High School Hot Rodding
Way out in Kalispell, Mont., in the auto shop of Flathead High School, students are gaining significant ground on a long-ongoing hot rod project. It’s a ’28 Model A.
In this day and age when hands-on high school industrial arts courses are fading in favor of computer-based technical teachings, one group of youngsters is quite fortunate to still have auto shop.
Way out here in Kalispell, Mont., in the auto shop of Flathead High School, students are gaining significant ground on a long-ongoing hot rod project. It’s a ’28 Model A Tudor. If you’ve been with us, you may recall the Class of 2023 as they rebuilt a proper-fit GM rear end to replace one that had some issues.
If, by chance, you missed it, the Tudor body is perched upon Model A rails. Since Flathead High School’s auto shop and metal shop share the same big building, the frame was beefed up and boxed right here by students. The project’s suspension is pretty straightforward hot rod stuff: 4-inch-drop I-beam, buggy-sprung via hairpins, coilovers, hairpins and Panhard rod out back.
This year’s focus will shift toward cosmetics. At the time of this typewriting, students are down to things such as glass installation, impending “haircut” (yes, they’ll chop the top) and if I happen to have my own way, they’ll do their first flame job, too. Apart from those things, there’s only one more mandatory refinement required.
To this point, the Tudor’s temporary rollers are dated chromed wheels with “baby moons” and all-too-familiar white-letter radial tires. The inappropriate ’70s rollers are killing this poor little hot rod! More than anything, it needs proper ’50s/’60s-flavor wheels and tires.
As word got around, folks learned of the auto shop’s needs. Tires might come easily, as our good friends Dave and Connor Welles have offered a near-new set of Coker Firestone bias whitewalls. Sizes 8.20 and 5.60-15 are perfect for this car. To get ’em here from Santa Cruz, Calif., there’s already a relay in motion.
For wheels, teacher Mr. Hunter and his volunteer rodding instructors agreed that steelies would best fit the bill. Still, looking to save a buck, we’ll experiment with some wrecking yard rollers first.
A friend out here has offered ’54-’56 Chevy wheels. They’re 15x5 inchers with the popular 5x4.75 bolt pattern, and they fit the rear just fine. Up front, however, existing disc brake rotors have the equally popular 5x4.5 bolt pattern. Mr. Hunter isn’t keen on adapters, and since we’d have to buy ’em anyway, that’s not a favored option.
Try as we might, our wrecking yard rollers just aren’t working out. Even if it’s purely for entertainment, we’ll go ahead and illustrate the struggle before the final fix.
Most importantly, this is about the auto shop students. On the side, it’s also about the preservation of hot rod tradition and our beloved old car hobby in general. If one or two of these youngsters get it, and better yet, take to it, we’ll consider our yearly mission accomplished.
SOURCES
Wheelsmith
800-854-8937
thewheelsmith.net
Coker Tire
877-861-2696
cokertire.com
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