i haveto admitt that jig is not my own. i am teacher in a school where we learn to repair crashed cars and when i took the fed frame there i saw the expression on other teachers face: they REALLY dont understand what the f::K i am doing here!! well... i tryed to explain, and now they think even more that i have lost my mind....
HAHAHA I love it.. Well some people just will never understand what goes through our minds and our deep passion for these things.
hello guys, i cut the frame tube open and its made of .049 thick tube. i need your opinion???? i am going to change the uppertubes where the engine has been about 4 feet per side. engines has been movet to different places atleast three times and tube has been grind very thin. my question: should i use same wall thickness(049) or should i put there 058. i am no changing whole tube, just part of it so whats your opinion? the place where engine is mounted the tube is worst, so thats why i am thinking thiker wall for the tube. isto
A q&d way is to put a short cap over the bad area as some builders did this because the tubes were .02thin and this gave a little beef to that area without adding the weight of thicker tubing. Unless the car has a full body to hide it , I would go to the front torsion with the tubing, you have old tubing and it is not straight anymore from running all those years ,so adding a straight piece will show up after its painted and as we all know -black paint doesnt hide mistakes. To connect .058 to .049 , take a 6"x .065 piece of the next size tubing down and machine 3" of it down .020(double the wall difference)then split it lenthwise so the tubing expands. The machined side goes into the .058 and make sure the .049 side is clean and smooth and tap the two together. perfect alignment
Thats a keway trailer. They were located in FLAT RIVER Mo. Builders of truck campers mostly. My grandfather always had one on his trucks in the 70s they even did the interior of a van he had. I think the Kenway sticker also had a location in California along with Flat River mo. Cool find.
It was so nice out today I had to get the old wagon out and enjoy the day. Went to Flat River to see if the old building was still there for KENWAY campers and it was, building still has KENWAY lettered on it but now has apartments in it. The building has siding on it like a camper and also crank out windows. Thought you might like to see it. David
hello David, its nice to hear every bit of history that is connected to Charlies fed. cool car by the way... isto
hello everybody, i am lookingfor a bellhousing for my fed and what do you think is better for me? ANSEN casted two piece steel bellhousing or LAKEWOOD two piece steel bellhousing (not casted). i think ansen looks cooler with nhra approved text but lakewood is chromed and really good condition. do you know is the casted ones like wedge, ansen etc. older than not casted steel ones and are the older two piece? isto
hello agen, been waiting for cromo tube three weeks now...*****!!! But there is also good news, i got contact with Chrlie Crowes old pitman and he told me some some interesting things about the feds tech. first engine was AMC 290 and later after crash chevy smallblock. transmission has always been ford 3 speed manual where only 2nd and 3rd has been used. do you guys know if it was common to use ford******* in drag racing and did they use passenger car******* or truck*******. i found fords big truck******* and it is not syncronized so do you know if there is smaller truck*******s with sync? isto
I think that was a fairly common practice, the pass car side shift trans was commonly used I have some pics of that set up I can post later
Yes, side-shifted transmissions were pretty common in dragsters...I used a Lincoln side-shifter in the car in my avatar, just ran a rod to the shift arm, and bolted a mount to one of the rear end housing bolts, easy to grab and pull back.
hi, i found ford side-shifted******* from my friend, and i am going to use that one. I am building a 302 chevy sb engine on it with 3" stroke and 4" bore. i am using chevy 283 steel axle and old 327 block or 350 block with 010 casting number. what do you think is 327 or 350 block better for this use??? i think i am running it with alcohol.
I'm new to this forum business so please bear with me if I mess up. This is for icetoe and his dragster project. I ran a front engine dragster in the late 60's and early 70's at Alton Dragway in Alton, Illinois. I knew Charlie Crow and in fact I bought my fire suite, helmet, goggles and fire retardent gloves from him. He helped me in many facets of building my first rail at the age of 19. Charlie was a thin, kind man who went out of his way to help a newbie into the world of front engine dragsters. I had built and raced Anglia gassers up until this time but fed's were a whole new ball game. I am 62 years old now and a lot of what happened in those days is lost somewhere in the cobwebs in my head, but I think maybe your chassis is a Dawson chassis. Jerry Dawson (aka "Decent Dawson", was the premier builder of dragster chassis in St. Louis during the 60's and 70's and beyond. My dragster was a Dawson built chassis and the front end looked exactly like the one you have. I may be wrong, but I think Charlie told me the car was a Dawson chassis, so you might check into that. I think Jerry Dawson is still in business, so maybe you could find him on line and send him some pics. I've got a great story about Charlie racing that rail on the street, but I'll save that one for some other time on a private email! Ha! Hope this helps you out. Backwaterslim
icetow, I used a Ford manual transmission on my rail back in 1970. Ran second and third gear with a rod that was bolted to a bracket located on the banjo type rear end housing. Back then we called it an "in and out" box. I guess because you just pulled the lever back towards you to shift one time from second to third. You were either "in" or "out." Backwaterslim
Most likely made from .049 tubing. It might have had crazy**** repairs using brass or bronze. Be super careful repairing any cracks or breaks. Put car on a jig table and eye fu** the whole bare chassis. Nice car!!!! Have any questions about the chassis?, dont be afraid to ask us chassis builders.
This is not the Crowe and Gibson A/FD. I know all these folks personally, George Crowe is alive living in Omaha, Bill "Hoot" Gibson passed away 2011. George Crowe was never partners with Henry "Howdy" Williams. However Bill Gibson was as will as Dave Sweeney and Ray Freeman on a Chevy small block AA/FD. BTW the restoration is looking good.
I'll 2nd that, this is not Crowe & Gibson's A/FD. Their car was nicer looking IMO an never had (strange) straight up exhaust headers like the one in the photo.
ICETOE, I just happened to stumble across this thread and my heart is pounding!!!! I grew up in the same neighborhood as Charlie Crowe, went to school with his son Charlie. My dad was a mechanic (about Charlies same age) and was friends of Charlie and his wife but I don't recall her name at the moment. I recall my dad helping Charlie trouble shooting some problems he was having. Charlie moved to Texas prior to 1973 but I'm not sure exactly what year. Yes that car did originally have an AMC block and was changed out after it blew. I found it quite odd that he used an AMC block but I remember him telling me it was a little know secret that it was the best at the time. I think that car actually broke a world record by being the first gas experimental dragster to break 9 seconds in the quarter mile but I don't have anything to verify that. Unfortunately my father passed away in 1978 otherwise he would have been able to shed some light on this car as well as shared a few stories. I do recall Charlie running the dragster up the street in front of his house on more than 1 occasion. Keep in mind that this was in a neighborhood with homes lined next to each other about 4 meters apart. The police new him well as a result. Did you know that his wife was actually a driver as well? I don't recall which dragster she drove but I think she may of had a pink one but that is about all I can remember. Charlie Crowe lived in Florissant MO and I think the name of the street was Swallow Dr. I'm surprised to hear that he lived to be in his 80's because I thought he had a bad heart. I just can't believe that you rescued this car and took it all the way to Finland to restore it!!! The Ol' Crow picture is taken from the label off of the Ol' Crow Whiskey bottle. If there is any way you could email me pictures I would greatly appreciate it!!! This was a great time in my youth and I have always wondered what had happened to Charlie and this car. Looking forward to hearing back from you. I do travel to Europe from time to time and if my travels should take me there in the near future I would love to see the car. Dave Altman moto609@plantationcable.net
I'm almost certain that is a Dawson Engineering chassis. Jerry Dawson located on Lucas and Hunt Road, St. Louis MO.
Who was Charlies pit man? Do you have his contact information that you can send me? Regards, Dave moto709@plantationcable.net
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