2012 Shakedown Run
Once Springtime arrives in Northern California it’s nearly impossible to find an open weekend to stage an event. With all the swap meets, vintage drag races, cruises, barbecues, and shows we decided early on to announce a date for this year’s NCRRA Shakedown Run and hope we didn’t run into too many conflicts. There were a couple, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm or hobble the turnout for this year’s shindig. We had participants from as far away as Nevada.
This year we printed event T-shirts. In turn we were blessed with T-shirt weather all day long. We also hosted a full-on taco bar lunch for the drivers and co-pilots after the run.
Marc Kaplan is the sparkplug behind the revival of the NCRRA (Northern California Roadster Racing Association) and does an amazing job organizing this event. Lately he’s been made privy to the photo collections of some of the original NCRRA members and has published a book that chronicles their exploits. It also features page after page of incredible early Nor Cal roadster photos. If you’re interested in a copy, contact Marc at marckaplan1939@gmail.com
Here are pics from the day’s festivities, enjoy:
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’34 Ford Coupe: Details Part VI
Bill Evan’s coupe is making good progress. The trunk area has really come together; the aluminum panels are trimmed and now secured with Dzus fasteners, the fiberglass body lip has been massaged to jive with the edge of the panels, and we’ve begun routing the battery cables and wiring. After a bit of a hunt we found some nicely-made 90° elbow battery lugs that will allow us to run the cables cleanly out through the tin. The battery area will be covered by a finished, carpeted floor panel.
A torsion-bar, track-nose, tube chassis, T-roadster
A few years back, a couple of talented guys, Ron Attebury and Dick Jones, teamed up on a high tech T-roadster they hoped to offer as a kit. The car combined a space frame tube chassis and torsion bar suspension with a svelte, track-nosed fiberglass T-roadster body. Three of the kits were produced. One was nicely finished with a 4.3 liter V6 and made it into the feature pages of the 12/93 issue of Rod & Custom. A second is somewhere in the wind, its parts scattered after the owner passed away. The third eventually made its way to the garage of our friend Mason Peters.
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’34 Ford Coupe: Details Part V
If you’ve been following the build on Bill Evans’ coupe, you saw in our last post that we’d progressed into the trunk area with fabrication of the trunk’s aluminum side and rear panels. The cockpit of the car, originally designed by Chip Foose, features broad, swooping expanses of brushed aluminum, trimmed with leather inserts. (You’ll find several photos of the interior metalwork here). The same motif carries into the trunk. Follow along as Gary hammers out and welds up these panels.
The body of the car is vintage fiberglass from Poliform and is, as you can see from our earlier posts, heavily modified. Unfortunately, much of the work was left rough. It’s taken a good deal of labor and a lot of itching but the aluminum-to-fiberglass fit is coming together.
Although not nearly as photogenic, we’ve made a lot of progress on the wiring, too. We’re close to conquering the snake farm that energizes the coupe’s audio visual system/computers/back-up camera/GPS/remote controls/etc, etc. Check back in, we’ll keep you posted.
Building a ’40 Ford Chassis
The hot rod and woodie worlds are circles that intersect. We know a number of guys that have their feet firmly planted in both. It was in the woodie world a few years back that I stumbled across a compete ’40 Ford chassis. By complete I mean it included the engine, trans, rear end, brakes, wheels, tires, gas tank – everything. The old owner wanted a brand new, air-bagged, disc-braked, 350/350 chassis for his car. He didn’t want any of “that old flathead crap.†I saw it as the beginnings of a traditional coupe or roadster build, so I jumped on it.
I have a pair of original Deuce frame rails that these parts will eventually go into, so I put the ’40 frame up for sale. A customer wanted it for his ’40 coupe and let us build it for him. We set it up with split wishbones and a dropped axle, a parallel leaf rear end, and a center cross member modified to accept his modern 350 transmission.
Chassis Engineering (West Branch, Iowa) is the go-to source for the parts needed to convert these frames. CE stuff is well designed, sturdy, and proven. They call their parts “bolt-on†components, but anyone that’s built a car knows what that means. We thought you might like to follow along as we “bolt†this project together. Read more…
News & Photos: 2012 Grand National Roadster Show
We arrived back at the shop last night after a long, six-day trip to this year’s Grand National Roadster Show. Gary and I helped Jim Tipper display his Brasher & Cummings ’33 Willys Gasser. Showing a car is a lot of work. Jim has been organizing photos and memorabilia since last summer and the installation took more than a few hours. It was well worth it. We shared our ride home in Jim’s Crew Cab with a giant purple best-of-class trophy.
I met this snazzy trophy queen on set-up day. She was more than happy to pose with Jim’s color-coordinated coupe.
This year the show’s promoters once again cut a deal with the Southern California weather gods. Temperatures soared into the 80’s and remained pegged there throughout the weekend. Hundreds of hot rods and customs drove onto the fairgrounds to park between the buildings, adding to the 500 cars, trucks and bikes already on display. There was no way you could see it all in a day. Read more…
Pre-War Hot Rod Racing. Harper Dry Lake.
My Uncle Tommy Lorbeer wasn’t really kin. He was my dad’s best friend. Tommy raced with my dad at the lakes in the late 30’s, flew a P-38 in WWII, drove a Porsche in the early 50’s, and had the first VW Van in Riverside. He was alway ahead of the curve. As kids, we’d never heard a stereo system before when he flew a fighter jet from the left speaker to the right — at full volume. Man, we all hit the floor. In 1940 he bought a newfangled toy, an 8mm camera, and took it out to Harper Dry Lake. My cousin found the reel and I had it digitized. My son Connor edited it and added the sound. Enjoy:
Resurrection Complete: Historic Willys Gasser Saved from the Crusher
Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, must surely have been shaking his head when Jim Tipper, looking over the post-rollover remains of his Willys gasser, decided to resurrect the car. A lesser man would’ve hauled her off to the crusher. Little did Jim know it would be 25 years before the legendary car once again hit the asphalt.
The Brasher & Cummings Willys was a well-known veteran of California`s Gasser Wars. Nicknamed “BC†(and adorned with a cartoon of the comic strip caveman), the car spent nearly thirty years on the drag strip.
Like all veteran gassers, the Willys underwent constant modification in order to remain competitive. Visually the car sported a number of different front ends, ran a variety of engines, changed colors numerous times and, in 1967, was treated to a Tony Del Rio top chop. Legend has it that Pat Stewart loaned BC a 392 Hemi and a couple of passes were made — on nitro. The car’s home was the Fremont Drag Strip where it held several A and B/Gas track records; at one time it was an NHRA National Record Holder. Read more…
My First Pass: At the wheel of a Willys Gasser
EDITORS NOTE: Jim Tipper bought the Basher & Cummins AA Gas Willys fully intending to go racing. The gasser, known to fans as “BC,†had enjoyed both a colorful history and a successful racing career. Built originally in the 1960’s, BC held a number of track records, including a National Record 8.595 second/162.30 mph pass in 1970 with Bill Brasher behind the wheel. Tipper bought BC in 1984, returned her to her AA/Gas roots, and brought her back to Baylands, the Fremont track where so many of her memories were made. This is Jim’s description of his first pass:
“The five-layer fire suit, boots, gloves, helmet, fire mask and goggles are all on. I’m strapped in tight, ready to fire her up. I’m taller than your average guy and I’m twisted into the cabin like a contortionist. My head is awkwardly bent against one shoulder, and forced back tight under the roll bar. My left leg is jammed between the steering wheel and door, my left foot is at a miserable angle, searching for the brake pedal. My right foot is high on the trans tunnel, looking for a comfortable position to control the throttle, without stepping into the gaping hole next to it.
I primed the oil and fuel pressure, pulled the fuel cable, and hit the mag. She fired instantly, and my crew scattered with over the wall, their hands over their ears as if she was about to explode. They’d had an hour of training. Now they were running into each other, looking terrified. I felt very alone.
Somehow I get through the water without hitting anyone and I’m ready for my burnout. Temperature is good, oil pressure is, I ratchet into third and I stomp on it. The throttle response is instantaneous, the sound is deafening, the cab fills with tire smoke, and the feeling of power is exhilarating. Keep her straight, don’t over rev, I’m coming up on half track so hit the brakes. Harder. Harder. I’m starting to cramp before she finally pulls up. Damn. This car doesn’t stop for beans. I twist over to push the safety button, ratchet into reverse, start back toward the lights, and realize I can’t see a thing. My crew eventually figures out my arm waving and runs out from under cover to guide me back to the line.
I’m ready to stage. Someone please pull the chute pins and show ‘em to me. More frantic hand waving and the crew figures it out. She’s now getting hot. The firesuit is like an electric blanket. Sweat is pouring into my eyes and my goggles are fogging so bad I can hardly make out the tree. I’m pushing as hard as I can on the old Buick drums, but every time the cam cycles, she lurches forward an inch. Read more…
’34 Ford Coupe: Details Part IV
If you’ve been following the progress on Bill Evans’ coupe, you know we had to relocate the air conditioner from the trunk to the firewall. There were some fitment problems on the passenger side, which were addressed in our last post, plus a small area on the driver’s side where the corner of the A/C unit hit the underside of the dash. As the dash went in and out, it became clear we had another problem.
The big one-piece bushing we’d inherited along with the column drop wasn’t going to work with Bill’s newly polished column. Read more…
A Pinion Seal for Ford’s Torque Tube
If you’re running a banjo and torque tube — especially if your car sits on a rake —  you’ve probably wrestled with the problem of your rear end oil drilling it’s way up the torque tube, starving the banjo and flooding the trans. When this problem resulted in a banjo fry in a friend’s roadster, it was time for some pre-emptive action.
Gary’s roadster has a ’35-’36 banjo and torque tube, with a ’34 driveshaft and 4.11 gears. He was getting ready to switch to 3.54’s, so it was an ideal time to attack the oil migration problem.
It worked out to be three part solution: a machined Insert Sleeve designed to sit in the bell of the torque tube, a simple Ford seal, and a Pinion Collar designed to replace the locknut on the pinion.
The Insert Sleeve slides into the torque tube bell and is fixed by three set-screws that have been drilled and tapped into the tube. Ford didn’t precision-machine these bells – in fact Gary’s was slightly cone shaped – so the sleeve was machined for O-rings to accommodate Ford’s variation. Other year Ford torque tubes bells aren’t even close to being round inside — a fact that keeps a solution like this from becoming a universal product. Read more…
Spokes & Solids
School is back in session, the tourists have hit the road, and right on schedule, summer has arrived in Santa Cruz. Overcast mornings give way to sunny, warm, windless days; it’s perfect hot rod weather. Clay Slaughter and Tim Edwards took the opportunity to celebrate the season, along with Clay’s birthday, by organizing the first annual Spokes & Solids run. A 50-mile jog up the coast and into the redwoods ended at a barbecue and body drop (more on this later) at Clay’s home in the Soquel hills. Invitations went out and approximately 40 cars participated. These were some of our favorites:
This real-deal three window from Chualar was a knockout. Peering through the hood louvers it was hard to tell what it was running, but it looked like it could be a Cad or an Olds. Read more…
2011 Goodguys 25th Anniversary West Coast Nationals
The GoodGuys 25th Anniversary West Coast Nationals last weekend drew larger crowds than we’ve ever seen. For years, the cut-off date for cars was 1948. It was later jumped to 1957, and then this year to 1972. While the late model rides didn’t exactly light our fires, there were a few gems among them and the influx certainly helped pack the fairgrounds.
Here’s what caught our eye. This little A roadster out of Reno ran a 383 stroker motor, a five speed, 18 and 16 inch wires, a Hallock windshield, and a no-frills interior. We’re betting you’ll see it in the magazines soon. Read more…
Lights. Camera. Action.
“Hot Rods for Kids” is an upcoming car show/fund raiser. The organizer asked us if we would bring Gary’s roadster and my RPU out for a public service spot to be shot by the local TV station. The roadster got left on the cutting room floor, but the shop truck scored a walk-on part. It inadvertently turned out to be a nice little plug for the shop:
Woodies on the Wharf
Each June, the weekend after Father’s Day, the Santa Cruz Woodie Club hosts one of the best little car shows anywhere. Woodies on the Wharf celebrated its 17th anniversary this year and 185 cars showed up for the party. The event is extremely popular, both with locals and the woodie owners themselves. We regularly get cars from throughout the western states, and this year even had one couple ship their woodie all the way out from Connecticut.
I’m pretty busy with the event – we start work on it in February – and didn’t’t get a chance to shoot a lot of photos. I did snap a few of the more unique cars, especially the “big†woodies, but several of these shots came from members and friends of the club. Thanks guys.
The Shoebox Posse from So Cal is on the wharf at oh-dawn-thirty to stake out their usual turf.
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