Customs Kliche Koupe goes KUSTOM!! -OR- The Bondo Chronicles

Good work!!!

 

and just like that....



yep. she's gone.

it was time to let her go so I made a deal with anther HAMBER which included his 54 ford customline.

This car was a real journey and learning experience. I wanted to thank everyone again for all the help, support, and encouragement.

time to start again...
motorama 2011 here we come!

 

WHAT?!?! I was hoping to see it in Santa Maria!

 

It's ok!!!

You had your fun, and there is nothing wrong with changing it up brother!!!!!!

The Ford is cool!!!!

 

yeah, i'm stoked on the ford. i've already got the finished product in my head. i'm not going as crazy on this one. straight driver.

 

Damnit, Mitch! I wanted to see this one finished. Serves me right for becoming a hermit. Can't wait to see the Customline finished . . . .

 

might hafta wait a minute... gotta put an engine in it. rod. knock. give J a pat on the back for the ANRA win!

 

Well, she's back...........in SoCal that is.



The only reason I took the car in trade is because of the awesome work of all involved in the car.

 

Love the old style flames....seen the car at the Motorama....very nice.

 

Congrats Rick. Glad to see it back. Mitch did a nice job on it.

 

I'm picking up the Grand Prix tomorrow.

 

Got any pictures of the Grand Prix?

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/102716597411635847845/63GrandPrix

 

kinda bittersweet, what with the timing and all...

i'm stoked that its back home and that its in VERY good hands.

plus i made rick promise to call me first if he ever decides to sell...

i wish rick MANY happy miles in his new car and i hope to get it back someday (with AC)

 

Hey Mitch, my wife is stoked, its so comfortable.

 

AWESOME!!! take a cruise over the vincent thomas bridge for me!

 

The Grand Prix looks like a nice car

 

That was an awesome read. Thanks for sharing the journey.

 

Wow...you don't see these, in any condition anymore. Very nice!

 

It was owned by a collector. When he died, the wife sold the collection. My wife wanted a car with A/C. The things we do to make the wife happy........

 

Haha...indeed! The only one of mine my wife is remotely interested in driving is the 'Bird...

 

After some fit and finish issues, missing trim, over heating and low oil pressure, I finally got everything fixed thanks to Starlite Garage. They removed the front clip to realign the doors, added bear claw latch and an Auto-Lok system. Fixed the wind wings (so they close) and added a dome light.



I replaced the radiator with a triple pass U.S. Radiator and replaced the distributor (mechanical advance was frozen) and now she runs cool.


I dropped the car off at Budget Mobile Air and got heat and air conditioning.


Now I'm ready for summer cruising and the wife's happy.

 

rad. so stoked you finished what i didn't have time to.
enjoy.

 

love that car!

 

I drove her the other day in rush hour traffic to test the a/c. Damn, I was freezing even though it was warm outside. I kept turning the thermostat down till it was barely cycling, worked great and never got over 160 in traffic.

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

threadsurrection, i know, but now i can close this chapter.
So when i put this thing together, i had 2 goals: 1) display it on an arena main floor and 2) get a magazine feature article. i got #1 at the 2010 Long Beach Motorama and 5 years later thanks to Speed and Chrome Illustrated issue #10 i got #2. Thanks to @Lancer for the pages, Matt Frederick for the photos and @GassersGarage for letting me borrow the car for the afternoon. It really is a great little book. get your copy at www.speednchrome.com features on Quain Scott's Willys, Jeff Lindstrom's Model A, Eagle Field, HAMB Drags 14 and much more!

 

She's Back!
It's been a minute, and I've been lagging on the post, but I digress.

In the early part of last year my wife started bugging me about a new Suburban. I just paid off the truck we have not too long ago so I was in no mood to start over again. She kept bugging and I kept resisting. Then in late April BigDaddy tagged me on instagram with a post from a guy who had just bought my car off of Rick, who has had it all this time. I sent the guy a message to congratulate him and I told him if he ever wants to sell to call me. Turns out he's a HAMBer, but i cant remember his HAMB tag. His instagram post talked about how he had followed this thread and loved the car and was so stoked to have had the opportunity to buy it. Had I known I could have gotten it for what he paid for it, I would have bought it then and there, but I digress.

So the wife keeps bugging and I keep putting her off. Then one day I asked her, "Would you rather have a suburban or your car back?" Without hesitation she said "My car." I was kind of fishing/joking, but she was dead serious. I mulled over calling Chuck for some number of weeks. I have had a bunch of cars since this one left, and I liked some of them, but none of them ever felt right. The nudge to call kept bugging me. The urge was exceptionally hot one day when I went to look at a car. It was not a good fit for me, so I went back to the shop picked up the phone and made the call.

I'm asking myself, "How do you ask a guy who just bought the car he's been dreaming about for 10 years, and obviously loves it to sell it?" Well, you just ask. Turns out he forgot about my ask to call me if he wanted to sell because as it turns out, He had just listed it for sale locally and had a standing offer from a buddy of his.

After talking a bit, he ascertained that the right place for the car was back at home, we struck a deal, and the rest is history. I picked her up on Sept 27. Pretty much the same weekend that the car debuted at the Long Beach Autorama (Sept. 23-26, 2010). 10 years almost to the day that I finished up and drove off into the sunset to get to the show, I did the same thing except to bring her home for good this time.

Thanks to the guys who took such good care of her for me for the last 10 years.

Pic taken day of.

 

I have always loved that car Mitch. Congrats.