There has always been a strange relationship between the hot rod and motorcycle crowds. Although certainly more prominent during during the golden age of the hobby, many a tale has been spun about the bad blood between the two groups. Cue Ed R... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
J.Ukrop - I'm a bit confused (wouldn't be the first time). I think you are asking for pics of street-driven hot rods with spindle mount dragster-style front wheels (i.e., no front brakes) ... but don't want us to post any Fad T's or actual drag cars ... even though the examples you posted in your Blog are Model Ts and/or actual Drag cars ... ???
I suppose I should have been more clear. Pictures of rails/comp. coupes and modified roadsters are commonplace on the H.A.M.B. There a couple of threads for these mid-to-long wheelbase cars. I was looking for preferably steel-bodied production cars with dragster-style wires. Fenders, no fenders, either way is fine. Hope this makes sense. Sorry for the confusion.
I don't know if this one counts or not, but it has been giving me some bad ideas about a nailhead motor and a foreign sports roadster body I have laying around....
Littleman-Dave Lohr had them on his Truck…Too busy at the moment to grab them from the Ol HD…..
Picture is long gone, but Marv Hall (Hallcraft Wire Wheels) machined hubs for Renault Dauphine front spindles for a rack and pinion front end under a custom frame that had a Kellison one off body and a Bill Thomas Corvair engine. A street legal wheel stander that was scarey as hell. No front brakes and Hurst dirt track tires on the rear. Marv did a lot of bike wheels as well as dragster wheels.
Littleman's truck: click thumbnails to enlarge ... and his "Deaths Doorstep" coupe: click thumbnails to enlarge
I wish somebody would tell us exactly which hubs, rims , to get to go early Ford spindles, or what bearings and machine work you have to do to make the cycle wheels work. I know old Harley Davidson, but is there aftermarket hubs you could start with just as easy?
The late Jim Davis race car builder and 1969 NHRA Championship Driver - was not going to be out done by his rivals, which included the legendary Kent Fuller and Andy Brizio ( the primary constructers of T Model Volksrods during the late 1960s ) and decided he would build this extraordinary C Cab T - incorporating a Porsche 914 drivetrain for power - setting a new standard in "Volks Rod" construction. Jim also built frames for Choppers and according to his widow built some of the early frames for the "King" of Custom Motorcycles - none other than the legendary Arlen Ness when he first set up shop building bikes. The unique rod is equipped with Italian Borrani wire wheels.
Total Performance made a wire wheel that bolted onto early Ford spindles, and a quick look through the Speedway catalog shows Dayton wheels that have the look of motorcycle hubs. Kinda off topic, but I've been around hotrodders and bikers since the 60's. Never seen them having problems (or anymore problems than with anyone else). Most of the scooter tramps I know/knew could talk high performance V-8's, race cars with the best of them. And didn't Roth, Von Dutch, Dave Mann, Robert Williams, Tom McMullen, Norm Grabowski, have ties with both hotrods and bikes?
"Although certainly more prominent during during the golden age of the hobby, many a tale has been spun about the bad blood between the two groups. Cue Ed Roth, Von Dutch’s water-cooled machine gun and a rooftop standoff with the Hell’s Angels. You know the story." I don't know the story but it certainly got my interest. Care to enlighten me?
I must have been lucky with all the drama between rodders and HAs, when I drove my model T to hang out and have Easter dinner just a couple hours ago with a bunch of the 81. Lucky I escaped with my life As for spindle mounted wheels with no brakes, biggest reason I never posted pics of my 34 truck with real AR 12 spokes is from all the guys whining how unsafe they are.
Motorcycle wheels don't need to be designed for heavy side loads because bikes lean on turns. How do those spindly looking bike wheels work out when you take a sharp turn? I suppose bike wheels heavy enough for side car use should be ok.
Green Voodoo, Not to pound on ya too much, but no. The car is equipped with Boranni RIMS, but the hubs are late sixties or early seventies Hallcraft T-Bucket stuff, as are the probably the spokes too. As far as I know, although for years they had the market sewn up for high shouldered aluminum motorcycle rims, Borrani never made complete motorcycle type wheels or hubs.
I had read for years that the first spoked dragster wheels were based around "Harley hubs", with usually 17", 18" or most commonly 19" rims laced to them. The problem was that none of the old books that mentioned this ever really stated WHICH "Harley Hubs" you needed to start with. Just recently, The Rodder's Journal did a story on the Magic Muffler Fiat that spilled the beans on that question, and the answer is mid '30s Harley VL hubs. The problem with that is, go out and scrounge up some '30s VL hubs! there are a couple I can think of that would fairly easily adapt, the first one being Honda disc brake hub from the early and mid seventies. But, the diameter of these hubs would be just a bit large to really look the part. I suggest a trip to the local motorcycle yard and a long look in the older section at disc brake front wheels.
I don't know anything about the VL hubs,that my be true. but I believe it was also pretty common to use Harley servicar rear hubs as well.
I've been trying to put tapered bearing in a star hub for a while. I don't see how there would be enough meat in them to machine them out for the inner bearing for Ford spindles. I guess you could machine a piece to hold the bearing and bolt it onto the hub. Edit: Shoulda known that this had been talked about before. Here's what it would take to use a Harley star hub or Servicar hub (which didn't have any bearings in it from the factory, it fit a keyed shaft). Posts on the last page show a Harley hub set up for a Ford spindle. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=370678&page=4 Edit 2: After looking at the pictures again, they machined the center piece of the hub, cut the flanges off a Harley Star Hub and welded the flanges onto the fabricated center section --- piece of cake.
Total didn't make them. They were Hallcrafts. When Hallcraft shut down, he started pushing Dayton's. Which, for the street, were probably safer. I had Hallcraft's on my T Bucket when I first built it. I liked them and the look. The ride was never an issue. After the accident, I decided something with a little more meat would help with bumps. Steel wheels and conventional tires ride just a little better. Very little.
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