It's so good to see that you guys made your goal and got it to back to the fifties! I kinda lost track of the thread in last weeks build up to L.A.R.S. activities, but man that came out lookin' bitchin!!!
I had to go back and look at the pictures again. I'm absolutely in love with this car!! Very fine work sir!
Yeah . . . it does sit a bit high. The blistered paint on the fenders from tire rub says it's just low enough though.
Words can't begin to say how thankful I am to everyone who busted their ass and sacrificed so much to make this happen for me. It was a thrash that will go down in the history book of thrashes. I was up 41 hours straight . . . operating on 5 hours sleep from the night before . . . and the rest of the crew was hopped up on coffee, iced tea, soda and junk food too. Thanks to Brandon (DeuceKustoms), Ryan (Wowcars), Marcy, towaholic, Stichbitch, Rich B and Titus for all the effort to get the car to the show! I drove my roadster down with teardrop in tow, headed for the campground at the fairgrounds. I dropped off the trailer and said hi and goodbye to my campmates with a suspicion that I likely wouldn't be making it back to sleep in the camper that night! This is what I saw when I walked into the shop on Thursday night: Dead sexy!
Titus and his dad had been cranking all day bolting parts on and wiring. Headlights. Titus managed to grind the heads off and polish some stainless screws to re-use the original brass tags. Looks pretty sharp with the contrast if I do say so myself. Rear nerf bolted on and ready for taillights.
With Titus' dad wiring and Ryan helping out with misc tasks, Titus, Brandon and I starting digging through Titus' 94 carb stash to build 2 good units to sit on the Edmunds 2x2. Along the way Titus even took the time to provide a little education for the crew.
Meanwhile, Stichbitch sewed up a killer top for another customer's A coupe and got busy on tuck & roll panels for my running board covers.
The team worked diligently through the night right up to 4 AM when it was time to fire the flatty. Quickly we discovered that we had the firing order off. Hopefully Brandon will post the fireball video! Once Titus got the firing order fixed, the car would fire but only run for a short time. He quickly diagnosed and fixed an intermittent distributor problem. Thankfully Titus is the early Ford parts king and had spares in the waiting. With this fix, the flatty came to life and just purred as Titus dialed in the carbs. As the sun started to rise, Brandon and I ran for coffee and fuel. As we filled the tank, it was clear that we weren't going to be able to drive the car with the rear fenders sitting on the tires. Even with the 1.5 inch spacer, it just wasn't enough clearance. Again, Titus had the remedy . . . he pulled another spring pack from his stash, quickly separated it and began cleaning it up as I jumped in the roadster and ran to the hardware store for longer perch bolts. After 4 different hardware stores I found bolts in the correct length. We went from an 8 leave pack to a 12 leave pack and this gave us just enough clearance for the rear tires. AS I drove back towards Titus shop with the sun just beginning to come up, I got tears in my eyes just thinking about the first drive. The scene through the garage door early in the AM.
The moment of truth . . . Titus had me fire the car up and ease it out of the garage for the first drive. I was a ball of nerves. The moment I had been anticipating for nearly 23 years was finally here. With friends from all over who had stopped by Titus' shop to see the car, I eased the car down the driveway. We drove around Titus' neighborhood. I think I was shaking the whole time. We pulled back in his driveway after a few minutes and got out of the car. This is what I saw as I looked at the car in the sunlight for the first time. I must have said that I couldn't believe it was my car a hundred times. Jeff told me there better not be any tears . . . it was too late, I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I had tears rolling down my cheeks. What an amazing feeling! Words can't describe it. I've been told that seeing your child being born is much the same.
After a quick shower to wash of the grime from an all-night thrash, we were ready to hit the road for the show at about noon. Due to lack of seat time with the car, I gave driving duty in the Tudor to Titus and followed in my roadster as the rest of the crew followed in their rods. The car ran and drove flawlessly to the freeway. We motored down the road, dodging idiots in econo-boxes that seemed dead set on taking out a hot rod or two . . . until . . . the left rear tire on the Tudor started to look like a wrinkle wall slick as it went flat. Titus did a masterful job of driving and got it to the side of I94 under a bridge. The tire was now coming off of the rim. And to add insult to injury, the radiator cap had failed and caused the radiator hose to pop off and spray hot water everywhere. Luckily I know a guy with a few tow trucks and have him on speed dial . . . towaholic to the rescue! The plan was to tow the car to the fairgrounds and fix it there. I had called ahead to my dad who ran to the Coker Tires truck and picked up a new tube and checked on another tire. It turns out my buddy had just gotten a new 11lb radiator cap the night before and was on standby with it as well.
We got to the fairgrounds and jumped in the back of towaholic's effie in search of a tire machine. We found one right on the fairgrounds at the show. A $10 bill, a handshake and 15 minutes later I had a new tube and freshly balanced tire ready to go back on the car. The tire looked pretty bad, but a quick clean-up with some Wizards Power Clean (shameless plug for my employer) took all of the nastiness right off! Good as new! Special thanks to the guys at Coker and Larry and the crew at Tire Werks for taking care of me not once, but twice as I blew another tube on my roadster the next night (and they wouldn't take a dime from me on the second mount and balance!)! A quick fill of the radiator with a bit of water and we were off to cruise the grounds. The car got tremendous attention and cheers everywhere we went. Obviously a few of you had seen the thread and were at the show! We drove over to where my family was set up and they were all in tears. Amazing . . . absolutely amazing!
Couple snags but all new builds have them. Great to see so grateful for the work done by your friends on the car and the work you put in to beating the illness to see this point. What a rad story and it's only the beginning!!!
The next morning was a rainy one. Without a top or side glass, I left the Tudor under a tarp and cruised the roadster around with an umbrella. The clouds and rain broke for a few minutes so I headed back to camp to grab the Tudor. It fired right up, but gas was pouring out of the rear carb. A call to Titus and he was on scene. We found a bit of aluminum shavings in the filter from the gas tank, cleaned it up and put the carb back together. Fired it up and the same outcome. The carb came apart again and it was discovered that the float was full of fuel. Obviously there was a hole in it causing it to sink. We jumped in Titus' truck and cruised the grounds in search of a float for a 94 carb. No dice. A quick call to Jeff's dad and he was on his way from home to us with a new float. Titus is a true hot rodder and an amazing person. Who else would stand in the rain rebuilding a carb for a buddy? Unfortunately it rained the rest of the day, but I did get the Tudor out and drive it quite a bit on Sunday. I have to say, this is the best driving Model A I've ever owned or driven out of 4 thus far.
Amazing story, amazing car (although I had resevations on the baby blue. not so now!) and an amazing journey you have gone on in this life. My niece is battling cancer as we speak (she is 2 1/2 yrs old) and it is a lide changer for everyone involved. My hat is off to you. thanks for sharing!
I still can't believe the car is mine. I can really see how it'd be easy to get addicted to the high a build like this gives you too. The plans for the car right now are to drive the hell out of it to discover any bugs it might have. Thus far it's just a few minor things to tackle. The rest of the glass still needs to be cut and installed. We are looking for a 39-40 Ford rearend with 3.54 gears to put in the car too. This will narrow up the rear a bit to suck the tires in and give a bit better tire to fender clearance as well as give me a better gear ratio for speeds above 55 mph. Stichbitch will also be doing the top and interior as soon as she can fit me into her schedule. The flat DP turned out so nice, I may leave it this way for awhile as I recover from this build and get busy on the rebuild of my other Tudor. Thank you so much for making my dream a reality Jeff. Words can't express my gratitude for your craftsmanship, ideas, sacrifice . . . and most of all, your friendship. It is an honor to have my Titus-built Tudor and I can't wait until our next build together.
just read through your thread. great story, great build. gotta love those hot rod adventures. hope you have many more. all with happy endings, of course.
I'm bummed... I not only discovered this thread until today but I looked all over for your car with Tman on Sunday but just couldn't find it. Please bring it to the Messaround! Love the Edmunds speed equip. I'm putting similar stuff on my coupe. Titus is the real deal, us guys in this area get spoiled with his generosity and knowledge on building old tin.
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This is one of my favorite builds ever on the HAMB. That blue is perfect, add full fenders and white accents....excellent. Great job!
Thanks for posting up the videos Brandon . . . and thanks for capturing them in the first place. I surely owe you more than a cup of coffee. We probably should have gotten coffee on an IV drip at the time!
Yeah, after we split I looked for another 30 minutes!!!!!!!!!!! On a positive note, I threw a 5er at the pizza guy and he gave me a slice and some messed up slices for a smokin deal!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dude, if you were at the pizza stand, you were only a block away from the car on Sunday. If you would have come down the hill towards the dirt lot you would have seen my roadster with teardrop in tow and the Tudor in front of it.
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