Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[stovens]

Looks great Jim. Like the nerf bars and grill insert/skull. Still thinking red/white combo?

[J. Robinson]

Roger - Thanks. Yeah, I drove my coupe for a year and a couple of months before I painted it. I may not have painted it when I did, but I was in a hurry to get it done so I could drive it to Indiana for my old hotrod club reunion.

Dave - We'd have to turn the clock back a long way. I think the last roadster race was run in Florida in about 1951 or '52. It sure would be fun if we could go back in time and see them run.

Perley!! - It sure is good to hear from you; it's been quite a while. Did you make any progress on the Essex this past summer? I expect cold weather is keeping you out of the garage now, right? Ride in it?? You get down here, man, you can DRIVE it.

Steve - Yep, eventually. I'm still thinking Ford Wimbledon White with Red scallops and gold leaf lettering. The red will be the same metallic red I used on the frame and engine.

[Dave Severson]

Go back and see them run? Heck no! I'd want to go back and race with them!

[J. Robinson]

I stand corrected, Dave. I would much rather drive than watch any day. Check out this cool old video of racing roadsters from southern Cal in late '40s:

[Hot Rods, Southern California, 1940s] : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

[RestoRod]

I stand corrected, Dave. I would much rather drive than watch any day. Check out this cool old video of racing roadsters from southern Cal in late '40s:

[Hot Rods, Southern California, 1940s] : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive

Great video. Too bad that the technology of the day didn't include sound....it would have been fantastic to hear those cars. Safety was also minimal, it looks like some of the roll bars were made of 1" conduit. I'm sure they wouldn't have been much help in a rollover.


.

[Dave Severson]

I've seen that one Jim, but still enjoy watching it!!! Some great old cars, for sure! Especially the #54 car time trialing, that was one of my car numbers back in the days of racing Super Mods! My Dad raced roadsters for a couple years, then when Midget racing moved into this part of the country he raced them until he had 3 of us boys all racing go-karts, then he unselfishly gave that up and put the efforts and $$$$ into our karts! Sure is a gorgeous old track, though! Big, wide half mile, very little banking and afternoon dry-slick racing at it's best!!!

Thanks for putting it up again!!!!

[stovens]

Jim thanks for the video. Very cool to see the old hot rods on a dirt track, simplicity at it's best ompared to today mass of technology! Amazing to watch them slide around the turns, and eat mouthfulls of dirt, with just goggles and what looks like a modern day construction helmet! I think your track style T is right on with the spirit of those old video races. Nice job!

[J. Robinson]

I'm glad you all enjoyed the video. I wish I could find more... Jim Rathmann was the only one that I recognized. He won Indy in 1960 and later, after he quit racing, owned a big Chevy-Cadillac dealership here in Melbourne, FL until he retired. He just passed away about a year ago at age 83.

I have both of Don Radbruch's "Roaring Roadster" books about the era. They are jammed with pictures grouped by states - very interesting stuff. Although they ran all over the country, California, Indiana, and Pennsylvania were the big hotbeds of roadster racing back then; cars were state-of-the-art for the time. The same is true of Sprint Car racing today. I was born (in Indiana) in 1948, about the time that video was filmed. By the time my parents started taking me to the races (about age 5) the roadsters were all gone. They had already been replaced by Sprint Cars and Midgets. Therefore, I never got to see the racing roadsters in action.

I have tried to keep the overall look of this car pretty true to the old track roadsters, hence the bumpers and side nerfs, but under the skin it's a bit more modern.

[J. Robinson]

IT RUNS!! Hooray! I finally got all the induction and ignition pieces in place and put "fire in the hole" today. I have been screwing around with the carburetor for a couple of weeks. First, when I hooked up the electric fuel pump I had a virtual "waterfall" of gasoline pouring into the intake. That was last week. Two carburetors later and a change of needle valve & seat assembly I finally got a combination that works. I eyeballed the distributor timing, hotwired it, and "kicked" the starter with a screwdriver. It fired immediately. I didn't keep it running long because I don't have the cooling system hooked up yet, but it won't be long now until I do the "test drive around the neighborhood".

[Dave Severson]

Yippeeeee! The first fire up is always a great day!!!!!!

[stovens]

Way to go Jim!

[rspears]

Good deal! That's the stuff that puts the grin on your face for a few days!

[34_40]

Did you use the log manifold you were making?

[J. Robinson]

Yes. Didn't have it running long enough to find out anything about throttle response, etc, but it at least works.

[stovens]

Jim we all have faith in you on this one. Time and again on here you've rose to the challenge with creativity and hometown enginuity. Heck it's why I love reading your posts!