Once upon a time [July 17 1963] a fourteen year old kid found a Model "A" tudor,bought it for $35, set a budget to build,broke the budget ,finished the car.Here's what he started with and what he finished up with. Anybody interested with the inbetween story?
Only if you post a full pic of the channeled Model A in the corner of that pic .......or without, either is good
You bet we want to hear the story! And I know that roadster in the corner of the first pic is another famous hot rod! Keep those pics coming, Steamer!
Ok Don't bring up ol' rivalries. My brother was always better than me-then I realized we weren't in the same race! -but that's another story! My first job was working Sundays at a large bakery.Made $10.40 a day.As luck would have it, the Chrome shop was across the street and believe it or not they cashed my checks! Getting back to the car [body] the rest of the parts had to be acquired.Dear ol' dad had a '50 Meteor wagon [wore right out] Actually that was the tow car that took that roadster to the Grand National Roadster Show in 1963 and received "Hot Rod Of The Year" not the woody- the roadster. Sorry I digress that's another story! Anyway that wagon had a strong flathead in it [Dad used to race boats-sorry another story!] So for no money I had a motor,trans,and rearend. But first we better strip the body down.Life was easy then [I hadn't discovered girls!] so all my time went into the car but my 1 1/2 year deadline came and went and here I was still riding my bicycle to school.Sure it had a black lacquer frame but it wasn't the "A" But I had dreams! To be continued....
These types of threads are what many people want to see and read. Thanks for your wanting to share this stuff here.
Already a great start to the story. I'm looking forward to more of it. The way you're working a little suspense and anticipation in there just makes it more interesting. I wish! My first job was minimum wage at $1.10 per hour = $8.80 a day.
Get on with it..........Are you gonna make me subscribe to this tread? I know what, I'll send out a search party to find you, then we will all go to your house and you can feed us and let us drink your beer while you show us slides and home movies of the build.
That's the problem. I started the thread Then I started looking for pics and figuring out how to get them on the computor! Managed to find a frame,box it,put quarter eliptic springs in the rear,paint the running gear phlorescent red[my god I'm glad that trend was short lived] On Sat mornings I would sweep and clean the local machine shop in exchange for welding.So now I'm 17 and I've done this on this site in 2 days so don't complain -I've never done anything this fast!
Great stuff! Thank you very much for posting this. And can't wait for more. Question: Is that wood paneling on the outside of the frame rails?
Sorry It finally rained and I had to go back to work 14 hr days don't leave much room for typing! Yes that was actually wood grained arborite or formica glued on the frame rails. My brother had used stainless on his frame so to be different I did that. Anyway when my brother went to IFS on his next car ,a fully chromed dropped front axle came available [no one wanted it for $150.00] I got rid of the dayglow and bought the chrome one. Chrome is so much better. I hope you guys are noticing the pricing-I'll try and include as much as I can remember. The car ended up costing $6000.00 which was way over my budget of $1700.00! But the next year I bought my first new car 1968 Ranchero GT $3440.00 But before I had a car I would have to borrow Dad's truck because I had discovered girls and the car building slowed up somewhat! So on Sat night when Dad came home from work I would swap the American mags over and go out on the town! I finally got it down to 12 min to switch wheels and that was with no air tools!
Then came the first car show and we weren't ready! I say we cause one kid doesn't build a car.There was many a day that I remember throwing the tools down and leaving and when I returned Dad had put it back together! My Dad always had a two car garage and never had a car in them-my brother and I filled them up. But Dad got even-My son filled my garage!So here it is-Wed night and the car is home from the paint shop-fourteen coats Poppy red lacquer-$90.00 ! The show was Fri. night A lot of people worked a lot of time and we got to the show to find Our spot was gone! But the feature car owner said let's move my car over and we were in! No headliner wouldn't run but we had arrived! And we got a first place! Maybe I was the only one in the class!_I can't remember LOL
As an aside to my car [and a reply to some of your requests] My brother's next car was "The King Kamper" [why did we always have to name these things?] Any way his wife and he had just done a show in Seattle and it was Feb I think. On the way home they hit SNOW and roadsters are not really meant for winter driving [note the attire!] Also note the trophy on the roof. Now picture this-you're finally home to a warm house and a hot bath-Just whip the car into the garage. He said he actually got the front wheels off the ground before the trophy broke loose!! Myself I prefer a dash plaque -it's much easier to park! Oh yeah that car was one of Car Craft's top ten in 1965.
Steamer - just a great story! Your Dad was lucky to have two sons interested in cars - and with such talent! Thanks for taking the time to post the pics!
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