Haven't really update this build for a while... so thought I'd share a little. Actually found the original guy that built this car back in the 60's. By chance I found his name in some old newspaper photocopies I had of race results from the late 60's, and he happened to live in the same town still. Called him one morning last week, and then just had to rush over and meet him that afternoon to get the full story on the car.
He shared alot of information on the car that I'll have to post later. He always had a flathead in it, and ran a 3x2 carb set up, along with aluminum heads. He also used an 8BA with the distributor on the side, instead of the front of the motor. He didn't remember the name of the father and son he sold it too back in the day, but remembered it was for about $800. Still trying to track down information on who he sold it to....
Anyways, lately I've been sort of discouraged looking at the chassis (you have to admit... it is pretty ugly looking with no body on it...). So I was able to move it out into the other part of the building, so now I can start to work more on the body now.
Been trying out my new Christmas present....
My plans for the body are pretty simple. I want to fix all the rust, and I want to get out most of the major dents on the body. What I don't want to try and do is make this into a flawless body. I've seen plenty of guys working on these old stock cars making the bodies as close to perfect as they can, but that's not what I'm after.
Sure I want it to look good, but I still want something that has "character". Planning to paint it like it was (the red and black with silver numbers/trim), but don't want anything too fancy. After all, it was originally painted with barn paint!
As for the cutouts at the bottom of the body where the nerf bars attached to the frame/roll cage, I think I'm going to take the old peices and add some extra sheet metal to the back of them that go off on the sides. Then I can drill holes in the body + the panels and pop rivet them on. That way, if I ever need to, I can remove the body from the chassis without really disturbing the rest of the body and paint. Certainly not high tech or the most visually appealing option, but it'll be pretty low on the car ad I'll paint the rivets as well to hide them.
Picked up a pair of 6.50x16 bias ply tires for the back that were like new for $55 and some old trailer tires I wasn't using. Have 2 stock wide 5 rims so I'll get them mounted soon and see how they look. Still have to figure out what to do for tires on the front... Want to run smaller tires in the front, just not sure on size.