Projects 1926 Ford Lakes Modified a New Chapter

Peter, I was thinking the same thing. A splined disconnect, then I can get two hubs/pins for a ****erfly and current wheel. Should be quite easy to weld onto my column, as it is a dirt track set-up. Good thing we have a master welder in the family.

 

I don't think a ****erfly wheel fits the car at all.

 

What tinman said.

 

I should clarify, I was speaking to the period correctness of a pin-release steering wheel disconnect. ****erfly wheels don't make sense on anything other than dragsters with quick ratio steering. It looks like the wheel in the car is already a 15" diameter, which is just about the smallest wheel that looks correct for the era.

 

Fair ***essment. The quick steering in this car means it only travels about 180’s stop to stop. As an old pilot, I am hoping to adapt a 40s aircraft control wheel. Until then, a quick disconnect with the round wheel will allow me to clear a tonneau cover without a big hump for the wheel.

 

Oh, he wants a vintage plane wheel, not an FED wheel.

 

Not sure what a FED wheel is, but this is what I am envisioning. Been speaking to some people to see if what other 1950's era control wheels are available. My brother should be able to fabricate an adapter to a 3-hole disconnect fairly easy.

 

That's a nice looking car. If Kowalski built it, its ready to be driven hard. I've seen his work restoring old dirt track cars, he does a good job.

 

Thanks... EJ did indeed build it, and it is a screamer. My Dad and I are having a lot of fun going through it, since the build is 20 years old. Seems like we are now down to cosmetics... and possibly a round fuel tank (cosmetic and more fuel).

 

FED=front engine dragster. We were picturing a lightweight dragster ****erfly wheel in our heads.

 

That makes sense, I clearly wasn’t thinking that way… your thought makes more sense. And I see why no one liked the idea!

 

I have a Beechcraft yoke for my lakester

 

Update: we spent about 5 hours working on the center caps and spinners for the wheels while I was back on a long weekend. I am not happy with the product at all, we got two to work (less the Allen key retainers were too short and ran out of threads). So we are going to have have to modify them all to actually work, a shame for an extremely expensive product to start.

 

I did get to sneak in a drive Saturday, as weather gave us one nice day. Car starts and runs amazing, even without a choke hooked up. We wanted to get it on the ride after the axle repair and subseytoe adjustment that we did. This car runs down the rode like a banshee…. Good times for me and Dad after some frustration with the wheels. Also sold the Kelsey Hayes and Firestone’s to member locally, so another Hotrod will wear those shoes…

 

Thanks to some work and ingenuity by Dad, the wheels are complete with centers and knockoff spinners. The look was exactly what I wanted… the process was not indicative of buying a new (and expensive product. However, I am now happy with the outcome.

 

Next visit to Kansas is not planned, but I am planning some of the upcoming projects. I need to paint the front axle (after the heat treatment repair, we primered the area), think I will clean up the bones and repaint them, and maybe the radiator shell (it has an awful lot of patina). I am going to brush paint them all, been reading on process, etc. and will eventually pick a paint.

 

I am also leaning towards replacing the gas tank with a new round tank, building it with the traditional sight gauge via br*** fittings and clear fuel line. I can run a 10"x 40" and carry 13.25 gallons, which would be really nice for road trips. I will be stopping every hour or so, but never want to be worrying about running out of gas (been there, done that, have the worn out shoes from my 1955 Wagon). Now the fretting of it, ruins a drive for me!

 

That looks great!

 

I'd recommend a boat-style fuel gauge, would really fit into the theme of the build: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...dQKwlrPCGoBZpFWcZmgnhntBNrN8kr94aAmREEALw_wcB

Polish up the upper portion a bit and it'll look like a vintage piece!


~Peter

 

A lot of conversation from others about the vintage stretch drop 32 axle in this car. Had self proclaimed "expert" state it was unsafe and should be replaced with an aftermarket axle. The machine shop that tightened the eyes was happy to see a "real one" and said they hadn't seen one in a while, no concerns from them. Personally, I like that it is period correct and not "perfect" realizing it is a taffy stretch... although we have the front end tight and tracking straight, so maybe it is perfect???

 

Hurry on the news fuel tank -- the louvers make no sense at all.

 

I haven't heard of any original axles failing after having a taffy drop like that. I HAVE heard of numerous aftermarket axles failing. If it bothers you, I'd keep an eye out for another original Ford Axle and have one of the various shops represented on this forum do the drop for you. There's Okie Joe, Victory, Sids, etc...


~Peter

 

Agree Peter, and it doesn’t bother me at all. It is a great old axle and has been that way for a long time, so I can’t imagine any issues with it.

 

I got to spend some time in Kansas last week and drive the roadster a lot. Weather was windy but cooperative, so I managed to log several hundred miles. Even got it out on the interstate for some 75-80mph jaunts, although I will typically try to avoid 4+ lane roads. My Great Aunt wanted a ride, how many 93 year olds ask to hear the tires squeal???

 

Did some painting on the radiator shell, touched up some surface corrosion areas, etc. and finally got the Kowalski logos on the car. A simple paint brush job with satin black seemed correct to the period, I am very happy how it all turned out... Before someone complains, the cell phone holder is for my speedometer app... so I know how fast I am going when I am on long trips.

 

My brother and I have made a pact that we would take a road trip to the Back to 50s Car Show in Minneapolis, in the next two years. This was the last year, so we got the roadster ready and began planning a 2-lane road route from my Dad's place in Eastern Kansas to Minneapolis. Neither of us are big on car shows, it was more about a nice road trip together and the people we would meet along the way.

 

We left on Wednesday morning, with high temps being the expected challenge on the trip. We have a small compartment behind the seat for tools, the just the bare minimums for a road side repair... we are planning on a total of 1200 miles after all. A duffle bag bungied to the top of the gas tank was our only luggage, so again bare necessities. We stopped for our first overnight Wednesday afternoon in Carroll, IA. The car ran great, but we fought some shifter issues which went from sketchy to worse in and out of the detent. We decided to avoid reverse and just push the car back when needed. (Roads were manageable and we only ended up on gravel for about a mile). That night we enjoyed some great food at Brothers on Main, then met an awesome couple at the Angry Beaver. Todd and Nancy showed us around town following their Harley from place to place, including checking out their race cars and other toys at Todd's Exhaust Pros shop. Genuine car people, so fun to meet people like the two of them.

 

Thursday morning we hit the road a bit later than planned, as the p***enger may have been a bit worse for wear (too many beers, not enough water). The trip to Minneapolis went well but we hit 4-lane roads for the last hour + of the drive. Some traffic delays in Minneapolis as we came in from the Southwest and headed to the North of St Paul, there were several accidents stuffing things up. It was HOT in Minneapolis, so much that our phones took turns overheating trying to get us directions to the registration hotel. Registration was like a car show in itself with people in lawn chairs enjoying all the festivities. That night we bounced up the front tires on a curb and crawled under to look at the shifter, it appeared to be in the shifter not the linkage, so pushing it back would be the operandi for the weekend.

 

Friday morning we hit the show... Cars everywhere is the best way to describe it, I suspect they were close to 12,000 vehicles again this year! A short video as we entered looking for parking...

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=3360182967645862

 

After about 3 hours, we had our fill of a car show and decided to hit the road. Knowing a major storm was coming across the region we wanted to get as many miles under us as we could. Back the way we came, we pushed hard on Friday and landed back in Carroll. This time we ended up finding about 6.5 miles of gravel, but the car continued to perform well. Same place we had started the day before (yesterday).