We're jumping on a plane and heading back East for this car. The East and West Coast had very distinctive styles of hot rod building in the 50s and this is one of the more famous cars from the right of the country.
Fred Steele's Deuce Roadster
I would bet money that every member on here has sat daydreaming about the awesome cars they are going to build/buy. Fred Steele dreamed of owning a hot rod. In 1951, 16 yr old Fred Steele decided to build a hot rod.
He bought the Deuce for $35. The chassis was fitted with a Dago dropped axle (f) and Columbia 2 speed axle (r), both on unsplit wishbones. The Columbia axle was basically a vacuum activated differential giving an overdrive when cruising. He then fitted '40 Ford juice brakes, steel wheels with custom caps and big fat whitewalls.
The engine was purchased from his cousin Russell Steele. It was a full race Flathead that was stroked and bored, had larger valves fitted and used an Isky cam. The heads were Edelbrock, and a Sharp manifold carried 4 Stromberg 97's.
The body was channelled 6" over the frame, the windscreen was chopped 6", the grille was sectioned 6" and the exhausts were routed straight out of the back panel, which was pretty unique.
The paint was a custom mix of purples which wasn't a common practice at the time, and nearly everything else got a coat of chrome (front & rear axles, wishbones, firewall, brake backing plates, dash and steering column)
The roof was done in white naugahyde with interior black naugahyde with black carpets.
The car ended up costing Fred $2800 and was finished in 1955. It was featured in the July '56 Issue of Rod & Custom and the January 1958 issue of Rodding & Restyling.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this car is that it is still in Fred Steele's hands nearly 60 years on.
Matt
Fred Steele's Deuce Roadster
I would bet money that every member on here has sat daydreaming about the awesome cars they are going to build/buy. Fred Steele dreamed of owning a hot rod. In 1951, 16 yr old Fred Steele decided to build a hot rod.
He bought the Deuce for $35. The chassis was fitted with a Dago dropped axle (f) and Columbia 2 speed axle (r), both on unsplit wishbones. The Columbia axle was basically a vacuum activated differential giving an overdrive when cruising. He then fitted '40 Ford juice brakes, steel wheels with custom caps and big fat whitewalls.
The engine was purchased from his cousin Russell Steele. It was a full race Flathead that was stroked and bored, had larger valves fitted and used an Isky cam. The heads were Edelbrock, and a Sharp manifold carried 4 Stromberg 97's.
The body was channelled 6" over the frame, the windscreen was chopped 6", the grille was sectioned 6" and the exhausts were routed straight out of the back panel, which was pretty unique.
The paint was a custom mix of purples which wasn't a common practice at the time, and nearly everything else got a coat of chrome (front & rear axles, wishbones, firewall, brake backing plates, dash and steering column)
The roof was done in white naugahyde with interior black naugahyde with black carpets.
The car ended up costing Fred $2800 and was finished in 1955. It was featured in the July '56 Issue of Rod & Custom and the January 1958 issue of Rodding & Restyling.
Perhaps the most amazing thing about this car is that it is still in Fred Steele's hands nearly 60 years on.
Matt
