Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1950 i Hot Rod

Built on a stock ’39 Ford chassis/Art Lelies’ convertible displays fine taste in proportion and sleek-lined balance. Art and his partner, Jerry Moffatt, built two identical cars at their Olive Hill Garage in Los Angeles. The body has been channeled 4” over the frame, leaving the floor in the original position. Fenders, on both front and rear, were left in their normal positions, with a small section trimmed off the bottom ends. A 4” section was removed from the sides of the hood, which was the most complicated part of the whole procedure. The windshield was shortened 3” and a special frame manufactured for the top. Called Panoramic, the top was covered by Runyan’s of Hollywood. The wide vision rear window is made of flexible plastic material. Interior is upholstered…

Built exclusively for dry lakes competition, Ray Brown’s V8-60 just about tops the list for all around originality in roadster construction. Basically a 1927 T, it has been reworked until very little of the original car remains. Model T rails form the frame, which has been boxed and kicked-up at the back. The front and rear crossmembers have been replaced with tubing members in order to strengthen and lower the chassis. The front axle is a dropped ’32 in which the spindles have been switched so as to allow the tie rod to set out in front, for clearance. A short spring with the eyes reversed is mounted to a bracket on the front of the tube crossmember. A Franklin ball bearing steering unit has been converted to an inverted…

If you are a competition car owner, or if you are just an ordinary enthusiast who enjoys the colorful workings of things mechanical, then we strongly advise you to start making plans now for attending the 2nd annual Bonneville National Speed Trials. Scheduled for running the entire week of August 20 to 27th, on the world-famous Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, this event will be presented for the second season under the supervision of the Southern California Timing Association. No matter where you come from, if your car can pass the requirements of the class regulations you may enter into this National competition. Classes are divided into Roadsters, Modified Roadsters, Lakesters, Streamliners, Competition Coupes and Foreign Cars, with 22 possible classes in all. There is no limit as to the…

When Don Ferrara graduated from high school he went out and bought a Model A roadster. Now, after seven years, he is still running the car, although it has undergone a complete process of rebuilding. The frame rails, body and windshield are part of the original 1929 equipment, as are the front and rear frame crossmembers. The center crossmember was replaced with one from a stock ’32 Ford, which supports the tranmission mounting. A dropped ’32 axle is used in front with a stock 1937 spring and wishbone. 1941 Ford spindles, used on the front, have had the steering linkage arms reshaped so as to clear the wishbone. The front steering arm was fabricated of steel rod with a gusset plate. Front and rear shocks are Ford Houdailles which were…

The first part in our series of three Ford V8 and Mercury Engine Conversion articles (HRM, April, 1950) described a “conservative” engine. This, second in the series, concerns a “semi” engine, for the enthusiast desiring better than average performance through the addition of necessary special equipment. The parts of the previous article describing cleaning, assembling, and starting the engine may also be applied to the engine described in this article. The bore and stroke of the engine must be decided before the parts can be obtained and work started on the block. If a Ford block is used it should be bored .125” oversize (std. Mercury) and a bore of at least .100” oversize should be used in a Mercury block. The stroke of the crankshaft may be standard or…