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I've been building in earnest.

I widened the rear of the tub and made it blend in with the sides of the body.

Then I reshaped the top edge of the rear of the tub to match the sides.

After that I started fabbing the side rails from 2x6x1/8" tubing. I cut a 32 style reveal into the rails and curved them to match the slight curve of the T body.

Then I pinched them at the cowl and ran them forward to the front crossmember.

The axle will sit out front slightly and it will be sprung off the bones which I am fabricating.

It will have a 29 smooth grille shell.

I have the complete 72 Maverick 302-C4 -8" from my donor car previously posted.

Here are a few pics.
Larry.

Anyone ever look at the electric fan assembly off of a Ford Taurus ? A seriously good looking fan, a good size and a nice slim shroud that is part of it too.

Looks like the perfect size for an early car.

Larry

Is there a way to measure shocks to get it right ? I want to order some Pro shocks for the front and back of the roadster. Speedway has them in different lengths.

I know that because of my front end design,the 4" dropped axle etc I will need a pretty short shock. The rears will be longer.

What are the guidelines regarding shock length,travel etc. ? I am doing a totally custom set-up, nothing is off the shelf except the Magnum axle so I need to know how to determine shock length and mounting angle too.

Here's some info on Pro Shocks:

Pro Shocks have been around for a long time. They advertised in the old Rodders Digest Magazines way back when.

http://www.proshocks.com/aboutus.htm

They make all kinds of shocks. Speedway sells these.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Pro-St...hocks,870.html

Their shock chart.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/image...t-582SM300.gif

Larry.

Was reading a bunch of my old Hot Rod Mechanix magazines and noticed a lot of the open wheeled cars were running a 145-R15 Michelin on the front and 31X11.50 R15's on the rear in an almost matching (or similar) street tire tread pattern. I believe both are radials.

Now I know Coker sells the Michelin 145-R15's but does anyone know if the 31X11.50 R15's are still available anywhere ??

Larry

Just as a side note, once you find the connector you need, I recently made a discovery that may help you with a choice for high temperature resistant wire.

I have a home made vacuum forming table and mold plastic motorcycle fenders.

The wires were burning off the heating elements. I went down to a scrap metal yard where they were recycling kitchen stoves.

The wire used to transfer current to the stovetop elements is high temperature resistant stranded wire which is about 14 gauge.

It is imprinted on the insulation that it's rated for 200 degrees Celcius (392 F)

It's tough stuff and withstands extreme heat real well.

I believe I'm gonna strip some more stoves and get some I can use in places on my roadster.

Usually you can get sections from 2-3 feet long, but you can always splice it  

Larry

The picture you posted looks more like a temperature sensing probe with a connection point for the wire on the outside than an electrical connector to send power through a threaded connection.

My son installed something that looks just like that as a temp sensor for an oil temp gauge.

I thought of the leather wrap, I think it would be my last alternative.  I think it kinda changes the character of the wheel.

Gonna try the tool handle coating thing and if that fails then the cover would still be an option.

Spray on bed liner?

Good idea, I wonder if anyone  around here could spray something that small accurately.

A bit smaller and different shape than your usual truck box  

Maybe even make a circular pan the right size and dip the whole rim of the wheel rather than brushing ?  Might turn out nice.

Maybe the wife has an Angel food cake pan the right size  

Larry.

I used to look really good in a Speedo when I was about 18 and a lifeguard -swimming- diving Instructor  

I have a very old ( I bought it when I was 18  ) Grant steering wheel. It's a 3 spoke wheel with the holes in the spokes.

It's a 14" wheel and is rare in that they don't make them any more. What makes it rare is that it has finger depressions and the associated bumps on the rear surface of the wheel.

They only make them smooth now.

The problem is the foam it was covered with. It was covered with a black textured foam which has worn a bit in places and is thin on the raised bumps of the finger depressions.

Any ideas on restoring the covering ? I want to use the wheel in my 26 roadster.

I thought of trying a liquid rubber coating like what they use to dip tool handles etc.

Loctite makes a black rubber coating liquid that can be brushed on and I have considered trying to coat the foam that is not in bad shape overall except for the thin spots. A new coating over the whole wheel would look nice if it worked.

What do you think ? Will it work ? Any other ideas ?

Larry.

Yes, these high powered cars are made and available to anyone. I had and sold (because it was just not what I wanted it seems) an 04 SVT Cobra Mustang that had the 4.6 DOHC Eaton Supercharged handbuilt engine.

It was under-rated at 390 HP and 390 lb/ft of torque and I opened up the breathing and put full aftermarket exhaust on it. It was putting 475 HP to the rear tires and would run the 1/4 at 12.95 on street tires.

With a little more money spent the 03-04 Cobras will run easy 10's and sometimes faster. The respond very well to simple upgrades.

With the 6 spd box and IRS the car was insanely fast and easy to drive.

The modern muscle cars do everything the old muscle cars did and do it better.

They even do what the older cars could not, with power handling and driveability the old cars could only dream about.

If you have the dollars, now is a wonderful time to play with new performance machinery. Bring your biggest wallet though it ain't cheap !

Larry.

Looks like the pictures came through fine  , thanks.

It looks like that setup will work well.

I see the body is channeled on that 27, I'm left wondering how the same cowl steering idea would work on a roadster that had a non channeled body.

By having my body sitting on top of the frame it looks like my pitman arm would have to be that much longer to get the drag link down to where it would run close to level or at least the same level as the radius rod due to the cowl and dash sitting that much higher in relation to the front spindles.

How would having a long pitman arm like that affect the steering?

Larry.

old blue
I'll see what I can get for pictures tomorrow. The car is across town.

Sounds good, that might clear up some questions. Pictures help.

Frank,
we just finished a dodge box for a 27 T coach.  A little different than what you posted.  We used the cut-off pitman arm spline on the box, welded a tube to it to get outside the body, with a flange welded to it, to bolt the pitman arm to. The machined pitman arm has a hole large enough to get a socket and extension through it to the nut on the splines.  To finish off the the hole we used a chrome spring cap.  Looks great, works great, and Glen is absolutely correct, there is a lot of torque on the box and it has to be braced REALLY well.

Pictures, I demand to see pictures  

Larry