Here's more completion on the little buggy car. Its the spreader bar- that little rod going from one frame horn to the other right at the front of the T-V8. This little abandoned project car had a spreader...but it was just wrong. The bar was about 2" diameter heavy tube welded to each frame horn, with the original mounting holes all welded shut. It was way too big, way too fake, and welded on. They aren't supposed to be welded! That is not how the early hot rods were done. They should be bolted on through the existing frame horn holes where the little splash apron originally would attach.
So I cut the oversize welded-on pipe off and drilled the original frame holes back out, pinpointing the location from the inside frame view. I then cut a piece of smaller tubing and welded nuts into large washers on the tubing's ends. The nuts were off centered in order to push where they would allow the spreader bar to sit: right at the front of the frame horns. After careful fitting, I welded up the assembly and bolted it on. Now that is how they are supposed to look.
Why am I so opinionated about the spreader bar, yet allow the car to appear old, weathered and unfinished? Well, it is old, weathered and unfinished. Just like it is supposed to be. Just like many a little jalopy bought and torn apart by eager boys after WWII, stripped of fenders and running boards and hopped up in the most literal and genuine sense.
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