I agree! I wish I could find one that nice. Does the other side look that good? The wheels look good too. Les Schwab has a powder coating service where they blast the wheels before they coat them. The price was good so I had my 19" wheels done. I'm not a real fan of powder coating but these came out nice.
Yes both sides of the radiator look really good and it doesn't seem rotten, but I haven't tried it yet either. Just a fluke I spotted it. I went there for wheels, I needed the radiator worse than I needed the wheels. 3 of the wheels are decent, one laid in the dirt too long and is toast. Many years ago I was helping my dad load a shed full of mostly Model A parts he bought and we left 6 beautiful Chevy wires behind cause he didn't want them. I wish I could remember where that was. Anyway I enjoyed the trip, made a new friend, and got more old car parts. Can't get much better than that.
The holy grail of speedster radiators! I drove almost to Lake Erie to get this .... over 12 hours in the truck today ... I had already made a deal when I found the 26 radiator the other day. The shell needs a lot of repairs ... always wanted one of these ... decisions decisions.... I will probably have to sell a kidney to pay for a recore if it's bad. I think it's a 26, not positive on the Whippets.
28-29. They look earlier, but aren't. Only made from 28-31.The other rad style looks sorta like a modelA, just wider n taller. Got 1 of each, debating on how they're going to get used, if they are. Marcus...
Question for the experts. The rear transmission crossmember that was added in 1926 - what years are the same? We have touched this before and I think 28 is different, taller maybe. Are 26-27 the same?
I think that the 27 is also different from the 26. To verify this I will have to cut out a cave in 25 feet of black berry brambles! I am getting VERY TIRED of cleaning shop, and it is a nice day, so maybe I should try it! BUT I AM NOT AN EXPURT!
Well got the tunnel chopped out! No trans. or crossmember in the 27 parts car! Dang! Now to try for a plan 2.........
GG2, Why doe we even try to work in cars when there are so many fun things to do around our places? My new inner tube came yesterday. I got it on today. Road work restarts in the morning.
Dan, plan 2 did not work. I did find two 28's and one 26 that had a 25 trans. attached to a 25 steel bell. (the 25 shift rods come out the front of trans. and bell.) Bet they used a torch on the cross member! Plan 3 will be to get into the speedster and pull the floorboards, but that is going to be another day.
Front tube 6.00x14. Got in a pole of rocks and ripped the valve stem out. Changed to on my Harbor freight tire mounting thing. I have about 1/2 of the road roughed in. I is the worst 1/2 though.
Grumpy, thank you for trying. Maybe you could just tell me, if I got one for a 28, would it be feasible to cut out a piece with my plasma cutter and weld it back together so that it would fit my 26 chassis? I wish you all were close by where I could ride over and visit
Dan, I think that you could. On speedsters and hot rods anything can be done! RIGHT! I found that my late 26 roadster frame has a 28 Transmision and crossmember in the 26 frame. I tried to get a good measurement but could not. I know that it is over 1" and under 2" miss aligned. I will have to use something like centering punches to get a 'caliper' measurement. I will get a pic. of this when I can. One thing to worry about is the alignment of the peddles and cutout in the crossmember on the driver's side. The other thing is to tack it back together in the frame that has been checked for tram and is level. Myself, I would set an engine block with the front mount and cast iron bell into the frame, align and bolt down. (the cast bell and engine are dowl located also the cast to pressed steel are doweled. The presses steel bell is located to the crossmember with two shoulder bolts. Mount the ends of the crossmember to the frame with the spacers, check peddle movement, (clutch peddle swings into hole, brake rod goes over crossmember I think!?) and build the connections. P.S. don't pay much for that 28 crossmember, they're very easy to find!
The variety of crossmembers that are part of the engine & transmission mounts in the '25-'28 Chevys is a study of its own. So many of them look to be the same at first glance.
Yes, most of the mounts I find for sale are ‘28. I might be able to source a 28 locally. If I had just thought of it, I could have probably got the crossmember with the frame, didn’t think of it and didn’t know there are that many different ones. I am not even sure the transmission I have is useable, if I go with a later transmission, then the crossmember will probably be a whole other issue. I kinda wanted to start with everything basically stock, then make modifications. One other question, did the 28 ton trucks use that crossmember?
Got some pics. and marked up. Dam! lost markups! All are 26 frame with 28 crossmember except last is 26 crossmember.
Thanks for those pictures, that really helps! I was expecting the 28 crossmember to be the taller one. With those pics I think I can identify a 26 crossmember if I see one.
There are four crossmembers on eBay right now. Shipping is the issue. They all appear to be 28 style. Looking at the pics, it might be easier to rework the frame mounts than to modify a crossmember.
I thought those cross members went all the way across and bolted directly into the frame rails. In the picture it looks like there is a fixture on the frame that they bolt to.
My 26 frame has mounting pads like in the picture. From what I can tell from pictures and parts for sale, there is a shim about 1/4 inch thick that goes between the pad and the cross member, then bolts with nuts and washers hold it in place.
So far my '26 roadster has Chevy, Studebaker, & Jeep parts. There is an Olds steering wheel if I can't use the Chevy one.
My original plan was to build a Fordolet speedster consisting of a model T chassis with a Chevy head on a T block with a Chevy crank, disc wheels, front spindles, and headlights. However I kept finding Chevy parts. At one point I considered using the whole Chevy engine in a T speedster. I think the T chassis is lighter. After seeing pictures of a 1926 Chevy with a Mercury body, the die was cast. I might not use the Whippet radiator, I don’t know yet, but I do like the look. If it is good enough for John Gerber’s race car, it’s good enough for me. Here is a pic of Gerbers Chevy powered racer with the same style Whippet radiator.
If I had a good Whippet shell I think I'd use it. I really like the look. Even Spurgin-Giovanine ran one for a while.
The Jalopy Journal
