BARRY BULL SESSION

Chassis Setup Secrets

We then asked Lobeck for a few tips on building a great Deuce chassis. It took a while, but we finally pried some good ideas out of him. Here are his thoughts on the Deuce frame:

1. Pinch almost an inch. “I like to pinch the frame 3/4 inch at the front crossmember on a highboy. This helps to make the grille shell cover the front crossmember better, so you can’t see the radiator mounting holes and stuff like that.”

2. Move the wheels if you want. “On some highboy cars, we move the wheels forward 1 inch. It just gives the car a cool look. We move the front crossmember forward 1 inch and then slot the radiator mounting holes 1 inch to the rear. That way, a stock hood still works, but we have visually stretched the car. It’s amazing what 1 inch will do.” He added that on some high-tech, fenderless cars, he’ll run the wheelbase out 2 inches, bringing the wheelbase to 108 inches. This seems to work only with high-tech cars and custom-built hoods. Remember, this wheel-forward thing is for fenderless cars only!

3. Use a Model A front crossmember. “I know this is pretty standard practice now, but some guys still don’t realize you can gain an inch of lowering with this crossmember.”

4. C the frame front and rear. “You might not think you’ll need the travel now, but I guarantee you’ll be glad you have it later, especially if you drive on eastern roads.”

5. Pull in those horns. “When running a V’d front spreader bar, we always shorten and taper the frame horns to the spreader bar. If you don’t shorten the frame horn, the V’d bar tends to extend the front of the chassis too much. Likewise, by slightly tapering the front frame horns, we provide a smooth, aerodynamic look to the whole front of the frame.”

6. Lower the crossmember. “Remember, if you’re welding in a Model A front crossmember, it does not mount flush with the top of the Deuce frame. If you do this, the grille shell will be up too high, effectively ruining the hood-to-grille-shell angle. Lower the front crossmember in the frame a little to achieve the proper hood angle. Remember, you can always shim the radiator mount up, but to date there is no known way to shim a grille shell down!”

7. Trim the crossmember. “For some reason, we’ve seen chassis where the Model A front crossmember is hanging below the bottom of the Deuce frame. Remember to trim this crossmember flush with the bottom of the Deuce frame for a clean look.”

Suspension and Stance Strategy

So there are a few things Lobeck looks for when putting one of his Just-A-Hobby framerails together. Next, we asked him for some hints on righteous hot rod suspension, and he gave us answers for both the traditional and high-tech approaches.

1. “For a traditional highboy, I like to run a 4-inch dropped axle; tube or I-beam is the builder’s choice. You can run a 5-inch dropped axle for a super-low ride, but bear in mind that you are awfully close to having a scrub-line problem (suspension components hitting the ground in the event of a deflated tire.) Also, a 5-inch axle makes it more difficult to drive, as you really have to be careful with driveways and such. One last thing on the 5-inch: Never use the bottom-style shock mount. Rather, have the shock bung mounted through the web of the axle. That lower mount is just too close to the ground; you will hook it on something. All the way around, the 4-inch axle makes the most sense.”

2. Four-bar attachments. “On a highboy, we like to have the rear attachment points for the four-bars lined up with the hood line of the car. This is cosmetically pleasing and ensures that you have nice, long bars for a smooth-working, smooth-looking front suspension. The same goes for hairpin radius rods: mount them at the rear hood line, too (where the hood meets the cowl), and remember that hairpins are for I-beams only; no tube axles.”

3. “On high-tech highboy cars, I like to use an independent front suspension, but I use the ones designed for open-wheel cars. I think they look best in polished stainless steel or chrome, and I don’t think stamped-steel A-arms have a place on open-wheel cars. When I build a high-tech, open-wheel car, I think polished tubing, polished everything, for kind of an Indy-race-car-looking suspension.”

4. Rear Suspension. “You know, independent or solid axle, the most important thing is how the rear wheels are tucked close to the body on a highboy, or fill the fenders on a full-fendered car. Since most modern wheels are available with virtually any offset, we use a rear-axle measurement for all our Deuces that is 56 inches from flange to flange. We then adjust the fit of the tires with wheel offset.”

5. Actual Suspension. “You know, it’s still hard to beat the overall simplicity of a buggy spring up front and coilovers out back. I can make a car ride good and sit perfectly with this combination.”

Favorite Colors for a Deuce

On a simpler note, asked Lobeck what his favorite Deuce colors were. Here are his thoughts on the subject:

1. Primary colors. “I like the basic hot rod color palette: black, red, yellow, orange and maroon. There aren’t too many Deuces that won’t look good in those colors for a long time. Of course, right now, the coppers, golds and some deep greens are very popular and look great on a hot rod. Also look for fleet colors. They are often built from primary colors, non-metallic, and you don’t see them all the time.”

2. Specific Favorites. Orange: hugger orange. Red: Viper Red. Green: Bavarian Green. Maroon: 1979 Ford truck dark red. Yellow: Freuhauf truck Chrome Yellow.