Projects RainierHooker's '28 A - Wartime Tub Build

Since I have been putting all my effort into my Studebaker truck lately (I really need a truck), there has been little to no progress on the tub. But, I did pick up a hoard of really cool stuff a couple days ago...



This pile, and a few more things, were picked up from a local Navy vet who used them on his hot rod.

He related to me that when he was stationed in Alameda in 1952 he bought a used Hot Rod Roadster Pickup, "with no top, and barely a windshield." He drove the pickup around the Bay Area from then until he got out of the Navy in 1956.

Him and a buddy packed up everything in it and drove it back from Alameda to Seattle with only gas money in their pockets. Somewhere in Oregon or Northern California, the Babbitt let go on the #3 rod, so they pulled the plug on that cylinder to keep going. He said he didn't know how they didn't get arrested for vagrancy. Two young guys, with no money, in a hot rod, popping and missing through every town. "Those small town cops didn't take kindly," he said.

When he got to Seattle, him and his friend fixed the car and put it up for sale. The guy that bought it didn't want any if the "hot rod" stuff, so the put stock parts back on and all these things sat in his garage, from 1956 until last Friday.

I told him I'd make good use of the parts on my Model A Hot Rod...


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So, getting down to brass tacks, here's what I will be throwing on the motor in the Phaeton:

-RayDay Seattle 8.3:1 Aluminum Head
-Winfield Manifold
-Cyclone Winfield to Stromberg adapter (he ran a 97, which I also got)

The head uses Winfield type combustion chambers, that looks like were filled with weld and then ground to match between the four:



Now I gotta figure out plugs. They use a 14mm port, but a appear to be a 7/16" or 1/2" reach. Here's what a 3/8" reach plug (Autolite A9) looks like in the chamber:



I rummaged through my plug stash and found that an Autolite AE6 should be just the right size, but I only have three...



So if you have one of these:



...I need it.

Or if someone has a period chart of equivalent 14mm 7/16" or 1/2" reach plugs, let me know.



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Check this Ebay item
191303320802

 

Thanks, but that is too late of a plug. I'm trying to use only '30s or '40s plugs. I may yet find some in the garage, I have a bin of loose early plugs that I have yet to go through...


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Just texted you. I have some 1/2 and 7/16 reach plugs.

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Nice score!! What a Great story to go along with the antique speed parts!

 

It's good to see the outcome of your paint job......rolled and tipped huh? That is way cool. It's hard not to envision a spray booth paint job these days........10 grand being an easy, scary number.....usually. Lots of cars painted outside, dirt floor garages....and then some.....back in the day. I like everything you have done thus far. It's going to be a hell of a car to see. Thanks for the posts. Nice car.

 

Yessir, rolled and tipped. I still need to finish the new rear doors and then give the rest of the body one more coat. Even with the two coats that are on the car, I will say that the paint turned out pretty damn decent. Once I get that third coat and get it polished, it should be more than presentable.

I've just promised myself that I am going to have the truck drivable, on the road, and out of the garage before resuming big work on the phaeton. We'll see how long that plan holds out with my ADHD...

 

keep up the good work Evan.... your so hard core... period correct spark plugs to boot....holy smokes dude !

 

Love, love, love this!!!! Lemme check my plug cross-refrences and see if I can find a period perfect replacement. Really dig (and am envious of)that RAYDAY head!

Great work, my friend!

 

Trying to dig up some background on RayDay, but there's not much out there. Here's a pic of their factory in Seattle from the Photo Archives at USC:


And here's a pic of an old parts store with a RayDay Pistons sign:



And here's an ad that confirms that they were making parts for "racing cars" as early as 1934:



That, and the fact that they were the OEM supplier of Pistons to Auburn, Cord, and Duesenburg is all that I could find. Anyone have any more history on the Ray Day brand?

 

First time on a hot rod since 1956, and...



POP!!!

Fuck...


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Talk to Dave Day at aluminum Head welding in Auburn he should be able to fix it right up.

 

Thanks @CGkidd I'll give him a call tomorrow.


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Bummer.

Looks like it may have been repaired before?

If the guy in Auburn doesn't pan out, I have a old guy up in Everett, that is pretty much the master of everything hot rod/machining/welding and is sympathetic to the cause. He's unlisted and backed up for years, but he'd probably fit it in for me. Probably fix it while we wait if we catch him at the right time.

I've seen him weld a Merlin or Allison back together for a hydro. (Can't remember which)

Shit, I should take you up there sometime when both our cars are together. He'd get a kick out of them, and I know you would love to see his shop. It's amazing.

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Cool Speed parts!!! Can't wait to see it finished! Now this makes me want to get back at mine!

 

Dropped the manifold off with Dave at Aluminum Head Welders this afternoon. He was confident that it would be as good as new by the end of the week.

Might do something crazy and fire the motor this weekend...


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Glad to hear Dave is helping you out. Tell him Eric in the Coast Guard says Hi and sent you.

 

Will do @CGkidd thanks for the recommendation.

 

Some cool hard core shit right here .... love it!

 

Updates???

 

Well, the update is that I'm at a work stoppage.

I got the intake manifold back from Aluminum head welders. They welded it up OK it seemed, but then they surfaced the flanges with all the care of a amateur butcher with Parkinson's. Mating surfaces angled, differently from each other, and at least 3/16" taken off at the worst part. There is no way it could ever mount to a motor. I then gave it to an old timer machinist friend of mine who said he'd try to at least make it usable, if not pretty. Nope. The welds were so porous, and inconsistent that after spending the better part of a day trying to get something to work, he called me and said that it isn't salvageable.

Needless to say, I'm kinda pissed and de-motivated.

Anyone got a Winfield Manifold for sale?

 

I think you should let my buddy look at it.
I'm serious when I say he welded two pieces of a v12 block back together.

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Also I have another manifold

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@Hitchhiker

I'm gonna get it back in my hands this Wednesday. I might just have to run up to your neck of the woods with it later in the week.

 

Sorry to hear Dave didn't get it done good. Usually he is very good with any work I have had done.

 

Sorry to hear Dave didn't get it done good. Usually he is very good with any work I have had done.

 

Damn, you, @Hitchhiker, and @Bugsy have had a helluva time with these old Winfield parts...makes me extremely nervous about mine!

Hang in there & don't give up...this build is going to be so insanely sweet!

 

@gwhite

I wouldn't worry to much. My problems are all my own making. If I had done more than hose it out with carb clean and throw gaskets at it, I'm sure the results would be different.

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