I've wanted a topless and fenderless hot rod since I lost the last one a few years ago. One popped up on the local classifieds and I had to look at it up close. I liked it and struck a deal. But I don't know what it is. The seller said it's a shop built "kit" car. The frame is very well built T bucket fare, originally set up for a SBC and auto trans. He cut out the engine mounts, since he was planning to use a 4 cylinder he had laying around. Fine by me, I'm not using a SBC in it either. It's the body that's got me stumped. The floor and frame are CNC cut baltic birch plywood, skinned with aluminum screwed to the wood frame. LIBERALLY screwed down. I like the aircraft look of it. The construction of it looks good, good as any wood framed fiberglass body. I just can't find it's origin. I've done a couple hours of Google searching for whomever built this "kit". I haven't found anything like it. I want to know, a little out of curiosity, but more for a few parts. The frame looks like it woulda/shoulda come with a brake pedal, but it's missing. I'd LOVE to find a transmission hump and a windshield frame which fits this body. Those items would save LOTS of fabrication. Has anyone seen one of these? Anyone know where it came from?
The body looks like a home brew. No compound curves so pretty easy for someone with a little woodworking experience to build. You should have a lot of fun with that.
Looks like a homemade body to me. One that has a neat shape to it, proportionally cool. Have fun with it
If there's no hole in the firewall/floor for the brake pedal, then maybe it never existed? If so, just make your own. Agree that it's not likely that there is another car like it anywhere.
I'd say the seller got lucky. It came out of someone's mind and a pile of material I'm afraid. The rest is up to you. What's up with that front spring? You know it won't work like that, right? Hope you have some Fab Skills. You can call it anything you want being it's a one off. I'm afraid everything that's missing will be one off also. But it is Topless.
That's obviously a 1926 Wonofff roadster. Very rare, only two ever made, by Charlie McCarthy in southwest Imalumph, Tunisia!
Take a bar and flip those front shackles. Hope they clear the axle, they look pretty long. What motor is in your plans?
The DeSoto in the background has a recently rebuilt flathead 6. It's coming out for a V8 and the flathead goes in the roadster.
I think that’s gonna make a neat hot rod. If it were me I’d try to get that tie rod behind the axle. The nice thing about hairpins is you can heat your steering arms to allow the tie rod to pass through them instead of having to get above or below a wide wishbone. But I know guys do run them out front too. Good luck, start a build thread.
Congrats, looks like it's as mentioned, a home brew. The lack of compound curves in the body point to that, although there were a few that didn't have much. I spot a master cylinder on the frame and what looks like a pivot, so it's up to you to finish that off. Since it's manual (no booster) you want a 6:1 ratio for the pedal. I'd guess a tape measure will tell you the distance from the pivot to a level point into the master, which should give you height from pivot to pedal. You can take this and the pivot size and try to match up something or fabricate. Hope you take on the build and share it with us here.
Moving the tie rod is also the plan. Seems people don't understand you can't just flip the steering arms, it messes with the Ackerman angle.
I don't know how well you tell a story and if you have a attractive voice, but I'd rather see your car and hear how it got done than tales of ex-wives, running from the cops and purchases that cost way more than intended!
I try to be objective and not nitpick things but here’s what I see. I mean this to be constructive so don’t take my comments the wrong way. That steering box has been reversed, that serves a purpose and is not a bad thing. Can you provide more photos, or can you tell if that is an OEM box or an aftermarket knockoff? For me it’s OEM or Borgeson, nothing else compares. The tubing used looks like it could be 7/8 OD x .156 wall and could have been tapped for 11/16-18 Ford tie rod ends. The arrow shows what I think are 5/8-18 nuts welded to the tubing. I don’t recall seeing a spring pass through the radius rod like this before, IDK, maybe that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Does anyone see a potential problem with this that I’m overlooking? Again, the bones are there, I just want you to have a solid, safe and reliable build.
Thanks for noticing things. I was excited about my new project and didn't notice everything. The radius rods are definitely going to get a close look. Everything is coming apart anyway, so I'll inspect them.
I know Mustang boxes are often used in applications like this, but I don't know what one looks like. I assumed this was one. I do know the '66 C10 I harvested a steering column out of, I needed to cut the shaft off the box, it was integrated. This box has a splined input shaft. Does a '67-'72 box look like a '66, but with a splined shaft?
Chevy pickups had the column integral with the box through 1959, then they went to separate column and box. Are you sure of the year?
Here's pictures and a year range. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lsc-18010 Those tires are cool, I hope they are fairly recent and you can get it going soon or store them away if it takes a while. Have you ID'ed the master? A disc/drum setup might take a bit of sizing to be happy. I notice lack of calipers. Also, if those are nyloc nuts, read up on use. https://roopeshent.com/nylon-insert-lock-nuts-7-most-frequently-asked-questions/
60-67. The truck frame was redesigned in 68, when they first started using the integral power steering gear.
There's also no rear brakes, only the drums. I was unfamiliar with the mounting bracket, but my son recognized it immediately as the same as his '84 Firebird. That tracks, as this rear axle is supposed to be '80's S10. It's been rainy here, but when it clears I'm going to try one of the Firebird caliper cores on it. I agree about the tires. I want to use them.
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