Hello, my name is Don and I have been lurking here for a couple of years but haven't got around to making an account until now. I am from northern California and I worked as a metal fabricator for 7 years for my fathers shop "Walts Custom Services" in Santa Rosa, CA. I am currently working as a network consultant and only do fabrication on the weekends on my projects. I was raised around Hot Rods, since my father has been a builder since the 60's. Hot rodding is in my blood and I have dabbled in cars since I was 14. (21 years now) I started with muscle cars, VW's and mini trucks and as my experience and budget has grown I have been trying to move on to some pre war steel. Currently my father and I have been building a 1934 mid engine ford pickup that is chopped channeled and sectioned with a custom designed and built tube chassis. It will be fenderless with a full hood and sides. The mid engine is a 2366 air cooled Porsche motor that was built by Dave Bauhmbrite from Engine Masters. We are shooting for a 50/50 weight distrubution between 1500-1800 lbs so it should run 12-13 second quarter mile passes. I think AV8 posted on this board of this project so it may look familure to some. The wheels and tires are just rollers but the car is sitting at ride hieght at about 47" to the roof. The wheels will be 5 spoke Americans with wide white walls. The main reason we went mid engine is for drivability since we can afford to kick the firewall forward for some comfort. If anyone is interested in some larger pictures, they can be found here Body Mods Flush mount door conversion Chassis Engine Firewall pedals and misc details A link to smaller pictures and Walts website is here. http://www.walts.info/truck_1.htm I also have another project Walt and I have been working on. It's a Meyers Manx (authentic). Its not quite finished but its getting there.
Welcome to the HAMB...great looking truck, nice to see 'traditional style with a modern twist' can't wait to see it finished.
Thank you. That is excatly what we are shooting for. A very radical traditional feel and look with drivability. We are building this one to drive
I looked at all the pics.....simply amazing. The front axle has bushings in it to allow for twist. COOL!! Welcome aboard! Clark
Welcome Don! Incredible work man. I just spent the last hour going thru your work and it's some of the nicest I've seen. You got mad skillz man....mad skillz.
Well, The skills are my fathers (Walt) He is an amazing fabricator and car builder. On this project I just build what he tells me. Even with that he has done most of the work. I know my way around a fabrication shop but the kudos for work like this all goes to Walt.
Welcome from the central Coast of Ca. Is Walts shop up on the hill at Sears point? My brother-in-law, John Griggs, has a shop there,Griggs racing. They build 5.0 mustang suspension components, as well as whole cars. I was up there for the Nascar race in June and parked in front of a shop where this cool old guy was workin on a kick-ass little modified. I forget his name. They also had a banjo rearend that had a 9" center cection adapted to it, looked factory built. Excellent fab work!
It's not the same shop. We are about 45 mins from Sears Point (now infinion raceway) We are in Santa Rosa CA.
Its been a while since I posted. The truck is finished You can see all the full size pictures HERE Here is a few from that album. ..
Wow. that's really all I have to say about that. Great job- I like the early A rad shell. Amazing paint and fabrication. Are you building anything else yet?
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