Folks Of Interest I bought Clarence 40 years ago (update; 50 years)

actually i don't know exactly what day i purchased it, but the title is dated 2/23/73.

we've been through a lot together. when i bought it i thought i was buying a cheap ($75) old (25 years old at the time) 2nd vehicle. i used it as a daily driver at that time; in the original flathead 3-sp configuration. little did i know the experiences having it has brought to me. and the many many friends that i'd have never met otherwise. many of those friends are here on the hamb. many aren't. one has been my wife for the last 8 years.

i could write a pretty long book about Clarence and me, but won't.

anyway, i wish for all who read this the same experiences that we've had (or better).

 

Is Clarence your avatar? 40 years, that's something. Congrats.

 

Ain't got much ground clearance Clarence.

 

I'm guessing ole Clarence is the panel truck in your avatar. He looks about the right age. Since you are bringing back memories ya should tell us what he is and some other things about him that you enjoy.
Ya don't need to write a book but a few things you like about him and places you two have been might bring a tear to our eyes.

 

congrats, that quite an achievement!
40 years with the same anything is good.

 

Happy Anniversary to you and Clarence. And they said it wouldn't last. . From two of those many friends you've made.

 

You should splurge on some new taillights to celebrate! ;-) Congrats!!!

 

yes, clarence is the '48 ford panel truck in the avitar.

ok; here's the reader's digest version:

bought 02/73. drove as was 'til around '83. stored in dad's hay barn 'til '88 (+/-). got it running as original and drove to nsra nats in OKC in '90 (i think; maybe someone remembers what year they were in OKC). installed 283/350, aspen/volare, 8", etc. winter of '91-'92. went to nsra nats in '92 (the great flood year) as maiden voyage. met a family (tom/sherry/kylee/ryan) with another '48 ford panel truck the day of the flood. we had both parked on the west side of the fairgrounds (the flood was on the east side). attended many of the same runs/shows (americruises/nats/goodguys/etc.) over the next several years. a couple of years after divorces in both families sherry & i reconnected and got married in '04.

in the meantime clarence and i hit mini nats in york, pueblo, and many in springfield. also our travels took us to bonneville 3 times (so far), btt50's, the first 11 americruises, several RR, and all the hamb drags 'til '12, when he let me down friday morning on the way to joplin. in addition to the shows/runs you'd recognize we have been to more small gatherings & private runs than even i can remember. some of the best were taking my daughters places. especially canoeing on the current river and camping. since there's only seats for two these trips have always been 1 on 1 with my two little sweethearts (they are in their 30's now, so it's been a while since any of those trips). many times i've set up a tent for the daughter and i've slept in clarence.

so; there ya go. hope no one fell asleep reading this. i could easily write 10-20 pages about each of hundreds of adventures we've shared.

"Ain't got much ground clearance Clarence." - this pic must have been taken as i was leaving the line at MoKan. normally the front is lower and the rear higher. i don't remember what year this was, but it was one of the years i came to joplin directly from bonneville. if you look closely you can see the CB antenna is still stuck on the roof.

to all - thanx for reading and sending wishes. especially george; your the salt of the earth, man.

 

kerry,

you're so funny man.

ryno/gv/kerry/everyone else - i sure missed you guys at joplin last year. hope i never have to miss another hamb drags.

 

Great story, love to hear about folks who've had their cars and trucks a long time. I've had Henrietta the '38 Ford pickup since I was 14 years old (1966), and Ozelle the '55 Ford was bought new by my parents.

 

cool wow youve owned clarence almost as long as ive been alive i turn 43 in april

 

congrats on 40 years.

 

That tailight hasn't worked for as long as I've known Mike, and I'm sure it quit working long before that.

 

40 years. Pretty cool huh...

 

anniversaries are great congratulations ---my 48th is coming up in april but we haven't been nearly the places you have....

 

Very cool Atch! Clarence is a HAMB Drags icon.

 

Hey Mike, did you put the new running boards on Clarence yet?

 

40 Huh? Who keeps a car that long , geez... Hope to see you in August.

 

That's cool, I remember Clarence from the NSRA events (nationals?) in Okc. I had a project panel at the time so it caught my eye.

 

Why not...??? 40 years is along time to own a vehicle...

I bet it'd make better reading than some of the stuff I write...besides, some young guy, 238 years from now, could find it in the glove box in your broken down garage when they discover Clarence hiding there...remember that old sayiing "If ony this car could talk...!!!" There ya go...

R-

 

You volunteering to ghost write Roger? I would read it!

 

Congrats! Here's to another 40.

 

Very cool. As others said, I hope you're having adventures for another 40 years.

 

Congrats! Keep on talking, the stories like that are the best part of this hobby/sport/lifestyle. Glad you still have your buddy.

 

Happy 40th. I hear a bell ringing. Will Clarence get his wings ? ( It's A Wonderful Life ). : ) : )
LMAO.

 

well, someday maybe i'll get around to it...

i don't know about icon, but i've certainly enjoyed every one that i've been to. i am still hoping to get denise to unhook 3 plug wires and race me. her engine running on 5 cylinders would be larger than clarence's engine; no wonder she cleans my clock every time we race. sure wish i could have been there last year. and that leaves one indian standing (drumroll, please)............... BLAKMERK! (his merc is the only car to have been to every hamb drags)

they should be there the next time you see him.

40 is a long time for me (and probably for most folks), but i imagine that many people on here have had a car longer. i sure hope to see you in august, too. perhaps we could have a grudge race, just for old time's sake???

the one time clarence was in OKC was the year that the big nats was there. do you remember what year that was? i saw on the web a while back that they tore down the monorail at the fairgrounds. what a shame. b-t-w; that had to be the hottest weekend anywhere on the planet in recorded history. the one car i remember as standing out was the pickup ('37 chev???) that had the swimming pool liner in the bed with people splashing around back there while cruising the fairgrounds. everyone in attendance was jealous of them. that weekend i had to drive by the temp gauge instead of the speedometer; the faster i drove the hotter the flathead ran.

well, roger, if i had any writing ability i'd do it; but only a select few of you have the God given talent to write interesting stuff.

if roger was translating my memories into written stories it might be interesting.

thanx.

thanx again. however, 40 years from now i plan to be residing with Him in heaven. if still alive i would be 101 years old. i feel broken down now, how bad would i feel at that age?

perhaps. see, that's why i can't write interesting stuff. i've seen it's a wonderful life at least 20 times and never connected that Clarence with "my" Clarence.

thanx for all the well wishes and thanx to everyone who came along on this ride. i'd really like to name off every friend i've made on the hamb, but i can't even remember all of you that i think of as really good friends, let alone everyone i've met. i probably should talk some of my stories into a tape recorder before senility takes away what memory i have left. i saw robin last week at the columbia swap meet. i hadn't seen him since the '11 drags and i didn't even recognize him 'til he took off his ball cap and glasses. i hope i can still remember how to get to MoKan this fall.

let me finish with one last anecdote: once, when clarence was in the original 2-tone paint scheme (black and rust) i had a 383 road runner engine in the back that i'd just finished that i was planning to put into my '64 plymouth. the local yokels stopped us one evening about midnight. the (then) wife and i were both in our very early 20's; i had shoulder length curly/wavy hair and Lynda had blond hair about to her waist and we both looked like the hippies we were. they used the excuse that a kidnapping had happened earlier that day in sedalia, a town about 60 miles away, and clarence matched the description of the "getaway car". they proceeded to search the panel and demanded to see paper proof that the 383 wasn't stolen, which fortunately i had with me. one dude's eyes lit up when he found a baggie in one of the many storage compartments which all panel trucks have. sadly for him, though, when he reached into it to see what it held all he came up with was a hand full of dirty grease and some old bearings that came out of the 383. they were really hacked that they didn't find any drugs or paraphanalia and eventually had to let us go. to this day i still think that they only used the "kidnapping" as an excuse to hassle us.

 

It's been 5 years, so I'll add a bit here and there. I've now had Clarence over 45 years.

For starters in '16 Clarence got a heart transplant. GM crate 350. The 283 was just sooooo tired. I asked my local machinist friend what he would charge me to bore the 283 and supply/install new pistons and rings. His response was "I'm not gonna tell you, 'cause you can buy a crate engine from Summit or Jegs for less than I'll be charging you." Not being blessed with lots of extra capital I did what most rodders do; I went the less expensive route. Sure would have liked to keep using the 283, though. It came in a '66 Impala that my grandmother bought new in the fall of '65 shortly after my grandfather died. The car was passed around the family quite a bit over the years. I even owned it for a couple of years before it went on to my nephew. I have the 283 stashed under the back shelf in my shop just in case I win a lottery and have the ca$h to do something with it. Odds are not in my favor, though. I've never bought a lottery ticket. B-t-w; the Impala was a red 2-dr hardtop with red interior, white headliner, 283/PG, and bench seats. Sure wish I still had it. Once, during one of the two times my parents owned it, I used it on a date and completed a couple of "firsts" in the back seat. Oh, did I just say that?

Also overhauled the T-350 trans. And rebuilt the rear end; including the punkin and all new brake parts. Had it down to the bare case and painted it before reassembling. Also installed the "new" rear springs that I put together about 10 years ago from several sets I had acquired from various boneyards. I reversed the rear spring hangers like someone on here posted several years ago. The new springs and up-side-down spring hangers keep the ride about where it was, but it rides a lot better. The old set had some leaves removed, the result of being at a friend's shop one day and Johnny said "your truck's too high in the back; let's take some leaves out." We removed every other leaf right then and there. I drove it that way for a few days. It bottomed out on highway expansion cracks so I put some of them back in.

He's getting many more updates this year. Ryan Lieberman, Ryno on here, is doing some amazing fab work on him and I'll recount those later after completion.

For now let me tell one of the stories that I plan to eventually post up here.

In '97 I and 3 other rodding families took a trip to Colorado to the Pueblo NSRA show. One '47 and three '48s. All Fords, although one was English (Prefect). I was by myself 'cause my then wife has never been to a car show or rod run in her life and my two sweetheart daughters were teenagers and were just too busy to go. Both of them are gearheads but at that particular time they weren't interested in going. We took I-70 to Kansas City and then US-50 the rest of the way to Pueblo. We stayed one night in Dodge City, Kansas. I've looked several times on Google Earth for the motel we stayed in but can't find it. It had a "model" airplane on a post out front. It was about 6' long and 6' wide, IIRC. Anyone here remember that? I believe that it was right on 50. Rolled into Pueblo after two hot days of sweating across Kansas and eastern Colorado.

The NSRA show was about what you would expect; good but not spectacular. While there I bought the air cleaner that is still on Clarence. One evening on the way back to the motel Ed, who was leading the pack, suddenly pulled onto the shoulder with his engine turned off. He had lost all oil pressure. After a few minutes of searching we found that the plastic oil line to the mechanical gauge had come out of the grommet at the gauge end. Cut off a half inch and reinstalled it. All was well once again and the earth was spinning in greased grooves (bonus points if you know the movie that this line is from).

We were staying in Canon City, about 40 miles west of Pueblo. We had decided at the last minute to put this trip together so Pueblo rooms were sold out. After NSRA was over we stayed on at Canon City for a couple of more days. One day we toured the Museum at the Old Territorial Prison. One of the younger generation on the trip was in college studying the legal justice system and she wanted to go. We were all glad that we went. It was very interesting. I won't go into details, but you can read about it here or Google it yourself for more info.

The motel we stayed at had a man-made above ground fishing pond attached to their restaurant. They kept it stocked with trout and you could catch your own supper. I do my fishing at the local grocery store, so I didn't try for a trout. I'd probably still be there trying to catch a fish if I had tried.

Another day six of us (out of the 11 on the trip) went rafting on the Arkansas River, just upstream of the Royal Gorge. They would not let us go into the Gorge unless we had previous rafting experience, of which none of us had. I'd do that again in a heartbeat if the opportunity ever presented itself. Of course I was 21 years younger back then, so it might be harder for me to do today. These six were the 4 men and the oldest two of the younger generation. The other 5 went shopping. They sure missed out on a great day on the water.

While in Canon City we were told to not miss driving on Skyline Drive. This is a city park that was built many years ago just west of the town proper. You go about 3 miles west of town on US-50 and turn off to the right. Then you drive about a half mile up the side of a hill (mountain???). At the top you then drive along the ridge for a couple of miles. The road is about 800 feet higher than the surrounding land on both sides of the road. It's not exactly straight down, but it's not far from it. It's a one-way road because the road is just barely wide enough for one car in places. There are places where they had to build up the roadbed with stones 'cause the top of the ridge isn't wide enough for a road. It will scare the bejesus out of those of us who don't like heights. I was fourth in line and the other three left me behind. They kept calling me on the CB asking where I was but I wasn't about to let go of the steering wheel with either hand to grab the mic and answer them. That steering wheel is no longer in Clarence and I don't know where it is, but I bet it has indentations on the back where my fingers were.

Somewhere in that timespan we found time to go to the Royal Gorge but didn't have much time for all the activities they have there. I've been back since and recommend it.

After we left Canon City we went up Pike's Peak and then stayed in Colorado Springs. We all had CB radios and jabbered constantly. About half way up the mountain Tom (also in a '48 panel truck) said he was pulling off to put in new plugs but for the rest of us to go on. The other Tom and his family stayed with him and they quickly put in new plugs. Seems his panel had been running rich all the way but the lack of oxygen had fouled his plugs badly. Ed and I went on to the top, where we jumped, shouted, and generally had a celebration that our rods had successfully made it to the top at 14,114 feet above sea level. Tom and Tom arrived in just a few minutes and we all celebrated. Ed and his wife Joan had been up Pike's Peak several times, as Joan had a sister that lived nearby, but none of the rest of us had ever been there. (note: a moment of silence, as Ed, Joan, and the sister have all passed on. I have a lot of good friends, but Ed was my best friend) Anyway, we looked at the vistas, bought souvenirs, and enjoyed the moment. The staff at Summit House, the shop at the top, told us that we certainly chose a great day to visit, as the skies were totally clear that day and we could see all the way to the horizon to the east, somewhere in Kansas. I've been back twice since then and you couldn't see nearly as far either time.

Down at the bottom again and in Colorado Springs we found a NAPA store and bought jets for Tom's truck. We had plenty of tools and rejetted his carb right there in the NAPA parking lot. His panel ran great thereafter. Too bad we didn't do that before we left Missouri, or more specifically in Tom's case before he left Chicago.

Before we left Pueblo a couple of days previously one of the wives had called and gotten reservations in Colorado Springs. When we checked in they told us the price and this wife reminded them that the price quoted on the phone was considerably lower. A heated discussion ensued. This particular wife did the books for her husband's business and she gave them a lecture on good business practices that may or may not have used curse words I had never heard before. Not having any other place to go we stayed there anyway and paid up their asking price. I've never stayed overnight in Colorado Springs again so I guess the lack of my business hasn't hurt them any.

On our last day in Colorado Springs we drove through the Garden of the Gods and took a lot of pix, but nothing happened worthy of inclusion here.

After we left Colorado Springs we made our way via US-50 and US-24 to Leadville, the highest city in the US that is inhabited year round, at 10,152 above sea level. Nothing out of the ordinary happened there, but the visit was nice/picturesque. I've been back since in Clarence and on a H-D and spent a couple of nights there. There are some pretty good roads around there for scenic driving, as there is in about all of western Colorado. In my shop I have a black and white road map of Colorado and I've hi-lited all the roads that I've been on either in Clarence or on a H-D. Most of the roads west of the front range are hi-lited.

North of Leadville we got back on I-70 and headed east. This was the 2nd time we were on an interstate highway. Past Dillon you go up a 7 - 8 mile long hill to the entrance of the Eisenhower Tunnel. About half way up the highway turned into a 3 lane parking lot. We would move a hundred feet or so, stop, and repeat. You know the drill. You've all been there done that. None of our rods were equipped for that sort of stop and go traffic. All our engines were getting hotter and hotter. There was a pull off place up ahead on the right and folks were nice enough to let us merge over through 2 lanes and get off the road. A Colorado trouper came by and told us that a motor home had been on fire in the tunnel and it would be some time 'til traffic would clear out. We waited a while and when traffic began moving again we got back on the road. About half way through the tunnel there was a big spot where the white tiles lining the walls and ceiling were blackened badly.

That's about half of that Colorado trip and I'll finish up later. I've been typing and editing this for a couple of hours now and it's time to do something else for a while.

Happy 4th for those of you in the US and for the rest of the world may this day be happy and blessed.

 

Colorado NSRA trip (cont):

After we got part way down the east side of the mountain we turned back west on US-40 to head over Berthoud Pass. By that time the day was getting short and we were looking for a place to spend the night. We had brought enough sleeping bags and tents to rough it but no one really wanted to. About 6 miles past Empire we found some cabins that had a vacancy sign. We pulled in and asked about getting some cabins. There were 11 of us from 4 families. They had one cabin vacant. We said "We'll take it!" Turns out it had one bedroom with two double beds and a set of bunk beds. The living room had a couch, a recliner, and an over stuffed chair with matching ottoman. With 3 married couples, me, and 4 younger folks, one of whom was a college aged girl, we knew it would be cramped and that there would be a possibility that modesty might be compromised. We made it work. I don't remember exactly who slept where, except that I took the couch, one of the wives took the recliner, the college age girl got one of the bunk beds, a teenage boy used the chair/ottoman, and a younger teenage girl slept on the floor right beside the couch I was on. While everyone else was making the sleeping arrangements Ed and I went back down to Empire where we had seen a sort of small general store. We knew it would be a long way to a breakfast restaurant the next morning so Ed and I bought all the eggs and bacon that they had. I think I remember that that was 2 pounds of bacon and 2 dozen eggs. Along with some bread, milk, and coffee we were set for the night. There was a VERY small bathroom off of the kitchen that had an equally small shower. Turns were taken and everyone got a shower that wanted it. The next morning the 3 wives (all of whom are very good cooks, to which I can attest) cooked all the bacon and eggs, along with toasting all the bread. Someone made coffee. I don't do coffee so I and the younger crowd drank the milk. I stayed there again 3 years later and the lady who ran the place remembered us.

So on over Berthoud we went. We stopped at the top and took the obligatory pix of each other sitting on the rock monument that marks the continental divide. A couple of miles down the other side there was one of those (very) little mountain streams coming down the hill, flowing over a small waterfall, and running under the road. We all stopped and I got a drink from the stream. That water had been snow shortly before melting and coming down the hill. When I'm a hundred years old and someone asks me to what I attribute my longevity I'll tell them it was the mountain water I drank in '97. A couple of miles further down the mountain Tom yelled into the CB "Ed, pull over! Something just came loose under your car." We were going around a switchback when Tom said that so as soon as the road straightened somewhat we all pulled over onto the shoulder. Seems that Ed had built his English Ford Prefect to be a drag race car but installed lights and mufflers and drove it on the street. The rear suspension is a triangulated 4 link. That thing was never meant to be a slalom racer. The corners had taken their toll and broken the weld where the triangulating link attached to the frame. In '97 US-40 was all 2-lane from I-70 to Steamboat Springs. However, the Colorado highway folks were in the early stages of widening it and we had passed a construction crew going around that last switchback. A lady in a hardhat came walking down the hill and told us "you can't park there; this is a construction zone." In a polite voice Ed informed her that be what it may his car wasn't moving anywhere 'til a roadside repair had been effected. She went back up the hill and returned with 5-6 cones, placed them behind us, told us to take all the time we needed, and made a remark as to what great cars we were driving. Ed and Tom crawled under the car and did something to get it back on the road again. As I wasn't party to the actual repair (there isn't much room under a Prefect rear) I don't know how they fixed it, but we all knew it was temporary. We crawled the 20 something miles down the mountain to Granby, the first place that appeared to have any services other than ski lifts. We pulled into the parts house that we saw and went in to ask if there was a welder in town. Yes, they assured us, and gave us directions to the edge of town where we found a pretty ragged and rugged big fella sitting in a lawn chair in front of his shop, which was actually a detached garage. He told us he would weld on Ed's car but not 'til he had finished his lunch and in the meantime for Ed to back the car up towards the garage door. Note that the driveway was pretty steep. About as steep a drive as I've ever seen. But Ed backed the Prefect up and set the parking brake and put it in park. Of course if the rear got jacked up off the ground there would be nothing keeping it from rolling down the hill. Someone found a rock or brick or something to chock a front wheel with. After his lunch break the fella jacked up the car and crawled under it. After a few minutes of frying egg sounds he came out and pronounced the car roadworthy. Money changed hands and off we went. When we got home Ed inspected the suspension and decided no further repair was necessary. This was the same car that had the oil pressure issue in the last installment. It seems that when a group of us run in a pack that if there is any car trouble that it is one car over and over. We've all had a bad trip where multiple breakdowns occurred. That was Ed's trip/year. He and I have followed each other across much of this country and that's the only car trouble I've ever heard of him having in one of his hot rods.

We left Granby and entered Rocky Mountain National Park to cross the continental divide for the 4th and final time on that trip. Vail Pass, Eisenhower Tunnel, Berthoud Pass, and now Iceberg Pass. At the Alpine center several of us climbed the Alpine Ridge Trail up to the top to see the view from the observation point. If you look that up in Google Earth and zoom in you can actually see each person on the trail.

After going over Iceberg Pass there is a huge field to the left of the road and in the photo album I've got in my lap I have a couple of pictures that include 20 - 30 elk on that hill, most within 30 - 40 yards of the road. They didn't even look up as we drove by.

Going down the east slope we stopped at one of those scenic overlooks. The chipmunks were everywhere and the teenagers (all 11 of us) tried to get one to get close enough to touch but never succeeded. I do, however, have a pic of a chipmunk and my shoe in the same frame, about 6" apart.

As we were about to leave the National Park there was a crowd of cars on the shoulder so we stopped to see what was happenin'. A bull moose was grazing a few yards away. He also didn't seem to care that there were humans about.

After spending a night in Boulder we got back on I-70 for the 3rd time, the only Interstate highways we were on the entire trip. A few miles east is Byers, CO, where US-36 heads east while I-70 turns southeast. We took US-36 all the way across Kansas and a goodly portion of Missouri. Somewhere in western KS we saw a herd of buffalo, obviously tamed somewhat and within a fenced field.

I had been to Belleville, KS, a couple of times before and knew the proprietors of a very cool '50s mom and pop motel. I even have driven an antique midget racer around the Belleville High Banks. On one of those trips to race old race cars Bill Smith was there at the swap meet with a small collection of antique race parts for sale. I wish now that I had bought something from him just to be able to say so. Anyway, back to the story. The motel owned a miniature golf place across the highway and told us we could go over and play as much as we wanted to. We did and had a ball with all 11 of us, ranging in age from 5ish to mid-50's playing. I knew of a shop in the less travelled streets of Belleville that usually had several old cars awaiting work, so the next morning we cruised over there to check things out. We were nosing about when the owner came out and chatted with us for awhile. He invited us to the "back yard" behind the shop to see what was out there. Looking at a pile of dismantled tin (think model a which comes apart at every one of those seams) Ed asked what it was. The owner said it was a '26 Chevy roadster and we could have it if we wanted. In about 30 seconds I had Clarence around the back and unloaded tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, coolers, etc. We squeezed every piece of that body into Clarence and then piled all the other stuff back in. Off we went headed home. Bill, brother to one of the Toms, has these Chevy pieces and might build something out of it someday.

The rest of the trip was totally uneventful so I'll sign off here.

 

one additional note regarding the scenic overlook where the chipmunks were:

While we were admiring God's beautiful handiwork a new pickup truck came rolling in. He obviously had been coming down the mountain as there was smoke rolling out of the front fender wells. I bet his rotors were red. Two fellas got out and walked over to the edge of the parking lot to look at the view. After a VERY short while they sauntered back towards their truck. One of the men in our group suggested to them that they wait a while to let their brakes cool off. "No; not necessary" one of them replied. In the truck and off they went. I bet that they had the gear selector in OD and rode the brakes all the way down the mountain. I also bet that the next day the driver had no idea why his brakes jerked him around every time he used them. The rotors were probably warped a quarter of an inch by the time they reached the flatlands. Maybe someone explained it to him later, but I doubt that he would have understood what he had done.

 

If you ever find yourself homeless at least you have a place to sleep.

Lets see some photo's of Clarence. HRP