1933 Tudor Street Rod Is A Cross-Country Cruiser

1933 Ford Street Rod Featured Ride

I first shared a quick photo of Jim Baugh’s light blue 1933 Ford Sedan Street Rod in the Salt Flats Speed Shop Open House story. When Jim pulled up to the shop, I immediately started taking pictures.  Let’s have a closer look…

First of all, this ’33 was built with a mix of two styles, Street Rod and Traditional Hot Rod.  When Jim was telling all about his ’33, he sounded almost disappointed that it was a Street Rod.  I think he’s been bit by the Traditional hot rod style bug that is so prevalent at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

The Street Rod comes from the  big ‘n’ little tires, a reliable 350 small block Chevy and TH350 auto trans and front disc brakes.  The Traditional Hot Rod style’s evident from several features: the chopped top, fenderless hot rod rake, authentic Ed Roth laid pinstriping, heavily louvered decklid and solid front axle. So which is it? Who cares!

Jim nailed the complete execution and made a long-haul driver at the same time. Jim drove his ’33 from Washington state to Alabama (or was it Arkansas?) for a family reunion then to Utah for Speed Week 2010 and back home to Washington.  Wow!  Jim’s had this ’33 on the road since the mid 90′s and has put over 40,000 miles on it since.

Here’s a shot to help point out the differences in the 1933-34, 1932 and 1928-31 models.  (There’s Jim in the white t-shirt eying his ’33.)  He explained the difference between the ’33 and ’34 grilles is the ’33′s have a thinner grille shell or surround compared to the ’34′s.

When I build a 30′s hot rod, it will most definitely be fenderless.  I dig the open wheel look big time!

I noticed Jim has been coming out to Speed Week for a few years now as evidenced by his Bonneville National Speed Week decals.

While we’re on the subject of hot rod decals, I gave Jim a MyRideisMe.com decal and he proudly placed it on his windshield.  Thanks for the support Jim!  I hope you see this feature on your hot rod.

Here’s that Ed Roth pinstriping on the dash.  How many hot rodders can say their ride has been pinstriped by Big Daddy himself?  Not many.  So cool!  Notice the steering wheel?  It’s a Cadillac unit.  Jim seemed disappointed this was not a 40′s Ford steering wheel for that traditional feel.  I actually thought it didn’t look too out of place, but I agree with Jim, an early Ford unit would go better with that pinstriped dash.

Jim said Ed Roth signed his pinstriping work there at the bottom.  I leaned in and sure enough, there it is, “Roth” signed on his dash.  He laughed when he told me the story when Ed Roth was layin’ lines and a spectator leaned on the car and moved it in mid brush stroke.  I think that’s why that bottom line is a little thicker.  What a cool story he can tell because of that experience with Big Daddy.

I think Car Clubs are one of the great parts of car culture.  I mean, I know I really appreciate sharing my fanaticism about cars with others who feel the same way.  No place better than a Car Club.  Jim’s a member of the Aces & Eights Hot Rod Club in Washington.  What a cool name!

Here is the club logo placed between the door and engine cowl.

As if his ’33 Tudor wasn’t enough, check out this 5 window coupe.  He was showing us this book of hot rod photos and pointed out to me the other cars in his collection.  Wait, there’s more…

Here’s another of Jim’s hot rods.  Jim has the ’33 Sedan, the 5 window, this roadster and 2 ’40 Fords.  I’m jealous!  What a nice collection of cars.  There’s a certain street rod influence in the 33, but it’s traditional hot rods that appear dominate in Jim’s garage. This flathead powered roadster pickup looks like its straight out of the 50′s and is signed by “Kookie Car” legend Norm Grabowski.

It was great talking to you Jim, you are a class act.  Instead of going off to do your own thing at the Open House, you took the time to chat about your car, explain all the little details and even what you’d do differently.  I appreciate the guys like you who are willing to talk to the younger crowd and teach us a few things about this passion we call Hot Rodding and share your stories.  I just soak it in.

Hechtspeed

Pinstriping Circus Goes Nuts on a Welding Helmet #2

7 Hot Rod Artist Pinstriping for Charity (part 2)

Bid to win this helmet on Ebay now: Custom Pinstriping on Welding Helmet

Next up is pinstriper Mitch Maciel. In case you missed it, this is the custom, brand new Lincoln Electric Viking Welding Helmets we’ll auction on Ebay with the benefits going to our friends from Progeria Research. Want to see pics of the finished helmet? Right here: Finished pinstriping pictures

Mitch pinstripes out of Los Angeles, CA and showed us a distinct scroll style of pinstriping. Looking for something in this style for your hot rod? Catch up with Mitch by email.

And for a lady’s touch, meet pinstriper Jenn Hallett

The first thing you’ll probably notice about Jenn is she’s cute as a button! If you’re smart enough to talk to her, you’ll quickly learn her looks aren’t her only great quality! Jenn’s just cool and a talented artist. I asked about her brush prep technique… look at her fingers. Some pinstripers use glossy paper, like from a magazine, to prep their brushes for fine lines, but others use their fingertips like Jenn and Dave Whittle coming up next.

Anytime the pinstriping takes the shape of something else: an animal, face, tiki or whatever, I approve! This evil looking character pinstriped on a a skate deck was also done on an upright bass for a psychobilly festival in Germany called the “Satanic Stomp”. As you can tell, I was smitten by Ms. Jenn… and her work! (Click to see the larger pictures)

What’s not to love!?  Get in touch with Jenn for striping work by sending an email.

Last but certainly not least was pinstriping legend Dave Whittle.

Wrapping up the welding helmet, Dave made use of what little space everyone left him. No offense taken, that’s how pinstriping jams go. Dave added his unique touch over of Kong’s work on the top of the helmet and added his signature. Look close to see how the pinstriping brush makes the H of his name.

I need to do another story on Dave. Starting back in 1963 at car shows, guess who his mentors are? Ed Roth and The Barron Kelly. Heard of them? After watching the masters work, he started pinstriping everything around him in the 7th grade.

Here’s a step by step of Dave pinstriping the helmet:

Notice Dave’s got paint on his index finger and thumb and notice how he paints each individual dot. You can reach Dave Whittle Pinstriping by email.

Thanks to all of the pinstripers for their hard work and friendly conversation. I really appreciate it. Here’s each pinstriper one more time:

• Von Hot Rod
• Kong
• Jeff Styles
• Tom McWeeney
• Mitch Maciel
• Jenn Hallett
• Dave Whittle

Choose any of these guys for quality pinstriping and a kind heart.

Remember to check back on the Ebay auction and grab a copy of the iWeld Newsletter to support Lincoln Electric for their generosity.

What should we pinstripe next?

Did you miss part #1 of this story? Pinstriping Helmet Part #1.

Pinstriping Circus Goes Nuts on a Welding Helmet #1

7 Hot Rod Artist Pinstriping for Charity

Bid to win this helmet on Ebay now: Pinstriped Lincoln Electric Welding Helmet

I already showed you this brand new Lincoln Electric Viking Welding Helmets we’ll auction on Ebay with the benefits going to our friends from Progeria Research. More about all that, and finished pinstriping pictures here.

So who did the pinstriping?

Enter Von Hot Rod’s Pinstriping Circus.  Pictured above, Von Hot Rod is a man of many talents. His pinstriping work is a style of it’s own developed from years of striping at just about every car show including those outside this continent! Von’s also been known to host the Sunday service at event’s he attends. Von Hot Rod is also the man behind the Pinstriping Reunion held at the Grand National Roadster Show every year. In 2009, they raise a cool $14 g’s for charity. So when I asked Von and his Pinstriping Circus for help, I knew he’d do it.

The picture above shows Von pinstriping on the welding helmet. Having these photos showing where the helmet came from has got to add to it’s collectible provenance, right? (did I spell that big word correctly!)

Pinstripers will throw down on anything and Von’s known to do cell phones, sunglasses, cameras and just about everything! These are some of his custom made shift knobs and he’s showing his own design for pinstriping brush. He’s developed over the years and now sells them. Find Von Hot Rod  on his Facebook page. Thanks Von!

Up next pinstriping the helmet is Kong. AKA Jeff Isbell, Kong’s out of Chula Vista, CA. Trained in Architecture, Kong’s been at the pinstriping game for over 10 years. Here are some samples of the work he had on display at LA Roadster Show and here’s his official Kong Pinstriping website. (click to see any picture full size)

As you can see, pinstripers will put down their custom lines on just about everything, and if you’re like me, that everything gets better looking!

Following Kong was pinstriper Jeff Styles. Jeff’s not normally known as “Donkey” but couldn’t resist following Kong on the pinstriping jam. Jeff’s got a super-cool license plate restoration biz going that puts his pinstriping and painting skills together to make an ugly new plate look like the old-school California black plate (or yellow too) that everyone wants. Get in touch with Jeff Styles here.

One of these days I’ll own a bowling pin like this.  Also shown is Jeff’s son learning the pinstriping art. There’s nothing like practice to get it right and he’s off to a good start. Just in this shot is the “restored” California black plate Jeff does.

Next up was pinstriper and hot rod artist Jeff McWeeney.

Jeff’s in action pinstriping here. Look how the brush is held? Yea, he’s painting with the brush handle to make some dots on his work. Never seen that before! Everyone’s got their own style and painting style.  Jeff had an S10 pickup at the LA Roadster Show too. You’ll know why it fit in when you see the custom paint and pinstriping.

Jeff can be reached by email here.

We’re just over half way showing how this helmet was made. Check for Pinstriping part #2 for the rest.

Don’t miss the 2nd half of this story:  Pinstriping Helmet Part #2.

Custom Pinstriped Welding Helmet for Charity

Pinstriping for Charity

Bid to win this helmet on Ebay now: Custom Pinstriped Welding Helmet

The good people at Lincoln Electric gave MyRideisMe.com some of their new Viking Welding Helmets to use as give-aways. (that’s my full disclosure!)  As much as I wanted this simple gloss black helmet (#2815-1) for myself (plus the pinstriping from buddy) I decided to auction it for charity with the help of Von Hot Rod’s Pinstriping Circus. What charity? With so many great ones out there, I don’t want to choose, so I’m sticking with our friends from Progeria Research. They’re nearing a cure that could save these kids and I want to be a part of it. I also think the world of the Foose Family for what they’ve been through and what they continue to do for Progeria.  Take 5 minutes to read this story of courage: Amy Foose. You’ll be glad you did.

So here’s the helmet! I’ll auction this helmet on Ebay with 100% of the proceeds going to Progeria… It’s listed Right Now! The story is live in Lincoln Electric’s iWeld Newsletter. (September 2010)

I’ve created the Ebay listing under my personal seelling profile, Superfly145.  Here’s the Auction: Pinstriped Welding Helmet

Here’s the rest of the pictures:

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If you’re compelled to give to Progeria here’s a link to give right away. I’m part of Terry Foose’s giving team (Chip Foose’s mom) Here’s the link. Please give generously!

Now, you’ve got to see the 7 artists from the Pinstriping Circus that made this helmet possible.

1-4 of the Pinstriping Artists
Von Hot Rod, Kong, Jeff Styles and Jeff McWeeney

5-7 finish the Pinstriping
Mitch Maciel, Jenn Hallett and Dave Whittle

Hot Rods ain’t Strange at the 2010 Strangers Car Show

Hot Rods and Custom Car Show Pictures

As the Doors front man Jim Morrison once put it ” People are strange when you’re a stranger.” Hmmm, lets take a good look at that. “People are strange when you’re a stranger.” Does that mean you are strange if you like insane pinstriping and you’re passionate about hot rods? Is that really a bad thing?

Well I know a couple of strangers that would disagree with “people are strange when you’re a stranger.”  That would be the guys from Strangers Car Club that put on one of the biggest and most anticipated shows in the South Bay every year.  The Strangers CC Car Show & BBQ at History Park in San Jose, Ca.

This being the 11th annual show there was some rumors going around that this might be the last one. But no worries that little diddy was squashed quick. This years show seemed to be double in size of last years and always brings out the who’s who in the hot rod scene as well as the big names around the bay. Names like builders Alex Gambino and Scotty Chops, pin-up photographer Mitzi Valenzuela, and Old school photographer Jay “Catfish” Mason just to name a few.

As usual the setting was perfect. Family friendly, the smell of meats on the ‘Que and a ton of shade to hide from the mid-day heat. Today like any other Strangers show was a visual hodgepodge for eye to see. Customs, bombs, roadsters, classics, rats, trucks and even some old classic Schwinn bikes. Good lord, that alone brought back some memories!

Also when you hit up a Strangers show you better be ready to see some of the baddest pinstriping this side of Southern California. Not only was Rich Luna, Vito Castillo and Mr. Wim boothing it up, but Luna and Wim were tag teaming a Buick Riviera’s trunk that just left me speechless.

Then there was the vendors ranging from builders to fashion including an array of vintage clothing booths as well as the Strangers CC booth with some killer show shirts, past and present. Of course at the closing of the show the awards are past out to the best of show and the Strangers famous raffle. The awards were par for the course… amazing.

As another Strangers show comes to a end it leaves me satisfied and wanting more just like when you are eating something so amazing and you know you’re full and about to burst but yet you still want to take another bite. Huh… that’s strange. -N/K

All of Nick’s 2010 Strangers Car Show Pictures in the picture gallery.

Check out coverage from the 2009 Strangers Car Show too for more great pictures.

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