Projects PhatCaddy's "Low Salle" is alive...with help from "Kool Cat Kustoms"

Here is an update on the '40 LaSalle I got a couple years ago.

Here is the original thread started when I got the LaSalle:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258678&highlight=phat+caddy

When I first bought it I took everything apart, pulled the motor and trans (sold it to a HAMBer), replaced the gas tank (gave that to a HAMBer) with a 60's Mustang tank and bought a 509 Cadillac BB for the powerplant. It sat for a year and then at Santa Maria last year I met Johnny, owner of Kool Cat Kustoms in San Jose, who had just finished building a beautiful '37 LaSalle. Seeing the work he did on the '37 and knowing the issues I was going to have I knew he was the guy to get the 509 Cadillac motor in and completely re-fab all of the drivetrain.

With this motor I knew I wanted to have the pipes coming out the side to make this more of a hot rod to complement my '57 Kustom. Also, over the last months I really wanted to do something different with the interior so I found a '49 Merc dash (from a HAMBer) and seats from a '65 T-Bird. I gave the dash to Johnny to swap and customize it. Oh yea, I sold the dash to a HAMBer too.

I attached a couple pics but I will let Johnny detail with pics of all the great work he did to the drivetrain and dash.

Next I will finish mocking up the interior, slowly over the summer, get the exterior body work finished so it can go to final upholstery and paint by November. But for now I will be driving the hell out of it.

BTW, Johnny and I will be taking both LaSalles to Sacramento Autorama.

See ya there.....

Brian
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BEFORE and NOW Pics attached.........

 

NIce can't wait to see it

 

Nice job Brian .. See you at sac.

 

your car is the shit man!!! WOW!!!!

 

That looks great Brian....Great work by Johnny....now keep the saw away from the roof!

 

Wow, that thing is pretty cool lookin for sure. Would be nice to see some kustom flair thrown in as well

 

Is it a Kustom...or a hot rod...??? The whitewalls say kustom, but the "exhaust pipes," if that's what those are, say hot rod...I think I'll reserve my opinion until I see better photos...

R-

 

very cool Brian.....see you at the Autorama..

 

Hi,

Looks like your project is moving right along........I like the exhaust....give's the car some attitude.

Jerry

RHRASNF

 

Thanks for letting me build this LaSalle for you. I hope you enjoy driving it as much as I did building it!

 

Here are some pictures of the build. The first on e is a picture of what I stared with, that's how it got delivered to my shop.
Next two pictures of the rear suspension, fourlink, bags, a.s.o.
And some pictures of the Fatman clip that I installed and the Big 509cid caddy engine.

 

some pictures of the exhaust

 

Now I only wish that I could convince Brian to let me finish the car, I think it needs a mild chop and some other custom touches, like molded rear fenders, shaved trunk handle, fix all the rust and dents, do some thing to the area below the doors and, you know, just make it a nice custom. What do you guys think about that?

I'll post some pictures of the dash that I did later. Gotta get to the shop and work on my '30 A coupe for now.

 

Looks good J I see this waay to often, when the rearend articulates think about the rear shocks standing straight up?? Keep up the work ~S

 

Thanks to everyone for the comments.

Hey Jerry, how are you? I'm sure you can imagine how those pipes sound. So good I had to have Johnny put baffles in them Sunday morning to tone it down just a bit. Sounds soooo good though. Music to my ears.

Brian

 

seeing stuff like this makes me realize how much I suck....

Oh well.....that thing is sweet! I'm diggin' the pipes out the sides with a hood....

I tend to agree with KCK....need some mild custom touches....nothin over the top, just complimentary mods....(I dunno if I would even chop it personally....but it aint my car)

 

great looking car! Congrats and good work Kool Cat guys. I personally think leave the roof as it is, but molding anything on that car would look great and a few one off touches and you'll be set

 

Car looks good. I'm not sure on the exhaust. Maybe a side shot?

 

Its looking Good there, cant wait to check it out!
cheers!

 

A few more shots......

 

Steve, I know what you are getting at, But there are two point that I'd like to point out.

#1: The shocks are not standing straight up (vertical), they are mounted at 6*.

#2: If you look at how an axle travels when it articulates and take the center as a pivot point, which it should be if you set up the suspension right, you will see that when the outer edge of the axle travels a certain distance, the amount of travel decreases the closer you get to the center of the axle. So when you mount the shocks on the outre edge of the axle the angle of the shock plays a much greater role compared to when the shock is mounted closer to the center where the axle travels less of a distance.
If you look at modern Pick up trucks for example ( Ford F150, Chevy Silverado, Chevy Suburban, Cadillac Escalade) and how and where they have their shocks mounted you will see that they are mounted vertically and close to the center of the axle. This works great and gives a smoother ride than mounting them further out and at an angle.
Also, if you look at off road vehicles that have a lot more articulation than this LaSalle will ever see, you will notice the principle. The closer the shocks are mounted on the center of the axle the less severe the angle of the shock is.
Maximum travel of the axle on the LaSalle is about 8", where the shock is mounted the axle the travel of the axle at maximum articulation is about 3", so the angle of the shocks is sufficient.
I did study Chassis and Engine design at Porsche for three years when I lived in Germany.

But thanks for your concern any way.

 

Brian, the car looks sick my friend, see you in Sac. Primer Dave and I are going up too.

 

Hey Brian, The Lo Salle' is living up to it's name, are we going to see it Santa Maria this May?

 

I can understand a Eye & eye, but stud and eye guess its works. Seems there really close together, don't trip Chip, rad you got your study on, what is the roll of a shock? mounted so close you say is less travel.

 

cant wait to see it bro! looks good!

 

Awesome ride!

keep the pics coming.

thanks
John

 

Sweet Ride. Can't wait to see it in person one day.

 

here's a pic of the stock dash and the dash I made out of a '49 merc dash

 

some pictures of some rust repair on the trunk, the trunk wouldn't close because the latch was gone from so much rust.

Brian had installed the gas tank himself before it got to my shop.

 

some pictures after it's first ride, in the rain and no windshield.