"Pops" saying hello and introducing my projects

I shall ramble....brace yourself.

My home base revolves between the middle Connecticut River Valley in Vermont, Down-east Maine and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

I started working on cars over 50 years ago and have had both the pleasure and misery of owning and wrenching on so many cars, trucks, bikes and assorted pieces of equipment. I'll share details, but for those of you looking for the Headline, these are the two projects that have steered me toward this website.

It is time to get my solid barn find 1932 B pickup onto the road. It will remain a four cylinder. The motor will be slightly warmed using some period speed stuff. For highway use the rear axle ratio will be changed and most likely I will put my BB 4 speed into it. I have a farm and the creeper gear will be nice in the fields. Hope to have this done by my 65th birthday.

Much more immediate and far more unique is a project I hope to have on the road by my 64th, a mere 75 days away. A fifties hot-rod. sort of!

In 1938 a friend of mine purchased a 1925 French race car. Not an ultra-light "cycle car" but only a little bigger and heavier. By 1950 he abandoned the charming 1100 cc flathead motor in favor of the latest offering by the Willys-Overland company. The Willys F-head (Exhaust valves in block / intake valves in head) Hurricane engine of 2200cc.

We THINK he actually got a first year crate motor from the factory coupled to a t-96 gearbox. He was enamored by this engine as it followed a long standing Rolls Royce design and tripled the horse power. Somehow he shoehorned it in and added an early Ford rear axle to handle the dramatic increase in horsepower. A monster side-pipe completed the transformation and the car was raced in the 50's and 60's along with being a daily commuter for years.

Now mine, the goal is to complete a mechanical restoration and prepare the car for both touring and racing. The VSCCA has accepted it as a vintage racer, so looking at track work and hill climbs. I want the car rugged enough for some straight line racing too, perhaps TROG would like to see a Hurricane run against a Ford Banger? I really want to get back on the salt Flats, so we are looking at the possibility of a bolt on exterior cage, lot of weight and wind drag plus a bunch of money though. I also hope to drive it on some of my many 200-400 mile trips each month. With a 60 lbs. k-9 sidekick not much long distance bike ridding for now, a quick open car feels like a reasonable alternative.

I have gotten an original front axle with bigger brakes and need to narrow the rear axle another 6 inches while hopefully adding a quick change. The steering and shift linkages are very crude so those need some love. My motor rebuild will be your basic mild cleanup of ports, balancing the rotating mass and a few other details. I will shave the flywheel, likely a lot.

Why stay with a Willys engine labeled by some a boat anchor? Well the car actually is pretty quick and is considered a legacy car, so feels worth preserving.

So yes, I am going to Race the Hurricane.

Me? Well you probably already got a little taste of my character / craziness.

There have always been Ford Bangers in my life, my first car an A/B/C sprint car / ice racer. Many A-body Mopars, still have a soft spot for IDI diesels, Mainly Ford and VW. Run a Cummins every day. Really like trucks and all types of equipment. I am a damn good operator. Won't give up my CDL until they turn off my life support.

I also like to ride bikes, play well with others and pretty good at sharing.

I will start getting some questions posted about the Ford rear options, possible transmission upgrades and some other challenges. I need to find some vendors to help with machining so that will be another post.

Sometimes I do find message boards overwhelming and reading comprehension has always been an issue for me. People might confuse that with being lazy, which I am not.

Anyway, thanks to all. Hope to get a little website going so people can follow along on some of my journeys.

Thank you and
Be (reasonably) Safe,

Pops

 

Welcome to the HAMB from Illinois.