History Cars From Milwaukee Wisconsin, SE WI, and Northern Illinois....

This post keeps getting better and better every day

 

Bought this one a couple years back from the New Berlin area. Turns out the Merkt family has known the truck since the 60's.

 

if the truck has a 215 aluminum Olds V8 in it then, that truck was owned by Ray Billhartz (RIP). Ray was one of the original start up guys in the Wisconsin Street Rod Assoc. Here is the model A roadster that he built and owned for 40 plus years.

 

You mean this 215 olds Yes I bought it from his son. Trying to keep the whole truck as found but blew the clutch out of it this summer. Bob Sr has told me stories about Ray sounded like a pretty smart guy. Is that roadster still around?

 

He was so smart he was almost odd. He rebuilt many a automatic transmission in his day and drove some kind of hotrod into his late 80's. RIP Ray

 

You guys are really bring smiles to my face....I have very limited access to most of the photos of these cars, You're making it real easy for the rest of us to see our Upper MidWest Custom and Hot Rod Heritage....Thank you all.....Centurion9

 

My phone has a mind of its own no matter how I take some pictures the load sideways

 

I've been watching this post from the start, very cool cars. A little before my time though. I was wondering if any of you guys remember a car on the northwest side of Milwaukee, Appleton Ave./Silver Spring area, that was made up a bunch of parts from different cars. It was white, had two doors on one side, two on the other.

 

Bob, you from the falls area?

 

Origally from the NW Milwaukee, last 28 years in Germantown, now in Jackson.

 

Ray Billhartz at the drag strip near Lansing MI. Bill lived in Lansing and worked for Oldsmobile in the 50s'

 

unfounded rumor says the roadster is still around, no pictures from any one to prove it.

I met Ray in 1970, he was a wealth of mechanical knowledge, was a GM training center instructor, wrote mechanical service manuals for GM, Waukesha Motors and who knows what else. He had a very comprehensive knowledge of the basic functions of all parts of an automobile. He could diagnose and solve a cars mechanical ills with an ease that, only came with using common sense and knowing but not forgetting the fundamentals. He could instruct you on mechanical fundamentals and how important the basics are, especially when, building a hot rod. He guided many a Wisconsin hot rodder down the correct road to build a hot rod that handled, steered and stopped. His knowledge and expertise were invaluable.

Here is one of my best stories about Ray,
It's summer, 1976, I just finished building me a dirt, track, modified style T roadster, 194 c.i. dirt track Chevy II 4 cylinder, 2 Mikuni side draft carbs, 4 into 1 header w/straight pipe, 350 turbo trans with a stall and a 1965 Mustang folding backseat for a seat, hell that was the whole interior. It's NSRA Street Rod Nationals time and it's 775 miles to Tulsa, Oklahoma, so with a handful of tools, a full radiator and the motor full of fresh racing oil, I wave the family goodbye, head south out of Milwaukee, Wis. for Tulsa in my hot rod roadster. All was as it should be, straight pipe singing in my ear, stones and shit flying off the tires, sittin low, lookin at the undersides of the big trucks, feelin cool in my hot rod roadster. 80 miles down the x-way, I'm in Northbrook, Illinois, I'm hearing a whole lot of valve noise and I'm slowing down to 40 mph, not because I wanted to, especially in Chicago 70 mph express way traffic and they show no mercy. Good thing, I'm in the right lane, a dive onto the shoulder, stop, kept the motor running, the valve clatter stops. WTH!, collapsed lifter, loose rocker arms, cam went bad? No signs of visible oil leaks, idle is steady, good oil pressure, motors quiet. OK, head for the next exit, then shut it down, check the oil. There's no easing out onto the x-way, floor it and hope the motor doesn't fall on it's face. Alright, I'm up to 60 mph, running good, damn!, no exit in sight, valve noise and slowing down, again, double damn!! Slow down, ease up onto the shoulder, valve noise quiets down. WTH! I need to get off this damn x-way. It will be a fistful of dollars for a tow. I need to get off, find a phone booth for the location of the nearest Chevrolet dealer, get there before they close, pull the rocker cover off, check the rocker arms, the adjustment and look for bent push rods. If, necessary, pull the side cover and start taking out lifters. All this mental masturbation goin on, cars blazing by at 70 plus and Ray in his channeled A roadster pulls up behind the T. "What's goin on", says Ray, "Shit, man, motor was runnin good, all of sudden, got a lot of valve noise and lost power. When, I stop, with the motor running, it quiets down, idles good, I take off, get up to about 60, valve noise, again, no power but, this time I couldn't get onto the right shoulder right away, some jerk was 2 feet behind me so I had to slow down easy, as I'm slowing down, the valve noise gets quieter, by the time I'm off on the side of the road, all is quiet." Ray says, " did you pull out the dirt track cam that, was in the motor?", "yea, glad you convinced me to change, the cam that was in there was great at speed, but, city driving, stop lights, the sob couldn't get out of it's own way, I put in a good hydraulic cam, ran great on the street, could light the tires and at about 70, sob came alive like it grew 4 more cylinders. I put on 500 miles since the cam change, didn't think I'd have a problem goin to Tulsa." Ray," haven't changed anything since?", "hell no, changed oil, last night, got me some good racing oil, ready to tear up the highway to Tulsa." Ray says in his calm and here is how we fix your problem manner, "let's get off at the next exit, find some place to change the oil", "right, my fuckin motor's falling apart and you want to change the oil, what the hell for, to see how much metal comes out with the oil?" Ray, "We won't see any metal but, we'll put in regular 10w30 motor oil, the racing oil is wrong". We're in a bad place to discuss the finer points of an oil change versus half a motor tear down, the wisest move is to get the hell up on the city streets! "Ok, I'll get off at the next exit, I'm gonna go about 50 and hope I can keep up motor speed and power, to get to the exit". I roll out onto the x-way, bring her up to 50, ok, 55, start to hear a ticking noise, back to 50, quiet, power doesn't seem right but, I'm on the move, looking for the exit. Coupla a miles, exit ahead, off we go, I see a gas station sign, pull in on the side of the building, shut down the motor, jump out (no doors), pull the dip stick, oil level at the top, clean and no sign of metal particles. Ray pulls up, "how's the oil?", "full and clean", "start it up", he says. Ok, fires right up, not a valve or engine noise to be heard. Ray has the look that says, "well let's change the oil and get back on the road." I'm thinking, yea, let's change the oil, the motor will still make noise then, I can try to fix it or get the T hauled back home and whatever cockeyed theory he has about the racing oil will be just that, a cockeyed theory! The gas station attendant comes around the building, says, " havin a problem?", me, "not sure but, I want to change the oil so, I'll pull it in and you can change the oil, I want regular 10w30, you got some?, "yea, I got the oil but, that car is too god damn low, it will never get up on the hoist". I take one look at the hoist and he's right. "Ok, let's jack up the front, slide a drain pan under and drain the oil". He says, "no man, I ain't jacking that car up, everything's all painted and clean, don't want any problems, but, I'll sell you the oil." The oil is half the battle, with the T sitting on the ground, you can't get a drain pan under the pan, the front has to be jacked up. I says, " let me use the jack and your drain pan and I'll do it", "no way, the boss would have my ass, if he came in and saw you using his stuff, you want that oil?" I buy the oil, jump in the T and tell Ray,"follow me". WARNING, AT THIS POINT ALL ENVIRONMENTALISTS STOP READING OR CONTINUE TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. IF YOU CONTINUE TO READ I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY WHINING OR SNIVELING ABOUT WHAT YOU READ NEXT
Now, in the back of the gas station, there are a bunch of parked cars, garbage cans, beat up asphalt and areas of dirt and debris. I fire up the T, drive away from the gas station, pull around into the back lot, quietly, stop, motor off, jump out with my adjustable wrench in hand, reach under the oil pan, pop the drain plug and apply liquid asphalt to the parking lot surface, free of charge! Fresh oil is in, empties in the garbage cans (didn't want to leave a mess), motor is quiet, all right, let's get up on the x-way. Just in case, I head back north, I knew the last exit, I passed wasn't too far back up the x-way, cause I know, I'll be getting off the road, again, valves clattering with me pissing and moaning at myself, about listening to old Ray and his cockeyed idea. Onto the entrance ramp, we go, I keep it at 50 on the x-way, no noise, I'm looking for the exit sign, so I can take it up to 70 plus, there's the exit sign, up to 70, we go, no noise, shit, missed the exit. Ok, at the next exit, I'm pulling off, I know the valves will be clattering by then. I'm going a steady 70, not a noise and good power, here's the next exit, off we go, I find a place to pull over, jump out and tell Ray, "all is good, I don't believe it", he says, "Ok, good to hear, we lost a lot of time, you heading north or south? if, you go south, I'll tell you what went wrong at the next fuel stop, if, you go north, we'll talk when I get back." Me, "hell, I may as well, go south, I need some answers, we'll run together, you can give me a ride off of the highway for help, if necessary." A 100 miles down the road at 70 mph plus, we stop for gas and Ray tells me about oil aeration (air gets into the oiling system), at x-way speeds the hydraulic lifters collapsed, when I slowed down, the oil aeration wasn't as critical and the lifters pumped back up. Why the oil was aerating wasn't important, it just had to be changed. After the oil change, the motor never missed a beat, no matter how fast I went. For as long as I had the T, I didn't use racing oil in that motor, anymore. To this day, I don't know if it was the racing oil, the oil weight or the brand. I can't recall if, Ray told me how he knew that, an oil change would solve the problem.

I believe Ray was well in to his 60's, maybe 70's, at that time. On the way to the Nats, some where a bit north of Tulsa, we pulled into a rest area. The 100 degree heat was getting the best of Ray, no top on his roadster, he found some shade and wanted to rest. I needed a break, too. We rested for a bit, Ray said he was meeting some old friends in Tulsa, we hit the road and Ray split off to meet his friends. I saw him a few times during the weekend, cruising in the roadster, next time was back in Milwaukee.

All ended well, the NSRA Nats were great, on the way there, it was 90+, Tulsa was 105, day time driving was brutal, major sun, no clouds, no top, but, my roadster idled thru the fairgrounds at 175 degrees all the time. Night time, oh yea, Tulsa's Harvard and Indianapolis Ave got resurfaced with rubber in some areas, sleep was something to do at home and some fun was never spoken of again.

We all got back to Milwaukee, safe and sound. Ray continued to mentor guys and gals on car mechanics and hot rods. He shared knowledge with any one that, had the common sense to realize the depth of his knowledge and were mature enough to respect the words of a wise, senior citizen.

He is missed.

Curt R

the T roadster


Ray's roadster

 

Great story Curt - keep them coming! That T of your is super cool. Still around?

 

Ed Wards 32 ford roadster, Ed lived on the north side of Milwakee and bought the car at the Pabst brothers car dealership in 1955, before Pabts Motors got the car it was owned by a local wealthy department store owner son. the prvoius history bofore that is unkn0wn. i did a mechanical resto on the car a couple years ago

 

Anyone got any pictures of Jon Spinney (SP) old T roadster? supposed to be still sitting in a garage in Butler

 

Stumbled upon these watching videos from Union Grove posted by John LaPrest, looks like testing is being done in a Milwaukee alley.

 

Thanks for posting these Phillips....Not sure if it's the same car or not, but there was an "El Belairo" that spent much of it's life at the Gas Station on the SW Corner of 76th and Oklahoma Avenue in South West Milwaukee. I've looked for evidence of the car before, but in my Memory, it also had broad Diagonal Stripes that ran the length of the car and bigger lettering....Then again, that was in the early-Mid '60's when the car was nearly new...I lived in the neighborhood and it was a fixture.......Centurion9

 

Found this pic today of three of the coupes I was notorious for, Wayne Strong black 32, Doug Bandle 33 flamed coupe, Bill Breece maroon withblack and silver trim.

 

Found these two pictures of the truck today, 1st taken at the same time as Curts photo-1972 Detroit NSRA Nats with two chicks sitting on the fenders, 2nd ,Butch Brinza and Me behind Waltons shop on 89th and National Ave. ,maybe 12 or 15 years ago with the Dodge convertible nearby