My Ride Is Me

/Garage/virginotter

virginotter
	scottsdale, AZ, USA Joined: 10/13/2007

My Lifestyles:
Builder, Restorer, Old-School, Hot Rodder, Street Rodder, Custom Rodder, Build-It, Drive-It, Rat Rod, Show Trucks

Ford Model A "pink slip daddy"

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Ford Model A "pink slip daddy"

Drivetrain:
Duece Frame by Hot Rods and Custom Stuff. Split wishbone. I-beam front axle.
Chassis:
16 steelies.
Wheels & Tires:

'29 Ford Brookville cab and radiator shell. Mack '32 bed. PPG DP-90 Primer

Body:

Beechcraft AT-11 WW2 bomber seats. Leather cuhions. Diamond-point rubber mats. School-bus vinyl panels.

383 Stroker small block. Super T-10 four speeed transmission. 9" rear end w/four link.

Got Your Pink Slip Daddy

Zombie art we commisioned including my girl Kelly and our bird, Axel.

art?

DelMar GG

Top Structure Concept Drawing

Jimmy Smith, Artist

Concept

computer generated

Concept

computer generated

Windshield Headder

Windshield Header

Top Bows

Using string to "locate" position of centre bow.

Top Bows

Using string to "locate" position of centre bow.

Windshield Header

I had a E-Type Jag in another life, this is how they secured the top. Good enough for them? Good enough for me!

Top Bows

Just try'n to get it right.

At Home

Eyeball'n it...before canvas.

Eyeball'n it, its not too late....

Eyeball'n it

Awh, that'll do, now it's off to the canvas-shop.

Eyeball'n it

rear window placement considerations...

Comments:

virginotter	10-21-2007 2:35 PM The other "rides" you see here are former projects I've done. What began as a '48 Chev COE became a full custom, suicide-doored very functional beauty. Whew, that full-custom stuff is expensive. I think I'll stick to hot rods. Next you'll see the Harley Davidson Servi-car I restored. There's my '66 GTO. I'd purchased a hard top new in 1966 and that car was in my dreams for the next several decades so I just had to restore and drag-race another stocker. I love classic wooden boats too. This particular example is a 1948 Chris Craft Express Cruiser. I actually ran it home on the water but was bailing all the way. After two years of hard work and lots of talented help, she was re-christend Comet and better than new! I've restored several cars to original. This 1957 Chev Cameo is another. There was nothing quite like put'n George Strait tuns on and driving a country road. Also it was pretty cool to blow the doors of a new 911 up to about 70mph. Looked bone stock but ran a healthy 350 and a four speed. The orange '32 here is what moved me from restored/customs to hot rods. This one was 90% completed by a close friend. He drove the pants off of it and then I bought it. I completed the interior, dressed up the engine and put many more years on it. Bob knows how to build a car with real attitude. I just dressed this one up a bit. Lastly, for the moment here, this is me and my very first ride back in 1964. Proud. I guess it just never wore off. Thank goodness for that. I hope you enjoy, I'll be adding more as we go here. This is a fun sight, I'm excited for it and look forward to reading much more about you rides. Thanx for the opportunity. 10/21/07
virginotter	10-21-2007 2:47 PM Gees I left out the '67 Biscayne and the '59 Beismeyer flat-bottom. Sorry. The '67 was a 20-something thousand mile car when I aquired it. Bone stock except for a somewhat tired 427 had been installed. I beefed up the suspension, went through the 427, most excitedly, I added a turbo-charger to it. A beefey turbo 400 with a Hurst Qtr Stick and she ran consistant low 12 sec. quarter miles. Steel wheels and all. With the old clutch peddal from her three-speed column days still lying on the floorwell, you could drive her cross-country on pump gas with total reliability, off-load mom and the kiddies and really surprise 'em at the strip. At this time, early/mid '90's, turbos just weren't understood. It was always fun to open the hood just a few inches after a run. Then sit back and chuckle as "the boys" would kinda nonchalauntly try to get a look. The Beismeyer was a novel project. Located at a local garage sale, I couldn't get her out of my mind. Powered with a 331 Caddy, a Hallibrand V-drive and she skipped across the water pretty darned good. Like the others, I went completely through her both for reliability and safety.
pikesan	10-24-2007 3:25 PM How many cars do you have? Maybe I'll see you next time at So-Cal...
virginotter	11-04-2007 1:41 AM Nov.3, '07 Back again...I thought/hoped a few of you might enjoy something a little bit on the "out-there" side. These pics of what may be a unusual or perhaps even un-recognizable engine to you are of another project I got "tangled" up in. Some years back, 'bout ;98'99 or so, I and "friend" were cruzing north on I-5 just south of Bellingham, Washington. There just to the west of the freeway was a unrestored '32 Ford five-window. Gee's we were pulling a just-purchased new custom-built triler for my boat and we made a one-eighty that'd have made all of you proud of me in order to get back to that '32. The tow vehicle was a '74 Scout. I don't know how many of you have clue about Scouts, but the point here is their brakes NEVER did work! So anyway, we got turned around and long story short, my companion, she made the deal on the spot. A "fairly" reasonable purchase and she owned a killer car. After much knashing of teeth, she decided that because this particular '32 still had it's factory original model "B" banger, that she didn't want to take away from it's originality. "We" both won, she kept the "B", and I convinced her she needed a hot rod, not a restoration. This is a 1932 Ford four cylinder. I did a lot of research. As it turns out, in the last few years a group in LaCresenta, Ca. has gotten a lot of press. H&H Flatheads. Well, I found them before the press did and darned if they didn't turn out a killer Riely four-port overhead conversion for this engine. They did a full-pressure oiling system too. The build included Ross pistons, billit rods, (darn, those four cost more than similar would for a V-8) My friend wanted A/C so those fellows at H&H even made that happen! I bet there's not another A/C '32 banger in the world quite like this one, all said. Sad thing is, I got the car 'bout 97% complete when "our" lives kinda went south. So I never got to drive or enjoy the finished car. There's a pic of about the time of the last of my envolvement here too. I've seen the car in event coverages and I hear it works pretty well. I sure hope so, cuz I did my best on her behalf. Re me? Funny detail. I came up with this idea that'd it'd be cool to finish the seat in a NOS seat cover like any of us might have picked up at the Western Auto or "MonkeyWard's" back in the day. I did my homework and came up with some dueseys. When I last saw the car it was being debuted in Seaside, Oregon. Those seats were as I'd assembled them. Since, they've been redone in plain black. Too bad, it was a cool touch and really set the overall vehicle apart. Oh well, that's just my opinion. Oh yeah, I had some remnants of those seat covers. Those remnants are the reversable backs of the our '29 today. All's well that ends well. Happy day to you....I'm look'n forward to next Saturday at SoCal, PHX and the next week Good Guy's Nat's here in Scottsdale. Please say hello. Regards, Al 'n Kelly
virginotter	11-04-2007 1:57 AM Nov. 3, '07 Few more details about that five-window. She wanted a driver too. Darn, girl don't ask for too much. Ha. I mean a original 1932 to go down modern freeways in, comfortably. Okay...A/C, original 4:11 banjo rear done up w/new 9" axles and yes, overdrive built intot the original closed driveline! The trans was a '39 done up with Zepher gears. 1932 Nash gages inset into '32 dash, KILLER/Beautiful! Late '30's "after-market" headlights that in just the last year or so, I see someone's reproducing those reproductions. Yeah, read that, it's right. We found them at the Portland Swap Meet....later
virginotter	11-13-2007 11:02 AM Some new pics going into Exterior today. I had a great experience on Saturday at SoCal's early a.m. this last weekend. While enjoying all to see and visiting with some really sweell folk, this fellow introduces himself to me. Darned if it wasn't the [guy] I'd hooked up with after seeing his art in a magazine back when I was designing the top for our '29 RPU. Jimmy Smith of Jimmy's Hot Rod Design & Illustration. Somehow it'd slipped right on by that he was from PHX. So this was a real surprise. (our collaboration was all via the internet, never met him) I can't tell you how helpful and enjoyable he was in my efforts back then. I was living in Florida at the time. Lemme tell ya, if you need some design work, he's your man. I'm including several pics of this particular effort for you. Oh yeah, the two computer generated images of what the top might look like were done by another friend, John Green, aka, JonnyMopar. He's always there for inspiration. I mean with a few friends like him, Bob Huffman and folk like Jimmy Smith, a dude can't go too far astray! Have a great day, say hello this weekend at GG.
virginotter	11-14-2007 11:58 AM Just got the rest of the pics up in Exterior re building the top for our '29 RPU. Some points here. The toughesst part of this was the windshield header. Compound-curves everywhere! I learned a long time ago if you want a carpenter who can think out of the box, you go find a wooden-boat guy. This fellow "got it" and then nailed it. Take a close look at his work. For the top bows, I found a very talented fellow who's full time gig is boat tops. He too understood. I'd taken lots of pics of the BopTop (tm) on my last '32. We used those for a general guide. Works great! Lastly, as in the pics at the beginning of My Garage, you can see that using a boat-canvas guy worked out equally as well. He also sewed up the seat cushions for the AT-11 WW2 bomber seats. Hope you enjoy.

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