Another build thread? Yep, my track-style T

[Bob Parmenter]

Jim, if you want to learn how to make things look better upside down ya gotta talk to Severson.

[J. Robinson]

Hmmm... Has Dave been on his head a few times when he was racing or is there some other implication?

[Itoldyouso]

Do you remember "Wrong Way Corrigan?", well, we have our "Upside Down Severson" !!

Rumor has it he does some of his best work upside down.

Don

[Dave Severson]

Hmmm... Has Dave been on his head a few times when he was racing or is there some other implication?

I took some really nasty ones, wingless sprinters will do that for ya!!!! They were just still picking on me cuz I did a lot work on Tom's coupe with the body upside down in the garage.... Sure is a lot easier then sitting on the floor or all bent over trying to get it done... My old body just doesn't do that stuff real well....

The roadster is really coming along great! I think the side support and roll bars are a heck of a good plan.... Nobody ever plans on getting on their head, but stuff does happen...!!!!

[brickman]

He can't help it if he is vertically challenged guys, with some up is down and down is up!

The nerf bar looks great with the plate cut down and the tail lights in. Very sweet, starting to look pretty cool all the way around.

[Hotrod46]

It's looking good J.R.

I've always liked the looks of a turtle deck on these cars. Nerf bar looks good too.

Mike

[J. Robinson]

My, how time flies. I've been busy with other things and a whole month has slipped past. Well, my wife is the Drama teacher and I teach construction, so guess who gets to build the sets for all the plays at school... Anyway, her recent musical production of Big River (the story of Huckleberry Finn) was a huge success and now maybe I can get something done here.

I have decided to make some interior side bars to tie the roll bar to the dashboard/steering column support. The purpose is to gain a little bit of side protection and provide additional bracing for the roll bar. I began by cutting a couple of pieces of 1 1/4 in. OD tubing about 45 in. long and then bending them slightly to fit the contour of the body. With a little trial-and-error fitting and trimming, I was able to fit them in place fairly quickly and easily.(Pics below) My intention was to weld these in place and have the whole roll cage assembly be removeable. After tacking these in place, however, I realized that the cage assembly will be trapped by the flange at the top edge of the body!

So.., I have decided that I will permanently attach the cage assembly to the body with a combination of Dynaglass filler and fiberglass matt/resin. The body and cage assembly will then be removeable as a unit. Before I can finish welding the cage and permanently bond the two together, however, I need to make some modifications to the dashboard/steering support...

[J. Robinson]

I have always wanted to drive a sprint car, preferably on dirt and wingless. All my racing was done in Sportsman and Limited Late Model stock cars, both on asphalt and dirt. I've eaten my share of concrete walls and steel guard rails and been airborne a few times, but always managed to keep the shiny side up. I haven't strapped my butt in a race car in about 4 years, now, but I'd still like to try a sprinter just once. maybe someday I'll scrounge up enough cash to go to one of the "day schools"...

[Itoldyouso]

Hey Jim, wish you and your Boy would have brought your cars to BP. As we all learned, the firm "rules" kinda got bent a little and some cars that they said would not be accepted were accepted. I don't have a problem with that, I'm pretty liberal, but lots of guys like you thought your cars were not going to be accepted because of wheels and stuff like that.

Your Son seemed to enjoy himself anyway, even without his sedan.

Don

[Dave Severson]

I have always wanted to drive a sprint car, preferably on dirt and wingless. All my racing was done in Sportsman and Limited Late Model stock cars, both on asphalt and dirt. I've eaten my share of concrete walls and steel guard rails and been airborne a few times, but always managed to keep the shiny side up. I haven't strapped my butt in a race car in about 4 years, now, but I'd still like to try a sprinter just once. maybe someday I'll scrounge up enough cash to go to one of the "day schools"...

Yup, they're a blast to drive.... 700 horse in a 1600 pound car always is..... I quit just about the time the wings came in, they are a lot safer and handle a lot better with the wing, but it just isn't the same as wingless.... I was never too fussy, managed to crash both types!!!!! I'm hoping to some day run across a late 50's to early 60's vintage sprinter in my price range to do some vintage shows with..... Single hoop roll bar and an Offy engine......... Life don't get no better then that!!!!

[J. Robinson]

Don - Yeah, we held off of pre-entering because of the "Centerline" style wheels on the rear of my son's sedan, but I saw some late model billet style wheels on a lowridin' custom and lots of valve covers & other accessories that were not "pre-1970 traditional" as the rules said... It was still a great show and we did enjoy it. I also picked up an ornament for the front bumper of the roadster. I've been wondering what I should put in there; I found the perfect thing. That's all I'll say for now until I show it welded in place, but I got it at the vendor that had all the flame-cut pieces...

Dave - I grew up in Indiana where there is lots of sprint car racing and my dad, fortunately, loved sprint cars and midgets. We frequented many of the short tracks like Winchester, Salem, Terre Haute, Paragon, 16th Street, Speedrome, Indy Fairgrounds, and others. I was an A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, and Sam Sessions fan. My "outlaw" heroes were Bob Kinser and Dick Gaines. Man, could those two put on a show! Here are some old sprint cars just languishing at a friend's place. None of his stuff is for sale, though...

[Dave Severson]

Sure would like to see the single hoop car sitting inside at least, what a shame.....

[J. Robinson]

Actually, he bought that old single-hoop rail frame just as you see it; for what I don't know. There is nothing there but the bare frame and the history of it is unknown.

The other two were cars that he raced. I think the blue one is a Shores chassis; it is the newer one of the two. I don't know what the silver one is, possibly a Nance. Both cars are complete less engines. Quick-changes, sliders, fuel cells, harnesses, etc. are all there. He had a string of cars before these including some he built himself. He was moderately successful around Indiana for several years, but he hasn't raced in about 18 or 20 years. He's 70 years old now, so it's not likely that either of these will ever see any action again. They're obsolete now, anyway, but he just never sells anything...

[Dave Severson]

If he were ever to change his mind on the single hoop, I sure could make a good home for it!!!!!

[J. Robinson]

OK, as you may recall, in my last installment I started to put the side bars in my roll bar assembly, but stopped because I determined that the seats I had weren't going to work as I wanted them to and I needed to make some changes. Before I can proceed with the finish welding on the cage and bonding it to the body, I need to build the seat riser and platform assembly so I can determine if the main roll bar hoop needs to be lowered.

I began by cutting and fitting a piece of poster board into the seat area. I want the back of the platform to be almost flat on the floor while the front is just above the driveshaft tunnel. After cutting and fitting poster board on one side, I transferred it to some 1/2" OSB board, reversing it to do the opposite half. I cut out the shape with a jig saw and then trial fitted it into the body. It took several trial fittings and trimmings before I was satisfied.

Next, I made the backrest by trial fitting and cutting another piece of OSB. When I finally got it to fit like I wanted, I built the center raised section using a combination of OSB and pressure treated pine 1 x 6. I also made the front riser by ripping a piece of white spruce to 4 1/4" wide and then cutting it to fit over the tunnel and between the body sides.

That's as far as I got today. The seat back will get raised sides to match the center and the bottom will get cut out and have webbing installed before it gets upholstered. The main thing is, I can sit in the car now and I have determined that I will not need to modify the roll bar.