Hot Rods Paging Pgan - Build thread for the sedan?

Soooooo glad you've given s an opportunity to enjoy your wring again! I was sad to see that you had "retired" from the books and magazines side of writing. I've enjoyed the peeks you've given us into your home shop over there years too! It's fun to see a car hero's shop's and build styles are just like one of the regular guy's!

 

It’s looking so good Pat! I really enjoyed following Bill’s Instagram posts of the chassis build up. It’s a great build


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This is for (A) anyone who might care or wonder what's been going on with this project, but probably moreso (B) for the many of you who can empathize with the situation. It's called "interruptions." As you can graphically see in the first photos, the '33 project has been literally pushed to the side to make way for other timely projects, not to mention unexpected interruptions.


Ignore the coat of dust. The good news is that everything other than the hood now has a good first coat of black lacquer on it, and by now it has had time to shrink adequately to be ready for wet-sanding with 360-grit and a second coat of black. It seems like ages, but it's actually been less than a month since this was done. Hopefully today I will start sanding.



The most immediate interruption was getting 'ol No. 9 (or is that 99?) ready for the highly touted, but ultimately disappointing, "Dragfest" at Famoso Raceway this past weekend. Getting an alcohol-fueled vintage car like this ready to run--and then purging and cleaning it afterward--is a lot of work. But this was a "must go" event for me since I was promised by the promoters that I could finally make some full, timed 1/4-mile passes under "early Fremont rules." Also, as some of you have seen elsewhere on the HAMB, Sam Strube was bringing out my old Low Buck Special from those early Fremont days, to run for the first time in 30-some years. My yellow F-100 would push-start both cars. How could I miss this?
Well, to keep the story short: I made one relatively weak pass in my ancient rail, and was summarily kicked out by the track owners/management, saying "This is our track and our rules." So we fired up the Low Buck, which sounded wonderful to my ears, but then the mag died on the push-down road. Thankfully a borrowed Chevy mag and late-night work by Sam swapping mag parts got the Low Buck running again Sunday, and Sam made a beautiful, tire-smoking half pass for his first run in the revived car. The track owners were grumbling about this car not being legal, but at least Sam fit under the 5-point cage. So we pushed down again Sunday morning and--as I suspected he would--Sam hooked the car up and blasted a 9.35/155mph run, nice and straight. Well... We were told in no uncertain terms by the track owners: "Load that thing up and get it out of here, now!" So we both got kicked out. I figure we get some bragging rights for that. But the fact that Sam got in two great runs with his "new" car gave a great ending to an otherwise shitty weekend.
OK, this is supposed to be a build-site, not a rumor or opinion blog, so I'll just say that this was only one interruption of several. I won't enumerate, but you know how it goes. So I'll stop here, get back out in the garage, and hopefully have more '33 Ford build-site progress to report relatively soon.
Cheers, PG

 

If you knew they’d kick you out weak pass or not ya may as well make it a strong one glad to hear @SamIyam got a good pass in

 

Not sure how I missed this thread. Loving it.

—louis

 

Hi Pat,
I followed Sams updates on Instagram. The Lowbuck Special sounded very crisp! The VERY sad thing with what is now “trendy” type nostalgia events these days is that the emphasis on nostalgia is lost by over regulation and the emphasis is about making money rather than encouraging the proper cars and people to attend to put on a great show in which the money will follow.


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First, to answer Tim and Greg: Tim, I didn't make a weak run on purpose. Something was off on the tune-up (that I didn't find out 'til I ran a full 1/4-mile). But you can't retune if you can't make another pass to check it.
Greg, it's not about making money, the regulations are about insurance and liability and lawyers. I just got a personal letter from the manager of the venerable Antique Nationals (in which I've participated since the '70s), telling me not to bring my dragster unless it meets NHRA specs. So that's the end of another good thing. But then I realized not only are Famoso and Fontana NHRA tracks, but they're both sponsored by the Auto Club (AAA), which is an insurance company. Amen. Enough off topic.
Below is visual evidence that I am making some progress on the Fordor. I got everything wet-sanded with 320. And not until the last piece (driver's door) did I find one that needed a bit more bodywork and blocking. So it had to be reprimered and sealed. But I got a good coat of black lacquer on it, the two rear fenders, inside areas of the body, and the firewall and cowl. You can see other sanded fenders and doors waiting their turn, and a bit of the chassis, which waits patiently until this painting is done. Onward.
PG

 

I can see the feature story now: "Twenty-two coats of hand rubbed black lacquer!"

 

Progress. Since Wednesday I got a couple of coats of paint on the outside of all the fenders, doors, splash apron, and the inside areas of the body. Then, after wet-sanding with 360, sprayed a couple good coats on the outside of the body, as seen. This might be good enough to color-sand and rub out, we'll see as we go. Yesterday I turned the fenders and doors over and shot the beads, jambs, and some of the insides (fenders will be undercoated).
Body, as sprayed. Maybe one ore coat...
Half the fenders and doors, insides. Other half of fenders and doors.
One big problem of garage painting is finding clean space to paint stuff, and other places to store stuff. No, I didn't paint the fender on the chassis, it's stored there for the moment. One great thing about painting lacquer is no endemic overspray on everything else in the garage.

If the body rubs out OK, I get to start on the chassis, and then put the body back on it. Think this is getting tedious or boring? Imagine how I feel. But also understand what's involved when a good painter gives you a quote for painting your rod or custom.

Cheers, Pat

 

Keep up the Great work Pat,Maybe we’ll see it at LARS!,Lucky

 

Looks like "retirement" is treating you well, Pat. Have you looked into racing the #9 car at other tracks? I'm not sure if Magoo is still running it, but he always had a nice selection traditional cars and dragsters turning out for his King of Clubs event down at Barona. The Eaglefield drags? Then there's the Billetproof Eruption drags up here in the northwest I'm sure you could run at if you're willing to make the trek. The only bummer is that those strips are an 1/8th mile. And of course there's the HAMB drags.

 

Q Vo Hueso,
I was turned down by recent "Nostlgia" events at Barona and Tucson. But Sam and I will have both the LowBuck Spl. and No. 9 at Eagle Field in a couple of weeks. Would love to do HAMB drags--but do you realize how FAR Mo. is from Cal? Especially in a '56 pickup with a 2-wheel open trailer? Not this year, but maybe...
Meanwhile am watching paint dry (and shrink) on the '33. Had to strip and redo one rear fender. Am awaiting delivery of more lacquer (for more coats) at my paint & parts store. Manana.
Pat

 

I didn't know lacquer was still available, mind sharing your source?

 

Maybe with some coordination with Ryan some of us might be able to help fund the traveling fuel for you to visit the HAMB strip in the middle of the cornfields. I'd love to see you blast a real run down the track.
-Dave

 

I can smell the progress from here! Looks good Pat! I know you won't stop until it's right.

Sam

 

Dean wants to visit MO. Say's hell help drive -- both vehicles!

 

Q-vo Patricio!

It may be far, but we know it can be done! And maybe you could get the Rodder's Journal to fund a portion of the trip for a post retirement article?

 

Well, we're pretty far off topic here. But I had to chuckle over the last couple of entries. As far as I know, no rod mag has ever paid any freelancer any sort of travel expenses for any stories--at least not to me in the last 20+ years. However, I do appreciate the suggestion. Thanks.
But the question is not really the cost of the trip, but rather the damage that would inevitably be inflicted on my vintage truck, trailer, and race car by the length of the trip and the state of America's current highways. We broke a front leaf spring in the lowered F-100 just going to Santa Maria last summer. And the dragster had one broken front leaf when I got it, even though Taros installed a strap on the front axle, to keep it from bouncing, when he towed it. People don't realize that dragsters endure much more wear and flex riding on a trailer than they do running flat 1/4 miles. Gene Adams taught me to inflate an inner tube under the oil pan on our Hemi rail, which worked well. What I need is some chassis rework on the F-100 and maybe a better trailer for long-distance towing. I dig the whitewalls and Cad caps on Ivo's--that's the ticket! But look at his tow car: a brand-new, cushy, unlowered Cadillac. Cool, but not my style.
PG

 

Hi there Greg, did you buy Pete Dore's STR Engineering? Been in Australia for years so not up to date now days concerning Auckland rodding, used to hang around with Steve levine, Colin Crooks , haven't talke with Rod Brown and Gary Childs or Dave Graham for ages! Still got a couple of rods I'm trying to build here including a 34 Willy's roadster pick up, it's not a traaditional rod but will sell this one to finance the Traditional 34 Ford and 32 Ford pick up's , just thought I would drop you a line, Bretto

 

Hi Brett, good to hear from you. No I hung out at Pete’s STR shop growing up. Was inspired by his yellow roadster and built mine. I have started GMS Hot Rods - search my posts on here. Keep in touch, Greg




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Still plenty of diversions going on here in SoCal, but some things are moving--literally--in the Ganahl garage. The news is that painting is done for the moment, and as you can see the chassis and body have switched places, because it's time to get the frame fully disassembled, painted (spray cans'll do, thankyou), reassembled, and mated to a rubbed-out body. I also removed the center section from the 9-inch rear (which came out of my F-100) and took it to Hooper's Rearends for checking because it felt a bit sloppy. Very mysteriously (???) my 3.50 diff turned out to be a 3.23, so we all agreed a 3.70 gear would be better with the 700R4 o.d. trans. So Hooper's rebuilt it with a new set of 3.70s.
It's hard to get photos in a crowded garage, let alone find places to store things. So fenders are now hanging from the rafters like slabs of beef to cure before rub-out.
The engine has been waiting patiently in the corner, along with the trans, both built and ready to install. Over in another corner the dragster is all apart again, trying to figure out why it didn't run as well as it should've last weekend at Eagle Field. Hopefully Bob McKray and I will figure that out next week, after Anna and I get back from what we fully expect to be a fun weekend with the West Coast Kustoms in Santa Maria. Boy, I'm glad I'm not working.

ADEEOS,
Pat

 

Progress is always good , just have to get at least one thing done every day. Looks great so far .

 

Great progress Pat. I saw a video of the dragster at Eaglefield. Boy it sounds great when you stomp on it!

Which car are you taking to Santa Maria ?

Thanks,
Greg


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Hard to believe it's only been a couple of weeks since the last post here. Eagle Field with the dragster, Santa Maria in the F-100 (since I don't have a custom now), then yesterday I drove my '32 roadster down to the venerable Early Times Picnic, and they gave it their Best Open trophy. Wow. Didn't see that coming--and a huge honor coming from those guys. In between had to take the pump and injectors from the dragster down to Don Enriquez at Hilborn to try to figure out a top-end problem (not solved yet). So yes, retirement is wonderfully busy. I love it.

But in between I have been working on the '33. Step 1 was to tear the chassis down to a bare frame (carefully bagging and marking all part--especially fasteners--to know where they go back), and to buy lots of spray cans of paint. The best thing about this car is (1) it will never be in a car show, (2) it won't be in any magazine, and (3) it's being built to drive. Yes I love chrome, but I made up for my childhood deprivation on my '32 and race cars. On this one the frame is now rattle-can gloss black, and detailing is being done with "hammertone" silver and gray. Here's the beginning:
The rearend housing is gray, the ladder bars are silver. The center-section was a take-out from my F-100, so I had it rebuilt by Hooper's. They and Bill suggested a 3.70 gear would be best with the 700-R4 trans, so I had them install that new ring and pinion. Ganahl cheap trick--use a worn-out buffer pad on your floor jack.

With the diff installed in the housing (with P&J Panhard brackets attached ), it was hung on the coil-overs with ladder bars attached. Adjust the Panhard bar to center the rearend housing, using a T-square to measure from the outside frame rails to axle ends. This is like building a 1:1 model kit. Fun.

Bill (aka South City Rod & Custom) fit and installed the complete brake system. So after storing them in a clean and dry place (and not bending anything), it was a simple mater of painting a couple of brackets, and reinstalling, starting with the master cylinder and proportioning valve.
And this is as far as I got last week. Nice brake lines, Bill. Plus P&J sway bar.

I also got most of the front-end parts spray bombed. Somehow painting always seems to include some careful masking. I love painting, but I hate masking.

I like SuperBell products fine, but I didn't care for their winged logo in the middle of the dropped axle, so I very carefully ground it out, front and back. Then hit it with "Hammered" silver.

Now that I've got this done, it's time to get back out in the garage and hang that axle in the frame, along with front and rear brakes. Might even get it back on wheels. We'll see.

Cheers, Pat

 

Are you gonna rub out the frame rails before or after you assemble all the suspension? I'd think the axles would be in the way.

 

Ha Ha Ha!

Roo

 

Sounds like the frame and suspension are getting the same treatment your 32 Chevy did a long time ago. Thanks for keeping us updated.

 

Naw, the axles didn't get in the way of rubbing out the frame....
And I'm making other progress, starting with the rear axles and brakes.

Do you have any of these bent wrenches? Sometimes they're the only thing that will fit for certain jobs.


With brake lines hooked up, rear suspension is now done. I won't tell you why I had to do this job twice (axle housing seals...yes, you need them even with sealed axle bearings).


Moving to the front: I really don't care for the bolt-on lower front shock mounts all street rods have today (I made my own for my '32; but this is a 1-800 street rod project, so this is what it gets). But my pet peeve is crooked ones. So I used a piece of tubing to align it and hold it in place while I super-tightened the 3/4" bolt with a breaker bar.

I also prefer covered front shocks. Bill had just gotten a pair of shorties now made by SoCal, and sent them, but they required an odd-sized upper bushng to take the typical 7/16" upper mount bolt. We didn't have any, so I figure it'd be easier/quicker to make them on my trusty, old, well-worn lathe.

Thing were going fine up the Grapevine hill... Yes, I was wearing leather gloves and protective glasses, but after a very weird encounter between the cutting bit and my right wrist, and an afternoon at Urgent Care getting Super-Glued back together (no lie), I did get the simple bushings made (on the second try, of course).

Mounting the front shocks requires adding the front fender braces, which would be in the way, so they'll come later. Otherwise, with tightening the brake lines, the front end is now complete.

This work was interrupted by fun trips in my roadster to the Early Times Picnic and the L.A. Roadsters Show, not to mention picking up the nose and grille for my Spalding Roadster project at Dennis Webb's (see that site). Yes, I'm enjoying retirement. But the coupe de grace for this chassis was bolting the wheels and tires back on last thing yesterday, and putting it on the ground. With any luck--and no freak accidents--I'll hopefully get the engine/trans installed today. I'll be careful.

PG

 

Looks great! This is simple hot rodding at it's best. Nothing fancy...it just plain works. Thx for taking us all along.

 

Nice to see ya building a Model 40!! Great Choice!!!!!