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Bill's Tudor, one warm Sunday morning, at the Manly boat
harbour. This isn't a staged photo, Bill lives just up the
road, so he and Sanchia are regulars at the cafes and other
eateries along the picturesque shore.
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To that end, Bill and his brother Pete began work
in 1999, and tracked down a set of original deuce rails which his
mate Peter Cummes boxed. Lilow Auto Tech supplied the front end, which was originally
built as a coil-over style, but when Bill switched to an air-bag
design, Ian from Lilow couldn't have been more helpful. The front
end uses stainless steel control arms, '74 Holden discs, P76 rotors
and hub that pulled the front wheels in 16mm each side, and a custom
made sway bar.
A narrowed Commodore rack & pinion steering unit
connects the front wheels to the driver via an owner built billet
alloy steering column that contains a '74 Holden shaft. Land
Cruiser indicators are up under the Billet Specialties 'Impala'
steering wheel.
The aluminium radiator, hand made by Backyard
Motorsport, is cooled by a two speed electric fan that came from a
BMW, and the combination cools the very high tech 350 LT1 1997
Corvette motor, which came in a crate from Albury Speed &
Performance Centre. The 350 hp SBC had it's Tuned Port Injection
manifold polished by Paul Bushell, and the EMS engine management
system is the heart and soul of this setup. Bill is able to sit in
the passenger seat and tune the car - altering such settings as cold
start parameters, then forget about it having to do that chore
again.
The transmission is a high tech model too - a
computer controlled T700 with lockup converter, which is cooled
through a chassis mounted billet trans fluid cooler. There is only
one pedal therefore. and the brake pedal is suspended from the
inner-firewall hoop and the Falcon master cylinder + Datsun 200B
booster combo is operated by a bell crank.
A shortened Statesman tailshaft connects the GM
bits to the Ford 9" rear end, which has been narrowed, and fitted
with a Commodore rear disc set up, which includes the hand
brake arrangement - the hand brake lever came from a Corolla. The
rear air-bag setup is part of the entire package supplied by The
Airbag Man at Brendale, which package includes the compressor,
lines, tanks etc. Gonzo, of Gonzo Racing pipes, fabricated the 2½"
stainless exhaust system.
The 9" is held in place by a Peter Cummes built 4
bar set up. The gas tank is a 65 litre stainless steel unit that is
hidden by the 'glass '32 tank cover, and a Camira fuel pump is
mounted outside the tank, and still manages to supply fuel to the
frugal fuellie motor. One of the last chassis components to go in
was an Odyssey 1000 amp battery that is mounted under the drivers
side floor.
The body is a Deuce Customs replica of a 1932 Ford
Tudor sedan, and the body in this case includes the guards. The
bonnet is an after-market unit with removable sides, and the car is
often seen on the streets with the engine exposed. A pair of repro
'32 headlamps are mounted on a dropped headlight bar. Fat Cat
supplied the windscreen frame, and a BMC cable drive operates the
wipers. The wiper motor could have come out of a Vanden Plas that
had been used by Prince Charles after he sought asylum in Australia
during the sixties, but then again, it might not.
The air conditioner is quite an engineering feat,
in that the bits came from all over - Sanden pump, Mitsubishi
evaporator, Walker condensor and Suzuki fan that has been adapted to
a Gemini snorkel all combine to blow cool air into the car through a
polished American White Oak dash. The White Oak panelling was
continued to both doors, and rear quarters, all of it being made by
Eric Corns. The dash also contains a full complement of Autometer
guages, of the 'Classic' style.
The front seats are from a Nissan Pulsar, and the
rear is a narrowed Mazda 626 frame. The '32's upholstery was
all provided by Wilf Skerman, who also did
John Kean's Model A coupe. Tinted glass offsets the bright
yellow 2-pack paint, a Hyundai Yellow, that Bill's brother Pete
applied in the family garage. In fact, the car was almost entirely
built in the garage, apart from the wiring, which was done by Logan
Priest, and the trim.
Model A tail lamps, with blue dots, bring up the
rear, and the car rolls on American Racing's Torq-Thrust II wheels,
and Kumho tyres. It took Bill and Pete 3 years to finish the car,
and when they did, it was the first Hot Rod registered in Queensland
with air-bag suspension. Far from a cheque book car, this high tech
sedan is a long way removed from the harsh and doughy flathead
powered '32 that Bill remembers, and while it is as reliable and
comfortable as most late model hacks, it is definitely a Hot Rod.
Update, 2/11/06. This car is for sale,
click here◄
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Bill hisself, here demonstrating how easy it would be to
programme his EMS computer, if he ever had to. |
Accreditation: The Editor,
and information supplied by the owner.
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