WILKO'S '36

The ’36 Ford coupe project was another one that started from scratch for John Wilkinson in his own workshop, beginning with a set of bare chassis rails for which he paid $1800.00.

- Larry O'Toole

They soon turned into a smart full chassis with the addition of a 50mm tube rear cross member, two inch extra kick-up over the rear end and a notch to allow it to sit even lower over the suspension.

Getting it all to sit and ride the way it should fell to an L300 Mitsubishi front end that has been narrowed four inches and fitted with two inch dropped HQ Holden type stub axles while the rear end, a Dana 30 version, is held in place with a triangulated four link and coil-over shock absorbers. For better stability up front John added an XP Falcon stabiliser bar and narrowed Commodore rack and pinion steering. The rear end has a Tru-Trak 3.9:1 ratio centre and Kings variable rate springs on the QA-I double adjustable shock absorbers.

There’s another sway bar at the rear as well, this time from a Commodore.