History Grandpas el mirage roadster recreation p.r.c

Here is just one place you can buy the DVD.

https://www.bobdrake.com/FordItem.aspx?Item=DVD-32

 

Well today was a good day. Cyclone Kevin invited my family and grandpa to a car club get together. Here is my grandpa in Kevin's 32. Then he gave him a ride to the event. Thanks Kevin. Great grand kids talkin hotrods with their ggpa.

 

Bruce, that is awesome. Your Grandpa looks super happy, great gesture on the part of Cyclone Kevin.

 

That is cool! Always knew Kevin was a stand up guy.

 

Subscribed.
Looking forward to see how this develops. I think you have a good balance between feeling compelled to keep it traditional using genuine period parts but your honest consideration of using a Brookville body to keep it affordable is just right in my opinion. This is no billionaire's build - more like the guys did back in the day.
Good luck and I hope your grandpa gets a huge kick out of it - I'm sure he will.
Cheers.

 

So I talked/asked grandpa more about the early days. I asked if he did all his own motor work and he said yes. He remembers porting and relieving his motors and he says he really took time polishing his intakes. He laughs saying he was not an expert he just did what he thought would do the job. He remembers his hand pump was on the left side of the steering colume. He says Blair's speed shop use to repair cracked blocks in some way but it was all done behind a curtain and they would not let you ever see how they did it. He says they guaranteed the weld would hold up. He says there was a special name for the process but can't remember what it is. I ask maybe thermal weld but who knows. Maybe brazed and pinned. He said he bought parts from Blair's. Still remembers where they were and where they moved to. Walnut street. His first job was at a gas station in Pasadena and it was owned by corbet and heald as he remembers. He said the owner asked him if he could clean bathrooms and he said yep so he was hired. That is where he did a lot of his car work as it was a full garage. After looking over some cars today I got some more pieces of the puzzle. He remember heating and bending the stock spindles for the dropped axel. He thinks he ran friction shocks up front and change the rear to tube shocks. He remembers installing the hole auburn dash. He said he got the metal dash and gauge cluster. He did not use the 32 dash and weld in the center. Says he had a radio and maybe remembers having a record player in it under the dash. We talked about the dry lakes and says they use to go out there and just hang out for the weekend even when there was no racing going on. It just was the place to go he says.
He remembers seeing the belly tanks and thinking well how in the hell am I going to compete against those. He said guys were taking there cars to wind tunnels and their was no way to top those guys. We had a good time today. I asked how Kevin's car ran and he said it was solid feeling and had some pep to it. When we pulled up to meet up with Kevin he was already getting out of my car to see his. It was awesome. Kevin asked if he would like to take a ride and he said I would love to to. Then he got in the pass side and Kevin told him to move over to the drivers side so we could take pictures. He then said well I think I will just take off in her now. I'm really great full to Kevin as he has brought smiles and memories to my grandpa. I look forward to sharing more time with him and all the hot Rodders that are into this in the future. As of now I want to drive down every weekend and have anyone with hotrods that would be willing to meet up with us and give my grandpa rides in their cars. He gets to fly in a lot of the planes at the chino air field and the p38 lighting is his favorite. Says it's smooth flying. He told me that his top on the roadster was a hard top not a fold up. Says he had a pully in the garage that he hooked it up to and just lifted it off and up into the rafters. I asked about his helmet and googles and say they have to be long gone. He said he only remembers only having to have a seat belt to run at the dry lakes In those days. I asked about the canvis cover he had over the pass. Side and he said he riveted snaps all around the body to snap on the tonneau cover. He said he used the same snaps to hold the top on. To much to remember today and as before I didn't get to record it. I will try and remember more of today and post later. I hope y'all read everything and like what I'm trying to do here for everyone to hear. This is history. Badass history. Thanks to all

 

And you as well Dale. Every time I see Mike Martinez, We always talk about you and your adventures with Mike. To me you're a talented builder painter & fabricator. Heck 3 of the most famous 34 3W coupes were shot in your former shop here in TC. To me and probably many others you created history in laying color on those coupes. To that I say thank you.

 

Hey Bruce,
Considering how my morning went, the afternoon turned out great!!!! Elmer was top notch on his history. I'm glad that I brought over the OHV Deuce instead of the other one, Your grandfathers face told the story of a pretty cool Hot Rod Kid from the PRC. From many years past. your whole family was great and I hope that they too enjoyed the day.
See ya soon.

 

Man you guys rule. Hip hip for Gran'pa .... what a bad@ss. This thread is awesome. Thank you all. Cyclone man indeed. King maker.

 

This is cool. Get grandpa talking on video if you can.

 

Bruce, what are your GP's thoughts on all us young'ns trying to relive his youth and keeping that automotive timeframe going for all these years? Wyatt

 

Hey Wyatt I'm not sure I will ask him today. He's gonna drive down to watch my sons club soccer game. He was asking me if I have seen the new Camaro coming out with 700 horsepower and was all smiles sayin if he ever won the lotto he would buy one of those and also a p38 lighting and hire a crew to maintain it and also a pilot to fly him all around. He loves the p-38. I can't wait to go to the chino air show with him next month. I know he gets really excited when he sees early hot rods. Like I said he was already takin off his seat belt when we pulled up to meet with Kevin. Like a kid in a candy store. It's awesome.

 

Every part of this story is awesome. It's not a recreation, it's a continuation. This is why I'm on the HAMB.

 

Hey Kev, next time you see Mike, ask him about his experience with his coupe in Driggs, Idaho.

 

If I see him at "TACO TUESDAY", I'll ask him.....he always has a new thing going on, I totally dig his 30 RPU, it's just him... And his 34 3W... It has kind of the look that reflects the resurgence of the cars built in the past along with what Rodders want today.

 

This is such a cool story..

 

Funny story real quick grandpa was telling me yesterday. I asked him if their was a lot of kids building hotrods in his early days and he said not to many. He said they were more like a select few around each town in la area as most could not afford to build a hot motor. He said their were lots of imposters that would put different mufflers on and when they come around the real hot guys they would pull their chokes about have closed to make the motor sound ruff like it had a cam in it. But the guys building motors new what a hot motor really sounded like so they would laugh at them. And most kids parents wouldn't let them. So the kids that were really into it was limited based on money and hot kids had a bad rap with the cops and lots of people didn't like swooped up cars running around all hell bent. Money played a big part of it as speed equipment was pricey. He said thats why we did everything we could are selfs. Only machining the blocks and heads were done at a shop. Or if you wanted to stroke a crank or grind a cam that was done by machine shops also. He ported and relived his own with grinders and did every thing else them selves. He said if one thing didn't work then we try something else. Working on them everyday. I thought it was funny.

 

/\/\/\/\/\/\ you can`t get this kind of info from a book, thanx for posting. keep it up!
tom

 

It doesn't seem like a lot of has changed in 70+ years of Hot Rodding. It has always taken money to go fast Hence the term, "How fast do you want to go, How much money have you got?"
Ron Main who has the fastest clocked flathead has more that $300k in FlatFire. That's a lot of dough.

Guys in Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale, Santa Monica, Culver City and many places in between had a little money as a result of working in or near places like Lockheed, Douglas or Hughes. That's why three of the most famous speed shops were located nearby. Bell Auto Parts, So-Cal and Blair Auto Parts.

Machine Shops were all over the place. Cook's Machine Works was/is the Hot Rodders Machine Shop-(The only one that I know of in its original location). Cannon Machine in North Hollywood, Eddie Meyer in Hollywood, Lee's Speed-Machine Shop in Santa Monica. Edelbrock in Hollywood, Earl Evans in E.L.A. Navarro Engineering in Glendale. This is all about the time Elmer ran so there was money around as people were spending it right after the war.

I can tell you that it has always been a lot of dough to make speed equipment, especially when you're at the mercy of a foundry, Eric Vaughn can attest to that, I've heard him tell me that since the 80's when he started casting wheels.

So really nothing has changed except when you factor in the cost of what a house cost in 1949, lets say $9k in Pasadena and what a QC cost = $250.00. The house on average in Greater Pasadena can be near $900k in a average neighborhood (Mostly in the Mils) and what a QC or any Speed Part is, The Part now is way less expensive......

 

thanks hotcoupe it is good to hear it from someone who lived it. And a book could not tell the same story unless it was written by someone who lived it I guess.
I'm going to go see him again after Easter. And video us talking. I'm thinking of writing down ???s from anybody that would like to ask him one.And maybe do it like an interview. as long as they fit the time period. I'm thinking of sending him the questions in an email so he has a few days to try and remember as it was almost 70 years ago. His mind comes and gos trying to remember that long ago. Like iv said before I can't remember two days ago so I'm very great full he still can remember some things from back then. I did video us yesterday but it was at a soccer field and there is so much screaming and yelling it's hard to hear us talking. He talked about milling the heads down then using special gaskets and reliving the head so you don't bend a valve. He laughs and says he was fortunate to never having a bent valve. He said he did change a lot of ring and pinions gears. He also remembers using double springs on the valves and adjustable lifters. He said he used a 3/4 race cam because it gave you the best of both worlds. Great on the street and dry lakes. He said full race was just to much for everyday driving as he had to drive his car to school everyday and to work. He said Blair's speed shop was the place to go for machining. Thanks again to all who are posting replys and are into my gramps history.

 

Anybody got a extra 32 v8 gas pedal they would like to sell. Please pm if you do.

 

I cut some length out of and bent up a 34 to match the shape of the 32 pedal from my pickup. A lot cheaper than buyin another 32 spoon. It's not finished yet but it's gonna work


The 34 was damn near flat compared to the sexy 32 serpent

 

I have one, but I am not sure if it is a 4 or V8 one. How can I tell the difference? If you can make it work for your roadster and will pay the shipping cost it's yours.
Pop me a email at saum@hamiltion.net

 

Thank you 383 the v8 on the engine side of firewall, the rod is about 4-5 inches long and the 4c are about 10 inches long. On 4c the shaft I guess we can call it had to be long enough to go across the back of the block to the side to reach the carb. Even the 4c will work as I can cut it down and weld it back up. I will pay shipping and send ya alittle more for the help. Thank you. I will shoot you an email.

 

What a great thread and story. Please keep the updates coming

 

I will keep em coming hot rod I also ask my grandpa if he would like to go to the race of gentlemen. He said he would love to go. He said he would drive up for it. So I'm going to have this car done by then no matter what. Even if I have to sell a couple of my projects. Stay tuned in we are about to bang second gear.

 

If your grandpa doesn't want to be video taped, get one of those little voice tape recorders. That way you can just turn it on and let it run while you sit and listen to his stories. You don't want to miss out his history. Once it's gone, it's gone. Wish I would have done that when my g'pa was still around. He had a lot of great stories, most of which I've lost to the black hole of my memory.

 

Hey 383 I tried to email you and it said address not found. Please p.m me so I can use that to reach you

 

He was captain of the L.A. Sheriffs dept. for over 25 years so I think legally I have to tell him I'm recording him. Lol

 

No, I didn't mean secretly! I just meant a lot of people, myself included, are self conscience of being videoed. A tape recorder is less intrusive.