Hot Rods A buddies Duece frame, the base for my winter build

I just want to let you know, that there's still good men out there who have a passion for the hobby more than a passion for big bucks.

I've been entrusted with the opprotunity to own a small slice of B.C. Canada's Hot Rod History.

A well known Hot Rodder named HemiKid ( he may not like being talked about like this so last names witheld) called me on Sunday afternoon. He knows I have a deep rooted lust for his 32 Roadster. You see, it was first rodded in 1953. A pre 48 flatty, a truck toploader with 48 gears, a merc rear end, a straight as an arrow 32 frame and a true and tested hand crafted 3 inch drop axle. All I can tell you is his little rod has passed through a few hands but he knew the original owner and builder along with the fellow who formed the axle back in 53.

I've gotten to know Hemikid over the last 3 years and I could talk with him for hours. He's been a rodder for the last 50 years, knows his stuff and is a real, real down to earth kinda guy.

Now I've bought a car or two from Hemi in the past; a 39 Plymouth coupe, 48 plymouth convert and a 28 Ford Roadster, each time he's been very fair and offered the cars at below market value. I think its out of the passion for the hobby more than anything. When it comes to buying something from me, there's no haggling, tire kicking or sniveling, he's a real straight shooter. Something rare in a lot of Hot Rodders theses days.

He knows I've been putting together the parts to build a 31 Roadster as I bought a banjo, 48 flatty and other goodies from him. But he blew me out of the water when he called.

"Hey thats a pretty great body you've got there. You need something good to put it on, " he said, " I've got the dea lof a lifetime for you."

My ears went back and I sat down getting ready for the pitch...
"I've built a full TCI frame for my 32 and want to put my body on it... You interested in everything thats left?"

Price named, and he said "okay, I'm coming up tuesday with it."

I wont go into details on prices, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
And no, This car wont be coming up for sale anytime soon. This is my KEEPER!

It's going to be a highboy running 16" WWW and Steel wheels. The grill is an original 32 and I want to run with a solid top/ stock louvered side hood, no fenders.

Oh yeah, here's some pix...

















Thanks for any pictures you are willing to post. I'll update this thread as I start working on it next month.

And HEMIKID... thank you again.

 

There are plenty of ideas for color schemes in:
The Birth of Hot Rodding by Robert Genat
Good Luck,
Guy

 

Hey lono,

Old time '40 Ford maroon/burgandy...another nice find I do believe congratulations

 

Nice grille shell..........

 

i like what i see already , goodluck with the project

 

That is a great start. I am glad that it went to you and not someone who was going to cut it up and 4 bar it. I have been finding a lot of older folks who want to be very choosy as to who gets their stuff, price is secondary to them. I have seen too many estate auctions where things get sold for nothing and to people who don't appreciate what they have purchased. This relates to anything, not just cars.

 

wow, great start.

 

Love that 37 Horn rod stuck in that little bitty steering wheel hub!
Good stuff.

 

Looks like it is this car owned for years by Norm Abrahams, then sold to Mark Zomar. I wouldn't have touched it and would have left it as is, but at least you got a nice chassis to work with. I wondered where that car went after Mark sold it. It was a piece of Vancouver, BC history. Pat.

 

I already covered this gound..... Good on ya Lono!

 

BINGO PAT!
Thats the car.
I've got everything - including the hubcaps. The original car has been built, rebuilt and rebuilt again that its nice to see what it looked like a few years ago. as I undrstand that wasnt the original look for the car but havent found any earlier pix.

The body I'm using is one of yours that was owned by Doug M. from Winfield.
While it wont be a 32, but will be a very classy little A..

thanks for the pictures.

 

Heres a shot of mine.

 

That Dr. Gonzo is a very nice little ride, thanks for sharring a picture!

 

Are you telling me Norms old 32 was dismantelled to put on a TCI frame? Whats next? a small block chev

 

Yep it was. It's been in the hands of a few guys since then and its beetn channelled and highboy styles since then. It hasn't been "the Norm" car for quite a while, although its retained the original running gear and rolling chassis.

I know a lot of people who would have taken the rolling frame and put it on Ebay or sold it off to the highest bidder. He knows my plans, my budget and my vision for the car and passed it on knowing I'd do my best to do it justice. Call it PAY IT FORWARD and I was a lucky man to be given the chance to start my project with an incredible start.

Like a fork in the road, the car as it was has parted and heading down to different paths in the hands of to Hot Rodders.

 

I am glad you got the frame but its a shame to take apart history when they have repo steel or glass bodies. Looking foward to see your finished project.

 

that is a shame, my buddy striped that car, cars been around here forever.

 

Well, I know the man's got some very cool plans for the body and it's not going to be a trailer queen but built for long hauls into the states. he's an old time kinda guy too and a well known rodder in the lower mainland so dont expect billet and fuzzy dice.

I plan on getting it back on the road for this summer too and like I've said, this is my keeper. I dont want glass or a brookie cookie and my pockets jingle so there's no room for a real 32, but I do have a very nice 31 roadster that will go on it. I hope it will be a car that Hemi ( the man I bought it from) will look at it and see it as a class act.

The history of this car hasn't gone, its just evolving and that's not a bad thing.

 

I'm not a restorer by ANY means, but almost any factory dark color would look good on that car. I say this only by fact that most pictures from back in the day are black & white photo's. A lot of the darker colors{maroons,dark greens and blues,etc.} look BLACK! add the lack of quality printing and, BINGO! "ALL HOTRODS WERE FLAT BLACK BACK IN THE DAY!!" NOT!

 

A real crying shame, taking apart a historic car like that........ther'e should be a law against it...damm shame..

 

Now Loyd we know you would have bought it or the rolling chassis in a minute and sold it off again in a heartbeart for twice the price... step down from your pedistal.

 

Hey Lono......congrats on the score for your project.....You build fabulous cars, and I'm sure this one is gonna kill !....On another note, It's sad to see a legendary local car taken apart....maybe I'm just a semi-mental old fool, but I would have loved to have seen Norm's old 32 kept alive....That body on a TCI chassis just lost all it's history and charm, and Norm's 32 is lost forever.....BUT....like I said, (as I wipe the tears from my eyes)....you'll build a beautiful trad car on the chassis, and a new page will turn.......

Here's a couple of pix of the 32 many years ago when I still had lots of hair and attracted women......

 

Theres one thing to buy it then sell it, but to destroy it is shamefull.

 

I can see the arguement over pulling apart an old car but get over it boys. A guy owns a car and then knowing it wont do what he wants it to do, hops it up by changing the chassis and running gear - sound familar????? Hot rodding?????? The fact the parts discarded are being used by another guy to build another hot rod just adds to this story,especially as the recipient of those parts was a well considered choice by the seller. Get past the hating and enjoy the ride.

 

Hey Paucho thank you for sharing these pix. So far these are the earliest pictures I have of it and to get your nod means a lot to me.

I thought I was buying a cool rolling frame from a great man, now I feel a lot more responsible for what its going to end up being.

 

Lono if anything your saving whats left of a great piece of local history and making new history out of it, good on you. Al I meen is if a person wants a modern and updated streetrod for cross country travel dont touch the cars with history, buy a project or a quality repo body. Lono I would love to see what you build.

 

thanks Gearhead for your comments.
I just got off another forum and I'm a little hot under the collar so please dont take me wrong but I'm blown away.

We talk about the historical value of something. But when I posed the question to the forum of BC and Canadian rodders, less than a handfull, no less than 5 people responded with any knowledge of the names represented by the car. We dont seem to give a rats ass about our own history, we'd rather wax poetic and sentimenal about it and live on California dreams and Wally Parks. And when it comes to trying to sell a "historical vehicle" in BC... no ones got any money. They all want to trade their rust piles or overpriced plastic.

We have no shrine for Hot Rods in BC... no funding for it.. no corporate backers and no will to make it happen. So is every owner to be damned for changing a car to suit their own needs when so few people know or care to learn about the history or would fork out the money to own a "historical vehicle".

2 new cars (both traditional I might add and no, no chev small blocks in them) will come out of it). Both will be very nice cars I guarantee and will change and add to the history of this cars legacy. We can already see in pictures proved that the car has gone through hands and each person has inflicted some sort of change to make it their own.

The other good thing to come of this... the car (now plural) is staying in its home Province where it came from rather than leaving and disappearing from any form of history.

I dont mean to offend anyone, its just how I feel about the whole thing.

 

Nice to see some Canadian rodding history. Very cool.

 

Lono, you are preserving a piece of B.C. rodding history, and everyone is entitled to their opinion about that. But its in your hands now, and up to you only what you do with it. Good luck.