Family fun at a local car show…real 60′s Gasser included

Cruise Night: Utah Cruisin Car Show

Taking the wife and kids to a local car show is one of my highlights of the summer.  We like to check out the Burger Stop Cruise In that happens the last Wednesday of each month in the summer time.  It’s a small show by most standards, probably about 50-75 cars from the local area.  It’s cool because its not all Mustangs and Camaros, there is a little bit of everything.  Variety is the spice of life is it not?

I’ve seen this orange/red Model A coupe at this show before.  It also sports tons of Bonneville Salt Flats decals, so I know it gets run hard at the Flats.  Last year he came to the show with the Salt still stuck to the car.

Here’s the Model A coupe next to a pickup brother, both in a more traditional flavor.  Love the white walls and steelies with the white firewall.  Good lookin’!

While the kids were waiting in line for some Clown-made circus balloons, I found a light blue convertible GTO looking showroom stock with some Cragars.  Dig the chrome everywhere.

I spotted this street rod roadster.  The trailer next to it said “Zipper Hot Rods” or something like that.  Sounded sort of familiar.  I dug this car.  It had a cool track nose flip up hood, chromed up late model LS small block chevy motor and vintage WWII style windscreen.  What do you guys think?

One of the coolest rides was this ’65 Mopar Gasser with an injected Hemi.  Very clean ride, with Moon tank protruding out of the grille and all.

Close up of the tall stacks atop this sharp lookin’ Hemi.  According to the book on the radiator, it makes 600+ horsepower.  Wow!  I wish I could have heard it fire up, but the kiddies were ready to roll out.

So, look above, this picture shows the signature of a Butch Leal, “The California Flash”. Anyone heard of this guy?  There were 2 pictures in the guys book from way back in the 60′s, looks like it was the same car.  Very cool to see this car on the road cruising to the local car shows.  I’m sure my Uncle Ricky has some stories from the “Pit” dragstrip about the “Flash”.  Comment below Ricky!

What are your local car shows like?  Do you see some good variety?  Let us know, email me at hechtspeed@myrideisme.com and we can showcase some coverage of your local car shows.

Hechtspeed

Marco’s Midnight Drifter: Nissan 240SX SE Coupe

As I mentioned in the blog about the Rocky Mountain Raceway’s Midnight Drift event, I met Marco and his friend Rudy in the pits during the Midnight Drag and Drift event. 

 First of all, to you hot rodders out there who don’t YET get drifting, let me tell you about the Nissan 240SX.  In a way, this car in Japan is similar in following and cult status as a Mustang or Camaro.  The similarities may be more than you think.  Rear wheel drive setup, Coupe body styling, small back seat, huge aftermarket support and fun to drive status.  The differences are aplenty as well though.  Mustangs get a solid rear axle and V6 and V8 engines and weigh 3200-3600lbs.  The Nissan 240SX (or 180SX or Silvia in Japan) comes with an independent rear suspension and 2.4L 4 cylinder (turbo 2.0L outside Japan) naturally aspirated truck engine in the USA and weighs about 2800lbs. 

So, there’s a little history on the 240 for ya.  Marco has owned his S13 (S13 is like what the Mustang guy’s equivalent of SN95 or S197 chassis codes for the 1989-94 240SX, S14 for 1995-1998 and S15 for 1999-2004) for about 6 months or so.  He bought it for a measly $700 bucks. 

I asked Marco what other cars he’s owned and how he got into drifting.  Marco said that his friends drift and that’s how he got interested.  Besides a Nissan Pathfinder, this is Marco’s first sports coupe.  He’s already begun modifying it to make it his own (My Ride is Me…get it?).

The 15×7 Enkei mesh wheels were bought from Marco’s drifter friend.  These are a nice old school Japanese drifting touch.  They give it that 80′s performance style.

Marco’s S13 coupe is the more sought after SE model, equipped with a spoiler, ABS brakes and sunroof.  These are Japanese taillights.  Marco has also added lowering springs and had the rear diff welded.  That’s right.  Welding the diff is the amateur drifters “poor man’s posi” and it works well, until the weld gives out I guess. 

This Midnight Drift event was Marco’s first official (you know you’ve been playing around at industrial zones in the middle of the night haha) drift event.  He had a good time and was just trying to get the hang of getting the car sideways.  In all the drifting stories on MotorMavens.com and Speedhunters.com that I read, practice is the only way to learn.  Well, practice and a lot of tires.  LOL

Thanks to Marco for sharing his story with us.  I’m glad I ran into you.  I look forward to seeing you and your car progress at the Midnight Drift events.

Hechtspeed

Rat Fink Reunion 2010

Check this out guys and gals.  I told you to keep an eye on Andy’s Pinstriping blog didn’t I?  Here’s his latest work, getting ready for the Rat Fink Reunion 2010.

 “As is tradition every year at the Rat Fink Reunion, The artist’s give out an “Artist’s Choice” award to their favorite vehicle at the show.  This years “trophy” from me is a metal panel that features my man Fink doing some ca-razy stripe and letter work…and to finish it off I also distressed the panel so it looks like it was hanging in Ed’s shop in Maywood California back in the early sixties. I hope whoever receives this enjoys it as it was a labor of love to make!”  Andy

 

Click on the image to blow it up real big.  Looks even cooler!

Rat Fink Reunion 2010, Manti, Utah June 3-5, be there or be square!  I hope to attend this year’s event.  How often is there an event of this caliber in Utah right?

Hechtspeed

 

Legends from the Land of the Rising Sun

Japanese Legends…also known as JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Machines, Japanese Nostalgic Cars, J Tin, you get the picture.  Domestically here in the US of A, we have classics like the 1932 Deuce Coupe, 55-57 Chevy Bel Air, 67-69 Camaro, 64 1/2-70 Mustang, etc.

In Japan, the classics are cars like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Celica, Corolla, Datsun 510 (Bluebird in Japan) and 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan).

JDMLegends is a new shop located in North Salt Lake, Utah.  They had their Grand Opening last July 2009.  So bummed I missed it.  Looked like a nice gathering of Japanese cars!  R33, R34 and R35 Skyline GT-R’s in Utah at once?  Cooooool!!!

JDMLegends’ specialty is hunting down your dream JDM classic (25 years old or older) located in Japan, having it inspected and legally imported into the USA, where it can be delivered as is, or have the JDMLegends’ special touch.

The owner of JDMLegends is a Japanese car nut named Trey Cobb.  Trey started Cobb Tuning.  Initially a turbo Subaru tuning specialist, now Cobb focuses on ECU tuning for many platforms, including the new Nissan GTR.

Above is the engine bay of a Toyota Celica as received by JDMLegends

…and here’s the same 1973 Celica bay after much effort by JDMLegends.  Super clean!

Here’s the 1973 (chassis code RA21) Toyota Celica ready for delivery to a happy JDMLegends customer.

What exactly is the JDMLegends special touch?  Besides super detail and clean restoration work, it includes adding modifications like a modern turbocharged engine, 5 or 6 speed transmission, fully tuned adjustable suspensions, basically a Japanese version of a  ”restomod” or “pro-touring” car.

I personally think its a perfect idea, as do their customers.

One more example of the work involved in bringing this ’73 Nissan Skyline “Kenmeri” up to JDMLegends’ standards…Here’s the engine bay of a ’73 Skyline prepped for resto work.

And this is the finished product.  Looks great.  The RB26 comes with “280hp” from the factory in 1990′s and 2000′s Skylines.  This engine transplant is similar to putting a late model fuel injected 302 ci Mustang GT engine into a 60′s Mustang.  This is where the Restomodding comes into play.  Hot Rodding at its finest! (just with a little Japanese twist)

Here’s that Skyline Kenmeri, a GT-R replica with the addition of fender flares.  I love the look of the early 70′s Japanese classics.  They have American muscle car body lines written all over them don’t you think?  Like the round dual horizontal headlights, sloping fastback roof lines, long hoods.  These cars are gorgeous!

JDMLegends is your place for importing classic J Tin and providing a one stop shop for services like restomod engines and suspensions, bodywork and paint (see the pic below of another Celica in progress) as well as parts sourcing from their contacts in Japan.

Check out their website at JDMLegends.com and add their JDMLegends Blog to your RSS feed or Google Blog Reader.  I did.  The blogs include detailed stories about restoration and modification work with pictures like those in this post.  Keep your eyes peeled here too as we’ll be featuring some of JDMLegends work in 2010.

Have a favorite classic 70′s Japanese car?  Comment below and let us know.  One of mine has got to be the Datsun 510, like this one above that was recently shipped to a lucky customer in Canada.  It too runs a late model engine, this one a Nissan Silvia SR20DET turbocharged engine pumping out 400+hp.  Now that’s a power:weight ratio I’d love to experience.

Pictures by Eric at JDMLegends

1929 Roadster Part 1: A Long Time Coming

Salt Flats Tribute Car:

Boy do we have a treat for you guys?  I’ve wanted to do a “work in progress” story on Larry Volk’s street roadster since I found out about it earlier this year.  It’s finally progressed to a point where there’s good progress  showing.  The Volk garage is part hot rod time warp, part skill and craftsmanship, and part inspiration.

We’ll get to the 1929 Ford Model A Roadster project car in a second.  First, let’s talk time warp.  Larry and his family have been into racing and hot rods since the early 1950′s.  He started out drag racing  and dirt sprint car racing.  His race buddy Terry Nish invited him out to the Salt Flats in the late 1950′s/early 60′s and that was it for Larry.  He’s gone every year since (unless it was rained out) and his life has become engulfed in the Salt.  Currently Larry is in his second stint as President of the 200 MPH Club, Chairman of the Save the Salt Committee and current holder of the SCTA Bob Higbee Award given out at the Opening Ceremonies of Speed Week 2009.

With all this and more, Larry’s garage is a museum of sorts for the last 40 some-odd years of Bonneville Salt Flats racing history.  There are stickers, pins, plaques, posters, broken parts and trophies that adorn the garage and his living room.  Then there’s the hot rod parts collection Larry’s been wheeling-and-dealing for during the last few decades.  They’re all just for this car.  The ’29 roadster Larry’s been dreaming up will be a traditional hot rod build, of course.

Part skill and craftsmanship?  Ok, so the car is not done yet.  But, there’s plenty of work already done showing Larry’s attention to detail and well thought out passion.  Even though I’m calling this story Part 1, it’s really more like Part 5,924.   You see, Larry is and has been carefully and skillfully putting together this game plan.  Larry’s roadster is to be his version of the perfect traditional hot rod.  A hot rod that would have been right at home 50-60 years ago, using the hot rod parts of the day, the newest Hemi engine, with newer Ford 3 speed transmission, higher performing carbs, etc.  Larry dreams of cruising the streets of Davis County Utah, taking the grandkiddies for spins in the rumble seat or maybe letting his “2 Club” kids drive it? And of course, he’ll take it to Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  As Chairman of the Save the Salt Committee, Larry takes a bunch of trips out to Bonneville to check the salt conditions and report back to other hot rodders. Around Speed Week and the World Finals, there’s alot of folks waiting to know, “Is the Salt OK? Is it wet? Does it look fast?”  It’s a pretty boring 2 hour drive out to the Salt, found  west of Salt Lake City, so this dream rod will make the trip all worthwhile.  Can I ride shotgun?! Ha Ha

The goal is clear, build a traditional 1940′s to 1950′s-era Model A street roadster.  The key ingredient to this soon to be road worthy hot rod is the 1955 Chrysler Hemi, which was actually used on the Volk Bros’ 1929 roadster land speed racing car (no records, but Dallas was running 220+ in the 2 1/4 when he felt it hiccup, so he hit the engine shut off switch, saving the block, but too late for the pistions). According to its ID # and “W” cast into the side of the block (see the “W” in the pic?).  Larry tells me that its a 1955 ”Spitfire” 301 cu in Polyspherical Hemi engine used on the 1955 Chrysler Windsor.  It was Chrysler/Plymouth’s way to more economically take advantage of the Hemi engine design to compete with Ford and Chevy’s small V8′s, where before Chrysler had used its big displacement 6 cylinder.  The Poly engine used a single valve rocker and a valve angle that was more straight up and down.  Not quite the performance of the double rocker, full hemispherical engine, but great bottom to mid range torque, less weight, faster manufacturing and cheaper cost.  According to my research on allpar.com, the ’55 301 cu in Poly Hemi was a one year engine.  In 1956, Chrysler went to a 331 cu in Poly Hemi.  But, of course, in traditional hot rodding fashion, the “Poly” heads got replaced with higher performing, newer design full Hemisperhical heads for Larry’s hot rod.  This Hemi screams traditional hot rodding more than any other engine!

At this stage of the build, Larry mocked up this sa-weet Hillborn Mechanical Fuel Injection setup.  When asked, Larry’d prefer to run 3 Stromberg 97′s atop this beauty since mechanical injectors are a bit finicky and it’s no fun to carry a primer bottle when running a street roadster like what Larry’s got in mind.

The body is of course steel made by Brookville Roadster.  Color will likely be some hue of black, either a satin or gloss finish, he’s not sure yet. He just knows it needs to be black, like a true hot rod should be.  Larry worked years ago doing body work and has a friend with a paint booth, so he’d like to do the body work himself.

The frame rails are vintage 1932 Ford steel.  The ’32 crossmember is also from Ford and is a sought after gem cherished by traditional hot rodders.  The frame’s boxed for strength in the front section only to be able to harness the Hemi’s weight and tendency to wanna twist the rails.

Out back, you see the Halibrand ID # 178 quick change rear end (will likely run a 3.05 final drive ratio).  Larry said this rear end is another classic component that is probably worth upwards of $5,000 to other traditionalists in today’s market.  As you’d expect, Big Lar’ didn’t pay quite that much back in the day when he picked it up.

Wheels are Kelsey Hayes 16″ wires and tires will likely be early style dirt tracks, either Coker or Firestone.

Continuing with the project details; taillights are blue-dot 1950 Pontiac, the transmission is a 1939 Ford 3 speed manual, and brakes are also 1939 Ford, which would have been period correct for the 50′s.  It just wouldn’t be right to throw a 5 speed and disc brakes at this roadster.

This brings me to the final part, Inspiration:
I simply can’t imagine what it must be like to save and plan and collect parts for 30+ years.  Sure, some of that wait is by choice as Larry’s happily spent time and money raising his family and racing at Bonneville but, some of that wait is just part of this hobby we call hot rodding.  The bench-racing, planning, parts collection and eventually cruising the finished rod are all part of the fun.

Can’t wait to see this car progress to its final stages and cruise to the Salt and local car shows.  Future posts about this hot rod’s progress are coming. Count on it.  Thanks Larry and Dallas for sharing your passion.  See you on the Salt!

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