In the spring of 2003 I bought some flathead parts from a guy and built a 1950 Merc flathead. The engine is bored .040 oversize and has an Isky Max #1 camshaft and an Offy intake with 2 Holley 94 carburetors. I assembled and dyno tested it here at our shop where it made 140 horsepower and 200lbs/ft torque. The carburetors were a challenge, getting them jetted correctly and then reworking the idle feed restriction and transition circuit was 90% of the battle. Having the engine on the dyno was very handy because it allowed me to find the optimum spark timing, valve lash and carburetor jetting for best performance.

After I had built and tested the engine I needed to built a car that it could haul around easily. Given the flathead's rather limited horsepower it needed to be in a light car to perform well. I decided to build a T bucket because it would be light in weight and not overly expensive to put together. I ordered just about everything I needed to build the car from Speedway Motors in Lincoln NB on June the 6th with the completion goal of July the 15th for the Crawford County Fair Parade in Cuba MO. Over the course of one month the car was built at Wes' Littrell's place in Leasburg MO. Wes has lots of car building experience and that was a big help.

Here is the car with me driving along with my two nephews in the Cuba Parade, note the lack of an interior.