Rory Forbes
Reno, Nevada
1930 Ford Coupe
Drivetrain
The engine is a 10.0:1 compression 283 Chevy bored 0.40-over and balanced by Mike Hughes (Fallon, Nevada). The Edelbrock intake is topped with three Rochester 2G carbs with Maund velocity stacks. The vintage Edelbrock valve covers were found at a swap meet and I made the accessory brackets. The ignition is a Joe Hunt magneto with Summit wires. Speedway ram horn manifolds look vintage and feed 2 1/2-inch straight pipes that have glasspack baffles welded in the ends. The transmission is a Borg-Warner T5 five-speed with a Centerforce clutch and stock steel flywheel. The shifter is a modified Model A Ford with my grandfather's pineapple grenade from Vietnam for a shifter knob.
Chassis
The original Model A 'rails were boxed to the firewall and strengthen with a Dagel's center crossmember kit. The front was Z'd 4 inches with 2x4 boxed tubing, and the rear was Z'd 8 inches. The wheelbase was stretched to 109 inches. The '36 Ford I-beam was drilled and mounted in front of the POSIES reversed eye spring with the spring perches welded to the drilled '40 wishbones. The '40 Ford spindles mount original '39 Lincoln brakes (liberally drilled) and 45-fin Buick drums. By far my biggest budget-breaker was the V-8 quick-change with a 28-spline differential kit set up by the Hot Rod Works (Nampa, Idaho). My dad and I fabbed up '40 axle halves with split '40 wishbones and a Panhard bar and mounted the rearend from the original crossmember. Rear brakes are drilled '40 Fords with 45-finned Buick drums. Houdaille lever shocks are used at each corner.
Exterior
The five-window was chopped 6 inches by myself and my dad (our first chop!) and channeled 4 inches with a steel-covered, boxed 1-inch tubing subfloor. I bought a roof insert from Bobby Walden and had it louvered by Eric Vaughn. I welded it to the stock visor, which I supported with 1x2 steel boxed tubing. I removed the stock cowl gas tank and grafted in a '38 Ford truck cowl vent. The rear decklid was converted from a rumble seat to a trunk, and louvered. The rear lower panel was modified to eliminate the lower bumper support bar to better show off the quick-change. Aircraft aluminum rivets were used to attach the custom-fabbed steering arm blister and the firewall and replace the doorjamb assembly nails. The grille is a '38 Case tractor piece (purchased on eBay for $85) that I added a swap meet '34 Ford radiator cap and Ford V-8 emblem to. My dad's friend, Eric Collins (Reno, Nevada) and I did the bodywork and paint, and Eric matched the PPG silver color to a fresh sandblasted piece of steel. A topcoat of flat clear completes the look. I fabbed the front chin bar using old Sprint Car pictures as a guide, and welded on pieces from the original Model A headlight bar for the headlight stands. The headlights are Guide 682s with markers and the taillights are original '50 Ford pieces. Door handles are off a '36 Plymouth.
Wheel & Tires
Original 16x4 and 16x5 Ford solids were painted black and wrapped with Coker Firestone 5.00x16 ribbed front and 7.50x16 rear tires.
Interior
The interior is as basic as the exterior. The '36 Ford dash has been dressed with a vintage Stewart Warner panel and engine-turned inserts done by myself in my metal shop class. The gauges are vintage Studebaker with a Radison tach. The steering column and steering wheel are Schroeder items attached to the 8:1 ratio Schroeder Sprint Car steering box. The pedal assembly consists of modified Dagel arms with homemade pedals. The seats are original WWII Weber bomber seats with distressed brown vinyl pads upholstered by Gary Koepnick (Reno, Nevada) to look like the original floatation pads. The seatbelts are original WWII bomber belts. Garren SooHoo wired the car with a Painless Performance panel.