History Lost Hot Rod- It's alive!!!

Dean...did this car have this much caster when you built it?

 

I'm not much of a patina guy either, but patina or not, that is incredibly cool!

 

Just got back from Pendine.
600 mile round trip with Helen.
Ran 93mph on the beach (and pretty close to that on the freeway!).
What a blast. I can't wait till next time when I'll have my motor in the RPU instead of a borrowed, smog motor.

 

Yes, the caster is built into the Kurtis axle. Remember, the axle is from a Kurtis Indy car.

 

And thanks for taking us on a ride Steve!

 

Needs a working Tach

 

Nice vid, Steve. I like how having the camera in line with the thing on the radiator shows you how out of shape you are.

Mart.

 

The old Sun tachs use a transmitter box that I've set up for when I put in my Spalding Flamethrower dizzy. It's a bit unusual as that dizzy uses 2-coils so I need to run a 4-cylinder transmitter. I'm currently running a borrowed motor with the original 'ordinary' dizzy, which would require a normal 8-cylinder transmitter, which I don't have. That's why I've temporarily mounted another tach, hidden under the dash, further down the column. You can see it in this still-

 

My pleasure Dean!

 

Thanks Mart, the videos turned out better than I was expecting. I've got the last run as well, which I'll upload tonight- that was even more out of shape!
Good to see you at the weekend and well done mate for pushing that flathead to the limit!

 

That "thing on the radiator" is a Motometer".

 

Yeah, thanks Dean, I wondered if it was, but didn't want to say in case I was wrong.

Mart.

 

Great Stuff Steve , Dean , you must be thrilled , she's a beach racer too now

 

My fourth and final run along Pendine Sands. The beach was pretty churned up but still managed the same 93mph.

 

Thanks for sharing the vid's Steve.

Earl

 

If Bruce, or Steve, didn't screw it up, the motometer always worked pretty accurately.

Thanks for the second ride Steve. One way, or the other, I must do that one more time! Watching that video, I'm 16 again.

 

I am beyond thrilled!! Steve D. it occurs to me that we need to get the original license plates across the pond. You have the rear plate, and I've found the matching front. Maybe we should make him bring the car over here to put them on.

 

Sorry Dean but Bruce parted out the original Moto Meter. He may still have it, I don't know, but it wasn't with the car. That ones a repro one that I was given, which of course doesn't work. I'm on the look out for a good original if anyone's got one. Or maybe you could have a word with Bruce

 

I've actually got the rear plate here in UK. I was saving that for first time at the drags, which it turns out may be sooner than I was expecting. Watch this space!

 

Lucky Steve: Looks like great fun! Thanks for letting us ride along. Nothing beats banging thru the gears in an old rod.

 

Steve, I found the front plate recently in my garage. I need to get it to you.

 

That would be great Dean, thanks.
Steve D. still has everything you gave him to give to me except for the rear plate, which he sent over last year. I have buddies coming over for the Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield later in the year. They plan to collect my stuff from the Limeworks. Or, they'd love to swing by to meet you and say, 'hi' if that's possible?

 

As someone who grew up drooling over that car in various magazines, it is so great to see it still around and doing what it was built to do. God, it looks and sounds great.

I think there is a lesson here for younger rodders..........NEVER sell your first hot rod or custom regardless of how you lose interest or family obligations come up. Dean and a lot of us really miss those cars that we thought we were done with, only to realize years later we screwed up big time. I look back and wonder what the hell I was thinking at the time, but once they are gone they are gone.

Don

 

Very well said Don. We learn, sometimes too late, that decisions made when we were young, were not the right ones. If I would have just let that old hot rod sit in the back of the shop a few more years, it's, and my, future would have been much different.

 

No truer words were ever said Dean, but at least yours was well taken care of and is back where she belongs makin beautiful music! All mine are just memories........................

 

Yes, I am thankful that Steve loves the car and respects it's history. At least it didn't wind up a billet wheeled, easter egg colored, monochrome 80's street rod.

 

A fate worse than death..........

 

The weather has been great here in the UK, so I've now clocked up over 1000-miles in the RPU. Which is why I haven't been on here much over the last few weeks.
So far only two problems-
1. I lost a Dzus fastener off the hood side. Guess I didn't snap it up right and it rattled loose. Thankfully I carried some spares.
2. Some rather unwelcome attention from the Surrey Constabulary. Apparently it's an offence to run Black and Yellow '63 California plates in Surrey! Well, who'd of known?

 

A BMW police car? Surrey must be a prosperous community. A 1000 miles already. That pleases me no end.

 

Classic Steve!

Mart.