••• Took my coupe to Austin Speed Shop •••

Very cool!

 

that is too cool, now where is the pics? Glad to hear that the trip home went well.

Jeff

 

God damnit.... I really wish I could have gone.

That cannon is INSANE.

 

Man... I want to see what's gotten done. What're you going to do back in the 1 car garage (with snow on the T.V.) now?

 

Ha Ha Kevin I didn't sign it, so you can't prove i did it .What can I say the coupe just drips
mean,fast and cool man .Tuck thanks for the shirt and it was great seeing you guys.
Endsville Franco ...................

 

Looks good from the ASS but what about a side profile?

 

I'm kinda decompressing from the trip...


It started out like some crazy Idea you wouldve had back when you were 16 and all you could do was dream... but now its a lil different...

You know... fix up an old car... drive it out to California... Fire a Cannon.

I dunno I really used to dream like that. I wanted to take my 49 Ford out to Cali and listen to Dyer Maker as I rolled along the coast... but all I could afford to do was drive to the North Shore and pretend... Dammit!

Well... alot has changed and Texas is the new California... haha. If you're gonna haul a hot rod to Texas it would seem Rude not to do it with a Ford Ranchero... I mean... I think they were designed by a Texan... Longhorn emblem an' all...

I'll try and tell the story pre-trip with pics from my perspective. I took a lot of cell pics and some with a real camera... they all look pretty good.




I decided to put lower quarters and rockers on the Ranchero. The rockers were soft and the wheel lips were gettin worse. It seemed like a great idea untill I was A.S.S. deep in this plan to haul the K-Lee Coupe down to Austin.



This was one of the rad summer mornings in Minnesota with a quick sweep of the floor... its ready for more action-






It started simple- coulda kept it below the trim...









I'm not sure why I went up over the quarter trim but next thing you know I had the box all ripped apart and the car naked from the doors back. I was gonna keep it simple.... but oh why not do the box? haha...



Then...
why not fix the tail-gate
the broken hinges...
the broken bolts...
change the radiator...
the third member...
new shocks...
alignment...
the...
and the...
its a long list.

So it was a thrash before the thrash.
I really just wanted it out of the shop- and the plan was to get it in paint before I left... but I'm pretty humbled by #1) "time" and #2) "materials"
















I shoulda just left it alone... haha... If it werent for Oscar my Corgi I may have gone a lil crazy in the shop.











I ordered the original color... Colonial white...
but I guess I went big with this whole idea of going to Tex-a-cali...
Even bought some big paint sticks...












OK...
so before all of you bust my balls for sanding my car with my heavy metal light saber... remember this... Size matters. These quarters are BIG... LONG... and I like to make stuff real straight... and these kanadian sanding sticks don't "break" the bank... besides I havent broke one yet.









4' feet long...






Nice 'n straight... too bad im painting it white.







The box was a @#$%... no comment... now I cant put stuff in it whithout worrying about scratching it... kinda dumb but dammit it looks RAD.











Gettin aligned...
tires balanced...
closer to road-trip worthy...
mental note... remember to bring extra belts...












Pretty much... in this photo... shes READY TO ROLL...

:-D
I was bummed I didnt get color on the quarters but HIGH that she was gonna make the trip...

Hitch Installed...

At this point I'm fired up to spend some real TIME with old Friends...

Wheres Kevin?

OK more pics coming...

 

OK... so I started out from Pine City Minnesota "For Real" and headed south down 35-



Windmills in southern Mn...





This is pretty much where I wana keep IOWA... in my rear view mirror...

Trip was going rad... I was about 120 Miles away from Kansas City where Kev and Ben D and I were gonna have Lunch.

Ben helped Kev get the right bearings for the craigslist single axle race car trailer I found... it needed a little work...

Needless to say... I didn't make it for lunch.



Blown Fan belt.
I didn't call Kev right away... I was like I can fix this.
well... my Tuck Tape trick didn't work...
and I hadn't thought of using a shoelace at this point...
So I called KEV...
and he drove his shooter and saved me...

I was on the border of Iowa and Kansas = middle of nowhere.


So all those old man comments about taking extra this and extra that with you... is called WISDOM. I got some of that wisdom for my next road trip... although I came loaded for bear.



Toools galore... and Littlebooks... I was ok.



I waited for Kev and not one person stopped the whole 3 hours I was hangin in Iowa. Crazy. Not that I needed anyone... but just the idea of it freaked me out. I always try and help people. I used to love doing it when I was younger.

Meanwhile I started seeing things... lack of sleep... no sleep...



some Swedish car club guy musta stuck this on the roof at some point... I noticed it while I was trying to get some sleep... hmmm...




Iowa can do this...

Finally...
KEV came to save the day with a new belt.

We just wanted to be on our way to Austin... and this was kinda the first reality check of what we were really setting out to do. I realized I was driving from the top of the USA to the bottom in a 50 year old car... hauling a 70 year old car on a 25 year old home made trailer. Fuckin RAD.




"On the Road again"... inside joke... haha.



Thank GOD...
KANSAS CITY...
I LOVE YOU.

(ignore the gen light... because whats important is that the hood works)

Finally...
I back into Kev's drive.

Time to LOAD UP.







We had to fix the lights on the trialer... wire the ranch for trailer lights... weld up the fenders... ad SPUN disks with early ford centers... oh yeah...



This was a pic just down the street from Kevs...
We didnt really know how well the ranch would haul so this was the first rip around the block. I didn't think any of these pics turned out but I guess one did... so here it is.

Next morning... we RIDE.

 

We started out EARLY...

Drove till we were well clear of KC...
and decided to stop and give everything the once over.

We noticed the wheel covers were comin loose and god forbid we lose a wheel cover. UNCOOL. haha...

Every time we would stop I would just stare at the setup... its right out of the Littlebooks FOR REAL.



When we were loadin up...
I asked if Kev had a compressor... 12v. You never know...
well he did... one hes had since he was 15. Its VINTAGE haha...

We ended up using it right away...
this couple woke up at that rest stop to a flat tire on the trailer- they were able to limp it to a service station with the help of the k-lee kompressor.






Kev found this somewhere... and screwed it to the trailer wood... rad.
Think... there was ASS before ASS existed as ASS.



Weatherman JAY aka NOSURF got on the horn to warn us of FLASH RUST...
A storm was eminent.
Kev Double-ya-D'd the steel to keep it safe...
and we bagged up our stuff...




It was smooth sailin...
and then we descended into HELL...
OKLAHOMA.

Hot...
110 degree blast furnace hot.
wow...

we stopped and got some pics at this old Restaurant.







As we got further into OKLAHOMA...
the first hundred or so miles are nice and smooth...
but its like a trap...

First... The Roads got bad... shook us up like bad air plane turbulence.
Bias Plys, Low Car, Trailer...

It started to die on the hills...
We were like... its Fuel.
Bad PUMP?
Bad FILTER?
Vapor LOC?
limped it to this town that had a lot of COPS...
they kept a close eye on us... no lie.
Kev and I joked about em throwing down a brick of weed and sayin... LOOK WHAT WE FOUND IN YER BAG... gonna have to confiscate this Rat Rod... and my son could use that Ranchero. CLINK.

New Fuel FILTER... and we were "On the road again"... haha.


Just when you feel like you can take on anything...
Oklahoma reminds you who's lil bitch you are... sorry Root...



So... we Badonka Donked in rush hour and it busted my exhaust off... crazy.
we figured out we had a leak in the air shock line which was caused by changing the fuel filter in the shade of a car wash we bottomed out in. Oh really...
so we just needed to shorten the lines up- and air em up a lil so they had resistance.

Kevin's new prototype wheel cover pictured above. Super-secret Spun product unveiled.

We decided to stop outside of NORMAN OK... where Ryan went to college and started the Hamb.

Thats where the .1% of Oklahoma redeemed itself.

We ended up not being able to find air..
broken hoses...
20psi max...
the tire was scraping bad on the bad roads bottoming out.
we had to do something for fear of a blowout.

SO...
we removed the rear tire,
hammered the inner wheel house for clearance.
met some really cool people all at the same gas station...
even had a hooker bend over in the ranch and say... "dont mind me" as she was showing off for her guy friend she gave a number too that was old enough to be her dad... CRAZY.

Had some bad ass trailer house movers help us with some rad bottle jack to help in the secure lifting of the ranch. I had a handy-man jack...

We weren't taking many pics at this point.
it was hot
we were stressed out
it seemed a lil crazy...

Then we met this guy who had a ranch about a mile away that offered to hook us up with air. After helping us with air he also offered a free baby goat. SERIOUSLY...

We almost took one...
we would've named it "lil Jonny" after jonny jean jacket...
the plan would be to give it to Bob Bleed to keep his Grass tight in Texas.


Ok... Oklahoma RULES...

He offered to let us Ride Horses too if we wanted...

The Ranch on the Ranch...






SO...

ON the ROAD AGAIN...

and we ain't in Texas yet... damn...

 

Gettin into Texas was a cruel joke...
cuzz we're like WE ARE HERE!
but it was another SIX HOURS to Austin.................

We both fell asleep at the Pumps at the Willy Nelson Gas Station... Lights out for an HOUR. It was funny... I woke up... looked around... and looked at my watch... and was like SHIT. hahahaha....

We pulled off to the side and crashed for 3 hours- I pulled out the sleepin bag and slept in the grass... kev crashed in the front seat.

This pic was before willy nelson...
the Roads in Texas are like Fresh Lake ICE in Minnesota... smooooth...
Pedal down until we were 180 miles out...
then it was lights out... the reason you can only see kev's feet in the pic below. We were tired...

Thank god for Waffle House.

Thank god for the waiting camper at bleeds... Home Sweet HOME.




WE MADE IT...
WE GOT IT MADE[tm]

 

So...
We got to the shop... and didnt waste any time messin around.

Kev and I busted A.S.S.

OK so LOTS MORE PICS COMIN....

TO BE CONTINUED.

 

Sounds like it was a great trip and experience.......The Rancho looks great Tuck !........Looks even more killer w/ the Coupe in tow............Congrats to the both of you...that was some work to survive that trip and make some progress on the Coupe..Killer Coupe Kev.....Great pics Tuck !.Littleman

 

sounds like a blast,cant wait to see more pics!!

 

Great it worked out for you. Sometimes car guys are really GREAT, when they help each other out!

 

looked like a killer time, the road, friends, and more friends!

JEFF

 

Sounds like a dream

 

I guess this is the foreplay part........Good story and post the pic's

 

Sweet road trip and thanks for sharing , The cannon shot is priceless

 

You guys could have stopped in Dallas and said Howdy, ya know.

Looks like it was a killer trip!

 

Great start to the story, that's cool that the Rancho made the haul there and back! Mental note, go buy belts!!!

 

Uh
I would have taken the week off.
Well I'm off to Austin tomorrow. You didn't eat all the damned food did ya?

Rightious bro. I'll see you Sunday, I think.

 

Great story, Tuck! Denise better watch out- she's got some competition in the Travelouge category.

Ted H

 

"some Swedish car club guy musta stuck this on the roof at some point"

I wounder who did that!!! ha ha

 

awesome

 

thanks for the pix Tuck - I am sure you will tell even more crazy stories when I seeya - now post more pix - we are all breathlessly waitin

 

Man does that look like fun...Tuck the Ranch is looking good.

 

Looks like a lot of fun even on the side of the road and sleeping in gas stations. Thanks for sharing the story and pics. Looking forward to more pics of the rad coupe.

 

congrats kevin you guys all rule wish i was there to help! sounds like fun! nothing better than good ole friends & hot rods = good times , its more fun " than on a boat MF "
oh ya tuck is it still snowing in kanada ? 333 !
man i cant wait till next years round up
good luck with the coupe bro

 

no shit,,,,

i MIGHT forgive you

glad you made it down and back safely,,,
oklahoma is the beast tho,,, the only times i ever bbroke down making that trip was in OK


xoxoxo
miss shootch