While cruising through an old Hop Up annual last night, I revisited a feature on a Sportster chopper that Pete Eastwood built. It got me to thinking -- I've heard this guy's name before and I like what I've seen of his bikes & cars, but I don't know anything about him. Anyone wanna school me on P.Wood and maybe throw in some photos? Thanks, Ed
As in Pete & Jakes. They made the hairpins you see on all the Brizio cars and lots of other suspension parts. One of the early parts suppliers after the rod revival in the 70's.
[ QUOTE ] As in Pete & Jakes. They made the hairpins you see on all the Brizio cars and lots of other suspension parts. One of the early parts suppliers after the rod revival in the 70's. [/ QUOTE ] I thought that was Pete Chapouris???
Pete Eastwood is not "Pete n Jakes"... He is a friend of theirs that is pretty famous for ch***is work. He did some of the ch***is for those guys in the 60's-70's...
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] As in Pete & Jakes. They made the hairpins you see on all the Brizio cars and lots of other suspension parts. One of the early parts suppliers after the rod revival in the 70's. [/ QUOTE ] I thought that was Pete Chapouris??? [/ QUOTE ] Yes, Pete Chapouris and Jim Jacobs. Pete Eastwood was in the same circle of friends though, along with Jim Ewing a**** others. There is an article in a Rodders Journal about Pete Eastwood and his old 32 3W. I have a couple of friends that grew up with these guys. Neal
Say WHAAATT??? Pete CHAPOURIS and Jake(Jim) Jacobs were 'Pete And Jake', who kept the traditional flame alive during the bad-old-days of the '70s and '80s. PnJ and Brizio were like oil and water, I dont think too many PnJ suspension components ended up on any Brizio cars. Pete EASTWOOD was a traditionally-minded kid from Arcadia raising hell when PnJ opened their shop in Temple City, and eventually wormed his way into a welding/fabrication shop behind PnJs. When PnJ was bought and exiled to Missouri all the players went on hiatus but were brought back under one roof in '93 as PC3G. Eventually all of the old players- Jake, Pwood(also known as the Prince of Pasadena), Carambia, Beard, and now even Stewart and Peterson, left the So-Cal-machine for greener/other pastures. Pwood stopped hotrodding some years ago for exotic horseless-carriage cars, but still built for others. A couple of years ago he replaced Ken Gross as a bigwig at the Petersen Museum and has stopped building for others altogether. He still builds hotrods...from the teens and twenties!
There's a LOT more to the original Pete & Jake's than just hairpins! Anyway, Eastwood was a part of that, but not the "Pete" part. He was a part of PC3g before they became So-Cal, doing the major ch***iswork. Lately, he's been building cool T-Speedsters, a**** other low-key things.
Oops, guess I should have clarified which Pete. Anyway, it was my understanding that P-Wood designed the hairpins that went on my deuce and all those that followed. That's what I remember someone telling me back in 93/94 when Brizio's was setting up my deuce frame. Maybe I'm wrong but I'd swear that's what I was told.
I have and old rod and custom mag from feb of 1974 feturing a Peter Eastwood of pasadena California and his 29 highboy project, probably the same guy.
i've been told that the rear ladder bars that Pete & jake's make where designed originaly by Pete Eastwood
Boy does this make me feel old. I thought that EVERYONE knew the players of P&J when it was first formed. I keep forgetting that a lot of people on this board weren't even born yet. As already stated Pete Eastwood was not a part of the origional P&J Hot Rod Repair ( it started out as HOT ROD REPAIR) after starting Pete Eastwood came on board and did a lot of ch***is work. About the first I remember him being mentioned in print was an article on the NEW ANGLE ANGLIA that showcased some P&J work and Eastwood was part of the copy on that project. Since then he has been a part of the west coast rod scene at P&J, his own shop, and other projects that have appeared in print. He has restored/built vintage race cars, is involved in vintage motorcycles, and many other projects that showcase his fabricating skills. All in all an extremely talanted individual and a REAL hot rodder. Frank
Pete Eastwood was half the team that built THE car that pulled me into the world of chopped down hop-ups way back in the early 80s with their red oxide primered 32 sedan. <img src=http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid75/p7d77b4a070e1dbf4e7027da0f1571dac/fb55baba.jpg> The car was on the cover of HOT ROD magazine along with a feature on it ***led "Down & Dirty" by Gray Baskerville in which he coined the term "Rusto Rod" for the little beast! It says "Eastwood & Barakat" on the doors, ran 11s in the quarter mile with a thrown-together 350 and was built out of spare parts that the duo had laying around...funky checkered 70s seats, a Dodge van column...stuff like that!
So...did Eastwood build that white 28 A roadster that was in the mags years ago? It probably isn't "trad" enough for the Hamb but it was such a nice, clean, simple car... Turned me on to cars again after I'd lost interest in them for a while. Where can I see some photos of that nice "old" hot rod?
Disastron...you're probably thinking of John ****era's Model A roadster...all white with Champ 500 styled wheels (as they came to be called by Centerline).
Ok, so there I am at the very first Americruize in Springfield, Mo. in the summer of '93. P-wood and Thom Taylor were cruisin around the fairgrounds in the R&C satin black 36 Ford sedan delivery and they were HAMMERED! I was also cruisin around in my 49 ford coupe and everytime we'd meet, P-wood would stick his head out the window and holler: "Hey! You oughta get a 49 ford coupe and slam it, primer it and put polished Americans on it!!!" Always finished up with glorious laughter and we'd meet again in a half hour or so with the very same declaration [word for word] and laughter. He and Taylor never seemed to tire of this and every time they did it, they'd laugh even harder........P-wood, whatta character.
Peter Eastwood, aka Pete Eastwood, aka P-Wood is one of the most astute torch bearers of the 'traditional hot rod' you'll ever meet. His father was one of the founding members of The Horseless Carriage Club, and P-Wood, as you'll discover if you read the R 'n C article about him (on the net), lived a few blocks from Blair's Speed Shop. The owner, back in the day, Don Blair was hot-rodding as we know it. Mister Blair once told me, that he was at El Mirage racing when the attack on Pearl Harbor was announced over the radio. (Everyone shut down and went home.) Like most of us with a mechanical bent, P-Wood was attracted to the activity at Blair's and 'hung out' and eventually worked there. (He also worked at Pete and Jakes's Hot Rod Repair before it became the 800 hundred pound gorilla of street rod parts.) As a Deuce Ford Ch***is builder, P-Wood is in the same category as Stradivarius is to violins. They work and only get better with time because he follows the simple idea that Hot Rods should be built to be driven. At least that's the impression I took away after hanging out with him for more than a few years. His knowledge of early racing is scholarly. His Model T rods are based on that knowledge, and his participation in the restoration of early Sprint Cars is based on his uncanny ability to make things like they 'used to do it', only a tad better. Gray Baskerville wrote that one of P-Wood's T-Speedsters was period perfect, except the welding was too good. He and Gray were friends. P-Wood and Eric Vaughn (machinist par excellence), are Indian Motor Cycle gurus, and one of the choppers P-Wood was building and sold before completion, was an Indian. It came back in his shop and, as of the last time I spoke with him a couple of months ago, he has been commissioned to finish it. And, yeah, if someone has pics of that one I'd like to see them too.
Pete's blue T speedster, and the single sater he built prior, are a standard to which all br***y T speedsters should be held.
Of all the cars he has built, my favorite is his current Model T flat bed (TT?) that looks almost all original except for the small block chevy and automatic. P Wood has done it all.
He, Derrick, and Karpo found and restored the beautiful, purple Mondello Fiat Topolino. I'll try and find a pic
I've been fortunate enough to have known two of the hotrod gurus over the years and they are P Wood and Vaughn. Their expertise has guided me many times in the direction my ch***is have gone over the years. It's refreshing to know guys that can mix the really old with the new. Thankful to know them.
The E&B sedan was my inspiration for many years. Found another thread about it: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64810&page=2 The second pic is the latest version I know of. Rich Barakat used to be (or maybe still is) a member of this forum.
Pete is one of the super talents on the West Coast. He is still involved in the Horseless Carriage Club's annual run in Pasadena. Here is a photo of him p***ing out the route directions. He is the driving force behind the wonderful show in December of each year.
Pete is the best. He is a master of Air Bags, billet and tuned port fuel injection. Here's a pic of the Mondello & Matsubara Altered he, Karpo and Derek restored. He's also restoring the Old Master Fueler of Ed Pink fame.
Bauder, P-Wood, Eric Vaughn, Pete & Jake, Buterra, and whether or not you want to believe it Boyd all ran in the same circle for a number of years back in the late 70's early 80's along with a bunch of others that are pretty much legends now as well.
Wow, someone else in Alabama who knows Blair's (I worked there in the early '60') ...Yes, Pete worked there, and may have been a brief partner in a B/FD I ran with Bob Keilty...when I joined the Navy Kielty found another partner named "Eastwood," but I never asked Pete if that was him.....met him only briefly, good guy, left his share of the partnership with us, a set of disc brakes...
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