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Anybody into old roundy round cars? (very OT and off brand too)


Mikec4193

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Hi Mopar folks

 

I picked up a 1940 Ford Coupe race car from a fellow in PA in May of 2019 that was last raced in 1966...even found the old builder of it living in North Wilkesboro NC...I over spent on it from the get go but ever since I was a little kid I wanted an old coupe race car...this car raced in New Jersey from 1963 to 66. I was told it sat in New Jersey warehouse for 40 plus years...

 

I had to blow it apart as the frame rails needed some cutting and chopping to save it....

 

I knew the older Jalopies were not well built but this thing was death trap from the get go...

 

More to come if you guys wanna follow along..

 

MikeC

 

Pics from the old craigslist ad and as it showed up at my house in May of 2019.

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Grabbed my 72 Dodger Charger circle track racecar from a wrecking yard out yonder that was owned by an old lady in a  flowered sundress and a wide brimmed straw hat. Chewing on her cigar, leaning on her cane she said " if you're gonna buy the whole thing, ya caint try and registore it"....I said " I'm gonna race it round dee round like Richard Petty!"....."Oh....well that's alright with me sweetie...just don't hurt yourself"....real story.

 

48D

Edited by 48Dodger
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So the story is kind of weird really...I raced roundy rounds for years at the local dirt track...I ran either the number 4 or 14...when I was talking to the former owner he told me "oh yeah the number on the door is 14"....I was sold hook line and sinker....

 

I was told the car was raced in New Jersey so I was on face book on a couple of the old New Jersey race track sites (Pleasantville Speedway was one of them)...I was posting pics as I found it and every couple of months I would post more pictures...finally last fall I got a PM from a fellow named Mark Thorne he was pretty sure he helped build the car...I sent him more pics of it and dont you know...he sends me a black and white photo from 1963-64 of a young guy standing next to a #14 1940 Ford...he gave me a phone number eventually from the fellow who was actually in the picture...his name was JB Davis...thus the "T & D" Racing Team on the quarter panel...

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So I was gonna try to do a quick rehab on it and maybe race it again or maybe do some parade laps at the local track...but the more I dug into it the worse it looked...

 

This old hot rod was run when the young boys had no fear at all...this car was scary for sure...

 

Typical I guess for that era...

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After I got to talk to the fellow that raced it....it appears to have been sold to someone in the New Jersey area and it looked like they were trying update it with a different motor(JB Davis drove it with a 312 hooked to the original 3 speed)...and they stretched the cage about 12" too...

 

They were going to add side bars to the cage as well...they were 4 slightly bent 1" pieces of black pipe laying on the floor of the car...they numbered them as well...GOD only knows when this happened...after 1966 I guess...

 

Pictures here are the original cage...

 

Gotta love yea ole Sawzall...

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After we got the cage out of the car...I was scratching my chin for sure...the rear end was an old 1950 vintage Ford truck rear end and it appeared to have been cobbled with a little...so I thought...what can I use that will keep it a little racey but I would be able to actually get parts and drive it...most all the street stock / Hobby stock guys around here use 9" Fords...so I found one...in a old Junk yard...it was from an old Ford Bronco...

It was a $300.00 part...I thought that was a lot but I told "oh no that is a great price for 9" Ford"...

I got it cleaned up and I found rot holes in it...

 

I learned from all my days of welding rotted rusty metal with holes that if you find something shiny....you can weld to it...so I did...I literally filled a huge hole in the axle tube with my trusty mig welder...took numerous passes to get it done...but I got it done...what is the saying "grind grind grind....weld weld weld....grind grind grind...weld weld weld"...and then "repeat"...

 

 

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During the search for the rear end....I looked at the rear suspension...it was a hodge podge to say the least...more chin scratching again...internet searches too...finally remembered way back in the late 70s and early 80s I was a avid street rod fan..there was company that was around then and they were still around so I figured I would give a them a shout...Pete and Jakes...I talked to them on the phone and we came up with a kit that would work and keep the old heap low to the ground and a lot safer too...

 

Took more money than I hoped (From Pete and Jakes) but I don't think outside the box well so being able to chat with someone and then get a box in the mail with explicit instructions of how to install these parts...made me a happy camper for sure...

 

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On 2/26/2021 at 3:29 PM, Mikec4193 said:

So I was gonna try to do a quick rehab on it and maybe race it again or maybe do some parade laps at the local track...but the more I dug into it the worse it looked...

 

This old hot rod was run when the young boys had no fear at all...this car was scary for sure...

 

Typical I guess for that era...

 

 I'm enjoying your thread...Yeah,surprisingly a lot managed to pass through the "bullet proof" stage.?

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After much chin scratching and internet searching I was able to find some very very vague hand stamping for a VIN number...my past project all had a sheetmetal tag screwed to a frame rail...or in the cowl area of even on a door post...I guess Ford stamped his stuff right on the frame rail...so I guess if I want to drive it again then at least I know I can paper work for it...

 

I thought I would show the nifty bucket seat...looks like early 1960s MG or Triumph bucket seat...love the channel iron bolted thru the rusted sheet metal floor pans...cool stuff to think about how far we actual have come with this stuff...

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I didn't really want to tear it that far apart but it is what is...right down the bare bones the car went...the frame for being a race car was fairly straight...the hodge podges were not too bad...I bought another angle grinder and more ear plugs...this was gonna be grinder paradise...

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I figured out that the rear cross member had been taken out so trying to keep it lookin like it was I figured I should fill that hole in the rear frame rails....Pete and Jakes to the rescue again...

 

No instructions with this kit...I finally figured it out...more chin scratching for sure...I didn't weld anything in place as I have not idea what the pinion angle will be once I get all the stuff put back into the car...

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Lots of vintage dirt racing groups in the Mohawk Valley and Albany Saratoga area.  Shouldn't be hard to find tech helps parts and drive trains.  Spent lots of Fridays at Brewerton Speedway.  Nearly full bodied flat head cars, then they ran a six cylinder class, then  falcon Vega and gremlin bodied modifiers.  Track went from dirt to paved back to dirt, then they had an inverted 8 class, an off shoot of figure 8  was popular for a while.  Used to hang out the body and paint a couple of cars for drivers in town.  Sponge painted fleet and dumpster Paint.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not sure what was going here...looks like it got hit an then they tried to straighten it out again...I bought some 1/8"x8" flat stock...

 

Hows the story go???.....cut cut cut....weld weld weld...grind grind grind...repeat...

 

 

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Gotta love metal work to fiddle with these things...

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A little crossmember work next on the docket...

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grind grind grind...

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weld weld weld...

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one bite at a time...I think the crossmember cob job was part of an old riding lawn mower deck...

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Picked up a back up just in case one of the other 2 crap out on me....

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The old heap came with what I thought was a stock 40 Ford rear end...the folks on the HAMB set me straight...it was a 1948 Ford front end...everything was locked up on it...

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I started hammering on this axle off and on in August of 2019...it was last 2020 when I finally got all the parts apart...DSCN5228.JPG.8a197d5254300d875378bfa7032c9ae1.JPG

Next time we tackle radius rods .....

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