Gasser mad Hi-jinx!

I was asked to go to Chopped and find something interesting that caught my eye, something that stood out! If you’re not familiar with Chopped, it’s a weekend event that attracts all your wild crazy customs, bikes and rods with a period setting of pre sixty five! Thanks for the challenge, Gav! As I perused the outspread camping grounds of tents and tow vehicles blending with custom rides and camp fires, I spotted this wild stance on a rough looking rod and went to investigate further.
This thing had no radiator, no front brakes, barely no front wheels either, no tread and no bling and gee she looked wild! Locating the owner, he informed me it’s known as a drag rod!
What’s a drag-rod I hear you ask? Well, in Dave the owner’s words ““Dragrods are modelled off the gassers but with a rod. They’re a gasser but people don’t really see them as a gasser. They’re not a common theme but I’ve always loved them and I thought it was time someone built one.” “I always loved drag rods and early gassers and I thought I’m going to make one as much as I can with the right stuff; manual gearbox, major engine setback, piecrust slicks, ladderbars, up in the front, it’s got everything to get it looking right. you know what I mean?” Sure do Dave! “The plan was to keep it all model A. Model A front axle, model A chassis, model A grill. I didn’t want to add a 32 grill and drop axle. It’s how it was run in the early 60s”
This model A coupe wouldn’t have known what it was in for when it left the production line in 1930. Previous history on the rod reveals that it had been a drag car before Dave got hold of it but had succumbed to an untimely accident on the strip rendering it seriously damaged and the owner deciding to part with it. Known as Nuttn Fancy, she was the pride of Alan Burgess before she had a brain fade and tried to kick him out mid track!
When Dave took the battered and bruised hot rod home, he ripped it apart and embarked on a ten year dream with a time line of only ten weeks, the deadline being Chopped! “I never thought I would actually get to build it, I’ve had the engine and manifolds, model A parts, so much stuff and ideas, it’s been in the plan for a long time. Looking through plenty of vintage hotrod magazines and drawing and dreaming, remembering things I like.”
Starting with the original chassis which had already been braced, boxed and kicked up 10 inches by the previous owner, gussets have been installed for added strength and visual enhancement. Anglia spindles have been added to the stock front axle to mount those old school cheese cutters onto. The front spindle wheels were donated by a mate of Daves which set the whole project off. “Once I put them on, I could see it and said “right, lets do it.” We were all in! The rear wheels were given to me years ago, they’re an early ford stud pattern and the pie crust slicks came from Greg Ford in Victoria.” Dave built the steering from scratch at home in his shed. The drag link and push-pull link are chrome molly while the steering box is a WV unit flipped upside down.
Down back is more old school hardware done the old school way; at home on the bench! Ladder-bars and a full spool shortened 9 inch diff keep those classic slicks planted to terra firma. Rear shocks and springs are out of a Jag but are too stiff for the lightened body so extra weights off Dave’s gym set were installed in the boot to compensate. Another old school trick picked up from his research.
The current donk isn’t the chosen power plant for the project with a blown injected Lincoln waiting in the wings. This 428 c.i. engine was ripped out of his Galaxie and shoehorned in for Chopped and has plenty of mumbo to boot! “The current engine when in the galaxy which weighed closer to 1800kg running pump fuel was running 11.7 so with the A weighing at least 800 kg less, running on alcohol, I reckon it’s gotta be close to low tens!” Ten years of shopping on Ebay and trips to the States saw Dave amass an impressive array of sixties speed parts including a new/old stock Mickey Thomson FE cross ram, super rare MT pump extension, Mercury pressed steel rocker covers sourced from a wrecking yard in Arizona, period correct Oberg oil filter and cable driven tacho. “I tried to tick every box as far as period correct goes.” It was all or nothing for Dave, no compromising! The air cleaners are modelled off an old Hillborn Injector scoop tig welded together keeping with the theme. The engine mounts and those crazy exhausts are also Dave’s creations!
The almost stock body is all steel as you’d expect. The roof was chopped by previous owner but needed straightening after the accident. Subtle mods such a slight tub of the rear wheel arches, boot louvers on the handmade boot, upper door hinges removed and taillights created from 1952 Pontiac reverse lights keep it simple and clean. Mandatory old school Perspex glass in yellow has been inserted all round. Poking your head inside, you’re greeted by sheet metal and a serious roll cage encompassing low back seats out of a Morris Minor sourced from a swap meet. Top of the shifter is off a Kenworth truck while the rest is an accumulation of shifters sourced from a rummage box. Switch panel is another swap-meet item scrounged from a Iskenderian rev kit out of a Chev. “I wanted the interior to look as sparse as it could, as race car as possible. It’s actually quite comfortable to drive, it’s a good seating position.” Dave keeps her straight via an old superior 500 steering wheel and pedals her old school. “I had to have the clutch and brake pedal coming out of the floor, I didn’t want them swinging off the firewall. All the bracketry along with everything else has been made at home by myself and with help from friends. Obviously I needed a lot of help because I couldn’t do it on my own in ten weeks. We also rebuilt the blown side valve engine in Smokin Joes gold Model A roadster, then on the second last night the Chevy tow vehicle did a head gasket so we did a top end rebuild on the 350 Chev in it. By the time I got to Chopped, all I wanted to do was sit on my arse and rest!” Basically the whole car has been built at home, just a couple of TIG welding jobs farmed out to a mate of Daves.
So how does it drive? “With the full spool nine inch and ½ an inch of tread on the ground at any one time, you have to go slow around corners other than that it drives well. It drives straight, no twisting. There’s been a lot of measuring in the chassis to get it right and it’s paid off. Under power it goes dead straight. I can tell you one thing, it doesn’t stop that quickly as it’s only got rear drums so you’ve got to drive accordingly! I fired it up at 4am on the night before chopped. I’m sure I’m in the good books with the neighbours after that!
Will you race it? “To race is another thing. It’ll need a lot of little things done for me to feel comfortable in it. The front tires are genuinely from the 1960s so I wouldn’t trust them on the track. The cage in ANDRA speced though.”
The story behind the name, Hi Jinx? “I thought it sounded cool because it means mischievous or fun. I was actually down at the pet shop and saw it on a cat toy years ago and decided that was always going to be its name.”
I asked if it has been modelled off a particular car from the 50s and 60s to which Dave replied “ off many cars from that time in my childhood dreams” A wise man once said “Your dream is not big enough if it does not scare you.” I think Dave definitely built his dream!
Dave would like to thank his number one supporter, his lovely wife Jessica, also Rick Cartisano for lots of help & parts, Johnny Formosa for Paint & Body Work, Nick & Dave from Tahmoor Auto Parts, Extra thanks to Smokin Joe for dedicating himself and his years of experience to my project. Plus all the bits and pieces along the way – Thanks Marc, Reece, Ivan, Tigger & Toby.