Track Racer

Was doing a little cipherin' on the work bench the other day. I've decided to go with my original plan for the single seat track racer. I want to start gathering up material and parts while I'm still working the side hustle. Also, start fabricating some parts, mostly to get a clear view in my mind how things are going to go together and make sure I can actually find all the parts I'm going to need. Speedway motors has most of the front end parts I'll need. I've got an original Ford beam axle with the wishbone attached. Speedway has spindles, disc brakes and the steering linkage to fit. I got a steering box when I got the axle but I'm not real sure what I've got or the best way to hook things all up.

The original wishbone setup had a single mounting point under the center of the car. The hot rodders would split the wishbone and then later they went to hair pins and four links. I like the looks of the hairpins but the split wishbone would work and be keeping with the period. I'm not going to try and build something "authentic", but back then there was a lot of experimentation and variety so I can deviate from the plan a bit and still have something that will look mostly period. Obviously, making a bunch of "billet" parts would not fit the scheme but I don't have an aluminum foundry at my disposal either. Since there was no TIG welding back then, custom aluminum parts had to be cast rather than fabricated. Those old guys were cracker-jack gas welders, though. If you look at some of the 4 into 1 or 6 into 1 exhausts, you'll see some nice work fitting and welding. Likewise, the cowling on my plans calls for it to be made from four pieces that need to be welded together. Welding that aluminum sheet is not too difficult with TIG, but it's not the easiest thing to gas weld. I've gotten fairly good at it but if I try to gas weld this thing, I'll definitely have to brush up on my skills.

In the photo is the bending die for 3/4" square tubing that I want to use to make the front of the cowling frame out of. The back will be taller and have a rounded profile all the way around on the top instead of just rounded corners. I'll have to think about how to get a nice smooth bend - probably make a form and bend it around that. But that's why I like to sleep on it before jumping in. My problem is always that when I sleep on it I turn into Rip Van Winkle.

Also in the photo is a piece for the exercise bike at the gym. The little guys get on the bike and take the seat adjuster bolt out. Rather than putting it back in the lowest position, they'll lay it down somewhere and then I have to go search for it. I couldn't find it at all last time I wanted to use the bike, so I just made a quickie one up. I turned down a piece of all thread on one end. I'll take it to the gym and see how much thread I need to screw it into the bike, then weld the nut in the proper location, weld a bar on the end to make it easy to turn, and then keep it in my gym bag. If no one has found the original by the time I get in there next time, I'll make another one to keep with the bike.