Hot Rods The (eventual) flight of the fauxbanger

Over the past nearly five years, I have occasionally posted photos of my lakes modified project on various threads, including Who's Building a T. I was hesitant to post a build thread, however, because with my luck the car, if it got finished in a reasonable time, would probably scatter its bottom end on its first drive. Not sure why I feared that, as it's never happened in any of my previous builds but...oh well.
In any event, having (pretty much) retired at the beginning of this year, and having actually got the car running and driving, I thought I might as well share.

It all started with a S 10 Iron Duke (aka Tech 4) and T5 which laid under my workbench for at least 10 years after being removed from a pickup I was given because said motor had locked up. Eventual disassembly revealed number 4 rod bearing spun.

After a ground crank, resized rods, and mild overbore the derelict duke began to show promise. You will see a dual carb manifold, which is actually the original 2.5 manifold with the throttle body hole blocked and two flanges TIGed on. Bullet Cams, in Mississippi, reground the cam for a mild performance increase, and I assembled a pair of Carter YF one barrels from a stash of swapmeet castoffs. The "valve cover" is, of course, not a valve cover at all but merely a decoration. It started life as a swapmeet 235 Chevy cover which was shortened. The carb flanges and side cover were machined by a well regarded fab shop which has been a longtime client of mine.

 

Here you can see some of the stuff I collected as I moved toward the actual start of the build:

Banjo, wheels, wishbones and front axle. As it happens, my eventual suspension plan mitigated against the front axle and wishbones. Anyone need a set?

 

And here is the grille shell, $25 at Billetproof years ago. It's an early '20s Stude, I think.

 

Before I could build a frame, I needed a body. A cursory search for a steel one within my price range revealed only rust, rust and more rust. A Shadow Rods steel body would have been nice, but then I would have more invested in the body alone than I have in the whole car. All of this led inevitably to fiberglass. The only suitable, that is to say floorless, body I could find was from an outfit in Maryland. Class Glass, I think; but it's been too long to be sure. With body in hand, I could sketch out a frame and buy some steel. 2 x 4, to be specific.

 

The frame begins to take shape. Nip, tuck, weld, grind.

 

More frame work. The gas tank was another junkyard find, this time from an old Case combine. You can begin to see the suspension plan. Everyone uses the tried and true transverse buggy spring and split wishbones. I decided to follow the lead of Harry Miller, Fraser Nash, and HRG; using over/under quarter eliptics front and rear.

 

Rear suspension and cowl superstructure take shape.

 

Very nice work all around. Looking forward to seeing this come together in final form.

Ray

 

Finally rolling, rolling, rolling. And sporting the exhaust fabricated by my brother, Richard.

 

Great tech post. I love attention to detail.

 

great looking little build! are you planning on using the front shocks to control spring wind up and vertical stabilization? What are your plans to control lateral movement?

 

If you really get serious about a dual carbs manifold for your project, here is pictured a pretty scarce item. I sold mine years ago, but thought you might like to know it was produced.

http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/Pontiac10038471top.jpg

Jon.

 

Thanks for the kind comments, guys. The front suspension has no provision for lateral movement; while the rear has a Panhard bar. I've put about 75 miles on the car now, and so far no issues with braking or spring windup. It also handles pretty well.

If I had a Super Duty 3.0, dual 4 barrels might be just the ticket; but I think they would drown my nearly stock 2.5.

Here are images of the frame in paint. BTW, the pedal box & linkages for clutch and brake are MGB. The steering gearbox is a 1965 Plymouth Valiant, left over from my replica of the car that competed in the Monte Carlo rally in '64. The box has a 20:1 ratio.

 

Lacking as I am in sheet metal forming skills, I turned to my friend Dan Earns for help. He did a yeoman job forming the hood and belly pan. He even made an aluminum blister to cover the exhaust as it exits the hood, but I haven't yet figured a way to attach it and still be able to quickly remove the hood sides. And check out the seats my wife made! Imagine her disappointment when we discovered that once the seats and the steering wheel were installed there was no room for my legs. We were left with no alternative but to disassemble the seats and use only the bottom cushions.

 

Looks like a very interesting and original build! Subscribed for the ride!

 

Cool - ya doin' good

 

This may seem a little out of sequence, but I thought it important to point out that I dispensed with the molded in firewall of the body. I really wanted a steel body, and thought if I used an aluminum firewall it might leave the casual observer with that impression. I had the firewall cut out of 1/4 inch aluminum thinking that it might also add a bit of structural integrity to the body. I eventually created a sandwich by gluing insulating material on the cockpit side, then covering that with 20 gauge aluminum.

I also created an internal frame work for the doors, using bear claw latches and Stude opener mechanisms and handles. What I didn't do, because of a major brain fart, was try the location of the handles in relationship to the steering wheel. The wheel is from a '47 Buick and is LARGE. Of course, when I got every thing put together, there was no room for my left hand between the steering wheel and the door handle. So, until I can reconfigure the latch and opening mechanism, I take the handle off once I'm in the car and put it back on when I need to open the door to exit. Doh!!!

I also wanted an aluminum dash; again thinking it might draw the casual observer's eye away from the 'glass body.

 

Nice work! I like it.

 

Nice work. I don't understand about the valve cover not being a valve cover at all. Is it a valve cover cover?

 

Can you clock the handle differently to avoid the wheel?

 

Again, thanks for the kind words.

The "valve cover" is indeed a cover "cover".

I tried the door handle every which way; but my screw up was so comprehensive that nothing but removal worked. This will be a project for next winter.

 

Any build that lists Harry A. Miller as an influence has my attention.

 

Harry Miller was a rare genius. To think that he started in the '20s and the Offy, which originated with him and Leo Goosen, was still competitive 50 years later!

 

So, now the roadster is "done". It's been on the road now for a couple of weeks; time enough to highlight the shortcomings to be addressed next winter. Those include the aforesaid door handle/steering wheel interference. Door fit/alignment. A better carb linkage. Having a tonneau cover done. But none of those details keep it off the road.

Details that I haven't shared yet include my debt to Limey Kid for his help in fitting a factory appearing cowl vent. The interior trim comes from Tractor Interiors, at an extremely affordable price. They make foam backed vinyl trim for tractor cabs. The foam backing can range from 1/2 inch to 4 inches. Mine is 1 inch. I am also indebted to Brian Marr of Marr's Garage in rural St. Louis, Michigan (yes, there is a St. Louis, Michigan) for his diagnosis of a major vacuum leak (attributable to my stellar carb rebuilding skills). The 2.5 now sounds and runs great.

Behold, the "finished" product:

 

That is a cool car. If you would grind all the knobs and barbs off off the intake it would look period old.

 

Chuck,
Great to see it finished and up and running! Looks great. Have fun.
Cheers,
Stewart.

 

Excellent! If I could fit-- I would love a similar one for running around in.

 

that s some good hot rodding there

 

Thank you all for the kind words.

 

Well done! Beautiful car you created!