28 May 2014

Hurtlocker Truck - grill time


Here's another custom trick on the Hurtlocker Truck,
that I better write about before we forget how much work was involved!
It all started with a 50's corvette grille insert,
as stock much too small.
No problem,
another bar was sent out.
Ken must have spent hours putting this thing together.
Time to take it apart!
The trick was to section together the longer halves,
adding two extra teeth.
This made measuring easy,
as there was no option for measurement,
other than keeping the curve.
The shorter sections were welded too.
Maybe we'll build a car around that later on.
The extra teeth had arrived,
but the attachment kit wasn't included.
Another order.
You'd think they were made of gold.
I'd love to have their plastic bag purchasing contract.
The fit was just right.
Next up was the bumper.
There had already been a massive amount of work on it.
One end was bent out,
so it was cut and rewelded to fit.
The Nash bumper guard was also sliced up to match.
The chromer went to town hammering out the dents.
We were lucky the arc didn't change enough to hit the fenders.
I can't believe its the original bumper.
Super bitchin.
A couple brackets were welded up to attach the insert.
An old right angle attachment saved the day.
I'm so used to those twist chucks.
There will still be a background insert,
maybe a dark mesh or something.
It'll help blend in all the pieces
Yeah the hood isn't connected,
so it's out of alignment.

Gonna be one tough truck!
TP

27 May 2014

Memorial Day Karma

After a good day tinkering on Ken's camaro,
we took a detour up to the Fort Rosecrans Cemetery.
Typically packed for Memorial Day,
a chance to remember fallen heroes.
Also a good reason to drive family heirlooms.
When leaving a couple was stranded in their 389 Pontiac,
her passed on Dad's car since new - 1962!
Of course I had just cleaned the 40,
so no jumper cables or tools.
They were just about to call AAA.
No way!
Fortunately Ken lives maybe a mile down,
not too far to grab some cables.
The fun thing about old cars,
Is they can block the street,
and it ends up being a perfect photo shoot.
Anyway they tried to slip some beer money,
but it wasn't about that.
TP

26 May 2014

Waste Not...

I just realized a couple before pics weren't snapped.
It all started with a saved from the trash score.
My parents water heater blew.
How could I not reuse this shiny stuff!!??
There are a couple versions,
a cheaper bubblewrap style,
and this heavier felt scrap style.
The drawback is it soaks in water.
Finally the old carpet completes the package.
I did make the missing tranny hump piece.
Nothing too great although it deserved a picture.
Looks cush, huh!
So much quieter.
TP

22 May 2014

Orange Monster

A couple years ago,
a friend Mike and I went to check out 
one of the most beat up 30 coupe bodies I'd ever seen.
The guy had a bitchin garage,
full of hot rod projects.
His stuff was all over the map,
a 40's pickup with a Mercedes AMG running gear,
another 30'coupe,
and other chit I don't remember.
One of the reasons I take pics.
Seemed like a cool guy,
and he was close enough 
that I could drop by and check on progress.
A couple weeks later,
he died of an accidental gun accident.
The details are way too crazy.
I wondered what happened to his stash.
Well fast forward to now.
I meet this guy trying to walk his dogs.
He says,"I gotta 40 just like that!"
"Yeah, right", I'm thinking,
probably a Plymouth or old Volvo.
As his story unfolds,
I realize he bought some of the dead guys cars!
An orange 1940 ford 4 door sedan,
big block chevy with a 5 speed wedged in.
Fenderwell headers, 9" rear, black tuck'n'roll...
A real 60's sleeper.
The perfect family wagon.
I was expecting to see a street rod,
but this was way more bad ass.
I'll get some front shots once he gets it running.
Cool car, bummer story!
TP



21 May 2014

Waking the sleeping beast

The clouds parted over the weekend,
and I became a 4-barrel convert.
The old 40 ran pretty good,
the tame that I blamed on the rear 2.80 gears.
The electronic ignition conversion really helped,
but there had to be more.
Back in February I scored an edelbrock performer manifold for cheap,
complete with a later holley 4180 carb,
with way too much smog stuff engineered in.
A 4150 was scrounged up,
but it needed a rebuild and even now it's in pieces.
Then on a Craigslist hunt I found the $45 missing link.
The autolite 4100 was the stock ford 4-barrel,
and holley made a modded version - the 4010.
I liked the traditional top cover,
versus the split side covers of the 4150.
May be easier to tune,
but seemed like future leakers.
The 4150 did donate it's choke mechanism.
As usual there was a little fabricating.
The kit spacers didn't match up,
so a riser was made out of a phenolic scrap,
along with a Uncle Steve special gasket.
Hey it saved me $30!
Plus this one was made to fit.
As usual these carbs aren't set up for the AOD TV cable.
No problem.
The old weld a washer trick version 3.
I stick welded this one,
too lazy to drive to the tig machine.
If you notice the measuring is precision,
just equal 1:1 ratio to the throttle pin.
Next was the TV cable mount.
Still planned to use the stock ford/Lincoln  one.
I thought about making a new bracket,
and keep the 2-barrel mount around just in case.
Nah way too much time in that little slider piece.
Cut...stick weld...paint...
Another version 3.
Little by little everything came together.
Not too stoked with the gas line routing,
for now it works fine.
Thanks Mike for letting me borrow the air cleaner!
So how does it run?
Holey Chit.
Now it's a moonshiner.
With a light foot,
it drives like the two barrel.
With a lead foot,
the vacuum secondaries kick in.
After a little lag,
BAM this thing moves!
If I don't watch out,
I'll need to find a donor 302/5.0 to rebuild.
Next up some proper exhaust headers.
TP