*MrModelT and Powerwagonmaniac build a T speedster in 6 months!*

That picture says it all. Good luck on your reassembly. It will be great to see it back up and running.

 

Chris -
Glad to hear that you are making some progress. Look forward to reading all about it.
Bob.

 

That was a fun night......nice drive in the country on a summer evening before the big trip.

Assembly should be the easy part, hope to have it all back together and ready to go in a few weeks after the crank, rods and other goodies get here.

 

Here you go Rapid Robert About 5 min before the crank broke!! Gps was saying I was rolling at 60 mph...


Looking forward to it being on the road again. Clayton that was a fun evening except when we almost burned the special up!!!!


Talked Tim yesterday he has New Z head for T-Bone and best part Clayton he got a new radiator.He's waiting for the warmer weather.

 

Hi Chris and Clayton.Outstanding build.Sharp looking T.
64 Dodge 440.Like the M37.Nice job.Is that per chance the "Big Bubbinsky"in the left background of the first picture of your M37?
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Thanks Leo. We keep trying, so we might get it right someday.

 

Actually don't know about the background, the pictures were taken at the March Field Air Museum after taking over five hours to get there when it only should have taken less than an hour. A long story behind that adventure, but to say the least, by that time we weren't really paying attention to the background. I just thought it was a good setting for the truck. Wish I had more pictures of it from our adventures. We really had fun with the truck.

 

Well Clayton disassembled the rest of the motor and now we are going to started to degrease it. On Tuesday night we start masking the motor up so we can blast it in the glass bead cabinet.

 

I say Chris

A little off topic but as your speedster appears to be un-apologetically based on a veteran Stutz I was reminded of the 1970s TV show 'Bearcats' (my preemptive apologies if this has been discussed ad-nauseam in this thread, or any other previously) - I recall that I was a big fan when I was very very very young and I have a vivid (childhood) recollection of one or more episodes when a gatling gun was mounted either on the firewall or perhaps to the rear. I did a quick google but couldn't find any images of the aforesaid episode or DVD copies of the series that may verify my distant memories. I am not sure where I am going with this but have you thought of replacing the spot light with a Gatling gun (Just joshing) - and do any HAMB members know if that series is available on DVD or face tube or U book or some other such youngster folk type medium. I seem to recall the featured stutz was white but we only had a black & white TV back in the day so it may well have been pink.

Much ado about nothing!

Kume

 

I have seen a few episodes and I have heard it mentioned here by a few H.A.M.B.ers. I believe it is on DVD.









From Wikipedia on the cars used:

For filming, the series used two full-scale metal replicas of first generation (1912–16) Stutz Bearcats made by Hollywood car customizer and film car builder George Barris. While externally very close to the original cars, in fact they were built on custom chassis powered by Ford drivetrains and had modern four wheel brake systems for safety. The two replicas were very similar to one another, however the first built (and the one used for most filming) had a manual 4-speed transmission while the second had an automatic. Additionally, there was a slight variation in the location of the horn bulb and the pinstripes on the sides of the hood of the second car, so the cars can be differentiated while closely viewing the episodes. In addition to the two cars used in the series, Barris built and retained a third car for use at car shows which differed in many details and color from the TV cars. All three cars survive today, though Barris' display car has been extensively modified

The show ran from September 16, 1971 to just December 30, 1971 after only 13 episodes.

The "Special" does embody the sportiness of Stutz's and other cars like this....the main inspiration for the "Special" was the Stutz's industrial rival....the Mercer Type 35 Raceabout. This rivalry spawned cat call slogans like "There's nothin' worser then a Mercer" or "You've gotta be Nuts to drive a Stutz"

 

Looks like a Maxim gun rather than a Gatling. German MG08, perhaps.

 

Agreed. Don't think its a MG08 though....looks to be a PM M1910, the Imperial Russian variant of the Maxim developed for WWI and used well into WWII.

 

Thanks Clayton

My curiosity is satisfied. I suspect the TV program hasn't aged well. Gatling was a stab in the dark as I know little about guns other than that they kill people.

 

Believe it or not I've never seen that show. Clayton will probably say I need expand my horizons! Like Clayton said the "Special" was inspired by stories Dad told of riding in Bill Harrah's 1913 Mercer.

 

My apologies Chris

I recalled that it was inspired by a stutz or mercer or similar. I should have searched the thread before I went off topic - either way I always look forward to progress reports and would quite like it parked in my garage.
I was surprised to read on Clayton's posting that the TV show Bearcats only ran for one season. I am now quite curious to see how bad they were or if the world wasn't ready for it - it could have been something to do with those tasseled pants one of the leads is wearing. I guess there were only ever 12 episodes made of Faulty Towers so perhaps Bearcats is a long lost gem.

Kume

 

Just googled, and it looks like at least 3 episodes are on Youtube...

 

No worries man. Itry to keep them coming what few and small ones they are... maybe some pic tomorrow and an update. Spent Sunday all afternoon cleaning the shop so we are ready to work on it and Troy's 65 Ranchero.

How's Mac doin' ?

 

I'm doing pretty good, Chris. Work has stopped (for a bit) on the speedster- need to get my future daily driver on the road ('56 Chevy stepside).

Once that's done, it's back to the fun

 

Cool. Switching to different job and a little less money this year didn't help much but will be better and allow some more funds for working on the projects, such as our 1913 White and a future model T bobtail racer build.

 

Chris,

That's great to hear that the White will see some progress, and can't wait to see the bobtail! Are you going to base it on any specific sprinter from the 20's/30's?

 

Noel Bullock's car is the one that most interests me won Pikes Peak hill climb in 1922. I've got a Warford a set of Houck Wire Wheels and that Mcmillian head just sittin' there.... sigh, someday.

 

Boys, you two have GOOD taste!

Now you're making me think I should just do Gerber's bobtail (pay no mind to the tag on the photo- I right-clicked too fast)...

 

The mad scientist at work!!!



Actually there were two of them Troy (Inkedforlife) and Clayton (Mrmodelt)!! I was working on the big blast cabinet getting vac system to work so we can blast the block and pan. Not much help from this flunky, so I took pictures.



Mac the Gerber bobtail looks interesting, what's the story behind it? Any more pictures of it? How far is your speedster along do you have any pictures of it?

 

Chris, one frame is blown apart (to bring the rails parallel), the other is hanging over my old Nova, and the half dozen engines/blocks are under it

You NEED to read John Gerber's Outlaw Sprint Car Racer- it's a nuts & bolts autobiography of his racing days from the 20's through the 50's!... and if you've ever pulled a Gerber connecting rod out of an A engine, it's one of his

 

Been a long time coming, Crank is being sent tomorrow morning to MrModelT who is going to ship it and the block up to Mike and Tom at the Antique Auto Ranch in Spokane Washington for new main bearings and fitting of the crank. We boxed the block up today and it will be leaving for it's new journey in the morning!!! Got my self a excellent Double EE crank comin' ,Hooray!!!!!! Mean time I 've got to blast and clean up a bunch of parts and get stuff painted so hopefully the updates will start flowing in. Last year we had four of 8 cars down that we normally play with during tour season. This season car are slowly coming back together. Today was a big step we picked up Mom's 1909 brush Runabout after a major engine rebuild. I haven't seen smile on my Mom's face for a long like she had when she drove her little Brush for the first time since the engine rebuild. Hopefully Clayton can post some pics of our adventure today.

 

Give me a geography lesson Chris

Is Aloha a suburb of Portland Oregan (Heir google is unclear ) . Was looking at Mr Model T and Bugsy meeting up at the salt flats which all seems reasonable given their locations east and west, albeit some many miles between. Its hard to get a handle on your geographical scale given that I can drive from the Tasman to the Pacific ocean in about 20 minutes in off peak traffic. Ok this is quite off topic but am looking forward to updates on my favorite cardboard cutout speedster.

Kume

ps. what you doing with that white T gowjob chassis ?

 

Kume,

Aloha is a suburb of Portland Oregon. We are about 15 - 20 miles outside of Portland. Clayton lives in Vancouver which is North of Portland across the Columbia river. My brother in law has the white chassis speedster. Sounds like he is going to build a tack T roadster out of it with a 318 dodge and 727 automatic trans in it. Favorite cardboard cutout T?!! At least you didn't say cookie cutter T!!!!!


Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad

 

I didn't get allot of pictures of our adventure to get the Lil' Brush....but here is the best one:



Kume,

Here are a few images to give you a visual of our general location in the world.

The Portland-Metro Area: (Aloha is seen at left, about center)



Our route to Bonneville:



Hopefully we will see the new crank arrive soon so I can get the entire package out the door to Tom and Mike.

More updates soon.

 

Hey, that is a sweet little Brush! Always like to see the old buggers chugging around!

 

*UPDATE*​

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The engine is on it's way Spokane!

As Chris reported, the new EE series crank was on it's way from Ohio as of this Monday. Today the crank showed up at my desk...a nice looking piece. It was only out of the box for about 3:00 minutes....long enough for me to snap a quick picture:



After that it was time to re-box and send out along with the block to Tom and Mike at the Antique Auto Ranch for all new main bearings and crank fitting.



Tom and Mike are the ones that built my engine for the roadster and did a BEAUTIFUL job.....so there was no hesitation as to who would do the new motor for the "Special".


More to come
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