Some of you may have seen this altered posted here last fall when the prior caretaker was trying to find any info on it. It ended up being an hour and a half away so I couldn't resist taking a ride with a trailer and bringing it home. Apparently it was pulled out of a field (luckily the slicks were in the pole barn) after the prior owner of the property p***ed away. There are a few projects in front of this one but the plan is to restore it to what I believe would be it's original mid-late 50's timeframe. Any opinions on dating it's original build would be appreciated. It looks to originally have been painted red, followed by blue and then the metalflake that is seen on the turtledeck and roll bar. The front end was completely chromed including the shocks and steering box. The steel body is gutted and lined on the inside by what appears to be conduit. The tri-5 rearend is solidly mounted to the frame. I'm not sure of the origins of the frame yet but both rails have a upward bow in them (not sure if this is as manufactured or from years of abuse). I recently picked up the '51 flathead. After originally planning to run a small block (due to a preponderance of parts/pieces) I figure the use of a flathead may open up more potential vintage events. I also picked up the Americans to replace the steelies and bare drums. The steelies may be more era correct but after owning a couple sets of Americans I need to have them on something. If anyone in the NY or northeast area has any recollection of this thing please let me know.
I love it! Would be great to find some history on it, but even if you don't, there's history built into the car. So anything you can preserve, repair, or duplicate from the original build would be best. Those tires are wild. Also interesting they didn't move the grille shell back to the front of the engine. I wonder if it ever even had a radiator in it.
I may have been built in the '50s but by the late '60s some of the things on the car were NHRA mandatory, like the roll bar triangulating struts, the push bar, and even the vestigial wheelie bar pads look to be of the mid '60s era. Yup, I think its an A frame that got bent upwards from maybe a wheelie. BTDT
I just now realized that taped up handle sticking out on the left is the brakes! This thing had to be a wild ride.
The Jalopy Journal
