hiboy steelout..time off for Laidley Powerfest

 Ever tried to steel out a 'glass body?...way more work than what you think, well, what "I" thought anyway, get the bend close...too much..rebend..try again..cut another 3mm off....it's all good fun, and keeps me active!! Here's the deck lid partly finished, the plates that are tacked in will be tapped for hinges, and I've since added some diagonal braces like I saw on Ken Brownlees http://www.deucecustoms.com.au/ webpages. It's harder than I thought to get box tubing to fit in the compound shapes of the fibreglass...now this gets all glued and covered, just hope I pick the correct goo!...will try "Techniglue" and "Bostic Seal & Flex", and hope the outer bits stay connected to the inner bits!!  hahaha

 Everything here has its place..the long curved pieces go along the deck lid edge, and will join the two 90 degree bent sections shown, that go around the rear of the seat area. The two pieces at the tunnel area are made wide, as I want to cut the tunnel out, and have it rebolt to the top of the box tubing , giving more room for a variety of trannies.....27/6th..changed my mind..not cutting the tunnel..the toploader fits, so does a T 350, so that will do. I cut the firewall off another 5 mm at the join, and the leading edge, and had to split it down the centre, and it all fits much better now!

 The roughed out idea for the deck lid shown, and the new firewall section...I cut out the stock style firewall for more clearance, as I want to set this up to clear a 454 Chev, just in case I change from my 11-1 350.. Then I will know the small block will fit easily...will have to do a crash course in fibreglassing soon....Anita!..buy me a copy of "D.I.Y. glassing for Dummies"..

 Took today off (26-6-11) to go catch up with friends at the inaugural Lake Dyer Powerfest, held at Laidley between the A.S.R.F and SEQ Powerboat clubs....very good roll up of hot rods, classics, and muscle cars, and the boat racing was entertaing for anyone who has never seen or heard this up close....the egg beaters were fast, but the old drag racer in me loved watching the "BAD" boats..blown alcohol bigblocks, injected small blocks...they sounded awesome! Will have to put that spare 283 in my tinnie and have a go..haha

 The winter weather was spot on for this event, if they have it next year, make sure you go.

And to top off the day.....look at this..a 55 Mercury Monterey owned by our Qld State ASRF director, Colin Chapman.....To think I owned this once! I bought it from an add in the Trading Post for $1800 up Gladstone way, It was mid 1980s sometime, didn't know a lot about it, but it was running, and I had my camper, so I put Anita in behind the wheel and headed home to Brissy. I didn't interest me at the time, lots of little things to fix, so I made a quick sale..it was gone in a week......kicking myself now that I just didn't put it in the shed...that's life, we've all got stories like this!

The 2011 roadster project

 This project really started back in 2007 with the purchase of a Stage 1 style frame, and the thought of maybe putting together another hiboy....ordered the body in 2010 and started collecting parts....I want to use as many "bits" from my own stock pile, so I had a choice of a 454 big block, or an 11-1 350, or a stock 327, and decided on the 350...it's a 4 bolt, steel crank with a solid cam, forged 11-1 pistons, and then I found a good set of late model "fuellie" heads with roller rockers, so don't ask what fuel I intend running!..I used a street/race type intake, a Holley Street Dominator, and for ignition, I will either use my Mallory Super Mag, or a Vertex look-alike electronic...and I've got a 750 D/Pump, so might take it to Willowbank one day!

I want the rough flat black look, so the finished car should look similar to this, just enough chrome and polish to set her off...not sure if I'll paint the grill bars this time...think I made the front radius rods too long, so they might get a shorten by a few inches...The Moon tank looks cool out front, and I have a stock style tank for the back, some 39 teardrops, and the chopped w/posts so far. The body is about to be steeled out, but first,I cut the original style firewall out in favour of a flat style....just in case I want to shoe horn in that 454 one day......and now I have a trans decision to make.....first off, it was going to be a 4 speed, so I bought a saginaw at the LA Roadster show.....then I found a Top Loader..so they are stronger, so it has been temporarily fitted...but at this years Cooly Rocks, I heard a bunch of those pro street type cars with big convertors, so it just might get the TCI 4000 stall convertor I have, with either my Powerglide, or I still have a Turbo 400 and a Turbo 350!...Just in case, I also just snagged a 3.9 LSD 31 spline centre off e bay, so thats going in, and out with the 3.5 open with cut down EA 28 spliners..(See..now I have more bits left over for the next car after this...isn't this the way all hot rods are built..by changing your mind every two weeks..haha..)      later..

returning home from Geelong

 Heading for home!.things were goung fine until my coil died...lucky I keep lots of spares onboard.

 Rod Hadfields latest creation, his interpretation of a model car his grandfather gave him!..awesome up close, the workmanship and detail is extrodinary.

More bits in his museum...the recently restored hearse has been used for a local already. Once again, amazing detail.

More shots from Geelong..mainly 1932 Fords..hahaha

 My kind of car!..Plain and simple, but stunning..no need to over complicate the build!

 And likewise for this roadster..you could have fun changing the look with wheel combos.

 What can I say....the licence plate says it all!

 Right out of the 60s show car scene................

Time to go back to Brisbane..had a quick stop at Rod & Carol Hadfields property...more on their shop later. They have done a wonderful job on this property, transforming the acreage, replanting, reshaping land, redirecting water...the mans a human dynamo!..Well worth a trip to Castlemaine Victoria to see Hadfield Hotrods and see what their is in this area...aussie history and hot rodding is overflowing around here.

At Geelong Street Rod Nationals

 Here's me with my old deuce tudor...all three of my previous deuces ended up in Victoria..such a strong state for hot rodding...you can see more on the Nats on you tube.

 Wouldn't you love this in your shed?..I would..I can see me going down the steel merchants to get more steel for the new roadster project...more on it in another blog.

 One of the outstanding cars of the Nats. You have to see and hear this car..awesome, mega cube motor..bullet proof drivetrain, all looking like a stocker..go to http://www.youtube.com/ and type in Steve Costa geelong, and you should find him featured in the go-whoa segment.

 Up in the back blocks..my old deuce roadster..you can tell I like the Volve truck burnt orange paint..haha.

Top Street Rod this year..love it!..you can see lots more on http://www.hotrodfeatures.com/ as well as http://www.hotrodhotline.com/ and check our club at http://www.deucesltd.com/

Geelong street rod nationals

 Early morning at narrandera, just over half way...believe it or not, there was a biggish rod run in this town same weekend...but we wanted to go to the Nationals...besides, we were here in '73, '75, and '77!!

 This is Charlies Deuce in Texas..a hot rod with history!..it raced at the NHRA races in 1955!

 All steel gathering for more pump pain...well, should only cost about for or five hundred dollars to get there! Where else can you have this much fun for $500!....and did I mention we stopped about a zillion times!

Our trip to Geelong  on the Monday before Easter was going to be a straight forward, 3 day run thru the outback, down the Newell Highway, and I was hoping to be able to show my US co pilot Charlie Duran from Deuces Limited in Texas, what the Aust. bush was all about...kangaroos..semi trailers..pot holes.....you get the picture. Well, we did not see one live 'roo!..lots of dead ones, barreled over by the trucks. Would hate to hit one with the deuce! Fuel was hovering around buck fifty a litre..so for you US readers, that's about $6 a gallon in your terms, and we had 1800 km (1125miles) to get there. A few pesky problems with loose bolts and a shorted lead hampered the trio of cars, as we dodged ruts and trucks, but eventually, a big rut took out the oil pan on Darryls 3 window just before the Victoria state border, so out with the trusty "graffiti good friends " list, and an hour later, we were in Tocumwal having the pan rewelded ON THE CAR by Paul McCallum, a very talented local rodder. 4 hours later and we were on the scent of hot rods, usually only a 5 hour trip from the border......wrong....another loose bolt..I lost the headlights momentarily..but we eventually rolled into the event at 9,30 Thursday night. More on the nats next..and the return trip as well........stay tuned!