In our "notes from the field" section,
it looks like the old Chocolate & Cheese roadster
is doing a fine job marking it's new territory out east.
dismantled roadster frame
Any true hot rodder wouldn't be able to leave well enough alone,
and so it looks like it's been blown apart,
which is exactly what it takes.
I would too if I knew the car was put together in 3 weeks!
tilt head - bugeye
Good to know it's gone on to an appreciative home.
Hope your having fun Dan!
Sunday we said goodbye to the chocolate and cheese roadster.
1927 ford
Chocolate & Cheese Roadster
The engine was buttoned up by my head mechanic...
ford flathead mechanic macey
and a floor was whipped out.
cockpit
This was a better floor than the Red Dot!
trunk floor
Right before the trailer arrived,
the kids and I swapped out the rear tires.
This hot rod stuff is a family affair!
chocolate & cheese roadster
Ben D arrived right on schedule and we loaded up the roadsters,
without a winch!
Ben D trailer rig
The C&C was with good company.
A 1932 roadster was picked up in colorado to be shipped to New Zealand.
precious cargo
The guy had built this one for the past 30 years,
and decided he would rather have a 1940 convertible.
1932 ford roadster
This thing had all the right traditional parts -
an Ardun flathead, Culver City Halibrand, quickchange,
and curved stewart warner gauges.
Boxes of mystery parts to finish it up.
curved stewart warner gauges
Someone in New Zealand is a lucky guy.
1927 ford roadster
The old roadster was strapped down and ready for its road trip.
One last look.
Me and the Cheese
No I'm not hiding tears under the glasses.
It's going to a good home.
Now it is time to wrap up some of these other projects.
Thanks Dan!
Jaxon with the antique lawnmower
Jaxon was finally able to mow the grass underneath the roadster,
using the ancient lawnmower from papa's shed.
In the old days I used to use this thing to mow my grandparents lawn!
After that last blog post I realized it was time to get my a$$ in gear.
ford guillotine
Okay maybe my kids a$$es!
grease monkey - jakob
Jakob did such a slam dunk job on the 27,
this was a cake walk.
grease monkeys
Jaxon whipped off the intake bolts,
and Jake found the lower tranny/engine bolts.
operation
Finally it was time to pull the old flathead.
jaxon distributor tech
Jaxon realized it was a bit more work than the models.
perich brothers garage
Somehow we scooted the engine over to the 27 with the trusty A-frame.
bare feet
It doesn't look like it in the picture,
but it was getting late,
for a school night anyway.
We had just enough time to snuggle the engine into the roadster.
heart transplant
With the kids help,
a bunch more was accomplished than I thought.
sad 40 coupe
Bummer to sacrifice the running capacity of the once trusty 40,
but when things settle down it will get all it deserves.
For some reason yesterday morning I was up at 6am.
I did a quick scan through craigslist and was surprised to see this.
craigslist deal
Without thinking I texted the ad over to my friend Spinner,
who was looking for another bike project.
A couple hours later he showed up with it.
1971 yamaha xs650 scrambler
Way more bitchin up close.
Someone had put a dirt bike front end on it.
Spinner had actually ridden it all the way from Ramona,
about 40 miles or so,
with only a couple minor oil leaks to show for it.
The thing even had a registration and working lights.
1971 yamaha xs650 scrambler
While it's the perfect bike to chop up,
it's also the perfect commuter bike.
What was I thinking passing it on!?
1971 yamaha xs650 scrambler
Well at least it went to a good home.
lizard king
After looking at these shots of the garage,
I guess I don't really need another project.
After over 4 years as our faithful steed,
today the old Lincoln was put to rest.
1990 lincoln town car
photo by piGPen
What started as someone's $30K luxury vehicle,
transformed into our $800 family sled,
even moonlighting as a shop truck in it's retirement.
OG lincoln town car SUV
Heck,
it was even good for smuggling people!
perich brothers visits chabott engineering
photo by ZAP
Gotta love the trunk space.
Funny cause the Chabott crew is going through their own vehicular turn over. shinya kimura @ chabott engineering
Must be in the planets.
That's what was tough about deciding what to do with it.
The car ran great,
engine hummed and shifted fine.
The main problem was the brakes.
Sometimes they would work,
sometimes they would barely work.
It was a little disconcerting.
Probably a cheap fix,
but with the broken power windows,
the leaky main seal,
and the smog/registration coming up,
it was time.
spaghetti
A half-ass attempt to sell it on craigslist valued the car at maybe $600.
While that would have been the smart decision,
the hot rodder in me couldn't let a good running 302/aod combo go for that low.
This re-seed was planted from the very beginning.
The car was purchased with 167K miles on it and we only ran it 10K in the 4 years.
Just enough to test its durability.
holey chit
I've pulled this engine out before,
and for some reason I don't remember there being so many wires and hoses.
first engine pull - 2008
photo by piGPen
Funny how that works.
The plan is to keep the engine, transmission, battery and driveshaft.
sprinkles
Unfortunately it took alot longer to pull than I remember too.
There's a couple interested buyers for the carcass,
but a surprise storm messed up my timing.
Why didn't I start this on Saturday?
so cal rain
Oh yeah,
we were making a shelter for the chocolate and cheese roadster.
Weird how things work out.
Now that the rains have stopped,
it seemed like the perfect time to find a cover for the C&C roadster.
insta-house
After weedwacking the yard earlier in the week,
I found this chinese-made shade on craigslist.
The guy had a good racket going on.
Not only did he sell these,
he also had digital safes, tile cutters, bungie cords,
all kinds of junk.
child labor
As usual,
the kids got to work,
while I stood around taking pictures and yelling at them.
munchies
They really tackled the construction.
All that training with Lego's and Tinkertoys
finally paid off.
almost
There was a similar canopy for sale at Harbor Freight,
but if you can believe this,
I've never actually bought anything there.
Only been in a HF store one time!
Really!
Yeah I've bought HF stuff used though,
their cheapy tubing bender, engine stands, engine hoist...
success
Okay,
before you start thinking this is an anti-HF rant...
The HF canopy has a form fitted cover,
with a replacement cost of $90.
This one is cheaper,
has more pipes,
and uses a simple 12x20 tarp,
and the guy sells the replacements for $30.
You do the math!
tired kids
It seemed like it took longer to push the old roadster around
than it did to build the shack.
chocolate & cheese home
Now it looks like we have our own little swap meet stall in our backyard.
At least the tarps not blue!
There was a good half day to work on the roadster before the swap load in at 4pm.
I started not too early by replacing this rusty section I had cut out the night before.
holey chit
This was no top notch job,
just enough to reinforce the subrail.
I'll have to pound out a sheetmetal patch panel later on.
quick patch
Luckily Spinner showed up to throw some hours in.
I showed him the list,
and he picked the most difficult thing,
the missing decklid.
wack-a-mole
Okay actually he started by shortening and welding up the headlight bar,
than he started on the frame for the decklid.
spinner checking the decklid frame
Things got even better when Mike showed up to get his hands dirty.
grease monkey
He did some mechanical stuff like bolt on the intake/carbs, dizzy,
and figured out how to attach the tow bar,
while experiencing the loudness of a 70's grateful dead show.
Thanks Mike!
27 roadster dash modification
Meanwhile I tried to mount the steering column.
dash filler
The easiest way was to take out that swoop on the drivers side.
column supported
Good enough.
Before Mike left,
he cut a beat '36 driveshaft to use for the exhaust.
mocked up exhaust
One more day and the exhaust could be finished.
For now this would have to do.
spinners decklid magic
By 3:00,
it was time to get this thing outside.
1927 ford roadster
Spinner's Suzuki
The old roadster rolled down the 2 steps no problem.
I love high cars.
It was obvious that spring clamps were needed,
and SPinner tackled the front.
custom spring clamp bolts
And I tackled the back.
custom rear spring clamp
I couldn't believe the progress he had made on the rear decklid in 3 hours.
1927 ford roadster rear shot
It was so good I sprayed my name on it.
chocolate and cheese
1927 ford roadster
While waiting for the wife and kids to show up,
I amassed a good pile for the swap meet.
1927 ford roadster
Finally they arrived,
and escorted the package to the swap meet.
perich brothers and sister
and mom
The car pulled amazingly well,
and got up to about 45mph.
at the swap meet
My cousin in law Brandon and friend Mario hooked up the spot.
With everything unloaded,
it was time to relax and have a couple drinks.
...4 red beers and 2 shots later..
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ween - chocolate and cheese - candi
This is how I felt at the end of the day.
It was great!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks to a good group of friends and family,
the hard part was finally over!
