21 replies to this topic

[MSwiss]

A current thread by Don Siegel reminded me I had pics of this pretty cool car of Chuck Gambo's, to post here.
 
He bought it at a swap meet.
 
It's pretty well done, with a Dyno-can motor.
 
If anyone knows what body that is, I'll relabel the title of the thread.
 

Nicely done, with some really neat Ulrich(?) rear wheels.
 

Again, nicely done, independent fronts.
This view clearly shows why the car sits crooked.
The right rear tire is the process of being cast by Chuck.

[Martin]

Hey Mike, that is a Huffaker Genie Mk10 driven by Don Wester. Made by Revel. Revel called it Genie Ford. Notice the outlets on the top of the front fenders. Dons was the only Genie that was modified like that.

 

Found this pic of Dons Genie #60, the meat in a Chaparral sandwich.

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[Pablo]

Sweeeeet

[Jairus]

I like that chassis!!!

(Can I have it?)

[Eddie Fleming]

I like that chassis!!!

(Can I have it?)

You never know for sure if you don't ask.

[Pablo]

Only the Thingie Kingy is slick enough to pull that trick off successfully, Jairus

The Chicago guys hang onto their vintage stuff pretty tight

[Matt Sheldon]

I like that chassis!!!

(Can I have it?)

Edo is that you?

[MSwiss]

Hey Mike, that is a Huffaker Genie Mk10 driven by Don Wester. Made by Revel. Revel called it Genie Ford. Notice the outlets on the top of the front fenders. Dons was the only Genie that was modified like that.
 
Found this pic of Dons Genie #60, the meat in a Chaparral sandwich.

Thanks.

[Tim Wilkins]

I had one one of these "coat hanger style " chassis but sold it about a month ago.  It was advertised as being in storage for many years.  First picture with body resembles a family sedan heading to the beach.  Take the body off and it looks like some type of caterpillar vehicle ready for action.

 

 

 

 

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[Bill from NH]

Tim, your body was a Champion Monte Carlo. The chassis looks like it has some parts from a Sprints Plus or a womp. As the photos show, someone did a nice job assembling it.

[dc-65x]

Very cool Mike. I love a "space frame" chassis.

[Robert BG]

Nice car and they did a really nice job making that frame like a real one from the day.Like dc-65-x said, its a space frame chassis and they can be real works of art.Some of them are brazed and the chromoly tubing look amazing 

[don.siegel]

Yep, very nice Genie and especially that chassis - glad my simpler version made you think of it Mike. Great photo of the "Chappy sandwich' too. 

 

Was just looking at the chassis pic: what's that screw on the top of the offside motor mount? 

 

Don 

[MSwiss]

Don,
This style of chassis really puts a smile on one's face, because they have so much soul.

I'll get a look at the car again, in the future, when Chuck brings it by to hot lap, and I'll give that screw a look.

My guess it was originally designed to be adjustable, but the builder decided to solder it solid, maybe after he was satisfied with the gear mesh.

[Martin]

Nice car and they did a really nice job making that frame like a real one from the day.Like dc-65-x said, its a space frame chassis and they can be real works of art.Some of them are brazed and the chromoly tubing look amazing 

 

Hey Robert If you are talking about the real Huffaker Genie chassis they were and are always TIG  welded 4130 (American preference)The brazed frames you are thinking of are more and likely from England, Lotus etc.

I agree form and function = art

I worked at Huffaker and was lead fabricator on recreation/restoration of all things Genie. Old Joe was a great forward thinking race car designer back in the 50s and 60s and was in lock step with designers like Colin Chapman. 

 

It was never lost on me (as an adult) that I was building full size slot cars that I had only dreamed about as a young lad racing models of those real cars.

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[Dave Crevie]

Alfa-Romeo emblem on the center of the steering wheel. I don't recognize whose car this is, but it is a Mk 8

like mine. Mk 10s had a horsecollar fabrication supporting the steering shaft. Mine was a real basket case

when I got it, the frame having been cut off behind the bulkhead. Anyway, it seems a lot of these are coming

out of the woodwork since vintage Can-Am has become so popular.

[Martin]

Good eyes Dave, it does have a Alfa 1600 in it, but these are pics of a Mk5 I did. I thought they showed off the "space frame" which when I was finished weighed 88lbs painted. I put #88 on the car to remind anybody that cared.      

Let me know if you need info. help with your Mk8 

This frame was a mess when I started also. Particularly happy with the equal length header system (it really flowed). and as you probably know these early cars pre-date Can-Am by a couple of years wear as the Mk10s were well represented in the Can-Am series once you stuffed a V8 in it.

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[Dave Crevie]

Thanks for the offer of help. I'm done racing it, the Ford small block already has a new home. Wish I knew what

the serial number was, if it ever had one. I don't think it was actually built by Huffaker, but done as a "kit". I have

been told it had a Corvair motor in it originally. Might have been built by Jim Kellison.

 

Very good shot of how the bottom parimeter rails of the frame were square tube, with all the upper structure being

round tube. There have been a lot of people who thought I was nuts when I explained that to them. Seemed to work

just fine. 

[Martin]

Dave If you have pics I could probably tell you if is an original Huffaker chassis. This pic is taken just after we put the motor in. It is a tight fit and is built to accommodate the one and only Corvair that was built at Huffaker.

If yours did  have a Corvair it is probably is a copy.

The square tubes on the bottom allow hundreds of rivets to attach floor, to form a structural stiffness to the chassis.

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[Dave Crevie]

No pics of how it was with the Corvair. I know about the tribulations with the Friendly Chevrolet car. Made me

wonder why anyone else would try it. When I got it, the rear half of the frame had already been cobbled up to

fit the Windsor Ford 289 that came with it. The motor had an adapter plate to fit a Webster box, which I did

not get with it. The front end is all Sprite/Midget/Triumph. Pretty small discs for a V-8 powered car.  

[Martin]

What happened with the Hukkaker Genie Corvair is that the belt system that turned the cooling fan is a multi-pulley system  with a change in direction also. It failed with the extra RPM etc of racing.

So 50 years later we all put our heads together and put an electric fan on top, Worked great, you can see it in the pic. Most times the simple answer is the best.

 

We did not have any brake issues even with the 13" wheels on the MK5s. Your MK8 would have 15" rims as did the MK 10 that was really designed and better suited  for the more powerful V8s and addressed those problems that arose  from sticking a V8 in a car that was designed for smaller lighter motors.

 

Dave, what are you planning to do with yours?

 

Is this what we call thread drift. Can we put the Genie back in the bottle. Sorry Mike Swiss.

[Dave Crevie]

Correct on the wheels. I used Revolutions which are similar to the Genie wheels, but without the Genie logo.

Years ago when I was building the car I tried to buy a set of the proper wheels from Bill Watkins since he was

using Youngbloeds on his car, but that never came to fruition. My car had Triumph TR front rotors, but I still

had it biased heavily to the rear which had 11" discs. 

 

The frame is junk, and I may have the remaining parts sold. If anything, I may end up with a set of body panels

left over.