New Racer

With the arrival of the new spiffy valve cover for the slant-six project I've been thinking about what I actually want to build to put it in. My original plan was to go with the design like the car below.

This car and one that I saw at the Speedway Museum appear to have been built off the plans I have. They're both beautiful cars with from what I saw, flawless craftsmanship. However, upon reflection, perhaps it would be better if I built something more like this one:

It's pretty much the same era but with a different spring arrangement - longitudinal as opposed to transverse - but more importantly, it's a two seater rather than a solo racer. It's not like I'm going to need a riding mechanic but by the time I get this thing finished at my age I might not be able to drive it. It'd be nice to at least have someone drive me around in it. I can't see the design change adding much to the cost or the difficulty of construction. I do like the set-back on the passenger seat to give the driver more room for steering.

Whatever I decide upon, I need to know the length of the engine compartment for the slant six to locate the cockpit. Once I figure that out I can draw up a print for the frame rails and start making engine mounts, crossmembers, etc. I'm planning on running a roll bar that will bolt to the outside of the frame rails. I'll make some tube bushings to install in the frame rails that will allow me to tighten up the roll bar bolts without squeezing the tubing together.

I've got a lot planned for myself with all these projects but if I stick with the plan of working in the shop a couple of hours daily, it'll all get done.