Has it really been that long?
Published Mon, Sep 28 2009 4:46 PM
My wife and I have plans for two new vehicles for the stable. She wants a Harley three wheeler, and I want a street rod. We’ve been talking about this for a while, and we were planning on waiting until we managed to sell the house and move to Tennessee, but plans change. It’s going to be a bit longer than we originally planned before we move, especially if Lucas does well in school this year, so we’re going to begin the acquisition process early.
The first part of the plan is figuring out what it’s all going to cost us. The tricycle will be easy to figure out, since we’re probably going to buy one new. The street rod is going to be a bit harder to plan, since it’s still not much more than a glimmer in my eye. We have settled on the type of car we’re going for though, and my plan is to build it myself over a term of years.
I’m going to build a custom 1933 Ford roadster, with modern suspension and running gear. Factory Five Racing has the frame and the body available as a kit, without the wheels, tires, engine, transmission, or rear end. That’ll be the baseline and we’ll move on from there, so at least that much of the cost is worked out. One thing’s for sure, it won’t be red like this one, and it won’t have a Chrysler grill…
Instead, the grill will be the more traditional 1933 Ford style, like this one…
As for that red, my wife wouldn’t like that, but we both like this color…
To help get things going, I’ve put the race car up for sale again, and I sold my 1966 Mustang. While I was going through my files to find the title for the Mustang (there’s a long story there, but let’s not get into it OK?) I noticed that I could find the title to all of my cars except the Mustang and my 1977 Corvette. Well, I can’t leave things like that, so I decided go down to the licensing office to apply for duplicate titles. It turns out the car is old enough now to qualify for Washington’s “collector vehicle” program. For an additional fee of $38 I can have the car licensed as a collector vehicle – and never have to pay for tabs again – at least as long as I live in Washington.
Since I was getting the title for the Corvette, I decided it was about time I dragged the car out of the garage and got it cleaned up and ready for a little weekend driving. When I got it licensed today, I realized that this beauty hasn’t been out of the garage in five years! It’s definitely past due. So we pushed it out of the garage and I washed it – A labor of love.
The exterior is mostly clean now, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Doing a proper detailing job will probably take most of a week. The gasoline in the tank is five years old, as is the oil, transmission fluid and coolant. Fluids go bad after a while so I’m not going to run the car with that old junk. I’ll have to drain the gas tank and fill it with fresh fuel. I also need to flush the coolant, change the oil and transmission fluid and replace the battery before I’ll be ready to fire it up.
Still, it’s nice to have the car out of the garage after five years. I’d almost forgotten how much fun it is to drive one of these.
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David responded with:
 | I once garaged an XJ-12 for four years. It was a bear to get ready for driving again. Just the seven-step coolant drain before flushing was "fun". *heh* Ended up having to temporarily replace one of the pitcocks (yes, more than one) with a rubber freeze plug just to get the coolant changed... The two gas tanks were easier to drain than the coolant.
I like the street rod idea, though of course, I'm slowly gathering plans, materials to implement something a lil different--a max fuel economy build. It'll be fun when I have the time to get A Round Toit. Until then, finding materials and plotting out (*bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!*) a build is fun.
I like the possible color choice. |
T F Stern responded with:
 | Great photos of some neat looking rides; love those old time fenders.
I rode a 3 wheeler Harley for the PD back in the 70's. It was fun; glad I was young and crazy at the time. We used to practice doing 180's and 360's. I once was assigned to work traffic around an accident off of Kirby Drive near the SW Freeway in a light rain. Upon approaching the scene I put the 3 wheeler into a 180 and dismounted all at the same time; what a show stopper that was. Fun! |
Stanford Matthews responded with:
 | Oh the pain of flashbacks me says. A 66 Mustang brings back some serious memories. Still on my list for one of the best all time. Especially the part about the 289.
It's a coincidence. A couple of days ago I saw a picture of a 39 Ford Coupe. That got me thinking. And then I stop in here.
Lots a motos Perri :-) |
ablur responded with:
 | very nice rides and great taste.
I never was much of a piston head. I always enjoyed working with wood.
I do love a good ride though. |
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