hubby's dad builds custom roadsters, wha'cha think...

[bridgit]

this is at the el mirage time trials; he's the one in the middle with the floppy hat :D

[GOPisEvil]

1. That is a very old-school look!

It's reminiscent of the original SoCal Speed Shop roadster. I like it! :thumbsup:

[bridgit]

2. you are very correct sir, that old boy was right there when it all came...

together in so cal, lions drag strip, pomona, bakersfield :hi: http://www.wediditforlove.com/Lions.html

[freethought]

3. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!

You know, my father was a carpenter. In the house I grew up in he cut down this hhhhhhuuuuuuge Red Oak. Took it to a friend who had a saw mill and cut the logs into pieces. These pieces became part of a solid oak floor and shelving of our living room. He did the same to another Red Oak, smaller this time, and used the milled wood to create these solid oak beams that he incorporated into the ceiling of the living room.

He also liked stone work, not premade bricks, but natural stone. He put this natural stone in parts of the house, inside and out. I haven't lived in that house since 1992 or so. I hope that the new owners show the craftsmanship some respect. The people who bought the house from my parents
did not give me encouragement in this respect. The woman fancied herself, an 'artistic type'and I dread to think what she may have done to the place.

To see someone build something like that with their own hands is both amazing and depressing simultaneously. The Roadster looks like a great piece of craftmanship. One for the ages. On the other hand, it depresses me because I am totally incapable of doing the same. I failed to inherit my Dad's hands. I am almost entirely thumbs. I could build a decent bird house or book caddy but that is just about it. SIGH!!

Tell your father-in-law that he has a phenominal piece of craftmanship there.

[bridgit]

4. you are most correct, craftsmanship can be little appreciated by they...

who just buy it off the shelf, hubby will know & appreciate what you've conveyed with your story as he is works with hardwoods for some custom items he puts together; red oak is a fav of his, as well as black walnut

thanks for your post here :hi:

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. I would not call that a roadster...

That's a Lakester!

No scoop, low hoodline, small exhaust. Izzit a four banger, or a flathead V8?

Dammit, do NOT post a pix like that and not list some details! :-)

Seriously, post some details.

[bridgit]

7. hubby says "that's a great observation", told me to tell you it's...

"the last 4 banger with one of the last, if not thee last 4 port Reilly head still running" :shrug: you prolly know what he's talking about, but you hit the config on the money = it is a lakester :thumbsup:

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. Oh yeah!

I have a couple book with mentions of that part. This is why I love Bonneville and Muroc, folks out there blasting across the flats in streamliners powered with parts that predate the Great Depression. Not exclusively, but those that do attempt speed records with only three main bearings get the props from me.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[bridgit]

12. good one, may not be allot of people in the audience, but we're waiting...

for the new hopkins film http://www.worldsfastestindian.com these guys are eccentric folk from time to time, but hubby showed me a clip of the british team breaking the land speed record (by the way, you can pass on the one with billy zane in it imo) and i have to say that was completely amazing watching something/anything going that fast while still on the ground :thumbsup:

[Gold Metal Flake]

13. I saw something on that.

Oh, yeah, it was on the Daily show?

I have an old hotrod with a history of sorts. Nothing great, except it is an example of what a low-budget drag car was in the 1960s.

Link

It's powered by a 460 these days.

Also, I have a message board dealing with a more modern Ford dinasaur engine, if the hub wants to kill some time.

Link

[bridgit]

14. he's gonna like that link, had a 69 ranchero, 360 w/cleveland heads...

chirp the tires at 45mph kind of a ride :hi:

[uncle ray]

15. nice period piece you got there

i'm always on the hunt to complete a set of the stewart warner greenline gauges like you have! glad to see you preserving the way the car was built, and not "updating" it.

[Gold Metal Flake]

18. Wellll....

The 460 I have in it now is a bit of an update, and the Crites conversion kit puts the headers inside the fram instead of the fenderwell style, but I have no intention of changing the overall appearance. The seat upholstery has cracked apart since I took those pix, but I will have them done over in exactly the same way.

Greenline gauges bring a pretty price these days. If you have some old junkyards near you, I would visit from time to time to see what has come in. Sometimes they show up. North Hollywood Speedometer is the company that rebuilt my greenline tach using VDO innards. Looks completely original from the outside, but can be used with any of the typical electronic ignitions. I have used it with a Pertronix Igniter, a GM HEI module triggered by a Duraspark distributor, and now an MSD box with the Duraspark dizz. Works great.

What gauges are you still looking for? Also, what are you putting them into?

[uncle ray]

20. ...

yeah they're hard to find, at a decent price that is! i might have to look into north hollywood, i should have a tach or two converted, almost everything i run had more modern ignition. i got a ford running the duraspark dizzy with hei module too!

i've still heard from people that they are still having great success getting TJ tuck n roll jobs done!
i'm hoping to do the same the next time i need upholstery and have the time to drive down.

my fleet(only the ones that get greenlines or twin blue): 51 chevy custom, 61 falcon 2dr wagon, and a 63 riviera. all are more or less 60's customs. what do i need? just about anything i got so many cars! but especially the more uncommon gauges, vacuum, volts, speedo or tach in either green or blue. i have a pretty good supply of 2" greenline volt,temp, and amp gauges, if you call two nice sets and some not so nice extras a good supply.

[Gold Metal Flake]

43. Check this place.

http://www.rodinteriors.com/online_catalog/

They make cool interiors. I talked to them about mine last year. I can get a front & rear set for the '58 for $650. I know my way around a pair of hog ring pliers, so that is the direction I intend to take when I get around to doing the job.

Sounds like you got a great fleet! I do love those early Rivs. There is one down the street. I even have an old '63 Riv Aurora T-jet!

[DainBramaged]

33. When I read "pulls to 7K" I thought oh man not an FE block

Until I realized 352 with lightweight parts. What a hoot.

[Gold Metal Flake]

42. Hmmm.

I hope you aren't suggesting big FEs can't spend much time at 7K.

Back in the 1960s, the 406 & 427 NASCAR mills with LR heads pulled 7K. Once the Tunnel Port heads made the scene the engines were living at 7K. The 427 High Risers in the Thunderbolts were easily pulling over 7k in the lights. Even a factory 427 R code with some tweaks could pull 7K. Reliably.

The 428s were vicious without the revs because of the longer stroke, but any 428 in Stock or Super Stock is pulling more than 7K. Most of the FE folks I know running modified FEs go at least to 7K. The 427 SOHCs were pulling way more than 7K with nitro and huge amounts of boost in Top Fuel classes in the late 1960s before everyone dropped the factory blocks in favor of the Donovan and KB engines.

Must I remind anyone of the 1, 2, 3 finish of the GT40s with 427s at LeMans? Lots of hours at high RPMs there.

FE cranks all weigh about the same, unless they are steel. If you want to spin an FE, just plan on it and build accordingly. It ain't rocket science.

That 352 in my car did not have any lightweight parts. It was built with factory stuff. Factory crank, rods, valves, regular aftermarket pistons. It just was not a veryn good combination. Too many conflicting parts. Too much cam for the compression, LR dual plane intake did not want to rev, valves too big, the rules stated that you could not port and the stall was too low.

Today, we don't have to pick over a bunch of old factory cap-screw rods and thin 427 blocks. The aftermarket is awash with FE parts these days. If you have not taken a look lately, you would be shocked at what you can get. But, it still costs more than building a stout 460, depending on what you are doing with it. For a reliable 550HP, I went with the 460. I just could not find a good FT block to get the bore I wanted, and I can not afford a good 427 block or a Genesis.

The 460 is the single greatest big block hot rod value bar none, but FEnatics will never give up the FE.

For FE tech, so www.fordfe.com.

[DainBramaged]

44. Having been there, and having been on the "rat" side of the "block"

I am suggesting it. Without light parts from the factory in the 60's, no one risked 7K. The street beaters we ran against, and the NHRA S/S who were leftovers from the factory lightweight and Thunderbolt days, may have made trips to 7K heaven, but we paid them no mind. They were never a threat when I raced. We worried about the Max Wedges and early 426 Hemis. The Max Wedges were better motors because as history later proved, the wedge heads flowed better than the Hemis did for drag racing.

The SOHC and BOSS 429 motors were never meant for street use, ports too large, too much cam, no useful street purpose. I thought in 1967 when I saw my very first SOHC in a real live Galaxie from Elmwood Ford (which was where I saw my first BOSS 429 Mustang also) at the original Johnny & Hanges in Fair Lawn that Ford only cared about NASCAR and those Southern Boys. My friends in their 409 '62's and '63 Biscayne wasted the 62 and 63 410/427 Galaxies. My 396 Camaro or 65 GTO would have had no problem either. Great times, wonderful memories, an era too short for too many reasons.

I can buy a 502 572 crate motor today from Chevrolet with a full warranty and don't even need to blueprint it. And I'm sure with a little care, I can get 650 from it.

But that's not the point at all is it? The point is horsepower lives on. From an original A/S '66 Biscayne 427 to today's SS Trailblazers with 395 real horsepower, we're still here to talk about it. I wonder if the kids who run their 300 HP blown and gassed little 4 bangers will ever understand what it was like to run mid 11's with a 3600lb. car and 7" M&H "street" slicks.

http://www.yorkus30.com/images/1stannual/index.htm

[Redstone]

6. Is that at Bonneville?

Redstone

[bridgit]

8. that pic there is el mirage...

but they have run that car @ Bonneville :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. This is what I think of when I hear 'Lakester'

Back then, they built 'em from WWII-surplus P-51 drop tanks. Guys like Mickey Thompson got their start in these things.



Ah, the earliest days of the NHRA — originally the Southern California Timing Association.

[bridgit]

10. lakesters have there own look & feel there is no doubt...

in my old biz = music, it's called 'cross over', hubby asked to send you this pic cause you prolly know, and that he remembers the bomb guy's car :thumbsup:
B-)

[madrchsod]

16. that`s so cool

i grew up reading hot rod magazines during the 50`s and i dreamed of some day building a hot rod. get rid of the trucks, orange cones, those shoes, color, and that picture could be from a magazine during 40`s or early 50`s..

[bridgit]

17. i like your avatar too...

:hippie:

[DancingBear]

19. Did hubby and/or dad grow up with NHRA?

I remember seeing "Jungle Jim" Lieberman run a 6.99 in his (I think) '69 Nova Funny Car. First guy ever to break the seven second mark.

It was "somewhat" difficult to run the Salt Flats from Connecticut, where I grew up, so I consoled myself with a '62 Chevy, balanced and blueprinted (Keith Black used to have a shop in Springfield, MA), Thorley Headers, M/T's and Cragar deep dish mags, double pumper Holley and on and on.

I shall now creak back up the stairs...

[yorgatron]

21. if anyone wants to see some footage of Bonneville

i recommend "The World's Fastest Indian"

[henslee]

36. but do you recommend the story? Film any good?

[bridgit]

45. yeah, it's your basic 'man with a dream however quirky' story, did...

lose his wife & family iver the obsession though that's kind of a bummer, but so did the guy in Spielberg's close encounters so :shrug:

[bridgit]

22. oh yes, used to run through the pits say'n "hey!" to the likes of...

karamesines, sister dated tom mcewen yada-yada, stood round as a little snapper at the elbow of big daddy roth http://www.ratfink.org as he painted sweat & t-shirts, remembers black as a humble nut & bolt busting gear-head till he came up with the 'super block', was there the night garlits broke the 8sec barrier (so that will date him a bit), and later when he showed up with is dragster chopped in half with a dodge dart boby fixed to it; they didn't know what to call it so it ran that night in pro stock and the rest of so much of it is history so as to say; dad did a stint @ ford motor racing div where they made the mercury's go so fast ford pulled the financing; shook hands & bounced on the knees of: parnelli, johnny rutherford, foyt; as hubby says...

"ah, the memories"

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Black?

You talkin' Keith Black?

Damn. I woulda given anything to have been your brother.

Ramchargers. Hemi Under Glass.

Okay, I can die now...

[DancingBear]

27. I used to LOVE the Ramchargers cars

"Hodges Dodges"

I still remember their competition - the Tasca Ford T-Birds.

[Oeditpus Rex]

31. What was that Dodge pickup

that was famous for wheelstands? Was it part of Ramchargers?

I can see it in my head, but I can't see the big lettering down the side.

[DancingBear]

35. The Little Red Wagon

Don't remember if it was part of Ramchargers.

I remember the van, but did they have a pick-up as well?

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. Yeah, that's it

I don't remember a van. Maybe you remember it as van because of the cab-forward design. (I know there was a term for that — the Ford Econoline trucks and the VW and Corvair pickups included — but I can't think of it.)

[DancingBear]

38. Yep, you're right - that's it

Well at least I got the name - that's gotta count for something. :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. Hey, it's more'n I came up with

:thumbsup:

Edit: Hey, what was in your '62? If you say a 409, I'm gonna beat my head against something.

[DancingBear]

40. Sure, and it was a bubbletop, too

:) No, it was just a stock 283 but bored out to almost 327 (maybe 307?) or thereabouts. I remember thinking we were getting really low on metal....

Turned about 380 or so (true) hp on the dyno.

In the mid 90's, I had a '65 396/425 Vette coupe - with factory side pipes.

I used to start that thing up in the garage just to LISTEN to it.... :)

[Oeditpus Rex]

41. Must've been seriously bored

An .060-over 283 is a 292. I've heard of guys boring .100 and even .120, but that'd scare me.

[bridgit]

28. yes sir, Keith Black...

:hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

30. You've lived a life I've dreamed of

More than just about anything else — anything semi-frivolous, that is — I've wanted to build hot rods, but I was never in that environment. I knew a few street racers in my younger days, but none with the resources for much more than bolt-on stuff.

I'm probably about as close as I'll ever come right now; my daily driver is a '65 El Camino that I've been slowly bringing back to... well, not showroom condition, since I don't have the facilities or the bucks for a frame-off resto, but as close as I can come with what I've got.

I envy you.

[bridgit]

32. not me, OR, but my gloriously nuanced hubby, he loved the link...

to your site very much, i on the other hand; would love that '65 El Camino to tool around in :thumbsup: :hi: :kick:

we've got a great ford museum here in sac http://www.toweautomuseum.org B-)

[uncle ray]

23. what about "Jungle Pam"?

Jim would be nothing without Pam. Hubba Hubba. non drag racing guys don't know what they're missing.

[DancingBear]

26. Her and Linda Vaughn - "Miss Hurst"

Mercy. :)

[DainBramaged]

34. Jim Liberman, RIP

http://www.junglepam.com/jj-photos.html

What a fun time the sixties really were.





Used to watch him at Raceway Park, Englishtown NJ.

[In_The_Wind]

24. I think that's really cool!

:hi:

[bridgit]

29. Joani!!

:hi: