finaly got the car ***led and registered Wednesday so I thought I'd drive er into the city a mere 90 mile round trip the first leg is about 20 miles on side roads at about 45 mph nice drive then it's onto the freeway for the next 25 miles today that was about 10 mph for a half hour or so to get past a wreck can't help but think what it would have been like too get hit like one of those shreded cars then of course as soon as we get past the scene of automobile carnage everybody wants to make up for lost time we are flying at 75 or 80 I knew the little car rode stiff but never truely experienced the feeling like this before every panel joint in the pavement although only about a half inch or so was enough to jar my spine in repeted jolts so hard that I thought I would spit a disc clean out of my back the two inches of foam under my *** was better than nothing but I do believe I will have to make some alterations in regards to comfort soon the ride home was uneventful, a nice leasurely 60-65 mph for a half hour or so, get off the freeway and putt down the cool wooded side steets at 40 or so and I'm home. it had to be done, but now that it has been I will hold off till the thing rides a little less harsh before trying it again. here's a couple boring pictures, on the way in, in the cavern of semis one at work, first one in the lot and the uneventful ride home.
i have a 100 mile round trip and i was going to take my 31 coupe. my trip would be a lot like yours except traffic in atlanta really stinks. looks like your first pic only its like that for 45 minutes to an hour each way. then for what ever reason the left lane runs at 80 and the right lane runs at 60. if i stick to back roads its a 3 hour trip, which wouldnt be so bad actually. Nice RPU.
"we are flying at 75 or 80 I knew the little car rode stiff but never truely experienced the feeling like this before every panel joint in the pavement although only about a half inch or so was enough to jar my spine in repeted jolts so hard that I thought I would spit a disc clean out of my back" When you can see "air" under your front tires at speed then you have truly Hot Rodded.............LOL
I took my van to work for the last time today as tomorrow i deliver it to its new owner....now..i drive the thing daily, but today....i just didnt even wanna go to work and about almost teared up. ****ed.
My 28 delivery did the same. It had coilovers and I tried adjusting them and no luck. I dropped the air pressure on the rears to 12 pound and it helped alot. There is no weight on the back to make the springs work.
Wow, sounds like you summoned the spirit of my '60/62 Beetle from the great beyond (lost to fire). It rode like that. But it looked soooooo cool! Real low. But I'll bet your little car would be delightful going northbound on w. valley hwy from 181 up to about Kent. Hey Paul... demo ride! -bill
Maybe remove a leaf or 2........use polypropylene between the leaves and drop tire pressure a few pounds. Toss a sandbag in the back too..
yup, all that and some softer shocks in the back, and a softer seat too I've been puttin around town for a while but this was the first run of any distance, overall I think she did real good
Nice look on the little roadster, Paul. I feel a little better (not much) that I have the same spine bending suspension as you. Oh well, I'll be a little friendlier with my chiropractor in the future. overspray
I thought I was an icecream cone down at the corner store turned around to look at myself and melted all over the floor
Took the 50 to work the other day , 3" drop in the back - 2.5 " drop in the front ........ Tuck was right! rides like a plank.Love it!!!!!!!! it was awesome .Actually got a thumbs up from a cop.Thought I was gonna pee myself .HAHA . awesome pics .Thanx for sharing with us .swaZZie
I thought the same thing the first time I took my for a longer ride.. beat the **** out of me, but mine was from to soft a ride and it hitting the bump stops so often. I know I need more seat padding..
Congrats on the 1st long (painful) ride.... I too am jealous. As you blast down the not so open hi-way, rattling yer teeth and jarring yer spine.... just remember.... not that long ago.... it was some modern **** box you were sittin' in !!!! (with a/c, music and a BJ ****on) Ahhh the sacrifice. I'm still jealous Ho
Nice RPU Paul. I've got a '27 modified that i cut out the bottom board out where your *** goes and put upholstery webbing (per Tardels' book) then the foam. Helps the ol' bones immensely!
Love your car!!! It probably weighs in at about the same as mine (see avatar)----Mine runs gl*** fenders and boards, but steel cab and box. (The fenders and boards wouldn't weigh more than 100 pounds.) My rpu rides very smooth with a stock A spring in front with teflon between the leaves, no spring leafs removed. In the back i went with home made coil cups and a set of rear flea market coil springs from some 4 cylinder small car. My wheelbase is 103". Many of the people I have spoken to just can't get a soft ride out of coil-over units.
looks great. I like it. Glad to hear everything went well. My second trip out of the garage this summer with the 34 pickup ended with a flatbed bringing it home Oh well thats part of the fun, Great job
Now the fun begins. Not only the fun, fun,but the gettin' er tuned just right. Are those bias-plies I see? How do they work out if the pressure is lowered a bit? I know you like bias, but I wonder if a set of bias looking radials on another set of wheels would be the hot setup for trips? And . . . I'm not resurrecting the bias-radial argument here, just curious. One thing you'll find if you go to a softer spring is you may not have as much travel, but from the sounds of it, the softer spring would do it. Coilover spring choice is a bit of a shot in the dark most times anyway. The little RPU sure looks good. I especially like the bedside pipes. Is the windshield braced like the T-Bucket guys do? That's a lot of flat area to hold up against a 75-80 mph wind. No real criticisms here, just curiosity. Aside from the first trip around the block, actually using the car to make a bit of a trip is a good first time experience. Congrats on yours. Shows that your good planning, hard work and attention to detail paid off.
great looking RPU ya got there paul, must be fun to drive! i drive the coupe to work occasionally but i'm not as lucky as you.....i got maybe a 20 minute drive with 15 minutes of 35-40 and 5 minutes of 75-80 in the hammer lane, the looks on people's face's when i fly by them kill's me! what a blast!!! mike
Most rods out there are over-sprung. Could you give us the details on your suspension setup? Car looks great.
RIP: 60's Style..... That's a cool little ride. I really dig it! I hope to do something similar soon. Luckily, we live in a little town with country side surrounding us. I'll hang on the back roads. I hate traffic conjestion!!! Cool pics!
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