Punky Manor - Vintage Stock Car - Tribute Build

Getting it There...

In my blog posts on the Punky Manor Tribute Build up to this point I have focused on the race car itself. Eventually I will need to figure out how to haul the car to the race tracks and various car shows in the area.

I only have a couple of pictures of Punky's car haulers that he used back in the day. The first one is a mid 50's yellow Ford with the Torino on back. The other hauler that He used for the rest of his racing career was an early 70's white Ford.

The White Ford hauler I remember fairly well as I rode in it to a couple different races. At that time it had a regular two-door cab on it. Sometime after that, the cab/truck was extended to have four-doors. 

When I first started out on the planning for the Tribute Torino, I thought It would be nice to find or build a dedicated long-frame race car hauler that was common back in the 70's.

I did a few searches and found what I thought were a couple of good candidates. Then I started to wonder what I would use the race car hauler for in the off-season? There is also the issue of storing a fairly large vehicle when not in use?

After thinking about it a bit more, I started to explore a 2nd more practical option. I think it might be a better option to find and fix up an early 70's Ford truck and then buy an open stock car trailer. That way I could use the Ford truck as a daily driver and when needed, use it for both hauling the race car on the trailer and to do our mural painting projects.

So, I have started to look for both an early 70's Ford Pickup in decent shape and a 2-axle open car trailer. I would really like to find a 1970 - 1972 Ford Pickup and a trailer that is set up already with a tire rack. But I may need to lower my expectations a bit!

Well, that's the plan for getting the race car to the track. With some luck and perhaps some help from friends, I can locate a good truck and trailer option for the Tribute Build.

Thanks for visiting....take care

  

Punky Manor - Vintage Stock Car - Tribute Build

Build Exploration...Part 5

In the 5th installation of the Design Exploration of the Punky Manor - Tribute stock car build, I would like to discuss the remaining elements of the project. I'm sure I will touch on many other design aspects during the build, but I can expand on those when I get to each element.

I would like to talk a little bit about vintage stock car aesthetics past and present and what is driving me to make certain design decisions. 

Back in the early 70's dirt track racing was a lot less complex then it is now. You could go out and get a full frame 2-door car and weld in a set of roll bars and tweak the chassis a bit. Then drop in a high torque big block engine, a 3 or 4-speed transmission, and a low-gear rearend and you were pretty much ready to race. There was a few dedicated race car builders back in the day, but a lot of people built their own cars back then.

The cars were usually built on a tight budget and the finishes were usually not very high-end. Wheel wells were cut larger by hand and not always all that straight. Rectangular tire-rub tubing was often used to keep the body panels in place. By the end of the year, the bodies usually looked like they had seen a lot of tight racing!

I have seen vintage race car builds that use elements or finishes that are too modern and end up taking away from the overall vintage appeal. When vinyl lettering is installed on a vintage race car it places the car in the present because vinyl was not used on any 70's race cars! The same happens with modern wheels and tires. I know some of these parts are very hard to find but some builders go to the extra trouble, and it shows in the end.

Everyone builds their cars to the best of their abilities, and I am not trying to say what I am doing here is the best approach. I am just hoping that when people see this particular completed dirt track race car, that it transports them back to that era.

Here are a few more areas I am exploring design direction on...

Engine

Back in the era when Punky drove race cars, most people were running Big Block engines. Most modern dirt track race cars run Small Block engines. It would be much easier to find and build a small block for this Tribute car but I would prefer a large cubic inch engine. In this case, something with a "four" in it's name....427, 428, 429, or 460 cubic inches.

Exhaust

 

One of the things I remember most about Punky's Torino Late Model was the exhaust system. He used what were called back then "180 degree" headers. They are also referred to as crossover headers. Basically, it is a set of exhaust headers that wrap up over the back of the engine and go through the firewall and run down and out the lower bottom of the passenger side door. I might have to build my own set, but I will be using this exhaust set-up on the Tribute Car!

Wheels

I am still trying to decide what wheels I would like to use. Back in the early 70's it seems like there was a wide variety of different steel and aluminum wheels being used. Sometime truck hubs were used, "wide 5" style hubs were also used back then. A quite a few cars back then started using aluminum slot style wheels. I will most likely have two sets of tires, so I think I will just buy a different style wheel for each set of tires.

Tires

I remember Punky and several other drivers running McCreary brand tires back in the day. However, in 1992 McCreary changed it's name to Specialty Tires of America. In 1994 Specialty Tires of America introduced the American Racer brand. I thought that I would be forced to buy a set of "new" tires which I felt would greatly affect the overall vintage appeal. Luckily I was able to locate 7 vintage McCreary racing tires and will be using them on the race car and the tire rack of the hauler.

Interior

There are a couple of things I need to do in the interior of the car to replicate Punky's original Torino race car. One is to close off the rear seat area with sheet metal or more likely aluminum. The other is to fabricate and install a black vinyl cover that snaps into place over the entire passenger side seating area. I remember this cover having chrome snaps so that it could be easily removable in order to have easy access to that area.

This is a scale stock car model chassis which shows the area I am looking to cover...

  

I would like to use a vintage seat but may need to use a more modern one in case I want to compete in the Vintage race car series. 

I will also need to find a set of vintage looking gauges. I am still trying to decide on using the black or white faced gauges. The older ones were mostly black but the white ones are more visible. I guess it depends on whether I do much actual racing with the car?

Differential

One other thing I would like to find and install in the Torino Tribute car is a Quick-change rearend. These types of differentials have an easy to access set of gears that allow you to quickly change gear ratios. I remember pulling the back plate off from Punky's Quick-Change a few times and filling it back up with 80-90W gear lube.

So that rounds out the 5 part series on design and build exploration. There are a lot more decisions to be made along the way and I'm sure there will be changes to the above menu list.

These types of projects kind of take on a life of their own once you get rolling. I will try and document things in greater detail once I get to each specific area of the build.

Next up we will look at some new parts that I have purchased. More prep work ahead!

Take care, Thanks.

Punky Manor - Vintage Stock Car - Tribute Build

Build Exploration...Part 4

In this blog I would like to discuss another element of the design thinking behind the Tribute Torino Build, the paint job!

There are many different approaches to building a vintage stock car. I have seen some of these race cars built using old methods and techniques, keeping the appearance very period correct. Then I have also seen some who build their cars using current technology, tools and finishes.

One area where these differences can be noticed is in how a car is painted. Over the past 40 years, automotive paint finishes have changed dramatically. Back when Punky built the original Torino, Basecoat - Clearcoat paint systems were not yet in use. Basecoat paint systems were first used in the late 70’s and were too expensive initially to be used on anything but high-end automobiles.

Having used both types of paint myself over the past 40 years, I can tell the difference between a single-stage (acrylic enamel) and the new Basecoat Clearcoat (urethane) finishes. The question is, whether or not I want it to look like the original paint job or something that might look relatively new?

Since I will be hand-lettering the race car, I believe I would prefer to have the paint/finish look like it was done 40 years ago. So I will eventually be painting the base colors using single-stage paint.

First off, I need to find the paint codes from the early 70's. Once again I did some searching and located the Ford paint color chart from 1973.

Here is what I found...

There are two different colors of white on the chart and it is hard to tell which one would be the bright white I am looking for. I have another chart that shows the Pearl White as being darker, so I will need to do a test panel. I believe that the yellow I need to use on this project is Code 6E Med. Bright Yellow. Once again, the test panel will help confirm the colors before I invest in large quantities of paint.

If you ever need to look up a vintage paint code, TCP Global has a webpage where they say; "We will match any paint color." It can be found here...

http://www.autocolorlibrary.com/

I found the correct color chart by entering the Year and Make in their Classic (1950 - 1977) Section.

I was then able to look up cross-reference paint code number on a site called PaintRef.com. 

http://paintref.com/paintref/index.shtml

Now that I have all the correct (up-to-date) paint code numbers, I will be able to purchase small quantities of paint and do a test panel for the base paint colors and hand lettering samples.

From the artwork I have already created, I put together a small version of the numbers, Punky's name, (and His Dad's business name for the deck lid), and will paint these all on the test panel (two-sided).

I will be painting the test colors on an 18" X 24" piece of Aluminum Composite Panel. The panel will be shot with primer on both side and then I will paint the white and yellow.

Here is the test panel artwork....

In my next blog in the series on design direction, I will discuss some of the other elements of the car. I need to explore how to cover over all the holes in the factory sheet metal. Wheels and tires are another area that I need to explore. The interior is yet another area that needs further design exploration. 

Take care until next time....thanks

     

Punky Manor - Vintage Stock Car - Tribute Build

Build Exploration...Part 3

As I mentioned in my last post, I have decided to use elements from both Punky's 1963 Galaxie and his 1974 Torino race car paint jobs.

On the 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxie paint scheme, Punky had several small contingency decals on both front fenders. I only have a couple of pictures for reference, but I was able to make out most of the decals.

So, where does one find these 40 year old decals? As I do with most things, I did a few searches on the internet and found a few sources. I ended up buying most of the decals I needed on Ebay, one at a time. 

Here is the set for the passenger side front fender...

And here is the set for the Drivers side...

I was not able to identify a couple of the other decals, but I think I have enough here to get the look I am after.

There are a few other elements that I need to include in the overall paint job on the Tribute Torino. One of those elements is a sponsor's name. Although Punky's original Torino's paint job did not include his Dad's business name on the car, most of his other cars did. I believe it needs to be part of this tribute.

Punky's Dad Neil (Sr.) owned and operated an Auto Body Shop and Used Car Lot in Altoona, WI. I have decided to include this sponsor name on the rear deck lid of the Torino I am building, because it offers the largest area to paint on. 

I will be hand painting this logo, so I wanted the name to look like it was painted over 40 years ago. This calls for a bit of research and design. 

Modern race car lettering is a huge departure from vintage race car lettering. In fact they look nothing like the era I am trying to recreate. Having worked in and around the sign business for the past 3 or 4 decades, I have seen the evolution first hand. The script lettering that is available on modern sign making equipment lacks the uniqueness which is evident in hand painted lettering. 

It is my belief that the only way to make a vintage race car look period correct is to hand paint as much of the lettering as they would have back then. So I will be hand painting everything on the Tribute car except the contingency decals pictured above.

The lettering samples I have created below were designed using 40 year old reference font books and images from old race cars. Fortunately I have the software available to scan, manipulate, and print the lettering I need for this project. 

This is what I put together for the deck lid...

And for the Driver name on roof and the engine size (for either side of the hood)... 

One last element for this paint job is the Schlitz Logo for both doors. Some people might just opt to have these printed on vinyl and cut out to stick on the car. Seems to me that these were hand painted back in the day so that is what I will be doing. I might introduce a bit of brushed gold leaf on the logo border to add a bit of sparkle.

I think this pretty much takes care of the parts of the paint job that are getting put on top of the paint. But what about the color of the car itself? How does one go about finding the original paint codes for the base colors that were used back in 1973/1974? 

I think I will tackle that question in my next blog...thanks again for visiting.