The last Grasp Special '34 3 window build

Hi, I am the other half of the backyard fabricators, as always Geoff does a real good job with the stories , about the great time we have wreaching on our home build hotrods. And i also would like to introduce the new garage puppy into the clan, here name is Lucy. We call here Lucy loose she has brought new energy into my life again when I am all alone working in the shed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Tony. R.I.P...........Harry we miss you old pal.

 

Thanks for the comments guys.
Doc the 5 hour haul is more than worth it, for the quality time I get to spend with great friends. Let alone the enjoyment we have getting stuff done on the big hot rods and lil hot rods.
It is always great hanging out in Tony's garage, it has a great atmosphere. He has an amazing collection of stuff. I guess I do too. But my garage has a different vibe.
Geoff aka

 

The next day, which was the Monday; Tony and I just ticked around the garage doing bits and pieces and talking hot rods.
Late in the afternoon Carol and Frank came around as we were all going to Warrnambool. Rita wanted to get some curtain material and we all wanted to check out the antique mall, where Frank had got his bead rollers from. We didn't get anything, but it was a neat place to browse around in.
We then went to a place just out of Warrnambool called George Taylors. There they sell a bit of everything in the way of hardware and have lots of different stuff you wouldn't find anywhere else. I found a few bits and pieces to buy.
Heading back to Port Fairy, Carol and Frank asked if we would like to come and check out their caravan and have a drink. Which we did and ended up having a BBQ dinner their with them.
Tony, Frank and I sat out in the annexe talking hot rods. I talked a bit about the early days of the DLRA ( Dry Lake Racers Australia ). Tony got into the lakes racing a few years later and talked of some of his experiences there. The girls were in the caravan, talking about girl stuff I guess. It must have been around 9 or 10 o'clock when Frank dropped us back at Rita and Tony's.
We hadn't worked on the hot rods as such today. But we had a fun relaxing day. Some days it is just the simple things and time sent with good friends that count!
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Tuesday morning Tony and I took Lucy down to the beach. We also took Spencer T's lil push car, as I wanted to to take some images of it down by the water and on the sand.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

On returning back from the beach we were greeted by Spencer T, who with his mum Renee' and brother Jude had dropped by. So I took the opportunity to get a few shots of Spencer T in his lil hot rod.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

After taking the shots of Spencer T, Tony and I did a bit more on the Last Grasp Special. The alignment of the cowl to the body is now just about right. It will just require a little fine tuning and a bit more bracing, when I next return. At which time we will probably begin the chop.
After lunch Tony and I went out into the garage and took it easy for the next couple of hours before I was to leave for home. As we were talking I was just shooting random images with my camera.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

In his last post Tony introduced his new garage dog, Lucy. He either forgot to post an image or was not sure how to. So I will post a few.
Lucy got into a bunch of the shots we took at the beach. Here are 3 of them.

I love this next shot

Geoff aka whodaky

 

I mentioned George Peel earlier and the engine he built that will be going in the Last Grasp Special. Here is a couple of shots of the race car ( the Rea Weir Mumford # 24 gas modified roadster ) that it was in, wayback. It actually ran the class record at the time at 143.027 mph in 1999.
To take the record away from Mike Davidson in his '27 T modified roadster. A few years later Mike got that record back.
The V8 flathead only ran a couple more times in our #24 car, before it was removed!
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Ever since it was removed from the race car it has been sitting in the corner of my garage, gathering dust.
So Tony and I were throwing engine ideas around. One of those ideas being the nailhead out of his '32 5W. But something came up about the race car engine and I said maybe we should use that. Tony didn't hesitate and said he was hoping I would say that.
Talking to George Peel earlier this year at the Port Fairy rod run, he also thought it to be a good idea. We want to make it a bit earlier looking and George suggested an Edelbrock Super dual with a couple of '94s would be enough for this engine on the street. New headers will be made, as the ones George had made for this engine would be hard to use on this engine in a stock style '33/'34 chassis setup.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Great write up as usual Geoff.
It's great seeing mates enjoying each others company, sharing life's experiences and building cars together.
Keep up the good work

 

Loving this thread more and more.SpencerT`s push car is really neat.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

I was just going through an image folder here on my computer and found a couple of shots of Rita and Tony's last dog Harry. Not sure if they have seen these shots. Shots in memory of Harry!
Geoff aka whodaky

 

I haven't been able to get down to Tony and Rita's for a month or so. So nothing has been happening on the Last Grasp 3W.
However Rita and Tony had Diane and Lance Sorchik vist with them a week or so ago. Unfortunately work prevented me going down to Port Fairy and getting the opportunity to meet Diane and Lance.
From what Rita and Tony told me of Diane and Lance's visit, they had a great time and are hoping to return in the future.
So what have I been up to? Well this last few months I have been renovating our kitchen. So I have attached a little Christmasy shot of our soon to be completed stove area.

I have also been doing a bit of striping on Christmas gifts. Attached is a copy ( done by me ) of a Von Dutch classic ( 'Harvey Shakin, by Cross Breeding' ), but with a few extra original lines of my own added. This is a small trunk we are going to give our niece ( Ivy ), that will hold her Christmas gifts.

So to all who look at this thread I wish you a Merry Christmas.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

whooah whats that timing plate I see there never thought I would see that again there is a whole story behind that and Kev Dolores here in NZ kev was a real well known rodder here about the time that plate was awarded !!! amazing

 

Hi Russ Tee.
Tony's roadster is the old Kevin Delores channeled roadster. This hot rod was imported into Australia many years ago by Mike Cooney. Mike started on a complete rebuild, including unchanneling the body. A fair way into the build Mike got disallusioned with the build, mainly by some of the work that others had been doing on it for him. Because of this Mike put the roadster on the market and Tony was lucky enough to purchase the roadster and has now nearly completed the rebuild of this famous New Zealand hot rod from the past. Yes it is nothing like it once was, but it is the same car. Tony tried to use as many of the hot rod's original hot rod parts.
Tony, through his research and talking to Kiwi hot rodders did the timing tag as a tribute to Kevin Delores!
Keep an eye out for the new issue of Jammin Gears magazine for a history article on Kevin Delores' roadster as it was back in the day.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Thanks for that I remember riding in that car back when it was one of NZs top cars sadly Kevin is no longer with us but good to see the car lives on in safe hands.

 

Geoff,
Wow, you guys look loke you are having too much fun with all the projects you are working on,your progress and metal working skills are great keep the updates coming im loving your story telling.It is great to see another aussie thread here.
Regards,
Mick aka toranaback.

 

I'm really enjoying this Geoff, it sum's up what hot rodding should be about.

Nice to see Tony seems to be moving about a bit better than the last time I saw him.

you guys are doing great things.

 

Geoff, great job on the kitchen & striping on the trunk , have a merry Christmas and happy new year from Frank, Carrol & the girls.

 

Well now that Xmas is well and truly over, I thought I had better give some sought of update.
Nothing has happened on our coupe. However Tony has now got the roadster running and driving. He had a lot of help and encouragement the weekend of the Port Fairy rod run. I was talking to Tony and he now says he will have the roadster at the up and coming reliability run.
Tom, Frank and George were in Port Fairy this past weekend to give the flathead the final tune. I got a e-mail from Tony's daughter Renee' saying that the roadster has been out and about on the streets of Port Fairy. Renee' said little Spencer T was in his element, as was Tony also. I can just picture the smiles on their faces. Renee' said she had been for a ride in the roadster with Tony driving. Tony I think Renee' is really hanging out to drive that hot rod. Don't worry Spencer T could go with her, to make sure she doesn't give the flathead to much curry!
For me it has just been working on the kitchen, but it is nearly finished and looking not real bad. I even managed to incorporate some striping in various places. As well as got to use my bead roller on some window trim I made.
I hope to get down to Rita and Tony's in few weeks. Talking to Tony, we will proabably give Sam a bit of a hand with some of the body work on Spencer T's 5 window.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Really enjoying this thread. Good times and good fun.

 

Geoff, As you know by now I have got the roadster finished for the relibility run and the roadster ran real fine.Thanks for all your help, and if not for you and the mates that trashed on it at the end I would not have made it.

 

Your car looked great last weekend.

Good to see you out and having fun in old cars again.

Now drive the wheels off it.............

 

Reliability run?? Man that was a test for the roadster just to get it going and the drive to Melbourne was a task in itself, Im glad to see you drive the roadster after many years of coming around and seeing it progress,It got there..as I knew it would,It looks fantastic cruisin down the road.
Just enjoy it
Brando

 

Have just read the Jammin Gears bit on Tonys roadster its amazing all the owners and good early pictures of the car from being junk in a back yard to early show car "Isnt it funny how you remember a car as being the best it can be when in fact it was probably near to unsafe". It is also a great tribute to Tony the amount of work put into the car to get it where it is today and the standard of his workmanship which is also showing on his coupe. The piece in the Jamming Gears takes up about a third of the mag but is very in depth on this survivor car. Thanks for this thread showing how it is done its one of the best.
Rusty

 

For a tiny country we have at least five hot rod magazines all diferent in there own way and all well worth reading Jammin Gears is a small format mag but is always great reading.
Rusty

 

Hi Russ Tee;
Thanks for the update on the article in Jammin Gears. We are waiting patiently for our issues to arrive.
I was down at Port Fairy at Rita and Tony's this past weekend. Tony and I made a start on the chop and it is shaping up well. Still a lot to do before the chop is completed, but we are real happy. I will be doing some posts on the chop in the next week or so.
I got to ride in Tony's roadster whilst I was there and it runs as good as it looks.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

Good to see you are back at it.
And Tony's roadster is very cool.

 

A couple of weekends ago I went down to Rita and Tony's place to begin the chop on the 3W. I haven't had a chance until now to do the following posts.
As Monday 11/3/13 was a public holiday ( Australia Day ) here and I had an RDO ( rostered day off ) on the Tuesday as well. I had organised with Tony to go down to Port Fairy for a bit of hot rod building and R&R. As it turned out, it is a bit quiet at work at present so I took the Friday before off, giving me 5 days away!
I left home at my usual 4 a.m. and headed off into a very warm early morning. Here in Victoria we had been having a long run of very hot days. Actually it is a bit unusual for this time of year!
So after a very pleasant 5 hour drive I pulled into the Cassar driveway. I was greeted by Rita, who was painting the window-frames on the front of the house. She had got an early start, to beat the heat and possibly the wind of the day.

So I got out of the pickup and went over to chat with Rita. As it turned out Rita was painting the window frame outside the kitchen dining area and Tony was sitting having breakfast. So we could all talk through the open window, whilst Rita continued to paint. I stood outside for a while like this. I then went inside and sat down at the table, with us all still chatting.
Tony made me a coffee and he then began to flick through a couple of books ( Rikster's book and the book on New Zealand Hot Rodders garages ) I had brought down for him to borrow and read!
In this post I will include a couple of shots of Tony's roadster. This would be the first time I had seen it outside apart from images from the recent River City Reliability Run.
Geoff aka whodaky

 

After a while Tony and I headed out into the garage. Initially we discussed what we hoped to get done over the course of my 5 day stay. Which was to basically get a big start made on the chop of the 3W.
The first thing we did was to move the the coupe out of the main area of the garage into what is Tony's build area. We postioned the body where we wanted it and then placed the jack stands under the chassis.

Next we did the final alignment of the cowl to the body, along with getting the door gaps reasonable. With these couple of things done, we added more bracing into the body. We have way more bracing in the body than would normally be required for a chop. Because as I had said in a previous post, we are breaking all the unwritten rules of chopping a top. That is, this body has no floor, the cowl isn't attached to the body at all ( remember we had replaced the cowl that came on the body ) apart from the bracing we had added and the chassis is only together by bracing ( but it is solid and within spec )!
Geoff aka whodaky