Projects The Thomas Rocket Car Restoration

Josh, Great Job!!!! Keep Us Posted!!!

 

Thanks. I want to get it done so I can get back to my Model A s and 37 Ford!

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Wow what an amazingly innovative design! Mr Thomas was a visionary automotive designer ...but he was also a hot rodder why?....a completely hand built chassis/body combined with Ford V8/ brakes and trial tested for 96k miles is a hot rod!....Your work is awesome and the fact you are doing it all to save a piece of history is really far out! ......I kinda hope it's not going back to the guy that slathered all that mud on it

 

Yes it is. The metal is good under the mud and the car was sandblasted on the outside first. It will have a lot of filler on it, but no more than your average 50s show custom! We're just a bunch of guys working to try and save this car. The budget is kind of nonexistent so it's not going to be a Pebble Beach car, but at least it's not rotting away in a field anymore and people will get to see it.

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shit foot in mouth...hope you noticed the rest of the comment was complimentary no insult was intended... i'm no one to critique....

 

No insult taken. I agree with you, I'd like to see less filler on the car as well, but it is what it is. I was hoping to have Jay Leno step up to help so it could be on his garage show, but still haven't heard from him. Maybe the invitation is lost in the mail.

 

Back on the passenger door today.



About 4 hours of fitting to get to this point.



Fitting the skin. Bead roller used to flange edge.



Welding next.

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Great humor gentleman thanks for the afternoon chuckle...my heart is better for it. Mudslingin, dem shooze, The Tonight Show and Ole Thommy Rocket...

 

Thank you for saving this awesome car.

 

Excellent job. You are a credit to hot-rodding AND restoring. Thank you for your contribution to this project; without guys like you, it would have probably ended up sitting ignored in the back of some guy's shop.

 

Really great project!



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My work is done!



Finished the door today.



Here is the TRC outside next to all the metal I cut out of it.







Was trying to send it on it's way today, but ran out of time.



Off to the body shop this week. Will keep updates coming when I can.

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I have the metal work wrap up video for the Rocket Car live on YouTube now.

 

The Thomas Rocket Car is on it's way back to the bodyshop.



On the road again.



Ready to unload.



Inside waiting for an open bay.






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I delivered more of the parts some of our car club members had been helping with. The Rocket car continues on its restoration path. The skirts on all 4 wheel wells were being fitted today. It is very interesting to see the raw design, use of materials and the craftsmanship Charles Thomas used back in the 30's. Looking at some of the amazing work Josh did on this car, we were joking about his nice welds not looking like the visible ones Charles Thomas did over 80 years ago.

 

Makes me want to throw my tools in the trash and swear off thinking I'm doing anything worthwhile! No shame in what you guys have accomplished there, brother. Keep on chooglin'!

 

Wow great save! Makes my rust issues seem like nothing compared to what you have accomplished. Keep on truckin, you guys are doing a great job and for a just cause. Inspiring for sure.

 

I saw the Rocket Car this past weekend for the first time since I took it back to the body shop. I'm happy to see work continuing and getting closer to paint. It is now in the paint booth so hopefully it will be wearing a new coat of the original burgundy color soon. Seems like a lifetime ago when I was doing all that metal work in my freezing shop with a salamander heater! Can't wait to see it all in one color.

YouTube Rocket Car playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5fFr_sm74j9gz-leSaX9Alw90zV4TV8D

 

Latest progress on the Thomas Rocket Car and it has had some paint work done.

 

Looks great!
r


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Somebody at Packard was paying attention......

Ray

 

From the wild days of when the Moon was unexplored and Rocketeer was buzzing the earth...there was wild innovation in Auto...thanks for sharing @mramc1 and @raymay for those recent shots...The Ole Thommy Rocket rides again...

 

Thanks for keeping us posted. I was kinda wondering what happened with this.

It looks great.

 

Looking good, is that the original color?


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That's fabulous! I started on a rusty O/T car this week, probably just as bad underneath as TRC was, but I have the advantage of having repop parts!

 

Cool beans man.

 

The red color we saw on some of the parts was a different shade and very plain. We know the car was driven for years by the Family after it was built and we believe it had more than one paint job. Eventually it will be on display in the city of Batavia. I think the color Dick chose will represent the car very well.

 

Looks great. What a save.

 

A reporter was on hand in Batavia on Memorial Day and posted this account when he got to see the partially restored Thomas Rocket Car.

The Rocket Car: An incredible restoration project motors ahead here in Batavia, NY. The Thomas Rocket Car was designed by Batavia native Charles D. Thomas back in 1938. Thomas, as well as welder Norm Richardson, built the car here in Genesee County and attempted to get one of the “Big Three” in Detroit to buy into their vision. It didn’t happen and the car, only one in existence, more or less faded away. Several years ago, what was left of this prototype was found in a barn in Lockport, NY—it was in rough shape (bottom image from Batavia Daily News). Ultimately, Batavia car enthusiast Dick McClurg took possession of the car and has been meticulously restoring it for the last five years. The body work and paint job are complete, focus will now turn to the mechanics and interior. McClurg owns Old World Collision in Batavia and has a great operating base to get this work done—various fundraising efforts have gotten him this far. The Rocket Car will be pulled today in the Batavia Memorial Day parade, making a rare public appearance with its sparkling new paint job. Big thank you to Cathy Moore Norton, former WNY resident who now lives in Michigan. It was her father who made the discovery of the Rocket Car in Lockport.

 

Cool story