Turkeyjerk's Tailgate Torpedo Trad T

way cool, good job.

 

man that dead rules

 

Just came across this thread. Really nice design and craftsmanship.

 

good to see it going down the road, nice job on it

 

Matt's taking this little buggy in for PA's enhanced inspection bright and early tomorrow morning. Everyone say a little prayer for him tonight!

 

Awesome! Good to see it running and driving! I don't remember if I posted on this thread before but I remember the pics. I love the short grille shell and the tire rake and the... it's a bitchin' car for sure!

 

Go Matt Go!!! I'll be praying for the Tailgate Torpedo!!!

 

One of you lazy fuckers wasn't praying hard enough! Haha! He ALMOST passed, he just needs to get some real mufflers on there, baffles in straight pipe are not good enough for the great commonwealth of PA. Overall it's good news though, everything else about the car is up to snuff!

 

good to see on the road

 

Does that mean he'll have to pay twice to get it inspected again? Up here it's a bloody money-grab and they will fail you for some trivial thing and you'll have to fix it, then pay again for another inspection.

 

Nah, just a one-time fee. It's a big one though, it's been a while since I did battle with the state of PA for a street rod tag, but I think it's about $150 for the enhanced inspection fee, + taxes, + title fee, + registration, + a left nut, + an arm and a leg...

 

Matt got a little envelope from the DMV in the mail last week! FINALLY! Way to go, tough guy...



Apparently, because of their larger venturi bore diameter, ECG-6 94's don't accept the standard extended throttle shafts that all other 94's do. We just found that out the hard way. After Matt spent countless hours searching out 6 matching ECG-6's for his 6x2 setup. Soooo.... he just sent a package off to our favorite early-ford-friendly machinist, Charlie Schwendler, to have him custom machine a set of extended throttle shafts for his setup. I gotta tell you guys, this car is SCARY-fast with just a rochester 2bbl on there. Can't wait to see what it will do with the real induction setup at the showdown drags this fall!

 

street rod plates cause constipation?

 

No, but getting screwed by PA DOT causes hemorrhoids.

 

I totally for got about this one! thanks for bringing us up to date. And congrats!!!

 

Holy crap it takes a long time to get plates over there! Here you go in for inspection, they ask you what it is, you spend some money, and you screw on plates.

 

Congrats Matt

 

I guess they don't have antique plates. Here there's no inspection, just $10 every five years.

You may be dissapointed with the 6x2 setup; I've heard they aren't much good for anything but wide open throttle. I have one, it may become a wall-hanger. Let us know how it runs.

What did you do to fix the cooling issue? The only cooling problems I've ever had was due to electric fans, I hate 'em!

 

Well, they do have antique plates, and they are cheap, but there's fender and hood laws in PA. Not to mention if you run antique plates there are mileage restrictions, car has to be completely stock, you have to be home by dusk or your car turns into a pumpkin, etc...

We'll see, he's got an EELCO 6x2 progressive linkage kit on it now, completely rebuilt identical ECG-6 carbs. He just called me this morning and has it running pretty good on the center two primary carbs. Once they're dialed in and running ok, he's gonna unblock the outer four secondary carbs and see what happens. They're just set up as dumpers with no idle circuits or power valves.

The cooling problem turned out to be a combination of things... timing, crappy old radiator, big air pocket as the filler is lower than the top of the manifold... That's not to mention the bent pushrod BS before the cam change... With a new radiator, dialed in dizzy, and a bleeder valve on top of the thermostat housing, he's been able to run it in traffic on 90* days with no problems.

Showdown drags, here we come!

 

I spent most of my labor day weekend helping Tjerk dial in his new induction setup. We also cleaned up some wiring, new black plug wires, new coil mount, new cleaner upper hose setup, new radiator (since he had a cheapo-china-chrome-pulley mishap with the last one...) Anyhoo, Matt completely rebuilt the carbs, he had Charlie Schwendler of Orchard Park set up the bases with extended throttle shafts and good sealing plates for the outer four secondary carbs. If anyone needs early ford carb/component service, Charlie is the best, PM me if you'd like his info.

We had a few leaks, the usual linkage nightmares, and a bum Holley fuel pressure regulator to deal with, but unbelievably, we've now got it running pretty damn good!! It easily grabs rubber in all three gears. To put it bluntly, this thing is a hoot... and also terrifying! It REALLY scoots!

Setting up the linkage...


New fuel log/gauge/carbs...





Perma-grin!


MOOOO!


Happy Labor Day!

 

Love the color on that motor. Is that Poncho color? If so you should get the Canadian Poncho VC's for it!!!

It's really one of the nicest T's around. It's got all the proportions right and a rad little mill pushing it to turnover those tall rear tires.

 

Yeah, it's poncho blue. Thanks mang!

 

That motor looks perfect!!!

 

looks good

 

ANother nice touch that I learned the other weekend is the use of that flex radiator hoses. That's pretty legit shit that was used back in the day. Love it!!!


Did you make the linkage yourselves? I need someone to set up my 4x2 for my '35 like nobody's business. I have no idea where to start!!!!

 

ha..I love it...neat fuel log too...way to go

 

Thanks dudes! JJ, the linkage is Eelco kit... it does the job, but we both think there are a few things they could definitely improve with it.

Yeah you do see alot of that style flex hose in old pics. We mainly used it because it worked, haha! He also got a vertical thermo housing with a bleeder valve built into it instead of the stock housing that pointed right at the fan belt. This way he could also leave the rad inlet on the same side too, no monkeying with that.

I dunno, it's running pretty good, it has a little flat spot at cruise just under 25 mph where it seems like it just barely wants to stumble a bit. But it idles pretty good, runs down the highway nice and smooth, and if you tromp on it, LOOK out... you're gone! I'll tell ya, it's a nice feeling of accomplishment when you achieve a goal that some people tell you is nearly impossible (running all 6 carbs on the street and having decent driveablity, that is...). We'll see how well it actually performs here in a few weeks at the showdown drags. By the seat of my pants it feels pretty good for an old rattletrap!

 

Very very cool.........!!