Ventura Nationals 2015 - Sloppy's Revenge

The Ventura Nationals is a great excuse

to visit our second home town,

see old friends and get out of dodge.

This year we decided to take the green 40.

It was towed out of Ventura county in 2008,

time to break that curse.

We had to go through the car.

After 2 years of driving with very little re-tuning,

I didn't want to get stuck on the side of the freeway.

Jaxon began the wipe down.

A couple zip ties, 

shots with the grease gun 

and a few loose nuts...

The welded straight axle still holding up.

The suspension was good to go.

One continuing headache was belt squeal.

The bracket I had made was a little off.

A few enlarged holes solved the problem.

Two years and two belts later...

20 minutes of tinkering.

holey chit...

Was Chief sad or relieved 

to pass up this trip?

There'll be other drives.

The freeway cruise was smooth as could be.

We babied the first 40 miles,

and buzzed the remainder towards the halfway mark.

5 gallons at about 100 miles.

Not too shabby.

We met up with Sloppy,

sitting menacingly in the shadows.

Ready for the midnight haul.

Nope!

Sloppy's throttle cable broke a mile later.

Next thing I know the gas pedal is out.

A holey chit moment.

Since we had just cleaned the 40,

our tools were minimal,

and no random wires or paraphernalia.

I intentionally built our car to not need metric or star wrenches,

or special pliers or what not.

Fortunately Sloppy's tool bag was the exact opposite.

The perfect hodgepodge of tools we needed.

The clutch cable was removed 

from his motorized chopper bike,

but the crimped lead on the end was way too big.

If anyone sees a shiny spot on the concrete 

while visiting this death lair...

I used the concrete as a file 

to whittle down the stub.

Perfect fit.

Relieved to be back on the road,

the traffic-less drive was well deserved.

Fun side by siding a flathead roadster.

Now I know what we look like 

in the roadster pickup with one tail light.

The next project when we get home.

We barged in to Greg's abode 

with time for 3 hours of sleep.

I claimed the most bitchin couch.

So nice...

We woke up surprisingly rested.

A short rally and we headed off to the fairgrounds.

I'm sure every car at the show had a story to tell...

TP

Greg's 29 A-V8 - pt 1

This summer we finally woke up 

the longest hibernating project,

temporarily nicknamed the Sharpie Roadster.

Can you figure out why?

I couldn't believe parts for this

were collected back in the Ventura era,

over 7 years ago.

Greg has been more than patient,

watching other projects take precedence.

The body was unplanned yard art.

The kids think it's normal to have these lying around.

Finally the time had come.

Why did it take so long?

A 7-8 year patina had aged earlier work

to match the body.

It seemed like yesterday 

when these boxing plates were welded and slotted.

Our house yard seemed empty without this.

First thing was to organize the infrastructure.

The shop is a crude work space,

and each project dials it in a little bit more.

Jaxon hung up a chain hoist.

Good thing he doesn't mind heights.

Now the body could be lifted and dropped singlehandedly.

Rumor had it a framing table was coming,

so in the meantime the body was hammered out.

The passenger side is a little squashed.

Now this is the lap of luxury.

No more jackstands and crouching down.

A heavy duty monster!

Definitely worth the wait.

Now where to start?

Up and down the body went.

Measuring and remeasuring,

the table made it easier to square up the rails.

This front crossmember had been waiting a long time!

One of the first versions whittled from 2x3 square tubing.

A model A crossmber will be used out back.

This will have 1936 wishbones,

adding 8" to the spring distances.

I went for a 1" shorter than stock 1932 wheelbase at 105",

a couple inches longer than a stock model A.

The track nose will fill in that length.

This framing table better be straight!

Out came the mockup flathead 

and 1949 overdrive transmission.

Basically the same running gear in Chief.

Now for the exciting part.

I had modified a '48 Ford front crossmember 

for the center x-member in Chief.

An idea was sketched out to mimic production styling,

but not look like basic tubing.

You can imagine how long this took,

but it's almost exactly what I was hoping for.

The tranny mount pad 

has a thicker reinforcement plate,

and open space to bolt straight through.

The rectangular tubing has a tendency to warp when cut,

so bolts and nuts were used to keep it's shape.

The crossmember was trimmed to fit,

and only tacked in to place.

There will be front and rear diagonals added,

and big holes cut out of the open area,

so it may be necessary to remove it later.

Next up are the front motor mounts,

firewall...body mounting...radiator...

Stoked to make some progress!

TP

1929 ford ranchero

Here's an amazing chunk of steel.

My pictures definitely hide most of the details.

Built in New Zealand and shipped out.

I don't know how he maintains the bare metal hand built body.

Bummed I didn't take better pictures.

He had a slip fit technique,

similar to bike frame lugs.

You can see the exhaust and then the radius rods.

He hammered the ranchero bull into the valve covers and decklid.

I watched this being built in the HAMB,

and couldn't believe the quality.

Lucky to see it finished up here in the states.

TP

in sync

For years I've been synchronizing the dual carburetors by feel.

It's a little tricky,

as my calloused hands aren't very sensitive instruments.

A friend asked to dial in his carbs,

So I dug out the old sync tool.

Man were they off!

Now they're equal,

and the engine does seem smoother.

It reminded me if something I forgot to post.

If you look really closely,

there's a signature of a friend,

who happened to be the grandson of Al Sharp,

who designed the intake!

Jason was a little hesitant,

but what the heck this was too coincidental.

Anyway the old hot rod drive much better.

TP