Well since I have been lurking for a couple of months now I figured I better let folks know I am here. Born and raised in South Louisiana, and the Air Force sent me to Texas. Been in Texas since 1994. Go "Home" to Louisiana about once a month. All of mine and my wife's family still live in Louisiana. But the money is here in Texas, so we settled here when the USAF put me out to pasture. I am a drag racer by heart, but love working on everything I can put my hands on. Fell into muscle cars back in the early 90's because a 2 striper couldn't afford an early ford hehehe. Wanted a duce with a hemi for as long as I can remember. Of course the glue fumes from all those models I built as a kid could have some effect on what I remember hehehe. Or is it the paint fumes from the cars I have done. Darnet, now I can't remember! I am a grad from UTI in Houston (1988) and spent 10 years USAF 1990-2000. Work in the HVAC industry here in Houston. Present projects are: -69 383 Dart GTS (http://www.gtsdave.com/ ) the never ending project hehehe. -A 1968 Barracuda Fastback I am building to race in Nostalgia Super Stock FX classes. Chassis built by Texas Thunder Performance in Frisco TX. I am doing the tin work, and am just about finished fabbing up a new trunk floor. I LOVE METAL WORK!!! -71 340 Demon in Black with an orange interior. Total basket case, but bitchin color combo. Lots of metal work on that one. -1930 Fort 5 window. Plan is to chop it, and run a big Ford FE, or early Hemi in it. It is the one I want to work on the most, and the one that drug me here to the HAMB. I love vintage paint and have been surfing the HAMB looking for ideas. The Cuda is getting my next paint job, and I will probably dial it up with a wild 60's inspired color scheme. Lots of flake and lots of candy. The A coupe is pickled for now, as I only have a 2 car garage here at the house to work out of. All of my major work is usually done at the farm back in Louisiana, then drug back here for finishing. I try to help folks when I can, and love to learn from others. I must say the time I have spent surfing here has been quite an education! Man there is some fantastic talent here! Here is a pic of the pickled coupe. -Dave
flh4speed, I was born in Mamou (Cajun French Music Capitol of the world LOL) and grew up in the country near there. When I was 14 we moved to the big city of Ville Platte hehehe. Lived there till I moved to Houston for school at UTI, then to Baton Rouge for work at a Chevy Dealer. Then it was off to Texas, Colorado, South Dakota, and back to Texas while in the USAF. What can I say, Texas has been good to me, but my roots run deep in Louisiana. Looks like there are a ton of members here along the gulf coast! I think I am gonna like it here hehehe. -Dave
Thanks everyone. I am really enjoying the HAMB. I have been on message boards for years. Moparstyle, Moparts, BigBlockDart,Dieseltruckresource, and several others. I can't believe I am just really discovering the HAMB. I love metal work, and all customs, including bikes. Everyday I find something new here. You get pretty sick of the whole muscle car resto thing after a while. I wanted a little more variety and this is surely it. I still visit the other boards, but mostly the race sections, as I am a speed freak heheheh. As far as my service goes, it was my pleasure, and my duty. My grandfather landed at Omaha Beach at Normandy, and my dad, well lets just say he had a very hard time in Vietnam. I could have stayed 20 years in the USAF and never even come close to making a down payment on the service they did. I am just glad I had a chance to carry the load for a little while. So for me no thanks is necessary. Just pray for the guys fighting with their hands tied in the sand box. -Dave
Hey Dave, Where's that Model A exactly? I could "keep an eye on it" for you while you over there in Texas. Phil in La.
Hi Phil, It is about 40 miles outside of Lafayette hehehe. Tucked away at my grandparents house. Very hard to see, but the paper boy has been driving her nuts for a year or two about it hehehehe. I have had it pickled there since I picked it up in July of 2001. I got it in Eunice several years ago. We had gone "Home" for the weekend and were driving back to Houston late on a Sunday night. As we were coming into Eunice, I spotted the headlights as it was parked facing the road. I made a quick u-turn and went back. The wife thought I was nuts hehehe. Sure enough there it was and it was for sale, but it was very late at night. I had my dad go by there the next day, found out the price for me, and that was it. I drove back the very next weekend and bought it. Been too tied up with the restoration of my GTS and the build on the Barracuda to mess with the Coupe. BUT it is next on the list. I hope to move it soon to a better resting spot, but until then it sits quietly waiting it's turn. The day we brought it home I cleaned out as many of the black widows as I could find then loaded up a spray gun with Ospo and hosed it down. Once it was dry I sprayed some primer on it and pickled it. The entire drive train is still there, and when I put it under the shed you could still turn the engine over by hand. It was missing a dizzy cap, a hood, the visor, windshield frame, and the correct radiator. The gen, and starter and water pump were frozen. The radiator is from a 1925 Chevy. I picked up a hood on e-gag a while back and that is what is sitting on it in the pic. Below is a pic from the day we picked it up. The old guy also had a 1902 Rambler that was not for sale. He drove that thing all over the place. -Dave
Hey man. Glad to have you here. We meet once a month at the Darkhorse outside downtown. Always the first Sunday of the month. Here lately we've been getting together at different times. Do a search on Houston and you'll drag some of our meets up. You have got to check out the Lone Star Roundup in Austin if you haven't already. It's a must go to event and it's the first weekend in April.
Sounds like a blast! I have a very good friend that just finished a heavily modified 51 Plymouth. He also happens to run http://www.fugly-racing.com/index.php?ind=gallery&op=foto_show&ida=28 Some pics of the 51. You will also see he is running 61 Savoy as a NSS Drag car. Fugly is one wild ride. I have sure learned a lot from him. His 51 is one of the nicest rides I have seen in a very long time. Tons of mods, but unless you really look at it you might miss them. I will let him know about the Darkhorse. Never been to the Lone Star Roundup, will see if I can get away and check it out. Man it is so cool to see such an active group here in SE Texas. Makes me want to work on the coupe that much more! -Dave
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