History The Doane Spencer Roadster from '52-'69...More details?

I spoke with Neal East today about the Spencer car dash. I showed him pics of the dash that FlatheadRoadster has and Neal said that the Spencer car had no dash in it when he got it so he got another dash & put a 5 gauge SW cluster in it.

But, he then said that Lynn Wineland found the original dashboard and gave it to Neal years later and the reason why Doane took it out in the first place was that it was chrome or copper plated after it was engine turned and that it looked terrible.

Neal said that he sold the original Doane Spencer dashboard at the LARS swap meet in the early 70's he thinks. Lynn Wineland was NOT happy about that but you have to remember also that he sold it before originality was a big deal and also because it was in terrible shape.

So, the dash FlatheadRoadster has is probably the original dash out of the car.
Do you know if that dash was purchased at the LARS swap meet originally?

As for what is in it now, I'm not sure but when Neal sold the car to Bruce Meyer, Doane was still alive and oversaw the restoration so he might have had some input on how the dash was recreated. I can e-mail Bruce Meyer and ask him about it.

 

Groovybaby6:
Thanks man for helping me out with more details in this quest! very good!!
I told you it was the read stuff

This is why I enjoy this hobby so much, we all keep digging depper for lost details of parts and cars and help eachother out.

Today I talked with the guy I bought the dash from on the phone. I asked him about if he knew if it was bought at the LARS swap, he didnt know. that was before his time owning it.

I prefer to contact Bruce Meyer myself. I have sent him an email and waiting for an answer. but thanks anyway about that!

Maybe anyone out here has seen this dash before? Laying arround in someones garage in the past.
If Neil East sold the dash at the LARS swap, who bought it?? if anyone knows anything. Let us all know!

 

FlatheadRoadster ,I want to buy that thing

 

Are all those gauges the same diameter except the speedo & tach?

Neal said that the dash he sold out of the car had small & large diameter holes and it didn't look right. The dash looks like it has 2 5/8 size gauges and the speedo & tach are 3"?
I'm not sure his memory is correct on that one because they look like the same size holes as in the picture in the Birth of Hot Rodding.

 

six 2 3/8" size gauges , and two "Deuce" size gauges ( Speedo & Tach ) . Forties Ford start button.
I bought that dash back in September 2006 ( ebay ) The seller said :
" it came from my late brother's estate" , and that he assumed it was from " his old Deuce or maybe a spare he bought way back when " .. " There were several old stickers on the dash and the remmnar is still there " ( glue )

Sure would be cool if we can find out if it IS or AIN't

Klaz

 

This is some great information on the coolest deuce roadster ever built. This is why I belong to the HAMB. Outstanding information. Keep it going guys.

 

I've been thinking about writing a book about the Doane Spencer roadster. I asked Neal East about that idea, he said the time has passed because Doane has passed away but I think he's wrong, there's a lot of interest in the car's history.

If I could get Motorbooks insterested in the idea and if I could pay Neal to write the forward, I could do it. I would need as many pictures of it as I can get.

I know Neal has some that nobody has ever seen of the car in the 70's but people really want to see pics of it in the 30's & 40's and THAT would be tough to do.

 

Most Excellent idea I guess it's Now , or never .

klaz

 

I sold Klaz a Deuce dash that had gauge openings all the way across. That dash came out of a Bonneville car that burned up. It had nothing to do with the DS roadster.
My memory is so bad. I do not recall the layout exactly or anything else.

 

Let us know what Mr Meyer's response is. Very interesting.

 

That looks like the one I sold you. Is that your car Klaz?

 

Hi I sold that car a year ago . Kept the "good parts " . Later this year I sold the dash ( & Sw gauges I collected ) to Flatheadroadster . Still have the peaked Moon hubcaps from Joe Nittis' roadster

 

Are you going to sell those hubcaps?

 

39 truck: It is not for sale.

Groovybaby6: writing a book about the car would be exellent! we have to find more of these old photos of the car from the late 30´s early 40´s.

32sedan: I have not heard anything from him yep , but I hope to soon.


Klaz: please email over those pics of the dash from when you worked on your car! and if you are going sell your nitti caps, you know where to call. They where fantastic shape when I looked at them a month ago! I am in love with them.


VonWegener: glad you answered the thread. If that dash came from a car that burnt.
Who owned that car?
When did it burn?
Where?
When did you get it?
Where did you get it?
Give me the info you got.

 

I'll ask Neal East what pictures he's got of the car. Doane's daughter might have some pics
Neal knows her and I think she's on the Hamb, hopefully she'll see this post and say,
"Yes Ed I have tons of pics of my dad's car..."

I want the Nitti caps! I want to put them on my '32!

 

I talked to Neal East this morning about writing a book about the DS roadster, he said he could write the forward for it.

If anyone can put me in touch with Doane's daughter, PM me. please.

 

If Flatheadroadster's dash is the real DS dash then which one does Dave Crouse from Custom Auto have ? I've heard that he has the original dash from the DS car with gauges across the whole dash also ?

 

I just came across something cool today. I can't tell who has it because it's on loan, but maybe we can scan and copy some of the pictures in it. It's a private photo album of the Spencer car apart in the early nineties, at Neal East's house. Probably about fifty or sixty pictures. The temporary care taker of the book handed it to me asked if I recognized any of the pictures... Hell yes!!! it has to be not too long before Bruce bought the car and had Chapouris restore it. Trust me, I'll see what I can do...

 

Neal said he had a guy named "Birdman" do the body work on it and I think it was in primer when Bruce bought it. I think. Neal said that Birdman took the ridge out of the cowl so that the Duvall windshield would fit better.

So, those pictures sound like they were taken when the body was being freshened.

Then, when Bruce took the car to SoCal, Birdman was working there so he already knew what was done to the body. Neal moved to Denver in '91 so it must have been about that time?

Hell yeah, see what pics you can get scanned!

 

Oh yes, keep it coming. Details, details, details...

 

If Flatheadroadster's dash is the real DS dash then which one does Dave Crouse from Custom Auto have ? I've heard that he has the original dash from the DS car with gauges across the whole dash also ?


Hmmm, interesting. Neal is good friends with Dave, he never mentioned that when I brought the subject up and showed him pics of the dash.

 

I worked on the car in 88 or 89 when I was working for Darrell Zipp. He knew Neal well, and I remember when Neal and Paul Winson brought it over. I worked some on fitting the windshield to the cowl, and also made a set of Stainless Brake lines for it. I have never been so nervous about working on a car in my life. I think it took me three days to make those lines. I may have some pics of it, I`ll have to look. Not sure how to post them on here though...

 

You'd need to scan them and then make them into Jpg files and then compress them to post them here. If you click on the Go Advanced button, then it has an attachment icon and then another page opens up and you can browse for he name of the pics and attach and then upload.

If you can e-mail me the Jpg pics I can post them for ya.

Where was Darrell's shop in 88 or 89??

 

Yes, I would say that the pictures are from '91 or so. The car is in primer, and the goofy motorcycle fuel filler that Neal had put in was on the tulip panel behind the driver. That little mod was covered in Rod&Custom about '90 or so, and I beleive done by Birdman. The only way I had to date the book was by a page or two of other So-Cal cars I could identify from my bizzare memory bank (I have a weird sixth sense that allows my to remeber feature cars and details going back as far as sixty years or so...). Like I said, I'm not even the temporary keeper of the tome, but I'll see what I can do.

 

Need Louvers:

How did it go? did you get any copys of the photo album??

 

I recently came across a tech article in one of my little books that illustrates Doane making a set of tube headers for the y-block in prep for the mexican road race. It doesn't give his name, but it's clearly him and you can see the car in the background. I'll scan it and post when I get back from Detroit.

 

Thunderbirdesq: please do!! sounds like a nice article.

 

Unfortunately, the answer was no. I believe the scrap book has gone back to the owner at this point. If not, I'll ask again.

 

The article was actually written by Doane, for some reason I didn't remember seeing his name there but here it is... scanner is down so pics will have to do. It's in sept '59 R&C.