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..... here'a a picture of "Timmy", my 1948 English Ford Thames 1/4 ct. panel van at a recent Cars and Coffee event in Kernersville, NC ....... at nearly 8 years old he's getting a little "long in the tooth", but he still looks pretty good
https://i.imgur.com/0JCboYD.jpg?1
He looks nice--are you still doing models???????
I agree. Beautiful ride!!!
Very nice ride and welcome to CHR!
Yep. Good looking ride. I've always liked the tall narrow nose.
Yes sir, still fiddling with them. I manage to get one completed every now and then.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry clayton
https://i.imgur.com/pMUgjTR.jpg
How have you been sir?
The Thames looks great Coyote, even better to see you out enjoying it! Gorgeous car!
Just love the wee Thames!Quote:
Originally Posted by oldcoyote
The hood appears to be forward tilting.
What's underneath it?
Its got to be around sixty years since I drove one of them, and I seem to remember that the motor itself was off-set to the passenger's side to allow room for feet on pedals. And that motor was a teensy-weensy 10 hp side-valve four cylinder.
So that has got me curious as to what on earth have you managed to squeeze into such a confined space?
The engine is a 327 small block Chevrolet out of a 1965 Corvette, Comp cam & kit, MSD ignition, Pete Jackson gear drive, custom shroud built by Alan Shadwick covering a 600 cfm Edelbrock carb, and Hedman headers ....... TurboHydro 350 transmission with B&M clutches and converter ..... 9" Ford rear end with 3.50:1 gears ....... Chevrolet Aqua Blue Metallic paint and all body and fabrication work by Josh Richardson, and custom leather interior by Tim Scarlett ...... ET mags, Michelin front tires and Pro-Trac rearsQuote:
Originally Posted by johnboy
https://i.imgur.com/EtLDB9q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/prhZWV8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ihCt2nx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4AjFzPH.jpg
Looks even better under the hood! (or is that "bonnet"?):LOL:
Ever get the chance to use the wheelie bars?;)
Crikey!
That must've been a mission to get that big chunk of iron squeezed into such a confined area.
Although I note that driver/passenger seats are situated a fair bit south of the B pillar now. That would've given more room lengthways but not necessarily any more in width.
I take my hat off to the bloke that did the job.
Those and many other small cars were quite common on the drag strips in the 50's and 60's and many with Hemi's. There was one out of Vista, Ca., I believe, running a very stout flatty called Willies Pie Wagon that I was quite fond of watching run.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnboy
Old Coyote's is a gorgeous machine, but I wonder how the engine breathes?
Dig the white boots! 8-)
I remember when you started on here with that in '04 John. http://www.clubhotrod.com/new-member...er-newbie.html
All the pics of the work in progress are lost now, you had put up quite a few posts about it.
Actually it wasn't as hard as you think. When we got the body off and looked at the original chassis, we discovered that it was warped like a banana. Twenty five years of hard launches on the drag strips had done a job on it. That chassis had been modified on both the front and rear. The only original piece was under the doors and the drivers compartment. Look at picture 1 below and you can see that it was no longer straight. We contracted with Fatman Fabrications in Charlotte, NC to build a new chassis for the little beast ... Picture 2 below. With that chassis underneath, everything fit in place rather well.Quote:
Originally Posted by johnboy
https://i.imgur.com/hP676Pj.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8BWl3ZR.jpg
If you are referring to the intake, it breathes quite well. The custom shroud, which was built by Alan Shadwick in Auckland, New Zealand, "breathes" through the front two and rear two velocity stacks, the center four are blocked off for attachment to the carburetor. The shroud also contains a K&N filter in the base so we don't have to worry about debris. It also runs quite cool considering the tight confines of the engine compartment. The radiator is a three row aluminum unit built by Griffin Inc. in South Carolina. The electric fan is in the front of the radiator and is triggered by a thermostatic switch, it comes on when the engine reaches 185 degrees and shuts off at 175 degrees. The opening in the hood for the velocity stacks helps exit hot air from the engine compartment and there is a custom aluminum chute that seals the front of the radiator from turbulence and helps direct air through the radiator when the car is moving. I had the car out last week in 55-60 degree temperatures and the engine ran at 170 the whole time.Quote:
Originally Posted by NTFDAY
https://i.imgur.com/vlmy9Uy.jpg
Yes sir, a couple of times by accident ...... was not pleasant as this is a street rod chassis, not a drag race chassis.Quote:
Originally Posted by 34_40
Do you have any straight-on frontal shots where I could see the angle of the upper control arm as compared to the lower control arm? It looks to me like the ball joint end of the upper arm is extremely low compared to the lower, but it may just be the photo. Extended length upper ball joints are made by many manufacturers to allow the outer joint to be taller so that the tire is not mushed over in a turn.
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I'm sorry sir, I don't have a straight on shot ..... this is about as close as I have. Maybe it will give you a better angle.Quote:
Originally Posted by techinspector1
https://i.imgur.com/vo2Vaqq.jpg
The white one, notice the flattyQuote:
Originally Posted by DennyW
I think I see what happened, you have bolted the upper control arms too high in relation to the frame. What will happen with this arrangement is that in a left turn, the right front tire will lay over and scuff the pavement on the sidewall of the tire instead of remaining with the tread squarely on the pavement. In a right turn, the left front tire will mush under and lay the sidewall of the tire down on the pavement.
Judging by the photos, either the crossbar connection at the bolts should be about 4 inches lower or the upper control arm ball joint should be about 4 inches higher.
You won't like the bumpsteer that results either. Here's the correct geometry......
https://plus.google.com/share?url=ht.../images/zQyfgr
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Timmy is a sweet ride. Looks like way too much fun to keep clean! :)
Tech:
Its a Fatman setup, their setup mounts the crossmember higher in the frame to allow a lower ride without the lowered spindles(they say it saves $$$) angle in pics of lower arms then makes this view a little mis leading-----they typically use a 3* frame angle drop which is pretty standard for drive line angles/drop
Quote:
Originally Posted by techinspector1
If Fatman built that chassis, I can't imagine they didn't set it up right. To me, it doesn't look like there is any other way for him to bolt on the upper control arms. It would require cutting the top hat area and moving it down. Or am I off base here?
On edit, Jerry answered it. Nice info there Jerry.
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It is a Fatman chassis ...... nearly eight years old ...... I have neither seen nor experienced the situation that Techinspector described ....... have the same set of Michelin radials on the car as when the construction pictures were taken ..... with no unusual wearing ....... we did change the front 317# springs (4-cylinder Pinto) to 375# springs (8-cylinder Mustang II) to stiffen the front and raise the body height, as we were getting a little rubbing on the fiberglass nose with the softer springs ....... note the ride height difference in the two pictures below ....... the heavier springs also gave us a better ride and handling ..... plus raising the nose a little gave me a little better vision through the windshield (although I still have to lean forward to look up and see a traffic light if I am the first car in line at the intersection) ..... I have absolutely no complaints with the Fatman chassis.
317 # springs
https://i.imgur.com/PiIry9m.jpg
375 # springs
https://i.imgur.com/WigY7Z2.jpg
That is still just a drop dead gorgeous Thames! When I was a teenage gear head, one of my "heroes" around here locally had a Thames gasser that he drag raced, your car brings back a lot of memories! Best part is yours is such a "streetable" car which must make it a blast to take on a cruise! Thanks for keeping us updated on this really first class ride!
What a beautiful car! I like it with the front end raised a bit. It gives it a little more of a gasser look.
I do agree with Techinspector that that those control arm angles produce a really poor camber curve, however on a car that mainly drives in a straight line and does low speed cornering, the camber curve does not much matter. Fatman is probably counting on that. Most of his cars are never going to see any significant amount of high speed cornering.
Great to see an update on the old panel and hear that you've been enjoying it the last several years!!!
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For johnboy ........ here are some pictures of the tilt nose and Timmy's interior ...... like you said, snug but not totally uncomfortable ........ the seats came from a Factory Five Cobra replica and all of the upholstery was stitched by Tim Scarlett in Mocksville, NC
https://i.imgur.com/8MBzNmN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/F7DAfHb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rEIvd5C.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/l6x8QMF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8oRfqQD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/E3L977k.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QoVdVCA.jpg
Great looking car but how do you drive it on the street with no side visibility? I don't even see any mirrors.
You have to be very careful. I have some limited vision through the small rear windows using the inside mirror, ..... however you learn to immediately get into the lane you will later need to turn from ..... and stay there until that turn comes up.Quote:
Originally Posted by Al G
Get a rear view camera
It's a little ripper - bloody gorgeous.
I was thinking about them the other night after I'd logged off, and remembered another thing about these wee vans 'back in the day'.
They had transverse springing, and had a bad habit of falling over on their sides with their little wheels going round and round like a beetle that's been tipped on its back.
Or a clockwork train that's come off the track.
Man that was a long time ago!
40 mph downhill with a tail wind!
Memories...
:) :) :)