1936 Fordson Sedan delivery

These are a few shots of my English Fordson sedan delivery , it is quite an unusual car it was registered in London in 1936 to a plumbing company, Although used as a commercial vehicle it is tiny by today's standards due in part to the fact English roads were so small .Fordson was attempt by Ford motor company to build cars in England they partnered with a tractor builder from England and used a 8 hp. motor ! Its really cool and very rare, I have been told by a English car club they feel like it may be the only sedan delivery in America .Sadly I may have to sell this bit of history, anyone know Jay Leno ?I think he.d be a great owner for this car!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

We wish you all happy holidays and may the Lord bless your familys with peace , love and prosperity in the new year !

The nova bruiser is awakened

Well thanks to Albert and Mike we've made a little progress on the Nova .The front cap is now installed including the grill and bumpers that took a little massaging to fit well. Got quite a lot of the wiring done too , and we got to hear it fire up for a short while but it was getting late !None of us realized it was 11:30 when we finally cranked it off with open headders and let it rip while we tried to adjust all those little things!,...Well we were soon to find out quickly that the time was late cause we woke up my mom who was rattled out of bed by the old rumbler!We all had a good laugh bout that!The big block sounded good and I was happy to smell a little smoke !We might have a small issue with the steering column ,it was a column shift and I ground off the shift lever and filled the subsequent hole but it seems to have a lot of slop in the action of the switch , even with a new switch.I'll take it back apart and give it a once over !

Happy birthday Betty

Happy b-day to Mom! Funny , but i thought she was 39 not 79, my how time flys when your having fun ! Betty has spread a lot of joy in her life as a Mother, wife ,den mother, sunday school teacher, co-worker! Always a person that was willing to help others with out question, and do more than her share too!I want to thank her for all she has done for me and our family, as well as my friends too! We all love ya !!!!!!!!!!

Memphis Rodders Reunion

Glenn Martin and his son ,Chris took me to the rodders reunion in Memphis .It is a gathering of folks who have raced , hot rodded ,or who like a good time . Dinner is served and the proceeds go to the Shriner's burn center , such a great cause and the camaraderie was nice too. This year the honoree was Hooker Hood ole 99 ,"The Tennessee Tornado ". A cool multi media show presented his career and he was interviewed by several folks close to the racing operation.

Exhibits of photos were at a couple of tables and slide shows were randomly being shown of old cars and drag racing as well as dirt car stuff . Money had been raised by the Classic Chevy club and the Memphis Street rodders to give to the burn center as well ,it was a special evening and so cool to see all these people helping others as well as recognizing the accomplishments of a great racer. Hooker raced for many years and thousands of people enjoyed watching him tear up the dirt tracks across the south , heck he raced well into his 70's !!We also got a treat by being able to sit at the same table with Jeff Swindell the current points champion in the World of Outlaws, what a class act !!

Another guitar

The pics that follow are a Gibson copy that I painted for a friend. the paints are all House of Kolor and the flames are gold leaf with green kandy over them , the dragon on the back was kind of a after thought but it turned out well .Sorry for the pic quality it was shot while the clear was real wet and looked a little funky !

kennys 55 pro street

Well as promised here are a few pics of the pro street 55 in Kenny's garage . we started this a while back and it has been in storage a year or more because of various reasons. Hope to work on it this winter and finish mounting the body and build motor mounts and plate.Its a bit far off to project a paint color yet. It will probably have an aluminium floor and tubs and a big block .I really think a stroked out 460 FORD would be nice !Kenny will have a heart attack when he reads that he's more of a brand x guy!

big time go cart racer

Jill was the big winner at the indoor go cart racing this week at the incredible pizza ,we feel now that it will only be just a matter of time before some Nascar team gives her a call. We are going to call her Miss Talladigga !!Hey she always had great reaction times when we drag raced so hopefully they will call soon !

The Recipe

Well we did it again , got a lot of hot sauce cooked up and appeased the pepper gods ! This was a very odd year because we were missing some very key elements!!! , Richard Sealey, Bill "Waysack"Snider and Bill" The Grand" Diehl ,all three past away this year and it's been tough on the families and friends. Lucky for us all three were looking down on upon us to guide us through the rough spots ! We are sorely gonna miss our dearly departed brothers in the Peppers !!We made about 87 gallons and its good stuff too !

wheel spacing

We had a bit of an issue with wheel and tire clearance on the rear. Part of this might be miscommunication with Mike and I or just the fact Mike loves to buy the shiny stuff !! Ha, Ha ! That aside we needed more room for the tire clearance, and with the car now painted this was a problem. Enter the Eastwood tool Company, they have some cool stuff and we purchased a tool to stretch the fender wells slowly. It worked , it was a bit of a learning curve and we felt like it could have some more adjustments and that was because we were learning the tool. Any way it worked well and the problem is much better now, so lets try and "get er done ."

The next little detail was to get a drive shaft made up , we turned to Fleet Pride in Memphis ,they handle truck parts ,U-Joints and stuff like dat! The machinist Jeff was a very knowledgeable guy who helped us decide on which options would be best for the power the Nova was gonna make , and Bing-o the next day we had a nice shiny drive shaft! P.S hey Mike where'd ya get those Chinese eyes?

Amsoil at Sema

Many of you are aware that for several years I've been a Amsoil dealer .I started out to be able to just buy the products at a reduced rate and slowly began treating it like a small business ,and while it often is not the focus of all my attentions it is always available to me. These products are the very best quality and have proved themselves superior in tons of independant test . this year Amsoil will agian be at the SEMA show in Las Vegas. Sema ( specialty equiptment manufactures association ) is a huge show the exposes all the cool things in the automotive related feilds.Check out this link to Amsoils sight to learn more about SEMA !http://amsoilupdate.blogspot.com/2009/09/anticipation-building-for-sema-2009.html And hopefully if you are interested in Amsoil prouducts or might want to become a dealer contact me ! Thanks Willie

taking a break

Well it's been a while since I last posted , took a bit of a break . Mike and I decided to go fishing which we used to do with a little bit more regularity. This was a special trip it was Mikes bacholor party !,no not the wild party ya'll have in mind just two friends enjoying all nature has to offer and talking about the past and future .It sure was nice !,and at the same time a little weird ,the first time to stay at Mom and Dad's cabin since his death.

The weather was great as was the company, but the fish catching lacked a bit of luster! As usual Mr.Helton gave me a bit of schooling, on the fine art of fishing !!! I am known as a fisherman , Helton on the other hand is a catcher !!

We saw a couple of bad boats one smll block powered V-Drive flat bottom that showed off for us with perhaps a couple of 70 mph. plus runs, he said it would do 90mph. but that remains to be proven!!!Two other fountain boats one i took a pic of was a beautiful multi colored twin big block, that was awesome! Anyway congrats Mike and Sindy hope life is sweet for you both !!

interior upgrades

Mike and I have been hard at it with the little time we have to work on the beast! This week we got the trunk finished up along with the package tray area and the back seat too.The door panels are almost in ,and the side glass and door rubbers have been completed .Next the carpet and wire it all up .

AJ'S JAK'ED UP PICKLES

Joey Kelly has some mean pickles he makes !, if you've never had any, you should try them.He makes a hot version as well as mild ,both are sure to please!

Joey also has a catering service that specializes in great catfish and all the fixings. He'd be glad to give you an estimate to serve any party,corporate event ,wedding or shindig that you may have a need for his delicious fish ! So call chef Joey at 901-569-1992.

Hub Garage flicks

check out the cool videos on Hub Garage they got some neat ones from NSRA in louisville !http://www.hubgarage.com/hubtv/channels/17/videos/334

Great Party

Jill and I attended a real nice party in Eads Tn. at a beautiful home there was barbeque with all the fixins. keg beer and drinks.The Mid-South Mustang club had a show on the grounds with probably 20 cars in attendance, they had completed a poker run earlier in the day.There were some really nice Mustangs and cool people , one of which was Russ Hurley with his nice red convertible . It's a 88' with only 55,000 on the odometer, really well kept ,Russ has not had the ride long but he and his wife were enjoying the cool weather with the top down ! The "ON The Move " band really put on a good show !,and had a few dancers that shook it down ! OTM played a great mix of hit songs, all the members are very talented , hey they're for hire for all types of events . Alan Fulbright is a neighbor of our host and he was impressed with the band also.It doesnt get much better a nice cool night , good friends ,cool cars free beer and fantastic music . thanks to all !

More shiney stuff

Here's a little look at the new chrome master cylinder and brake lines and the new braided stainless lines with "AN" fittings from Godman racing. The wheels are polished tork thrust from American Racing wheels ,pretty nice ,huh ! Mike has been wiring up the trunk area and the carpet for it should be finished soon ,well let's get busy !!

HUBGARAGE.COM

Hey all ! when i met Charlie Hutton at the Louisville N.S.R.A nationals he turned me on to the Hub Garage, I describe it as a Face book for car guys.You set up your own garage which is your home page , and you invite and accept buddies that you can ask questions of and learn from !If your interested check it out at www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/willie56 .There are some really cool cats from all over the nation on the web !

some of the softer things

Had a little visit from the head liner fairy recently ! Mr. Ernie Drake owner of Pleasant View Auto Upholstery was kind enough to come to the shop and install the headliner, he does good work on all types of cars, carpet ,seats convertible tops etc. Check him out if you need good service, at 901-388-1599 , nice man .I also had installed jute mat in the trunk area and had cut carpet for the trunk and Ernie is binding the edges for me ,it's gonna look sharp !next stop interior shop and windows .

KENNY GAINES

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Top local racer , Kenny Gaines of 2 Bobs racing, graces our presence checking out the Nova. We work well together and have hoped to do more projects in the future . Kenny has 2 projects of his own ,both 55 Chevys the first a tube chasssis pro street that we put together and have yet to mount the body to .The second a street type driver with a 6 banger dont get me wrong both will be nice ! We'll get a look at these soon !

Nsra in louisville

Man it was cool ! we were wore out and probably did not see but a third of the cars . We walked for miles it seemed like and then rode the shuttle around to get a scope of the size of the place,. Then went into the many buildings where the vendors set up .Chip Foose was signing autographs for Mothers Polishes, and had such a long line , I could not stand there and be able to see more in the one day we had ! But I did get to meet one of my hero's , Charley hutton the painter /body man from the Boyd Coddington shop. Man this guy is so cool , nice , and approachable ,He was very open about his process and his product preferences , PPG and Iwata guns cannot express how nice he was, and he now has his own shop !, would love to have a Charley ride !!I'll post a few pics !

STREET ROD NATS.

Jill and I are going to make a world wind tour to the NSRA street rod nationals in Louisville .This is a very nice event with thousands of pre 1948 cars of all types .There will be tons of vendors and a huge swap meet.Normally the vendors put on tech seminars that are really cool, and I've seen a few celebrity's attending too!The NSRA also has neat give aways for registered members ,so check it out !

squirtin some blue

Well we finally got the House of Kolor ,Oriental Blue shot and it looks tuff ! Took a long day of work to get it all squirted but the effort paid off.This will be a very visually striking car,and we all have put in a ton of work on it , but as the home stretch is in site we can't let up ,just gotta finish!I did have some issues with the paint ,most of which was human error, and some dealt with not having just the perfect place to work!

To date we have assembled most of the rear of the car,bumpers ,lights ,trunk and quarter glass.This week I'll polish most of the car and do the door rubber and the the ominous task of wiring her up,and finishing the air con and dash

stripes,embelishments, or what ever !

Got the stripes, laid out and sprayed. I used a silver base and scuffed it up with steel wool and scotch bright pads to give it a roughed up aluminum look.Then i added some kandy blue streaks and some transparent black shading just to give it some volume.I think this looked a little bit better than just plain silver stripes separating the two colors , it added interest and a custom touch. We will decide if it needs pinstripping after the blue is done and cleared.

Insulating the Nova

A little bit of insulating is now the job at hand .We are using a product that is used in the airconditioning industry to insulate ducts . The big boy Albert found it and it works great looks like Dyna mat . It has a sticky backing and a foil side to help sound and temp .We use two layers and it really quites it down .Also you'll notice the battery in the trunk and the NOS bottle for a little more umph !He'll need it for all those hungry Mustangs that will want a piece of him. After the paint is on we will paint the inside of the trunk and carpet it also.

Metal Mike

Mike "Metal"Marek ,owner of Auto Ac Hose Repair did an outstanding job of helping with the air -conditioning install .Mike has all the equipment to form hard lines as well as making up the high pressure hoses , and his service is mobile which makes it super handy.I really admire his work and eye for what will be ascetically pleasing to the eye so the job looks really well planed out .Mike does plenty of custom work as well as just making hoses for every day cars so give him a call for your needs @901-542-0509.While we had him in the shop ,Helton opted to have the heater hoses made by Mike also and they were then polished and threaded to the nice billet bulk head fitting in the firewall, below that is the cool looking billet areomotive fuel regulator to keep the fuel pressure right .

Smart flix

I've been looking at the great selection of instructional dvds at Smart Flix. They have a bunch of how to custom painting dvds, but are not limited to just auto stuff. I've rented fiberglass, and welding stuff. Also they were prompt and the quality has been good. Here's a link for the paint stuff, check it out...Painting.

Dash board

Mike got the dash and gauges all wired up nice and neat. He used a super good looking bezel that is carbon fiber and white faced gauges to set it off. Now all we need to do is find the time to re wire the whole car with the 21 circuit Ez-wire harness ,it will replace the 30 year old harness so Mike can drive another 30 years with out problems . Yeah right... it's a Chevy hopefully it'll make it a year or two .This will all look great with the freshly painted dash and the new dash pad.Just throw in some fancy interior work and we got a hot rod!

F-100 Nationals in Knoxville

Well we made a whirl wind tour of the all FORD F-100 Nats. on Saturday May 16th . Tommy Donald and I spent Friday night with the Krueger family and we all left at 6 am to drive 3 plus hours to Chillowee park in Knoxville.The weather was terrible ,raining hard and windy but we pressed on wondering if we were doing the right thing.The weather broke up as we arrived at the show , although it was some what cloudy and humid most of the day. The show was nice although we all felt the number of trucks was way down ,as well as the vendors in participation.I was excited to talk to the "Fat Man "himself , of FAT MAN chassis company.HE was very accessible and more than willing to help and answer any questions I really hope to do business with him soon .The 66Mustang convertible is really needing a updated front end....bring money $$$!I feel like the saddened economy was the cause for less participants , but I'm not taking part in the recession feeling that if i ignore it maybe it will go away!Albert and his son bought parts for some of their new projects and we all dreamed a bit , man there were some sweet rides there !