Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Street Rods and Test Stands

Thoughts on building a Street Rod and Test Stand

I continue to try and find a way to match my flathead 1953 8BA ford engine to a 1949 Borg Wagner transmission. The bell housing I bought for $50 won’t fit…it came off an automatic transmission…Dag Nabit!

I read an article in Street Rodders Magazine about someone who is going to build a ‘51 Chevy Coup street rod for under $15,000. I am interested in these sorts of articles because I consider myself a Category 1 Builder, operating in this 15K range.

The builder in this article is going to install a new front end, and rear end which will cost him around 2K by his own estimate. If I were doing the build I would consider taking the body and putting it on a used truck frame. You can buy a used truck for less than $500 and get the front end, rear end transmission and drive line already installed. You might even get an engine that has some life left in it…put the money into something used that is rusted out and take the body and put it on the used frame…just a thought.

I see a lot of street rods that are well built but the builder picks a year and style that are ugly. Now I know that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder but it seems that if you are going to devote the time and expense to building a street rod the first priority should be to start with a year and model that knocks your socks off. I hear people talking about rarity or the fact they already have something sitting in their yard but the point is that the starting point should be a style and model that excites passion and is a design that captures the design elegance of the past. To me a 51 Chevy Coup does not meet that test but then again maybe that is just me…there are plenty of chevys like the 1939 which has a classic look and when chopped is about the most beautiful street rod I have ever seen or never models like the 1957 style that have long been popular.

Yesterday I removed the right side water pump and took it to the welder to have the motor mound hole welded back. On a truck flathead engine circa 1953 the engine mounting bracket was cast into the water pumps on either side of the engine. One of mine has broken off and I need it fixed to go on the test stand I am building. Yesterday I put the mounting pillars on the stand. The stand is designed to allow the cross members to slide back and forth on the frame rails to allow for the adjustment back and forth. On the cross members are also sliders to allow for adjustment from right to left. This allows the design to be flexible in accepting different types and sizes of engines. It requires having tubular steel of two sizes, one which will slide into the opening of another. Anyway I got this welded up and installed and made the brackets that will connect the engine and stand together.

Today I will do the same to the second sliding cross member located behind it that will support the rear of the engine.

The top of the radiator turned out to be brass. I cleaned it up and it looks pretty cool. This test stand is beginning to shape up.