of a hi-jack on the Vintage shots from day gone by, and for that I apologize. I guess I shoulda started a new thread. Does anyone have other shots, or info on this car, or this style of chassis? Maybe a shot without the skin on? I am jonesing to either build from scratch, or restore a car in this style, and was hoping someone out there had some information. This seems to be the only shot I ever see of the car. There has to be more out there, I just don't know where to look. Thanks, Mike
Mike,,,go to cacklefest.com......car is featured as the Cook & Bedwell fueler but never mentions K-88,just say frame by Scottie Fenn,,,,
Also Google Dragmaster Chassis. They built a lot of the early stuff. They were simple and strong and I saw everything from slant sixes to nitro Hemis in them.
That is the Cook and Bedwell car. If I remember correctly the tubing for the chassis was Buick drive shafts. My brother and I built 2 chassis using 49-50 Ford drive shafts, 1 a dragster and the other was a altered. In the 50,s and early 60.s we still used what was on hand, usually out of the junk yard. My, how times have changed.
Thanks, all. I'm looking for a FEDragster of this era to restore. Bob, thanks for the Cook and Bedwell tip. But I don't think it's a Scotty Fenn, the cage is all wrong. Doesn't mean he didn't do it though. I'm not afraid to go to Fulton's and buy the mild steel to build one, but I'd rather find one already done at one of the swap meets. The search goes on.
OK, Once again, I speak before I read! Thanks Bob for sending me to the cacklefest site! The whole writeup on the C&B car is there including restoration pictures! If I don't find a little 100" digger at a swap meet to do , I'll weld up my own 100" F-ing digger!! So there! Thanks all, research material has been saved into folders on my computer!
Saw the car run at Cordova Il. summer of 1958 I think. Emery Cook taught Don Garlits how to get more fuel through the 97,s and Garlits got the best of them.
Mike Britton I read your first post and this is from memory. 354 Crysler Hemi, Jahns pistons, Isky 5 cycle cam, Crower U,fab manifold with 6 Strombergs, a Harmon Collins mag. on a pretty good high percentage of nitro.(likely95% or so.) Car was direct drive ( no trans) with Bruce slicks.I think Hopes this helps
Old Chassis are out there.... I find the one in my avatar here in the classified adds.. It's a Scotty Fenn LW-106 Hope you find one.
Thanks, guys! And thanks, Christmas Tree, I'll probably end up with a small block as that was/still is THE engine in north Texas. And, I still have a few pieces left over from previous cars, like home made saddle mounts for a small block that would be perfect for an FED. 61 Cad, your car is exactly what I'm hoping to find. Won't do more than go to parking lot shows, and park in the pits at the local drags just for the fun of it. Maybe hear it cackle on methanol once in awhile. If I don't plan to fight with the car it gives a lot of lee-way as to configuration. Don't really want a five point cage! And Bob, I have Don Ross to help me out when I get in a bind!
For a car only to do shows as mentioned buy you some thin wall electrical conduit and go at it. I did one in 1965 and others did it befour I did. Galvanized a no no but we did it. Brazing not recomended but we did it.Some very skimpy roll bars but we did it. A lot of it was out of ignorance, and the rest using what we had or could get cheap or gave to you.Most of us survived the above, but not all.
I remember in the mid 60's all us high school guys would go to the drags and there would be altereds out there, I SWEAR, that were welded up conduit!! You could tell by the texture under the rattle can paint! 6 cylinder diggers, lots of duct tape.... Some of those cars were pretty sketchy ! I would at least go buy some decent mild steel tube.....LOL
Yep Mike that,s the way it was, however that is only recomended for cackle cars. Have several hundred dollars of moly in the shop waiting on the next project.
Lots of cars were made of exhaust pipe tubing aka 'muffler moly'. Get the heavy duty stuff and it is pretty strong. The cheap kind is like paper thin.
You need a front axle such a A model Ford with a front spring to give some spring to this car. Our 1950,s and early 1960,s cars were around 100 inch wheel base,and were very rigid. Flexible chassis were not popular until the mid 60s in my area. Mild steel tube 1.5 to 2 inch strutted with .075 to 1 inch tube will be very strong. I still dream about building one of these cars. If you build a car do not try to copy a commercial chassis. Most of the guys I ran with built our own frames. Only one in our group ( a period of several years) had a Speed Improvement,s and a Dragmaster chassis plus he built several others, another in the group started out with a home built and ended up with a Kellision chassis. When the junior fuelers were popular I helped him some and the car ran 170 at the US nats. 301 cu in Chevy, Enenderly injection and 98% ran like jack the bear, however these engines were short life. This was every thing from flat head and 6 cyl .dragster,s and altered cars to AA fuel altered,s and dragsters Hopefully you are fairly young and if you have shop tools go for it.
I forgot to mention an early car could have very modified frame rails from an A model ford and others, Garlits ran a 31 Chevy frame rails on his late 50,s car with a Model A ft. axle. Sometime around 60 he went to tube chassis.
"Hopefully you are fairly young and if you have shop tools go for it." Christmas tree, I'm 68. That ship sailed a long time ago.......
Mike I was pretty lively at 68 and at 69 spent a week in hospital with heart problems and at 70 had to stop and duke it out with some cancer, however recovered recovered from all that. The maim problem stopping me now is back trouble that I,m doctoring, but it does not look like its going to get better.My advice if you have the health to do it get on with the project. Have a good time on it.
Thanks, Christmas tree, I went to the Decatur Texas swap meet yesterday, second largest, (I think) in Texas. Took cash out of the bank my granddaughter and I couldn't afford just in case I found something . Came home with this $5.00 steering wheel! Maybe next time.....
Yeah, DND. I have no use for it, but whenever you can find a really clean 12" for $5.00 you do it.....
I'm dragging this thread up from the dead because I'm just about ready to give up the search and start welding! I have a friend who owns a tubing bender that can do up to 1 1/2", so that will be my roll bar size. I don't know how common 1 1/2" was in those days, Chassis Research used 1 3/4". I can still buy dies for Mike's bender, and I will if need be. I've drug out all my "Rod & Custom" magazines from the early 60's, and I've decided to use 2X3 square for the main rails. A lot of shorties were built using Model A mainrails, but we are talking 80-90 year old metal and I would still have to box that old junk. I can cut 2X3 and taper the front to get the same look. I'll either find a Model A front end, or buy from Speedway. I do have a question maybe someone can help me with. If I want to run motorcycle wheels in the front what hub/spindle combination do I use? Do I go find Harley hubs? Do I use early Ford spindles? I also thought about going to one of the wheel suppliers for a 15X4 1/2" and running VW tires on the front with Moon discs all around. Big swap meet in DFW this weekend, so I'm starting the process of gathering parts. Small block, 39 Ford trans with an adapter, Ford banjo rear. Hopefully, an "A" front end. I have room in my shop for 185", so a 100" car will fit nicely. Wish me luck! Thanks, Mike
The Cook & Bedwell car was on the cover of Hot Rod after it set the "world record" (speed or E.T.?). There is a feature of the car in the book. What issue? – I don't know. The cover photo was at Colton. I was there. I'm one of the 50 or so guys with a butch haircut and wearing Levi's and a white T-shirt. Which one, I don't know.
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