January 20 - February 11, 2016
Our big project for 2016 is to build a Ford Hot Rod. We (my brother Larry and his triplet 16-year-old boys) started by researching different build approaches. We looked at the traditional Frankenstein approach - building something from a bunch of different parts from catalogs like Speedway motors. This is the buy a frame, find the body parts and hope they fit the frame, head to the pull it scrap yard for window tracks - you get the idea. So you build a car just like Dr. Frankenstein. We also investigated a kit from Factory Five Racing. This is a kit using the latest engineering techniques to provide a frame, and all the parts except for the engine, trans, rear suspension, wheels and tires.We were so surprised when we compared the two approaches and found the cost was better for the engineered to be built as a kit much cheaper (about 25%). It also comes with a build manual, forums, and telephone support. Of course, you can swap out kit parts for upgrades and customization. So we will have plenty of opportunities to make it our own design and build.
Our initial idea was a 1932 roadster, but after our research, we went with the Factory Five 1933 Coupe.
1932 Ford Roadster
1933 Ford Coupe
link to the Factory Five web site
Even before buying the kit we needed to do some planning. Big questions still needed to be answered. Will it be for the drag strip, race track, ultra high performance, a Sunday driver or a daily driver? What would be our budget and where should we spend it? What engine and drive chain did we want to go with? New parts, or a donor car?
Excellent discussions, good back and forth, internet investigations, even going one Saturday to a performance race car building show, and certainly our share of flip flopping.
Next post I will summarize our decisions and initial actions.
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