new members car

[john hennessy]

let me introduce myself, the name is John Hennessy,

 

i built my car about 2 years ago with a build time of about 2 years and some breaks when finances were a bit challenged.

 

not built from a kit, the only purchased parts were the seats, headlight bowls and the nose and grill combo.

 

the chassis is a bit McSorley with my own mods and the Rorty independant rear again with mods.

 

from the front, a speedway motors vintage sprint car nose, front suspension is my own design with inboard coilovers and no rubber bushes anywhere, it's all hiem joints folks.

 

fabricated aluminum radiator, 2.3 duratec engine with a focus intake and throttle body connected to a ranger 5 speed with a fabricated remote shifter.

 

instuments are the ranger units, interior was upholstered by myself with the help of my friend Kieth, as was the soft top.

 

doors are aluminum with 1 X 1 steel box framesand ranger catches the whole rear body is steel as protection from impacts to safeguard the ford explorer fuel tank and house the spare wheel, the trunk lid is fibreglass as are the fenders fabricated by myself.

 

the hood is all aluminum with hand made side vents, the scuttle is steel to stiffen the chassis.

 

rear is all steel to protect the explorer gas tank and the trunk lid is fibreglass as are the fenders made by myself.

 

rear suspension is fabricated with a sierra/cosworth 7" diff and drive shafts and fabricated uprights.

 

 

 

[xcarguy]

John,

 

Again, welcome. I have a true admiration for builders who travel to the beat of their own drum. I did a home-built 26 track-T a few years ago and it took me about two years form the first weld to the last bolt. And thanks for answering the question about the grill; I do hope Speedy Bill got to see this before he moved on. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

[Automoda]

Wow! Fantastic. My dream is to build my own car from scratch, too. Good work!

 

I'd love to see your build photos. Close ups of the little touches and the difficult things. The shifting, the suspension, etc. I'm really curious.

[john hennessy]

 

 

 

 

i have a lot of pictures of my car during the build, just don't want to hog the site.

 

here's a few more

[NVP66S]

Wow. I'm impressed, and I wouldn't worry about hogging the site.

Dan

[Jackal]

[ATTACH]6477[/ATTACH]

i have a lot of pictures of my car during the build, just don't want to hog the site.

 

Showing off your car is what this site is all about. Keep the pictures coming, and any other projects you have.

[john hennessy]

with regards to other projects, i am unemployed as i can't find a job that pays more than it costs to get there.

 

however, this does allow a lot of time for "projects" to keep my hand in as it were.

 

i am at present restoring a speed boat, i purchased this in England in 1993 in a non working condition, almost immediatly i moved to El Paso Texas shipping the boat loaded with my tools, then i moved to San Diego, California, but as i lived on a boat in the marina i put the boat in storage.

 

about a year later, i moved back to England but left it in the storage facility for the next 7 years until i moved to Arizona.

 

alas, within one year, i moved to Florida, taking the boat with me, not returning to Arizona for the next 4 years, but i still kept the boat and in 2013, 20 years after purchasing it i decided that i had better get cracking.

 

what i did not mention is that on my return to Arizona, i built my own house, with my own hands.

 

it is of unknown manufacture, 22ft. in length and powered by what looked like a Mercruiser 888, utilizing a ford 302 small block V8.

 

over the years, as i have moved around i have picked up parts to rebuild the engine as a starting point, the specs on the motor are as follows.

 

302 block, bored to .060 oversized, 10.0-1 pistons, balanced rotating assembly, high volume oil pump, true roller timing chain and a Comp Cams high torque hydraulic cam utilizing the 351 firing order. ( .477 lift and 262 duration and110 lobe centers).

 

as far as the top end is conserned, the heads are 351 windsor with an iron 4 bbl. intake and Holley marine carb, ignition is Ford Duraspark II, exhausts are center riser and exit through the transom.

 

cooling is raw water via a through hull pickup and a johnson crank mounted pump.

 

the stern drive is still the 888 but with no exhaust or water pickup, just the drive.

 

this whole power package has been a work in progress for a year now and is just becomming reliable.

 

i have started on the upholstery and as with my car, my friend Kieth is a great help.

 

i have purchased paint for the top half of the hull which i needed to do so that the upholstery piping could be matched to the color.

 

plans in the work are to replace the heads with a pair of Edlebrock Performer aluminum heads and a suitable intake, this will be done to reduce rear weight in the boat as much as increasing performance, i intend to fit a drive shower to cool the top gear set and a remote resovoir for the gear oil, these mods will hopefully extend the life of the drive which was built in the 70's.

 

what i did not mention is that i am also building my own house.

Edited June 24, 2014 by john hennessy