Tommy R's Hot Rod Build (1:1)

[TURTLE]

Love the rod builds, I'll be following this one."thumbsup"

 

[hellbounder]

there's a complete 331 hemi ,in baytown for 700. i also on the hamb. joegreasemonkey ...dont post much tho. what other parts you looking for?

 

[Tommy R]

My uncle puts sbc's in nearly all of his A's & T's. Mainly because he's got a bunch of them on hand, but the other reason is like you stated, price and parts availability.

Yeah, they're hard to beat. There's good reason SBC's are so popular. :mrgreen: How many hot rods does your uncle have? Dang!! :ror:

I speak HAMB too.on there as the same name here. i'm doing full frame-offs on a 62 impala traditional lowrider and a 70 drop top beetle getting 4bbl'ed corvair power. "thumbsup"

I saw your builds, man. Very cool. Really diggin' the Imapla, but I've got a soft spot for air-cooled V-Dubs, too.

there's a complete 331 hemi ,in baytown for 700. i also on the hamb. joegreasemonkey ...dont post much tho. what other parts you looking for?

I've been on the HAMB for years, but have pretty much just been a lurker, too, until I started this build. A hemi would be great, but to get the kind of power I want will be pricey if I want to do it reliably. I'm not ruling it out as an option down the road, though.

Right now parts I'm looking for are a reduced height Deuce grill/shell/radiator, a steering box (side steer), and an S-10 T-5 transmission. The 5 speed is going to be my only concession to "modern" technology. At least no one will be able to see it!! :ror:

 

[Tommy R]

UPDATES!!

It's been years since I've posted any updates, but things are happening again. Over the last couple years I've only dabbled on the hot rod. I find that I suffer from what my friend calls "analysis paralysis". I'll sit there and measure, analyze, measure, analyze, etc., etc., etc.... In short, I think too much and don't do enough cutting and welding.

The reason for this is pretty simple, really. As much as I hate to admit it, I think the idea of building a chassis from scratch (and the prospect of screwing it up) was too daunting. I procrastinated. I worked on a ton of big Jeep projects since then, but next to nothing on the hot rod. It was flat out depressing, but I wasn't doing anything to make the situation better. Until...

A good friend of mine owns Past Time Customs in Garland, TX. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse so he's going to do some work for me. The plan? He's going to finish assembling the rolling chassis entirely. I'd been working on it on my frame jig, but it was only tacked together. He's also going to mount the trans, motor, AND (this is a big one) he's going to mount the body! When I get it back, if you squint from about 50 yards away, it'll look like a completed car. :ror:

It was a bitter pill to swallow as I wanted to do ALL the work on this car. But in the end, a friend said it best when he told me it's better to drive a car you didn't build all by yourself than to have a project you never finish. Truth.

The plan for the car hasn't changed much, but here's a recap:

• Reproduction (ASC) '32 chassis with P&J ladder bars, buggy springs, and an orig. dropped A front axle
• Original '30 coupe body that will be "mini-channeled" over the frame (maybe an inch)
• Steering will be crossover instead of side steer
• Decided on a firewall mounted pedal setup (think Ansen)
• Color will be some shade of blue (TBD) and I'm still shooting for a late '50s style
• Probably a 4" chop
• Motor will remain a mild Chevy 350 with double hump heads and a mild cam with ~300 hp. Eventually I'll build something in the 500 hp range.
• Trans will remain a Saginaw 4 speed. A T-5 may be in the future.
• Rear will remain the '66 Ford Bronco 9" with a 3.50 gear and a limited slip diff

So a few weeks ago Gary came down to Austin and picked everything up from my house. Here it is all loaded up and heading out:

I was happy yet a bit sad to see it go!

And here's a couple progress pics that Gary has sent me...

Front end going together. Dropped Model A axle with '40 Ford split wishbones and brakes (for now). Buick drums will eventually end up there.

Chassis Engineering cross member and the Pete & Jake's Drag Duty ladder bar suspension in!

Dangerously close to being a roller!

Motor and motor mounts are in. Went with a Hurst style motor mount.

 

[Tommy R]

Ignore the color of the wheels and motor mount. Those will likely end up being a gold of some sort. The brown was supposed to be more bronze. But it was my first attempt at painting and ya gotta start somewhere! At least the finish came out nicely. I'll repaint them down the road.

For an idea of what I'm hoping the final project will look like, check below. Other than the wheel and motor color and the cowl steering, this is very, very close.

 

[59sled]

Thats coming out great.

I know how it is, I lost interest and life just took over. My 59 has sat for 8 years until my kids started pushing me to get it going again. It might just be that my older kid is almost 15 and is seeing that it might become his. Just got the new 2015 tags in the mail yesterday.

My brother bought a 51 Shoebox Ford 17 years ago. He drove it home and tore it apart. Still sitting in the garage for 17 years. He was doing all the work himself, 4 link, fatman front end. I think he became overwhelmed with what is left to do on it. He has friends that can be trusted to finish some of it, but he won't do it. Same with you though, he has been building his daughters Jeep.

It's friends and family that we need in life to give us that little push. "thumbsup"

 

[EeePee]

That's pretty exciting. Those look like terrible Autocross tires.

 

[gearhead79]

Thats awsome!!!!"thumbsup" and thats also one helluva friend to help ya get that thing finished.

The car looks great man!!!! Hopefully we'll see her done soon.it looks like its gonna be killer"thumbsup"

 

[gearhead79]

Please tell me the will still be stick?????

 

[Tommy R]

Thats coming out great.

It's friends and family that we need in life to give us that little push. "thumbsup"

Thanks, man! I'd really hoped to have this thing on the road a couple years ago at this point. Time has a tendency to fly faster as you get older! Life's too short and it was time to make my lifelong dream a lot closer to a reality. :mrgreen:

That's pretty exciting. Those look like terrible Autocross tires.

And that's exactly what I'm after! Unless I'm at the drag strip, I want this thing to smoke the tires all the time. My attainable goal is to be cruising on the highway at about 60 mph or so, stand on it, and just haze the tires 'til I let out of it. 8) It won't do that with the current motor, but it should have no problem after I build one.

But I will have a set of drag slicks that I'll swap out when I take it to the track. I'd eventually like it to run solidly in the mid 11's with traction. Considering it should end up weighing about 2200-2300 lbs, that shouldn't be *too* hard.

 

[Tommy R]

Thats awsome!!!!"thumbsup" and thats also one helluva friend to help ya get that thing finished.

The car looks great man!!!! Hopefully we'll see her done soon.it looks like its gonna be killer"thumbsup"

Yeah, he's a great guy for sure!

Please tell me the will still be stick?????

What self-respecting hot rodder would NOT have three pedals in a Model A?? Of course, it'll have a stick. 4 speed all the way, baby! "thumbsup"

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

great news! facing the music aint easy. but shaving 10 years off the build time will be worth it!

mid 11s is gettin it.

 

[gearhead79]

Yeah, he's a great guy for sure!



What self-respecting hot rodder would NOT have three pedals in a Model A?? Of course, it'll have a stick. 4 speed all the way, baby! "thumbsup"

:lmao:Thats the only way to build a rod!!!!!"thumbsup"

 

[EeePee]

I thought three on the floor, three on the tree was the only way.

 

[gearhead79]

I thought three on the floor, three on the tree was the only way.

"thumbsup" for some maybe,but really only being able to powershifting 2nd to 3rd on a 3spd doesnt have the same feeling as 1st to 2nd on a 4spd"thumbsup".but hey whatever floats whosever's boat.love a manual trans anyway,3spd,4,5,6,7,10,13 and all the others:lmao:

Edit:7,10,13,and so on was refering to semi's

 

[Tommy R]

I thought three on the floor, three on the tree was the only way.

One day I'd love to build a truly period correct hot rod A with a 3 speed, but the transmission is one area I'm willing to make modern concessions....and for a few reasons.

They offer better shifting (syncrhos!), reasonable highway cruising of 80+ mph, they're under the car so they won't ruin a vintage look, and they will hold up to real power. I'm a firm believer that hot rods should be fast so no flathead for this car. :ror:

So, nope, it's not exactly period correct, but it's close enough for me! :mrgreen:

 

[hotrodsonoma]

Well hurry up and get it done now.



Get on thedoletsgo mode.

 

[MaddyDaddy]

Very nice Rod !!

 

[Tommy R]

Progress!!

It's just resting on there now, but it's a sign of things to come! I'm getting VERY excited....

 

[THX_138]

Nice project!"thumbsup"
I'm right in the middle of a 30 five-window myself that I hope to have driving by adoring time


Also a member of the HAMB for endless years with the same screen name as here
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