Late 60's Vintage Modified Race Car

[Shaun1162]

Well, my C-30 project is pretty well finished up and so I've started working on this ol beast.

I'll post some more pictures and info later, but it's a 1933 Ford 5 Window coupe that was made into a modified in the mid or late 60's, and only ran until '68 or '69. Since then it's pretty much sat out in the woods until I dragged it out.

I'm sure a few here can appreciate one of these old relics













Got the body off of it today:

[hopped up]

that is a def cool old coupe!! what era are you gonna get it back to? i vote for early -mid 50s dirt track . put a flathead or maybe even a y block. that would be awesome. whichever way you gi its def cool
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[Shaun1162]

Thanks for comment hopped up.. I plan to put a flathead back in it, and I think that's all it ever ran... Doesn't look like any other motor-mounts have ever been put into it. I'll be sure to keep this post updated... Have to show some pics of the frame, that's the real project part!

[hopped up]

thats awesome to hear! love those model b coupes!! look forwars to updates, im building a model A Coupe,
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[hopped up]

thats awesome to hear! love those 33-34 coupes!! look forward to updates, im building a model A Coupe,
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[Shaun1162]

Some more pictures:







Frame is going to be the hard part... But definately do-able

[hopped up]

That frame is rough,but gotta keep that roll cage!,
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[JHT67]

What a find, I have always loved old race cars, can't wait to see the build, so glad you saved it.

[PanelDeland]

Looks like a cool ride.

[chevyrestoguy]

I want the body!!!!!

[Shaun1162]

Thanks for the comments guys! The frame's definately seen better days, but the body is in awsome shape for being almost 80 years old, being left out for at least the last 40, being a race car, and who knows what else. There are some dents that should band out pretty easy, but little rust.. I've seen alot more rust on cars less then 10 years old!

[rambler]

wow,, in for more pics of this project..

[Shaun1162]

I'll have some more pictures tomorrow... Have the front end/rearend ready to come out, just two stubborn bolts left. Then I'll have the chassis sandblasted and hopefully start welding on it soon..

The big news of today is that I found a flathead for it. Stopped at a guys house while out riding around who always has some different junk around, and he just got a '48 F6. He wanted the cab to put on a late model chassis, so I'm getting the motor, trans, and radiator for around $500.. Hopefully picking it up on Monday, definately have more pictures then!

[Shaun1162]

Made some progress today...





Taking the front end and rearend over to our other shop to work on at some points (got 3 out of 4 drums to turn so far, but the rearend might be junk)..



Frame ready to deliver and have it sandblasted, just have to put a strap on the back haha



Hopefully I can get the chassis sandblasted, and then pick up my motor, trans, and radiator this week.

[hopped up]

Just realized that the trunk is leaded in? Very cool !!
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[Shaun1162]

Originally Posted by hopped up

Just realized that the trunk is leaded in? Very cool !!
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Yeah, it's all welded in! Some of the cars had a trunk that could open to get at the gas tank, battery, rear suspension, etc. but this one, the gas tank is sort of attached to the trunk..

The rear suspension is also real funky. All it is is two threaded rods welded to plates on top of where the spring perches were on the rearend, then the rods go up through the rear crossmember, with only a short coil spring in between. At some points one was broken and never fixed... Perhaps why it stopped racing at the time. There are some mounts on the frame further up that look like they could go to maybe some leaf springs or some other type of suspension, but they don't hook to anything... Same with the little shocks in the back of the car- no where to hook them on the rear.

[Shaun1162]

Made some more progress.. Dug into the front end and rear-end. Front end is pretty much ready to paint with POR-15, rearend needs some more attention before paint. Would like to weld the other bolt/threaded rod first, but our 220 welder needs a new liner.

Got most of the stuff off of the motor to get ready for paint and stuff...



Front end- Drums came off pretty easy, just needed to adjust the shoes on the driver side..





Check out these wheel lug adapters- go from 8 lug, to wide 5 bolt patterns:



The rearend proved a little more difficult... The drivers side drum/backing plate came off slick for having sat outside without an axle for probably 20 years. The passenger side was a bit more challenging... Never seen rot holes in a brake drum before, and the brakes ended up just coming out with it, after I unbolted the wheel cylinder:





Then I opened up the rearend to look at the gears...





Might need to find a different pumpkin...

[JHT67]

more....more....MORE!!!

[Narxoleptic Customs]

That's awesome!! My machine shop guy has a 32. Keep the pix coming!!
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[Shaun1162]

Gainin' little by little... Ordering a bunch of brake parts tonight. Also got the rearend welded up (around the bolts, and the perches used to mounted them) and put back together. Got the front-end painted a while ago, but forgot pictures before. Got a complete rear-end (actually for my birthday) just need to go and pick it up. I'll use the axles and probably the brake drums.. Keep the rest for spare parts.

[hopped up]

What rear is that? I fig it had a banjo rear. What front axle? 8 lug to wide 5? WTF. Never sen that
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[Shaun1162]

Originally Posted by hopped up

What rear is that? I fig it had a banjo rear. What front axle? 8 lug to wide 5? WTF. Never sen that
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That's a 3/4 Ford rear end.. Think Ford used them 53-56. Pretty simple to work on, and very rugged. They were real popular with racers (at least around here). If you look at some of the new style quick-change rearends used for racing, they're very similar, except with a quick change adapted in the middle, and of course made out of aluminum. Some guys did use banjo rears because they weighed less, but I'm guessing they didn't hold up nearly as long.

Not sure on the front axle... Some guy said a '48, but I'm not real firmiliar with this vintage of Fords.. I do know the brake on the front are actually REAR brake off of a '39-'42 Ford car.. So perhaps the axle is from then?? One side has the stock hub and the wide-5 bolt pattern, while the right front has a 3/4 ton "safety hub" which was mandated by the track, so that the wheel can never accidentally come off of the car.

Lotta race cars had started going to wide-5 patterns to run regular racing rims and tires... Guess they used to sell adapters back in day to make it easy to switch over??

[67ChevyRedneck]

Did you get to hear the motor run? Flatheads are one of the coolest looking engines ever.

[fryer1979]

Very cool and unique project. I love the use of the old flattie too....I'm in!

[Shaun1162]

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Been making some progress, but no real good pictures to show... Dropped the frame off to have it sandblasted, and the guy said early to mid next week he'll have it done so that's good news. Got some of my brake parts from Mac's a week and a half later, but had to cancel the brake shoes because they were backordered 6-8 weeks, so I ordered from another place a week ago and they haven't shown up yet either... Hopefully by the end of the week though.

Also pulled the oil pan to clean out the gunk in the bottom and inspect some of the bearings, no big/bad suprises there seemed decent, some pits in a couple cylinder walls but way down and not where the rings would touch.

Ran into some big problems with the rearend... Got it all painted and everything, and assumed it would be easy to find a set of axles (why I bought the extra rearend), but I soon found out there's two of these style rearends made by Timken. I've got the newer A-150 style out of a '53-'56 F250. The older style is the one most racers actually used, and the kind that I bought to get parts from. Of course, the rearend out of the car is 2" wider, and the splines aren't the same either. Now I'm not too sure what to do... Been looking and asking all the guys I know about axles, but haven't turned up a thing yet. I could always mount up the spare rearend I bought if worse comes to worse though... Have to see.

Also kind of wondered about the electrical on the car today... Would a regular flathead run fine on 12 volt? I'm guessing the generator wouldn't work, but what about everything else? The electric fuel pump in the back of the car is a 12 volt and was definately being used at the time, and I'm pretty certain this car only had a flathead...