Where to get a lakester chassis built/Austin, TX area

[4-barrel Mike]

I was thinking Jesse James, is Austin Speed Shop not him?

DW

Not anymore. The other 3 principals got rid of him. Keith is relocating there.

And Bob Bleed brought some of the young talent to Wisconsin with him.

All Jesse was serious about was Jesse - Bob is serious about more tangible products - you know, like Hot Rods. 

http://www.midwest-fabrication.com/#

Looks like Jesse has a new interest:  http://thefirearmreport.com/2013/11/report-from-jesse-james-firearms-unveiling-party/ and will apparently be at the Shot Show in Las Vegas.

Mike

[racefanwfo]

I do not see the 45 being worth 3500.00 dollars just because it has jessie james name on it.

[SPARKY]

Emil----great decision---there are a ton of us on here who will be more than glad to coach and give their experience!! just learn to ask---do not be afraid of asking questions!!

1. GET a RULE book, tape measure, kids side walk chalk, a ruler and a pad of those 1/4" graph paper, start reading various guys builds.. start by drawing on the garage floor, and in your pad. Before you kow it you will know how wide and how long every thing you have to get in there is-----good luck, and have fun.

[johnneilson]

Emil,

Building a tank lakester is a lesson in packaging.
Get the rule book and go see some racecars.

What do you have in mind for power and rearend?

John

[Emil Shuffhausen]

Wow. I figured this thread was dead.

I'm warming up to the idea of doing it myself. I'll have lots of questions. I think one will be for Elmo: "may I gawk at your car with the body removed?". I'm hoping to make it to Bonneville this year to check out some cars up close.

For power, I'm hoping a Ford DOHC 4.6 will fit. The factory aluminum block can make a lot of power, but it sure is wide. Pushrod 302s and 351s are inexpensive and plentiful, but much more limited on how much power they can make. A (relatively) narrow engine that can make gobs of power is the Toyota 2JZ inline-6. I'll need to take measurements once the tank arrives. I want to go with turbo or centrifugal supercharger, inside the body/out of the airstream. That may require a stretch longer than the 20" extension that comes with my tank, but the inline engine could have a turbo or two alongside it. Just kinda thinking out loud there.

For a rear end, I was thinking of using a Ford 8.8 out of a Mustang I took apart.

Thanks, guys.

oh yeah- is it possible to get a new screen name? I just thought up a silly name and registered so I could see photos posted as attachments... but now I'm a serious poster. Somewhat serious, anyway. 

[Rex Schimmer]

Last time I was at Vern's, Keith's dad, Keith had a partially finished lakester chassis for a 38 belly tank. Don't know if he took it with him but I am sure he could get it. He is a great fabricator and knows Bonneville as he has a couple (I think) roadsters that he built for the Marianis that have or had records.

Great guy.

Rex

[Emil Shuffhausen]

Here's the tank. Cut lines for 20" extension marked out. Will not be using the fairing. I want to go with a plexiglass nose, like the Markley Brothers and Elmo Rodge (Wayne Yeats)

[Sumner]

I'd suggest before you go a lot further get the drive-train and all the turbo stuff mocked up to see exactly how long the car needs to be.  The turgo, intercooler, intercooler icewater tank, waste gate, blow-off valve and plumbing can really start eating up the room, plus the fire bottles, fuel tank, chute and of course don't forget you.

I"m in the process of lengthening my car right now.   First I'm getting the new engine, bellhousing, trans. drive-shaft and rearend all put together.  Then I need to figure out my rad-in-a-tank for cooling and also where the turbo is going and where my icewater intercooler tank is going.  I have the main water tanks in.

Then I'll cut the car in half and lengthen it to what I need.

The best of luck,

Sum

[Stainless1]

Sum has it right... don't start with a length envelope and try to fit everything in, fit it all in the basic tank shape, then you will have a length.  The car will be a lot easier to work on, fit you better and the redo level will be reduced. 
Read thru streamliner and lakester builds... read Sparky's build... packaging is difficult, don't make it harder.
 

[SPARKY]

SS1& Sumner are so spot on --make it all fit, on the floor, on your pad and in your mock ups---then add the 2' to 3' :- you will never regret it  o by the way while I was at it add 2' to the length of any eng you may
ever  think of running so that you can run a frt. mounted Pro Charger if you wanted to---build one of the bays so that you can add later.

[Sumner]

One of the best things that happened to me was before starting on the car I visited a guy that was building a really nice street rod and he had made a build table so...



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/construction%20page-11.html

.... I took a day and built a table also.  You will not believe how much one of these will help you on the build and will cut way down on the build time.  A steel one is nice for someone who is building one thing after another and needs the structural strength and durability, but a wood one is so much more easy to use for a home builder and is plenty strong if built right.



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/construction%20page-32.html

It is very easy to make supports also out of wood and place them anywhere needed with 'grabber' screws and a screw gun.

The other main feature is that you are always trying to center things on the car and make it symmetrical.  Put a line down the middle of the middle of the table and you can come off of it or easily off the sides of the table for any reference you want with a moveable upside down "T" you can make to slide up to the sides of the table.  Measure from it over to anyplace at any height above the table.  Works great in getting both sides of the car the same.  It is also easy to level the table in all directions so you can use a level placing pieces during the construction of the car.  Even good shop floors are not perfectly flat.



The project is up where it is easier to work on instead of you being down on the floor all of the time.  I've gotten a...



http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/construction%20page-19.html


...lot of kidding over mocking the frame and such up out of wood, but making mistakes with wood and correcting them is way faster and cheaper than with steel.  Also it is very easy...





http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/bvillecar/construction%20page-37.html

...to replace the wood with steel in a step-by-step process.  Give serious consideration to a build table vs. building on the shop floor if you have the space to use one.  It will save you a ton of time overall and make things so much easier and simpler,

Sum

[Dr Goggles]

I've never looked right into it but I expect that timber is far cheaper in the US than here.

Personally I like the almost infinite re-useability of steel.it's a bit more expensive but eventually you use it far more than wood .....

We built a six poster frame with a midline rail that corresponded with the midline of the car, we had a pair of legs where the front bulkhead, firewall and rear superstructure could be mounted and then stitched into.the frame, this midline was three feet off the floor.

[Sumner]

I've never looked right into it but I expect that timber is far cheaper in the US than here. ....

Yep, not expensive here at all.  Probably didn't use $30 worth in the whole build.  The table was probably less than $100 and the other lumber was most likely left over from other projects and further down the road helped to heat the shop  ,

Sum

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Sum, I think that the Aus. folks aren't in the mood to hear anything about heating the shop just now.  Another January of record high temps, right?

[DND]

Hi Emil

Take a look at the ' Andy Wexler Tank ' it is one of the best fabed cars out there, he used 90 degree metal brackets and hose clamps to hold everything together and test fitted the whole car

After it was all in place then it was welded up, very crafty idea indeed

A lot of thought went into every part and it shows it too

Now this car was home built and a pro could not do any better

Good Luck & have fun with your new racer

G Don