I have wanted a FED for as long as I can remember and I finally have a good one to start with. It's a 150'' 1966 Kellison "Springy Thingy" with an early olds diff (Lincoln Locker). The small block Chevy will be coming out and a 53 Mercury Flathead with a 4-71 blower going in. This is what it looked liked when I got it.
Building an FED is right at the top of my to do list. Well right under finishing my Kustom. Did you know much of the cars past racing history? Good luck with the project.
I knew at some point someone would ask. I wanted to do something different with the FED and being that it is a 40+ year old frame, I wanted to keep the speeds down. I plan to run it down the track when done. I have gone over every square inch of the frame looking for cracks and flaws. It looks good, but it is what it is - old. I am doing some updating on the frame for safety, but it will never meet today's specs. Anyways - What's cooler than Merc Flathead with a blower sitting on top? Don't worry, that SBC Blower motor went to good use in my 39 Chevy Truck. What are you talking about Doc. You're the kid with all the cool toys.
The FED originally came out of California. The man I bought it from was the second owner and he told me he had owned it for the last 37 years. He told me it was originally a metal flake green and ran under the name SNAFU in the late 60's. It was a AA Fuel car and spent time at Lions in California. He still had the original 392 motor plates for it and several other original pieces. When he got it, he painted it orange, then it was silver for a little while (Coors Silver Bullet Car), then back to orange. I felt kind of bad when I left with it. He was a real nice man and obviously very attached to it. He was taking pictures of it as I loaded it and got a little misty eyed. He gave me some old pictures he had from his days of racing. He had a stroke and was having a hard time remembering everything, but everything he has told me has been spot on. I will try to get the pictures scanned in and post them.
This thing had a ton of caster in it (48*) and the front torsion arms were broke. I cut the arms down and re-drilled them. By doing that it allowed me to bring the caster in a bit and I can now adjust anywhere from 20* to 40*. I have it at 25* right now.
You might be mildy amused by my fed http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436556&highlight=flat+fed Thats a nice start you have there!!!
Get in touch with Brian Fox (King Ch***is) here on the HAMB or I can hook you up with a mate of mine in Ohio who also has a tail quite similar to a Kellison. I also have a customer with a FED that has a Kellison style body and it may be possible to pull a mold from it. Roo
Hey Carl - I've been following your build for a while. Looks great. I may have some questions for you in the future. Thanks
Thanks Rooman - I have seen the King Ch***is bodies and they are real nice. I am still hoping to find the real deal. If nothing pops up here soon, I will get with you on the possibility of pulling a mold. Thanks for your help.
What gears in the rear end? you need a nut protector on the rear end you will prob like the 25deg front end, mine is at 23 and I like it better than the 46 it had before looks like you will have to add some more kidney uprights in the ****pit area and helmet bars to the cage...... Anyway good luck and I'm subscribed to this one! And Tim is right two weeks should be enough time to get her ready for EAGLE.........
Marc, this car is rad, can't wait to see it. The "Snafu" name rang a bell, so I started going through my pics. This photo was ***led "Snafu TF Dragster"... Same car?
Got a 4:30 gear in the rear with a lincoln locker. I have found a 10 spline spool and hope to have it in my hands here real soon. The nut protector is being fabbed up right now along with the helmet bars, kidney bars and a couple of added bars for the steering. If anything, I want to be safe. It already feels a lot better with 25* of caster. It wants to straighten itself out now when going straight where it never did before. Two weeks should be plenty of time. lol
Hey Jeremy - Do you know where that picture was taken? I have been through the WDIFL website, but nothing on the name SNAFU. I can't imagine there were to many FED's with that name back then. Me too. I talked to Skot this morning. Had to get some of his wisdom in the ways of the flathead. He's the one to beat. I can't wait to get lined up next to him. Headed to Yello Belly this weekend for the races.
Hello Rebel1. I was thinking of making a mold of the Kellison chute pack body at one point. But there are a limited demand over here, and i figured it would be to expencive to ship to the US from Norway. You will find picture of it from my build, http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=531757 Hope you will find one at home! ................................ Taildragger&fenderless
There are remnants of a pinion support. Don't understand why anyone would want to remove it, but started fabbing up another.
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