If you are looking for good vibrations or a cool breeze, you may be surprised-stereo comes by way of the blown Flattie, and the A/C is achieved by driving in the early morning hours! Inside, it's more vintage rodding. The Speed Kings steel dash houses the Cyclops speedo cluster that sports a vintage pointer, and gas, temp, and oil gauges. The 5-inch Stewart Warner tach is neatly housed in the column drop, creating an early version of the "knee knocker tach." Charlie Mallory of Speed Kings handled the wiring using an American Autowire system. The buckets are real-deal military aircraft, while Jerry Schnetzer (Hamilton, Ohio) upholstered the snap-on canvas door coverings. Look closely and you will note the liberal use of Dynamat products throughout the interior.
The powerplant is just that-powerful. An 8BA Flathead comes by way of its 284 inches via a Scat crank with forged H-beam rods (4.125-inch), a 3.312-inch bore, and a compression ratio of 8.26:1 on this Dick Lewis-built motor. You can't miss the blower-known by various names, such as Italmeccanica, I.T. Superchargers, and S.Co.T. (Supercharger Company of Turin [in Torino, Italy])-it was one of the most popular "roots" style blower kits available in the 1950s. Other popular vintage and modern-day speed equipment that gives this V-8 the looks and performance are twin Stromberg 97s with copper screens and hose clamps yielding an old-timey pair of air cleaners, as well as Sharp heads (available through Wilcap), Speedway springs and water pump, Powermaster (Knoxville, Tennessee) PowerGen, Vertex mag, Fenton cast-iron headers, Smithy's exhaust, and a gennie Hildebrandt oil filter. The car ran so cool on its maiden voyage cross-country during the POSIES Dirty Driven Tour that Josh had to tape off the lower portion of the Walker (Memphis, Tennessee) radiator to bring the engine up to suitable operating temps. Hooked up to the Flattie to finish out the powertrain is a Tremec T5 five-speed tuned up by Classic Chevy 5 Speed using a McLeod (Placentia, California) flywheel, clutch, disc coupled, and a swan-style shift lever, with an Inland Empire Driveline (Ontario, California) 'shaft.
Well, there are the basics. Come back next month and you will read and see more about how this Deuce coupe fared on its first outing across the country from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Las Vegas, Nevada, just in time for the 2006 SEMA Show. We will give you a hint-the car performed flawlessly. But, there is more to tell from the human-interest standpoint, and, let's face it, there is nothing like a good hot rod story to tell around the ol' campfire.
Editor's Note: Make sure to visit www.streetrodderweb.com for the rest of the story. There you will find construction photos on both the .5 and 1.0 coupes. The fun is just beginning. -B.B.