Chassis Build - The 2007 Road Tour '32 - Part 2

The foundation of any street rod is the chassis, and when you're building something that will see the miles our '07 Road Tour '32 is going to accumulate, that foundation had better be a solid one. Thanks to the crew at the Roadster Shop, that pretty well sums up what's under our Brookville three-window.

Based on the Roadster Shop's in-house fabricated frame, the 'rails were pinched from the firewall forward 3/4-inch per side to bring them tight against the grille shell, and the wheelbase was stretched 3 inches for a smoother ride. To give both ends of the car a cleaner look, the front and rear framehorns were boxed and capped, and custom flush-mount spreader bars were fabricated.

With all the frames the Roadster Shop has built over the years, the crew knows that one of the keys to a solid chassis is a rigid center crossmember; to that end, they use a combination X-member/transmission mount made from round tubing. The "space frame" design provides maximum strength while allowing easy routing of exhaust and fuel and brake lines between the upper and lower tubes.

While the Road Tour coupe for '07 will be a traditional-looking coupe with the flavor of the McMullen roadster, one interesting departure from the norm is the front suspension. Developed by Leonard Lopez and Flaming River, the new Dominator frontend uses a pair of 2-inch tube axles, each pivoting off a bracket on the opposite side of the car from the wheel. The obvious benefit is that each wheel moves without affecting the other, as with an independent front suspension, while retaining the classic look of a solid axle.

Another unique feature of the Dominator frontend is the rack-and-pinion steering. Manufactured by Flaming River specifically for this application, the all-new rack provides all the advantages associated with this style of steering gear with none of the drawbacks usually found with a solid-axle installation. The rack is mounted to the frame, which would normally cause a whole host of handling peculiarities, including severe bumpsteer, with a straight front-axle. But, thanks to some clever engineering in the steering geometry department, the travel of the Dominator swing axles and the tie-rod ends are matched, resulting in smooth responsive steering without a trace of bumpsteer.

A complete Strange 9-inch rearend is at the rear of the chassis. Based on one of the company's unique fabricated, smooth-back housings, this assembly is not only stout, but it's good looking too. Suspension is a combination of the Roadster Shop's tried-and-true triangulated four-link arrangements and Strange coilovers.

Once the chassis was finished, it was shipped from Elgin, Illinois, to Dominator Street Rods in Brentwood, California. Before it was out of the trailer, Leonard Lopez was busy crossing items off the long list of things to do. Stay tuned as our own little Deuce coupe becomes Road Tour ready.