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1954 Lowey coupe with a fiberglass front end

Jaguar front suspension, Toyota pickup rear. Toyota 3sge beams with 6 speed. I'm keeping factory ecm . Leather interior out of toyotta solara. I modified the factory tubular exhaust manifold and made it a header. 2.5 exhaust with a flowmaster.

Love the car. Seems like an unusual drive train choice but to each, his own!

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Early c/k coupes are notorious for being flimsy....especially the 6 cylinder cars...which this was..
Back in the day, people would break windshields by parking on uneven ground.

I had a 5.3 LS mocked up in the car but chickened out. I think the 4 cylinder will do just fine. The car will probably weigh 2,400 lbs or so. Good gas mileage would be appreciated too.

More pics please. I'm sure you could add some cowl bracing to reduce twisting.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

It will take more than cowl bracing to stiffen up the Stude.

Those cars were built with a chassis, but it is a noodle. It is not boxed or welded, a light weight frame that is riveted.
Without the car body attached to the frame there is NO torsional rigidity.
So it's like a unibody car with a really big subframe that will barely support itself independently.
Then the body mounts rot and you have a flexi flyer.
There must be 10 body mount points behind the front wheels. 4 in the trunk, 4 in the cab and 2 at the firewall.
The inner front fenders are part of the outer and it uses a center mounted radiator support.
I sincerely hope you put a rack and pinion in it because the factory steering is extra antiquated.

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Honey anyone?

That was part of the reasoning for going with the jaguar subframe. .....somewhat modern geometry with rack and pinion steering.

This era stude has boxed frame rails, but they are really thin and only around 3" tall.

Body is super flimsy. The rocker panel is cosmetic. There is no real sill panel, no floor braces, basically just a sheetmetal floor that is one layer thick

I've been thinking about integrating some locost into the body. A beefy trans tunnel/spine, a beefy bulkhead at the front and rear firewalls....and maybe some form of a trussed rocker (half above, half below the floor?).

Hard to believe this is a 70 year old car design. I think they look so cool when lowered.

I had picked the jag front suspension before I picked the motor. Motor is a front sump, jags are rear sump. I had to butcher the crossmember and then add metal to the front of the crossmember and underside for strength. Making the pockets for the lower a arms was fun. Most people will not realize how not stock it is once painted.

More pics

There are also going to be some MR2 spider parts worked in....steering column, ignition key, pedal assemblies, power windows, door handles, power mirrors, door crash bars.

And a 90's jeep steering wheel. It reminds me of a 60's vette wheel wheel. It should work great with MR2 switches.

"Putting a Jag front end on a Stude is simple", they said. "A Toyota 4 banger should drop right in", they said.

Next time try something a little more challenging. Just kidding

Nice work there! Glad to see you back.

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Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766

Can't say that I ever do normal stuff.

My first choice for a motor was a 1954 jaguar motor I have. It is very similar to the motor in roofus except less horsepower due to smaller cams used in early motors. I couldn't get it to fit no matter what I did. Turns out my fiberglass front cap is made for land speed racing and has every cheat known built into it. The nose is actually pointed down at the front.

I had ready done most of the work pictured before I figured it out. It should end up being a better car because of it.

Thanks for sharing those. I had to hunt to find some chassis pics. I’d add 3x1/8 strip along the bottom, weld thru prime, stitch welded or a spot welder would be great for this and fast, then add drain holes at the low points. Fit 2x3x1/8 tube sections that hug the trans back to the slip yoke, then spread to point toward the front leaf spring eye. Weld 1/8 plate to bridge over the slip yoke about a foot long, then weld nut plates or flanges to the bottom of the 2x3 to fit the same size plate on the bottom. Add drain holes every foot or so.

You might also consider making rigid body mounts from uhmw 3 inch rod so the body actually contributes to the rigidty instead of semi-floating on what was originally a wet noodle frame.

With the chassis supported by blocks and chained down on one corner or weighted with a long 4x4, use a long 4x4 with a weight on the other end and dial indicator to compare the changes to the frame before and after to see the improvement.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12