I remember hearing my flatty for the first time. Bunch of old timers came over to my surprise to help get it going. A few trips to the parts store, gas siphoned out of a truck, and *poof* it lit. Ran like crap. Forgot to put water in the radiator...but damn it, it ran. I was giddy like a teen at the nudie bar for the first time. Now my first test drive...I'll never hear the end of that tale.
I believe shortly after joining i donated or sold, don't remember? the exhaust manifolds for this project to Grimlock, [Kevin Lee ]
Yep, done by a bunch of hoodlums clear back to the 40-50’s. Absolutely nothing more rewarding. I think it has more to do with the camaraderie of a combined objective than anything else. Just as memorial as having a first child. Don’t tell momma.
Bitchen.. just like when we fired up my Hemi for the first time screaming yeah''' at the top of our lungs. I'll never forget it either. Old friends and Hot Rods Rule!
It's funny...I still remember being in my early 20's and having some cars...but no fancy 32-40 Fords. Hell, not even a Model A. but I remember dreaming and fixing up my cars the best I could. I could stretch 200.00 pretty far back then because that was a lot of extra money. I started climbing the hot rod ladder and have owned some neat cars. I have a decent job and can splurge sometimes on cool parts and new tires and such. But sometimes I think back to those simple times. Before all the modern "hot rod hero" bullshit. Back before social media when it was your buddies working on your cars. I remember getting off work and going to a local grocery store to use the bathroom to change into "street clothes" to meet some buddies and cruise around town. In that store a new magazine was on the stand. "Hot rod Deluxe". It had Jimmy white and Skinny Jeff's Model A's on the cover. I wanted to be just like those guys. They were my hero's. Sometimes I think back those 15-20 years ago and realize that the "good ol days" I was dreaming about....I was living.
Nothing better than when it lights off for the first time. As for this old car/hot rod thing, if you're not having fun and making memories, you're doing it wrong.
Ah yes, the trash can track nose Wasn't there a video? I seem to remember a cold weather run soon after it was on the street..
I've been the (recipient) of that first drive myself, mid 70's, a friend calls and goes "I'll be there in five minutes", he pulls up in front of my house on a f#$&ing cold winter day with his FAR from legal T roadster and yells "get in", I look in hesitantly and no joke nothing but an apple box to sit on, no windshield, no mufflers, the thing's idling about two grand, he yells get in again and I barely get my leg over the side and we're off, my ass landed on that box so hard I had a bruise for a week. One of the most exhillerating days of my life, man those were the days!
That day was epic, every last minute of it. From copper coating the gaskets ( and blacmercs arm), to putting on the millions of "Rocker Cover" nuts. Dinner at I think Strouds, ( was it Strouds?) first I came up $.19 short on my portion of the bill, Lori looks at me like, "Are you shittin me? You're worried about $.19?" and grabs grabs the bill, then the merc would make it over the speed bump in the parking lot so we had to back out into traffic. I grabbed my cane and went into doddering old man mode out into traffic. The traffic stopped, the merc comes flying out into traffic with the pass door open and Lori reaches out and pulls me in, "Get in her crazy old man" we raced all the way back to the scene of The Great Flathead Massacre. All in all just a bunch of hoodlums, doing what they all did best. Playing cars and friendship. Life does not get any better than that.
I love first starts! I especially enjoy them if surrounded by my friends that enjoy them as much as I do.
its funny, I am an opinionated crusty old fool. I may even go as far as to say that after all these years I am a little callous. There are two things in this old world that will almost always make me giggle and bring me to tears at the same time, young people who like things that go fast and first fire. No one dare tell ( well they might ) and I was not watching me but I can just about bet that I was giggling like a little school girl and had a tear streaming down my cheeks at the same time.
The only thing that would kill that mood, was Mom yelling, it's time to eat! No way we're not stopping....
I have many memories of thrashes to finish up cars before some certain "event". My family (hot rods are in my blood) always seemed to wait til right before driving out of state to complete the car. Late nights with the garage door open, revving, welding, grinding, probably pissing the neighbors off the whole time. I can vividly remember standing over the cowl of my sedan when we started it up the first time over a decade ago. I wasn't really surprised, but I was still glad it caught! The flathead purred!
Good stuff! I always dug Kevin's modified when he had the spun caps installed. Whatever happened to that car?
Well the toaster (the flathead that started this thread) I think is in his F1. I don't know about the rest of the car.
Last I heard, it was in Kentucky or somewhere like that. I remember that day well. It's always exciting to hear a car start for the first time, especially when it's a friend's. that throttle linkage was a work of scavenged art in it's truest sense. r
L O V E that car. What an inspiration. I think the A pillars and sub-dash from that body are on my coupe. Last I heard the car was in Kentucky maybe?
I remember firing my flathead up the first time. Cut down frame, early Ford running gear and engine & trans. Motor had been rusted up, took off heads and sanded cylinders to finally get it to turn over. Dad finally got me a shortened driveshaft from a buddy at work with a machine shop. Had little can for gas on Carb. Enough wiring to get spark. Dad was pulling me in his old truck. Front half of '20 Dodge touring car. (guess you would call it a modified now) It was mine roadster!! Had hickory nuts falling out the exhaust headers (chipmunks) . Fired once and shot flames out the carb. No windshield, so could feel the heat on my face. Finally fired and it ran!!! This was probably around '68 or '69.