Cuda Blow-Apart

Today on muscle car alter ego gets a classic drag car steering set up a look at how Coker tire keeps vintage car enthusiast rolling. And Street Fighter takes a meeting.

Welcome to muscle car. You guys ever seen those old movies where the guy driving the car hands a steering wheel over to the other guy.

Yeah, that's pretty much what we got going on with the comet right now.

Alter

ego started life as a run of the mill 64 M,

but we're given a new life as an old school, a fx drag car.

We started by moving the tubs up 16 inches, then braced up the frame got going on the roll cage, welded in some sheet metal to clear the new drive train and got the rear suspension mounted.

Now we're using the Vegas style steering box.

Now, don't laugh. They're pretty common in the hot rod world because of their compact size since Vegas are becoming rare. We call that Flaming River for this brand new one. We're mocking it up with the pitman arm on it to make sure the location will work.

We've got to make sure the box and Pitman armor at the center of the turning art

and a half. That should be about seven right there.

Otherwise we could end up with a car that only wants to turn in one direction. Uh, let's drop the bracket down because the pitman arm isn't completely compressed,

drop it down like maybe a quarter inch

for the pit, an arm to clear and the box still bolt through the frame rail. They need to move down just a little bit.

Now, this is why you only tack things in during mock up. It makes it easy to knock it loose and make small adjustments.

I think that's good. I

think that'll be all right.

We got more to go if you'd like. And I hate to go on the lower because then we're gonna have to bounce that dude way up to clear this motor mo

burn it in.

I don't wanna burn up the chrome.

Yeah. Save the chrome. Now that we found the sweet spot, we can get it bolted in and line up the linkage.

The mounting bracket came with its extra brace that will help keep the box in place under turning pressure.

Well, the box mounted up nice, but we got a little problem here with the drag link. It's supposed to run parallel to the center link. But what we can do here is shorten up the pitman arm, red drill the hole and

line it all up.

I'm measuring the depth of the taper on the original hole so I can duplicate it further up the arm.

The tape will serve as my depth guide. When I open up the new hole

before I bore the new hole. I'm using a center punch to make a guide divot. That'll keep the drill bit from wandering

the hole and taper need to be precise. So don't try this with a hand drill. If you don't have a drill press, take it to a machine shop or else you'll end up with a sloppy fit.

Once the hole is drilled, I'll go back and taper it to match the original.

If you're thinking to yourself, hey, won't shortening the pit in our decreased, the turning radius will give yourself a gold star

will. But on a car that's going to see a lot of time on the strip, it's not a bad thing.

I left the pitman arm a little long so I can add another hole if I want more turning radius later.

Next comes the center link that connects the steering box to the spindle. On the other side.

This setup is known as cross steering and it is commonly found in a FX cars because it improves bump, steer in her

and with a straight axle,

the ends of the bar need to be threaded so the end lanes can screw in. So I'm tapping them out

with the bar assembled. I can bolt it in and check the fit.

Looks good. So we can move on to getting the column mounted. We're using one of flaming rivers hot rod columns. It's flexible. Universal design means we can get creative with the mounts. Tommy's plan starts with a pair of brackets that will attach the column to the roll cage. He's using an eight inch plate as the base of his design. After using a piece of tubing to lay out where the steering column will sit. he's pre handing the rest.

This tubing is just big enough for the steering column to slide inside. So we're using it as a combination sleeve and clamp before we slice it open, these pads are going on. They'll give us a way to cinch the column in place

with the steering wheel mounted to the column and the column in the sleeve, Tommy can set it in place,

adjust the position and tack it in.

Once the position is set, the column is slid all the way through the sleeve to mark where the linkage will pass through the firewall

can cut, step, drill bit, punches the hole and brings us one step closer to the box.

This isolator is a rubber filled joint designed to dampen the vibration in the column.

The last piece of the linkage connects it all together

with the steering axle springs all mocked up. We pretty much know where the ride height is gonna be. So now we can order some shocks and that puts the brakes on this project. But coming up later in the show, we'll be putting the brakes on the

ka. So stick around

after the break looking for some original style skins for your ride. We'll show you where to find him.

When we decided to build alter ego. We wanted to do it just like they did back in the day that included finding the right set of tires

and the perfect match with these Firestone dragster drag slits from Coker tire.

They pop them from new molds based off the original design from back in the day. This will give us a binge look combined with modern high performance materials. It doesn't matter what kind of ride you're building. It all comes down to the tires and a Coker tires have been part of their DNA for three generations.

My father started the business in 1958 with a loan from my grandfather, Pop Coker

and uh my father was a normal tire dealer, but because my father was a, a car collector

and also a tire dealer, many people came to him asking where do I get this tire for my model? A or my 1910 stern.

Corky inherited that passion for collecting, restoring and racing vintage cars and it's fueled the growth of Coker tire into the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of vintage tires.

His passion for the business leads through

everyone that works here because we're all excited to be here. It's a fun place. To work

headquartered in a turn of the century building in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Coker tire facility is a tribute to the enduring legacy of the American automobile.

In addition to the offices, it houses a classic car and bike museum,

wire wheel production center

and a restoration shop where they build everything from vintage raised cars to muscle cars.

Corky loves to use his tires as much as he loves to sell them. So he knows what enthusiasts want

and they own many of the original tire molds so you can get just about any tire you can dream of from period. Correct bias ply to modern radios. We were the first in the world to design and build and and provide to the public a wide white wall radio. So consequently, these tires or the cars in the forties and fifties and sixties looked right, but they performed like a modern car. So technology wise, we use,

you know, better construction, better compounds so that they last longer, look better and ride safely.

Now to the uninitiated, all tires are round and black

tires have come a long way in the last 100 years. So here's a quick tire timeline to bring you all up to speed

first. You got to know that every tire is made up of plies, thin layers of material which form the foundation for the tread

and a bias ply tire. The plies are made of fabric and layered diagonally across each other at 30 to 45 degree angles called

a

bias.

These tires have been around for over a century and were the always standard up until the early seventies,

they generally gave a rougher ride and developed flat spots if left in one place for too long.

In the sixties, an improvement was made the belted bias ply. These belts were added on top of the Plies and usually made of polyester and fiberglass. Hence the name polys.

These were perfect for muscle cars because of the increased strength and traction. They offered

radial tires were developed in World War two, but it wasn't until 1970 that they became the oe standard in America.

The Plies wrap around the tire perpendicular to the tread, given the tire a wider shape than the bias ply,

steel belts lay on top of the Plies to add string,

the larger footprint of a radial increases road traction gas mileage and safety.

So there you have it. Coker's got a whole line of radials with a vintage look. That way you get a modern tire with classic style or if you're a purist, they've got built to bias pla pop from original molds. So it doesn't matter if you're building a daily driver or a full on show car, you gotta get the right set of tires and these guys know what car guys love. We love

car guys because they're the best people in the world.

Hey, welcome. Back to muscle car. Now, you might remember we had a problem with the brakes that were sent for this car. Let's see what we got here. Oh,

that's not good. Yeah, this thing is sitting solid on the caliper. Dude, there's no way that's gonna work. We need brakes with enough muscle to handle straight fighter, but still compact enough to fit inside of our wheels. And w wood has a solution.

It's the super light brake kit with 13 inch rotors and six piston calipers up front.

The front brakes may do 70 to 80% of the braking, but you can't forget about that. Other 20 to 30%

will woods got that covered.

Their rear kit includes the 13 inch rotors,

four piston calipers

and one of the coolest E brake set ups around

before you can put anything on the car. Each rotor needs to be assembled and safety wired. Now first, the hub is attached to the rotor and the bolts torque to 85 inch pounds.

Safety wiring bolts is kind of like the buddy system.

Two bolts have to work together. If one tries to come loose, it tightens the other.

The tension created by the twisted wire prevents the bolts from moving unless the wire is cut.

Once the wire is threaded through the hole, it's wrapped around the head,

then it's twisted to take up the slack

and fed through the next bolt in the opposite direction.

The ends are twisted and bent around the head to keep them from pulling back through.

This requires some patience, but it's important to get it right because you don't want your rotor detaching from the hub

will wood's emergency brake set up, incorporates a drum inside the disc. Its compact size means it's lightweight, but it's bulletproof design means your ride is not going anywhere unless you want it to

the caliper mount bolts to the back side of the mounting plate and includes a spacer and shims descend the brake pads on the rotor

with the completed rotors in place. And the caliper centered and cinched down the pads drop in

the front setup is basically the same just without the emergency brake.

Uh Now we're looking good.

We're almost ready to blow this fish back apart for some body work and paint. But first we got a few issues we need to take care of like this door. Now somebody's got this thing all out of whack. So coming up after the break, we're gonna get it back on track

up next. Find out who comes out on top when Rick battles. Project Street Fighter.

Hey, welcome back. So even though Project Street Fighter is not gonna be a full on show car, but we don't want to look like it's seen one too many fights either.

And one of the most basic elements of being a nice paint job is panel alignment and you could pay a shop $60 an hour or more to do this or you can do it yourself.

Build on a budget muscle car projects that save you time and money.

Now, the only thing you're gonna be spending here is time and with the cash you'll save. Maybe you can spring for some more gear for your shop.

You wanna keep the dolly on the high spots and tap the backside of the low spots with a hammer to bring the metal back into shape,

determine where the edges of the damage are and try to stay within those boundaries. So the affected area doesn't grow as you work.

Yeah, that's getting closer.

Mhm.

Mhm.

So you get that high part right there, knocked in.

He's still gonna have to deal with this down here though. This whole door here took a twist when it got hit.

So we'll do that deal with that in a second.

No,

here we go.

See, I got that one right there. Perfect. But now I'm back high right there. See it.

That's more better.

One big mistake. I've seen a lot of guys do is to overwork the metal. It doesn't take a lot of pressure to move metal around. Just light little taps, move it a little bit at a time. Don't come in and start wailing on it. You do a lot more damage.

Little tiny taps.

Ok.

Untwist it.

A delicate touch can be good when you're smoothing out sheet metal. But a twisted door requires brute force.

Oh, I

got it right there.

With all the panels gap, we can blow it back apart.

The panels lined up. Killer bolted straight to the unibody. So we don't have to worry about any shins.

This car doesn't have much rust or peeling. That's why we'll be stripping it by hand instead of having plastic.

I'll be glad to see this swamp brown paint go, that's for sure.

All right, man. We got a lot of work ahead of us. Your arms up to it. Yeah, I've been working on my guns. I hope you can keep up. Yeah. Whatever, dude.

Hey, for this week we're all out of time. So until next time

we're out of here.