Last fall our engine builder came up to me and asked if I would look at a charging problem on his Dad's old ford. The catch was that his Dad didn't trust taking it to any shop so I would need to go there to work on it. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the car (pictured below I hope) and even more so when I learned that he had bought the car new and customized it himself (except for punching the louvers). He was surprised to learn that a "young guy"(I'm 52) was interested in hearing his stories about the old days. We get along great. His electrical system was toast. brittle, crumbling and badly hacked there wasn't a fuse or even a fuse block in the car. When I mentioned that it was a fire hazard he quickly agreed that a replacement harness was necessary. (he's VERY safety conscious. he installed seat belts when he customized it in '59) I've since spent many Sunday's when it's nice and I'm free tinkering on his car's and listening to his stories. I'll paraphrase a few here. The first Hot Rod John ever saw was a '32 roadster owned by Shiro Okimoto (sp?) Shiro had brought the roadster with him when he and his brother George moved to Detroit from the "west coast" They built motors for the "oval track guys" . John got to know them because George's wife Alice car pooled to work with Mr. Gilbert who also gave the boy's a ride to school. When John graduated and got his first car - a '46 plymouth that was already nosed and decked with pontiac tail lights. He headed over to see George Okimoto for a dual carb set up. George told him that that would be to much unless he did internal work on the engine and talked him into a set of Fenton headers for it instead. John still loves the sound of split headers on a straight six. He originally joined the Clutch Buster's until his friend Harry McCullough talked him into joining the Road Knight's where he is still a member. In Nov. '56 John bought his first new car. He chose a Ford because he feel's that Chevy dropped the ball when styling the '57's and he chose a convertible because he say's the windshield is 2" shorter than a sedan giving it a chopped look from the factory. He took the car to see the National's in Kansas in '57 with his friend Bill Goen(sp?) and again to Oklahoma in '58 with Bob Blitner. In '59 it was time for a facelift. I won't spoil the fun and will let you all figure out all the mod's yourselves, except the one you can't see which is an extra set of brake and turn signal's that glow out from behind the bumper's at night. The car was eventually parked while John had a long battle with Alcoholism. He was lucky and managed to hold on to both his family and his car. He heavily credits AA for saving his life. In 2006 John pulled the car out of storage and had a fresh coat of black paint applied and took it to Detroit Autorama in 2008. The electrical problem's kept it sidelined till last fall and He has taken it to our local cruise in at Olympic Broil on the occasional Tuesday night since. I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know John and his car. I've been lucky to have gotten to have a hand in building a lot of cool cars but now I can say I've worked on and driven the Real deal! Oh I should ask about some problems I haven't solved for him yet. In the interior pic you can see that the column doesn't match up the wheel. The upper bearing is not in it's race and the horn switch? is down inside the shaft. I'm guessing that because the shaft is part of the steering box I just need to slide the outer column up to meet the wheel but I'm not sure how to fix the horn. Any Idea's? Thanks, Les
Oh I did ask John's permission to post this and will be showing him this thread though he doesn't mess with computer's and think's it's silly that I would want to post up his old car
Ha !..... I know John and Harry very well,... Once I rode back from Kalamazoo with John in a Pick Up truck, His loud "Fog Horn" voice still rings in my ears,.... He's a great guy and he truly loves Hot Rods & Customs... So glad to see you post this thread,.... How many other guys can still clam to have the same car they have had sense the 1950's ?.... Way to go John !, Enjoyed seeing you at Bill's place last Tuesday. And I'm glad you liked the picture of the 32, 3W. (Your fellow "Road Knight")
I never have any problem hearing his stories even when I'm stuffed up under the dash and he's tinkering around the garage and I'm half deaf. I'll show him your post when I see him later this week.
Great Story, You are very lucky to get to know him and work on his Car. I Congratulate him on keeping his Car all these years..... I Congratulate him on staying Sober, But it is so cool that he was able to keep the Family Together through it all. I hope that he is able to really enjoy his Car now at this point in his life.
The Jalopy Journal
