Technical Retro Rides by Rich Does A Survivor...

Rich the car looks great! it's bitchin that Howard was able to track down the history of the roadster.Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Thanks

 

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I hate thrashing! Clutch issues had to pull the engine!!!! (clutch re-builder gave me a different clutch said all would be fine) Scratched the shit out of a cross member from chasing the clutch problem via doing different linkages etc. , have to repaint, waiting for prime to dry. Waiting for a buddy, who is more clutch savvy, to come over and see if we can get the clutch situation solved. Only a couple of days left till GG Charlotte. I don't know if I can make it. Stressed out!

 

Crazy man.... I had to pull my motor and trans after I debuted my car at GNRS what a headache... scratched the shit out of my car.... Noting like taking a motor out of a freashly painted show car...

I guess it wouldn't be "Hot Rodding" if we didn't have these issues... haha its never that easy...

Good Luck I can't wait to see it all finished and would love to come shoot it one of these days for Mad Fabriators...

 

Deep breath, Rich! It will all work out.

Great work by a top-notch transplant!

(I didn't hear you breathe yet.......)

 

Yea X2

 

Ohhhh it's getting even better....The upholster is finishing the top. He was mounting the rear window frame an didn't check the screws for depth on the two piece chromed pot metal rear window frame and they dimpled a $400, yes $400 chrome piece! Shit

 

1954Bill - The car was not safe. Ask anyone who saw it.

 

Still no breath! You'll get her done! I've got faith.....

 

Oh I got faith too Brett, but the stress is ridiculous, I've had thrashes before, but not as bad as this. I just got done replacing the freeze plugs on the engine! The engine builder is going to hear from me!

 

Super big thanks to Doc and Jeremy with the engine removal and reinstall. Still a long way to go and little time. Back to work, just needed a five minute break.

 

Hey, Rich, can I help with anything on Friday? I'll be rolling through sometime between 11 and 3. I can make it on the earlier side if I can lend a hand!

 

great work, really dig the attention to detail.

 

It's been awhile since I checked in on this thread, looking forward to seeing it complete. I'm sure it will be top notch like all of your builds Rich.

 

Typically, I'm an advocate of leaving the cosmetics alone, but this car needed to be gone through, and it's turned out very nice.

I have to laugh at those who strictly adhere to the "never change anything" line though. I mean dang, some of the first hotrods I built are now 25 years old and if they're still around, I can tell you that the current owners had better undo some of the messed up amatuerish crap that my friends and I did to our cars back then.

A lot of the time, we didn't know what we were doing and "engineered" some things that just aren't right.

I know this was done a lot in the 50's and 60's as well. So....just because something was done "back in the day" doesn't mean it should never be cleaned up or improved, if it was done badly or in an unsafe manner.

 

I am one too that would of left it alone...well I would of pulled it all aprat and fixed the wrong but I would of assemebled back with the original parts... to me its only a survivor once.. that being said I don't hate restoration of a survivor either.. I'm just happy to see any old car survive.... Can't wait to see it in person some day!!

 

Largely, the car consists of original components. The paint is the color the car was when it was first built, which is the era that we brought the car back to.

 

Howard just called me. He said that Pete Miller, one of the early owners of The Blue Crystal is coming to GG to see the car! I hope we get it there!

 

Wow, Pete's coming! That ought to be a great reunion!

We WILL see you there, Rich! Just keep plugging......

 

Touching up the cross member, then I can begin to do the million other things> Damn it's a bitch painting upside down! It's going to be a long night!

 

Thanks Brett, but I wouldn't want to drag any more of friends in to this mess.

 

Super cool hot rod, I know you will do it right. Really some nice striping and mods. Do it! ~sololobo~

 

Damn! With all this talk of "survivor this" and "original that", all I have to say is that any car that didn't get crushed is a survivor. This car is bad ass.

 

wow.....just wow....props to you for actually doing right by the car and bringing it back to what it originally was. Truly amazing......

 

Well it was a cluster**** trying to get this thing to the Goodguys Charlotte show, and with the help of my friends Billy Valitzski, Doc Holaday, Jeremy Holmes and Mike Ilardi we made it! Pete Miller who owned the car the longest and to the state in which it's restored, made the show from his home in Ohio! He was stoked! You could almost see his age being erased when he saw the car and heard it run after not seeing it for nearly 50 years. It was worth the back breaking effort to make it to Charlotte Motor Speedway, if just for that time we spent with Pete.



Here's a couple of pics of Pete with the man behind the project Howard Wagner.

 

Absolutely AWESOME effort, Rich! The roadster looked perfect.

I know it was a major ordeal to get it ready, but the results and the showing was worth it. Everyone I talked to loved it, and I'm glad Pete could make it to see the results!

Good seeing you, brother!

 

That roadster is one of my favorite survivors.. I love it either way it is...

 

Congrats, and a tip of the hat, for pulling it off in time. The car looks just terrific!

 

I still have some work to do, there are things I don't like and want to go back and correct, there is an oil leak and a smell I have to track down....but no thrashing! Thanks for the compliments.

 

I don't normally post on threads just to congratulate the owners/builders, but this is really a well done save. Good on you and the owner for taking the steps to bring this car back to use.

O.T.,,,,,I met Ray Schuler this last August. This guy finds some great cars. We were on our way to B'ville and our navigator (A.B. Shuman, the author) says we need to stop in Elkhart, Ind to see a friend of his. We spent half a day at Ray's drooling over the cars at his house. Next trip we are going to his warehouse. Amazing cars and almost everything is for sale. He's got some keepers, too.