Surely one of Britain's youngest hot
rodders, Jake Smith turned a tragedy into something that should make us all
proud.
“The engine is the original Flathead V8.
1953 was the last year for the motor, and it's unusual to find an F100 now that
still has its Flathead. I realised that I couldn't rebuild the original
Stromberg 97 carburettor, so I replaced it with an Edelbrock 500cfm four-barrel
on a matching Edelbrock manifold. I also replaced the water pumps, fitted the
MSD distributor and plug wires that Uncle David had bought, and a 12-volt
alternator that still looks like the original dynamo. I also fitted exhaust
headers. The gearbox is the original three-speed manual with three-on-the-tree
column shift. It's all original and works perfectly, all I've had to change was
the oil. Even setting up the gear linkages was simple, a five-minute job.
An
example of an Allard J2X with the Ford “flathead” fitted with Ardun heads is
shown below. 1953 Allard J2X With The Ford/Ardun V8
“The steering column's original, as is the
manual steering box which didn't need rebuilding. It's got a bit of play in it,
but nothing too bad. The first time I took my Mum out in the truck, she asked
me what the hell I was doing, steering left and right while the truck was
supposed to be going straight. I told her that's just how it is!
The
interior is simple, largely original and very handsome. The bench seat was one
of the few jobs actually farmed out, and inspiration came from a photo in a
magazine Jake read in Spain! The dash plaque was etched by Jake as a memorial
to Uncle David, who inspired the whole project in the first place. The engine
is the original flathead with a handful of mods such as MSD distributor and
Edelbrock fourbarrel carb and manifold. Even though it's 80- year-old
technology it's still no slouch, and will show a clean pair of tailpipes to the
unsuspecting. That dynamo is actually an alternator for added reliability and
12 whole volts
“My uncle had bought an off-the-shelf disc
brake conversion for the front axle, and he and I fitted it a while before he
died. The truck came to him with mono-leaf springs on the front that lowered
the front end, but Uncle David didn't like them so he replaced them with
standard five-leaf springs. I didn't like them, so I put the old mono leafs
back on! They lower the front by about three inches. The rear springs are
stock, but I redrilled where the perches sit on the chassis and turned them
upside down, which lowers the back about two inches. It has new shocks all
round, but other than that the chassis is pretty much standard.
“About this time last year, I had the
custom stainless exhaust made and fitted at Wacky Racers (this was covered in
the How-To section of the August and September 2013 issues of American Car –
ACM). That's the only part of the build I left up to someone else, though I did
get a local trim shop to reupholster the seat. I got the idea for the design
whilst reading a magazine in Spain, so I brought the magazine home, showed it
to the trim shop and said 'I want this'! Some of the parts I made myself, for
instance, I made the rear lamp brackets at college as a CNC machining project.
“I
made the rear lamp brackets at college as a CNC machining project. I learnt how
to do it, and got the parts made for free! “
I learnt how to do it, and got the parts
made for free! Also, I made the plaque on the dashboard in the garage, polished
it up, then took it into college to engrave it. I was forever staying behind at
college to make bits for the truck... I've since taken it back to Wacky Racers
and asked Wacky to fit smaller silencers – it was too quiet for me!
