Fritz rebuilt the Cadillac engine and fit it with four Stromberg 97s mounted on a Cragar manifold. Fritz Voigt, a local mechanic and sidekick of Mickey Thompson helped Ed with the build. As the chrome budget went out of proportions during the build, Ed had to sell the Little Jewel to pay for the chrome on the Outlaw. The rear axle, drive shaft, and a 1939 Ford transmission were chromed as well. Ed filed all the weld marks down by hand before the whole chassis was sent to the Chrome Nickel Plating in South Gate for chrome plating. Clarence welded the stuff together before Ed brought it back to the shop for final preparation work. Īs Ed had few tools when he built the Outlaw, he wired all the stuff he wanted welded together with bailing wire before he trailered the car down the street to Clarence Bell at the local trailer shop. When the book Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was published, the original female mold was still owned by Robert Williams, who also worked for Roth back in the days. After several years Jake ended up giving it to Robert Williams. At some point Roth moved, and he asked Jim "Jake" Jacobs if he wanted the mold as he was going to throw it out. The Outlaw mold sat on top of the Roth Studios for many years. Ed Fuller, who worked for Roth at the time, once estimated that they made 12 to 15 Outlaw bodies in total. it is believed that Ed made less then ten bodies using the molds. It came without the nose-piece, so that was up to the builder to create. It came with a firewall and instrument panel, primed for finish-painting. In the 1958 Fawcett How-To-Book # 427, Ed advertised the Outlaw body for sale at $229. The first body was sold to some unsuspecting dudes down the street, while the other one was used on the Outlaw. In the book Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Ed claimed that he only made two bodies. Ed wanted to build and sell bodies to customers. The Outlaw is the only car for which Ed made a four-piece female mold that was held together with tool box latches. When the glass cured he knocked the plaster out from the backside, and that became the female mold for the Outlaw. Things were done over and over agin until he finally got it right. As no one knew the material at the time, Ed couldn't ask anyone for advice during the build, and he had to learn by trying. His shoes lasted about four days before he had to throw a coat of black paint on them. According to the book Hot Rods by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, a pair of pants lasted about a day when Ed was working with fiberglass. The buck was covered with the messy, goofy stuff known as fiberglass. Making the buck was no problem for Ed using the plaster. The casting plaster was cheap and better than wood. He tried to make a body out of wood like they had done with the Shadoff Special, but it was too complicated, so Ed went to the local lumber yard and bought some casting plaster. Ed had trouble finding anyone that could help him build a fiberglass body for his creation. A 1950 Cadillac engine that Ed found on a junkyard was installed between the framerails. The build was based on a basic 1929 Ford Model A frame fit with a 1925 Ford Model T crossmember. The year was 1957, Ed was intrigued, and within days he was busy experimenting with fiberglass on his own in his new shop at 4616 Slauson Avenue in Maywood. Shadoff had built a Bonneville streamliner called the Shadoff Special out of fiberglass. After that Ed read about a hot rodder named W. The surfboard was covered with a waterproof fiberglass covering. Later on he was introduced to the mysterious material at the Huntington Beach Pier where he saw a surfer with a wooden surfboard. This blew Roth away, and he made a mental note of this new material. The Ford featured a fiberglass deck lid, and according to the photo caption it wouldn't dent. Ed first got the idea for a fiberglass car after seeing a photo of Henry Ford swinging a sledgehammer on the deck lid of a 1941 Ford. The Outlaw was Ed Roth's first experience with fiberglass, and it started out as a monster drawing on the back of a weirdo sweatshirt. The Outlaw is a show rod built, owned and designed by Maywood Drag-Wagons member Ed "Big Daddy" Roth of Maywood, California.
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