Bolus

Filet o' Whale

Let's Build a Hot Rod, part III

One of the hardest part of planning out my vintage Deuce coupe project so far has been figuring out what drive train to employ. Before I picked up the project I already had a couple of engines laying around (350 small block Chevy and a '56 Pontiac 316), and the deuce deal include a '53 241" Dodge Red Ram "baby Hemi."  Each has its own characteristic pros and cons:

316 Poncho -- pros: cool looking, matches the mill in my A coupe.  Cons: hard to find speed goodies.

241 Red Ram -- pros: hemi kicks ass visually, sonically. Stock 7.5:1 compression is blower-ready.  Cons: $$$ parts, 140 stock hp doesn't even measure up to a flathead.

350 SBC -- pros: bulletproof, cheap, tons of speed equipment, can get parts from any NAPA. Cons: bellybutton and bo-ring.

In the midst of trying to decide between those three, I happened upon another option: a junkyard '49 Cadillac coupe containing a 331 --the first production overhead valve V8, the first true modern engine. As you know, my colleague Mr. Noteboom is very fond of the war-tested Caddy flathead,  but I've always been partial to the 331. It was the powerplant that propelled the Allard J2 to third place in the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans and a stock Caddy to third place in the wildest road race / tequila party ever, the Carrera Panamericana.  And if you know what to look for the Cad 331 shares a good number of internals with the SBC (not to mention the Studebaker V8). My Wisconsin friend Cadillac Kid, for instance, rebuilt his Cad motor with a slew of 327 Chevy stuff.
 

For 120 bucks, what's not to like? I dedicated a Saturday last year to harvesting cast iron organs with the help of my friends Andy, Dave, and Cratedigger. Here's a brief play-by-play of the automotive ghoulishness.

1949 Cadillac Series 61 Club Coupe. Standard of the World. $120 toe tag special. Lookie there momma, I got me a Cadillac car!

Our quarry: the first year Caddy 331.

Looks like a job for blue speed wrench.

Thar she blows!

Mmmm, come to poppa.

Despite external crustiness, actually pretty clean under the ginchy script valve covers; but seized solid.

After a few weeks soaking the cylinders in Marvel Mystery Oil and coaxing with a breaker bar we got it to turn over (barely). Unknown as yet whether it's rebuildable; only the magnaflux man knows for sure.

The Coupe of Wrath

Let's Build a Hot Rod, Part II

Some of you know I like 1932 Fords. Well, okay, I lust for 1932 Fords. But it's an honest lust, one I share with a number of upstanding citizens, and one I've had for as long as I can remember. I've spent countless hours filling my grade school, high school, and college notebooks with crude drawings of the damned things, cataloging various schemes of how I would make one if I ever got the chance. I decided it would have to be a real steel Ford, a roadster or coupe, no Tupperware, vintage style like my old man would have done in the 50s.  I considered every permutation of chop/channel/ section, fenders on/off, engine setups, tire and wheel combos. Forgive me Lord, for I have coveted.

I have owned a few hot hot rods, including a '31 Ford coupe I have mentioned here before. I've loved 'em all, but they've never diminished my unconsummated desire for a Deuce. So when I had the chance at this, I jumped:

That there is a 1932 steel 5 window coupe sitting on its original 1932 frame. It was a Chicago street racer in the late 1950s to early 1960s, with a hammerweld 3" chop executed sometime before 1963 (Note the 1963 Chicago city sticker on the chopped windshield).  It was also channeled 6" which unfortunately means that the rear framehorns are bobbed; to comply with early 1960s Illinois hot rod fender laws it had rear bobbed fenders welded to the quarterpanels, the remnants of which can be seen in the photos.  The paint scheme was apparently a garish two tone of purple body and gold frame. 

According to the folklore I've heard, the fellow that originally hot rodded it took it apart in the mid 60's to update its worn-out flathead with a small block Chevy set up. He was drafted into the military, and the car never got put back together. After he returned from the service it languished in his back yard for 25 years until the city gave him an ultimatum: store it or sell it, or we're taking it to the crusher. A friend of mine bought it from him and was a careful custodian for more than a dozen years, doing a bit of body work (including unchanneling it) but leaving it unassembled. After a few years of dealing with my whining, cajoling and arm-twisting, he finally relented and let me haul it home, along with a '53 241 Dodge Red Ram hemi, '39 juice brakes and a set of 16" Ford rims.

So this is square one, the foundation. The plan is to restore this long-dormant Deuce in a style befitting its glory days: a no-nonsense, nasty mid-to-late 50s Chicago street racer.  Still deciding what to run for a mill and whether it will be channeled, but it will certainly sans fenders and hood.  Don't worry, the purple/gold paint isn't in the works, thanks to a can of  '53 Dodge 'Tahitian Bronze.'  Like they say, a bad penny always comes back.

Let's Build a Hot Rod

Episode 1

I'm fixin' to start in on my next hot rod project soon, a Deuce 5-window coupe that's been on hold for some time.  I'll be posting progress pictures and updates here. Not really a how-to ("cut k-member 2 1/8" behind inner flange"), and no drama queen scenes like "Pimp My Hard American Hot Chopper." Just a leisurely look at the buildup of what will hopefully turn out to be a cool little traditional hoopty.  For a good detailed book on the matter, you can't do better than "How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod" by Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel.

Like my last hot rod project, this one will be conducted under the expert direction of the amazing Drew Didio at Suicide Axle Hot Rods, with help from various area ballscratchers. As for that last hot rod project we did, here are the video Cliff Notes: