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A 4" dropped axle gets Wayne's roadster down in the front,
and tucks the wheels nicely inside the fenders, without
clearance problems. |
In personalising the roadster, Wayne replaced the
stock '31 grille shell with a new '32 unit, which is the starting
point for the stylised flames that break up the slab sides of the
Model A, lapping over the Rootlieb hood and on down the sides. The
windscreen frame has been modified to give the appearance of a
frameless screen, though Wayne has made a very discrete stainless
steel top frame for the glass.
The headlamps are 7" quartz halogen units that
throw a good beam, and are mounted on a dropped bar, just in front
of the Desert Cooler radiator. The radiator is fitted with a 16"
electric fan to keep the very healthy 351 Windsor cool. Wayne
enlisted the expert help of Marty White (owner of an 800 hp '67
Mustang) and Phil, both from John White Racing Engines, to assemble
the Canadian cast iron power plant. Well, mostly cast iron - the
alloy heads are of the Edelbrock Performer variety, as is the intake
manifold. The ported & polished heads contain roller rockers,
hardened push rods and stainless steel valves, while the block
contains shot peened rods, forged 10.5:1 compression ratio pistons,
a Reed flat tappet cam, high volume oil pump, dual point Mallory
distributor and the attention to detail that such pro engine
builders bring to the table. Or dyno, which indicated 500+ hp when
they first ran it.
They also balanced the whole reciprocating
assembly, and mounted a Barry Grant Demon 750 cfm carb on top, and a
High Energy oil pan underneath. Mickey Thompson valve covers hark
back to the golden years, while the K & N air filter is an efficient
contemporary accessory for any performance motor.
A Lokar shifter does the deed on the Bob Grant
built C4, and Jeff Dell built the 3200 rpm stall speed torque
converter. This little puppy has some torque to convert - in excess
of 460 foot pounds.
All this high performance Ford motor sits just in
front of the reversed '31 firewall - a neat '30 - '31 trick
that allows motors to be set back a goodly amount without major
surgery. The cowl tank has been made non-functional and the
filler cap removed, and that is about the extent of the body
modifications.
The front end is typical 4" dropped I-beam located
by stainless steel 4-bars, on stainless steel batwings, with Falcon
disc brakes on either end of the I-beam. Centreline Convo Pro wheels
are on the car at the moment, but are slated to be replaced by
another type in the near future. The new wheels will also be 15" x
8˝" and 15" x 6", though the tyres will be different profiles.
A Camira rack is used and is connected to a Sigma
steering column via various universal joints, and a neat little wood
rimmed non-descript wheel tells the roadster where to head. The
interior is all new, and Karen designed the neat V-8 logo that
adorns the seat back. Peter Twidale stitched the interior out of
black vinyl, and the theme is continued in the trunk. The car has a
removable hardtop, but Wayne intends to replace that later with a
genuine style folding top.
The mild steel headers dump into a 2˝" stainless
steel exhaust system that Wayne engineered to go over the 8˝", 3.5:1
ratio Mustang drum-brake rear, and feed into SuperCat mufflers and
resonators. The rear suspension uses a 4 link setup and coil-over
shocks, while the tail lamps are '39 Ford blue dots - which are all
that some people see of the car.◄
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Ah,
Queensland's roadster weather, beautiful one day, perfect
the next. The Gateway bridge is an appropriate backdrop for
this regularly driven Hot Rod. |
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Accreditation: The Editor,
and information supplied by the owner.
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