'31 cab work

Finally got a day to work on the '31 with my Dad. The coupe sits on the side of his house and waits patiently for a little love, and this weekend we were able to assemble and install the floors, pedals to trunk, and also start figuring out the seat/steering dynamics. Everything's hand cut and designed as we go, modified as we find things don't fit, and reworked as we find we like something better. THIS is the difference between the "hot rod guys" you'll encounter: Some build and drive their cars. Some buy and trailer and "show" their cars.

The seat was a find, though, form a local guy who had it redone and found it didn't fit his chopped project. We'll make it work. My Dad built a sweet riser for it, but it rose a little high, so he's breaking it down and redesigning it. The car's pretty much a "kit car" at this point, with all of our parts pretty much ready to go, just little time to assemble. Maybe by the end of the summer she'll be on the road. Keep yer eyes peeled.

fender bender

So, little to no work on the '31 coupe due to a little fender bender, courtesy of the neighbor "kid", who hit and ran the old girl in the early morning hours while "talking on his phone". He claims he was doing 15 miles an hour, which is pretty amazing, as his Honda Celica must have magically become a Sherman tank for a few moments, to push my '51 up the hill like it did. Anyways, my OTHER, more loving and caring neighbors, helped me track down the culprit and his insurance paid out nicely.

Even nicer, though, is the fact that my Dad still has my Grampa's body hammers. My Grampa was a body man back in the day. We wrestled the lower fender out with a 2"x4", and my Dad went to work with the hammers. While the old girl was still "under the weather", we figured we'd upgrade a bit and switched out our shifter for a Gennie and put in a brand new wood kit in the bed.

mounted

After some firewall modification and a couple more welds, we've got the Rocket 303 and the Hydromatic mounted. Sweet!

secret project

I'm working up a new SECRET PROJECT! A comic book that stars some of our cars, as well as my buddy Jay Ward's '29 roadster. Here's a sneak!

Rocket 303 and a Hydromatic

Found our motor and transmission. We're running a sweet old school '53 Oldsmobile Rocket 303 with a 4 barrel backed by a Hydromatic. The real deal, this thing's going to be one mean hot rod, very traditional, ready to roll in a few months, if all goes according to plan.

It's been awhile!

We've got the car sitting right, so more pics of that soon, but here's a shot of the sweet Allis Chalmers (we think...?) tractor grille we're running on the front.

Yeah, it's a little high...

...so what? We're not done yet...

The front end's hung...

...and we're up and rolling...

The chassis nears completion...

...with help from Finn, of course. Morse and Sons, hard at work!

the '37

So here's the '37 coupe, which we've had since I was about 8. This is the second time in 20 years it's been in the driveway. And it drove right up, no sweat. OK, a little sweat...it's blowing oil due to a busted valve or ring or something. Might be getting a new motor, we'll see. Oh, and glass. Gotta keep the spiders out, at least.

The other cars

Here's a coupla shots of the other two cars, the 1951 F-1, and the 1934 Sedan. So you can see the scope of the arsenal.

The welding's getting a tad bit better...

That Chevy axle is temporary...Chevy parts are a rarity at our house. The Ford axle is on the way. Those huge wheels won't be used, either. This is just to help us move the chassis around. The transmission cross-member is mounted, as are the engine mounts, so it's just finishing up some welds that are currently tacked, and then on to the front end once the new axle arrives. My welding's getting a tad better, after several screw-ups on my end, I'm finally getting the hang of it. And by hang, I mean by a thread. But it's coming along. The car's never going to be "pretty", and it's not supposed to be, really. I'ts supposed to be fun, and it's been a blast so far.

So it's got a coupla bullet holes, big deal...

Here's the body. We bought it for a song after it'd been sitting out in a field for forever and a day. At one point, a tree fell on it, hence the bent-up roof. We'll replace all the wood and put in a new top, no worries. It's got at least 5 bullet holes, and those'll stay. You're looking at the paint, minus some touch-ups we'll undoubtedly apply post-minor body work, and the number that'll ride on the door. The chassis and motor will be painted to offset things, and you'll see the motor, as we'll be running it without fenders, running boards, or hood sides.

The other car is our 1937 Ford Coupe, which we've had since I was about 8. It's running now, but needs tires. We've got a restored 1934 Sedan and a 1951 Ford F1, too, which is a semi-daily driver for me. I'm sure you'll see some pics on this site as we go.

From the ground up...

So here's Day One, working on the chassis. The rear end is out of a '59 Ford. We're doing a lot of custom stuff, though the car will ultimately be a daily-driving rat rod. Witness my VERY amateur welds! Genius. It's obviously going to sit on springs as opposed to coil-overs.

This is a project to help me learn about how my dad and grampa, both professional Ford mechanics, did things. My dad is from that era when you'd race for gas and pink slips, so we're building this thing like he would've in high school. It'll ultimately have my grampa's racing number on the door. He at one time built and maintained indy cars, pre-WWII.

I'ts gonna be a fun ride, both in the building, and in the driving. Stay tuned.