Covered with a hand-laid,...
Covered with a hand-laid, multi-layered paintjob, it sports a heavily hammered top, low-slung headlights, and a nasty rake. You'd be hard pressed to guess that a new Brookville coupe body lurks at its core.
Richie Whalen of Medford, Massachusetts, made friends with Schmidt and Cornell some years ago, and he knew it would only be a matter of time until he enlisted their help to build him a hot rod. Regular readers will remember Richie’s hot ’31 Ford coupe featured in STREET RODDER a few months back. See, you can’t hang around with the ‘Bones gang without getting into a trance from the way they weave spiritual connections into their hot rods—a gritty, scathingly raw example of a survivor that had far more than one story to tell.
Starting with one of Henry’s original Deuce spines, the team laid out plans to build one of their signature chassis starting with the addition of Model A front and rear crossmembers. From there they pinched the framerails at the hood and frame intersection, C-notched the rear, bobbed the front and rear framehorns, and a 109-inch wheelbase. In keeping with a postwar theme, the rearend is ’40 Ford with a vintage Halibrand V-8 quick-change in place suspended by a pair of custom Rolling Bones ladder bars. To smooth out the bumps a Model T rear spring and inboard mounted Houdaille shocks iron it all out.
Sitting on 16-inch wheels...
Sitting on 16-inch wheels shod with Firestone piecrust blackwalls the custom roll pan accommodates a vintage-styled pushbar and is completely louvered as is the trunk lid. Peeking out from the bottom of the car is a seasoned Halibrand V-8 quick-change rearend along with a pair of '39 Chevrolet taillights.
Up front a stock Deuce axle meets its match with ’39 Ford spindles and ’32 Ford split ‘bones anchored in place. The combination of a Posies hot rod spring with rounded edges and custom-designed friction shocks will surely soak up the bumps. Mapping out a course toward the Salt should be a snap thanks to a Schroeder steering box, while ’40 Ford binders at each corner provide enough whoa to the beast. Everyone knows if you miss out on stance the car will stand out like an alley cat begging at a seafood buffet, so the team set the car rolling on a combination of original 16-inch Ford steelies shod with Firestone piecrust rubber in a classic big and little style.
Nothing says “I’m here to party” like a decked-out supercharged Ford Flathead. Richie contacted H&H Flatheads to build one of their bulletproof new S.Co.T.-blown V-8s. Filled with top-of-the-line goodies like Ross pistons and an H&H blower-grind stick, it was topped with Navarro heads and given breath through a set of new-generation 97-series Stromberg carbs riding shotgun on a S.Co.T. huffer. With spark from a Vertex magneto, gear changes come fast through a Chevrolet T5 trans linked to the Halibrand rear by way of a Rolling Bones fabbed driveshaft. Spent gases are tossed out through a 1-3/4-inch steel exhaust with optional side dumps.
Nothing keeps it basic like...
Nothing keeps it basic like a bare-bones interior. Rubber floor covering and an Army blanket topped bench seat make for an interior that's all business.
Richie, like Jim decided to take advantage of using freshly struck sheetmetal for the body of his coupe. One call by the team to Brookville Roadster secured a new ’32 Ford coupe, complete with all of the needed components to make this portion of the build flawless. To give the body an attitude, the team hammered its lid 5 inches in front and 4-1/2 inches in back, while also adding a steel roof insert by Walden Speed Shop. Louvers Unlimited pounded the insert along with the decklid full of venting while a Rootlieb hood takes residence up front.
Like a fine painting, preparing the exterior finish of any hot rod is a matter of taste and in its final execution. For Richie’s car, Schmidt decided to bring its look to a whole new level. Relying on his decades of skill as an artist, he set forth to create a layered effect that would give the new body the look of a car that had been to the prom more than a few times. Once suitably primed, he set forth with paint brushes in hand first with a thick blackened acrylic lacquer primer to be applied in places for a rough texture. From there he followed with a four-color layering process starting with original factory colors Old Ivory, Bronson Yellow, Manila Brown, and finally Cordova Gray. Throughout the application process he would dip his brush first in flattener then the color before dragging it across the rough surface areas. The resulting finish gives the body enough attitude to hold its own amongst any circle of purists.
Coming round the bend to the interior, simplicity rules the roost with a stock dash filled with a swap meet special cluster filled with gauges of unknown origin. An original ’39 Ford steering wheel looks right at home while the floors are covered with textured rubber matting sure to wear well as the car ages. The touch of comfort is a cut-down minivan bench topped with dense foam and wrapped in a regulation green U.S. Army blanket. Completed literally the night before the team’s yearly sojourn to Bonneville, the coupe performed flawlessly on its initial journey. Once it hit the Salt Flats, one could only step back and gaze at its existence where so much history lurked under its tires. For Jim and Richie, the experience of the journey along with their great friends from Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop solidifies the camaraderie, which is what hot rodding is all about.