Montana trip photos

Some pics of Dave's Mordor on the trip home from Montana

Montana trip

I just returned from a flying trip to Montana.....in a Dodge Ram! My good buddy Dave from Des Moines, found and bought a 32 fordor in Bozeman, I went along for the ride. I drove 300 miles to Des Moines to drive 1100+ miles to Bozeman and 1100+ back to Des Moines and then 300 miles to home. It was a great time...fun trip. A fast trip, I left home Monday and returned on Saturday. He bought a primered mordor, chopped, hiboy, sbc with a 5 speed, no interior,just a front saet cushion. It's finished in red oxide primer, has black steelies and bias ply tires. This is such a COOL car. I tried to buy it from him on the way home. We made it the first day to Billings and arrived in Bozeman the next day at noon. Finished the deal loaded it in the trailer and headed east by about 4 PM. As we hit the Wyoming state line, there was a nice parking area by the big "welcome" sign, we pulled over unloaded the car, took some photos and put it back in the trailer. In Wall SD we did the same thing...unloaded it drove up and down main street, took some photos and then drove out the two lane towards the badlands about 5 miles, turned around and he let me drive it back to town. A great driving, riding car. At that time I upped my offer to buy it....he still said NO! We got some neat photos in front of Wall Drug. I'm still working on the phaeton, kind of slow progress. My lift broke again. The cable jumped off of the pully, I did not notice or hear anything until I was under it working and looked over and saw the 3/8 inch cable all shredded and only as thick as lead pencil lead!! I got out from under it real quick. Dave had a new set of cables that he traded to me for some parts he wanted....that was good. Today I started to put the cable on and noticed the pulley bushings were shot and the spacer between the two pullies was worn thru as was the pulley axle. I called the lift mfg.....they want $400.00 for two pullies and a spacer and the 3/4 inch bolt that is the axle!! WOW! I guess I'm cheap but I think that is way too much. I re inspected the pulles and the only thing wrong with them was the bushings.....I went to my machinist neighbor, had him press the bushings out, went to the shop in town, bought two new bushings, (1.60 for both), had the neighbor press them back in, he made a new spacer while I was in town, paid him what he wanted...plus a $5 tip and I'm back in business. Tomorrow I will put it together and get back on the phaeton project.

Update...................finally.

I have been very lax on blogging. I will try to to recap the high lights of the past few weeks. After leaving Wendover on Saturday, Barry and I drove to Salt Lake City to visit some friends. First it was Dick Rodwell, the maker of the cool windshields that we both run on our roadsters. Dick is cool old hot rodder....he has done it all. Has a killer roadster, a bonneville roadster and a 34. He makes the windshields in his basement shop....a one man show. Pretty amazing. Next is was off to see Stanley Wanlas, he is an artist and specializes in bronze sculptures of cars and people. He designed the windshield that Dick now makes. Stan also makes some awesome bronzes of 32 Ford hot rods. Google his name and find his web and checkout his art. Joy, his wife and him had a great lunch all waiting for us...what a nice thing. We ate, talked, checked out his art gallery and his garage....always a fun time there. Sunday morning it was on the road again, Barry headed north to Idaho and then Yellowstone, I headed east to Cheyenne for the night and then on towards home. I spent Monday night in Pierre SD. Tuesday I left early on Rte 14. About 40 miles out I decided to stop and take of my coat, as I pushed on the clutch it slapped to the floor....oh oh.....that's not right. I pulled to the side of the rod in this little tow, don't remember the name...I felt under the car and could feel the slave cylinder hanging in two pieces. There was a repair shop about two blocks back, so I started the car in first and drove there. It was a nice, clean spacious shop, two lifts and both were empty. I went in and told the guy my problem. I drove the car in and we put it on the lift. Raised it up, I screwed the slave back together, we had to rebleed and adjust it and it all worked. I had no brake lights in Salt Lake, changed the switch and still no lights except for a flicker, we tried to bleed the brakes in the hotel lot but could not get a wrench on the bleeder....so I said heck with it. Since it was on the lift I could reach the bleeder. So I asked the guy to help me bleed the brakes as long as it was in the air...he did and the lights worked....fixed two things in one stop. I was back on the road and headed for home. ****************************************************************************** At home we had the "Topless Tour Completion Celebration" at my house........just a big party...lots of people, something like 180 showed up, had hot rods parked all over the neighborhood....a fun day. ******************************************************************************* Just a few days after the party, I got a lead on a real nice deuce tudor body in Missouri....long story short, I bought it and did a quick road trip to pick it up. Real nice, no rust, decent paint, complete interior....80 years old but complete...all glass, garnishes, dash, good top insert...plans are to order a new Cornhusker chassis, sbc, 5 speed, pop the body on that, add steel fenders that I have and drive it! ****************************************************************************** A few weeks later we went to The Race of Gentlemen in Wildwood NJ. On the way we stopped at Steadfast hot rod shop in Ohio, then the big swap meet in Carlise, PA, the Hot Rod Garage in Denton MD then finally the race. It is a race, 1/8th mile drags on the beach, right by the Atlantic ocean....and only three classes....motocycles, flatheads and fourbangers....thats it. It was a GREAT time!! I think I need to get that flathead running, put it in the Modified lakester and go racing next year...that's the plan anyway. **************************************************************************************************** On the drive home Greg and I heard about an auction in Ohio coming up in a few weeks. We got a pickup with a topped and turned back around and headed for the auction. Its a good thing we did not take a bigger truck,( we did discuss that,) because the truck we brought was FULL, that sort of held us in control!! I brought home firewalls, gas tank, grille, tires and a bunch of small parts.We had a great time...meant some new friends too. **************************************************************************************************** I have been working on the phaeton, got the body on, fitted the floor boards, shifter, fenders and going to start the wiring in a day or so. Oh yes, made steering column bracket, and orderd a ton of more parts, like wheels,steering parts and so on. THis next two weeks should really get it close to being done. The fordor will be next, unless I get side tracked on the new tudor....or finish the paint on the panel,,,,or put the fttie in the lakester.....all I know is that I will be busy in the shop!!

Friday/Saturday

We pulled out of the hotel about 9 AM. There was 4 roadsters and a coupe running together. We decided to stop for breakfast at a truck stop on the west side of Salt Lake City. Three of the roadsters decided not to eat so they went ahead. That left Bart from Vermont , me and two trucks with trailers. After breakfast Bart and I left first and let the trucks follow behind. The speed limit is 80 MPH and we did all of that and sometimes more. It was a great 120 mile run. We arrived at the Nugget casino and hotel about noon, checked in and found a place to park for the nights activities that night. The racers were pulling in and parking in the back lot. The salt was wet so no one could go to the pits yet. We all hung out in the lot until night time. A reaally cool car show....many cars for a Friday night. The announcement came that everything was moved out one day to give the salt time to dry. Saturday morning Barry and I decided to drive to the end of the road to check the salt condition. It was not good....it was water evey where...not just wet but under water.....6 inches or so at the black top end and who knows how deep farther out. At that time it was announced that Speed week...100 anniversary was officially canceled! We scooted back to the hotel to check out before the deadline of 11AM and headed to Salt Lake City.

Thursday

We had breakfast at the hotel about 8AM and left for Orem Utah about 9ish. It was a nice short and beautiful ride. We arrived at the hotel about noon, had lunch at the hotel, cleaned the cars and then headed to the Salt Flats Speed Shop. Chris does some real nice work there. He had a deuce roadster, a 34 tudor, a 34 phaeton all under construction. He served a great BBQ sandwich for dinner. There were maybe 40 cars parked outside the lot up and down the street. We had special parking in the lot by the front doors....cool! I saw some old friends there and had a good time. Then it was back to the hotel. The next morning it was off to Wendover.

Wednesday

I woke up to some rain....waited till 11 AM for the skies to clear. To the west was clear blue and that was where I was heading. I80 has lots of construction. Many miles of one lane each way. Next year it should be a great drive with all the roads repaved. I was going to Rock Springs for the night. About a 100 miles out of Cheyenne the skies clouded up. I got the rain poncho on and kept going. The skies opened and it poured for for 20 or 30 miles. I did not get that wet but it was really hard to see. I made it to Rock Springs hotel about 4:00 PM. I was to meet the Rolling Bones there. They showed up about 8 PM finally. I ate dinner earlier but went with them to have a drink while they ate. The plan was to leave the next morning for Ogden about 9 AM.

Monday/Tuesday

I left Lincoln Monday morning for the drive to Cheyenne. The skies were a little cloudy but dry. Within 70 mile or so it looked like rain ahead. I checked the radar and it showed it just to the north of I80....but it sure looked like it was right ahead of me. I stopped and put on the rain poncho. I think that was the magic trick because it never rained a drop.......until I pulled into the hotel lot in Cheyenne! 400 and some odd miles, a good drive, a little warm the last 100 or so miles. It rained off and on all night. When I got up this morning it was still raining lightly. The radar showed it should be gone in a couple of hours. I only had 250 miles to drive today so I hung out until 11 AM to leave. The skies were beautiful and clear of rain clouds. The car did get muddy leaving the lot. I80 was more 2 lanes than 4 lanes west of Cheyenne. Lots of construction. Next year the road should be great! I stopped for gas somewhere about 150 miles from Rock Springs and found a car wash next door. A quick wash and the car looked good again. About 40 miles from Rock Springs it rained like I was driving thru a car wash for about 10 miles....10 long miles! I made it here, went to O'Riley's to buy some rainx!! The weather report for Salt Lake does not look good. I am not going to wash the car. It looks like several rain storms all day tomorrow. I am waiting for the Rolling Bones guys to show up. It is 6PM now. They are driving from North Platte NE....a long day for them...probably a wet one too.

August 3rd

I left this morning at 8 for day one of the Bonneville trip. I made it to Lincoln at 4:30, 502 miles. A good drive. No excitment. Cruised 70 to 75. In Lincoln I met with my sister and family for tacos and margaritas ...there were 10 of us....fun night. Its out of here at 7ish for Cheyenne Shor4t story tonight.....but nothing happened to report!!

Catch up

Well I made it to Goodguys Des Moines and on to Columbus Goodguys....had a great time. No time to post...or did you notice. I did do a few facebook postings...thats so quick from the phone. This Sunday...August 3rd I leave for Bonneville in the roadster pickup...for about 2 weeks. I promise i will post more often. I will meet with the Rolling Bones in Rock Springs, WY, go to the Open House at Salt Flats Speed Shop and onto Speedweek in Wendover. It will be a fun time. I will meet up with buddy Barry from CT and friend Jerry from Albuquerque in Wendover. I will be driving to and from the flats by myself. Those of you staying home are goint to miss a fun trip.

Home for a few days and gone again

The topless tour is over...had a great 4888 miles and lots of fun. I drove back with the Street Rodder magazine tour to Back to the fifties. The only time I got wet was just before Hdqs hotel in St Paul and the last 25 miles from home on Sunday. In the morning we will be leaving in the 32 fordor for Goodguys in Dse Moines and onto Goodguys Columbus the next week. This will be the first trip in the fordor except for the drive home from South Carolina last fall. I hope to blog along the way. You can also follow me on facebook, that is so easy to post pictures and a quick note from the phone....check it out. It's under my name....Dale Grau

Fixed the laptop

The laptop was infected with some junk......I took it to my computer guys, Digital Majik in St Cloud, they fixed it again...they are the GUYS!! Yhe photos I published was Barry's bent wheel and the gravel road of Moki Dugway in Utah. The first pic here is Colorado snow, then Dennis' place in Marquette, NE, then more of Mokai Dugway.

Sunday

We left Silt early Sunday morning and headed towards Grand Junction, just before Grand Junction we took' I think it was 141, towards Gateway canyon and to the town of Gateway. Barry hit a pothole and bent his front wheel, those skinny tires and aluminum wheels are easy to bend. It was driveable so we continued We stopped for a break and some photos at the Gateway museum. It is the home of many nice restored cars and the famous Olds concept car that sold for 5 million dollars a few years back at BJ auction. On down the road it was into Utah for a few miles. The paved road stops at he top of a bluff and the next 3 miles is dirt and gravel switchback road with no gaurd rails. What a view from the top. I think it is 3,000 feet down to the bottom. The cars look smaller than hot wheels as you look over the edge. Several of the group did not know about this part of the trip....they all took it better than I expected. Ron climbed over the top fence to place a "Thoze ol guys" sticker on the sign post. We all idled the cars down the dirt road until we hit the black top again....a big relief to be at the bottom. Then it was onto Monument Valley. The dirt road is called Mokai Dugway. That was my fourth time to drive either up or down the road...always exciting. We made it to Flagstaff for the evening... a nice drive. Monday morning we will head for Prescott, AZ.

Friday...Goodguys CO show

We got up early and drove to the Goodguys show in Loveland CO. A beautiful day. A nice turn out, more than I expected for a Friday. We walked the swap meet. I found pair of Corvette valve covers for a GREAT price. Rex from Affordable Street Rods offered to take them to BTT50's for me...that will really help, my pickup is full. I saw quite a few friends from around the country, that is always great. We were the last cars out of the grounds. We drove back to Nancy's kids' home for a great BBQ and a good nights rest. We all decided to leave early instead of noon to head west over the Loveland Pass. We were on the road at 7AM. What a great ride up the pass, high banks of snow on the roadsides and at the parking on the top. I lost my brakes on the way up...the peddle was almost to the floor. After a quick look under I discovered the fitting in the right rear brake was cracked. I think I bottomed out and the axle hit the elbow on the brake line and broke the brass fitting. Its a IFF 3/16 to AN3.....there is not a parts house that will carry that. I refilled the master, turned the porportioning valve to go all to the front and headed down the mountain. The first town was Granby and right on main street was a NAPA store. He had a 3/16 IFF plug fitting...great, I plugged the line to the right side, rebled the brakes and it all works...brakes on 3 wheels....better than only 2 !! We made it to Silt CO for the night, had a great dinner and I am going to bed. Tommorow will be the longest day of the trip

Made it to Colorado

The plan was to leave Grand Island, NE at 6:30 this morning. John walked to my blue roadster and found a puddle of gas. Under closer inspection I found it was the fuel pump...leaking right at the crimp of the body. Don had a spare one but would not match up with my lines. I found an O'Rileys a few blocks away on the Garmin, called them, they answered but said they were not open yet. After a little pleading from me, he agreed to let me in early. Randy drove me there, got the pump and had it on in a few minutes. We were on the road at 7:30. It looked like rain but did not get any until Longmont just a few blocks from where we are staying. We ran down I80 at 80, connected with I76 to Sterling, stopped for lunch there and took the 2 lane onto Loveland. Somewhere in Nebraska, Dave's windshield blew past the stops and pushed in....that woke him up. That happened when he was passing a truck....exciting for him!! We found a car wash after we registered and then went to the kickoff party at Pinkees rod shop. Always lots of nice projects there. We had a beer and a sandwich there and about 7 PM headed to Nancy's daughter's house to spend the night. There is enough room for all of us to stay here for both nights...really nice. Thanks Nancy!!

Wednesday

We made it to Des Moines as planned. Met all the guys at Daves shop. The weather forecast was not good...predicted rain, wind and hail. We got all the cars into Daves shop, the place next door and his new rental building down the street. Dave treated us to pork loin sandwiches on the grille, pop, beer...a great dinner. The pork is his specialty. We all then went to his home a few blocks away for the night. We left this morning about 8 AM after breakfast at McDonalds for the trip west. I80 to I29 to Blair, NE and onto Humphrey, NE. That part of the state was hammered with baseball size hail. There were several cars on the side of I29 totally beat up, no glass and dents all over. As we drove thru Blair, there was much damage. Glass broken out, store fronts gone, all boarded up, tree branches and leaves all over. Cars and trucks with all the glass knocked out. Homes with holes all over the siding.Wow....sure glad we did not plan to stay there last night! In Humphrey we visited Dale Boesch Hot Rod shop. He is a builder of top notch cars. I met him a few years ago...really nice guy...lots of talent. After lunch it was off to visit the Mayor of Marquette, NE....Mayor Dennis. He has a personal hot rod shop in the center of town. He has a 32 tudor, a roadster and is building a 3W coupe. Really cool shop....cool guy. Lots of signs and neat stuff all over the walls. We are spending the night in Grand Island, NE tonight. Just had a great dinner next door. In the morning we are leaving at 6:30 for the 400 mile trip to Loveland, CO. I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, I am having trouble with them tonight.

starts tomorrow

The time has come....we leave in the morning. We have picked up a couple of other cars. I met a new friend from Texas. He flew to St Paul to buy a 34 Ford coupe...called me, I invited him to spend the night and then invited him to drive to California with us and he said yes. He is my kind if guy....found a car on Craigslist, looedk at the pictures, flew to St Paul and bought it, drove to my house,and now is driving to California....doesn't even have a screw driver with him! Gutsy guy! We are leaving at 9ish, meeting two other rods from WI in Lakeville and then onto Des Moines. We will all gather there and leave on Wednesday morning.......

Onr week to go

The final countdown on days is on. I leave in one week....next Tuesday. My son Rodney will be driving the blue rosdster as far as Des Moines where my buddy John from CT will take over and drive it the rest of the way to LA. Rodney will ride with me in the black RPU. This is mine and Rodney's tenth trip to the west coast in a roadster. In Des Moines we will meet Barry from CT, Dave from IA, Don from IL, Ron from FL, Greg from WI and MAYBE Nancy from WI. Her roadster is not quite finished. She has a "plan B"...drive her 47 Ford woodie. Not sure yet if her husband Gordy will be coming or not. Wednesday we will head out of Des Moines for the real first day of the trip We will make two stops in Nebraske to visit some friend's shops and then spend the night in Grand Island. Thursday we will arrive in Loveland to attend the Goodguys show there for a couple of days. We have named our trip "Thoze Ol Guys Topless Tour" 2014 We have made t shirts and windshield stickers to commemorate the event. Stayed tuned for more details

I'm here...........long time since I wrote anything

Last post was April 12th....I was still on the road home with the new phaeton body. We stopped st the antique store, that I had mentioned....I scored a pair of real nice Guide headlights. They will be perfect for the hiboy fordor. We made it home, a good trip. I bought 2 Walker radiators while we were driving, used, but great shape, both for under $200. I have since traded one to my deuce buddy Dave for a new Limeworks steering wheel for the fordor. I also bought a 3 deuce complete setup from him for the phaeton. The 94's for the Hemi for the fordor came back this week, all rebuilt and dynoed....just bolt on and go. Lots of things are happening. The new Cornhusker chassis arrived a couple of days after I got home from the eastcoast...looks good. All of the suspension parts have been taken to the powder coater for some high gloss black. The last few days I have been getting the blue roadster ready for the CA trip. I will be driving the black RPU and my friend John from CT will drive the blue hiboy. Its all greased, oiled, checked over, waxed and so on. I found that over the winter the fuel regulator diaphram had dried and cracked sending a water gun like stream of gas shooting out of it. Luckily I had the hood open on the passenger side and saw the stream and the big puddle of gas on the floor. Thankfully the exhaust manifold was not hot enough yet to ignite the gas. It was shooting right over the manifold and out of the open hood side. I quickly shut off the engine, removed the regulator and replaced it with a piece of hose.....didn't need it anyway!! That could have been a real problem if it would have ignited on fire.....It happened in the deuce garage....I would hate to have all of them burn up!! We leave in 19 days.......but who is counting?? Me!! I sure hope the weather gets warmer and better....but if it doesn't it will be still fun. I will post more REAL soon.

Saturday

Well we made it to Connecticut, picked up the phaeton, visited with a lot of old friends. There was a gathering at the old favorite pizza place on Wednesday night. There were about 30 friends there. That was so good to see them all. We had not been back for ten years. So it was a long time since we saw them all. Thursday we went to visit old friend PC at his great shop. I will post pictures of the shop in the next night or so. The camera is in the truck and I don't want to walk out to get it tonight. PC has a roadster project, a full fender deuce, a 34 coupe, a full fender 3W,a 3w highboy and tons of flathead parts hanging on the wall. A REAL NEAT place. After the tour we all went to lunch at a great place. There were 8 of us guys...a fun time. Friday it was off to Massachusetts to visit more friends...more good times. We parked the trailer at good friend John's house for safe keeping. This morning it was off to John's place, tour his garage and then hook up the trailer and head out. We made it to Dubois, PA tonight. Thats about 2/3rd's across the state. Tomorrow its Springfield, IL to go to a huge antique store. I hope to get to Indy or so for the night. That will depend on how long we stay at the antique store.

second picture test

OK this is on the new laptop using Google Chrome......I hope to post a picture of the new phaeton

picture test

I tried to post a picture from my new laptop last night and it wouldn't post. I am trying it tonight from the little note book. Here goes.

April 1, 2014

This is not an April fool joke...it's a real update. I just realized its been since Feb 17th that I have been on here. I have been working on the deuce panel body....grinding out the cracked body filler and re bondoing it. Not much to see but has kept me busy. In the mean time I have leaded some more of the seams and patches on the fordor. I got some of the panel in K38 primer today and even blocked out the side panel on the passenger side. Plans are to block out the front fenders and back door tommorow. I also repainted the 7 garnish moldings on the full fender fordor. The guy before me used big trim washers behind the screws...UGLY....and of course it made a big ring into the paint when I removed the washers. I sanded them all down reprimed them and repainted them tonight...I will put them on the car tomorrow to get them out of the shop before I knock over and damage them. I replaced the trunk lift rams on the blue roadster. Finally got the correct ones...four trips to O'Rileys, but they work now! My buddy John from CT is going to drive the blue roadster to the LARS in June. As soon as the snow melts the plans are to get the roadster to the shop to check it all over under neath, change oil, pack the bearings etc so it is all ready for him. We leave June 4th...long time but time goes so fast. Saturday morning its off to the GSTA show at the fairgrounds. I'm excited about seeing all the cars, especially Dennis Heppy's 60 style show rod. Then at noon its on the road for a trip to CT. I purchased a phaeton body for a new project...like I needed one !! But you know what they say about "Deuce Fever"...it just nevers goes away, it just gets stronger and stronger.

Monday

I leaded the left rear corner of the body today. Came out pretty nice. I ran out of oxygen so I used a propane torch instead...it even worked better until I dropped it and broke the tip...damn!! It was about 4 PM by that time so I decided to snow blow the driveways before it got dark. Just as I was finishing that job the drive belt broke...at least ZI got it done. I did a trial fit on the back eat too. Looks like tomorrow will be errand day......new torch, fill the oxygen tank,and a snow blower belt. Wednesday morning I off to Des Moines, IA to help my buddy Dave adjust the hood on his tudor. It will be fun working with him...we always have a good time. I will post a few pictures of the patches in the fodor.

Surprise.......I'm still here

Its been a long time since the last post. The Ca trip to the GNRS was awesome. There were 6 couples of us and we all had a great time. Many shop tours and 3 days at the show.....an awesome show. It gets better every year. Nine buildings and out side car show too. All of the cars are very high quality. The AMBR contenders were all very nice. My favorite was the black phaeton......surprise surprise! The dark blue hiboy from TN belongs to a friend of mine....a very nice car. I was hoping he would win. But when you have a Foose design, Troy built and Wes Rydell financed entry, how can you not win? The car was over the top nice....and the owner, Wes is one of the nicest guys around...I am very happy for him. The progress in the shop is finally starting back up. I developed a lower stomach hernia in November that slowed me down, then the holidays, I had surgery Jan 2, then it took a couple of weeks to recover, then a week in sunny CA.....finally I am getting a little shop time. Most of the patches have been welded in, both cowl sides, the B pillar, lower rear, wheel wells, etc. I redid a few of them because I did not like how they came out, I think they are OK now. I hope to shoot some DP primer on the rear and the cowl in the morning and then start some mudding. I think I will use lead on some of the spots like the left wheel well edge. I think it will hold up better. The new door fits pretty good, I need to work on the gap in one spot yet. The top worries me...it is rusty....might have to cut the old door top off and weld it on the new door. The three other doors need work on the skins.....might have to be reskinned. I have a friend coming over to look at them. I bought front and rear spreader bars that have been drilled and sleeved from Ebay.....they look pretty cool. I filed and sanded the welds around the holes and now look even better.