05snopro440
Well-known member
That's a funny story, Bob. Amazing how communication has changed in a short number of years.
TBT: Bob's Car Adventures
- Thread starter bob w
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That's a funny story, Bob. Amazing how communication has changed in a short number of years.
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Great stories, Bob. Have you seen a Vicky lately?
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
I get unrequested emails from a girl in the Phillipines named Vicky.
Seriously though, you don't see them much anymore. Same for phaetons.
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Phaetons... now phantoms.
Vicky also makes phone calls for a credit card company.
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Vicky also makes phone calls for a credit card company.
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Just got the computer back from the repair shop so I'm a day late.
Mid '60's, I'm out of school, married and have a little girl. Living in a tiny house, long before they became popular. But it had a decent garage. My friend from school comes over and suggests we build a gasser. He knows where there is a '33 Willys sedan.
We head for Tomah, Wisconsin and get it out of the woods. Over the next year he and I make a gasser out of it. We've got a hack saw, a 3/8" drill motor, a cutting torch and a stick welder. I have a the best engine machine shop around build a 332" Chevy short block. My good friend Al Tshida lent me a set of Mondello heads which I copy. We put a Mopar torqflite behind it hoping someday to make it into a clutchflite. A '57 Chev rear end is in the back held in with Corvair coils and a flimsiest set of ladder bars you would ever see.
We flat tow out to Minnesota Dragways and thus begins our most serious attempt at drag racing. With the torqflite and no high stall converters available in the world (the best is a hemi converter) and no money for a clutch conversion, it was dreadfully slow off the line. It would blubber up to the timing tower and then take off like a scalded cat.
It ran mid-10's at almost 130mph and I felt I might lift off into space at the finish line. On subsequent runs I waited at the line in neutral, revved it up and punched the first gear button on green. Right in front of the "No Neutral Starts" sign. Got in trouble for that. We only ran the school bus yellow car a couple times then Jim moved away and took his share of the car with him. I kept the engine, trans and rear end and found an Anglia panel (Thames) body and frame and set about building probably the most unsafe gasser in the five county Mosquito Control District.
Mid '60's, I'm out of school, married and have a little girl. Living in a tiny house, long before they became popular. But it had a decent garage. My friend from school comes over and suggests we build a gasser. He knows where there is a '33 Willys sedan.
We head for Tomah, Wisconsin and get it out of the woods. Over the next year he and I make a gasser out of it. We've got a hack saw, a 3/8" drill motor, a cutting torch and a stick welder. I have a the best engine machine shop around build a 332" Chevy short block. My good friend Al Tshida lent me a set of Mondello heads which I copy. We put a Mopar torqflite behind it hoping someday to make it into a clutchflite. A '57 Chev rear end is in the back held in with Corvair coils and a flimsiest set of ladder bars you would ever see.
We flat tow out to Minnesota Dragways and thus begins our most serious attempt at drag racing. With the torqflite and no high stall converters available in the world (the best is a hemi converter) and no money for a clutch conversion, it was dreadfully slow off the line. It would blubber up to the timing tower and then take off like a scalded cat.
It ran mid-10's at almost 130mph and I felt I might lift off into space at the finish line. On subsequent runs I waited at the line in neutral, revved it up and punched the first gear button on green. Right in front of the "No Neutral Starts" sign. Got in trouble for that. We only ran the school bus yellow car a couple times then Jim moved away and took his share of the car with him. I kept the engine, trans and rear end and found an Anglia panel (Thames) body and frame and set about building probably the most unsafe gasser in the five county Mosquito Control District.
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Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Another great tale, Bob.
I've said it before and I'll say it again... I was born a generation too late.
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I've said it before and I'll say it again... I was born a generation too late.
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
I was at my most active in the 1960's. Especially involved in the "Gasser Wars". I was building gassers and so were some of the guys I knew. We were building Anglias and Willys. Naturally we all put one piece fiberglass front ends on the cars. Weight saving on the front, you know. Where did the steel front ends go? Well, my front ends and the front ends of some of friends, I saved. Couldn't throw anything away.
Hauled them out to my grandfather's farm. There they sat. And sat. And sat. Eventually grandpa died and the farm went up for sale.
The front sheet metal? I hauled it all to the scrap metal yard. Here's some pics of the front sheet metal I junked.
Hauled them out to my grandfather's farm. There they sat. And sat. And sat. Eventually grandpa died and the farm went up for sale.
The front sheet metal? I hauled it all to the scrap metal yard. Here's some pics of the front sheet metal I junked.
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Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
You'd make some pocket change on that stuff today.
Is that your Crosley in the background?
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Is that your Crosley in the background?
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Is that your Crosley in the background?
No, I took the pics when I dropped the front tin off at the yard.
No, I took the pics when I dropped the front tin off at the yard.
bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
It's Thursday boys & girls. Time to bore you with more early days adventures.
I went to every NSRA Street Rod Nationals for years. Back when there was one a year. Tulsa in 1976, Detroit, Columbus, St. Paul, Memphis, but never Louisville.
Always liked Anglias. Must be why I have one. Anyhow here's some snapshots taken at various Street Rod Nationals in the late 70's and 80's.
I went to every NSRA Street Rod Nationals for years. Back when there was one a year. Tulsa in 1976, Detroit, Columbus, St. Paul, Memphis, but never Louisville.
Always liked Anglias. Must be why I have one. Anyhow here's some snapshots taken at various Street Rod Nationals in the late 70's and 80's.
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Yes, Dr. C, I've always liked little, fast cars. Anglias in particular. I might make mine nice, like your desktop photo, someday.
I've reached the end of the old pics. This is the last one. During my VW period I had some left over parts. Also had some 1" square tubing and sheet metal. Combine that with severely limited skills and I came up with this (ahem) dune buggy.
The night I got it running my wife's cousin and her husband were over. He and I jumped in it and drove it around the neighborhood. He bought it right then and there. Around midnight he hopped in and headed for Minneapolis
A little back story: My wife's cousin's husband was going to the U of Minn. pre-med. on a stipend from a county in Iowa. No one knew he was spending all the money racing around buying cars and storing them in rented garages in sketchy neighborhoods. The reason he was racing around and never sleeping was because the rest of the stipend was spent on speed. The pharmacutical kind.
As a result, he forgot where he stored the buggy. It was never seen again. Which is probably a good thing.
I've reached the end of the old pics. This is the last one. During my VW period I had some left over parts. Also had some 1" square tubing and sheet metal. Combine that with severely limited skills and I came up with this (ahem) dune buggy.
The night I got it running my wife's cousin and her husband were over. He and I jumped in it and drove it around the neighborhood. He bought it right then and there. Around midnight he hopped in and headed for Minneapolis
A little back story: My wife's cousin's husband was going to the U of Minn. pre-med. on a stipend from a county in Iowa. No one knew he was spending all the money racing around buying cars and storing them in rented garages in sketchy neighborhoods. The reason he was racing around and never sleeping was because the rest of the stipend was spent on speed. The pharmacutical kind.
As a result, he forgot where he stored the buggy. It was never seen again. Which is probably a good thing.
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Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Another good story, Bob. [cl
How did Mr Speed turn out? Dead with a needle in his arm? I hope not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3oqvnDKQk
I'll tell a story if you don't mind...
A friend's father (Skip) built a similar VW buggy contraption with some help from my father. If you knew the two them, you'd already be cringing... anyhow, they made several "improvements" over the course of a couple years, until the day Skip pushed it a little too far...
He launched it faster and flew higher than ever before and it landed hard, pancake flat. It broke a few things, most notably the seat and his back. Mrs Skip went ballistic and that was the end of that. When Skip could walk again, he and my father repaired the buggy and sold it to a friend of his.
Now this may sound corny, but I'm not making it up. Skip had three sons and I had a younger brother, for a total of five young boys less than three years apart in age. We chose to name it "The Black Widow" and the name stuck, which didn't help Mrs Skip's demeanor at all. In a strange twist of irony, the next owner actually died in an accident which had nothing to do with the buggy, but the name bothered us kids when we heard about it.
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How did Mr Speed turn out? Dead with a needle in his arm? I hope not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3oqvnDKQk
I'll tell a story if you don't mind...
A friend's father (Skip) built a similar VW buggy contraption with some help from my father. If you knew the two them, you'd already be cringing... anyhow, they made several "improvements" over the course of a couple years, until the day Skip pushed it a little too far...
He launched it faster and flew higher than ever before and it landed hard, pancake flat. It broke a few things, most notably the seat and his back. Mrs Skip went ballistic and that was the end of that. When Skip could walk again, he and my father repaired the buggy and sold it to a friend of his.
Now this may sound corny, but I'm not making it up. Skip had three sons and I had a younger brother, for a total of five young boys less than three years apart in age. We chose to name it "The Black Widow" and the name stuck, which didn't help Mrs Skip's demeanor at all. In a strange twist of irony, the next owner actually died in an accident which had nothing to do with the buggy, but the name bothered us kids when we heard about it.
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bob w
Still crazy after all these years!
Mr. Speed spent many years paying back the money the Iowa county gave him. He quit the drugs, but is now battling lung cancer caused from lifelong smoking. He didn't go to medical school but did get a degree and was an instructor in a small college in Wisconsin.
He bought and sold a lot of hot rods through the years but couldn't turn a wrench.
Sounds like "The Black Widow" caused enough havoc.
He bought and sold a lot of hot rods through the years but couldn't turn a wrench.
Sounds like "The Black Widow" caused enough havoc.
earthman
Fascinated by rolling objects!
Tales of Yesteryear. I love these stories of real life and times. I try to forget my stories and i sleep better at night when i do.
Dr Crankenstein
Rocket Surgeon
Thanks for the rest of the Mr Speed story, I guess.
I'm sure we all know somebody who doesn't know which way to turn a screw. (A former coworker had several very nice cars, but couldn't do the simplest work on any of them.)
Skip retrieved "The Black Widow" from the actual widow, painted it red and sold it on her behalf. (The right thing to do, regardless.)
Tales of Yesteryear. I love these stories of real life and times. I try to forget my stories and i sleep better at night when i do.
C'mon, how bad can it be? [ddd
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