A-V8ers Car Club Plaque --Home Made

No self-respecting car club should be without a means of marketing themselves.  And in the traditional hot rod sense, it's done with a cast metal plaque screwed to the back a jalopy.

The A-V8ers are no different.  But as we are who we are, we'll make them ourselves!

I promised almost a year ago I would show readers how I made the A-V8ers plaque  --and the wait is over!  But I gotta tell 'ya, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.  From design to completion was an uphill battle.  Yes, the learning curve was steep.  But I gained many new skills along the way.  And the final result... glorious!

So click on the new page link: Our Car Club Plaque, to start making your own.

Mile-High Hot Rodding

Not Los Angeles

The week following the LA Roadster Show I thought I'd show my appreciation to my good friend Ed Gallagher by crashing at his place in Denver for five days --and with only one week notice!

For the past few years Ed has lived in Parker, Colorado working for the Starz Network in Denver. And he's been wanting me to visit The Mile-High City to show me the car sights and the car he's building.  So after his seven trips to LA, I thought it was time for me to go Rocky Mountain High --Colorado.

Ed only comes back to LA twice a year for two reasons: a good car show, and a better car show.  And I always welcome him to stay on our couch in the one-bedroom apartment where my wife Wendy & I live.  He was here for the LARS just the week before.



That's Ed driving in the 1928 Model A-V8 he built while he was living in Burbank.  And since moving to the Denver area, he's built another car; a nostalgic '28 roadster pick-up he sold through ebay.

Ed's Colorado garage has plenty of room for both his classics and the '32 roadster he's currently building.

Yes, he's moved on to bigger and better things --literally!  The 32 is a bit larger then the A-V8s we're used to.  It's taller, wider, and much roomier inside.

Ed has time and space to do it right.  Nothing rusts due to the consistently arid environment.  So there is no rush to paint conditioned parts such as his frame, suspension, or bare metal deuce body.

With the exception of the body, the majority of the car is vintage Ford parts.  Ed resurrected the original deuce frame & suspension that was once used as a hayride on a Nebraska farm.

He's spend many hours recondition vintage original parts for this very nostalgic, California-correct hot rod.

Here, Ed is working (I assisted) with the vintage 1950s 8K Stewart Warner tach & mechanical drive that will mount on the front of the flathead V8.

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Most of my visit Ed & I drove around in his newer Ranger pick-up with A/C --it's hot up there!  But we did have some much needed roadster time (with all-natural A/C).

Country road to where Ed can enjoy driving.  Very flat and not very many trees.

One of our stops.  We met Art Jennings --Model A Collector.

Ed's friend Art is a true Model A enthusiast and builder.  He has about ten of them, mostly stock but a few modified. They are all beautiful and Art lives to drive them... and I'm talking about 1000 mile trips.  He's got a '28 roadster hot rod much like Ed's, coupes, sedans, a pick-up, a wood-paneled station wagon (I'm not going to say it), and a very fun looking one-seat speedster.

He says it's fast --for a Model A!

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The NSRA Rocky Mountain Street Rod Nationals just happened to be the same weekend as my visit.  It also had a swap meet, so we had to go.  This would also be my first car show not in California, and it was an eye-opener!

Sure there were many quality street rods & customs like you'd see at any national meet.  But also a lot of cars you wouldn't see in (for lack of better words) fashion-conscience Southern California.

Cars like this:

A very confused car.  Mirrors underneath if you forgot what dirty grease looks like.

Every part of this machine was to-the-extreme!  It's hard to find words to describe it.  It's even a four-seater so the family can come along.
I have to believe this is part joke/ part rebellion from over-prices street rods. Please be a joke!

I think it this one was a Buick.

This one is a little tamer.  But none the less out-there.  I think it's made from what the owner had around, and less of a "statement car" like the one above.











Now this was more like what I expected! Honest hot rods with tractor grills.  I really do appreciate these --no joke.  From the Heart-Land!







 
If you are familiar with the NSRA, you'll know that the 'SR' stands for Street-Rod.  And sure there were a few very nice street rods... about 500 of them (out of a 2400 car show).
But if you know me, I am all about 'HR', and I was able to find a few at the show to share with you.





We liked this Hot Rod.  It had a great stance and all the nice parts: flatty, QC rear, aircraft seats, 18" rear wheels, 32 frame, etc.  And just enough chrome to keep it down to Earth.











I'm showing you this because I'd like to own a 33/34 roadster just like this someday too.










This is Eric Schill's deuce.  Once a dry-lakes racer, it has a speed-trial plaque on the dash. It also still has a lot of old-fashioned mods, and was pretty cool to see up close.

Ed Gallagher Is Building A 32 Roadster

I have mentioned it before, my personal good friend Ed (and fellow A-V8ers member) is building his very own 32 roadster hot rod.  It's going to be a full-on traditional ride, of course.  He's staring with an og. deuce frame.

I originally met Ed at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank just after he bought his first '28 roadster.  I was well along in the build of my first Model A/V8 at the time and we struck accord over our same tastes in Fords.  To his dismay, Ed is currently stuck in Denver Colorado.  But he will return to LA someday he says, he  loves it here.

Now that Ed has graduated to 32s and he has just begun documenting it in "So You Want To Build A 32 Roadster?", click the name to read his blog.  Then bookmark it, and follow along as he builds it from the ground up.

The Hot Rod Disorder –One Year Later

Never did I think when starting this blog, I would have actually followers. The anniversary was actually two weeks ago. But I hadn’t notice until corresponding with Jared, or ‘McFly’ as he's known on the HAMB.

My original intention for writing was just a place fete my opinions for self-entertainment. And maybe a hot-rodder I didn’t know would read it, find it useful, or be mildly amused. But that is why every blog is written, right?

At first it was nothing special; I started it one day while bored at work. I didn’t have many subjects to write about, so I started with an introduction. Later, I used some of the discussions Ed Gallagher & I started in emails as a jumping off point for a post, like Power Plant Preference for instance. But now, the growing database (eyes rolling) is attracting more people every day. Basic Hot Rod Wiring, by far my most popular post, getting up to 20 search finds per day. Before that, I might get one view a day to the blog, maybe two. As a result, my Google search standing is higher.

My first was post was September 21, 2009.

Chapter II

October 30, 2009 --A simple Craigslist search while at work (I was bored that day) would change my life forever! The next morning I would be the owner of an actual “Survivor” hot rod (I have to thank my wife too). Owning a car like ‘Daytons’, is the once-in-a-lifetime experiences people talk about. It’s my honor to own this car --it felt more like a dream then reality taking the car home the first day. I hope to write more on the car that Bill Bair built, in future posts.

Overall, blog views are steadily going up. Obviously, actual tech articles are searched out more then opinion. So I’m planning some more tech. Soon you’ll be reading how I made my A-V8ers car club plaques from scratch --I poured 1250º aluminum in my backyard, it was thrilling!

Finally, the last thing I want to do is bore the reader of waste their time writing about stuff I do or opinions. So if you find any reason to add a comment or add your own opinions to my posts, please do, I welcome it, --questions too!

Cesario's Roadster Pick-Up

This is a video Ed Gallagher shot (I was there). Ed, using his mad editing skills, also put the video together beautifully. The car is a roadster pick-up (RPU) he & I built in our spare time. Notice my A-bone is in the a couple of scenes. Our buddy Cesario Tio owns it now, he's a member of the AV8ers too. He has kept it looking the same.