History Father's Day Tribute

Hello F60,

Nice thread. Our dads played an important part of everyone's history. Whether it was to inspire us to things of our own choosing or influenced by the hot rod culture. It is something we all have to remember and be thankful for in these different times. History should live on and by finding our own family photos with plenty of memories, plays a continuing effort to keep the flame alive.

Every time my son calls, our topic of conversation is how he grew up and what he did to enjoy life as a little kid. It may not have had the similarities of our hot rod culture, but he did have some family influence from my wife and I to have him grow up as an individual. He is always thankful for those great times as a little kid, leading up to life as an adult.

Your old photos are pretty fantastic. Each one has a story behind it and is a cool read. Your collection seems vast and it is always fun to see other ways to look at So Cal hot rod/custom car/drag racing scene in all of it history. If there are any other old photos, post them with some valuable information. As good old Rod Stewart used to say: "Every picture tells a story..."

That Signal Hill Hill Climb event was a classic every year. Our 1958 Impala or or friend's 57 Bel Air Hardtop was probably parked on the parking slots on one side of the hill. We had some friends with old cars that blasted or try to blast up that steep hill at each of these events. Weeks after the club hot rods tried their power, late at night, our Chevy sedans made to run from a dead stop to flying off of the top cross street with a bang. Teenage antics in full regalia.

Jnaki

At any rate, if there are more old photos from your family collection of So Cal events or just old photos, please post them with your interpretations. Any photos at Lions Dragstrip or other hot rod locations would hit home nicely during these pandemic days.

It is nice to see old photos with some information rather than just a copy paste from the internet.

Thank you...

 

I'd like to add my father, he passed 2 months ago. He was a car guy and mechanic since he was a teen. He was born in 1940. He was in the Ignitors car club of Brown Deer WI in the late '50s. He had his '56 Chevy 265 dual quad, was building a coupe with a then brand new 283 with tri carbs in the club days.
I've included a full page newspaper article on the club and club rules. , dad is upper left.











My parents bought an old farm and the barn was transferred into a personal auto shop. He was building the '35 hemi Ford sedan in my icon and apparantly when I was little. I busted the windows out of it while it was in the shed for storage. Wish I still had that one. Also had his bike.



I was his little helper even before I was in school. Lots of engines and paint jobs, and we did lots of car show together.
He had his '48 Willy's sedan delivery- 440 powered. I recently found a sold listing on the Willys from about 10 years ago. '60 CJ5 w/327 and 5.36 gears all around (perfect storm for wheelies) We built a 4WD Vega wagon, his most recents were a '56 Ford pu- 500 Caddy powered and '57 Caddy coupe. There were always cars being built and worked on in the shop, a '40s 2wd Jeep with a hemi crammed under the hood, a badass '65 Rambler American wagon with a crossram 331 SBC, AMXes, Corvettes etc, so that let to me being a car junkie too.





20 years ago, he moved down to Arkansas and built the shop of his dreams. 8 years ago he messed up his back real bad and wasn't able to do much anymore. Many other cars and stories but you get the idea.
Miss you pop. Happy Fathers day

 

Reading through all the stories so far, I couldn't help but go on the search for more photos. Dad did all his own developing of photos on a contraption built by his father. Thete was a developing tank and photo enlarger. This is the earliest photo I have of Dad (in the driver's seat of course) with his younger brother in Sydney.

His first car.....


Later in life when he met my mother...she would say to him 'why don't you take photo's of me.....' So he did !!!!

Funny how there always seemed to be a car in the photo.....


Another stop on the highway and another photo of my Mother.... Oh !!! and the car !!!!



Here is Dad in the mid 1950's working on an power generator for the airport on a South Pacific Island. In the 50's Dad worked for an aircraft company and was part of a team who flew out to remote airfields fixed the power generation, installed power for runway lighting and also rescued stranded aircraft, by doing engine changes on the side of the runway....

Dad was just one of many like him in his generation, who could turn their hands to almost anything.



In the 70's Dad still loved his cars and took a liking to Chevy's. He had a at least three that I can recall ... A 60 Belair, 62 Impala, and a 63. There is me and my brother sticking our heads out the window.



His Chevy's were quite often called upon to be a wedding car. Dad obliged of course...on the proviso that he was the driver. There is one of those great 70's hairdo complete with huge sunglasses with my Mum

Gosh, he loved that car.....



There is Dad trying to show me a car... while I was trying to show him the aircraft !!!

 

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Hey RC57.... I just loved every part of the story of your pop. Much of it was familiar to me in my recollections of my Dad.

Thank you for sharing with all the great photo's.

 

Hi J- glad you're enjoying the thread. I'm also glad it sparked you and the others to add your stories. That was my intent. Your description of flying over the crest of Signal Hill made me chuckle. I remember the the short top of the hill. Life sure was easier and more fun back then.

 

Hey rc57: I agree with OzMerc39, fantastic addition to the thread! Thanks for sharing.

 

To rc57: also, sorry about your recent loss.

 

To OzMerc39: nice extra photos and story! Sounds like your dad was pretty talented and special. Thanks for sharing.

 

Just got this photo sent to me, so I'm adding it. As I mentioned earlier, dad took in cars all the time to paint. I honestly don't remember this one, there were so many. But it was partnered by my good friend Dick Zook, who said dad painted it. What a classic dry lakes roadster! Owned and run in the early 60's by Chuck Gregg and Dick Zook. Dick set the SCTA E class record in this car. Picture was taken on El Mirage dry lake in SoCal.

 

Thanks Flathead & Oz.

This was a neat idea and it helped me a little too

 

Hey Joe: Just realized I never acknowledged your compliment. Thanks!

 

Hey @OzMerc39 , going by the road sign, this pic was taken very close to my neck of the woods......

 

Hey mate ... What a coincidence... Dad did prefer that route to go north from Sydney.

I am coming across a heap of Aussies on here with cool rods & rides !!!

 

Judging by the distances (in miles), my guess would be the photo was taken in Warwick, Queensland.

 

Thoughts your way RC as the loss of pops was fairly recent...he did some great car stuff...I remember the taildragging Coupe very well...

You busted the windows out of the 36......was that a day Hotrods took on a hole new vibe?......gotta be a story there...

 

Recently I was talking with someone about learning to drive. I can’t believe how laid back my dad was when he taught my brother and me to drive. The summer we turned 14, the family took a road trip vacation from our home in So Cal back to Bartlesville, OK, where my mother was born and lived until 1940, when her family moved to CA. She had a gazillion relatives still there we were going to see. Before we left on the trip, dad took my brother and me out in the family car to an empty parking lot and put us behind the wheel. It was a 1958 Buick Special 4-door sedan. What a boat! We each got a shot at it, for several weekends. We could barely reach the pedals and see over the wheel, but by the time of the trip, we were ready. Dad was comfortable with our new skills, and we were good to go. We didn’t need no stinking license.


On family trips, Dad almost always did the driving. It was pretty rare for Mom to hop behind the wheel. Dad had to be pretty wiped out for that to happen, even though she was a good driver. So Dad started out driving on the trip, and somewhere in eastern AZ or NM, he pulled over and let us drive. My brother went first, being 10 minutes older, and then it was my turn. For both of us, Dad hopped in the back seat and went to sleep. Mom had a death grip on the dash board. I can’t imagine why, two 14-year old boys driving a boat of a car at highway speed. We both started out at highway speed, but you know how when you get comfortable, the speed just creeps up. Pretty soon we’d be doing 80. And passing slower cars on a two-way highway.


We were on old Route 66. In some areas, we could see the new I-40 being built. The old highway was getting kind of rough, probably wasn’t being maintained in anticipation of the new interstate. Lots of Stuckey’s along the route. Still a few Burma-Shave signs on the road. Who knew it was the end of an era?


Anyway, we made it to Oklahoma safely, had a great visit with family, and made it back home, with two underage-but-now-experienced boys getting to drive on that leg also. That was pretty much it for us driving for the next year and a half. But when we turned 15-1/2, we got our learner’s permits, and we were raring to go.


By then, the family car had changed from the ’58 Buick to a ’63 Pontiac Grand Prix. What a great car to get a driver’s license in. Very nimble. Lots of power. Could easily spin and smoke the tires if you got on it. After 6 months of driving with the learner’s permit, passing the driver exam was a piece of cake. During the entire time, Dad never raised his voice, never seemed alarmed, and pretty much let us learn on our own. Even with that great example, I don’t think I did as well when I taught my kids to drive.


Would love to hear any other learning-to-drive experiences.

 

All the posts I’ve done so far were about my dad’s influence on me growing up. I’m going to write here about his instrumental help in putting together my first car, which was the ’36 three-window in my avatar photo.


During the summer of ’70, I was home on a couple weeks leave, and I told Dad I wanted get an old Ford, and fix it up. My plan was to keep it at home, and work on it whenever I was home on leave, until it was done. I was thinking of a Model A, but Dad convinced me to get a ’35-’40, said it would be more reliable. When the Sunday L.A. Times came out on Saturday, I searched through the classified ads and found a likely candidate. It was the ’36 three-window and was way out in the valley in Sylmar. I called on it, it was still available, and we drove out to look at it Sunday morning.


On the way out, Dad said he would help me with whatever car I got. When we got there, it was sitting on the driveway. It had had some work done to it sometime in the past. A metallic green paint job was pretty banged up, but very little rust. The front axle had been dropped. The engine had a dual manifold, but it sounded pretty rough. The interior had been done in black vinyl, and it wasn’t great, but still serviceable. Dad looked it over, we drove it around the block, kicked the tires, and Dad gave his ok. I paid the owner the $500 he was asking for, signed papers, hopped in, and started the long drive home. Dad followed in his car. The steering was pretty loose, the brakes were weak, and the engine ran rough, but we made it home before noon, without breaking down.


Over the next two years, Dad went through the whole car. Besides doing all the mechanical stuff (brakes, steering, etc.), he welded in a box on the right side of the firewall for a battery, and a box on the left side of the firewall to put hanging pedals and master cylinders on, for the brakes and clutch. He pounded out all the dents and replaced the bumpers with ’41 bumpers. Whenever I could get home, I’d help. One time we pulled the engine, took it to a local engine shop and had it rebuilt, then reinstalled it, before I had to go back. Had it bored .060 over and a mild cam installed. Another time, he already had it in gray primer when I got home, and we spent a couple days sanding it out, so I could take it to a local paint shop and have it color coated. After going through the shop’s paint chips, I chose a yellow close to my friend’s ’31 roadster’s color. I bought slotted aluminum wheels and had big and little tires put on. Dad picked up and installed a pair of Edelbrock heads and an Edelbrock dual manifold, two Stromberg 97’s, headers, a new distributor, and numerous other items.


One interesting incident happened one time when I was home. Dad had a neighbor electrician rewire the car, because the harness was a real rat’s nest. As much as Dad new about cars, he wasn’t very proficient at wiring. Evidently the neighbor wasn’t either. He rewired it using wire gauges that would be ok for 12-volt, either not realizing or not paying attention to the fact that the car was still 6-volt. I was driving it on the Santa Ana Freeway and smoke started pouring out of the hood. I pulled over as fast as I could, and Dad hopped out, opened the hood sides and started fanning the smoke. The new wiring had melted from overheating because of the smaller gauge wires. Fortunately, no major damage. We did have to get towed home though.


I planned on flying home and driving it back to New England in the summer of ’72. Dad not only had it ready for me, he had gathered a ton of spare parts and tools for me take along in the huge trunk. Just in case. My brother came along on the trip, and we headed out at night to make it through the desert when it was cooler. However, going over Cajon Pass, it overheated, and I had to pull over and let it cool. Two times. Eventually we got to Las Vegas. After that the car ran cool the whole way across country. Dad thought that the radiator boiling over probably cleaned it out. Somewhere in Nebraska, I had to change the fuel pump which started leaking badly. And in Ohio, I had to replace one of the 97’s for the same reason. I know, 97’s always leaked, but running fuel was excessive. So glad Dad had the foresight to load me up with all the extra stuff. Anyway, we made it all the way with no major calamities.


In New England, I drove the car year-round. Had to put studded snow tires on in the winter to keep it from sliding all over the road. Unfortunately, I got short notice orders at the end of ’74 and had a dilemma. I couldn’t take it with me, and I had no place to store it. So I sold it reluctantly, and became a member of the club of hotrodders who wish they still had their first car.


I got to duplicate the great example my dad set 30 years later with my own son. He had a ’68 Mustang he drove his last year of high school and all through college, but it had become pretty clapped out. So he and I did a complete teardown and rebuild of his car putting in a lot of very trick mods. The whole time I was working on his car, I was remembering and appreciating all that my dad had done for me.


So let’s hear any stories you guys have of your dads helping you with your cars, or you helping your kids with their cars.

 

This will probably be the final chapter in this thread on my dad. It’s about a special time when I was able to repay him (I think) for all the car-help he’d given me over the years.


Dad bought a derelict ’41 business coupe in the early ’80’s, and started tearing it down and rebuilding it. He was working long hours at his machine shop, so the rebuild went pretty slow. His plan was to put the same drive train in that he had in his ’36 race car, but make it streetable. That would include a flathead with a McCulloch supercharger (and slingshot manifold with two 97’s) up front and a Columbia two-speed rear axle in the back.


He completely rebuilt and improved both of those unique components (viz. the McCulloch and the Columbia). As far as the McCulloch he picked up, the oilite bronze bushing bearings were worn and a little sloppy, but the outer ends were ok, and he was able to reverse them them and reduce the slop in the drive. One time when I was out visiting him from back east, I spent a day in his shop shimming the impeller shaft to reduce the end play. Even though we could measure the amount of play with a dial indicator, it still took a lot of “bracketing and halving” to get the shim thickness just right, because every time a shim was cut out of shim stock, it had to be installed and everything reassembled and torqued to recheck it with the dial indicator. Sometimes too tight, sometimes too sloppy. Anyway, by the time we were done, the impeller spun really free.


The original design of the blower did not have any oil to the bearings (hence the wear). Dad installed oil fittings at each of the bearings, and he had a friend plumb stainless hard lines to all the fittings, and then ran pressurized oil from the block. As far as the Columbia, he completely tore it down also. The notoriously weak parts he re-engineered and machined new replacements. By the time he was finished with it, it was bullet-proof. Another time when I was there, he and I went down to Joe Reath’s shop in Long Beach to pick up the engine block, crank, rods, and pistons. Dad had Joe do the machining and balancing. I remember Joe asking Dad if he wanted him to put it all together, and Dad said no, that he could do that. Then we went into Joe’s office and they told stories of the “old days”. Joe was a really nice guy, and he could sure talk a blue streak.


By the mid ’90’s, Dad had a rolling chassis with drive train completely done. He was getting ready to close his shop and move back east, and I had recently moved back to SoCal. He gave me the ’41 to finish. I didn’t really want it, but I wanted to finish it for him. I got my son and some of his friends to go over to Dad’s and we lifted the body onto the frame and bolted it down. Then we trailered it to my house. So I now had the finished chassis and drive train with a primered body. I also had a whole bunch of parts (fenders, trunk lid, grills, doors, bumpers, running boards, etc.), but not everything. I had to source all the stainless trim, radiator (I got one from Mattson’s), gauges, and many miscellaneous items.


I worked on it for a couple years putting it all together—assembling all the body parts, glass, rubber, wiring, plumbing, getting the interior and painting done, and all the usual stuff to get a car on the road. Dad made a couple trips out during that time and helped me when he was there. But after it was all done and all the glitches were shook out, when Dad came out, we’d go to cruises and shows with it, and he would be like a kid in a candy store showing it off. He loved to talk about it. I had left the hood off the car for two reasons: I didn’t want to cut a hole in the hood for the high-rise carbs, and I wanted to show off the engine Dad built. A friend of mine always called it a “head-scratcher”, because nobody knew what they were looking at.


The car wasn’t a “show car”, but it was a good runner. Besides the drive train, it had some minor mods, like ’48 running boards which were flush with the doors, ’48 rear quarter windows (which pop out like wind-wing vents versus the ’41 fixed windows), lowered in the front, big and little tires, front turn signals cleaned off the front fenders and hidden behind the side grills, etc. But even though it wasn’t a big-buck car, everywhere we went, it gathered a lot of attention. Got a few magazine write-ups; won a few awards. A lot of fun.


Dad died in 2002, and after that the car didn’t mean as much to me. I always thought of it as his car, and the fun of it was sharing with him. A year later I decided to let it go and move on. Sadly (for me) the new owner yanked the slingshot and one of the ’97s to put the hood on and dropped it all around down in the weeds. It went through a few other owners and ended up in the Chicago area, where the new owner cleaned up some problems from lack of attention from the in-between owners. He did a nice job. Don’t know if he still has the car or not. Doesn’t matter, it served its purpose as a bonding facilitator for Dad and me. It was good for me to invest the time completing his car and seeing the enjoyment he got from it.


So, here is another call for your feedback. Any of you had a chance to pay back your dads for all they did for you? Let’s hear it.


Here are a few pics of the ’41.


'41 mostly finished (no car is ever really finished.)


First shakedown. Dad making a last minute adjustment.


Dad hops in, and we we're off around the block, obviously not legal.


On our way to a cruise. Car's still not finished, but getting there. No passenger door handle and no upholstery. But I love the grin on Dad's face.


Dad's engine. 59AB with McCulloch supercharger, slingshot, '97's.


Three generations of car guys. This was taken 22 years ago, Halloween Day 1999. We were on our way to a Santa Ana Drags Reunion put on by Creighton Hunter and Leslie Long.


After I sold it, the new owner lowered it and put the hood on.


How it looked a few owners later. This was taken about 5 years ago.

 

Since Father’s Day is approaching again, I thought I’d revive this thread. I’d like to invite anybody else out there, who has a lot of appreciation for any help or inspiration they got from their dad for getting into this great hobby, to share their experience.

I was recently going through some of my dad’s old photo collection. I saw some pictures that really stood out to me. I mentioned in previous posts that he was great at bodywork and painting, which he did full-time in the late ’40’s before he transitioned into machining. There are 7 photos (4 before and 3 after), that show a mild custom ’40 Ford Standard coupe with Deluxe taillights, ’41 bumpers, and flipper hubcaps. It had damage to both sides and the top. Looks to me like it might have been rolled. Anyway, the “after” pics look pretty good to me. I think it’s a fine testament to his bodywork and painting. I think the bodyshop was in Santa Monica, but I’m not positive. I doubt there’s enough background to ID the location, but does any of it look familiar to any of you?







This last photo has nothing to do with this topic, but I just had to throw it in. It was with Dad’s photos from El Mirage in the late ’40's. This coupe is high on my list of coolest cars. It doesn’t look to be a high-dollar showboat, but it has just the right stance, and it’s obviously “driven”. Plus, the bomber seat tops it off. I wonder what was under the hood, a full-house flathead? What do you think?


Happy Fathers Day to everyone!

 

I hope this post doesn’t get yanked for breaking rules. Even though it shows a non-“traditional hot rod”, I think the post is more about the person than the car. Here goes…

No matter how dedicated someone is to traditional hot rodding, many of us have other automotive interests also, even if they are only temporary diversions or distractions. In the mid to late ’70’s, while I was building a ’29 A roadster, I also built a “California-style” VW bug. (A lot of the styling cues for that type of VW came straight from traditional hot rodding, ie. dechromed, lowered with a rake, high performance engines, hood removed, etc.) My dad took it a step further at that time and built an ugly dune buggy.

His “dune buggy” was street only and never saw any off-road activities. The fiberglass body was a caricature of an early Ford roadster pickup with Model A-style bumpers, set on a shortened VW floorpan and chassis. He hung a hopped up Corvair six and Corvair transaxle out back. With all that power and engine weight out back, and overall light weight of the car, it was scary quick and could damn near pop a wheelie. It was also pretty squirrelly, being as short coupled as it was. After he built it, he didn’t keep it very long. I don’t know if he didn’t like driving it, or if he just wanted to get back to a traditional hot rod. At least he had a sense of humor about it—his vanity plate was LIFINO. Not many people were able to sleuth out the inside joke (“Hell if I know.”) Anyway, except this one straying, Dad was a “traditional hot rodder” for over fifty years, before the word “traditional” was applicable.




Here's a nice photo of Dad in 1959 that I haven't posted before. He had just begun on another project-a Model A Victoria. Vic with a Vic.



Happy Father's Day!

 

Happy Fathers Day to all you dads.

My dad always had a project going. From the time he was about 16. He moved to CA from eastern CO after being blown out by the dust bowl. From what I understand, he was a bit of a bad boy, and was dating the Mayor's daughter who later became my mom.
I wish I had pictures of his '29 AV8, but I can't find any. He used to "race" that out to Rio Nido to listen to the big bands play at a place out there. He joined the Merchant Marines at close to 17 and went to the pacific, ended up in Japan for VJ Day. Came back to finish High School and bought the Harley in the pic. When they were going to draft him and send him somewhere he didn't want to be, he enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Japan near Mt. Fuji (howitzer division and MP duties) for 2 more years.
The projects I remember most were a '29 PU that came to us in boxes, a Vicky, a '38 Plymouth Business Coupe, and a '32 Plymouth sedan, but he had all kinds of other car projects (not appropriate here). He passed about 8 years back after a short battle with lung cancer, and we all miss him a TON.

Here's him on his bike...


And him with my mother and her grandmother. Must be just before they were married.

 

Hey Jeff, thanks for sharing about your dad. Nice pics too.

 

I wish that I had some better pics of my dad and his cars, but much like me, he did what he could to be the one taking the pics and not being in them.

 

Hey Topher, I'm sure your memories are sweet, even without the pics. What kind of cars did your dad have?

 

My dad and his rpu the day he passed it down to my son. 2016.

 

This is gonna sound like a Johnny Cash song by the time I'm done.
I vaguely remember an early 60s F100, a baby blue 56 F100, a 68 ranchero, a 68 Shelby, 1940 Ford, 69 Mach I, a couple of 65 Mustangs, a rally Nova and a bunch more

 

Hey @flathead60 Thanks. Here are a few more shots of cars we worked on together...

My first truck. '62 IH

My second car (had in HS). '36 Ply 4dr

'38 Ply bus cpe

Burney Falls fire district ambulance that he restored.

 

So cool to keep it in the family.

 

Dick at 18. He liked GM cars like his dad. He wasn't a hot rodder per se but he could fix anything mechanical or electrical. An electrical engineer, dad specialized in government defense (and offense). Most of which he couldn't talk about. After he passed in 2008 we learned he was involved in AWACS, Lazer topography mapping, and much more.