Art & Inspiration Cars & People You Had the Pleasure of working around.

"General" Lee Edwards, worked with him building engines in the 90's. Great guy taught me a ton of stuff, boring, balancing, head work, assembly, dyno setup, and porting. Had to leave, wife wanted to move to Florida after she retired...

 

Hello,

Of all the years working on hot rods, drag racing cars and just plain street cruisers, I have to be proud to have been learning and working with my late brother, James. He passed away too early. But, the things I can remember him showing me, teaching me and just telling me to do something, knowing I could do the project, gave me confidence. Earlier, he was a little hyperactive, as my mom would tell me tales of him prior to me being born two years later.

So, he got to experience being around older teens and 20 somethings at a very young age. That was not all good, but it was part of his day. “Listen to what the little kid, James can say… aww, sh%$#.” My mom had plenty of those tales to tell me later. But, since he was able to develop some skills that I did not have, he perfected most of those skills for his pre-license driving era. (He bought a 1951 Olds Sedan before he had his driver’s license and began working on it.)
(in 1956 it was yellow...in late 1957, it was painted a lime green.)

I had some athletic skills that he did not have, so I could keep up with him in most sports or skills in everyday play. When it came time to do something like mess around with our mom’s lawnmower for more power, where did he get those ideas? Take the head off and polish the inside, clean out the exhaust port and make it shine, use a straight pipe instead of the stock muffler, etc. all skills he learned somewhere. I suspect it was from reading Hot Rod Magazine or one of those early mags.

So, thanks, brother, for the first encounter of the yellow, 51 Olds sedan, the Model A Coupe, the 58 Chevy Impala skills, and the building skills on the 671 SBC 1940 Willys Coupe for the B/Gas & C/Gas classes.

Jnaki

I cannot let my high school days go by without savoring the things we did to a cool 1957 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop. One of my best friends bought a white, 3 speed, 283/4 barrel, SBC Bel Air hardtop as his first car. He had a great after school job, (he was the “wiener man”…He cooked and filled wieners in a long tube, prior to steam heat and shipping to stores) So, he saved a lot of money, as he never ate hot dogs... The 57 Chevy was a fast car in stock form, as it gave us plenty of freedom to roam around. But, the need for speed was always in our teeny, teenage brains.

Lowering, raising the suspension, Cal Rake, headers, installing dual quads, a 4 speed and Positraction gears, etc. all played an important part of a great teenage learning experience. We had never done those things, but by watching older hot rod guys, reading articles in the mags and just the skills put into a project made it worth while. Sure, we made some mistakes, but if it did not run right, we corrected the mistake. So, simple stuff we could do started it off in his driveway during high school. Some simple things went on into the late nights with more stuff being modified and added on to the car.

I had learned some skills from my brother and applied them when possible. We did not do anything drastic with his new car. It was the freedom of moving from one spot to another was what a teenager’s car is used for, after the driver’s license was passed. It certainly did a lot of moving around. (cruising/racing) With the endless time spent at his house, garage and driveway, I want to also thank his mom for the fabulous meals and for introducing me to salads. Thanks, D and your mom.

 

I couldn't have said it better!!!! Thanks Dad! The memories will last forever......

 

We're lucky to have lived in this particular segment of time; from the dawn of WW2 vets coming home and looking for excitement in things that go fast and make our hearts beat faster, to the heyday of factory muscle cars and ever evolving trends in the rodding world, and the return to the traditional era that we embrace here. Artists in iron and steel, modern blacksmiths and engineers who never saw a textbook; masters of the science of the automobile and motorcycle... local celebrities along with international ones, elbow to elbow often enough and head to head on the track. This is a waning era for us, we're losing mentors faster than we can replace them. Celebrate the remaining ones whenever possible and work to build up the younger generation that will hopefully follow us.

 

I've got my dad, his brothers, friend's parents, my wife's grandfather (who passed away last year).

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