Hot Rods A Long Time Coming, But Not There Yet...The Bass Hemi Model A Coupe Version 2.0

Looks great Brian. You never cease to amaze your dad and make him proud.

 

Great Top Tech! Thanks!

 

Lookin' good!

 

sweet ...love this car

 

Nice work as usual...I know what its like doing inserts like that...shit ton of work....

 

Looks really good Brian. Your coupe is just great.(All your stuff is). Will I see you at Bonneville this year? I am going come hell or high water this year. Would be cool to catch up a little. Dale

 

This is an awesome ride, thanks for putting this up for us to look at, I never get tired of looking at build pics of this quality. How the hell do you keep it from rusting running it around naked metal?

 

Thanks, Dale. Yes...you'll see me at Bonneville. I'm driving the coupe (the one in this thread) out there this year. Actually, I'm going to drive it up to Tacoma for the Hotrodarama first, and then hit the first 3 days of Speedweek on the way back. It's about a 4200 mile round trip.

I've got a few more small things I want to do to it before I take off, but it's just about ready.

 

damn...been following all your builds from the beginning and enjoy them all.

This car is truly a hamb icon and among all the great things, I really dig the roadster lower pan. It looks right at home with the louvered deck lid. Too cool. Rodders Journal anyone??

 

Thanks for all the sharing and teaching you do here on the HAMB, your build threads are very inspirational and detailed, not to mention the cars you build are just bitchin!

Even though I live fairly close to Tacoma I wont be going to Hotrodarama, so Im looking forward to seeing your car at Bonneville.

 

Very cool, thanks for posting your build I need all the help I can get building mine.

 

COOL! Can't wait to see you at Hot Rod A Rama!

 

This is one great looking car. wow. Love the Hemi!

 

Hi Brian,
sounds like a fun trip, but
4200 miles with the open headers on you coupe????

Sounds like safe way to go deaf ....

Michael

 

Well, I drove it yesterday evening for the first time with the new top, and I'm happy to report it's working out well. Even though it was still 95 degrees out, the underside of the top stayed cool. In fact with the windshield swung out, it's a lot cooler inside the car now than it was with the open roof.

I'm putting lakes pipes/ long collectors (think Joe Nitti Roadster, Ken Gross Roadster or Walker Morrison Roadster) with insert mufflers on it before I go. I have all the stuff sitting here to build the collectors...I just need to find a few hours to put it all together. The mufflers aren't going to make it quiet, but hopefully they'll help.

Suprisingly, it's quieter with the top on it. I figured it would be like an echo chamber inside, but it's not.

 

great video..

 

This really is amazing. When you go back and look at what the body was like in the beginning to now....just...wow....

 

I like this 'before and after' shot. You can hardly tell where the strip was and it looks like brand spanking new metal.

 

That insert is slick Brian, I like the fact you finished it off and maked before you did the Lizard Skin.

 

I remember way back when you first introduced yourself to me at one of the first Hotrod-A-Rama's. I thought you were so hardcore for flying to the Northwest for my show. Now I know you are hardcore for driving all that way. I wish I could make it and see all my buddies up there in Wash. Maybe some will make it to B-ville. I 'll see ya on the salt Brian. I can't wait. I'll buy the first cold one. Good luck on your trip. Pm me if ya need anything around the Tucson area. I'll give you my number. Dale

 

Well, I made some time to put my collectors and extensions on the headers this weekend. Getting the slip-on collectors to fit and to sit at the correct angle was kind of difficult, but I got it all worked out.

The headers now have the early lakes style look that I wanted. I'd been talking about doing the headers like this for as long as I have been building this car, so it was cool to finally see them come together. I studied the headers on the Walker Morrison roadster, the Nitti Roadster, the Ed 'Axle' Stewart roadster, and the Ken Gross Roadster...among others...and came up with these.

This isn't the final version, because I want to have block-off plates for the headers and hide the exhaust running back to a pair of mufflers when it's done. But for now, I made some plates that have a 2.5" hole with a baffle inside that I can bolt up to quiet it down. I also made a pair of stainless turn-outs that I can bolt up for my trip to Seattle.

I'm thinking I want to Jet Hot coat the primaries and chrome the collectors and extensions when I blow the car apart for paint, but I have thought about Jet Hot coating the whole assembly too. Not sure if it would look "right" with the Jet Hot though.

It's amazing how much quieter it is now with the baffles and turn-outs in place. It still sounds the same, but not as loud. Anybody that has heard the car in person knows that it was waaaaaaaayyyyy too loud before.


Here's the driver's side header before I welded up the extension and put the hanger on it. The primaries are 2", the collectors and extension are 3.5".



Here's a profile shot with the new headers mounted up. I put some new tires on the car last week, and I haven't made the Firestone letters white yet.



Another shot...



Here you can see the plate that has the baffle welded to it on the inside. This will get replaced with a flat block-off plate when the car is "done."



It was hard to get them to match perfectly from side to side, but they are very, very close.



And here are the little stainless turn-outs I made. I don't want to run these all the time, because I don't particularly think they look all the great with the rest of the car....but they make a huge difference in the noise level inside the car. It's almost quiet inside with these mounted up.





So that's one more thing off the list. I keep inching closer and closer towards a finished car.

-Brian

 

Beautiful work as always Mr B.

Can I ask what size front tyres you are using? They look like quite a low profile.

 

Phenomenal work. This car is why I love this place. Thanks for showing the work you did.

 

and it just keeps getting better....

 

Agreed. Thanks for such detailed pics too... nice job, Brian.

 

Looks great man! I bet you have some time into those headers

 

Exhaust looks great...I dig the LONG collectors. See you in Tacoma!

 

very influential! beautiful

 

As always nice work Brain. May see you at B-ville.

 

Love it. The exhaust is perfect!