Hot Rods wrong site for my build?

Hello, i am a recent member and have subscribed for about 6 months or so, this is an awesome site. i have posted a few threads about my 36 plymouth. was not sure what era or stlye to build it. after much concideration i have decided to build it like a competition coupe. i dig all styles of cars, custom and traditional, sleds and gassers,etc. . i am a drag race fan at heart and want to build a car that reflects that. i ask because i agree with our goals and rules and dont know if this build will fit, i have gotten great advice and ideas from this site and will always be true. thanks john.

 

IMO, your plan is a hell of a lot closer to the spirit of this site than a lot of other stuff that gets posted...

If you are looking for help with period ideas and parts, this IS the place to post.

 

Since the whole competition coupe era was kind of done by the mid 60's, I think your plan fits in just fine. There are quite a few gasser style and comp-coupe style cars on the HAMB - they fit in just fine.

I think the real test will be what are you going to run for an engine setup? Now I may be biased, but how about a blown or injected early Hemi - just the ticket for your coupe.

Or maybe a big Nailhead . . . or ???

 

Read the site mantra....it fits or it doesn't.
Heres the deal though: With so many members, you have NO HOPE of pleasing everyone personally...so just build the car and enjoy it for yourself.

For what its worth, the plan sounds like it fits to me! We're usually a bit flexible when it comes to various race car eras that used early cars.

 

thanks for the support, i would love a Hemi for the coupe, at this point i have a dual quad tunnel ram 440 , i am looking for a 4 speed. this will get me rolling sooner, a hemi in the future is possible if i can learn to save some money. once the car is on the street i can start on the hemi plans. thanks, John

 

I say it's worthy. Just try to keep it anchored in a specific era and build to that.
Early 60s had big blocks, skinny recap slicks and the nose up attitude. A crossram would fir better.
Mid 60s had a bit more tire and the cars were cut up even more to get them lighter.
Late 60s (a bit of a reach here) had big tires and the tunnel ram would be more fitting.
Do some reasearch here and on sites that have vintage drag cars (draglist, WDIFL), keeping in mind that you are still planning on street use.

 

What a lot of guys forget or never knew because they weren't around or haven't pursued the magazines of the 50's and early 60's is that drag classes then depended on several things. Body style, body mods, engine swap and engine size.

The stock classes were strict and you had to stay within the parameters of how the car came from the factory.
Any full bodied car that had an engine swap went into GAS class. It didn't need to be jacked up or have a straight axle. What made it a Gasser was the engine swap.
Competition class meant that the fenders had been pulled off or the top had been chopped even if it had a mild engine and was more of a custom than a rod.

Life's too short and fragile to worry about making other people happy with how you build your car as long as you build it so that it is safe to drive in public be it from one side of the country to the other or off the trailer to play pro fairground cruiser with no plates. If you use pieces that don't fit in here you go over to another board with it where that style may be more accepted but I doubt if you will be using pieces that don't fit in the range of HAMB friendly.

What I don't like to see is guys who take a damn nice driving car and jerk the suspension out from under it and stick a straight axle and skinny tires under the front and change the car from one that he could hop in and make a Bonzi cross country trip from Ohio to Austin in for Roundup or another event to a trailer queen that he needs a dualie and trailer to haul to the same event because it doesn't drive worth a shit on the road and he won't drive it more than ten miles away from the house. Think about it, have you ever seen a thread about a guy jumping in his straight axle comp style car and making a cross country trip to an event? If you already have the dualie and trailer you have half the battle won.

 

Around here, that 440 is a 413....

 

i'm with mr 48 on his view,if you can't drive i don't want it............

 

Stay true to you and the rest will follow.

 

I read your other thread and the reason your build wasnt "accepted" was because your thoughts were all over the place. Sometimes not a bad thing, but the impression that was rendered was a bit off topic and sorta plain confusing.
Stick around for a while, search and dig deep into old posts and nail down your plan.
Make it safe and well thought out and enjoy it.

Alot of the bitchiness and fun stuff thats going on lately, I think, is because a lack of good threads starting. and like was said above dont take it personally cuz you cant please everyone (and lately anyone) around these parts!

Good Luck.

 

thanks for the support, i couldnt agree more, why ruin a functioning car just to be different. i am starting with a body with bad floors and a 37 plymouth frame i need to narrow 2 " to make work and a plymouth engine that came in the deal. so many choices and i do have alot of suspension options and parts already saved up for whatever, by combining what i have to the 36 i can build a decent driver, if i dont run fenders , a m2 suspension would look out of place to me, even with tubular arms, hence the 4" drop tube, still deciding on coilovers or an eliptical spring thought i had this morning, or the buggy spring, dont think the buggy spring will let me go as low as i want(mid to late 60s look.) i always start with less expensive projects so if i screw it up im not out a bunch.

 

Our kind of Guy!

 

You're good. Build on!

 

Thanks , im sorry if i gave the impression that my build choice wasn't accepted, i recieved a lot of great ideas and encouragment. i was asking the question if it was an acceptable build for the hamb forum. being a new member and really appreciating a site for all us gear heads to exchange ideas is why i asked.I dont mind being told that this site is for specific style cars and years, if it fits i will share threads and ask questions, if it doesnt , thats ok too. i have a mind of my own( however clouded or busy it may seem) and dont need acceptence to believe in my goal
all in all i find that most car guys have the same goal, build it, break it, build it again. thanks and talk to ya soon i hope

 

Sounds like a plan. Have at it, and good luck.

 

Your head is on straight . . . just make it happen and get it on the road!

 

youve been here 6 months and had to ask?
kinda seems like your fishing for compliments or something.

 

. i havnt built it yet, nothing to compliment.

 

I say build what you like and post where your style car is accepted.

 

Any progress? Your car and direction sound good.

 

nothing concrete, measuring the 37 chassis and designing the suspension and mods for a comp. coupe build. thanks for your interest. i will post pics when i get started. thinking of using stock leafs for quarter eliptical front suspension , that way i can keep the center of gravity low with the engine height. never made one before but have seen a few, i dig the old school look and using as much of the original suspension as i can. thanks John

 

Humm how about a GMC 6 with a five speed, or better yet a Blown Cad Flattie set back 20%, or even a 471 blown flat Ford set back humm sounds good to me............course I'm a little off key ..........

 

Build it your way, post it and if the bashing starts, hit the off switch.

 

Thanks, i have found that most people that bash builds are using purchased opinions, they have paid someone to build them a car and only know what that person has told them, Guys that build their own, no matter the skill or investment level, can appreciate another mans car and effort. happy holidays

 

A 'Competition Coupe' is a piece of a body that is set down over a front engine dragster - search for the Hollish Bros or Little Honker build threads and you'll get the idea. They don't have suspensions etc.
From your description i think you are building a gasser-like coupe - good choice. Do your research, there are some basic rules to follow and people figured out how to build really good cars many decades ago so try not to stray far from what they built.
Got the body off the chassis yet? Post up a pic or two of what you've got. The engine setback in a gasser is limited to 10% of its' wheelbase as measures from the foremost sparkplug to the center of the front spindle, so if you have a 107" wheelbase then the front sparkplug can be no further than say 10 3/4's from the spark plug (be aware that one cylinder head is ahead of the other so pick the right one) - maybe that'll help with your engine placement and when you nail that down lots of things start to fall in place.

 

Well Said ,A side from a few ball-busters (who most of the time are just kidding around, as I've said you have to have thick skin), This site is a wealth of information ,lots of the people on here buildt the cars you want to style yours after, A friend of mine told me about this site when I started building my 58 style front engine dragster,after being on here a while I found that lots of these guys ran the type car I'm building, The knowage on here will blow you away, So have fun, and build away

 

I think it is less a gasser more a fuel coupe. Think Mooneyham and Sharp-the infamous 554 car.
To keep it more traditional, the tire/wheel combination and use of period style components such as guages, interior design, no billet accessories etc will help define the era.
By the late 60s the street and strip lines started to blur again with crazy machines seeing limited street duty. Not everything became lame street rods.

 

Start a build thread and take us along for the ride. Words, pictures and progress!
I'd be interested watching this come together!

 

Get it on!!