Davin, you are a brave man to take on this project! That said, your point about improvising parts by using salvaged components and ingenuity was, IMHO, what made stock car racing interesting.
A lot of these cars were just knocked together by the owner in their spare time after they got done with their regular job. Most of the time from whatever was laying around or could pick up for very little money so they could have fun at the local dirt track on Saturday night.
the go right to go left goes for any vehicle. In road and rally it's called the Scandinavian flick - it upsets the balance of the car momentarily and lets you make much tighter turns
KEI Fabrications channel has an excellent series on restoring basically the same type coupe bodied modified that has this same “Flemke Type” front end. Named for asphalt modified driver and innovator Ed Flemke, this setup was state of the art into the early - mid 70’s! I had to watch this muted, so you might have mentioned it, but a lot of things about this car are typical of an asphalt car, rather than dirt, as stated in earlier episodes. Dirt mods tended to be built a lot higher than their pavement counterparts due to the dirt trackers preferred broad sliding technique in the turns, and a higher C of G aided in that driving style! KEI is connected with people who raced and maintained these cars back then, and they actually got their car from the guy who raced it in the late 60’s/early 70’s. That is until a scary crash one night! He brought the bent car home, rolled it off in the woods, and thus ended his racing career! I know I’m late to the party, but I’m dying to see how this project ended up! Great work, btw!
Funny; 60 years ago I was doing the same thing on a dirt floor with 2 x 60W lights in the ceiling and an ac arc welder and two tanks of gas. It actually took us all summer to get the car to do what we wanted. Actually , looking back it was a great summer of building, testing, racing and Bull shi----- with 100s of great memories.
I am motivated every time you say "Get out there, get your work done!" Working on a 50 Chevy truck and it's a slow process, so I really appreciate the kick in the butt to get out in the shop. Now I am hooked on your show as well. I learn something every time I watch. Keep up the great videos, I hope you are well paid.
Such a weirdly refreshing project. Love the trailblazing improvisation in design and reusing of parts. Thanks for the inspiration and keep on trucking!
The little. "Get out in the shop" at the end always makes me kick myself. And I've actually started working on my junks cars more. Right now its my 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne
Agreed. I come in from the garage to relax and some how find myself back here and Davin sending me back to the garage. Currently waiting with diesel in my fuel tank to see the leak is fixed before swapping it back into my '70 Land rover S2a Station wagon.
Davin, listen man what you are doing is great. While I understand what you are doing and see some of the same problems you see, not everyone has a background in racing or even in moonshining. So those that do not have those backgrounds, do not understand that back in the day you had to Jerry rig things to make it do what you wanted it to do. And that project my friend is Jerry Rigging heaven or a Jerry Rigging nightmare for those who live in the mundane world. People often do not understand things like taking an Oxyacetylene rig, and a coat hanger to fabricate body parts that you do not have and cannot get. I do as I have had to do that, to make repairs on an old 65 Ford F-100 that had been a modified farm truck. You bring back memories.
That's going turn left really well when Davin is done setting it up, even for a solid front axle. I can't wait to see it on 3/8 or 1/2 mile track ripping it up.
Good design work Davin :)! There were a lot of these solid axle suspension setups still around in the 70's when I started learning but the independent front ends of a late 60's Camaro or early 70's Nova were the ones most desired and competed well at that time.
Davin, this fun 'cause in my younger years we did road racing, and the circle track stuff is new to me. Watching you figure this out is high entertainment!
Davin, I didn't read all the way through the comments, so maybe you already addressed this - those weight jackers are going to be pretty harsh, right on top of the spring, plus the friction is going to be tough. Have you thought about some type of a slide (greasy brass), and maybe a hard (not too hard) rubber bush (with a beveled face) or even re-purposed valve springs to help with the sudden rebound? Although not totally period correct, some coilovers could help out a lot keeping so much weight off the main springs (might get away with small helper springs). You do a great job, keep up the inspiring work!
I got into Circle burners back in the mid-70s. Plus I race flat track motorcycle turn right go left is the same principles there too.. good luck I'll be watching your build your toy
Front spindles are ‘47-‘48 Ford. They have longer king pin bushes hence needing a longer king pin. Front trailing arms are also modified 47-‘48 Ford front wishbone.
I’m pretty sure that is what was called a Flemke style front end named after it’s designer, Ed Flemke. Very common for the era. I have a 36 Chevy on a 57 Chevy frame that my dad built in the 60s that is very similar to what you’re working on. Keep up the good work. Fun to watch.
Turn right to go left turn left to go right i do it all the time on the way to work its called a powerslide the most fun you can have with your pants on
Way to go putting this 37 Circle Track car back together again. You have discovered that the front end has been modified and needs some additional tweaking.
If you saw the stuff my Dad built for drag racing you would be amazed. That was in the 60's and early 70's. Even in the 80's and 90's I was making stuff out of whatever I had or could get ahold of used. I watch a couple of channels of guys that are doing it even now in the world of the internet. Heck they are posting on TH-cam. I make do with what I can afford still on all my projects...
Would it be possible to have a video just on the history of this particular car? I'd love to know it's life story and hear about its racing adventures! I'm sure others would too!
Yes , to the point where the average guy can’t afford to go racing on the weekend anymore . When this car was originally built the owner probably worked in a factory ,or maybe construction and he sourced the car and all the necessary parts from the local scrap yard and modified them to work as a race car and he could be very competitive on an extremely limited budget .
Please tell me if i'm missing something but it looks like if you flip that front shock (top to bottom), you would have the clearance at the top you need??? Kinda like you said for the rears. Valving works in either direction.
Though your rebuilding the car Putting back in the original parts slightly modified to keep the car the way you bought or to save money on the project, on a dirt car weight transfer from the left to the right "for bite" in the turns at the same time the rear steers the back of the car threw the slide in the turn
lol one would hope that minimum you will be cleaning up the welds that are on that thing I know they were done in a shed somewhere with an old stick welder and wet welding rods lol lol lol Grub NZ
Same misquote of Doc Hudson that McQueen made, "..turn right to go left..." "...if you're going hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right." - Doc Hudson
Just can't understand WHY Mr. Snowball would have stripped off the SUPERIOR '55 chevy coil spring front suspension from the frame & replaced it with the antiquated '30's solid axle etc. setup you are working to rebuild. Maybe the antique solid axle/kingpin/etc front setup was what he was comfortable using. Hard to believe tho, as EVERYBODY racing stock cars in the south (including me!) latched onto that "new" design 1955 chevy frame with independent front control arms & coils. Some of those old '55-'57 frames were still being used under second gen Camaro bodies (stretched) here in Alabama into the early 80's !
If I understand this correctly, this car wasn't engineered so much as "let's throw this stuff together & hope for the best". I tip my hat to Davin for using what the car came with, while still hoping for the best. And if I come across a crystal ball & a Genie, I'll send them to him so his projects will go a little easier.
Wouldn’t it have been better to put the weight jack nuts under the cross member as the weld would be just to lock rotation instead of being under stressed tension?
For some reason, Davin doesn't seem to be in love with this car as much as Tom is (was). I'm with Davin. History is one thing, polishing a turd is another. Sorry Snowball.
You front axle and radius rods (wish bone) look like 46-48 ford. Dont believe they're rear trailing arms. The build is way cool. Watching along closely
It kind of raises a question; are you trying to design the suspension as it might have been in the old days, or something that would be more appropriate for today's racetracks and cars?
Exactly. At least one of the spindles is post-war, the other appears to be a 37-40 spindle. But the wishbones are definitely post-war Ford FRONT wishbones.
Even if its not great fabrication, the car should be put together period correct with nothing modified to make it better. Its a time capsule of vintage racing.........
I didn't read all the comments so I may be repeating some things. The spindle you welded the snout onto is a 42-48, your other spindle is a 37- 41. Spindle arms have been bent and gusseted so the tie rod would clear the radius rods. Neither are truck spindles, Your front radius rods are not off the rear of a truck they are a front wishbone off of a pass car that was split they are off of a 42-48 pass car. Keep up the good work.
A certain racecar prepper once said "If you pull your car out of the transporter and people don't suck breath, you havent done your job properly" I gather you aren't aiming for as refined a finish here? lol
Your front radius rods ("trailing arms") -- they look like they were made from the front wishbones off a '46/'47/'48 Ford car. Don't look at all like rear wishbones to me.
Davin, you are a brave man to take on this project! That said, your point about improvising parts by using salvaged components and ingenuity was, IMHO, what made stock car racing interesting.
A lot of these cars were just knocked together by the owner in their spare time after they got done with their regular job. Most of the time from whatever was laying around or could pick up for very little money so they could have fun at the local dirt track on Saturday night.
That Doc Hudson reference is such a nice touch. Even when I'm riding mountain bike, I'd slant left to form a dirt slide straight going to the right
the go right to go left goes for any vehicle. In road and rally it's called the Scandinavian flick - it upsets the balance of the car momentarily and lets you make much tighter turns
KEI Fabrications channel has an excellent series on restoring basically the same type coupe bodied modified that has this same “Flemke Type” front end. Named for asphalt modified driver and innovator Ed Flemke, this setup was state of the art into the early - mid 70’s! I had to watch this muted, so you might have mentioned it, but a lot of things about this car are typical of an asphalt car, rather than dirt, as stated in earlier episodes. Dirt mods tended to be built a lot higher than their pavement counterparts due to the dirt trackers preferred broad sliding technique in the turns, and a higher C of G aided in that driving style! KEI is connected with people who raced and maintained these cars back then, and they actually got their car from the guy who raced it in the late 60’s/early 70’s. That is until a scary crash one night! He brought the bent car home, rolled it off in the woods, and thus ended his racing career! I know I’m late to the party, but I’m dying to see how this project ended up! Great work, btw!
Funny; 60 years ago I was doing the same thing on a dirt floor with 2 x 60W lights in the ceiling and an ac arc welder and two tanks of gas. It actually took us all summer to get the car to do what we wanted. Actually , looking back it was a great summer of building, testing, racing and Bull shi----- with 100s of great memories.
I am motivated every time you say "Get out there, get your work done!" Working on a 50 Chevy truck and it's a slow process, so I really appreciate the kick in the butt to get out in the shop. Now I am hooked on your show as well. I learn something every time I watch. Keep up the great videos, I hope you are well paid.
Such a weirdly refreshing project. Love the trailblazing improvisation in design and reusing of parts.
Thanks for the inspiration and keep on trucking!
The little. "Get out in the shop" at the end always makes me kick myself. And I've actually started working on my junks cars more. Right now its my 1958 Chevrolet Biscayne
Agreed. I come in from the garage to relax and some how find myself back here and Davin sending me back to the garage.
Currently waiting with diesel in my fuel tank to see the leak is fixed before swapping it back into my '70 Land rover S2a Station wagon.
The greatest challenge I think you have on this project is choosing your words carefully when going through the process. Good job Davin.
Davin, listen man what you are doing is great. While I understand what you are doing and see some of the same problems you see, not everyone has a background in racing or even in moonshining. So those that do not have those backgrounds, do not understand that back in the day you had to Jerry rig things to make it do what you wanted it to do. And that project my friend is Jerry Rigging heaven or a Jerry Rigging nightmare for those who live in the mundane world. People often do not understand things like taking an Oxyacetylene rig, and a coat hanger to fabricate body parts that you do not have and cannot get. I do as I have had to do that, to make repairs on an old 65 Ford F-100 that had been a modified farm truck. You bring back memories.
Excruciating! Apt description of your deciphering a hodgepodge dirt track race car!
Pulling for you, man!
That's going turn left really well when Davin is done setting it up, even for a solid front axle. I can't wait to see it on 3/8 or 1/2 mile track ripping it up.
good program and true words at the end about our projects
Good design work Davin :)! There were a lot of these solid axle suspension setups still around in the 70's when I started learning but the independent front ends of a late 60's Camaro or early 70's Nova were the ones most desired and competed well at that time.
It was nice to meet you today!
Davin, this fun 'cause in my younger years we did road racing, and the circle track stuff is new to me. Watching you figure this out is high entertainment!
Davin, I didn't read all the way through the comments, so maybe you already addressed this - those weight jackers are going to be pretty harsh, right on top of the spring, plus the friction is going to be tough. Have you thought about some type of a slide (greasy brass), and maybe a hard (not too hard) rubber bush (with a beveled face) or even re-purposed valve springs to help with the sudden rebound? Although not totally period correct, some coilovers could help out a lot keeping so much weight off the main springs (might get away with small helper springs). You do a great job, keep up the inspiring work!
I got into Circle burners back in the mid-70s. Plus I race flat track motorcycle turn right go left is the same principles there too.. good luck I'll be watching your build your toy
I love it and I would not question ANYTHING done on a 1937 dirt track car !!!!
Thanks for sharing Davin👍
The best built on Hagerty, I really love this old race car thread! 👍😀
That's a fantastic job, Daven! Thanks for share knowledge! 😄👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
What a Jalopy... You're a good man Davin.
It is really interesting seeing how the boys did things back then.
Second simple setup with the screw Jacks and split transverse Leafs in the front makes me think of Indy cars
it's nice to watch you go through the classics. from and to. keep up the good work
Awesome build !!
Front spindles are ‘47-‘48 Ford.
They have longer king pin bushes hence needing a longer king pin.
Front trailing arms are also modified 47-‘48 Ford front wishbone.
Dang. Davin is a genius.
I’m pretty sure that is what was called a Flemke style front end named after it’s designer, Ed Flemke. Very common for the era. I have a 36 Chevy on a 57 Chevy frame that my dad built in the 60s that is very similar to what you’re working on. Keep up the good work. Fun to watch.
Turn right to go left turn left to go right i do it all the time on the way to work its called a powerslide the most fun you can have with your pants on
5:00 "Did some 'welding'..." 🤣
I'm not very good at reading people but I believe I sense great frustration from you Davin
I love the 1930 race cars the parts MacGyvered together that is cool
Gotta love office chair mechanics.
Are the larger spindles aircraft parts from the day? Appear to be. Great stuff! Glad to see a project where everything is not being modernized.
Very interesting and informative, nice 👍 job Davin!
Way to go putting this 37 Circle Track car back together again. You have discovered that the front end has been modified and needs some additional tweaking.
So much fun!
The "good enough" welding was a hoot. It could have been raining under the oak tree when they were building, or re-building again, their car!
Lots of fabricating to get things just right. Looking good with each step to an complete front end. 😎👍🇨🇦
If you saw the stuff my Dad built for drag racing you would be amazed. That was in the 60's and early 70's. Even in the 80's and 90's I was making stuff out of whatever I had or could get ahold of used. I watch a couple of channels of guys that are doing it even now in the world of the internet. Heck they are posting on TH-cam. I make do with what I can afford still on all my projects...
Would it be possible to have a video just on the history of this particular car? I'd love to know it's life story and hear about its racing adventures! I'm sure others would too!
Ooh Speed Holes!!!
Looking forward to this. 👍🏼
A lot of interesting stuff, what a challenge
i love this 37 ford
Makes you appreciate how far engineering took Motorsports
Yes , to the point where the average guy can’t afford to go racing on the weekend anymore . When this car was originally built the owner probably worked in a factory ,or maybe construction and he sourced the car and all the necessary parts from the local scrap yard and modified them to work as a race car and he could be very competitive on an extremely limited budget .
So true, they had too MANHANDLE those hot rods in the day..
I never have a problem moving around with a stiff member 5.25
Please tell me if i'm missing something but it looks like if you flip that front shock (top to bottom), you would have the clearance at the top you need??? Kinda like you said for the rears. Valving works in either direction.
Any plans to weld up the suspension parts again and texture then with a needler? Would be pretty cool of they looked like stock castings.
Front arms are split 46-48 front wishbone,
At the moment the front suspension looks quite wide, but it should 'shrink' as the project comes along, especially when the rear axle is fitted.
good video man good job
Turn right to go left? What is this, New Jersey? Heyo!!
BRASIL 🇧🇷 MARAVILHOSO O CANAL DE VOCÊS.
Is there a reason that front shock can't go on up the other way to get clearance
Thanks for another interesting and informative video. :)
My mountain goat walk in left hand circles. Keep an eye out for it ))))
Would it help clearance to flip those front shocks?
Though your rebuilding the car Putting back in the original parts slightly modified to keep the car the way you bought or to save money on the project, on a dirt car weight transfer from the left to the right "for bite" in the turns at the same time the rear steers the back of the car threw the slide in the turn
If you flip the shock around, does it eliminate the interference?
lol one would hope that minimum you will be cleaning up the welds that are on that thing I know they were done in a shed somewhere with an old stick welder and wet welding rods lol lol lol
Grub NZ
Way would you not put a straight 6 or a flat head?
Same misquote of Doc Hudson that McQueen made, "..turn right to go left..."
"...if you're going hard enough left, you'll find yourself turning right." - Doc Hudson
Just can't understand WHY Mr. Snowball would have stripped off the SUPERIOR '55 chevy coil spring front suspension from the frame & replaced it with the antiquated '30's solid axle etc. setup you are working to rebuild. Maybe the antique solid axle/kingpin/etc front setup was what he was comfortable using. Hard to believe tho, as EVERYBODY racing stock cars in the south (including me!) latched onto that "new" design 1955 chevy frame with independent front control arms & coils. Some of those old '55-'57 frames were still being used under second gen Camaro bodies (stretched) here in Alabama into the early 80's !
Gotta think a formal education in mechanical engineering, which Davin is purported to have, must come in handy for situations such as this one.
If I understand this correctly, this car wasn't engineered so much as "let's throw this stuff together & hope for the best". I tip my hat to Davin for using what the car came with, while still hoping for the best. And if I come across a crystal ball & a Genie, I'll send them to him so his projects will go a little easier.
what is going on with the 440??
Wouldn’t it have been better to put the weight jack nuts under the cross member as the weld would be just to lock rotation instead of being under stressed tension?
It might create a clearance problem for spring travel if the nut is on the lower side
For some reason, Davin doesn't seem to be in love with this car as much as Tom is (was).
I'm with Davin. History is one thing, polishing a turd is another.
Sorry Snowball.
Yeah
@5:23 Sorry, I couldn't resist. Heh, heh, heh.
You front axle and radius rods (wish bone) look like 46-48 ford. Dont believe they're rear trailing arms. The build is way cool. Watching along closely
Love the build series for '37 Ford Coupe. Is there a phone number for All Star Performance or a website?
It kind of raises a question; are you trying to design the suspension as it might have been in the old days, or something that would be more appropriate for today's racetracks and cars?
The roof looks like a 39 not 37/38 , it doesn’t have the body line that 37/38s do
Mow lawn...oh I have a project in my garage. My life is complete.
He said "u have a stiff member". 🤣😂
Front suspension parts are 46 - 48 parts, square spindles (which take longer kingpins), curved front wishbones, not rear parts.
Exactly. At least one of the spindles is post-war, the other appears to be a 37-40 spindle. But the wishbones are definitely post-war Ford FRONT wishbones.
Even if its not great fabrication, the car should be put together period correct with nothing modified to make it better. Its a time capsule of vintage racing.........
Looks like modified 46 - 48 Ford front wishbone.
Hello from Russia!
Don't you thing you weakened the jack plate with all the holes ?
Not once you weld those nuts on. The nuts are basically gussets - big chunks welded parallel to the bending force.
I from indonesia, i like modifikasi from america
I didn't read all the comments so I may be repeating some things.
The spindle you welded the snout onto is a 42-48, your other spindle is a 37- 41. Spindle arms have been bent and gusseted so the tie rod would clear the radius rods. Neither are truck spindles,
Your front radius rods are not off the rear of a truck they are a front wishbone off of a pass car that was split they are off of a 42-48 pass car.
Keep up the good work.
What about the Honda?
A certain racecar prepper once said "If you pull your car out of the transporter and people don't suck breath, you havent done your job properly" I gather you aren't aiming for as refined a finish here? lol
👽 aren't kingpin's ream to fit?
Obviously you're a master mechanic, what is your source for knowledge of engineering?
Just ignore the "Arm Chair Experts" you do what you need to do.
What happened to this project??
Your front radius rods ("trailing arms") -- they look like they were made from the front wishbones off a '46/'47/'48 Ford car. Don't look at all like rear wishbones to me.
A lot of engineer going on there.
This car is such a bodge.
5:22 He..he..he.
What is going on with this???
Good to see you didn't hide your frustration about the armchair experts. Your project your way.
Just flip shock Arround
It's a 39.....
arc weld everything not mig lol