Old Aussie Hot Rod - History and Photos.

you might have seen the other thread, but I gave that a wanky name not thinking, and after having a few cold ones. So I thought I would use a fresh thread to put up the article. Problem being I havent completely sorted the scanner, so lost some of the text. I will post that when I get home tonight. but heres the photos and what I wrote, as a few asked to know.

Flatoz

 

I can seem to get any photos to attach at the moment so heres my speel on the car.

A few people asked me about the T heres some ramblings anyway. I guess this car is why I am into early style hot rods. Its in my genes.

This is my old mans T bucket he built it in 62 and he still has it, it’s the only surviving original hot rod from the club he belongs to, and has belonged to since 62.

I have posted the article here, that really gives a run down on the build, but to me this car has history, I guess I am biased coz of my involvement with it. But just as far as Australian hot rod history goes it is rather unique.

It is one of the few remaining early Aussie hotrods, there are a few around, however they have usually undergone rebuilds with paint and engine upgrades, or have just been completely re-hotrodded and dont represent anything close to their original state. But if you look at the photos you can see this car is very close to original.

From memory the front tires are the original ones, I know that he just changed the radiator hoses the other day and the brake line hoses. But the paint on the body is original, it was sprayed using a vacuum cleaner in reverse.

The old man tells me he wanted a 32 five window ( who doesn’t ) him and a mate Eddie Ford scoured the country side looking but couldn’t find one. No one told them that we never had them in Australia. I don’t know why he settled on a bucket? Cant say I’ve ever asked him, probably because it was quite a big thing in the mags they got from the states at that time.

The rod is just one of those things that has always been there, never in the fore front of our family but always part of what made up the family, having a farm we never went away much when I was a kid, but the majority of times we did were to rod runs in the Mid 80’s.

The car has spent most of its life in hibernation, most in an old garage on the farm, god knows how it survived. We had chooks and peacocks for years, the pen was next to the shed the T sat in, and anyone who has kept poultry knows, with them come rats and mice for the grain. Yet the interior was never attacked. Buggered If I know how, as I had a mint 32 fuel tank that I thought I would store in the same shed as the T, I put it up high on top of a shelf and thought I would be smart. So I turned it upside down so the bottom wouldn’t rust, well the bloody rats made a nest in it and pissed in it and rotted the top out instead!!! Well theres rat bait EVERYWHERE in that shed now, that was the day I went out and bought about 5 pounds of rat poison, bastards!

I’m glad he still has it, as a few people years ago tried to buy it, luckily my mother talked sense into him and it stayed.My wife would be counting the money before I could disagree. I guess he sort of lost interest in it to a degree. After all he would consider himself a hotrodder, but this is the one and only car he has built. Built it, showed it, won some trophies and then got into boats and went skiing, common thing here in Australia at that time.

He only figured out awhile ago when digging out stuff for the Castlemaine Hot rod club 40th anniversary that the car had actually won top roadster at the first Melbourne Hot Rod show in 1965, he had always told the story about how it won top engineered , but the clutch wasn’t even hooked up at the time.

He also has told me a few times about the drive back after the hotrod show, it was early hours of the morning, they were coming out of a small town heading home, this town has a row of trees for about 2 miles as an avenue of honour to ex servicemen from WW2. for some reason his mate Eddie ford ( theres a photo of eddie with his 34 coupe in TRJ the one with Aussie hotrodding in it) anyway Eddie decided that he wanted to ride in the T on the trailer, so Eddies sitting in the T ( probably making broom broom noises) and I guess the old mans driving, anyway the trailer starts to fishtail, he tries to get out of it but it gets worse, ends up throwing the car and trailer off the road and down and embankment, in the only place along the row of trees that one had died and left a space. The old man said he scrambled out of the car white as a ghost to see if eddie was alright only to hear him exclaim “ shit that was a ride!”

I have been onto him for a few years to change the few things that aren’t ‘original’ back on the car, usually I get an answer like’ why spend money on that old heap of shit’.

Finally I think he is coming around. As it now has its tripower back on it, and when I say its, I mean the actual one it originally had.

We were down at the Hotrod nationals in 2002 and the old man happened to be at the car, an old guy wanders up and is looking at it, he says he remembers the car from the 60’s and asks didn’t it use to have a tripower on it. The old man says it did, the bloke asks if he is interested in one, he says he is, knowing I have been chasing one for it for a while. So its all organised and he goes and gets it and brings it home. Later on when hes cleaning it up he notices its rough at the front near the water neck mount, days later his memory recalls , he had to cut the front off his original tripower to fit it on the motor coz of the truck waterpump the motor came with, he looks at it and thinks “shit, this is my original intake” After all, there weren’t too many poly 318 in rods in Australia and I don’t think any others with tripowers.

According to the old man he had to wait I think it was 12 months to get the intake from the states, by the time he went to Melbourne and ordered it, a letter was sent by ship to the states, and then the order filled and the intake send back by ship. he told me the other day that the set up cost him over 5 weeks of wages back then.
The four barrel intake that is on it in some photos was one that Phil Weiand gave to him when he and a couple of mates visited the states in 1966.

He’s got a heap of stories about the six months they spent in the US in 66, riding in Dick Scritchfields roadster and phaeton ( Eddie and he found the phaeton in Australia and sent it to the US for Scritchfield) Shooting up a 5 window coupe body at Fred Steeles with a Tommy gun. Being given a free T-shirts by an inebriated Fred Offenhauser whilst at a drag meet, coz “you shouldn’t be wearing one of those shit Weiand ones!”

I think that is enough ramblings, anyway have a look at one of the photos, you’ll see near the rear wheel an “Aussie jack stand” it comprises of four beer cans welded together ( when beer cans were steel of course) , he tells me him and Eddie use to go out on Sunday mornings scouring the roads for tossed empties, they would weld them together for jack stands. When asked why, “hell I wasn’t wasting money when I could spend it on the T’

 

try photo again...

 

another

 

the old coot

 

sorry about no text from the article will get that tonight.

 

Man! What a great story! Thanks!

 

kool story,was fun to read,thanks......quickrod

 

Now that's TRADITIONAL It's also preservation of hot rodding history. thanks for sharing it with us.

Frank

 

thanks here a colour one. taken recently

 

Jeez I love stories like this one....that is killer FO.

C ya on Sunday dude.

Rat

 

Good to see the Tri power back in place, cool story!

Are they the same headers as the ones from the 60s, with a single piece added to the end?

Great to see it ain't hidden! but driven!

 

Top story those guys i could listen to them all day
JR

 

here the meeting of the minds over the tripower

 

cool, needs to re-pop the old headers......
Sounds like they had a great time in the U.S. they would have been made a big deal of back then, friends of mine tell similar stories about some of the old speed equipment guys, must have seen getting their product overseas as good advertising, I recall one of the old timers here telling me he got given a cam or intake from Isky......

 

hey corey,

that car is awesom, as is the story! well done!

i say you get your ass into gear and post one in a couple of months regarding the rebuilt 32 chic 'o matic roadster...right? right.



Danny

 

Thanks for the history! It made my evening.

 

Good tale, thanks...........OLDBEET

 

VERY much the type of post the HAMB NEEDS right now.....when I'm not flat out at work, I'll give it a thorough read (if I can find it again!!).

 

great accumulation of words Corey, have always love your dads old hot rod. Even better that is owned by such a nice guy.

 

Not enough ramblings..........Great story and it's good to hear of the cars that survive as so many have lost their identity in Australia over the years.My father has had his model A since 1966 but it changed over the years.I guess we'll have to bury him in it.

 

Great story, glad a car like that is still in the family and preserved as it was built. I know there are Australian and US bodies, (I remember photos of the Scritchfield '32 pheaton when it arrived) what year is the T body? It has features of a 15-25 body as well as a large cowl that the 26-27 had. Is the windshield a custom made item or an original Australian T item?

 

Corey
Great photos and story.I remember seeing your dad,s car around when I still lived in OZ.
PS.Thanks for the E-mail I did see your roadster with my old gauges at Ballarat swap meet

 

Thanks, I dont seem to have worked the scaner thing out for text, I will sit down and type it out tonight, as it gives all the info, the body it made up of a few different cars.

 

meant to say this photo was taken the day we got the tripower back on, as you can see its a bit dry at the moment.

 

Just as a side, the old man doesnt throw much away, in the third photo down you can see an S series Valiant in the background. This car was bought new by my Grandfather in 62. The old man bought it off him in 63, again, he still has it...

 

Those S+R series Vals are pretty cool, we never got many of em here mores the pity, nothing wrong with keeping stuff, hell I've had one of my cars for 15 years (and I'm only 35)

 

Flatoz, great post. I love to see and read about cars that have survived through the years. Thanks!

 

Well here is the article the old man wrote, rember it was writen for the non hot rodder in a 'modern' car mag.

Well here is the article, took a while to type, there is a fair bit there.

ANATOMY OF A HOT ROD

What’s it really like, this hot-rod craze? What does a hot-rod cost, and whats involved? Peter Swift, a young Victorian draftsman, provides th answers in this step-by-step account of how he built his award wining Ford T ‘bucket’


One day back in late 1961, when I was just a kid at Tech, I decided to build a hot-rod. Not a souped-up clapped-out maniac-driven buggy of the kind the public seems to confuse with hotrods but a genuine rod, rebuilt and modified and improved with loving care.

I wanted a car with good performance and good looks, yet something diffeent from the standard old sedan.

A rod was the answer- particularly in my circumstances.l With a rod you can build only as much as you are able to afford at a time, then pause while you save for more parts. You wind up with a distinctive car, without having to go into debt.

In my case I decided that I , as I wasn’t able to afford a Thunderbird convertible, I would build my own equivalent, in which I would try to combine some of the luxury and performance of the Thunderbird.

I wound up three years later with the car you see on these pages. The body is basically Ford T; the engine is 1960 Dodge; the total cost was around 900 pounds and many, many hours of sweated labour, and it was worth every penny and every minute. Lets go back and see how it was done.

SEARCH AND DISCOVERY.

I started the project in 1962, from January to April my friend Eddie Ford – who was building a 1934 Ford coupe rod – and I traved about 2000 miles within a 200 miles radius of Castlemaine, my home town, searching far a suitable T model body.

Finally, after we had scoured the countryside without success, one of our mates mentioned that he had seen pieces of an old car up near some old gold diggings a couple of miles out of town.

Further investigation produced a cowl, firewall, windscreen posts and top frame and the top bows of a 1924 T truck. The firewall was partly separated from the cowl which had no supports left, and flapped and bounced all over the place.

As we had been unable to locate any other T model parts, I decided to store it away and if nothing better could be found I would have to use it. We also collected a burnt and rusted 1927 T firewall complete with doors from a local tip.

In April, 1962 I bought a 1948 mercury engine from a Ballarat wrecker for 15 pounds – reasonable condition. I also bought an A model frame from the local wrecker. Construction of the frame started with the removal of the front and rear crossmembers. The front member was replaced with a pipe which had a bracket to take the front spring in front of it.

The arched rear crossmember was replaced with a straight one made from angle iron sections welded together. A 1936 ford gearbox crossmember was fitted to the frame.
Then, 1946 Ford front and rear axle assemblies were bought from wreckers in Kyneton and Ballarat. We fitted them roughly into position to get an idea of the work involved in setting them up properly; then work started on the body.

The body was finally to consist of the cowl and firewall section found in the bush, two doors from the burnt out body from the tip and the back seat section from an A model tourer which was on the local wreckers junk heap.

A tubular frame was shaped to fit the firewall and cowl and tack welded in place. The back section was also reinforced with a tubular frame.As the two doors lacked hinges and locks, we decided to weld them shut; they were actually used to join the firewall and cowl to the back section.
This flimsy structure, which was only tack-welded was thenperched on top of the frame. With the frame resting on the front and back axles, and the body sitting on the top of the frame , the general proportions were not the best. So we decided to channel the body nine inches- that is lower the body over the frame. This improved the proportions and the body was welded together.

Strays were added at various points and a 16 gauge steel floor was cut to suit , then welded to the body. To retain some springing despite the decrease in load, we removed a few leaves from the front spring. To lower the mounting position of the front spring, the spring eyes reversed – that is the eye on each end of the spring was straightened out then rerolled in the opposite direction This operation was done by a Melbourne spring works.

I also took in the 16in front wheels to a wheel works, where the old rims were removed , the centres were turned down on a lathe and 13in Holden rims were welded to the ford centres. These wheels were reversed, with what is normally the inside of the rim now facing outward. This brought the centerline of the tyre and rim out from the car, giving a wider wheelbase.


At this stage the engine which had been cleaned and painted with primer was bolted up to the 1939 ford three speed floorshift gearbox. The gearbox mount being incorporated in the centre crossmember, only the brackets for the front engine mounts had to be made. These were made using templates, and welded to the frame which was strengthened accordingly, and the engine and gearbox were lowered into position.

A 1940 ford steering box was fitted in position , mounted on a plate welded to the inside of the frame. Because of the short wheelbase of the car, the torque tube and driveshaft from the gearbox to the rear axle both had to be shortened, from approx 6ft to 2ft 6in in length.

These jobs were handled by local engineering works, as the driveshaft had to be resplined and the torque tube had to be cut and rewelded in lathe. The front axle radius rods were cut off just behind the axle leaving the spring pearches only. A set of tubular wishbones were made and fitted from a welded on bracket.

ENGINE SWITCH

In December 1962, I purchased a 1960 Dodge V8 engine of 318 cu. in capacity. I reasoned it would be more reliable and also more efficient than the 1948 Mercury. To fit the dodge engine to the 1939 ford gearbox, I got one of the local engineering works to make a steel bell housing. The spigot shaft of the gearbox had to be extended and also increased in diameter to suit the dodge flywheel. The front engine mounts for the dodge were made to match the existing supports.

The existing ford steering box was not suitable for the dodge engine position and , after much research at the local wrecking yards, was replaced with a 1938 chev unit. Pedals of brake and clutch cylinders from a 1956 ford customline were fitted – a fairly difficult job as room was limited. The problem of linkages was solved by using a pneumatic system from an imp. As there was not sufficient room to run a fan, I decided a good radiator was essential. I had a good radiator service in Bendigo build me a special radiator to fit into the T grille shell. This radiator has a 3 1/2in thick core – about 2in thicker than normal cars.

Next Item on the list was the body. We beat out all the dents and then fibreglassed the areas where required. I fitted the Edlebrock car manifold which I bought from Eddie Tomas. It took six Stromberg 97 carbs to make up the three good ones. The Carburettor linkage was imported from Edelbrock in the states, mainly to get the fuel pump spring from the kit which operates the pump at a lower pressure and reduces the risk of flooding.

The exhaust headers were built from 1 1/2in diameter pipe. I bought eight pipes, each 7ft long with an 85 degree bend 21in from one end. The diamonded tufted red vinyl upholstery was done by a local upholsterer – merv hall. of Castlemaine.

The dash is of ½ in ply, covered with red striped mahogany panelyte. It contains ammeter,water temp, oil temp, oil pressure and bacuum gauges and a speedo and tach. Only other items on the dash are the light switch and a turn start ignition switch. Twin marine horns are operated by a button under the dash. The floor in covered with a plain red carpet.

The two parking lights and the combined tail light number plate light are also sarly t model items. They were originally kerosene operated but have been converted to comply with regulations. The last part of the car , the fuel tank came from a 1923 dodge car. Tyres are Firestone all round 6.40X13 in the front, 8.00X14 at the back.Rear wheels are 1943 ford centres with chev impala station wagon rims. Steering wheel is a 14 1/2in covico imported from the states by bill warner, all chrome plating was done by Wendouree Electroplaters. At ist first outing, the Victorian Hot Rod Show in January 1965 the car won Top Roadster and Best Engineered trophies.

Peter Swift.



Man my fingers want to drop off.