Cadillac in a Ford?

One of the earliest parts of the Gow Cart project was the mill. In this case it's a Cadillac motor, in a Ford. A lot of folks out there ask me why I would choose the engine for an early ford car.

"Why not a Flathead?"

"Did you think about a Y block?"

"What about a 302 Small Block?"

All valid questions, sure. For the Flathead, I've already got one in the '49 Ford. It's been a great engine for the size, but the price for doing another one, I'd rather have something with a lot more power in a Hot Rod. Y-Blocks are pretty cool, but I don't think they are any cheaper to build up than an early OHV Cadillac motor, not to mention finding vintage speed parts for these beasts. And to the the small block 302 fans, well, I just can't do it in a model A with the focus on the mill. I can't argue with the readily available parts and the cost associated with them, but I think there is a lack of style that comes along with just a plain old 302. I just always associate that engine with a Mustang, which conjures a completely different era of cars.

The Cadillac 390 was introduced in 1959 which was essentially a stroked and bored version of it's original first OHV Cadillac motor, the 331, in 1949. Much like the Flathead it shared the center exhaust ports so you only have three exhaust manifold tubes coming out. I don't know what it is I like about seeing that in old Hemis, Desotos, Olds Rockets and Flatheads, but it gets my blood pumping and screams vintage mill!

The thing I love about the Cadillacs of that time period, outside of the loud American styling was the fact that people were in love with cars and many music artists sang songs about Cadillacs owning the road. Folks like Chuck Berry, Doc Starkes & the Nite Riders, Tex Rubinowitz, The Howlin' Wolf, Hugo Peretti, The Spaniels and more contemporary: Brian Stetzer and many more all have songs about Cadillacs.

It's hard to imagine that a 20+ foot long car was a race car to the folks of yesteryear. In todays terms these cars weren't that fast, but when you are comparing a Flathead that is generating 90 HP, stock in 1949 vs a Cadillac 331 spinning out a torquey 325 HP, stock you can see why it would be the natural choice for a kid building a Hotrod, if he could get his hands on a fresh junkyard crash (or a stolen car!) It takes a lot of HP to push around that kind of steel and chrome on a Cadillac!

Besides the fact I was able to pick and pull a Cadillac 390 for the Gow Cart, it's got some history and some advantages that an early rodder would want pushing their roadster down the road.

Frame Progress

Well, you have to start somewhere, and the frame is probably the best place to get things going. The search is always on for parts, but it was time to get things rolling on the frame work of this project.

This frame was picked up in Illinois, just a few miles from the border of Iowa. It's an orginal straight model A 28-29 frame.

Step one was to knock out all the old rivets on the cross members for the front and center. Then begin filling those old holes.

A wire wheel and a sanding disk or two revealed the metal under 80 years of rust.

A big task on these old frames is filling up the old holes. There are a ton of them on the top, sides and bottom. I didn't even bother to count, just got down to business. The small holes can be filled by welding with a copper piece to back it, while the larger holes need some sort of filler. A fender washer works well for this.

Here is a larger hole filled with a fender washer and ground flat

Never Never knew there was an 1 1/2" hole here!

Here is the side of the frame with the holes filled.

The old front cross member that was cracked was replaced with a new Model A styled cross member courtesy of Ionia Hot Rods

After as much clean up on the frame that could be done by hand I had the frame blasted to get all the nooks and crannies. After a fresh coat of weld through primer, I started boxing the frame back to front.

The boxing plates are welded in here with clean up left to do.

Heres where two plates came together. It was v'ed on the edges to sink the weld in better. More clean up grinding left to do.

Made some quick gussets for the rear member to the boxing plate. I dunno that it helps all that much but it can't hurt. Passenger side.

Here's a better look at the boxed frame from the inside.

Wanted to finish the box to the other side of the front cross member, but not the whole horn so I did a little looking around to come up with this idea which mimics the curve of the horn tip.

Had to do a bunch of relief cuts to get the curve correct. Here it's roughed out. I sandwiched both sides together then cut away for symmetry.

Here it is all welded in place.

Cut up a small part of my old center cross member to get a nice radius piece to fit at the end of the boxing plate and the front cross member.

the piece worked well with some finessing and grinding.

A quick shot of primer shows the front horn grinding. I may not need much body filler!

Here is the grafted in radius piece ground and primed.

-Up next, Engine mounts and center member.

Dash inspiration!

Not that I have any components to make an IP like this, but look and marvel at the beauty of the mid thirties automobiles! The upper from a 1936 Ford Roadster brings the dash to the floor and the lower photo shows a star burst pattern on a panel which is a great showcase for some nice instrumentation. I'm planning a more simple 1935 Ford dash for the Gow Cart and while looking at ideas I came across these and just had to make mention of it. Plans still coming together in my head.

THANK YOU: SPADES Motor Club!

They are on they're way! Send me pics of what they end up on will ya?

Baby, it's cold outside!

Basically since the body made it back from Texas, there's been a slow in the whole process of moving forward. I could blame it on a few things: Jobs, Lack of money, Holidays, baby, the autorama display, personal promotional projects, and the list goes on. I think the major contributor is the lack of space to work on it. The speed barn is very small when it's all said and done and if I had a place to store the '49 Ford in the meanwhile, I probably could at least start mocking up part of it.

What I really need to get further along is are tires and much of the front end. I have an axle and a wishbone to split, but no spindles or brakes or backing plates. Those would help me much MUCH more. So, if you have a lead on anyone ditching a '37-'41 Ford front end, give me a holla!

In the meanwhile, bask in the joy of a '51 GMC chopped truck by fellow Detroit Road Devil Dave. It's in primer now, but I'm kinda fond of the banana cream color that it is! But don't get too attached to it, it will be flat black again soon.

GOW Cart Support patch is here!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT! The GOW CART is a pet project of mine that I hope to get off the ground in about 2-5 years total. It started with a rear axle and it's come further than I expected in a short while with many helpful hands and folks out there who want to see a good old Hot Rod on the road. But, like every project, it doesn't come without a dollar sign put to it. The plan is to build a traditional style 1929 Highboy Roadster on model A rails but lowered with a drop axle and Z'ed in the frame and a lot of rubber raking. I know there are a lot of good folks out there with parts just sitting around their garages collecting rust and dust all at the same time, so here is your opportunity to get those old "door stops" put to good use! This isn't a "rat rod"! In fact most of us who are younger who are building cars HATE that term. It is a low budget Hot Rod, but trust me, it will be nice. No billet anything, just good ol' parts for a good old A bomb. That's all. So are you interested in helping this poor boy out? What I'm looking for is a small donation. It can be parts, it can be spare change, it can be leads on parts. I'll take what I can get at this point! What I'm offering right now is a bad ass oval patch (seen above) This Car-N-Art designed 4.25" x 3" oval patch is fully embroidered and ready to be stitched. Here is you chance to grab one up for yourself no matter where you are in the world. Only $7 plus $1.50 shipped within USA. Orders outside the USA, please contact me for best rates on shipping. All proceeds go to this car and this car build alone! This isn't a scheme to get rich, it's just to get a jalopy on the road. Down the road I will also be offering support T-shirts, Patches, and Posters that will be associated with the project that will be in the same form of donation that will help this project along, but right now I gotta move a few stickers first! Keven Carter PO BOX 172 Clawson MI 48017 United States

Gow Cart Support!

Coming up in a short while you too can show your support for the Gow Cart Project. The Gow Cart Patch is the one on top, the sticker is below. Lord knows I could use some help here! Just putting 2000+ miles on the truck, the gas alone was $300! So any help is appreciated. Stay tuned for the Patch launch, probably in time for Christmas.

There already are stickers for sale here:

$2 for a Gow Cart Sticker

Or send check or money order to:

Keven Carter PO BOX 172

Clawson MI 48017 United States

Body Snatachers

In some strange way I feel like building this hot rod is just retrieving the parts that have been scattered to the four corners of the USA and bringing them back to where they came from, right here in Detroit. These pieces were meant to be together and I'm just a facilitator in doing so.

Catching you up to date on what has been recovered:

The Engine for the Gow Cart was the first piece in this big old puzzle and it was recovered deep in the middle of Tennessee back in 2004 pulled from an old Cadillac by my wife and I about a week after we were married. 

The Chassis is currently a 30-31 frame that was recovered in Illinois, approximately 10 miles from the Iowa border.

The Rear axle (48 Ford Truck, banjo rear end) was recovered with help from my friend Jason in Michigan. That was an easy one.

Now, the body is next. 1929 Sport Coupe which will be used as the base for a roadster. It's a long haul but this one has been target practice for kids way down in Texas for years now and tomorrow, right after Thanksgiving dinner, Hyman and I are hitting the road to bring this Original Detroit Tin home. 18 hours straight through. 

The body is in the hands of fellow Road Devil Woody from the Tornado Alley chapter. 

Stay Tuned for updates because this is looking like it's gonna be one crazy ass trip.