Projects 50's Northeast coast built, channeled Chev RPU with early Olds Rocket

Greatly improved!

From this:




To THIS! (Tight! )

 

I love it! great find!

 

Thanks 'Mo. I wanted to do that but forgot to

Boy, it really shows the difference that way. Thanks again

 

The changes look great and your keeping a lot of the look of the original build!!



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Just look at how a "Little" Effort changes the whole thing, can you imagine
how much higher the bidding would have gone, if it had looked like it does now ????
I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Jealous...

 

Hi Les, it sure did look like scrap to most people, but I finally realized it was Olds powered, and Olds rear end, when parked, ...and I liked other features like channeled, spring-ahead dropped axle, hairpins, and belly burners

 

Frank. that looks way better for sure . Amazing change with just a few alterations.

 

Connecticut, born and raised. I get it. I like it.

 

Yah gotta bring this to the Fall Out! Its just killer!

 

Frank looks great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean BAD ASS. Can't wait to see it tomorrow or Friday. What a change in just a few days. No sand under your feet. lol

 

cool

 

WOW cool find for sure. Maybe the guy who built Jake built that truck to tow Jake to the track Whatcha going to get running first the cabrio or the truck

 

Could be, because these Olds trailing arms were not installed in the best way either You need to see them. He almost got them right...

Dave, when you looked for a used axle shaft for your 49-50 rear, was the problem that it was longer than my mid 50s shafts that I measured? This 49/50? rear is a bit wider than my spare 56 rear. I found that out when I measured the 56 shafts to see if they could fit in this empty housing. Does your back "cover" have one side bulged-out shaped for the ring gear? This empty housing does, and my 56 and 55 rears are a smooth dome shape.

I won't do too much to this one right now, I just need a break from customer work for a few days. I needed to get that motor into the work bay to build mounts in that 37, and the crawler-loader has a broken lift cylinder so it can't carry the motor....so..put the motor in the Chev with a engine hoist, and tow the Chev around to the work bay . I can't use this J2 in the chev because it is too souped up, I will use the other J2 that is stock, and looks like a running motor. I decided that the tired 303 needs too much $ to fix right now.

Harleycontracter Paul picked up the his 32 and brought to the body guy this afternoon, so I had room to get the Chev in, near the welder.

I need to shorten the steering column, so I can get out of the dang car. Paul's car uses a F100 steering column drop, cut/modded, and so does this Chev. I originally thought the Chev's builder cut the splined part off of the 56 Ford column, and grafted it to the 37/48 Ford car shaft which were keyway tapered. I figured he just made it too long.

I am now betting that the builder swapped the worm/sector steering shaft from an earlier F1, into the car box. I don't know if F1 was splined, but I am thinking they were, at this point.

In the AM I will find out by sliding the column tube off and look for a weld splice. I bet there is not.

 

Hey Dave, we should copy some of the Olds trailing arm things on this car, to fix yours...if it will fit.

I think this builder put the front end in first, then wanted to get it up on all 4, so he made a mistake of building complicated rear arm front brackets welded to the insides of the rails. But he made them too close to the rear axle and has real short arms, but still angled inwards on orig Olds rear rubber mounts, to bolt the arms to the housing like stock.

But although these chevys have strong side rails, they still were ladder type crossmembers, he must have seen the flex and then added boxing plates and a very cool K member built from thickwall big pipe right about under the seat. I bet this came last, because he could have saved a full days work not having to build the side brackets, and just welded 4 drilled tabs to the back of the K.

If you look at it in person, it lines right up, and would have gotten his pinion back down, like yours needs too. When I first looked at it, I thought 'Why the heck didn't he put the arms there?" and they would be around stock length arms maybe. Not sure.


But this car seems like the driveshaft ran higher in the frame than yours probably is, so I don't know if this K style will hit your driveshaft. He did miter cut the center of the main beam of the K, so it drops a bit, for his driveshaft. Very cool setup if it would fit.

I can't really get a pic of how the arms aim towards that K, because the back of the cab is in the way. I will see if I can mock up a fake driveshaft on it, to see how things clear.

 

Nice find! So cool to see all these great survivors popping up.
Hopefully you get those slides and post some of them, I'd love to see it in all it's glory.

 

Here`s my rear Frank It has the clearance for ring gear. IDK what year mine is yet.. Boy sure was dirty when i got jake

 

Wicked cool car and a rare old gal 32 rpu . Its super cool that you got it couldn't be in better hands

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by Dave50
WOW cool find for sure. Maybe the guy who built Jake built that truck to tow Jake to the track Whatcha going to get running first the cabrio or the truck



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>My answer a few days ago was:

Well, Dave called this morning while trying to get to a local rod show, to say that one of his Olds trailing arms broke AGAIN...

We have talked about this ongoing problem for over a year. It needs to be changed, despite "changing" a 50s built car.

Dave, I found the thread on the old magazine article, and it was Falcongeorge who had it up on a 32 thread.

The guys doing the job were related to the guys that built yours AND mine. They did not stick to the Olds design, and made some mistakes too.

They ended up with long straight shackles and figured it was close enough with the Olds P-bar. That part is not so bad, but they spread the arms out to make it easier to hook to the 33/34 X member rear legs. Not so good.

If you decide to "change" yours, keep the orig Olds angles on the arms, and use the Olds rear rubber mounts, too. Welding replacement orig arms to the rear end is not the right plan IMO.

It will need a crossmember to hang the front mounts, not side brackets built inwards from your unboxed rails. I don't know where your driveshaft runs, so I don't know what the crossmember would be shaped like. I will try to get a pic of my K member in the RPU, as that is where my front mounts will end up.


http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...9&highlight=olds+trailing+arms+article&page=2

EDIT: here is the pic of the K member under the seat area. You are looking from above the windshield, looking towards the rear. The ruler shows the approximate stock Olds arm angle. If I weld 4 bolt-through tabs on the back side for the Olds front rubber bushings, the arm is 33" from center of that bushing to centerline of rear axle housing. I wish it was longer, but it should be a lot better than the shorties it has now. Problem is that I need to pull the pinion down about 3 or 4*, and then the driveshaft might rub on the top of the K on bumps. Not sure yet, with no trans or meatball in it. Changes can bring more changes, unfortunately.

 

So cool! And a Chevy ta boot!

 

wow. nice example of how it was done in the 50's.
couldn't have found a better owner to pump the life back into it.
have fun

 

Update on it's history, kind of....

Late last night, I emailed the hamb pic of what the car looks like right now, to the friend who sold the car for the son of the original builder. This afternoon, the son called me and chatted for almost an hour right after his friend sent him that pic.

He is the youngest of 5 siblings and the car was parked for good, way before he was born. He said his Dads family life and career took off in high gear, and the car and a Harley M/C were forgotten. But the son & friend did try to redo the car in their 20s, and had to give up for several reasons, but did restore his fathers old Harley that was painted the same colors as the Chevy was.

He gave me so much info on the car, the car club, and much of his fathers "very colorful" life in the Boston area.

He is sending the only 2 color slides in his possesion, very soon. He says what little he can see in the small slides without a projector, is that the car is either not finished, or under a redo. He says the frame looks blue, the motor is gold.

He says he has seen better photographs of the finished car in his Mom's collection of old album pictures, and said he will try to find them for me. He said there is a pic at a show with "velvet ropes" around the car, so it was in an Autorama back then.

He recalls seeing his fathers club jacket with the club name on the back, and his name embroidered on the front.

I have had hamb PMs from a elderly Boston hot rodder some days ago. I did not have a name of the builder, or the club, but I told him of where the car was built, as "Boston or suburbs of Boston", "had a Harley, too", and what the builder did back then. I got a quick reply with him saying one guy that sounded familiar, and he gave the exact suburb town name that I found out today.

Funny story; The son said his Mom remembers the car quite well. They took a trip on back roads with their first newborn baby in her lap, to New Hampshire. She said everyone liked the car at any place they stopped. She said there was part of the front floor missing, and the Olds was leaking oil..."and by the time we got there, my white dress had oil spots on it"

One thing on details; those muffler slots were for Harley motorcycle mufflers. His Dad tod him that, when he was trying to help the son restore the Harley. The son said he wasn't much help, as he was not good at building bikes or rods without tech help from his friends. He was good at working with steel fab, torches and welders, as that was how he made a living then.

I am stoked on the history so far. I like listening to old rodders, and talking with his son was almost was like talking with the Dad...(who is still alive)

 

Way cool Frank cant wait to hear more

 

Bring her back to life................a window to the past.

 

Frank.... That is AWESOME makes the build even better if that's possible. Glad you made contact with a family member.

 

The son gave me the club name/location of Jamaica Plain, and I found this on the web search:



Club History

<TABLE class="sites-layout-name-one-column sites-layout-hbox" cellSpacing=0 xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><TBODY><TR><TD class="sites-layout-tile sites-tile-name-content-1">[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The Spindles Auto Club of MA was started in 1957 at the request of local kids, with the assistance of the local court judge. The judge then referred many "bad boys" to membership in the club. Once referred by the judge you were a member or else. Five to seven years after the club started, its ties to the judge were lost.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The Spindles Auto Club has had a garage since its inception in 1957. The first garage was an old wooden barn in Jamaica Plain. By the late sixties the club moved to South Boston, and during the early 70&#8217;s to a place near Swingles Quarry in Quincy. That "garage" did not work out too well for the members, because it burned to the ground. When the roof caved in, six cars were instantaneously converted to charcoal colored low riders.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The club then moved to a cement garage located on the other side of Quincy. It took a few years to outgrow that garage and the club moved to a larger building near the hospital in Weymouth. In 1978, a better place was available in Weymouth we are still there today. The present location has an air-conditioned meeting room, alarm system, air compressor, restrooms heat, welder, torches, telephone, meeting room, dartboard, pool table, TV and room for 29 cars. Currently, there are 50 members and since the beginning, 300 people have been members. [/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Any club that has been around since 1957 is going to have a few unusual cars like a 1950 Plymouth used in the Brinks robbery. Other cars include dragsters, alcohol funny cars, street rods, muscle cars and antiques.[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Over the years, there have been many club related stories. For example, during the &#8216;78 blizzard three members lived at the club for a week. A member had a scare when the throttle in his stretched nose Camaro funny car was stuck wide open at New England Dragway. In the 1960&#8217;s, two members drove to the NHRA National event in Kansas. When they checked into a motel and asked where all the drag racers were staying, the answer was, "Many stayed right here, but that was last weekend". Talk about a long ride home![/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]The club&#8217;s longest active member joined the club in 1961. He raced a 427 SOHC powered &#8216;48 Anglia across the country from 1962 to 1967 from Bakersfield and Ontario Motor Speedway in California to Sanford Maine. Some of his adventures include the time he spit out the complete rear end because somebody put in brass bolts by mistake. Or the time he crashed the Anglia and had to be rushed to the local hospital, but returned a couple of hours later trying to find his shoes - the crash knocked them right off his feet![/FONT]



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Great info Frank like the Sohc powered Anglia

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I just got the 2 old color slides of the car in the mail today, from the youngest son of the builder. I've been checking the mail everyday...and today I saw a hand addressed letter, and said out loud, "noooo shit!"

Just like Karl told me on the phone, they only show the roller chassis and motor, taken inside the club's barn. They are dated from Kodak April 1960, and they are numbered from Kodak lab, and are 4 pics apart, so there were more at one time.

He wrote that he has been at his Moms looking for the actual pictures, one which showed it finished, and at a "show with velvet ropes". He has not found them so far.

The slides are sharp and brilliant colors, but I can't see the small details with a magnifying glass. There is part of another hot rod showing in the backround with 15" full wheel cover on it. There is a long shelf on the shop back wall with a lot of parts.

Karl had told me that the "chassis looks blue", and I can see medium blue metallic paint on one front backing plate(later chromed), AND the entire rear end and rear buggy spring is Ford banjo in the same blue. The frame is not blue and is not the present dark copper, so I will wait for enlargements to tell. The front frame horns are not boxed yet.

The Olds motor looks to be in fresh gold/copper paint, looks like a 2 barrel with a new chrome aircleaner. It appears to have the 49/50 type valve covers, which matches the years of the current Olds rear suspension and housing... so, I can't explain why he did not have the Olds rear in it then.

I've been now looking at the current Olds rear axle, as well as types of underlying paints, and I almost think the car was first built with the banjo, and the Olds rear was going in it, when he took the car apart some years later. Makes some sense, as I see upper rear shock mounts with nuts still started, but no signs of lower shock mounts. The rear axle housing was empty when found, no axles, backing plates or pumpkin, but the bolts were started in each hole.

All 4 wheels and tires seem to be taller, skinny rollers.

The builder would have been 19 years old then, so either he was rebuilding a former hot rod, or this car was built in 1960? I don't know.

 

Hi Frank, It's great that this car found you. The changes that you've made definitely work well and you are the guy who can bring this back. Hope to see you soon. Dave

 

I maybe found some appropriate old 303 headers...

I've been putting in an Olds Rocket in a local guys 37 ply coupe, and he brought over the rad, the dash, and an old set of headers today, to see if they could fit his 37. They don't fit at all, everything is wrong, including the fact that they have 303 port shapes, and his motor is 324 heads with different ports.

These headers he had custom made over 40 years ago, by Tubular Automotove in Mass, for a channeled 32 5w he had back then....

So, I decided to see if they might fit the Chevy RPU...and I think they look pretty good??

But, I don't know if he will sell them, but I would think he will..

opinions on the "look" ?

 

Heck yeah Frank I like em chrome them babies you'll be good to go....

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