Hot Rods Working on the Vicky body, a build thread with pics

looking good @Koz !

 

Should the hood skirts meet the somewhat vertical edge at the back of the grill?
Curved lower edge? to accent the stock fender curve of the grill?

 

Looks good!

 

I'm hoping to have them make sense where they butt the back edge of the grill. There will be a concealed piano hinge on the right side to allow the hood to swing up sideways like an old Buick. That will give me a stiff, rattle free lid that I can easily open for service. A lot needs to be thought through to get this decent. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm still working that through.

lpickup, Still got that Esquire. Sweet!

 

I'm liking it.
Marcus...

 

Lookin good!

 

Neat Hotrod...the nose is coming together nicely Koz...as are the many other details which are a joy to see as well...I like your thoughts on the why. You having been witness to that era helps bring the details together too....an Artwork unfolding before your eyes and ours as well...

I understand neighborhood life too...yeah it can be challenging both ways...

 

Thats looking great ! Its a keeper !!!

 

Working on finishing the sheetmetal between a ton of other work and taking care of the wife. I fit in as much time as I can on it. Definitely has the look I was going for

 

Looks killer Koz!! Wire it, plumb it, drive it!

 

Thanks Adam! Plumbing is almost done. Just some radiator hoses and a vacuum line. Mess under the dash at the moment. All under car wiring and plumbing is done. Need to have a windshield cut and I'm ready to at least go around the block.

 

Spent some of the day finishing up the motor with some new hardened push rods because of the guide plates and some stock rockers. For some reason it just doesn't feel right when I spin it over by hand. For those of you following this thread you know the Chevy is pretty much pieced together out of whatever I could get my hands on so no race tech here for sure. I'm going to hit the sack and look at it again tomorrow. I'm sure it's just something stupid that I did setting the valves or something. Can't wait to hear it run.

Super close to going around the block now.

 

Why did you need to use guide plates?

 

Wont be long now. I got to get over to see ya. been awhile.

 

I picked up a really nicely done set of fresh double hump heads, (fuelys), that were used for a few passes before the bottom end of the 383 went south. Great heads just nicely cleaned up in the ports, nothing radical, fresh valves and what I believe are Z-28 springs. They have screw in studs and guideplates hence the hardened pushrods. I'm pretty close to firing it up an if it survives break in I think we're good

I have the Holley on at the moment. After I get it running I'll swap out one of my multicarb setups, whatever looks good at the time. I have a nice '58-62 Delco Remy generator and a dual point Mallory and new coil to go with it. Might take a bit to get that dialed in. If the cam holds I'm good until winter when I can work the bugs out with a good cam and anything else that doesn't work.

CycleTech, Drop by anytime! Always call first to make sure I'm here.

 

Sounds good to me! I have the 283 we swapped out of my Grandad's pickup for a 327 back in the '70s. Hope to use it someday.

 

283's were always a favorite of mine. They just wind no end and are really vicious in a light car. Love Em' when I can get Em'. Seems nowadays everybody wants an LS or something. Brutally fast but nowhere near the fun of the oldies. I declined this week on a fellow who wanted to put a Kia front wheel drive and all, in a '49 Ford pickup. Probably run pretty nice but why?

 

The guy with a Kia front end, should have hit him with baseball bat….

 

Been knocking a lot of stuff out trying to finish up some work in the shop but the '36 front end just wasn't growing on me. I swapped out a half dozen other shells I had laying around and the ;31 passenger seems to be my favorite. It gives it more of a "hot rod" feel and less custom. It actually looks the most hot rod without the hood but I really like the louvers and the hood makes it a little nicer on a long run. I'm banging on some other ideas in the rear as well. Nothing major. Everytime I walk past it in the driveway I ponder details.

The speedster is being built for a friend of mine using some scratch built Essex style rails and a B block Ford with scratch built 2x2 intake and some dirt track style zoomies. Insanely cool car to up close. Unfortunately, I think he just wants to finish it up and sell it. His interests have changed since the loss of the Circle M track near here. Also on the home stretch with the '29 Pierce Arrow RPU being built for another friend along with a bunch of Franklin panels for another buddy.

 

I like the A look too. The'36 is nice but the A just clean basic hot rod. There is already much "custom" work in the body the A shell kinda' brings it back. That speedster is very cool too!

 

Looks admirable to me...sitting back and pondering does that. It's a bonus the hood was still suitable for the swap.

 

As soon as the metal work is done this will be really nice for sure. Tonight we hosted a yard party/bonfire. I had the greasy tunes on the shop system, Saturday night backseat memories. The A sitting there halfway in the dark just looked so right. This car is definitely an obsession.

 

In the continuing hood saga I could use the bottom 4" or so of a '30-'31 hood tops. I need the bead and as much of the "roll" as I can get or just a decent pair of hood tops. Shoot me availability and what you are asking. I posted a want ad so I'm sure one will turn up. I'm looking to graft the roll and beads to my center to make a workable hood for this beast.

I had a little time to rough in the right side header last night and it doesn't look too bad. I was pondering just using a pair of 2 1/2" rams horn headers but they won't clear the breathers on my precious valve covers so no deal. The valve covers are not negotiable.

 

Did a tad of metalwork before the snow hit here. Rolled some beads and hammer welded them to the lower hood edges. I was going to try to adapt some stock tops but I would have needed to add to them anyway as the hood is aout 3" longer than a stock A hood so I just rolled some the right lenght. I'm not going to run the hood band as I just don't care for the way it looks. I'll need to do a small filler bead to smooth the transition to the cowl. That ones easy.

Also I need to come up with a cool way to work out the radiator cap to accomodate the Mopar radiator. That's just fun stuff. I added the salvaged bottom of the '31 shell under the frame with some brackets off the frame. This doesn't show well in the pics but made a huge difference in the way the front looks. If I line it up perfectly with the shello above it nicely clears the tierod and panhard bar with no chance of interference. Pure luck, no actual planning involved.

AutoZone here has started handling Duplicolor ready to spray lacquer. Some nice colors in stock including vintage black and some early looking blue colors. I love the way lacquers look sheen wise. Going to give it a try on the speedster. Not sure if anybody else on here has any experience with thier products. Sure is priced right though. They also started stocking urethane primer and high build by the quart. Perfect!

 

Looks Great! Merry Christmas! Bob

 

Thank you Bob and a Merry Christmas to you as well. I was looking at those pics and must remark, having it set in the driveway, even covered is taking a toll. It is looking a bit rough in those pics and needs to go inside ASAP.