Dennis B. is a local hot rod and custom historian in these parts, and provided this photo of the back of a Pacers Car Club jacket - owned by Oly, the fellow in the pic with the trophy girl shown in post #74. John believes that Oly was the second owner of the Chev bucket, having acquired it from the original owner who unfortunately passed away in the early 70's. We will try to get more photos and info on the Pacers, and hopefully Dennis will come up with more gems!
Went to see the Chev bucket today, and can say that John is working away at all the little things that have to be done to put this rod back on the road. He also got an invite to a local hot rod show scheduled for late May - probably the first show this rod has been in since it won the trophy shown earlier in this thread. Will take photos for sure and post them here.
Great coverage, Steve! Looks like the rod found a great home with John! And to think he "almost" bought my '37 !! LOL.
Yes, Larry, John told me he made an offer on your 37 Tudor. That must have been before this Chev bucket became available, as it resided next door to where he lives for ten years before he was finally able to convince the owner to sell. The previous owner's son is the one making the video of the firing of the flathead. If you watch the video carefully, you can see the previous owner standing at the fence line watching the firing of the motor - and maybe thinking that it was the right decision to let John buy the old hot rod. Sounds like your 37 tudor did find a good home, so it all worked out.
WOW, what an interesting piece of BC hot rod history. I don't know how I missed this thread until now, but what a rewarding thread to find now. Thanks so much to you and John to share this with us all.
John lives on a street that is just one block long, but there are a number of car guys for neighbours. Shown in the pic is a 48 Pontiac belonging to a neighbour's son. Across the street is a lowered 64 Fairlane in black primer and red wheels, and up a couple of houses is an unrestored 34 Ford tudor. Not far away is a long ago rodded 34 Ford pickup. So the Chev bucket will have lots of company when it hits the street.
That's what it seems like every time I go over to John's place - always an old car to check out. John says the owner has had this tudor for many years and is going to build it someday, so it is not for sale. How many times have we heard this story about an old car sitting somewhere in the neighbourhood?
So far we have been able to learn little about the Pacers car club that existed in this area in the 60's to early 70's. Here are a couple of pics - one shows club members in the early 60's, likely shortly after it was formed (notice the white shirts and ties!) and the other shows a club drag car in the local parade. The Crosley was powered by a flathead. We are trying to pry the minds of the older local rodders for their memories of this club, so we will see if more info comes up. Would be nice to find out how John's hot rod fit in to this club.
John has been busy on some of the smaller details of this project, and here are some photos to show the progress. New water pumps, fuel lines, windshield wiper set up, turn signal switch and brake light are all now installed and working.
John won't be driving this hot rod Chev bucket in the rain, but it's gotta be legal, so the windshield wiper has to work - one of the many things that John is doing to get the car licensed.
John's hard work has paid off, and the Chev bucket is now a driver! We have a video of the old rod coming out under it's own power for the first time. More video's to follow, although I have to figure out this video thing so may take awhile....
There will be more videos to come showing John driving the old hot rod - and man does it look good! John is currently getting the Chev bucket ready for its first car show in forty years - and that is next weekend. We will take plenty of pics and post them here.
The Jalopy Journal
