Last week of October...mirabile dictu!

Started the week with a trip back to see Les Winter, where good (4wd and caravan friends) Bob & Maree Cooper decided to take the "retirement project plunge" and buy this '68 Mustang...Now he has to figure ouit how to change it to RHD.....can't wait to go crusin' with you, Bob.

Later in the week was my grandson Ryan s second birthday.....what a cutie!!

Saturday morning was the promo Rock n Roll and Hot Rods at the local Cleveland Salvos store. We had a very good turnout to help support them, and we got to have our Coffee morning catchup for the month...thanks to those who came along.

20 cars turned up, so was worth the effort...will do this every month in the Redlands at different venues maybe...but on a Sunday morning usually.

The Thomsen boys Chris, Ryan, Danny, and Eli...they're all coming to Yamba Rod Run this year...no doubt the Tudor will get a work out around the park!!

Also managed to get a bit more done on the roadster this week, with the 2 1/2" exhaust system almost finished, just need to make some mounting brackets and looks like I have to re-locate the top of the rear shock, as it just might hit where it currently is located. Also bought some 10mm rubber to go between frame and body, and this will be necessary this thick because of the 10mm plate that had to be put over the "c" notch...luckily, being a hiboy..I will just adjust the hood and radiator up to help align the beltline....

RH side was a bit of a dogs breakfast around the booster and the diagonal down brace, but it all seems to clear just enough...the front pipe seems solid enough, but I may just put a rubber insuletor near the centre crossmember, as the clearance is only 4mm in places. Will probably try the wreckers for some ex. heat insulators of something?? to put on top of the frame, try to keep some heat out off the floor....Any ideas? comments welcome at greg@comstar.com.au

Things I should have kept or bought!!...Part 2!

Reposted with better photos and more text......so here is a coupe I saw at Conroe swap meet about 15 years ago...asking price was $3500....I had it down to $2500, but passed.....wonder where it is now?

My first steel tudor came from Texas in about 1990..I think I paid $1000 US for it, and when it arrived, the body seemed a bit "tweaked and sad"...so I moved it on....(WHY?)

This was a stupid deal...a car crusher company in New Jersey offered me this convertible for $5,000....I thought (at the time), what a butt ugly Ford...no one would want one of these....go ahead and crush it!!...(nowadays, who's stupid..me!)

Charlie D had this old school sedan...I took it for a drive, big Olds motor with 4 speed Muncie...60s puffy trim.....not worth the $28,000 it went for......duh!

What about this deal...when I first met Charlie, he offered me this 3 window...Sb/auto, steelies...$30K from memory.....coulda-shoulda- hey.

Regret parting with this rare Holden 308 with alloy Duggan heads...I chased it for 16 years, finally bought it, and held onto it for another 4 years before letting it go. So rare, probably the only one in existence...4 webers in thru the side, exaust underneath.....hmm.....would've been awesome in an open hood car.

My second steel tudor was coming along fine, but faced with having to replace a door skin and a few bits of tin missing, I let it go for $5500 in 2004..should have put it away, better earner than the share market!!

Think I might jog a few memories here for my fellow Brisbane-ites.....had to go near the markets today...so went via Ekibin Rd, past where Dougie the budgie lived, as well as the Poulsen clan, then past 252, where Rods Inc. was started, along with countless adventures in Cussos, Spinners, FCs, FEs, EHs, girls, etc , then past Chardons where the Friday arve seesions were at 20C a pot, then up thru Moorvale/Mooroka shops..(were'd them Sudanese and Afghan folks come from??), down the hill to where we used to see Bill Jones racin' Vauxall Cresta, past where Hammond? had his 6 carb Y block super modified, past the servo where the Cresser/Rose/Stirling Thunderbolt lived, then past Nettleton Cres,(how'd we fit 300 in there for a party??) down to Pigs shed, (the sandblasting area is still there)...then off home....boy, did that 15 minute drive bring back some memories!!

Dropped by Winters Smash Repairs yesterday....

As seen in the last blog, the colour is now on the body, and the frame is coming together with hard lines now run etc.

the flattie now has some gloss red oxide..(that's different)...and is ready to "set her in"

Meanwhile, project Sedan Delivery is not getting any attention....and it needs to be done for the 2013 Nats...that's only about 22 weeks away Les, so best get stuck into this and shelve the Deuce for a while!!

And don't keep updating your sedan...you makin' me jealous!

Now, to help Les out....someone needs to buy his "68 Mustang that he just imported....the start price is $11,000, but he might be talked down a bit.....has had a bit of new front end bits installed, has been driven up the road, but it is still a project....but really good Calif. almost rust free body

Found this old photo hanging on his wall...to reming everyone of what it looked like some 20

+ years ago!

Glen Watts...hot rod dynamo...just finished another !

As most of you know, Glen bought a US steel 5 window hot rod, and is building this up soon....but because he had the running complete frame spare from this, he elected to "build a roadster while I'm waiting", as you do...Now, anyone who has seen Glen work knows that it won't take long, even if you start with a floppy body....his choice of colour is a winner, and the 17s and 20s seem right at home, even though most rodders like smaller-ish wheel combos..

Just a few tidy up jobs after it came back this week from the trimmers, so good chance it will be registered in the next week or two, just in time to debut at Yamba Rod Run...(Nov 9/10/11, 2013) Glen has quite a bit done on the 5 window as well , but being an all steel car, it will take time to get the fit right....(more photos of the 5w. next year)

Also getting a wriggle on is Les Winter with his rebuild of the 5 window coupe project. Les wants to get his Model A finished for the nats, and that's only 4-5 months away, but can't resist working on this, as well as updating his sedan! Check the colour anyway, another winner for"going outside the box"...the frame is painted now, the flattie is back in, and the Blocks n ribs are ready to roll!!

Did I tell you we had a lot of down time while at court last week......gave me time to teach my fellow jurors how to play "Frustration", my fav. card game...and frustration is also when I just looked at the calender..about a week to the Salvos coffee morning...another week to Gary Moles wedding followed immediately by a week at Yamba...2 weeks later and the silly season hits...no work in the shed usually, too many parties and functions and presents and on and on.......looks like the ol' roadster won't get much done on it before 2013......maybe if I slipped it over to Glens shed........hmmm.

Update......now it's registered....passed the TAC inspection last Friday and paid the rego today..(mon 22nd)....so might even see it this Saturday at the Salvos /Coffee run!!

I'm back!!....but not much to talk about after court!

Well, the Jury Duty deal is done...it went a bit longer than I thought, but I did (sort of) enjoy the experience......anything new like this is always "challenging", it's not the easy street you might think when the reality of the final day comes and you have to decide on matters that can affect multiple parties........don't bother trying to ask me about the case....Qld Law does not allow me to discuss it in any way .......however, if you get asked to do J D, try it.....I would put my hand up again if I was asked.

Here's a refresher to pass the word around, I need to get as many cars, be it hot rods or 50s/60s cars to come down on Saturday 27th to help the local Salvos store with their annual Rock N Roll promo...it's all about getting people in their store, and forus, just another excuse to bench race while helping the salvation Army!!

Pass the word around for me, I have decided to sell my 354 Chrysler Hemi, and will have it listed on e bay this week...would have loved to take the 350 out and go with a hemi....but i have too much work in getting it to this stage to change!

So this is where I was a month ago, correct motor and box are mounted, headers are on, mufflers are in, so next Tuesday it will be off to Cleveland Exhaust so that Scott Hoffman can bend some pipe for me......all I have to do then is change out the clutch slave cyl. bracket, and I can re-fit the body....only about 9 weeks to Xmas though, so silly season will knock out the precious time I need to "get er done!"

No hot rod blogs for two weeks!!.....why?

After 62 years, finally got the Jury Duty callup.......off to town on the train every day, one hour and $6.05 later and it drops me at Roma St, just next door to the courthouse.

It's a brand new building, very nice, but you can get lost in it easily...this view from 1/2 way up.

My newest buddies, I like to refer to them as Exibit D, exibit E, exibit G, exibit Q, exibit J, exibit A, and exibit C.

Why do I have this affect on women??............or was it because I just had the German Sausage for lunch!..........(hope to be back on the Deuce next week...exhaust time!)

Bathurst, with coffee, bacon, eggs and hot rods please!

Had a great roll up for my coffee morning at home, and being the 7th, we had the added bonus of watching the start of Australias great V8 car race, the Super Cheap Bathurst 1000.....Whincup won again...6 1/2 hours and 161 laps around one of the worlds most demanding race tracks..(you USA followers should "google" it)...I drove around there many years ago in my old Bedford RV...quite scary in places... Anyway, the start and first few laps of the race was soon forgotten and the 18 of us that turned out had a good morning catching up with no time constraints...we'll have to do more of these!

In fact, the next will be in three weeks, sort of a help for the Salvos store locally, but another chance for us to bench race....see you there....

Not much to show on the roadster at this time, as I have been on Jury duty, with another week to go on the trial I had allocated, so up early tomorrow for the 58 minute train ride to town.....It's just like being back in the workforce again...up at 6am and home at 6pm!!..Give me my retirement back soon, please.

R.I.P. to some very good people...you will be missed!

Sad to hear that Des Porter lost his life in the 1934 De Havilland that he restored some years back, also to Kathleen who was also on board, and his four good friends, so tragic 6 lives lost at a time in their lives when they were bringing joy to others. Des helped out with donations to Flying Doctors, and was returning from an air show display. R. I. P.