Fridays faute de mieux

Yes....I know I have the 32 for sale at the moment...but work is still progressing, last week, I made up these bits to hold the mufflers.....using my same principal of trying to "use up" all the bits I have lying around, I had a pair of hot dog style mufflers that Warren Wilkie made for my roadster back in 1997....They were too loud then!....just what I want for the 11:1 350 to scare the neighbours!!

Frame is back out of the jig and going back together again, note the hi tech design from the mufflers to see where the exhaust will route.....the dogs chewed up my pool vacuum hose...now it makes a neat flexible pipe guide........hmmmm!

Brother in law Col came around to do what I told him was a one hour conversion of putting the CJ5 Jeep shifter onto my Ford Toploader.....we got it finished 5 hours later....we don't work too fast in retirement!....And it would have made it easier if I had bothered ordering the new gaskets needed...lucky we can put them on later.

All the parts from my US buying trip are at home now, and I am putting most on either e bay or various magazine adds.....The 331 Hemi is listed, as well as quite a few intakes, some 36 Ford radius rods etc., and of course the two Model A Fords. I was happy with the 30 model, in as much as the motor does turn over, and I can't find anything missing, so will make an easy resto ot rod. The 29 is much better than I thought....I have been driving it around the yard every day...Nita and the dog just shake their heads,,,,think I'm crazy...but I would love to be able to keep this old girl and just drive it as is....Might even try my 15" merc rims on it to get it a bit lower!!

Sundays "pour passer le temps"

Well, my container finally got here, but the Quarantine Department has a new system where they have to look first to tell if there is anything dirty and needing washing...in my best Yamba voice, I said......."Hello....old cars and parts...I can see the dirt.....so of course they do"..........How come we have to pay once for them to come say this, and pay again when the re-inspect....and they had to send two AQIS officers!! ............Now, when I become Boss of Australia...things will be done differently!!

Anyway, all will be cleaned and passed (hopefully) by Aug 27.....looks like I've cornered the market on '36 radius rods..........probably start putting pieces on E buy next week, once I decide what I need to sell off.....Worked out that this 23 day trip to USA cost me $39,600, so need to start selling off all the bits I gathered up.

The biggest expence was this extremely straight 1929 Ford Coupe, it started up and drove out of the container....I paid a premium price for it, hence the $21,500 resale price...but it is soo nice, I want to keep it, I've even put the project deuce roadster on the market....one has to go, can't afford them both, I do have a plan, but it involves sponsorship from Golden Casket or Keno to keep them both!!

The 30 model sedan in the background is up for sale at $13,000, and I also will decide which of the Chrysler Hemis I will sell, looks like I have a 1955-331, a 1956-354, and a 1957-392, but will decode them properly when they are home.

Sunday Supererogated Soiree

Another friend passed away this week, (R.I.P. Doug Woolard), which made me think about "Hatches-Matches-Dispatches", .....and are we looking after ourselves and all the people around us that makes the world tick.....(Doug was Godfather to my son Chris....both in the same hospital two weeks ago, Chris for the birth of his son, and Doug was fighting for life!)....so I thought about  the amount of conversations I have had in the last few years about life , and are we doing enough of what makes us happy, before we go knocking on the pearly gates!

The badly scanned photo above comes from a You Tube video by good friend Cailean James called "When I'm Sixty Five", and it shows what I personally like doing....just getting away from my love of hot rods for a while and exploring Australia and beyond.......If you haven't done a trip lately, you need to...time is catching us all!

The video clip shows my trip a couple of years back with my non-hot rod friends in our 4WDs, all the way to the top of Australia!....  For my US followers...Three days  of blacktop to Cairns, two weeks and 700 miles of semi-rough dirt to Cape York, the remote top of Australia, then another 2000 mile of blacktop and dirt to Darwin in the Northern Territory...............take 5 minutes to watch the clip.

www.youtube http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CEsQtwIwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzgMRwgnhZ7o&ei=3Q0wUIOwApGUiQeHvoHIAw&usg=AFQjCNEaG22BGkRwTPYc31G2Z93vNmohng     

Saturdays dilemma

Should have a lot of photos in the next week or two of all the bits that arrive soon from USA...among them is this 1930 Tudor, that I need to sell for $13,000.......

What's the dilemma?...well, my container from USA arrives soon, and in it is a sweet 29 Coupe that I would love to keep......but it really has to go..being retired, I can't afford to keep it.........that is unless I can sell off my roadster project.......hmmmm.

Speaking of which, there were a few brackets that I had to add to the frame for TAC inspection, all that has been done now, and it's time to start running exhaust and brake/fuel lines, and see if it all fits...not much room to put my planned 2 1/2" system through this area!

The finished pedal/booster/clutch master area worked out fine..plenty of clearance, however I did have to notch the upper rear ladder bar x-member for gearbox tailhousing clearance, so I braced the front mounts down to the lower tube.

Here's my mint Model A....I put it on e bay yesterday at $21,000, but I really want to keep it...it is that good.....I deliberated all night, and today, I decided to list the roadster project on e bay as well for $21,000...one of them HAS to go, so let's just wait and see!

 

Nostalgia drags were on Sat 11th & 12th . Willowbank Raceway, Crusin Magazine and others did a great job to revive this event, and from what I saw, it can only get bigger.  There were 220 competitors, and about 220 cars on display. 4 nitro powered nostalgia put on a display. Graeme Cowan, from Rocket Industries said there will be 8 more nitro cars by this time next year. Les Winter, (seen here being beat by a Hambster) put on a bench race B B Q on the startline. He and Rod Easton arranged this informal get-together to encourage more people to just hang out and talk....just like the coffee mornings we are starting to organise. Well done, Rod & Les!

Gavin Clementsons new Deuce Tudor had it all....Paint-Wheels-Ride Height...the only things that are important when building a hotrod...he nailed it big time!

This was good!  To see the smile on "Gentleman" Jim Reeds face when he fired up his restored old 70s altered, and Nelma sitting in the car..she looks like she wants to go racin' again. Jims son Steven, and his son Daniel found where the old car was, and bought it back as a gift to Jim & Nelma...awesome!

The crowd was way down, but this event can only get bigger and better from here on in. Well worth the trip out to participate.

Tuesday morning tune-up

My next job on the roadster after some finish welding on the frame, is to change the front axle back to hairpins rather than split radius rods. I managed to buy a few sets of 36 radius rods on the last trip, so will keep them to go with my 3 sets of front radius rods.....think the roadster will look better with the hairpin/ladder bar set-up.
Also on the lookout for an old Street Rodder magazine where Frank Oddo did a story on adapting the Jeep shifter to a Toploader trans, need to get that squared away soon.
The engine for the roadster is built, but time will tell how it runs with todays fuel. I built an 11:1 350 four bolt, with late model Fuellie heads, an RPM Performer, and have a 750 Holley Double Pumper and Vertex Magneto to top her off. I did find a real early Edelbrock TRI-Y tunnel ram on the last trip, so it might even get that for a real nostalgia look.
The new changes to the street rod rego here in Queensland also has me thinking about using a BB Chev at a later date. I have made room for it to fit, and now that you can legally run them with full rego is a bonus .(just need to pass the brake test requirements).
The rear end has to go back to Aussie Diffs at Currumbin to check it for straightness before re-assembly. It is 31 spline, with a 3.5 LSD centre, and uses standard XA style drums. Just have to weld on a bracket to hold the cycle fenders first.
This thing will be loud no doubt....in my attempt to use as many parts as I have lying around, there are a pair of home made mufflers that Warren Wilkie did for my red roadster....should just fit them in along with a 2 1/2" pipe off the headers..(which were off Warrens old coupe from the 80s)
Anyway...Tuesday tends to be run-around day.....we have a family dinner Tue nights, also, it's Ten Pin Bowling day, so I use Tuesdays as a catch-up/organise/blog/shop day.
I used to also give blood plasma every 2nd Tuesday afternoon, but my pulse rate is way too high these days, so can't help there anymore. I do my community deal now with the SES, with meetings every 2nd Wednesday, and Anita volunteers at the Salvos now every Thursday...she's a checkout chic there!!

This week, 36 years ago, I married Anita.....still in love...Awww!.....my soulmate!

Need rescueing??....I'll be there...look have safe little Ryan seems!!

Did I mention I got my big ass solar system up and running...that should help keep up with the welder.....I just checked it....I've used almost no electricity so far, so looks like the $14000 investment might just pay for itself eventually..(when i'm 98 probably)

Ah! Tasmans and Gates Renegades...an early 70s shot of the ol road duster!

.......Well.......That's it until next Tuesday Tuneup.....see Y'all.

Coffee at Thornlands

Had a good roll up on Sunday 5/8th at Coffee Thyme, Thornlands

Look at the height difference between Ian Cambells and Mick Dillons roadsters!

93..............32&29&32

Evan Isaacs and Ronnie Solomon turned up in Evans cool 390 4 speed Cusso!

Ian Cambell had this 32 in storage for about 30 years before starting on the rebuild...it was a channeled car at one stage, back in the 60s.

grandkids and chassis work...early Aug 2012

Congratulations to my son Chris & his wife Emma, with their newborn son Eli..more hot-rodders in the family!!  Where were they 9 months ago??..Yamba Rod Run!!

My eldest Danny and his wife Vickie brought their son Ryan up to visit Eli......note to GT...check the background before clicking...that hand on the wall looks weird!!

"Hey Grandad, throw us the keys and I'll lay some rubber for you!"

Glen gave me these stands so I can spin the frame to get at all the parts needing final welding...sure makes life easier.

Another shot of the "C" notching requirements needed for Queensland registration.

Think I might take the time to change over to these nice So-Cal hairpins before I finish it completely...might suit the look better with the rear ladder bars.

Early morning coffee in Maroochydore.

Last weekend in July was the Nambour swap meet....I'd never been to it, and was impressed with the size.....I was up for the weekend, so Sunday morning saw us out early for the Suncoast clubs coffee morning.

Paul McKeneary had his new channeled deuce there, and it attracted a crowd all morning....terrific workmanship in recreating the 60s theme.

Bruce Young had his sweet little coupe out with it's new wheel and fender combo....this is the ex Ken Brown coupe....

Hmmmm!   what can I say...in my opinion....that ain't no hot rod, and to that end, I hear the Transport Dept has revoked its LH9/10 registration, and now only has a "concept vehicle" classification........wonder if they'll stop it coming to ASRF events then??.........unfortunately, once again, there's only so many So-Cal catalogs to go around!!!!!

There was plenty of sunshine (after 8am!)...Darryl did a good job burnin the snags!!

Little bit more work on the frame

New-ish TAC rules means I have to add a 2" x 3/8th" x18" strap to the top of the "C" section......hmmmmm!..but, rules is rules!

Booster mount is now in place, along with the clutch master cylinder.

For TAC rules, I had to add in upper tubing, which now also ties in with the booster, pedal mount, and clutch cylinder.

Extra tubing top and bottom at the rear, this will also need some more vertical tubes, and the front of the ladder bar mounts will be grafted in to the new lower cross tube. Now all I have to do is weld it all up and it can go for the first inspection.