Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 What will we do when we run out of old cars?

photo from web.

Hopefully not this!

The supply of old cars is diminishing. Choice models have been the first to go. 

However, Hot Rodders are known for their resourcefulness.

It didn't take long for certain parts to be reproduced. Frames, chassis parts, and bodies for early Fords. 

This makes it possible to build reproductions of classic Hot Rods using entirely new parts.

It also makes it much more expensive. Most cars are a mix of original refurbished parts and new repop parts. 

Builders also started to select unpopular, seldom modified, candidates. Most cars of a certain period look much the same, and are built in a similar manner. For example, someone might choose to build a '32 Studebaker or Hupmobile because they found one in good shape at a good price. 

The Dare to be Different mantra is said to demonstrate this trend. After all, things have to be kept affordable.

Sometimes this can lead to rather bizarre avenues of expression. 

Occasionally a builder tries to build a classic open wheel rod out of a modified "late model' vehicle.

Or they will attempt to mount an early body on a modern chassis. It can be done with a full fendered or '50's car body, but it usually fails with an open wheel type design. This was discussed in my Excalibur post. 

Just look at that Miata in the first photo. The builder wanted an open wheel look, but the front axle position remained as original.

First up I want to say that I don't blame anyone for trying to build something cool on the cheap. That is my philosophy after all! 

I actually considered building one.

Let me introduce you to Joe Pinkston's Z Rod concept.

The Z Rod (for Z28 ) was built out of a shortened body tub of a '70-'81 Camaro. The roof is cut off. The front subframe is extended, and a special fiberglass tilting hood replaces the existing hood and fenders. Reinforcements are added to the floor and door openings and the outer door sheet metal is welded into the assembly. The rear seat now becomes the only seating. 

This "cut down"rod is equipped with a "suicide front axle" 
 that sits ahead of the front cross member.
(This is actually my old hot rod project completed by the new owner.)

At least Joe got the proportions right. The front frame rails position the axle up front with the radiator. The shortened body gives it a "bobbed" appearance. As you can imagine, performance would be quite good. 

This concept sounded pretty appealing when old Camaros were a dime a dozen. The days of 200 dollar old Camaros passed years ago, actually just as Joe started promoting this idea. 

He was selling VHS tapes that documented the stages of the construction process. I was curious how all this was accomplished, so I sent away for both tapes. Joe offered this advice," keep these tapes away from your kids, or they may have this thing built before you get home from work! 

It wasn't quite that easy!

He was also planning on selling modified bodies as builder's kits. Buying an already shortened and welded up body tub seemed like the best idea. 

Another take on the concept. 

This process required a lot of cutting and structural welding. A DIY guy that wasn't a proficient welder would need to find someone to do the work. This might not have been a problem for a guy doing his own work, or in non litigious Texas, but try finding someone willing to do the work in California! There was just too much liability.

I went around talking to several welding shops in my area, and they weren't too keen on the idea! They recommended contacting a shop that fabricated limousines, as they were familiar with stretching unit bodied vehicles. However, I couldn't find a limo builder in my neighborhood. 

Custom Rodder magazine became somewhat enamored with the concept and carried a story on the Z Rod. That's where I learned of it. I wrote to Joe for an information kit. He sent an article reprinted from an Australian Rodder magazine. 

I was also pretty jazzed up on the idea at first. I considered building one as a demonstrator, then becoming a dealer and selling kits through various swap meets. However it seemed that the project fizzled out with Joe, before I ever got that far along with my plans. 

Was there ever any real merit to the concept? 

It depends. If you could do all the work yourself you could end up with something that was "unique." However these Camaros started going up in value and a donor vehicle was no longer such a bargain. 

Was the finished car something that was functional, appealing, and attractive? Well, as an open car you'd probably compare it to something like a kit "T Bucket." With no opening doors or top. It would likely be much more comfortable and I daresay, even a bit safer. Would it be financially feasible? 

That also depends on your cost for the donor and the ability to build it yourself. The kit parts, which were  primarily the fiberglass hood and frame extensions were not too expensive. 

Would it be "safe?" Truthfully, if safety is a real concern, any classic Hot rod wouldn't be a good choice. People today take it for granted that a car will protect them in a collision. These will not.

At least the VHS videos were not too pricey! 

The whole concept is something that was never really going to be too practical. It was not an idea ahead of it's time, or one who's time had come and gone. It's more of an idea that never made a whole lot of sense from the get go. 

Joe attended the 1998 Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour West.

But, it was fun to think about it!

What appealed to me was that it was fresh thinking applied to an old problem. Hot Rod resourcefulness is applied to move in a new direction, a possibly lower cost direction. So many components were modified and reused in the build. Kinda like in the Old Days. 

A question that my Son suggested  also occurred to me. "Wouldn't it just be easier to buy a Mustang GT convertible?" That is also a compact, high performance, open air vehicle. Is the Z Rod any better, or is it just "different" and possibly inferior?

I guess that it depends on your point of view.

A few examples of this type of altered car have been built out of other models. The bodies were shortened and narrowed to fit between the rear wheels. I saw one example of a mid '50's vehicle at a Good Guys show years ago. These were built out of body on frame vehicles, not unibodies like a Camaro, Mustang, or Miata.

The design of the Camaro sub frame makes it suitable for this type of conversion. Camaro "clips" had been adapted to hot rods for years prior to this. 

Maybe I should keep my eyes open for an old beat up Camaro. The only proprietary parts in the kit were the sub frame extensions and the fiberglass hood. Everything else is just chopped up Camaro. And I've still got those two VHS tapes to illustrate the process!