The Family Hot Rod, or a Poor Man's Deuce Tudor

Me & my crew at Cavalcade:



I wired in the ballast resistor and pulled the distributor on Sunday afternoon during the show. Points were in good shape - not burnt up - but one pair had closed up and the gap was too small. Ron Miller helped me reset the gap and the car ran great on the way home.

It is so easy to remove the distributor that I think I will build up a spare (with condenser) and keep it in my toolbox.

Next up are the thermostats, just too cold to fool with it!!!

Will Kimble

 

Will, great job on the C-dan, I can only imagine how hard it must be to make it look so basic, you my friend have a great eye for detail...We will have to get together here soon!

 

Wow, I missed this one the first time around...thanks for bringing it back to the top. I totally love this car. I can only hope my tudor ends up looking half this clean.

 

Very very nice work - you should be stoked !!

Cute kids/pit crew too !!

Rat

 

beautiful and inspiring (need to start getting me one and follow your tracks!)...thanks for sharing...

 

Coming soon, bone stock '57 283 w/4bbl...

The flathead is running great, but I am helping my Dad build another car ('30-31 RPU on '32 frame) and he is gonna get the flattie.

I'll be back in a couple days with pics and specs.

 

The flattie loyalists will surely object, but I like the car even more now. I'm a sucker for early small-blocks.

 

I'm getting ready to start a Model A Tudor on a 32 frame and I can't afford a flattie so I'm gonna stay tuned for phase II of this build. I bet you get it done in a weekend based on how fast you pulled the last build off.

Terry

 

WELCOME TO THE DARKSIDE WILL! Can't wait to see this! Gives me hope for my 58 283 (just need to find a good machine shop)

 

Pics from today, just before I started tearing it down:





So far the numbers seem to say it is a '57 283 2bbl powerglide engine, but it has the correct 4bbl intake for a '57. Everything is nice and clean inside, appears to be .030 over and might be nice enough to just freshen the heads, hone the cylinders and new rings and bearings.

Should be a great match for my old Ford.

Will Kimble

 

Well that makes me feel better alittle bit! I was set on a flathead for years. I never would have thought of a SBC in my own car because of all the years of me bugging guys about them.

Well I now have a '59 283 that is going in my Model A. I'm still having a hard time with it!

I love the way your car looks, and now that you have built and driven the car, and now you are going to swap out the flathead...helps me alittle bit!

I can't wait for the updates!

 

Awesome Will. Think of it this way - how many Model A hot rods actually went from bangers, to flatheads, to a late fifties power pack Chevy during the course of about 10-20 years. You're just cutting the time down a bit! I'd say this is as traditional as it gets!

And by the way - I love my '62 327 w/ '39 trans and closed drive banjo set up. Nothing better IMO.

 

Hey Adam, I really like what you are doing! Send me the tranny from that '39 Ford you picked apart, LOL!

Also just wanted to say I am not doing this because I am unhappy with the flathead - the car is running great and I am apprehensive about changing anything about it. The flathead V8 is a good match with the rest of the chassis, the performance is very balanced.

I am doing this so my Dad can use the flathead, I am supplying parts and helping him build a car that will be on "permanent loan". So technically it will still be mine, but will be down at my Dad's in NC.

I also have never had a car with a SBC, so there is still some charm to these engines for me. Finally, I plan to drive my car a lot - daily driver, weather permitting. I think the flattie could handle it, but I think the SBC will handle it easier and will be more reliable.

My concern is that the engine will be too much for the rest of the car and it will lose its balance. So in that regard, a relatively low powered early 283 is a good choice.

I keep saying that someday I will build the "327 / Muncie" car, but I'm just not there yet.

Will Kimble

 

It sounds like you have justified the engine swap in your mind aswell! I still can't believe I'm going to use it, but I do think the 283 will make a nice driver with a period look.

The trans from that '39 had some very stiff oil in it. When I poked it with a screwdriver, it chipped. It was full of dirty ice! The inside was toast. Its too bad, I wanted it too. He wanted $600 of the engine and trans and didn't want to split them up.

I'm sure I said it already, but I REALLY like the way your car turned out! Excellent job!

 

Awesome thread man! Congrats on all ur hard work!

 

Hey Will .. Love your build !!! Excellent work !!!
The 283: .. Man , Just wash that thing clean ( with tenderness ) .. Do not repaint ANYTHING,.. Add a fully polished Tri-power intake & 97s , and your Hot Rod will look waay beyond fabolouzz !!

BTW .. Waay Cool Kids .. Seems like our hobby are in safe hands

Clas

 

Mine is a little more crusty than yours, but I love it none the less.... Do you know of any good machine shop in the area to put together the rotating assembly?

 

Wow that it nice. I hope to see this car sometime maybe at a show or cruise around Cincinnati. I was at cavalcade this year helping at a booth and didnt get to see all the cars

 

I liked it with the Flat Head.

 

Just to add to that, I bought my Abone from a used car lot, the owner had been using it to go to work. Got my 'how to' from the local rodders. Bolted in a 2bbl, '56, 265, '39 trans, duece front end, steering,and crossmember, chopped 48 rear end,added another A muffler, and juice brakes.even used the stock radiator. hi tec in 1957! drove it everywhere. Course I understand things are lots different today.

 

Oh my, that is neat! Very nice attention to detail.

 

I'm needin' an update!

 

Not much news to report... The 283 has had the powerglide removed and is up on a stand. Might be a while before I pull it apart any farther, I am reading up on SBC engines and trying to learn some things before proceeding. The car is running great with the flattie so there is no hurry.

I did pick up a '50 Merc pressure plate for the transmission adapter, but am still looking for a flywheel. The end of my crank is machined but I haven't had a chance to measure it yet, I understand there are a couple different sizes it could be. I am hoping to cover the whole tranny / adapter thing in a separate thread once I get it straightened out.

After thinking about it a lot, I have decided to go back to the original 2 barrel setup (Rochester 2GC) on the 283. I intend to restore the engine as if it were going back into a '57 Chevy. Very minor mods like a Stelling & Hellings air cleaner, move the generator between the valve covers, and maybe use two passenger side exhaust manifolds to lose the generator mount.

Enough of the 283 stuff, I have had some real stuff to fix...

I got a weird shimmy at about 15 mph the other day, the steering wheel was shaking and I had to stop the car for the oscillations to stop. The next decent day I pulled the car out and started looking things over - plenty of stuff wrong. The nuts on the U-bolts holding the front spring were loose, still can't believe it but I will remember to check them out every once in a while.

I originally set the toe with the front end out of the car - just the tie rod, spindles, axle, wishbone, and wheels. Hadn't checked it since, and it was toed in 7/8" - yikes!!! By the way, I set the toe with the front end in the air and it went from toed in 1/4" in the air to 1/8" on the ground. I worked some more and eventually got it to 3/16" on the ground.

Also found that the front tires were 15 psi... Just a reminder to stay on top of this stuff, it has to be right for old Fords to drive nice!!!

So the shimmy is gone and the car is steering really nice. I have decided to live with the 4.44 rear gear for the rest of this season and see what it is like with the 283. Just can't bring myself to mess with it since it isn't broken, leaking or making any funny noises.

Got the rear seat mounted, ended up using some piano hinge to mount it to the cross brace. You can pull the handle to fold the seat down, and then flip it forward. Next up are seatbelts in the rear so I can start hauling my little buddies.

I also ordered all the stuff to put my windows in, guess I will start working on that soon. And I guess I am gonna have to invest in some real windshield wipers if I am gonna drive it as much as I want to.

Will

 

Will, you have outdone yourself once again. I thought that "THE MANX" was a stellar smooth ride, but your C-DAN has to be one of the smoothest riding, buggy sprung, flathead powered, 39 ford trans shifting, bias-ply tire-d BAD ASS ride I have ever been in.. And thanks again for ripping into the 3 speed for me... Give me a shout and let me know when your gonna be around, so I can stop out and rip the rest of it apart.... Ryan

 

Hey Will. I love the look of your "family hot rod". I really want to do something like this, but I'm having a hard time deciding if I'd be able to fit my family of 5 in a car like this. What's your opinion on this & if possible do you have any pictures of the interior room in the car. Maybe post s pic of your kids in the back seat so I can get an idea of how much room there is. Are you able to fit a couple of car seats in the back. Once again. Awesome ride & ive really enjoyed this thread.
Thanks



Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app