Old6rodder
New Member
Excellent project.
Slant Six Roadster Build
- Thread starter thebearded1
- Start date
-
Badvert65
Long Time Mopar Nut
How did it go at Waynesboro?
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Thanks it's finally coming together. Adding socks and headlight mounts today!
It was cancelled due to rain. There aren't anymore drag racing event till July unfortunately. I do have some dirt circle track events I'm going to try to run at in May. Need to get shocks on the front end and build a screen for the radiator
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Here are some photos on of the shocks and the way she stands today. Test drove the car today and the shocks worked great. I still need to take the shocks apart and paint them.
I ended up making the discs out of a sheet of slippery UHMW Polyethylene from McMaster-Carr. I read up on sooo many different options for the friction disc material but ended up going with the UHMW after reading how the slippery material makes for a smoother operating shock due to less stiction or intial friction. This from Holden Vintage and Classic talks about Hartford adding this material for use on their shocks and shows the difference between the UHMW and wood and brass.
I originally was going to use a pair of 40 ford hydraulic lever shocks for the rear but i may make another set of friction shocks like I did for the front. Here is the link for the plastic. I bought a 12 x12, 1/4" thick sheet and cut it using an adjustable circle cutter bit in the drill press.
McMaster-Carr
I ended up making the discs out of a sheet of slippery UHMW Polyethylene from McMaster-Carr. I read up on sooo many different options for the friction disc material but ended up going with the UHMW after reading how the slippery material makes for a smoother operating shock due to less stiction or intial friction. This from Holden Vintage and Classic talks about Hartford adding this material for use on their shocks and shows the difference between the UHMW and wood and brass.
I originally was going to use a pair of 40 ford hydraulic lever shocks for the rear but i may make another set of friction shocks like I did for the front. Here is the link for the plastic. I bought a 12 x12, 1/4" thick sheet and cut it using an adjustable circle cutter bit in the drill press.
McMaster-Carr
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Haven't made any updates in a while. Have been busy racing and crewing so still having fun. In July I raced a lakester powered by a mostly stock pinto motor at the Loring Timing Association in Maine. It's land speed racing where you are timed at a mile and 1.5 mile. We race on an old retired air force base runway. I set a record in the class at 114 mph and had a blast!
Then I was out at Bonneville Speedweek in August helping a few teams. Rains hampered things and they were only able to run one course and it was only 3 miles so the one team didn't run. That car is another lakester but it has a 562 cui BBC naturally aspirated with no power adders. We need a 5 mile course as the record we are going after is 314 mph. It was still a lot of fun and I met a lot of great people from all over the world.
Then in the end of August it was back to Maine to help crew with 2 teams. One was Tom Pease's Chevomet which Marcia set a record in the fuel class at 180mph.
Tom built an awesome race car hauler out of a school bus as well.
I was also helping Marcia run an old belly tanker lakester that originally ran at Bonneville in 1964 and went 203 mph. It's powered by a 260 sbf and had a hilborn injection system in 1964. The lakester was restored by Tom Pease and his staff and was almost exactly how it was in 64 minus the injection system. Marcia set a record in the class at 138 mph!
Then I was out at Bonneville Speedweek in August helping a few teams. Rains hampered things and they were only able to run one course and it was only 3 miles so the one team didn't run. That car is another lakester but it has a 562 cui BBC naturally aspirated with no power adders. We need a 5 mile course as the record we are going after is 314 mph. It was still a lot of fun and I met a lot of great people from all over the world.
Then in the end of August it was back to Maine to help crew with 2 teams. One was Tom Pease's Chevomet which Marcia set a record in the fuel class at 180mph.
Tom built an awesome race car hauler out of a school bus as well.
I was also helping Marcia run an old belly tanker lakester that originally ran at Bonneville in 1964 and went 203 mph. It's powered by a 260 sbf and had a hilborn injection system in 1964. The lakester was restored by Tom Pease and his staff and was almost exactly how it was in 64 minus the injection system. Marcia set a record in the class at 138 mph!
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
As for my track bucket I sent the steering box to Clark's Corvair Parts to have it rebuilt and they did a great job. I knew I didn't have the tools to do the job right but had other tools I would have used and screwed it up haha. They even media blasted the box and it looks great. I ended up just painting it with satin clear.
I bumped my tire pressures up in the front to 30 psi and was able to stop a bounce that was happening at 65 mph and was able to do 80 mph.
I cut and tack welded together a new exhaust from a u bend and a megaphone. Sorry no pics right now. My buddy is going to tig weld it to finish it up. I also added a small bosch tach to the column too so I can have more consistent launches at the drag strip.
Right now i'm working on attaching some 40's Ford hydraulic lever shocks for the rear. I will post photos once i get those done.
Been taking the car to work and was going to run at South Mountain Raceway this past Sunday for some drag action but it was canceled due to rain. This weekend is the Mobtown Greaseball Show in Dundalk MD but once again they are calling for a bunch of rain. Then another drag race at Eastside Speedway in VA Sept 30 hopefully with decent weather!
I bumped my tire pressures up in the front to 30 psi and was able to stop a bounce that was happening at 65 mph and was able to do 80 mph.
I cut and tack welded together a new exhaust from a u bend and a megaphone. Sorry no pics right now. My buddy is going to tig weld it to finish it up. I also added a small bosch tach to the column too so I can have more consistent launches at the drag strip.
Right now i'm working on attaching some 40's Ford hydraulic lever shocks for the rear. I will post photos once i get those done.
Been taking the car to work and was going to run at South Mountain Raceway this past Sunday for some drag action but it was canceled due to rain. This weekend is the Mobtown Greaseball Show in Dundalk MD but once again they are calling for a bunch of rain. Then another drag race at Eastside Speedway in VA Sept 30 hopefully with decent weather!
Very cool! Making lots of memories!!
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
It's been a lot of fun that's for sure! This winter i'm going to try putting in a simple roll bar behind the body so I can run my car up at Loring to see what it will do. I will also be able to add shoulder belts as well.
Thanks for sharing your stories.
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
No problem! Sorry they weren't a-bodies or mopar powered but we are all car people here! I'm glad yall have been interested in my roadster build.
This thing is just way cool Are you a member of the roadsters page on Facebook?
Roadsters Only
Roadsters Only
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Thanks it's been a lot of headaches and a lot of fun making it. I wasn't but am now. I will try to post some photos over there too when i get a chance. I really can't wait for my buddy to finish weld the exhaust I made. It's going to look a whole lot better. The exhaust on there now was temporary and made from what I had. All I have is a stick welder and it will look like a hot mess if i try to finish it haha.
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Well I'm back from winter hibernation haha. I have been making progress on a lot of different updates during the winter but wanted to post after things were wrapped up. Ran new brake lines with better routing and everything works great with no leaks like they were before. I took out the hydraulic brake light switch (leaking) and added a pull switch to the brake pedal like you would find on the rear brake of an older motorcycle. I think I'm still going to try arcing the shoes to my drums at some point.
I did find a set of front runner wheels 15x5.5 w/ 5.5 bp and am in the process of cleaning them up so I can install the 5.60-15 tires. I wanted 5" wide or less rims but these were free and will work fine.
I made a new mount for the alternator. Thanks to @Badvert65 for the help. We only talked about it years ago haha and I finally got around to it. It used to be high and on the passenger side (red mark) now it's tucked in and low on the driver's side. Before you could see it sticking out past the grill.
Also replaced the timing chain because it had a lot of slop. Next I'm going to readjust the valve lash and reset the timing since it won't be jumping around now.
I built a new exhaust to replace the temporary "dog leg" that was on there. Made it similar to what I saw on some track roadsters in a 50s issue of Hot Rod Magazine. Sounds a lot better with a deeper note. I am going to paint it with aluminum colored exhaust paint and cure it on the car. The metal clang you hear is the heat control valve on the stock manifold.
Also about to make a cockpit cover for the passenger side. It will use boat snaps along the edge of the body as well as being snapped to a metal and wood rib that runs from the dash to the rear body lip. That will be held in place by 2 cleats. I will likely treat the canvas with linseed oil to darken it up and give it some water resistance to make it easier to wash after dirt track events.
A 4 point roll bar is still in the plans that will be bolt in so I can remove it for the street.
Looking forward to the event season and will be back out at drag tracks and dirt tracks starting in April
I did find a set of front runner wheels 15x5.5 w/ 5.5 bp and am in the process of cleaning them up so I can install the 5.60-15 tires. I wanted 5" wide or less rims but these were free and will work fine.
I made a new mount for the alternator. Thanks to @Badvert65 for the help. We only talked about it years ago haha and I finally got around to it. It used to be high and on the passenger side (red mark) now it's tucked in and low on the driver's side. Before you could see it sticking out past the grill.
Also replaced the timing chain because it had a lot of slop. Next I'm going to readjust the valve lash and reset the timing since it won't be jumping around now.
I built a new exhaust to replace the temporary "dog leg" that was on there. Made it similar to what I saw on some track roadsters in a 50s issue of Hot Rod Magazine. Sounds a lot better with a deeper note. I am going to paint it with aluminum colored exhaust paint and cure it on the car. The metal clang you hear is the heat control valve on the stock manifold.
Also about to make a cockpit cover for the passenger side. It will use boat snaps along the edge of the body as well as being snapped to a metal and wood rib that runs from the dash to the rear body lip. That will be held in place by 2 cleats. I will likely treat the canvas with linseed oil to darken it up and give it some water resistance to make it easier to wash after dirt track events.
A 4 point roll bar is still in the plans that will be bolt in so I can remove it for the street.
Looking forward to the event season and will be back out at drag tracks and dirt tracks starting in April
Last edited:
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
So I finished the cockpit cover a while back and really love how it turned out! I ended up waxing it to help make it more rigid and give it some water resistance.
Had fun in April at South Mountain Raceway and made it through 3 rounds before losing to my friend who also drives a Slant powered hot rod so that was fine by me. I took the car to my local track today and ran my best time ever but unfortunately went too fast for not having a roll bar. The track owner told me not to run faster than a 10 in the 1/8 and I ran a 9.838 @ 70.58 mph. Even though I only made one pass it was still really cool because the last time I raced on that track was on a plastic big wheel in the mid 90s as a kid. They did a big wheel race for kids at the Mopar show and I won my age group. I didn't let my dad forget that my trophy was slightly taller than his for winning first in his class in the show with his 72 Charger.
Next project will be the roll bar so I can be safe and also have shoulder belts. I'm going to be looking at several rule books from World Drag Racing Alliance (sanctioning body at my local track) and Loring Timing Association. I think I am going to extend the rear frame to support the rear legs of the rollbar and then have a single leg going forward from the center of the main hoop to the passenger side frame. There just isn't enough room for me to run a leg on the drivers side.
I'm still planning to make some hood sides for it but don't have a way to make louvers and most of the already made hood sides from 20s-30s cars are not long enough. I will still keep an eye out for a pair to see if I can make them work. The sides will help keep dirt and mud off the engine and alternator when I'm on the dirt tracks. I still haven't come up with a way to make the hood work since the grill shell sits about 1-1.5" higher than the firewall. Even if I was to notch the frame to lower the radiator then the hood would have difficulties clearing the valve cover. It's been fun getting waves and looks while out on the street and glad to be enjoying this car more and less time frustrated in the garage. Thanks for allowing me to share the car here and following along. Next race is June 22 at Mason Dixon running with my Vintage Eliminator friends at Mason Dixon Dragway.
Had fun in April at South Mountain Raceway and made it through 3 rounds before losing to my friend who also drives a Slant powered hot rod so that was fine by me. I took the car to my local track today and ran my best time ever but unfortunately went too fast for not having a roll bar. The track owner told me not to run faster than a 10 in the 1/8 and I ran a 9.838 @ 70.58 mph. Even though I only made one pass it was still really cool because the last time I raced on that track was on a plastic big wheel in the mid 90s as a kid. They did a big wheel race for kids at the Mopar show and I won my age group. I didn't let my dad forget that my trophy was slightly taller than his for winning first in his class in the show with his 72 Charger.
Next project will be the roll bar so I can be safe and also have shoulder belts. I'm going to be looking at several rule books from World Drag Racing Alliance (sanctioning body at my local track) and Loring Timing Association. I think I am going to extend the rear frame to support the rear legs of the rollbar and then have a single leg going forward from the center of the main hoop to the passenger side frame. There just isn't enough room for me to run a leg on the drivers side.
I'm still planning to make some hood sides for it but don't have a way to make louvers and most of the already made hood sides from 20s-30s cars are not long enough. I will still keep an eye out for a pair to see if I can make them work. The sides will help keep dirt and mud off the engine and alternator when I'm on the dirt tracks. I still haven't come up with a way to make the hood work since the grill shell sits about 1-1.5" higher than the firewall. Even if I was to notch the frame to lower the radiator then the hood would have difficulties clearing the valve cover. It's been fun getting waves and looks while out on the street and glad to be enjoying this car more and less time frustrated in the garage. Thanks for allowing me to share the car here and following along. Next race is June 22 at Mason Dixon running with my Vintage Eliminator friends at Mason Dixon Dragway.
abdywgn
dismantler
Thank you for sharing your adventure. Two personal questions and you don't have to answer if I'm being too nosey: 1) what does the car weigh? 2) how much did it cost or what would it cost to replace today? This seems like the easiest way to "build" a car for low $$$ and BIG fun! Thanks! Bob
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
it's 1710 lbs with about 4 gallons of gas in it. I paid $5000 for it and it was tagged and drive able but I made a lot of improvements and corrected a lot of mistakes the previous owner made. Had I had a better eye for things at the time of buying I would have offered even less but it was nice that the car was already title and tagged which made it easier getting it registered in my state. Not sure what I have into it. I've done all the work myself and have a buddy that has done the welding. It is definitely a cheaper way to have a lot of fun. I was definitely the slowest at the track today but it's a lot of fun running with my Vintage Eliminator friends racing with old hot rods and race cars how they would have been back in the day. Being street legal was a requirement for me.
Very cool hot rod you built ! Reminds me of one I built back about 14 years ago.
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Thanks it's been a fun learning experience and am already wanting to build another haha but don't have enough garage space... for now
I put a Clifford 4 barrel intake and a 390 holley carb. . 410 gears . Ran fantastic.
I love it. Im building my first roadster type car right now. Im using an old early 30s chevy frame, a speedway straight axle front end, and an E body 8 3/4. I just got the rear axle mounted to the chassis last weekend, used leaf springs from the front of a ramcharger. My engine is at the the machine shop and is almost done. A big straight 8 out of a 1948 New Yorker.
I hope it turns out as good looking and functional as yours.
What are those 16 x 4 wheels off of? Ive been looking for something like that and havent had any luck so far
I hope it turns out as good looking and functional as yours.
What are those 16 x 4 wheels off of? Ive been looking for something like that and havent had any luck so far
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Sounds like an awesome project! That straight 8 is going to sound great. The 16x4 wheels are from an early 40s Ford so they are 5 on 5.5 bp
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
I've been running the car on the street and at South Mountain as well as another dirt track outing! Not many updates other than some temporary hood sides. This winter I will be working on a roll bar.
Love the progress. The half cover reminds me I wanted to ask if you've thought of making a top of some sort?
thebearded1
Well-Known Member
Yup this winter I'm going to try making an aluminum hood and then fit these other hood sides I bought. Here is a mockup
That will look awesome! You thought about a top for the passenger compartment? Man this thing just reeks of old school hot rod buildin. Plus it's a slant 6. What's not to love? lol
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