Jon1647545566

If I could afford one... I would. Diesel power would be interesting as well, but I don't know a whole lot about diesel. Have also kicked around the idea of an old GM straight 8, but they are tough to find in good condition and cost a mint to rebuild. If I can track down a 292 and a SM465 w/ granny gear, I think the combo should have enough torque and gearing for my needs. The engine will be shoved back a good bit behind the front X-member. I will be using the front x-member to support my old ford industrial power unit grille and a radiator. Front frame horns will be exposed for the right look. Might add a spreader bar, but at this point that is minutia.

A while back, I posted about my ideas of stuffing big V8s into little vintage british cars which is going to have to wait because recently an opportunity(?) presented itself that I couldn't resist my brain from amusing itself with. I have always liked the vintage (1900-1932) roadsters, modifieds, and speedsters. Problem is, I'm a big dude and people of that era were not. So going the traditional route of a Model A or T would have been difficult without wearing the car like a suit. The idea has never left my head and has been especially attractive since I no longer ride motorcycles. Being out in the wind would be nice. So I have been pouring over google images looking at big speedsters, you know, auburn, Packard, cord, duessy, and earlier ones like American LaFrance conversions and things of that nature just letting the mind wonder. I recently sold off my '64 chevy to pay some bills, so fun money is at an all time low. Then I came across this '32 Chevy 1-ton truck chassis for cheap. This is kicking off the project. I have left over parts from old projects and I intend to use what I can to create something that looks the part. Plans are Chevy I6, 4spd trans, GM 10 or 12 bolt rearend. I will have to hand made the body. The chassis has a 131" wheelbase that is similar to the large late 20's luxury coach built speedsters. The wheels are another issue that I am going to have to get past. The wheels on this chassis are the right diameter for what I am going for, but they are lock-ring wheels that I would prefer not to use, plus they are ugly. My challenge is now finding an affordable, attractive wheel with large diameter but thin width. This will likely be the toughest part of the build. Still have some parts to collect. I would rather find a 292 w/ SM-465 trans than use my 194 w/ Muncie, so I am keeping my eyes open for that. Looking for some sort of decent looking fuel tank (anybody have an old 20-30gal air compressor tank?). I will need to locate a rearend also. I have a lead, but haven't bit on it yet. Chassis is at my buddy's house and is coming home this weekend to start getting stripped. Wish me luck on this one, I'm going to need it. I'm hoping this one doesn't blow up on the launch pad. I will try to update as I can. My pile o' parts: http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b117/hotrodderguy/big%20roadster/20150207_121347_zpscpqlwzev.jpg Inspiration: http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h266/rustic_2006/1917alf38.jpg http://www.extravaganzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/1919-American-La-France-La-Bestioni-Rolling-Thunder-Speedster.jpg http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachments/snow_1-jpg.1873113/ http://i.ytimg.com/vi/t6_dG3kzTZ0/hqdefault.jpg

PS- if you don't see the partial VIN stamp it could be 1 of two reasons: 1. Very early sbc had a code but not partial VIN, if this is the case, you know you have a 327 because the 350 was not yet available at that point. or 2. The engine block has been decked for some reason at some previous point in time.

better way is to look at the partial VIN that should be stamped on the pad in the block just in front of the passenger side cylinder head, above the water pump passage. There will be a 3 letter "suffix" code. Then cross-reference it here: http://www.nastyz28.com/chevy-engine-code-stampings.php#suffix The suffix code will tell you what year it was, what size, what body style it was in, and what transmission it was mated to. The casting numbers only get you so far, especially if it is a large journal 327, many of them shared casting numbers with the 350 due to the same bore size. Hope that helps.

Sorry for coming back to this late. Geeto- you are correct, I meant to say "early 70's and earlier". Thanks for all that info it's helpful, I actually like the look of that Triumph stag. Thanks also for thr forgotten fiberglass link. I have never seen that site before. Very cool. I do intend to stay with the sbc, due mainly to size, inexpensive parts, and the fact that I have them on hand. The others are nice, but they are starting to show up everywhere now as well, which is nothing original anymore since everybody all of a sudden developed a distaste for "SBC belly button motors", and decided to jump on the other band wagon. I'm not considering doing anything earth shattering, when I build cars, I build them for myself and not so much for attention. I did come across an Opel GT somewhere on CL a few days ago, and thought it would be cool to do, but once I saw the space under the hood, I started to have second thoughts. There is also a Triumph GT6 on CL now that I think would work pretty well, but it doesn't have a title and I am not sure about the interior room.

That is sexy. There is budget and an e-type is well outside if it. But still fun to talk about and get ideas from.

I've looked into them a bit. Those two seem to fall under the "car-suit" category for me. I can barely get my knees past the steering wheel of a spitfire. I'd be hoping for something with a little more room. I'm 6'3". My lack of knowledge regarding European cars and sizing is going to be the hurdle here.

You have no idea how much I've eye-balled this ad in the last month. I even have a chevy straight axle and steel skinnys that would be perfect for it. I also have been eye-balling a Hillman body that has been on CL awhile. I have a buddy with a Anglia gasser that tears ass. I myself have been down the gasser path as well and have compared it to a black hole where you toss buckets of cash into hoping to fill the hole up in vain. After building so many cars, it's the one that truely snow-balled out of control and now I'm just gun shy. I'm thinking more long the lines of body styling of the 1950's and 1960's European roadsters...

I am starting to slowly and gradually build up a small stockpile of parts. When I do this, I normally stick to my bread and butter type stuff because I end up using a lot of leftovers from past projects and if you stick with the same type of stuff it works out best. In my case, I tend to stick with general chevy stuff and apply it to about everything. Anyway, I'm starting to get the itch for a new project and need some inspiration. So I thought I'd consider trying something new to me. Have been kicking around the idea of a European convertible/roadster w/ Chevy V8 power. I have been drooling over Austin-Healey 3000's lately with SBC conversions. But that sort of thing is outside of my financial wheelhouse. So that has me thinking about other makes and models. To add another degree of difficulty to the whole thing... I am a big dude. I need to find or modify something small enough to make the SBC really fly, but something that also doesn't look like a "car-suit". Further, I am into the whole vintage look. Early 1970's and later. This whole idea has been on my mind for awhile, but originally came to mind several years ago looking at a '54 studebaker commander Hardtop. I thought lopping off the top and making a roadster out of it would be pretty sexy. But since that original spark these studes have climbed to crazy prices and it's not like they are growing on trees. So has anybody seen anything like this before (aside from the A-H 3000) or have suggestions to lend? If nothing else, maybe this could be an interesting topic to BS about. I've even knocked around the idea of a kit car body on some sort of other modified chassis.....?

Everybody seems to be really happy with their maxjax (http://www.maxjaxusa.com). They are a completely different style than you posted (a 2 post style), but they do roll away for storage. I intend to get a set in the near future when the time is right. I believe that Costco is offering the best price on them at the moment.

Carl- this is Jon, who you got the tires from. I made it on here to check it out. Anyway, i suppose it depends on how your house it situated and if it has a block or poured foundation. It would likely be cheaper to do with a block foundation because they could use jacks fairly easily. It would be pretty expensive if you didn't have a walk out basement. It would also be pretty expensive if you had a poured concrete foundation. If you have a cinder block foundation, it may not actually go down as far as your partial basement walls. Many times they will only go far enough to get below the frost line and then use grade blocks and go from there, so literally your block foundation may only go 42" or so below ground level in that part of the house. If that is the case, digging that area out would reduce the soil stability and ultimately compromise your foundation. My brother is a construction superintendent, and I am a CE. We actually built my garage, when we did, I had Thomas Excavating out of Centerburg, OH do the foundation. They did a good job and he used them as contractors for his production homes. You might give them a call and have them come out and see what you are working with to see if it is a worthwhile venture.

I use Sta-bil marine formula enzyme in my engines that don't see daily use. I using it in my '64 chevy, my 1979 johnson boat engine, and my lawn equipment. So far I have not had any issues and it has kept my boat engine gas good for about 2years now. Rarely you can still find gas stations that don't add ethanol. I know one of the shell stations and a UDF near me has gas without the ethanol. There is probably some sort of website somewhere that tracks who sells non-ethanol gas. The issue is that ethanol like alcohol precipitates (makes gritty crystals) with water (condensation). It also is caustic to aluminum and other metals after prolonged exposure. Unfortunately, a lot of carbs are made out of aluminum. This is why racers on alcohol always flushed their systems at the end of the season and lubed everything well before putting it away. Hope that helps. BTW- in the future for vintage cycles and such there is a placed called Royal Motor Performance ( 3640 Brandon St, Columbus, OH 43224). I have not used them in over 10yrs, but back then they were the only ones in columbus that would touch a bank of Kehins.

Was it you and your son? I think I remember you. I probably had the black and silver 1950 pontiac at the time if so. maybe a little over a year ago?

Wouldn't be surprising. I am always working on something and have limited space, so I have to unload stuff I'm not using to bring in new stuff. Lot of folks been over to my garage shopping. What car was I working on at the time? It would give me a better idea of how long ago it was. Thanks for the welcome.

I'm Jon. I was told about this forum by Carl during a CL deal. Thought I would see what he was talking about. Here's my background: I grew up in a soutrhern suburb of Dayton, OH where I started teaching myself to work on cars when I was 14. In 1998 I moved to columbus to attend OSU. Graduated w/ civil engineering degree. Stayed in town for awhile till I bought a house and moved up to Sunbury in 2005. I have been here ever since. I have owned, and built many many cars since 14. My count is currently at 30. I work on them till I finish them or get bored then I sell them and find a new project, at least that seems to be my M.O. I am mostly into pre-1964 cars and trucks. That just seems to be my niche. I do appreciate many of the newer cars, but just haven't really messed with them much. I was involved with a national hot rod club for a long time and was VP of the columbus chapter and helped arrange a few shows around town. But I have since hung up my car club days and now just go my own way. It's amazing how much more you can get done on your cars when you don't have to worry about that stuff. Currently I have a 1964 Chevy C10. I suppose it could be called a resto-mod. It remains mostly stock on the outside, but I installed a SBC 350, 700R4 trans, and 4.10 12-bolt, amongst many other modifications. It runs out pretty good and up until it started getting cold, I was using it as my daily driver to Columbus. So far the C-10 seems to want to hang around. Maybe I'm developing a soft spot for it. I am also working on collecting up parts to throw together some sort of an old 1930's roadster type thing. I am mostly using parts that I have laying around or that I can trade or sell for other parts to get what I need. Low budget little back burner type of thing. I just need to stay wrenching to keep interested. It's my mental therapy....yet I haven't yet figured out if it keeps me sane or insane. Hope to learn more about what's going on in my backyard on here and see what other people are out there doing in the area. That's it for now. Thanks. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b117/hotrodderguy/1964%20Chevy%20C10/IMG_1682_zpse4fb1c24.jpg