1949 Bentley Boattail Speedster

[Gastrick]

This is one of the craziest projects ever. I like the direction you are headed PA41. Super cool.

 

[ANNAMEL]

Your a mad man. Kool build. Will be watchin ya.

 

[Smokey]

Call the vet, cuz that puppy is SICK!!![ddd

I love the build!!!!

and the S.B.C. is plenty of motervation for it make up some wild headers and hang the turbo's outside the hood

gd luck with your nose man

[P

 

[truckster]

You are crazy, in a very good way. Creative with a capital "C". This is going to be an exceptional vehicle.

Think either grill will work, but I kind of prefer the Buick. SBC will work. Spend the time and effort on the body. Never be another one like it.

 

[PA41]

Thanks for the input fellas--I am always interested in weird stuff, but there IS a line.. I never know where that line is till I cross it .. I hope to just bump it a little with this one..

I checked that Cord nose out like in this pic--cool--now I like both the tractor and the Buick noses --think I'll build both and see which works out. The tractor has some fun talking points--A tractor grill on a Bentley--Now thats ratty!!! The Buick nose looks more fitting and conventional--"Sometimes ya feel like a nut--sometimes ya don't"

Also like the idea of making a ridge on the tail to match the fenders ridge in this pic, If I could do it right it could really be sharp--problem is "do it right"-- Kinda doubt I have the skills, but I'll try--maybe on a different tail so as not to trash the lines on this Buick top--kinda hard to replace--(as are all these parts). I was wanting a rumble seat for my Grandkids, and maybe as a parade seat for a Goth Homecomming Queen. Might do something like Flipper did on his to create a matching rear ridge on the tail using the top of a 53 Mercury I have with curving sidewalls and a flat top for the rumble seat. I am planning to have the tail lift like a hood to get to the gas tank etc, I could just pull the hinge pins and swap tails as needed.

This is the old RayJay turbo I have on the SBC . Got it off eBay I think for $60!! Years ago--Almost unused--it was designed for an SBC wrecker as a torque inhancer, not really a 'racy' piece--It has a weird carb mount with flap valves that lets the motor suck straight through NA, then at a certian RPM the boost closes them and it sucks gass through the turbo and down in the motor... Great big hot side--smaller cool side. Interesting to drive-- at about 2500 RPM the boost vac guage is at 0 then if you pull a hill or gass it a little the boost tweeks up to 1 or 2, and it sorta surfs a torque wave like a big block. It will get real boosty at 5K and ya get the feeling it'll eat the motor pretty quick with that huge hot side.. They probably removed it and stuck it away because of that. I'd rather have a big old inline Hudson or something more interesting than an SBC to fill that big ole hood in the project, but this is all I had on hand, Its a kinda unique.. Its fun for the ricer kids to look at--They don't think its real ..

Again--Thanks for the input--its all fun...

I can't wait to see what it looks like--dang little ole shop can be a pain--can't step back and get a look at how the profile is going..

PA41

 

[sammy]

the seller LOVES IT

[cl[P[PWOW , verry cool .P. Im really likeing the lines of it. and the progress you have made with it LOOKs to me like you are well on the way to the RIGHT look with it. gotta hand it to ya for having the vision to see it through. Looks much better cut up in your shop than it EVER did AS my (wellhouse)IM gonna stay tunned in in for the rest of the build for sure and SO glad to see it being properly sliced up ......should you decide to go for a longer engine. let me know .couse I ended up with a straight8 buick from my last set of 31. s...went with the 468..bbc in the little sawmill frame......so doubt i will use the IL8. congrates. and keep us posted. I think your doing a Fantastic job with it...Sammy

 

[brad]

[cl[cl[dr[dr[ SUPER BUILD WISH I COULD HELP!! LATER B.

 

[cosmic12]

That car is going t be so cool. My vote would be the Buick nose very smooth look and I like the way it blends to the fenders.
So, ya got alot of engine room? how about 2 smb's inline? V/16 w/8 pipes per side? I know a guy that did that ina 49 Hudson and it is beyound cool and wasn't all the difficult, talk about Zoom Zoom[dr.

If I could figure out how to do it I would have 2 stright 6's side by side in mine but I still haven't found a way to do it so that the exhaust and intakes would be on oppisite sides. End to end would be way to long. But 2 v/8s end to end is faily easy.[

 

[TiredIronGRB]

What did you do with the Glass 29 A coupe body?

 

[PA41]

I put the 29 body in my 'stash' for the future--gotta plan.. Got a bad junk collector jones on me, and I've got 250 acres of woods behind the house I plan to fill upwith junk before I kick. I have a short attention span on my projects--a year is max till I start drifting (sometimes 6 months), so I've decided to do the Buick nose as its easier/quicker, and most folks seem to like it best anyway--maybe finish that part tonight..

My experience is the first version of a project often is not just 'right', and it takes a few years to get it where it needs to be--Like the big inline Sammy mentioned, or even a wild twin motor setup C-12 mentioned-- I've often wondered about coupling 2 Slant 6s side by side with one reversed to get a V 12-- I do get distracted ..

My big weekness on this project is my lack of metalworking skills. (I pretty much ruined the tractor nose yesterday-I got a flat thinking mind and am working in a curvy world here). The thing I'm concerned with is the area on the rear between the boattail sides, and the backsides of the Bentley 1/2 fenders. I will try flat pieces, as I don't do english wheel, but It may not look right--maybe look at some more scrap body pieces to go there. Just do what I can and fix it right as it comes to me (maybe years later). After all --it IS a RAT Bentley .

I'll post some more pix as I get it done--My Nose job was put off till Monday after next (Gonna burn some stuff in my sinuses), so I have a little time to play till then.

Thanks for all the input--'preciate any thoughts/opinions. .

PA41

 

[Flipper_1938]

I would save the nose until later in the build. At least wait until the boat tail/main body is figured out, you will probably have to play with the body lines quite a bit for it to actually look like the picture in your head.

I'd start in the middle and work towards the ends.

 

[dodge41]

If there is a lot of room under the hood I would route my exhaust so it exists at the front of the engine and place the turbo between the front of the engine and the radiator. I have seen older boat tails that did that with the supercharger (since they ran off the front of the crankshaft) and it looked awesome.

 

[Shea Laking]

I put the 29 body in my 'stash' for the future--gotta plan.. Got a bad junk collector jones on me, and I've got 250 acres of woods behind the house I plan to fill upwith junk before I kick. I have a short attention span on my projects--a year is max till I start drifting (sometimes 6 months), so I've decided to do the Buick nose as its easier/quicker, and most folks seem to like it best anyway--maybe finish that part tonight..

My experience is the first version of a project often is not just 'right', and it takes a few years to get it where it needs to be--Like the big inline Sammy mentioned, or even a wild twin motor setup C-12 mentioned-- I've often wondered about coupling 2 Slant 6s side by side with one reversed to get a V 12-- I do get distracted ..

My big weekness on this project is my lack of metalworking skills. (I pretty much ruined the tractor nose yesterday-I got a flat thinking mind and am working in a curvy world here). The thing I'm concerned with is the area on the rear between the boattail sides, and the backsides of the Bentley 1/2 fenders. I will try flat pieces, as I don't do english wheel, but It may not look right--maybe look at some more scrap body pieces to go there. Just do what I can and fix it right as it comes to me (maybe years later). After all --it IS a RAT Bentley .

I'll post some more pix as I get it done--My Nose job was put off till Monday after next (Gonna burn some stuff in my sinuses), so I have a little time to play till then.

Thanks for all the input--'preciate any thoughts/opinions. .

PA41

Since you're a collector, PA, you must have some late-model clunker back there you could chop the roof skin off of. That would give you the shallow crowned curves you need to fill in between the boat tail and fenders...

The Buick grill looks "off the hook" I'll cast my vote for that. Trctor grills are played out, IMHO. You might tuck the Buick in just a couple of inches so it doesn't stick out "quite" so far from between the fenders.

Thanks for sharing your imagination in action. It's a really interesting place to visit! [P

Regards,
Shea

 

[Flipper_1938]

The Buick grill looks "off the hook" I'll cast my vote for that. Trctor grills are played out, IMHO. You might tuck the Buick in just a couple of inches so it doesn't stick out "quite" so far from between the fenders.

I think he nailed the front to back location for the grill. I looks like it was meant to be there. I am amazed at how well it fits in with the flow of the front fenders.

 

[PA41]

Took a vacation day and messed around in the shop Springtime finally!. Tacked the Tractor shell in just to see how it would look, and took it off and got about 1/2 way through the Buick nose install. Tried to tip the center divider out a little at the bottom maybe-2-3" rake. Internet pics are real forgiving..

HRP dropped by on his way back from Preacher School in LR, and had a nice visit. Always to get someone elses take on a situation. Just to hear the task stated in differend words is helpful--the view through a different knothole. HRP summed up the rear fender work as "you need the same lines on the inside of the rear fenders as you have on the front"--exactly---..

Heres a couple shots of the 2 grill shells--the Buick is the keeper.. And another look at the 'inside' lay of the front fenders I need to duplicate on the rear, and a pic of the ridge and flange I have to work with on the rears.

Had a pleasant day--Rattin is good..

PA41

 

[hotrod preacher]

well, i was just drivin' down th' road, comin home from a hard week of learnin[S and i notice PA's work truck was home--and it looked like the shop door was open!!

now i had had an invite to drop in sometime--and it seemed as good a time as any......[cl[cl

had not seen any pics, just heard he had a bently boat-tail project--i can tell ya guys it is cool to walk around and see the "artistic" work of someone who appreciates symetry and flow and stuff like that....

a really cool project in person and i really enjoyed the visit........

keep it up, man[

 

[BigIrish]

[dr[P[P[dr[P

...this is going to be a great one! Awesome project.

 

[Sam_Fear]

If you can, you might want to try pushing the bottom of the Buick grill in 2-3" to give it a more aggressive attitude. Kinda like a 40 Ford or Willys....

 

[Flipper_1938]

I think this thing is too big to pull off aggressive. I think this needs to be the world's most elegant rat.

 

[hotrod preacher]

I think this needs to be the world's most elegant rat.

It'll be elegant for sure, but if we give PA credit for building the world's most elegant rat, he might get the big-head


just funnin, PA![cl