I wasn't able to get time away for a few weeks owing to other commitments anyway so I hoped the discs would arrive in the meantime, as that would mean the chassis would be rolling and it would make it much easier for transport.
Unfortunately though, two weeks later they still hadn't arrived. Do you think that stopped me bringing home the chassis? Not on your life. In fact, instead of having my mate Graham Sheldrake bring the chassis home on his freight truck as I'd originally planned, I decided to make a road trip out of it as I wanted to really get involved in this. It is a pretty damn exciting stage and I was dead keen to be part of it.
So the plans were made and as it turns out it was a great idea as it meant a boys weekend away which is always fun, and it also meant I could go down via Hawkes Bay and pick up a differential Gear Set and a Limited Slip Diff Head that I had purchased on Trademe. What's even better than that is Phil (the guy who wired the engine) suggested I bring the patch loom down so he could show me how it all went together and so I could hear it running.
So off we went calling in on every hod rod parts shop we could find along the way, arriving in Wellington on the Friday afternoon, just in time to pick up the chassis before Juniors Kustom Rides closed.
Here are a few pics. When we got there the chassis was all hooked up and ready to go.
The wheels I bought had kinda become surplus to requirements but the forklift would mean it was still quite an easy job to the chassis on the trailer.
We then found the wheels came in handy after all as they made a good cushion for the chassis to sit on.
Now that we were all tied down, we were ready to shoot up to Phil's place for a catch up, fish and chips, a couple of bourbons to warm up a bit and of course to fire up the engine. I wonder if that's what heaven will be like?
You can see here the engine is getting plugged in. That's the computer in the foreground with the pliers on top of it. It was colder than a frogs tit that night in Wellington but that didn't stop any of us getting this thing running.
You can see here the engine is getting plugged in. That's the computer in the foreground with the pliers on top of it. It was colder than a frogs tit that night in Wellington but that didn't stop any of us getting this thing running.
Here's a clip of the engine running. It sounded a bit hairy and I thought it was because it was cold and because the computer was relearning the mixtures etc........but no Phil let us all know just after this, that the missfiring was because it was up on the rev limiter 6500rpm just like that!!!!
This engine is going to be exciting!!!!
After that Phil had the idea of digging his 34 Ford cowling out (he will be using his to build a Woody wagon one day) and trying it on the chassis for size. This would give Phil an idea of what he was aiming for as he will be building his own custom spaceframce chassis for his rod, and it also gave me an idea of how much I was going to need to recess the firewall in order to have the body fit in behind the Lexus V8.
As you can see there isn't too much work required here as this is sitting pretty close to where I want it.
You can just see a hole in the top of the chassis rail just in front of the white fibreglass. That is a threaded hole where the body will bolt down. So it only needs to come forward about 2 more inches in order to fit. Not too bad!
Here's a view from inside the car.
Pretty happy with the whole thing really, so off to the motel for a few bourbons and a good nights sleep before heading back home. With that cold weather I mentioned above we were wondering if we might even see snow on the desert road on the way home.
The day dawned reasonably fine and still very cold but not cold enough to snow, so we had a good run home and even stopped on the desert road for a few photo's with Mt Ruapehu as backdrop.
And here's one with the neighboring Mt Ngaruhoe in the background.
And one of Mt Ruapehu on its own.
A week later and here is the chassis at home all set for a bunch of mates to come round for a nosey. I put on a BBQ and a few beers and I had the brazier all set to go in case it got cold, but it was brilliant day.
Quite a few turned up to chew the fat and see what all the fuss had been about. My daughter Leisa and her partner Kane came up too along with my Grandson Oliver. It was really cool having them there too.
This is Bob & Freda's 32 Ford 3 window Coupe.
This is Geoff Sadlers 32 5 Window Ford Coupe. Pretty full on car that does 10's down the 1/4 mile.
This is Roger Dukes 56 Dodge truck. He got this from a pile of parts to this finished product in about 8 months. Roger is well known for getting the job done and is a great source of motivation for me. Even today he had the wrenches out turning a few bolts on my chassis.
Brian & Sandra have quite a collection of vehicles. This is Sandra's Mustang, about a 72 I think.
Garry came round in his 81 Corvette.
Here's the crew!
Later in the afternoon Peter Farrant called in with his newly purchased all steel 32 Ford Sedan. Its built in a real traditional style.
While everyone was there I entertained them with a couple of start ups.....which may have annoyed the neighbours a bit as the engine is still running open headers, but hey it pays them back for their dog barking all the time!
Me......I've had a great weekend.
Keep looking in to see further developments!
