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.
The long individual axles of the Dominator provide plenty of travel with a minimum of camber change through their range of travel. | 
One of the unique features of the Dominator front suspension is the custom Flaming River rack-and-pinion steering gear. | 
The Dominator suspension combines the look of a solid axle and the ride and handling of an independent. The reinforced hairpins were one-offs for our car. |
A good deal of the chassis' strength comes from the Roadster Shop's unique tubing X-member. | 
The X-member was dropped a little lower in the 'rails than normal to accommodate the Flathead and 200-4R combo. | 
A custom rear crossmember was fabricated to lower the car and provide full suspension travel with proper-length coilovers. |
Clean and strong describes the Roadster Shop chassis. Note the flat front crossmember that is part of the Dominator suspension package. | 
A triangulated four-link will be used to locate the axle in the rear. | 
The rearend housing, gearcase, and axles came from Strange, while U.S. Gear supplied the gears and Posi-traction unit. |
Adequate suspension travel is a must when building a drive. | 
Our Road Tour coupe will wear Strange coilovers on both ends to provide a cushy ride. | 
The Roadster Shop's Doug Leetzow installs the brake pedal assembly. |
The Corvette 1 1/8-inch-bore master cylinder and 7-inch booster were moved to the rear slightly to provide additional room for exhaust. | 
A hint of things to come-soon a brand-new Shadow Rods aluminum Flathead and TCI Automotive 200-4R will slip between the 'rails. | 
Custom front-engine brackets nestle against the Dominator's upper coilover mount. The motor mounts are stock early Ford replacements. |