1320 and The Devil's Advocate

Just noticed the casting on the bottom of the block. Does that say Hi Performance? Joe what's that mean? 4 bolt main? or nothing.

I was just sitting here and thinking about this 33 Dodge. For some reason I really like this build. I think it may be from the reclaimed parts I'm using that came from stuff I had collected or friends. I think it was Bill Ryan that posted about a budget beater for under 2K. If it could be done? I think so. I'm lucky enough to have alot of stock piled hot rod junk. Stuff I've collected over the years. I was also talking to Vickers and he said he had around $650.00 in his 26 he just built. I have a little more than that but not much.
Not to sound too sappy but builds like this is when you really understand where the club helps you out. We take care of each other and if we are not swapping parts for free then it's at cost. To tell you the truth I have a hard time keeping up with what I get out of the club in cheap or freebie stuff. I always try to give back and help my fellow club members out as much as they help me and I hope others see this. I guess another mans junk is another mans treasure. Swapping parts and doing what we do helps everyone. There is no way I could have did this Dodge without the help in parts I've gotten.

Run down of some parts.

33 Dodge body ~ traded a couple guns I had for it last year.

Frame ~ I had one stick of 2X4 steel and had to buy another to get it finished.

1 1/4 " square tubing ~ I had in stock.

Chrome drop axle ~ came off Ryan's 23 T Bucket project

Front brakes, drums baking plates ect~ Came from Jim Wethington's 32 Ford pick up when he change over to disk.

Front suspension ~ Some of it I had from old project, Wethington had a little and some was bought new through Speedway.

Steering box ~ Steering box and column came from Bill Ryan's 36 Olds Project.

Back Steelie rims ~ came from Steve Vickers.

Pie crust WWW slicks ~ came off Amy's 57 wagon when we sold it to a guy in Finland.

Moon Tank ~ Came off Amy's 57 Chevy.

8.5 Carrier so I can run a steeper gear came from JohnnyB

One front rim ~ came from Riggs

The other front rim came from Steve Vickers

Angle iron for the radiator support Steve Vickers

454 and trans ~ Came out of my old work truck that Randy Turner has.

Radiator ~ Out of my old truck.

BBC Headers ~ Came from Joe so I could get the flanges off of them.

Rearend ~ Extra f body rearend I had for my 'Bird.

Master cylinder, pedal and bracket~ left over from an old project.

Battery tray ~ came from Jeff MCgahay

Spring plates from JohnnyB

Battery ~ I had laying around from an old car.

Day 13
Memorial day weekend so I have been hanging around the house. Not much work going on.
I was needing some u bolts and spring plates. Johnny dropped off a set. The u bolts where too short but the plates will work. This will keep my rearend planted untill I get the rear suspension on it at a later date. I ordered the rest of my steering and front end parts and I'm hoping they will be here Tuesday or Wensday.

Day 14
Worked for a little bit this morning. I got the master cylinder bracket and pedal set up put on. I still have to cut the pedal and weld on my tab for my pedal rubber but I'll wait untill I get the floor boards weled in. I put the front wheels back on so it's back to a roller and figured out where my radiator will be mounted and how.

Admin wrote:Day 13
Memorial day weekend so I have been hanging around the house. Not much work going on.

Um... please tell me I didn't sleep right through the summer!! I think you might need to get an hour or two of sleep in!

Anyway... Looks great Steve. Good documentation. Thanks for sharing. Cant wait to see more and see it on the strip!

I sleep a couple hours at night and if I'm lucky a couple in the day. No wonder I never know what day it is.

I was sitting here thinking of problems I myself have had since starting this build.
Lets see. I cought my shirt on fire while I was wearing it with the sparks from a grinder.
I have had two times where stuff got in my eyes. Nothing major I got it out
I have been burned while wearing welding gloves that have the thumb on one and and the index figure on the other burned out of them. So I grab a hot piece and forget about the holes in the gloves.
Had the body hanging from the rafter with some rachet straps and I released one that was under preasuer and it snagged the inside of my finger and sliced it.
had a cut off wheel break and pieces of it got me in the leg.
I was drilling a piece of 1/4" plate with a hand drill and it ripped the steel out of my hand and flipped it into my ribs and give me a cut.
The next day like a dummy I did the same thing only to get cought this time between the legs. Yeah I went down.
Insides of my arms look like a junky from all the welding splatter.
That not as bad as the big piece of hot slag that fell into my shoe while I was welding. That was fun!
Had to pull some wire out of my chest from where I was wire wheeling the frame and the wires where shooting off the wheel. By the way catching one in the nipple really hurts.
Cuts here and there, burns and a nasty bruise on my leg from what I have no idea. This is from me being safe. I wear a face shield when I'm cutting or grinding and always wear gloves. Just think if I didn't watch what I was doing. lol.

NICE!!

your a craftsman my friend lookin good u even helped with the monte a few hours i took away from your project all i can say is a big thank u u need a hand ill b their awsum budget builder

it is some nice work looking good :0

Thanks guys. There are some rough pieces that you can see such as the brackets and stuff. Those will be cleaned up later. Ground into some kind of shape. Some stuff I can't get to so it's easier to weld what I can and get everything mocked up and then go back and clean everything up.
It won't be so ratty looking when I get done with her. The goal though is to get it moving under it's own power and being able to stop and steer. Then I can worry about breaking her down and cleaning stuff up in between beating the eyeballs out of her.

cool.... is that the motor that was in the 58/

jbs10 wrote:cool.... is that the motor that was in the 58/

Yeap..

Cratethis wrote:Um... please tell me I didn't sleep right through the summer!! I think you might need to get an hour or two

Hah ahha ... It took me a minute to even catch what you wrote. After rereading it this morning I cought it. Yea I may need to get a little more sleep before I post stuff. I fixed it.

It's been neat to see how this car is coming together. Steve you do great work.

How far are you gonna lay the front axle back? I noticed the spindles are on the opposite side from normal with the arms facing forward.. It can work but it will change the inclanation on them and make it handle a little quirky...Just throwing it out there? I like to have mine kicked back between 7 to 10 degrees if you can get 10 that rocks.. Looks killer

The spindles would have worked the other way but there wasn't much room to run between the hair pins. If for some reason it did grab traction and got the weight off the spring I was worried it would smack the frame with that 800 pound pig of an engine crashing back down. I have 7 in it now just using the perch and will be adjusting it with the hair pins, curtis rods or whatever you want to call them for more. I was wanting to go further back with the perch but it looked funny to me sitting way back. With the hair pins you can adjust them almost anywhere. I will go back to 10 and if it feels right I may go back 2 more. It's going to be running in a straight line all the time so a little snap back of the wheel may help if the rearend gets sideways. I'll have the tools to dial it in at the track. First time out will be nothing more than suspension tuning.

LAy that puppy back..keep up the speedy work....

Day 15
I have a few radiators but I'm not sure they would keep the 454 cool. I didn't want to go through the hassle of making mounts and putting in something I'm not sure will work. This big 4 core is almost new and will work great. One problem, it won't fit up front. That's fine with me. We will toss it over the back wheels. Little more weight off the front and into the back.
I got a little bit done before I ran into another snag.


I welded 2 pieces of angle across the frame for a bottom sill for the radiator.

I bought a few extra cut off disk. I went through them trying to get a notch cut for the radiator. I ended up binding them and sent them flying into pieces. I did manage to get the notches done but couldn't make the rest of the mount for it because I had no more disk.

It's only been 2 months since this engine was running but I'm like a little kid wanting to hear it fire.


It started and shot a bunch of transmission fluid all over the floor. After I walked around to the other side I seen the oil. I forgot that there was no gauge hooked up so it shot oil from the open sending unit hole all over the ground too. I guess that's what I get for not waiting. lol

Since I didn't have any cut off disk I went ahead and changed the fuel pump. It was bad and I had a new one in the box sitting on the shelf.

Day 16
I am trying to find stuff to do now. I have to wait on mail order parts so not much can be done. I worked on the fake Moon tank for a little bit and then started on the back door. When I raised the wheel well up it sent everything out of wack. I had to chop the door to match the wheel well.


I managed to get the door cut after taking a little off at a time to make sure I didn't over do it.

Alot of stitch welding. It becomes a game to see if you can get a decent weld without finding a weak or thin spot.

As you can tell it won't be a 4 door when it's all said and done. Loosing that center bar makes me pretty happy. I always wanted to do that to my 34 that Vickers has now.

The hard part about making the back a one piece window is that the top doesn't go straight across. I had to cut out the pillar and then pie cut the sheet metal and pull it up so it would go straight across.


Spot welded in.

I tossed on the front door just to make sure my welds wouldn't mess with the front door closing right. I wish I had a nicer door. This door is off of a 33 Dodge truck. It's the same as a car other than the top of the door is rounded off on the corner. I'll just make the other side match this one.

nice ....so is thir a finish date. u inpired me to get back on the truck me and gage got it yeserday and brout it to the house so i can get something done.....keep the pic comeing
;;;;be safe scrounger;;;;;;;;;;

out of all of the builds i have seen you do I LIKE THIS ONE THE MOST..... second would have to be the 36 truck