It's a generally accepted fact that salt constitutes roughly four percent of our body mass. In Don White's case, however, we could bump that figure up a few numbers; the guy practically bleeds white crystals. Hell, his name's even white.
He's got little choice in the matter; he grew up in the shadow of esteemed lakes racer and world record holder Nolan White-the same Nolan White who snared the world's fastest piston-driven land speed record (413.156 mph) just a few months before the fatal wreck that claimed his life. One doesn't grow up in such a dedicated family without inheriting some of the glorious go-fast sickness.
So when Don decided to build a cool streeter to bump around in, you can imagine his plans would incorporate a few lakes-inspired cues. "I wanted to build a car in the spirit of the homebuilt, low-buck hot rod I grew up with," he said. "It had to be chopped and slammed with Strombergs, louvers, and vintage tires."
And chopped and slammed it is. To get the extra-low profile, Don fabricated the main rails from 1 1/2x 3-inch rectangular tubing. He fabricated everything at his family's shop, Autopower. Considering they fabricate cages for road racers, they've gotten good at making the most of every square inch. In this case, the chassis follows the general body form closely to achieve the most interior space. For example, the seat he built later actually sits between the framerails.
To get the chassis rear low enough, Don fabricated the rear frame section from 1 3/4-inch round tubing and kicked it up heavily over a 3.08:1-geared '56 Lincoln rearend. The rearend mates to the chassis with an all-aluminum four-link system that Don fabricated. It runs Aldan Eagle coilovers with 140-pound springs.
Up front, Don based the suspension around a stock '39 Mercury axle. He split and drilled the wishbone and mated its ends to the rails via rod ends. He mounted the front spring ahead of the front crossmember suicide style. He then fabricated spring perch bosses and affixed them to the wishbones. Next, he spanned the bosses with a POSIES spring. The axle itself mounts 7 inches ahead of the spring and just ahead of the grille shell. Don steers the setup with a first-generation Camaro steering box.
At first glance Don's coupe's engine is an ordinary mill. It's a 350-inch Chevrolet with a .030-inch overbore, Speed Pro pistons, Schneider cam, and iron heads. Sure, it's got an early Edelbrock manifold with three Stromberg 97s, but it's how the engine happened that's truly special: it's the last engine Don's dad Nolan ever built.
Nolan prepped the engine to wear the period go-fast goodies Don scared up, like an Accel dual-point distributor and early Corvette valve covers. Just as he did with the chassis, Don whipped lakes-style headers up specifically for the application. The engine mates to a warmed-over TH350 trans that Don built. It uses a B&M Hole Shot converter and a Hurst shifter.
"I found the body at a shop in El Cajon, California," Don said. "The owner had just ordered a fiberglass because he thought there was too much rust," he said. So Julio Hernandez patched the tin back together and recessed the firewall for a tad more engine bay. Then Julio clipped a not-so-modest 10 1/2 inches out of the pillars. The '29 Ford grille shell lost 3 1/2 inches during the procedure and the custom-fabricated decklid found 99 louvers punched in its outer skin.
According to Don, for paint, "I took a red oxide-primered piece into the paint store. Then I told 'em, 'I want this color, only I want it shiny.'" The shop obliged, and the distinctive brick red color emerged.
Once again relying on Autopower's facilities, Don bent up a race car-style aluminum interior. Pacific Auto Upholstery stitched up camel-colored Naugahyde trimming for the owner-fabricated seat and door panels. The roof now sports a snap-in insert just over the occupants.