1929 Willys Whippet Mercury Flathead on Model A Frame

Recently I made the pedal linkage for the Whippet.  The pedals are from some kind of early Chevy that I found in a junk pile somewhere.  I used a clutch shaft from a 1946 Ford, I ordered it from Vanpelt sales but it is an OEM part.  The clutch is a bit hard to push in but it seems to work ok.  A 40’ Ford had longer pedals for a easier pedal ratio.

If I could give any advice on two carb setups for flatheads, it would be don't use the Edelbrock Super Dual.  I ended up having to offset the generator by using an Offy offset bracket that I got from Speedway Motors.  Then I had to invert one of the water necks and get a longer upper radiator hose to fit around the generator.  Then the inlet on the front carburetor is very tight to the side of the generator.

I made up these hose adapters for the lower radiator outlets to the water pumps.  I used 1x2 rectangular tubing and some round tubing because rubber hoses don't bend that sharp.

I ended up using an old dropped axle I had on the front.  I bought a Posies reverse arch front spring from Speedway, along with new perches and shackles.  I hate the cheap bushings they send with the shackles though, they shatter like glass if you are too rough on spring installation.

I used the Speedway complete brake line kit to run all the brake lines.  It worked well but I had a lot of left over brass parts that I paid for and didn't need, but they come in the kit.

I ran the front hard lines under the front crossmember.  I later put a T in the center.

I sourced this in-line 6 volt electric fuel pump from O'reilly auto parts.  I had a vintage Autopulse fuel pump installed because it looked cool but, apparently today's gas has alcohol in it and turns the rubber diaphrams of the vintage pump into silly putty, then sprays gas like a sprinkler.

I should be sponsored by Speedway or something, I got this poly 10 gallon tank from them as well.  On my last car I used an old steel tank.  It took me 2 days of cleaning the inside, then I had to seal it and wait a few more days to even test it, so this was way easier.

So last weekend I tried to fire the Flathead up but the rings wouldn't seal in the cylinders.  So I soaked them in Marvel Mystery Oil for a few days.  The oil makes the rings expand.  The oil also makes it smoke like crazy until it all burns off as you can see in the video.  I had to shut it down because I didn't have an oil pressure gauge or temp gauge.  Runs pretty good for an engine that sat in a truck seized up for about 30 years.

1929 Willy'sWhippet Model A Frame Construction Body

My original plan was to use this saginaw 3 speed transmission from a 57' Chevy with an Offy adapter that you can see in the picture. I would have then had to convert the rearend to an open driveline because it uses a torque tube from the factory. 

But I found a 1946 Ford 3 speed transmission for less than the cost of the open drive conversion kit and it makes it a bit more traditional in style.

The next group of pictures is the process of adding steel structure to the body and basically creating framing for the floor sheet metal to attach to.



I left the center open to allow travel of the torque tube under suspension compression.



I then framed a higher section to cover the open torque tube area.

There is one more stick to put in here but you get the idea.

Of course having the engine mocked up in place is essential to getting the rest of the car's proportion right.



Val and Glasgow Mt, 1933 Ford 33' Plymouth

So yesterday I made the 3-1/2 hour trip to Glasgow Montana to get a 1934 Ford Frame for my new 33' Ford Pickup project.  My friend Jerry also lives there so it was a trip well worth the drive.  After I picked up the frame Jerry and I went on a hot rod  tour of Glasgow. 

We started at Jerry's where he showed me a picture of a car I was told about by my father when I was in high school.  I have been looking for this car ever since my dad told me about.  Needless to say I still haven't found it.  I was amazed to see that Jerry had a picture.

Larry Deal owned the car, that is Murk Mansel in the passenger seat.  This picture was taken in April of 1963.

Jerry has got a 70' Mustang Mach 1 that he bought new, it has 16,000 original miles on it.  The car looks brand new, it still has the original tires on it!  I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture of it, it's unbelievable.

Here is a couple pics of Jerry's 33' Ford coupe I just might sell parts of my body to obtain, he fits 5 vehicles in his garage so it was a little cramped.

We cruised around town saw a couple rat rod projects and the front engine dragster seen below.

It doesn't have the engine in it right now but, it ran a 292 straight six...crazy.

This is at the Malta 1/8th mile track.

Here is another 33' Plymouth that a guy in glasgow is building.

I also met this guy Stormer, he sells rc cars on the internet and drag races.  He has some cool stuff on youtube, but here is his drag car.  It's a 4 cylinder...crazy.



1927 Chevrolet Frame Fabrication, Engine, Transmission Placement, 1931 Chevy Coupe Build, Pinion Angle

We cut a few inches off the rear and moved the crossmember forward

So my friend Josh came to Oregon to help me for a week.  He is a welder and would make sure the frame was done correctly.

The rearend was from a Caddilac limo and had this triangulated four link design already built in so it worked great.

Making the sparks fly!

We set the engine in place and the cowl to make sure everything was going to fit.

Here the Ford Model A front crossmember is installed to lower the front end.  You can see that the frame is fully boxed now too.  Always make your body mounts before boxing the frame, I failed to do that on this car.

The motor mounts and the transmission crossmember are installed.  I bought Model A to Chevy 350 motor mounts and modified them to fit the wider frame of a 27' Chevy.  I got a 40' Ford axle off ebay, some 39' Ford spindles off ebay then the rest of the frontend parts from Speedway Motors.

We made some upper shock mounts for the rear.

This is basically the progress Josh and I made for the week.  The transmission angle is -3 degrees and the rear differential pinion angle is +3 degrees so when the suspension compresses under acceleration the drive shaft is at 0 degrees.