5:1 to 6:1 is fine for a stock crank. Face the front face of the rear main bearing to allow the crank to walk around and expand. Think of a stock T crank like a big expanding and contracting paperclip. The T, is like the next evolution in the world of speedsters. Everything is very purposeful. Not particularly handsome, but all together it means business.
don't wimp out on me zach! That car is simply amazing... Moriarity, did you ever get the chance to pilot it down the road?
I love the modifieds. Some great hot rods that were very creative. This one is easily one of my favorites.
A beautiful car, for sure. I remember when it came up for sale about 15 or so years ago. Sold for $9000 I believe
I posted these before in another thread. Taken last year at the Whitworth museum. One of my favorites.
Here area few pics I took at the Flying A Garage last August and again a few weeks ago. Link is to a couple hundred pics of all the cars that were available to look at during the car show/pinstriper's brush bash in June. Art Gerrick's Speedster, along with Tom Beaty's Belly tank are among my favorites. Rich http://s518.photobucket.com/albums/u350/eventimage/Americas car collection/?start=all
I always had the opion that the ball of chicken wire was a spark arrester. I figured maybe there were enough tumble weeds to worry about where they raced???
That is quite a compliment coming from the KING! Somewhere along the way when I owned that car Greg Sharp(NHRA museum) told me that The Garrick car was a favorite of Wally Parks' also the photos in the Hot Rod feature in 1951 were taken by Mr. Parks.
I got a fresh 42 221cu flathead motor waiting for something like this to put it into. Yep old school traditional cars are the best. Got to get a heater put in the garage before the fall snow starts so I can work into the long nights Olie Olssen Seattle
No one will because it wasn't built today. It's a neat piece of history, thats for sure! Nowadays, we know how to build traditional cars better, stronger, sleeker, smoother, safer, with better fit and finish, modern painting techniques, TIG welders....ummm, hey, wait a minute....Hmmmmmm I don't like the look of modifieds, never did, but I bet they're fun to drive!
A lot of people that came into the shop asked us when we were going to restore this one and the beatty tank... Just had to shrug it off and walk away. ha ha I can't remember the exact speed it ran at the lakes but it was something like 125... Please correct that if its wrong.
Yeah, the show-n-shine guys were always nagging me to restore it. It's kind of like Hank Williams music--not everybody gets it. But that's OK. I figured that if I even was to have re-nickled the pipe, ole' Art would have haunted me the rest of my days. By the way, the old timers know it as the "Rajo Rod," and it is fitted with the same head (and possibly the block) that Gerrick used in his prewar Muroc Lake days.
Look closely at the interior pics. Hanging from the red fuel pump knob, to the left and below the steering column you can see an old pair of gas welding goggles. These were hanging there when I got it from Guffy, and he said they were there when he got it. Moriarity left them still while he did his work. The three of us figured (and like to believe) that Gerrick used them out on the desert. In any event, they're sacredly attached now, so they'll be hanging there when it leaves me too! Look closely at the interior pics. Hanging from the red fuel pump knob, to the left and below the steering column you can see an old pair of gas welding goggles. These were hanging there when I got it from Guffy, and he said they were there when he got it. Moriarity left them still while he did his work. The three of us figured (and like to believe) that Gerrick used them out on the desert. In any event, they're sacredly attached now, so they'll be hanging there when it leaves me too! Ralph
Uh-oh I guess that means the car has been over-restored because I distinctly recall wiping some of the dust off of those... So much for preservation I guess. ha ha Good to see you throwin in some input Ralph.
I saw the welding goggles & did wonder, but glad to hear the story behind them. Don't ever let anyone restore this car otherwise there'll be a few Hambers haunting you as well as Art Gerrick. Any chance of a Youtube vid of it running so we can hear the sound, as I've never heard a Rajo. cheers Bob
one of the most gorgeous cars I have ever laid eyes on!!! and that was even before I knew it was royalty!!!
I've always liked this car. Had a BB RAJO years ago and never should have sold it. What is the car next to it with the red Buffalo wire wheel?
I think it's that Fronty-head, Fronty radiator sprinter that was for sale a couple years ago (was at Hershey among other places.) Cobbled together bare body, lots of neat parts, Hartford-style shocks mounted in an ugly manner. Cris
The Jalopy Journal
