Clarke Hot Rods » Project Updates

A Timeless Hot Rod Chassis – Updated

Clarke — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:51:57 +0000

It seems like lately the hot rod hobby is being inundated with all these “period correct” rules and regulations, and our shop is no different. We get so caught up in building cars that represent and “era” or even a specific year “1948″, that we lose sight of what is really important: build a hot rod that is fast, basic, dependable, and drivable. We used to have a saying around here that we build cars you drive 80 in the left lane….and this is one of those cars.

We were asked to build this chassis for Bobby Lynch with a pretty simple request and a long leash – Bobby wanted a nice tight car, with a killer stance, big ‘n littles, stick axles front and rear, chrome and polish everything, a big-inch flatmotor, and 3 pedals. Here is the start of that – our standard 106″ chassis, chrome I-beam, chrome ‘pins, 9″ on four bars….more to follow….

Baer’s New 5window Project

Clarke — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:30:34 +0000

We have done a few projects for Shawn Baer over the years – you have all seen the sanitary little ‘31 on deuce rails from a few years back – well Baer is back to the table for another project. This time is is a flathead Ford powered ‘32 5w, 3speed, closed drive, ‘40 rear, unsplit bone, ‘40 brakes, etc. We are doing some out of the box things to dress the frame up a bit – We aren’t boxing the frame, only small sections near the crossmember to tighten those areas up a bit, and will follow up with some rivets for good measure. We’ve pancaked a ‘37 rear crossmember since this car will not be running a Quick-change, and a few more trick touches down the road – stay tuned….

A Doane Spencer Style ‘32 Chassis for Barry Hilderbrand – UPDATED 12/22

Clarke — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:56:29 +0000

In the last few years, the guys up at the Rolling Bones shop in New York have taken an old idea and worked it back into style. The ‘Bones guys took the Doane Spencer ‘32 front suspension setup, and put their own spin on it, and have put some really great looking hot rods on the street in the last few years. The basic idea that Spencer had was to place the spring behind the axle, and mount the spring perches to the wishbones. This lowers the front of the car dramatically, without dropping the axle. The axle is pushed forward just slightly, lengthening the wheelbase, but keeping the axle behind the chin of the grille shell. The front frame horns are pinched about 10″ from the cowl, allowing the frame rails to follow the bottom of the hood sides, and disappearing into the grille shell at the front.

Here are some early shots of the Hilderbrand’s frame going together in our shop -

Joe Mialki’s A-V8 Chassis Underway –

Clarke — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:54:28 +0000

This is a new project, a ‘32 frame, with the pinchwork for a model A body. Instead of pinching the frame drastically, we re-contour the rails themselves, before any boxing or cross members are added. This chassis will be receiving a ‘31 coupe body, with a 59A flathead, 3 speed, closed drive with a Rodsville quickchange -

Edsel’s Model 40 Speedster – version 2.0

Clarke — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:28:41 +0000

We are pleased to announce that we will be particiapating in the build of this incredible car. The original Model 40 Speedster was built by Edsel Ford in in 1934, and was recently sold at the Amelia Island Concourse – Info on the original can be found here, Edsel’s Model 40 Speedster. The below rendering is of the new car – which will be based on a ‘34 Ford passenger car frame. Several clever modifications will be reproduced, as Edsel did before, including an aggressive pinch to the front frame horns, as well as flipping the rear portion of the chassis to facilitate the underslung rear suspension…. more details to come…