Thread: The Roofus Special

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I started building the Roofus Special. It is a boattail speedster inspired by 20-40's Indy and Grand Pix racers.

It gets its name from the source for the body sheetmetal. A 1954 Cadillac roof!

Drivetrain is from a 1960 Jaguar MKII.











The whitewalls get replaced with bias plys. If the build turns out really nice, the wheels will get relaced with larger diameter hoops......18's or maybe 20's

Yes that is a roof.





Stuff like this is the inspiration.

Very cool!

Originally Posted by stovens

Very cool!

I second that!! I wanna see more pics.

Originally Posted by hotroddaddy

I second that!! I wanna see more pics.

Not a whole lot to show yet. This was really just the second weekend we have been playing with it where we attempted to actually make something. A whole lot of looking and thinking, but not much doing.





I wasn't real happy with the overdrive transmission. The overdrive took away from driveshaft length and the shifter was too far forward. .....so I dug into dad's stash and pulled out a 1959 XK150 gear box. (he has had it for close to 40 years)

Cool stash.

Looks like a fun build.

Originally Posted by Rickomatic

Cool stash.

Looks like a fun build.

I hope it turns out to be a fun build. It is the biggest challenge that I have ever attempted. It is almost a clean sheet of paper type build.

I don't think I will bump into another one like it.

Cool to the max. Ingenuity in action.
"Sometimes I sits and thinks. Other times I just sits."

I'm gonna be along for this ride. I love old Indy cars (pre-rear engined) and have often considered building some kind of replica... Keep those pics coming as you progress.

This is the kind of stuff that inspired me to look at a Cadillac like that.

Flipper - If you haven't already found this, take a look at this website. It's full of old Indy stuff (pictures).

http://www.milleroffy.com/index.htm

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

Flipper - If you haven't already found this, take a look at this website. It's full of old Indy stuff (pictures).

http://www.milleroffy.com/index.htm

Yep, I've seen that one.

It sure would be cool to own a real Offy. The jag is cool enough for my budget though and it was designed in the 40's.

It sure would be cool to own a real Offy. [/quote]

I don't think I have ever heard of anyone successfully using an Offy on the street so I'm sure the Jag will be much more streetable. It would look even more like a racing engine if you could replace those SU carbs with triple side-draft Webers though. $$$$

Originally Posted by Flipper_1938

... The jag is cool enough for my budget though and it was designed in the 40's.

Absolutely! If you look on that Miller site, there is a car called the "Sparks Thorne Little Six". That engine is almost a dead ringer for a Jag.

A friend of mine has a complete running Jag XJ-6. It is a rust-bucket P.O.S that is beyond saving, but the engine only has 27,000 miles on a complete overhaul and runs like a dream. This thread gives me ideas about what we could do with it...

RestoRod - There was a roadster in Street Rodder or Rod & Custom years ago that was using an Offy that had been de-tuned and carbureted for the street. Apparently it worked OK... Maybe somebdy else remembers it and can tell us more about it.

Originally Posted by J. Robinson

A friend of mine has a complete running Jag XJ-6. It is a rust-bucket P.O.S that is beyond saving, but the engine only has 27,000 miles on a complete overhaul and runs like a dream. This thread gives me ideas about what we could do with it...

Front and rear suspensions are also worth grabbing.