February 9, 2012 ’33 Ford Design Contest Voting

The dudes and dudettes at RideTech are closing in on the final design of their kick ass Factory Five ’33 Hot Rod. They have been asking for submissions from anyone interested in showing off their creativity. After combing through about half a million of them, 15 finalists remain! Now is the part where you come in. Please hit the link below and you’ll be taken to a page featuring the 15 final design candidates. Choose the one you think is best and help decide what this awesome handling ’33 Hot Rod will look like all dressed up!

Here’s the word from RideTech:

Cast your votes! The finalists have been chosen in the RideTech Streetrod Design contest, and now you can vote for your favorite design by clicking here. The 15 designs in the final round of the contest are competing for a grand prize of $500 cash!  We had an overwhelming number of great submissions and we’d like to thank all of our entrants for contributing.  The entry poll, Finalist Entries, and Honorable Mentions can be found on our website; so check it out and help us choose a winner, then see the finished car at an autocross near you this summer!
It’s now up to you to pick the winner of the $500 cash prize! Voting will end on 2/13/12, and the winner will be announced later that week.

 

[box_light]February 20, 2012 ’33 Ford Design Contest Winner Announced[/box_light]

We’ve been keeping you up to date with Ridetech’s design contest and now it is time to unveil the winning scheme that the Ridetech guys will apply to the Factory Five ’33 Hot Rod they are building. Gary Drayton is the man behind the winning design and he will get to see it come to life pretty quick as the Ridetech team plans to debut the car at the Hot Rod and Restoration Show in March, which is less than a month away!

We dig the use of the repeating Ridetech logos and how they are pretty subtly laid into the whole design. The vibrant red roof, hood, cowl, and trunk, looks nice when contrasted with the bright white o the side panels. The finishing touch of shaping the brake lights as Ridetech logos was neat as well. We think that the more than 1,000 people who voted on this contest picked the right one! We’re looking forward to seeing the car in the flesh to really slobber over it!

 Here’s the run down from Ridetech –

The votes have been tallied and it turned out to be a close competition. There were over a 1,000 votes in total for this years design contest! Even though all of the 60 designs were ridiculously good this year, only one person could win the $500 dollar cash prize. That honor goes to the design that had the most votes, that design was #5 by Gary Drayton. Congratulations!

The winning design by Gary Drayton:

Isometric view of the design:

We really enjoyed Gary’s design. The repetition of the icon, the colors, and simplicity were all top notch. We hope to incorporate many of these features on the vinyl wrap we’re developing for the Hot Rod & Restoration show in March.

Like we mentioned the votes were really close, in second place was design #10 by David Watson. This design took a lot of work, the entire car was redrawn over the original template. A very clean design.

2nd Place

3rd Place

 

[box_light]February 24, 2012 Fabrication is Underway[/box_light]

The Ridetech crew has been thrashing non stop on the ’33 Ford, and now that the design contest has been won, they know what it will actually look like! The team has already been working feverishly for several weeks and has been working on the trunk, interior panels, and floor pans most recently. The rear suspension is all in the car so that the quickchange rearend is located nicely, and the engine and transmission have found their home. So has the Tiger Cage, and a bunch of other assorted goodies. As each of these components finds their home, more and more panels will be fabricated. Check out the progress below. The way these guys are working on it, we’ll have more updates before you know it. See those big Baer brakes? Yeah, this featherweight is going to stop like no other. And wait til you see how huge the tires are going to be!             TO SEE ALL THE PROGRESS PHOTOS FROM RIDETECH CLICK HERE

 

[box_light]March 13, 2012 Ridetech’s ’33 Ford Gets Bondo, Paint, Killer Control Arms, and Even Some Wiring![/box_light]

We wish we had the time, resources, and skill to pull a project together as quickly as the Ridetech ’33 Ford is going. Man this thing is going to be bitchin! In the last few weeks they have gotten almost all of the panels done for the car, both inside and out. Bodywork has been feverish, and the Bondo dust has been flying. Bret Voelkel, Ridetech Grand Poobah, told us that despite telling his bodyshop guys to “make it quick and smooth, it’s going to be wrapped anyway.”, they did their normal and made this thing smoooth. That is as smooth as Bret would let them before sticking his foot in their asses and telling them enough is enough. FYI, the guys in Bret’s bodyshop are good. Really really good. Leave them alone and everything would be painted and pretty before you know it.

In addition to body panel fitment and paint, the crew has been busy creating what are arguably the coolest looking control arms ever. We dig them and you will too. The brakes are on, suspension is all where it’s supposed to be, and Greg “Snaps” Schneider has even started on some of the wiring. If this was our project it would still have a year left before it could be completed, but Ridetech wants to take it to the Battle at the Banks event in Salem Indiana the first weekend in May, so they have to keep thrashing. We’ll sneak the keys to this damn thing, and get some donuts and driving impressions in before anyone can stop us, don’t you worry. Check out the progress below, and CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE RIDETECH PAGE WITH TONS MORE PHOTOS

Mmmmmmm sexy control arms. We likey!

These Factory Five ’33 Fords look small on the outside, but have way more room inside than you would think. Look how nice the cage is integrated.

[box_light]March 27, 2012 The Ridetech ’33 Continues To Take Shape…Interior panels, Gauges, Shifter, Steering Column, and a Whole Pile of Parts![/box_light]

It’s only 5 weeks til Battle at the Banks, and the Ridetech ’33 is a lot closer to done than it was two weeks ago, but still a long ways off. Will they make it? At this pace we think they will, but it’s going to be tight. Looking at the car now, it’s amazing the amount of things they have gotten finished up. All the suspension is painted or powder coated, actual interior finish panels are being built and modified to handle all the stuff in the car. The dash has been marked and cut for the steering column and gauges, and the trans tunnel and shifter look COOL! We love this damn thing and can’t wait to beat it up. (We mention that in every update because whether they like it or not we ARE driving this thing. LOL)

TO SEE ALL OF RIDETECH’S PHOTOS FROM THIS UPDATE, CLICK HERE.

One of the things we can’t forget to mention is the methods with which Ridetech is building this car. When you check out the photos, take note of the measurements, templates, patterns, and tools that are being used. This is the kind of stuff that can help you when building your own car.

Personally we hope they leave the shifter alone. We dig the piece of flat stock.

Glass going in is a good sign. For some reason that is one of the things that makes a project feel like it is becoming more of a finished car. But don’t get too excited, cause the big pile of parts below still has to go into it too.

 

[box_light]April 12, 2012 Ridetech’s 33 Ford Parts List is Unveiled, PLUS The Engine is Looking Pretty, and the Interior Gets even MORE Aluminum[/box_light]

For a lot of folks out there, myself included, the Parts List for the Ridetech ’33 Ford reads like a Christmas Wish-List. I mean come on, who doesn’t want a Magnesium Rankin 4-speed hooked up to a triple 5.5″ disc clutch? And how about a 427 inch small-block. YES PLEASE!!! It’s also got a fire system, rocker arm suspension, 13″ Baer brakes, a Winters Quick-Change, trick exhaust, MSD stuff, Dart stuff, etc, etc, etc, etc. Where does it stop!

Okay, I’ve calmed down now. The point is, I want it all. And who wouldn’t? But when you are building what can only be describe as Pro-Touring meets Street Rod, what else would YOU do?

With just over three weeks left until the planned debut at the Battle of the Banks, the Ridetech ’33 Ford is actually getting pretty. In the last update we showed you how the interior was coming together, that parts had been painted and powdercoated, and that it was really starting to look like a car. Well, this one is much the same, but with finer detail. The engine is really looking nice now and plumbing and wiring it are underway. The interior is taking shape with even more fabrication on the interior “finish” panels, all of which are being hand fabricated from aluminum, while little stuff like plumbing and wiring are still be buttoned up.                      CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE PHOTOS THAT RIDETECH HAS TAKEN SINCE OUR LAST UPDATE

Part List
Engine – 427 cu in small block Ford with a Dart aluminum block and Brodix Neal heads built by Sunset Racecraft in Lubbock, Tx. MSD ignition, Holley Dominator EFI, custom stainless headers, Earls oil cooler, Mezeire electric water pump Approx. 630 hp and 600lb/ft torque
Trans – Rankin magnesium case clutchless 4 speed from the old Jasper Engines NASCAR program
Clutch – Tilton 5.5″ triple disc carbon fiber, Magesium bellhousing, 8 lb steel flywheel
Rearend – Winters quickchange
Brakes – Baer 13″ rotors with 6p calipers
Wheels – Speedlines 18×13 and 18×11
Tires – BFG KDW 295-35/18 and 335-30/18
Rear suspension – Custom wishbone with TA series shocks. Trading between Hypercoil coilsprings, ShockWave airsprings, and some new Carbon fiber springs
Front suspension – inboard rocker arm with custom built control arms and the original Factory 5 attachemnt points, and the same shock combo as the rear
Other components – Custom stainless rollcage, Custom built stainless exhaust with oval tubing and some special stainless mufflers built by Flowmaster, FuelSafe fuel cell, FuelSafe fire suppression system, Ididit shorty tilt steering column, Unisteer electric power steering unit, Optima battery, Kirkey road race seats

Sheetmetal work is one of the things that always gives guys fits. Keep in mind, these guys have been doing this for decades, and this part will still look 100 times nicer when done that it does right now. So get out there and bash on stuff!

Oooooohhhhhh all the interior panels are getting painted black. We like it a lot. The car is going to be super sinister inside.

Wooohooooo, the final window is in! Well technically the doors aren’t on it so the glass in them is therefore not in the car, but you get the point. The back glass may be small, but it’s a big deal that it is in the car.

 

[box_light]April 23, 2012 With Two Weeks Left Will the Ridetech ’33 Make It to Battle at the Banks?[/box_light]

I say YES! With a couple weeks left, they are going to come right up to the wire, but I think they’ll make it. Bret Voelkel, Grand Poobah, of Ridetech has already said that they are not going to race the car at Battle at the Banks UNLESS they get a little bit of testing in. With the car being completely new and the track being fact it only makes sense to get some laps in it and make sure it’s all good to go. Even if testing doesn’t happen, the car will be there on display, but we’re betting on it being there ready to race because these dudes are making headway like mad.

Finishing touches are going on in the interior including Dynamat head insulation and sound deadener, along with wiring and more plumbing. It seems like that stuff never gets done on a car, and every time you think you’ve wired the last thing you have two more to finish. The plumbing, interior, and engine are looking real good, although it seems like they are starting to hold back on a few photos that will show some of the finished product. Don’t worry we’ve got someone on it, we’ll find all the hidden stuff. Once Snaps is done with the wiring, this bad boy will be ready to fire, and that should only take a few days. Will they make it?

TO SEE ALL THE PHOTOS FROM THE BUILD CLICK HERE

We are disappointed that they got rid of the shifter we liked.

Pretty!

Fun!

 

[box_light]May 1, 2012 The Ridetech ’33 Ford is ALIVE!!! Bret Voelkel says, “We still have fifty 30 minute jobs left, but we are getting there.”[/box_light]

The thrash has been epic, and continues, but the Ridetech ’33 Ford is running and driving under its own power! For the last week, plumbing, wiring, and finish work have been going on like mad at the Ridetech shop. We talked to Bret Voelkel on Sunday and they were in full tilt mode trying to get the car ready to fire. Bret told us, halfway jokingly, that “We still have fifty 30 minute jobs left, but we are getting there.” We are going to be at Ridetech Headquarters in Jasper Indiana on Thursday and will be shooting some video and photos of the ’33 along with all the cars that Ridetech is bringing to Battle at the Banks, so we’ll jump behind the wheel of this bad boy and give you our thoughts. Off the top of our head, we are thinking that our thoughts will be something like…”This thinking #%$&&%@ ROCKS!” but we’ll keep you posted.

The car is really coming together and looks great with the big wheels and tires on it, there should be no lack of grip and the 600 plus horsepower with only 2000lbs of weight is going to be a riot. There is still a little bit more wiring to finish up, along with buttoning up all the body and interior panels, but this thing is super close. You can see the short list of things that need finishing in the photo below.

Testing was planned for today, so if they are able to get everything setup like they hope then we should be seeing some impressive runs with it at Salem Speedway on May 5th. Remember, we’ll be live from Battle at the Banks to show you the Ridetech ’33 in action.

 TO SEE THE LATEST PHOTOS AND VIDEO FROM THE LAST FEW DAYS CLICK HERE