This really is more of a recap than a project update, but more hot rod pictures are never a bad thing…right? After rolling the Ernst Roadster out of the shop and snapping some pics the other day, it made me anxious to get working on my ’29 Roadster again. I haven’t had a chance to so much as sand the surface rust off of it in the past year, since I’ve been so busy with customer projects. Hopefully I can make some time to work on it in the not so distant future.
This car has the makings of being one of the neater ’29 Roadsters built in recent years…it just needs to be finished. The idea is to not use any visible parts newer than 1959, and build it as if it was a hot rod built in ’59. So far I think I’ve managed to pull it off. The only reproduction parts on the entire car at the moment are the radiator, the Brookville ’32 dash panel, and the tires.
The motor has been done for a while now. It’s a really trick ’56 Corvette 265 that’s been bored and stroked to 306 ci. My good friend and expert machinist Eric Carter put this little gem together, and it should be a screamer. Here’s a quick rundown of parts we used: NOS Jahns domed stroker pistons, an Iskenderian solid roller cam, an Iskenderian 2-gear gear drive, a cut-down small journal 327 crank, ported and polished ’57 Fuelie/Powerpack heads, a Weber aluminum flywheel, a ported Weiand 4×2 intake manifold with 97′s, etc. etc. Those are just some of the details…it’s a really neat engine.
I also just recently received a pair of the ’57 Chevrolet “Black Widow” Fenton headers for it…something I’d been looking for since I started the project.
I found the body back in the middle of 2007, after a tip from Charlie Duran out in Weatherford. I had actually wanted to buy this exact same body a couple years earlier when Mike Lazier was selling it at the La Grave Field swap meet. I couldn’t afford it at the time, and had to pass. The moment I saw it after going to look at it, I knew I had to buy it. I didn’t get a chance to really start on it until about a year later in ’08, and have only been able to work on it off and on since then. It’s at the point now where it just needs some structural and cosmetic work done to the body, and some miscellaneous minor mechanical work to make it a driver.
I promised myself at the beginning of this project however, that I wouldn’t drive it until it was completely finished. That may be a tough promise to keep…it sure looks good in the current raw/ unfinished state, doesn’t it?
If you haven’t seen it, here’s a link to a detailed photo journal of the chassis build on the HAMB: click here
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- As Found.
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- Building the chassis.
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- The frame on the frame table.
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- Detail of motor mount.
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- The chassis just off the table.
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- From the rear.
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- Detail of headlight bar.
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- Assembling the 265.
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- With the body in place.
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- Profile.
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- Roadster.
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- Fentons.