Projects The bucket of ugly! A de-uglifying thread...

McDowell (SoCal) is one mile north of Van Buren.


jerry

 

One of my old favorites. Don't think it's there anymore.

 

Wise words, otherwise just another fool and his money, Dana, that mill looks great!

 

I'm no Guru, but I have gone through so much of the billet crap you referenced and I always come back to what came from the factory. Plain, black wire separators. Plain, neat and tidy.

 

37hotrod, thanks for the picture of the Kon Tiki Hotel. You're right, long gone now, but a great trip down memory lane for this Phoenix native.

Very cool, brought me huge smiles.


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Great info Dana, thanks. Period plug wire separation is one of those little details that are so hard to discern in old photos. Yeah, I'm a geek.

 

I was doing some maintenance on my T Bucket Saturday and a guy, who stores his car next to my storage unit, came over. He welcomed the chance to look at her up close, since he says I'm always driving so damn fast. Long story short, he gave me the compliment that always tells me I'm doing this stuff right.

"Man, it sure is neat and simple." I ALWAYS love getting that remark because that's what I had in mind, when I started her. Just keep 'em simple, guys.

It's going to be 68 degrees tomorrow morning and I'm going to make some early morning noise on HWY 288.

 

I'm jealous of your weather, Fred! I was gonna drop my oil pan today and see if I could see any reason for my mysterious fluctuating oil pressure. Robin and I stopped by the shop on the
way home from lunch, and it was 110 degrees there! I decided to go to a local cruise in the Plymouth instead.
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Here's a pic I took on my way through Downtown Houston. This building is on my route from work and I watched the artist paint this, when all he was doing was sketching it out. I wish I would have had the foresight to document the process from start to finish. It took him about a month to complete. He used a crap load of spray paint.



Blownfuel, our weather is crazy here. Usually this time of year, we're still getting 80's in the morning, climbing into the mid 90's. This morning was an out of season cold front. So, I took advantage of the cloudy conditions and a slight bit of moisture in the air. Carbs love cool, moist air.

 

Our weather's not usually this crazy either, Fred. We have El Nino conditions this year (not sure exactly what that means, other than the oceans warmer than usual), so it's pretty miserable here. I might be headed your general direction (New Braunfels) here in a couple of weeks, still Hoping to score a good deal on a flight, cause I don't really have time to drive (and I'm not sure I trust any of my cars on that long of a trip right now, which kinda sucks!).
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Haven't checked in on this thread for a few weeks, great read catching up.

On the topic of headwear, here is a link with many different styles to choose from, I would wear several of them.

http://www.uswings.com/snoopycaps.asp#RDBRNSC

 

Screw you all and your nice weather! It was 45 this morning was supposed to go to a show. Last time I drove when it was that cool, the crappy gas froze a float open and made for all sort of fun.

 

Did you get Ray's pan welded?



jerry

 

Keep, I grew up in Watertown, NY. If you Google map it, it's not far from Canada. I MISS 45 degrees in the fall and 6' of snow in the winter. I've lived in Houston off and on, for over 35 years and I'm STILL not used to 100 degrees and 95% humidity. The natives here, break out leather coats and furs, when it gets down to 60 degrees! It's like they wait for it.

I've driven my T Bucket in slightly above freezing conditions. Clears me head.

 

haha oh I know! I will drive it around the city in the cooler weather, but blasts down the highway are out once it drops below 50. With our crap gas and the open hood, that fuel line right up front gets cold pretty quick.

On the other side, I sure miss those 100 degree days, I need to move my ass back down south!!

 

Yes I did!!! Damn, what a freakin' week it's been for stuff just not goin' right!!!

To get everybody else up to speed, a couple of weeks ago a good customer/buddy of mine asked if I would replace the oil pump in his big block powered '65 Chevy truck, knowing that I usually just don't do normal mechanical type stuff, as his normal mechanic guy wasn't going top be available for a few weeks. I said sure... Ended up having to raise the engine and trans up about 5" to get the pan out, all laying on my back in the mud of his back yard. Got it all together, and a day later Roy calls me babbling at 200mpm (miles per minute) that there is a huge puddle of oil under the truck! Turns out that the pan had two MINUTE little holes hidden in the crud, that I must have uncovered when I cleaned stuff. (this one is a driver at best, so for once I didn't do too much scrape, clean, blast, paint detail stuff the would have reveled this flaw... Lesson learned!) They looked like someone might have set the engine down on a palette with some of the construction staples poking through.

So of course, I'll fix it. Roy's regular mechanic said that my plan to simply weld up these pin pricks was impossible, then convinced Roy of the same. Yay! I said there is no way in hell that I was spending a day or two on my back again for something that I could spot with three triggers of the welder, and I rolled it back in the yard and drained the oil last Saturday, so that it would have a couple days to evacuate by Monday when I'd have time to come back. Well, Sunday and Monday were far more conducive to ark building here in Phoenix, It still wasn't dry Wednesday, so long story short, it was today before I got back to finish this deal.

I'll skip the making everything squeaky clean part that would make this a success, and get right to the Chip-being-an-idiot part... I left the drain plug out for some venting, but probably should have taken the oil fill cap off, or even better the valve covers, 'cause after I made one pass of tacks and ground stuff down, I decided to put down one more batch to make double sure - - - - and THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED!!!! The last spot ignited the little bit of gasoline fumes and oil vapor in the engine, and it went BALOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!

Now, damage was limited to launching the oil fill cap into near orbit, and pushing out the passenger valve cover gasket. (a fact I did not discover until AFTER I poured five quarts of Valvoline Racing oil back in and partially on the ground, but I digress...) But the point I do want to make here is that I am personally no longer constipated in any way shape or form and probably won't be again for months! Reasonably sure that kidney stones won't be a problem this year, either!

Lesson learned? Well, don't do that! At least, do something to vent the crankcase when ya do!

 

Chip, that reads like a script from a "3 Stooges" short.

 

For somebody that most consider reasonably intelligent and "highly functional", I still can amaze myself at my stupidity every now and then.

 

I figured how to avoid all that, I just tell them I'm an idiot right from the get-go. Saves a lot of splainin later on...

 

That is fricken outstanding! I cannot stop laughing.

Glad you are okay!! That would have scared the shit out of any of us I think.

 

Thanks for that Chip.........now I have to go drain the coffee outta my keyboard and clean down the screeen

 

Yup K1w1rodder, just look at your signature line.... I'm garglin' sometimes!

 

Nope, the Kon Tiki was f'n glorious, though! We lost it sometime in 2004 or so for a used rent a car lot, which after going broke with three or four different companies now sits empty and vandalized. Aint progress great?

The coolest thing about the Kon Tiki was that every night, along with that sign in many colors of neon lit up, it had tiki torches that were gas plumbed that ran up and down the eaves of the building and the sign. So you would pass, and it was neon and fire!!! Too cool!

 

yep I spose it can easily happen with a closed up motor same as a 44 gallon drum a work collegue (RIP) tried to cut the lid off with a gas torch without checking.... blew him halfway accross the workshop and put him in hospital. Was never the same after that, passed away last year, probably the accident was a contributing factor. Ya gotta have that angel sittin on ya shoulder some days

 

THE funniest thing I've read all year! Thank you for the gut buster!


jerry

 

I actually saw that place in a documentary I watched about sixties tiki culture. Very cool building.

 

I used to drive past the Kon-Tiki quite a bit, since my Dad worked at 23rd and Washington. Chip, you might know where he worked, since you were in the bug scene. He was the general manager of Arizona Parts International (API), and then they bought out Mini Sports, and he took over running those stores as well.

 

Hey, Chip;
I do love reading about your various "adventures"... , & Judys' too... .
Glad I wasn't drinking something when I read your latest escapade. I have learned that much. Various liquids don't seem to sit well w/the keyboard, as it seems to prefer being dry. Hmmm...

TFF: you are most welcome to every bit of snow & cold from here in MN. Every single last miserable lousy flake of snow. . The only time I like seeing them, is on Christmas eve, & New Years' Eve. & only just enough to cover the ground - & it could seem; man's misery. But alas; since they don't quickly disappear by daylight, they truly only add more misery, as they stack up, & up, & up, ad nauseum... No, seriously, I hate the stuff...
100* & 95% humidity is rough, & we get it sometimes. More-so in the garage where I work in mid-summer.. Still beats freezing my ass(ets) off for 7->8 looong months, non-stop.

FG; I kinda feel sorry for you, what w/your latest "find". I mean, here you had your heart set on a genuine cast iron real-deal ford dist, & what do you get? An old, aluminium, dual point/dual coil (hey! twice the work, etc!) W&C Du-Coil. Hope you won't suffer too badly... . I gotta look, I might have a cap n rotor for that thing. Wonder how many folks actually know what those things are... ? & since you are "shelby-izing" the T, now that you have a dual-coil, how many other "dual" things can you add? Let's see: dual points, dual carbs, dual headlights/tail-lights, etc. Bill Cosbys' 200MPH comes to mind real quick & funny-like... .

The *best* thread on the HAMB!

Marcus...

 

Interesting allusion to the Bill Cosby twin-Paxton supercharged Cobra which has been the subject of endless speculation among Cobraphiles for many, many years. Fact is, that car is often confused with it's sister car, which was "restored" - more like brought back from the dead - solely by Rick Wurth at Mike Fennel's in Sylmar, California, during the period I was manager of the shop.

It was not a faithful "restoration" of the way it was originally built by Shelby, but rather a more detailed rebuild with the rough edges smoothed and the chassis and running gear powder coated. The car was so badly damaged during its road racing career that Rick had to pull the two tubular frame rails back into alignment, one having been driven several inches to the rear of the other when it was wrecked.

I don't know the final disposition of the car. I left Fennel's before the car was completely finished - it was a multiple-year project - but I'm sure Rick "road tested" the car thoroughly before it was returned to the then-owner, Jimmy Webb.

The J1mmy Webb Cobra resurrection, done completely by Rick Wurth - who has NEVER been given credit for the work, by the way - sold recently for 5.5 MILLION DOLLARS! Rick sure as hell deserves better. It was a magnificent restoration job done on a magnificent one-of-two car.

Edit: Here's the documentation, scrounged from the 'net, posted by Rick himself... http://www.wurthitdesigns.com/cobrastory.htm

Second edit: Seems the Jimmy Webb Cobra is about to cross the BJ Auction platform again early next year...with still no mention of Rick Wurth or Mike Fennel's in the auction listing. I'm sure the heavy-hitters who will bid on the car will have done their homework, but unfortunately Joe Sixpack will never know the hard work and dedication Rick Wurth and Mike Fennel put into bringing this severely abused car back from near death. Life sometimes sucks.

http://www.barrett-jackson.com/Medi...in-depth-look-at-the-shelby-cobra-supersnake/

Enjoy!

 

Marcus, look close, its not the dual coil, just the dual point they made. Interesting thought though. With the ram log, dual paxtons might add a certain symmetry. But wait, if I go that route, there is a jarring asymmetry lurking on the horizon! I only have one wife, and therefore there will only be one divorce!!