Hot Rods The Unibody Roadster Dissected

Unibodies can be neat/light/strong, but in general, they are more difficult to repair and rebuild.

They are also more difficult to tweak for panel alignment.

 

Very cool, it sure reminds me of a certain German offering... as well as some of Herb Adams' backbone ch***is designs. It came out really slick regardless of where the idea came from.

 

Nice solution to limited legroom... Love it.

 

Don't ask me. I had my eyes closed the entire time.

 

Didnt ride in it but the view of it sideways in my mirrors was killer! Alex banned me from the car when I broke it

 

Thats funny...

 

I just remember Ryan coming back to JimC's with a huge grin on his face...

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5442089849716139270&q=metalshapes

I havent riden in it but I know its fun......

 

thanks for sharing the info on the top... I cant say enough good things about this car. Definatly one of the coolest builds in a while

 

I didn't see any ear plugs in there. I am sure it gets super loud in there with that metal top on there. Nice layout Alex.

 

Its noisy, but not deafening.
( maybe thats subjective...I hammer on Metal and spent some time in Racecars )

And the top took away most of the wind buffeting ( which is something that just wears me out... More than engine noice does )

Someday it will have full interior, that should really quiet it down...

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD cl***=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by menacekustoms
I've always thought that idea made sense, and wondered why more people didn't do it. Looks really cool dude.

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Hudson did it with the stepdown in 1948(the floor idea that is)

 

Mr. Metalshapes your knowledge and forward thinking are only surp***ed by your skills. My hat is off, my head is bowed and I am humbled by your creation.

Mike

 

I am not sure what that noise is on the right side of the motor? If I remember correctly was that the quote.

 

The Blower had gone bad on the first engine.

So a couple of weeks before the HAMB Drags I traded a 327 shortblock for some seats I had.
When I put it together, there were a couple of things I did not like about it.
And I kept calling Racefab for advise...
The biggest problem was that not all the Rodbolts would torque up to spec. ( soft & stretchy )

But... I was out of time and money, so it was sticking it together and running it or leaving it home.

Fred said " run it... I'll help you sweep up the parts..."

It did fine at the Drags ( except for a little problem with a radiator hose...)

But when Racefab & me got in it afer the Drags to go back to the Ramada we noticed it was louder than it had been on the way over.

" Seems noisyer than before..."

R " Yeah "


We drive for a while...

" Its getting louder..."

R " Yeah "

We drive some more, the noice turns into a loud clacking, and it starts to run on 7.

" Think I should shut it of?? "

R " I think you'd better..."


Jerry towed us to the Hotel, where we repaired it.

And after that Fred says, " lets get something to eat... Do you eat American Food?? "

 

Very nice job, I know a guy here in Spokane who has a 1919 dodge bros roadster he built similar...yours is done much nicer though. Thanks for the pictures.

 

"It did fine at the Drags ( except for a little problem with a radiator hose...)"




mmmm, if I remember correctly.......didnt you win the roadster cl*** ...and after pretending you knew nothing about how a drag strip christmas tree worked

 

I really didn't know...
But I learned.

And Bellm was faster, but he kept throwing V-belts.
( if he brought more of them, he would have won...)

 

Nice touch to keep a generator !
Alternators just don't look right.

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! as a owner of two model A's this car hold's the bar so high. this site has so much talent, make's me feel like a hack! thank you for sharing the pic's. Chris

 

I got to help push it once!

Very neat car - could look at it for hours and find lots of little details. Details I've come to expect from Alex.

 

That was a fun day! I would have love to see you and Skotz run, his blown flatty screamed!

 

The term "unibody" would indicate that the body is welded to the frame, but that isn't mentioned in the text. A dropped floor does not a unibody make. Regardless, Lil' John ****era welded the body to the frame of his '26 T Sedan to create a "unibody" hot rod way back in 1974. And Roy Brizio installed a dropped floor in the '27 T Roadster he built for Hot Rod Magazine's 50th Anniversary in 1998. So while Alex has built a really neat hot rod, the only innovative thing about it is the use of the Sport Coupe quarter panels.

 

It's welded to the Frame.

I thought that was clear, and it was mentioned for example in Post #30 of this Thread.

"Because the Body is welded to the frame, and the extra strength from the spine, the car is really stiff."

 

BTW... I dont claim to be that innovative...

Production Unibody ( Monocoque ) cars have been around since the '23 Lancia Lambda ( and one-off Cars before that ), and the Dropdown Floors in Hudsons have been mentioned too.

Doing it this way, gave me the possibillity to eliminate the X-members out of the middle of the Ch***is, without loosing strength.


Thanks again for the nice words , guys...

 

Very impressive car; very informative presentation. Thanks for the show and tell!

 

A HAMB highpoint, thanks 'shapes!

 

Settle down and read a little closer newbie. You wear your "expertise" on your shoulder.

 

They were welding bodys to frames back in the 50's...
Doing it in a way thats beneficial to the car, instead of just a way to speed up the build process, is the big difference here.

BTW...thats a ****py way to make an intro.

 

You're much nicer than I want to be. I don't like his tone.

So mister artdodge, come on and show us your work, show us your innovative engineering. The quality of your fabrication. Or how about you just drink a whole gl*** of "shut the hell up"...