Finally decided on some colour....

I have picked a colour that (hopefully) will come out something like this....should look good with either the Americans, Halibrands, or Steelies that I have!!

The primer coat is on, but need to add some bondo here and there..

Glenn is doing an expert job on the prep...the 9" was pretty well pitted all over, so a day went into making it ready for paint.

Fenders will be flat black...body has had an initial rub over, but will concentrate on the frame and components first.

All the dangly bits awaiting their turn.....

Might have to dispose of some of my collection....so I have room to put the roadster in the clean room with the tudor once finished....whatya need??....I might get a list together for a future blog.

Forgot to add this pic from the speedway day....Brett Ehmer who used to work for me...well, his dad (Ehmers Puppets) makes and sells these large models of speedcars...but he will attempt whatever you want done....cool, hey!!

Don't forget the Brissy Hot Rod Show is back on this weekend, 4/5 May....help them out by going along, they need the money from the gate or there may not be another show in coming years...spread the word!

Better spread the word about my 30 model Tudor...it needs to go to a new home, before I get tempted to build it.....$11,000, greg@comstar.com.au 0437 32 31 33.
I had time for this today, as I have been to the Doc for my annual skin cancer touch up...another 50 burnt off....can't stress enough how important it is to look after your health!!

Vintage Speedway show @ Rocklea, April 2013.

Good line up of mid 70s/80s cars, with VWs, Sescos, etc.

Cappy Woods restored racer ...beautiful red paint!

Typical OFFY that you saw in the 50s and 60s midgets.

The bigger OFFY, this was in a 1938 midget....or maybe they just called them dirt track cars back then?

How about the Chevy V8 cut down to a 4 cylinder.

Plenty of SOLOS there, from all eras of speedway.

Old style Super Modifieds are'nt seen very much...they must have all gone to the tip.

These guys are as bad as hot rodders, trying to find parts to restore there cars...lol.

Here is the 1938 racer....it was a cool car...transverse front and rear...it drove around the grounds...starts without a push......even has reverse!

Who remembers the old flattie powered airport tug, that they used at the EKKA for decades for push starting....great that someone even decided to keep and restore this .

Another beautiful day in the Redlands.

This was the first time at the Victoria Point Bakery, and it's looking good for a regular destination for coffee....it has lots of parking, enough shade, just enough seating, and low volume traffic at the eateries.....perfect!

It was the best turn out to date, think I counted 39 cars, but must have been about 60 people....the bakery must have liked that!

Plenty of parking, with lots of room to stand and talk, with almost zero other regular street cars coming in.

I'm the worlds worst photographer...haha.

My photos are either too close or too far away...

Or have trees and bushes in the way.....but I try to get all the cars in, rather than individuals.......it is what it is.

This is what I wanted to do, have guys get together and just catch up and talk , the hot rods and coffee brings this all together. Apologies to those I didn't get to talk to....I was trying to catch up with you all, plus giving details out to all the newcomers.....this will keep growing bigger.....let me know if you like this format at greg@comstar.com.au

A few of us headed off to the Vintage Speedway display at Rocklea later that day....this will be featured in the next blog.

Mid April, time to get some painting done!

Well...not much work these last few days, as I've caught an early dose of coughs/colds/sneezes/wheezes etc....thank god for tissues, my poor nose is nearly cactus!

Thankfully, earlier in the week, I managed to get the body on a roll-around frame and take it over to Glenns workshop.......

Where he took charge and went to work on my poor excuse for a bog job.....I'm still debating about a colour, and he wants to know...soon!...the frame is being blasted this weekend, so undercoat next week......can't thank Glenn enough for the help he is giving.

This was my first choice.....flat army green

Then I saw this....and loved the gloss finish

Then this popped up, and I'm confused again

And nobody does maroon..why?

B.R.G. is always a favourite...decisions..decisions..

Good friends Doug and Robyn just managed to score a steel 34 5 window....swweeet!!.....run a bit of Col Chapmans expertise over the body and wait and see...this will be a great match for their 34 Tudor...first they have to sell the 57 Chev Hardtop...anyone want one?

As you can see, I look after myself when I'm sick, a hearty meal of Sardines on Doritos should cure any ailment I have!!

Gettin' close to paintg decisions,

I found 4 litres of dark blue paint left over from my Tudor project, so maybe...I can flatten it and add some black, rather than the shiny finish like this one....watcha think?

I've also looked at Cream, Maroon, Grey, Light Blue, Mid Green, Matt Black, and Orange...so confusing.....

Last minute jobs before I forget...ran a few earth straps to the body/chassis/engine.

I'm using the donor XE Falcon Borg Warner rear brakes on the 9", so had to make this little adapter in the X member to hold the cables....now all I have to do is open the centre hole on the backing plate a little, so the 9" axle will go thru.

Just need to finish welding the bracket on the scattershield for the XY slave cyl., and then make up the hydraulic line.

Need to "Sikaflex" all this tubing to the body, then it can go out for prep and paint.

  

Love the colour on this 37 coupe...might even go for that on the roadster

Or maybe the colour on this rat rod would be good as well...like the drab olive./army green sort of look!!

 

As per this year in Queensland, the weather has turned nasty, so I don't think I will get to Sundays big day at Willowbank for the Auto Spectacular...but I sure hope it fines up soon!!

Remembering the past...old faces at the Nats will do that!!

So, every Nationals, I seem to catch up with someone from my past, and we talk about the early (good old) days of hot rodding....I got into it at about age 13, (1963), and helped start Rods Inc. Hot Rod Club in high school, 1964....Myself, Peter Crain, and Tom Fulton sat together and did as much hot rod stuff as we could, when we were supposed to learn Algebra!!...I mentioned thatI had some old club cards somewhere, so this is my dog-eared collection.

Who knows when I got them...the Vic. ones probably at the 1st Nats in 1973, but the NSW ones could be from our many trips to Roselands/Bankstown/Mattara hot rod shows, or the early Coffs/Port McQuarry/Kempsey/Tamworth runs.

The Bill Warner one came from a trip I did to Sydney in 1965 from memory...think I bought a foot gas pedal and a three carb fuel log.....which I sold to Gentleman Jim Reed!....Not sure about the Dave Andrews card, but the West Coast one has Vince Berrimans name on the back.

Here were the main clubs from Brisbane...well, at least they all had cars and licences....and they helped organise a lot to do with the formation years of rodding in Queensland..

Here's a trio of early Rods Inc cards, and who remembers the United Drag Team?..This one had Elwyn Bess on it..other members from memory..ChickenMan Ricky Stapleton..Nigel Cresser maybe...don't remember any more.

These 4...who rembers the Yankiwi Wanderers...wonder where they ever ended up, I remember the highboy T tub they were building.....top right was the Mag wheel centres pricing for wheels..cheap enough!!..bottom left was Stomper leaving a message on a Hustlers card for Tom Fulton....and I found this one and only dodgy photo of when I ran the mechanical fuel injection on my 283 powered A bucket....talk about over kill, it went 12.30 with a single 600 Holley, 12.70 when I stuck a Tunnelram and twin 390s on it...and 13.1 with the stupid injector..wouldn't pull a greasy stick out of a dogs clacker!!.go figure!!

Les Winter brought Ralph Stapley over to meet me at the Nats, he was another that I had forgotten about that went on my honeymoon...haha..65 of us off to USA, and I knew about 30 or more, so in one way, Anita and I got little peace.....(however, I did get a little piece!)

Customline + smoking + drinks + power pole = crash....1971 was the year that I rearranged the front of the car, as well as the 4 of us inside...thank goodness for the solid frame, or we might not be here..ended up with two broken legs,two broken fingers, but that was fun, girls felt sorry for me..(aaaw Taylor St Camping, Toowoomba )..Normie Dean used to carry me to his 57 T Bird to go up to the pub, with my leg sticking out the side...I still have the s.s. pin that they shoved down the centre of my leg.