Hot Rods Info and pictures needed of "sylvester" 32 show rod from early sixties! !

The car was built back in the fifties with this tube-style frame which incorporated torsion bar suspension at all four corners. The original 32 frame was long gone even then. When Paul first bought the car, he wanted to build it as a driver for himself, and no thought was given to doing it anything like it had been in the 50's-60's. As he dug in to the car's past, and more people came forward who remembered the car, it seemed the right thing to do would be to rebuild it so it resembled the way it looked in its heyday. New Metal Kustomz does exquisite work, however, so what p***ed as cutting edge "weapons grade" construction 50 years ago, couldn't cut it by today's standards. EVERYTHING is done with an eye to the best possible quality workmanship, even if it won't be visible in the finished product. The unique recognizable features that made Sylvester stand out 50 years ago will still be there, although most will be greatly enhanced and much better executed than was possible with the technology available back then.

It would have been much simpler and more conventional to start with a pair of original or reproduction 32 frame rails and construct a hot rod frame, but that tube frame was a big part of the iden***y of Sylvester. Not to dismiss workmanship and quality standards of hot rods built back in the day, but most hot rod fabrication back then was accomplished with torches and stick welders. Granted, there's a lot of great stuff created using those methods, but most will agree that processes have evolved over the last half century, so with what we have available to work with now in terms of tools and materials, hot rods and customs can be better than they've ever been.

Whew! That was a long answer to a short question, huh? But I know a lot of people had to be wondering the same thing Jimmie B.asked...
Craig

 

It is the original frame...just with a new backhalf.

 

Ok, yeah I can see the round tube main rail, the square box on top the rail threw me.

 

Great find! I hope all the original features are saved on the rebuild/restoration. Thanks for posting all the photos and history. Bob

 

I was able to talk to Gary Kidwell yesterday, and he filled in more of the history on Sylvester. As it turns out, a guy by the name of Gaylord Screivers did most of the build. Gaylord bought the 32 in 1955, and the doors and deck lid were already welded and molded in with lead when he got the body. He built the tube frame with torsion bar suspension, channeled the body 5", installed a then, new 56 Buick nailhead engine, and painted the candy apple red himself. He only kept the car for about 4 years before he traded it to Gary Kidwell for a Corvette. Gay and Gary worked together at the Safety Switch Board Co in Oakland. Gay didn't drive the car much, and didn't show it. As his only car at the time, he tired of it and needed something more practical to drive. Gary was 20 when he got the car, and lived at home with his folks, so he could borrow their car when he had to. Gary belonged to the Bay Area Roadster Club, and he drove the car a lot, and showed it at area car shows, where it won cl*** many times. Gary had the interior done in pearl white naughahyde, added the zoomie headers for the shows, hot-rodded the engine and added the 6 2 barrel Strombergs on a Dragstar manifold, had the firewall chromed, and did a few other mods. Moving out of his parents place and getting married forced Gary to think of more practical transportation, so in 1963 he traded the 32 to a guy in San Francisco for an Austin Healey sports car.

For now, the trail goes cold, until it picked up again in 1967 when a fellow by the name of Dave bought it. That leaves a 4-year gap, during which time, I'm sure a car that was that unique, left a lasting impression on all who saw it. That's where you all came in, if you've been reading all the posts here. The car sat, hidden in storage in a garage in San Francisco for nearly 40 years, but it's nearing completion now, and it's spectacular!

Can't give away the farm with pictures of the newly-resurrected Sylvester, but here's a sneak peek at the hand-painted artwork on the cowl.
Craig

 

I found these photos in a 1964 edition of Hot Rod Yearbook No. 4. I just happened to research this car to see if it still existed only to find the restoration going on in the present day. What a coincidence!

 

Thanks! One more piece of info on the car...we'll have to see if we can get hold of a copy of that 1964 Hot Rod yearbook.

I just talked to Gary Kidwell on the phone again today. The car will be at the Grand National Roadster Show in the America's Most Beautiful Roadster cl***. It was shown, and we have pictures as well as the registration number from when it was shown at the GNRS in 1962, 50 years ago. Gary can't make it to Pomona, but he said he'll definitely make it to the Sacramento Autorama in February to see his old car. The guys are still working feverishly on the car to complete everything. They'll probably work all night tonight, and most of the day tomorrow with last minute stuff, then they plan to leave for Pomona about midnight tomorrow night. The car is really looking great!

I'll post pictures when we get back from Pomona...

 

If you cant find that issue, i'll give you my copy. Got a bunch of Hot Rod yearbooks for Christmas and id gladly donate that one to the cause. The one pix i posted is a pretty good shot of the firewall wiring, fuel line details that might come in handy. The pix i posted is all there is of the car.

 

WOW! That'd be great! If you can, send it to Craig Owens, 1709 Walnut Creek Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403. We'll pay you for it, and pay the postage. I'm here at the Grand National Roadster Show now (using the hotel computer).
You wouldn't believe the drama that occurred getting the car here. Short version: we made it by the skin of our teeth, the car is qualified, is in the AMBR cl***, and looks really good. I'll post the long version of the story and pictures when we get home.
Thanks again!
Craig

 

Glad you guys made it to the show! I'll get this mailed off to ya ASAP.

 

Got it boxed up and will probably ship it tomorrow. Its comin USPS flat rate box. Enjoy!

 

Just got back from the Grand National Roadster Show, so thought I'd better post some follow up. What a roller coaster ride it was just getting there! New Metal Kustomz is a two-man shop: Paul Shaughnessy, the owner, and business partner, Marcus Owens. Paul bought the roadster in 2007, and work started on it right after purchase, but with customer cars to work on and overhead to be paid, there was little time available to spend on Sylvester. In 2011, they decided to throw all their effort at completing the car for the 2012 GNRS. Brandon Flaner gave much-needed help, stopping by the shop after putting in full work days himself, at Darryl Hollenbeck's.

For the last year, they've been working 7-day weeks to fit in time for Sylvester around customer cars. Work was still being done on the car right up to the time the car was pushed into the trailer for the 450-mile trip to Pomona. The AMBR rules state that the car has to start and drive, drive in on its' own for the judges, and all the lights have to work. Well, the guys had fired the engine to break in the cam about 5 days before the car went to Chris Plante for the interior, and it hadn't been started since, nor had it ever been put in gear to see if the transmission would work since the rebuild.

The guys figured they needed to leave at midnight Tuesday night, but other last minute ***embly delayed firing up the engine until after midnight. The engine refused to start, and after tearing everything apart and working feverishly to find the cause, we pushed the car into the trailer at 5:30 A.M., resigned to the thought the car could not qualify, and the best they could hope for would be to display the car on the sidelines, out of the compe***ion. The car had to be in the building at the show by 4 P.M. and with a 7 1/2 hour drive to Pomona, that left little time to find the problem and put the interior and other engine parts back together.

On the way down, with time to noodle out possible causes, we were able to come up with the answer. The Old Stewart Warner Wings tachometer, which wasn't installed in the dash at initial fire up, had a short, which was sapping power from the ignition, and the old Mallory double life distributor, though completely rebuilt, had a weak condenser. The guys stopped about 30 miles from Pomona at a Kragen Auto Parts, and picked up a condenser for a Chevy (ever tried to find one of those big old br*** external Mallory condensers?). With the tach unhooked, and the new condenser installed in goober fashion, the engine tried to start, but the battery was all but dead from all the previous cranking. They ran back in, bought a new battery, hooked it up, and the engine fired!

A quick in-trailer re-***embly job ensued as a couple of us who accompanied them on the trip pulled our hair out and tried to remind them that they still had 30 miles of rush hour L.A. traffic to buck, and it was now 3:15! There was lots more drama, but I'll spare you those details. Short version, they made it, they qualified, and the car looked great. They didn't win the big AMBR trophy, but they did win best paint, best engine, and best under carriage!

Here are some pictures, and I'll post up a second batch. First picture is of Marcus driving Sylvester up for the judges' initial viewing after backing it out of the trailer. He said he was shaking from all the anxiety...

 

One more batch of pictures...

 

What an amazing car....congratulations for such a prestigious achievement!!! I saw it in person on sunday...simply amazing!

 

That was a really great entry, and beautiful Roadster!

 

what an adrenaline rush the whole expierience was! quite an achievement for the boys at new metal kustomz.

 

I couldn't stop going back into that building and looking at the Sylvester..

Congrats on suchs a great build and the achievments that came along with it..

 

Congrats Guys , the car was absolutely stunning in person!! The future of our hobby is in great hands with these young talented builders. Hope you enjoyed the show, all your work made a lot of people smile!!!!!

 

thanks for the kind words piero and ron.. glad it made you guys smile..

 

My favorite roadster of the show. Simply beautiful.

 

wow that car is just amazing

 

Congratulations!
Cool roadster with an even cooler story!!
​

 

Here are my Saturday Shots of Sylvester!

 

AWESOME HOTROD!! (what are the chrome pieces in front of the seats?)

 

Looks to be the Torsion bar adjusters.

 

They are the rockers for the rear torsion bars that penetrate the floor..the fronts if you look closely are right behind the edge of the firewall..

 

hey thanks guys... don't think i've ever seen that before.

 

Great car! Cool to finally see it on the ground (just prior to show).

 

Just found this...
Great history!! Great future!

 

check out hotrod magazine, they've got a cool article about it.