The ’38 Ford Build Thread… Again…

Twenty two years ago, I was an 18 year old kid fresh off a stint from racing open-wheeled cars in Europe. It might sound romantic to read that, but it was anything but romantic. It was actually horrifying. I tried to grow up t0o fast and got myself into a lot of trouble as a result.

Fresh back in the states, I was sent off to the University of Oklahoma as a second chance of sorts. There, I studied business administration and visual communications. But my parents knew that I wasn’t good with free time and it wasn’t long before my dad had the idea of getting me involved with a project of sorts.

Just before leaving Europe, I was sitting at a corner cafe in Paris when a black and fenderless coupe pulled up and parked. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was a ’34 3w coupe. I did know, however, that I was absolutely taken by the simple and veracious tone of the car. I told my dad about the experience and he was quick to stoke the fire. He bought me a stack of Hot Rod Magazines from the 1950’s as well as a few Don Montgomery books.

The day I got those books was the day that I was introduced to “traditional” hot rodding. But it was only an introduction… I really didn’t have any idea what “traditional” hot rodding was. I didn’t know anything about the mechanicals. I didn’t know shit about the history. I just had a bunch of photos of cars that I liked and idea to build one.

One thing lead to another and it wasn’t long before I had a ’38 Ford Deluxe coupe sitting in a little shed next to my college rental home. Not knowing where to start, I just… well, started. I tried my best to figure out shit on my own. I had some successes, but I had way more failures. It was tough both from a knowledge and a skill set standpoint. I had neither.

But, I pressed on as best I could.

***

At the time, the internet was really more of a novelty for computer nerds and university students. I took an HTML 101 class and for my final project, I built The Jalopy Journal. It was hosted on Geocities and featured no images, because at the time images weren’t yet supported by any browsers. A few months later, that changed and I was able to upload photos of my project. From there, it just sort of took off – naturally and all on its own.

For the first time, I had help. I would post about a problem I was having on The Jalopy Journal and in what seemed like no time at all, I would get an email from someone in California with a solution. I was still a hack, but at least I had some knowledge.

Around a year after starting The Jalopy Journal, I drove my ’38 coupe for the first time. I remember flying down Tecumseh Road in Norman, OK with a gigantic grin on my face. It was a real feeling of accomplishment. And I loved my car… man, did I love my car.

It wasn’t at all a “traditional” hot rod. It featured a mustang II front end, power disc brakes, a monster small block Chevrolet, and… I mean, I still didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground. Aesthetically, it sort of looked like those cars in my Don Montgomery books, but I had essentially built a Street Rod. At the time, I didn’t care or know any different.

As the years went by, The Jalopy Journal grew and the H.A.M.B. was born. What was once just a passion of mine turned into a life long obsession. I devoured anything and everything I could about this history of hot rodding. I also made pals with like minds – both online and off. And the more I learned and the more I lived, the more I became aware of what really pushed my buttons. My taste for the traditional just couldn’t be quenched.

All during this time, I continued to drive my ’38 coupe like a mad man hell bent on destroying the earth underneath it. I drove it to California twice. I took it down the drag strip countless times. I street raced it. I did random and frequent burnouts without any regard for self or car. I fucking hot rodded man.

I also took my wife on our first date in the car. Later, I asked her to marry me in it. And a few years after that, I took my daughter for her first real ride in it.

The ’38 was not only the catalyst that birthed The Jalopy Journal, but it was also a member of my family in a way that an inanimate object simply can’t be. To this day, I love that car like no other I have ever owned or ever will.

***

Even so, as my tastes grew to favor more traditional cars, the ’38 began to take a backseat in my mind. And then, about five or six years ago I decided it was time to take the ’38 in that direction as well. I sent it to my brother in California and he began dismantling all of the work I had done so many years ago. The mustang II was cut out and in its place went a Ford crossmember and the appropriate dropped axle. The small block was removed in favor of a blown and radically prepped Y-Block Ford. The disc brakes were replaced with early Ford juice brakes. And then… well, progress stopped in order to accommodate another dream – Keith moving to Texas.

***

A couple of weeks ago, I went out in to the shop and mentioned to Keith that I would like to place the ’38 in his production schedule. “It’s already in the schedule,” he said. “I am pulling it in the shop next week… Get me some parts.”

So uh… yeah, stay tuned.