Projects Nasty Habit Willys part 11....H.A.M.B. Drags.

Hah, good one, I think it's upside down though

 

After the drags we would have liked to go back to the Holiday Inn parking lot and socialize but I had to be at work Wednesday morning so we headed west for a couple of hours and got a motel for the night. Squeak had some friends to visit in Bixby, Oklahoma on Sunday and Craig wanted to go by the Starbird museum.

The truck was having intermittent starting problems .Seemed like battery terminal problem but just when it seemed OK it would show up again, surely a truck full of hot rodders could overcome a bad battery connection...





Here is a shot of Murray removing his smoldering boxer shorts from the microvave, I guess they dried quicker than he thought, he did the right thing though, put them in Craig and Phil's room so they could enjoy the smell.



Sunday was a great day for traveling,





I guess a tornado must have visited this town, shelves still have items in place...









This McDonalds over the interstate was a surprise, I wonder when it was built.



A few shots from Starbird's museum...

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Extended front ends are traditional after all...

 

Met some really wonderful people in Bixby and saw some awesome stuff!













Sam's place....







At another location Craig bought this green Ford....





Next stop, Chris's shop.....

This is what a cool Okie looks like...



inside the shop, more to follow....

 

Hey Kev, Hope you don't mind if I add some pics to the mix. Looks like you got the story pretty well covered. Great job on telling it. I tried to call you this morning. I might have a set of kingpins for you. I need to know which ones you are running? Willys? Here are some random shop pics as well of the trip.

 

Don Moyer....Your 33 is wicked looking! Will it look just like that when you get done with it?

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Kev, as close as I can. I don't have daisey rims as of yet, so halibrands will have to do...Car ran hemi and bbc, gonna go with the bbc so I can really run it!

 

More random pics. I am not going to tell the story like Kevin. I'll let him do that. Just throwing them out there for all to enjoy.

 

A few more for the crew! I loved the cracked laquer paint on the five window coupe. Great car and a true survivor. Chris was a great host to all of us. True hotrodders and I don't know if any of the guys that were there are on the hamb or not.

 

Ok, This is it for now. We stopped for a late dinner and a safe bull ride after we got the 51 Ford coupe loaded up to head back with. Craig, one of the Kiwi's from Christchurch bought it and since I had the empty trailer on it went. I delivered it to Long Beach,Ca a couple of days ago. I put over 4000 miles on my truck in the last week and a half. Saw a lot of the country and met a lot of neat people. Looking forward to a return trip. Hopefully with my finished 34 five window. I also jumped a battery more than I ever have. We got that sorted out at Chris's shop. Had a lot of fun. I will add more pics after I see what Kev puts up.

 

Thank's Dale, good pics.

This is Sam with his super sweet 32 5w project, turns out I had met Sam many years ago in Paso when I had my A coupe on the road, I took him for a ride around town. Everything else in the shop belongs to Chris, the cool Okie seen earlier with the super fine blue street/ strip/ show machine.











Very cool picture on the shop wall....

 

Squeak took this opportunity to fix whatever it was wrong with the truck. Many cables and connectors were replaced and much beer was consumed and still no luck finally the trouble was found, it was a bad connection inside the solenoid. Luckily the auto parts store a block away had a new starter in stock and after a heroic effort by Murray and Mal it was all back together and working great. A special thanks to Chris for giving us the use of his shop and tools for far longer than expected!

 

WAIT A SECOND!!!!!!!!! You stood it nearly on the bumper...and Don didnt! haha looks like a hell of a trip, Congrats man...

 

Very nice car Craig picked up....



Day 7...Oaklahoma City- Flagstaff AZ.







Below...Texas state monument....

 

Hey Kev, looks like one hell of a road trip! Looks like the crew had a good time! I hope one day all us HAMBers from LA thats Lower Alabama can meet up all the guys from the west side of the GREAT USA and have a good time together somewhere! Thats for the pics!

 

Man who dies with the most signs wins.........Great pictures kev and damn nice launch of the line.

 

Next stop was the Lewis antique auto and toy museum in Moriarty, NM. It's a fantastic yard to wander through, I could have stayed for hours!. Unfortunately nothing is for sale. It is the personal collection of Archie, the owner, a very cool old guy who aquired his first Model T at age 9 and has never stopped collecting. I felt privileged just to wander around, if the stuff was for sale it would soon be gone and there wouldn't be this place to visit. No charge, just make a donation.

 

Archie told us the chopped 32 cab was Al Unser's hot rod when he was a young fella. Check out the custm upholstery.





Hemi power.....



Old hot rod frame...

 

Inside....

 

WOW Kev, I'm using this as a guide when I make the Trip, thanks for the photos and your Willys build is awesome to watch!

 

Man!! I am living through you guys!!

 

It was nice to meet you, Squeak and Marky at the HAMB Drags. You guys made a great showing. All 3 cars are tuff as nails. And you guys are a good bunch of guys. Brian

 

Kev, was good finally being able to put a name with the face. You are the "real deal". That willys is full of so many details that oooze early 60s drag that is aint even funny. Squeak and Marky are gold too, had a blast firing the car up for you all friday night at the hotel. Will look you up in Bakersfield brother, Take care


TH

 

Kev thanks for posting the pics Glad you could stop by

 

Awsome. I need my head examined for missing the drags this year. Didn't want to drive my daily and roadster was broke.

Thanks for posting your trip.

That yard full of tin is amazing!!!!

 

This is a great tread / post idea ……. Thank you
And Squeak is one of my favorite people

 

Great racing , benchracing & road trip Kev with some great pics for the sharing.. What an adventure..

Thanks

J168

 

Kevin isnt this place crazy? I was there a couple months ago, i bought my grandfathers old custom off Archie! long story, tell you about it next time i see you. That black t-bird has a 427 ford in it!!!!

 

awesome trip Kevin! The front tires 3 feet off the ground looks great! You really live the dream! For a guy growing up Kiwi wondering what the SoCal hot rod scene was like and having the balls to move out here and live it, you are truly living the dream!

 

One finger John......I forgot to mention earlier that one of the main reasons the car launches like that is I purposely chose a heavy flywheel and biggest balancer so there would be plenty of stored energy when the clutch is dumped. This could be hard on parts but the car is pretty light,( 2,620 pounds).

T shirts....Big thanks to everyone who bought shirts! It helped make the trip possible. I currently have 2xl and 3XL in stock but I will be getting some more printed of other sizes.

There were alot of vintage trucks in Archie's yard. He said his son is the old truck nut and has a yard next door. This is the old Kenworth he drives all over the country.....















This thing was awesome! Everything about it was huge. It was a tour bus at Pikes Peak in the 30's.







Poor Kiwi's trying to get some shade, they'll be begging for the sun when they get back home....



A few road shots as we dove on to Flagstaff AZ....









Day 8...Flagstaff, AZ - Bakersfield, CA.

Woke Up to the sound of Something rumbling in to the parking lot. Looked out to see this roadster pickup, The driver was a young guy, passenger was a young lady looking quite tired as she gathered her stuff and headed for their room. I got up and talked to the guy, his name was Cody and they had been on the road all night from somewhere above Dallas and were heading for Las Vegas where he had worked out a trade, the RPU for a 68 Buick. I love seeing hot rods on the road when it has nothing to do with a car event. I think the old guys were saying " I don't remember building them this low".







We rolled into Bakersfield about 5pm, unloaded our stuff and not long after Dennis rolled in with the trailer. The trailer was missing a wheel and his truck had a terrible knock and had to be flatbedded back to Riverside. I don't know the details but I hope it is not as bad as it sounded. Apart from Dennis' truck it was a fantastic adventure. Good times with good people. For six days in a duallie with 6 guys I must say there was a lot less farting and belching than I expected. As usual it was good to get home!

 

Absolutely fantastic thankyou so much for the pics and story of your travels.The pics reminded me of when I was a young lad, (yes I was young once) LOL. when we would go on vacation from Calif to Ks. Just cool. Lippy

 

I don't have a new subject to post a part 12 yet so I will add to part 11.

With help from my friend Perry we have rebuilt the top of the engine and installed a different cam, solid lifters, ported and polished heads with 2.02" intakes, roller rockers and an Eelco oil pan. Engine winds up pretty good now. My friend Vic Young is rebuilding the engine in his Willys coupe "Bad News" so he donated the cam, lifters and valve springs to my car saving me a few hundred bucks, thanks Vic! There was no oversize stamping on the pistons so I measured the bore and it was less than 4". Turns out my 327 is a std bore 283. I think I like it more now, a real underdog. The cam is a Crane 290A. Lift .536 intake .554 exhaust. Duration .290 intake .298 exhaust.









The heads have a lot of soul. They are off this old 301 powered Willys coupe race car last raced in the 60's that Vic bought back in the 80's, took some parts off and later sold the car. The heads have a beautiful porting job. Maybe Mondello or Valley head service. We put the 2.02 valves in when freshening up the heads. They are power pack heads, I guess for the increase in compression you get with the smaller combustion chambers. They have Milodon guide plates and screw in studs. I know they are nothing compared to the heads you can buy these days but I think they are perfect for my car and I have virtually no money in them. That little 283 seems to breathe well now. I am sure it is really over carbureted with dual AFB's off a 409 but it hasn't fouled a plug yet after over 50 miles of driving this week. This is the car they came off....









Got it running just in time for the Grand National Roadster Show where I put it in the Suede Palace building. I was parked beside Aaron Bedrosian who I have known for many years. It was Aaron who sold me the 37 sedan that made my coupe project a possibility (see part 1). Anyway I was exited and surprised to take home the best Hot Rod trophy in the Suede Palace. I really don't give a shit about winning anything at a car show but to win that in the coolest building at the biggest and best indoor show in the world was pretty humbling to be honest. I remember reading about the GNRS when I was a kid living in New Zealand. I never thought I'd ever have a car in it. Lucky Axle started the Suede Palace concept. Here are mine and Aaron's coupes and also the bitchen roadster belonging to another friend of many years, Don Waldron. Another thing I did before the show was remove the lexan windshield and I had a class one cut and installed. I have been saving the perfect Service Center decal for years waiting for that glass windshield.