The Grocery Getter

Yes, its a 4 door. Yes, it fits two gargantuan car seats in the back so I can take my kids out cruising. Yes, I take it when I go grocery shopping. Yes, it has tacky Rally wheels on it. Yes its got all kinds of things I could nitpick, but its mine, and when i'm driving to the grocery, target, or anywhere else, I'd rather be driving this than anything else. The stereo sounds like crap, the wipers don't work,  But I love the feel of tuck and roll and mechanical brakes, the whine of a 3 speed and the way the mufflers rap when I downshift. I sold the car I came home from the hospital in so that I could buy a 4 door. On purpose. I'd rather have my family with me in our family fun machine than rolling solo in my little german sardine can. Long live the American Icon!

3rd Annual Rod & Kustom BBQ

What can I say?

The show was a SMASHING SUCCESS!!!

Restoration Life Christian Church Hosted our BEST event to date. Our preferred parking was bursting at the seams and we filled the street with some of the nicest stuff the South Bay has to offer.

With a gate call of 7:00 AM, there was a line at 6:00, and the cars and motorcycles didn't stop coming through until the day was over. The Scott Whyte Band served up hot rock and roll music all day while the vendors served up hot tacos, hot dogs, hamburgers and cold Italian Ice all day long. Our Vendors provided a variety of t-shirts, jewelry, apparel, and other goods to keep the folks attention, and our vehicle exhibitors provided the right kind of variety to pique any enthusiast's interest.

If you dig Hot Rods, Kustoms, Classics, Muscle Cars, Low Riders, Choppers, Motorcycles and special interest vehicles, then THIS is the MUST ATTEND event of the year in the South Bay.

TheRod & Kustom BBQ would Really Like to thank the following for all their support:

Restoration Life Christian Church for Hosting our event www.restoration-life.com
CrossMembers CC for presenting www.crossmemberscc.com
Robinson Helicopter for our grand prize http://www.robinsonheli.com
O'Reilly Auto Parts for supplying the Best of Show Trophies
Completes Plus for the generous raffle donations www.completesplus.com
Starlite Rod & Kustom www.starlitegarage.com
UDS Air Suspension https://www.facebook.com/pages/UDS-Air-Suspension/336350783113872
Beach Coast Insurance www.beachcoastinsurance.com
El Borrego 14916 Hawthorne Blvd Lawndale CA 90260
Checa Chic Boutique https://www.facebook.com/ChecaChicBoutique
Birds of 3 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Birds-Of-3/170346299717921
Orphaned Earring https://www.facebook.com/TheOrphanedEarring
Tere's Creations https://www.facebook.com/TeresCreations
Seers Lumber http://www.seerslumber.com
SRVNTZ http://www.srvntz.com
Savior Brand http://saviorbrand.storenvy.com
Schmolder Chiropractic https://schmolderchiropractic.com
Ana Franklin - Cookie Lee 
Philly Phil's Itailian Ice https://www.facebook.com/pages/Philly-Phils-Italian-Ice/262490610521573
Fire House Dogs

Without Further Adieu....
We Present the Winners!


To see the rest of the show, Click the following : Rod & Kustom BBQ 2013


Best of show

Best Kustom

Best Classic

Best Hot Rod

Best Lowrider

CrossMembers CC Pick

Starlite Rod & Kustom Pick

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes!!!

Well, The time has come to purchase a family cruiser. I've been a pretty adamant, hardcore snob when it comes to what I will and won't drive, and up 'til now that meant NO FOUR DOORS. In my entire life, there had NEVER been a 4 door in my family until I got married and inherited two of them (late model Japanese imports, which by the way are awesome if you dig creature comforts like AC, PS, PW, CD, great gas mileage, dependability, Etc.). On the personal level I held tight to my convictions and never even considered anything other than a vehicle with a single entry per side. That all changed on March 18.

So at this point I have a 48 Plymouth coupe and a Harley Davidson Shovelhead sitting in the driveway and garage respectively, neither of which are getting any attention, nor are they exactly family friendly.
Both needed attention that i had no energy for. I work on other peoples cars 50-60 hrs a week, so when I get home the last thing I want to do is turn more wrenches. So what to do?

It was a pretty simple choice. Actually it was the same choice that got me into all that trouble with the Kliche Koupe , sell everything that needs work and find a car that suits my needs and requires minimal physical investment. So that's what I did. I put everything up on Craigslist while simultaneously blowing my entire month's bandwidth allotment searching for my new jewel.

The Plymouth sold on Good Friday and the Harley went away 9 days later. It was that day that I came across this little gem.

I had been showing my Beloved every ad that I was attracted to. We have pretty similar taste, which resulted in the Kilche Koupe, but this time, we weren't jiving on much. I passed on a ton of really killer deals because I knew that if mama aint happy, aint nobody happy. When I showed her the ad for this one, she had me call the guy.

He was a young family man, a professional auto technician. He had bought the car semi-done and dropped more time, money and energy in to it before realizing that his passions lied elsewhere. It was priced fairly for what it is, and based on our conversation, it seemed worth the drive out to Hemet to look at it. We set a price, i wadded up a roll of hundreds and went to look at it. He kept emphasizing that it was no show car and I kept assuring him that I wasn't looking for one. After a quick inspection under the fluorescent lighting of his garage on an April night in the desert, and a quick test drive around the block, I knew I had to have it. As we pulled back into the garage, with the engine still running, I looked over and said "Let's go do some paperwork." His expression was priceless, but his response even more so. "You're not Bull $#!++!ng." To which I responded, "I don't mess around when it comes to my time or money. I didn't drive 2 1/2 hours with all this cash in my pocket if i wasn't serious." He recounted his experiences over the last few weeks of every Craigslist stroker who wasted his time and left him hanging at ever turn. It was getting late, I wanted the car and I had a long drive home. "Let's go do some paperwork."

We went in to the house where his wife greeted us with offers of cold beverages over ice, which I gladly accepted. Their young daughter was on the floor in front of the TV intently watching Woody Woodpecker cartoons, which I must admit, gave me dose of hope for all humanity. "She chose the show", her mom said. Inside, my heart shed a small tear of joy.

We sat at the table, handling paperwork while his wife meticulously counted and inspected each and every bill for legitimacy. After what seemed like an eternity of slaps of distrust with every bill she held to the light, she finally signed off on the deal and we were on the way.

My final question was "I'm not gonna have any problems getting home am I?" To which he responded, "I don't know. I hope not. I've never driven it that far." So I asked, "No problem at Fwy speed?" To which he responded, "Well, on the way home from upholstery, I got it up to about 65-70 on HWY XXX. It felt pretty good." I'm a gambler. I drive my cars. I drove it home.

The speedo wasn't hooked up, but the stereo was so I gassed it up and jumped on the road. I quickly downloaded a GPS speedo App at the gas station, and the car ran super smooth at 65-70. Mid-trip I get a text: "Text me when you get home, I want to make sure you made it alright." (Of course i didn't check my phone while driving. I got it when i pulled into my driveway.)

The car made it without incident and I can honestly say that this is probably dollar for dollar the best money i've ever spent on a car in the last 25 years. Other than a front end rebuild it needs nothing. I couldn't live with the tires or hubcaps so I took care of that ASAP, and now, I drive.

The seller told me it was a 6 cylinder car that had a V8 conversion that looked like a factory job. A quick VIN decoding indicated that it was in fact an original 210 V8. It has a late model Vortec 5.7 and a 4 speed with a stock rear end. Drum brakes at all 4 corners with heated coils up front and trac-bars on stock springs out back. The interior had probably been sat on 3 times before i bought it, and all the important stuff works.

I have no plans beyond some small cosmetic items, other than to drive the snot out of it.

happy life.

The Kliche Koupe, Part 4: Might as well go Kustom

So at this point, i was in up to my neck.
I contacted my buddy Ian Berky at Ian Berky Kustoms for the kustom treatment. I had him french the headlights, shave the doors, fill the hood, mold the rear gravel pan, make me a new tail pan and create some kustom tail lights. All i knew is that i wanted 54 merc lenses. i handed them to him and said call me when it's done.

Ian did all of the photo documentation from this point so you can go check it out on the HAMB

Once i got it back from IBK, it needed a TON of body work. I called another guy i had done business with in the past and he took it over. Norm and the crew at Vintage Metal repaired both rear lower quarters, reskinned the doors, took care of all the rust repair and blocked the car out super smooth. Norm takes over right about This Page

The Kliche Koupe, Part 3 - The Bondo Chronicles: It just keeps getting better

At this point, I had a pretty sick and sinking feeling down in my gut. I just knew that if I kept going there would be much more glory to behold. so armed with my trusty angle grinder and material remover discs, i went to town.

Behold. It ges better, I just can't bear to relive it.

The Kliche Koupe, Part 2 - The Bondo Chronicles

Let's pick up where we left off...

So at this point, I've got a driver with a fresh interior. i was otherwise happy with it. Why? Because i had a car i could just drive. My wife, however, had a bone to pick. The right front fender was starting to chalk up a little. I'd go out and hit it with a little rubbing compound or polish and it would gloss out a little, but ultimately it would fade back. It REALLY bugged my wife out and she kept nagging me to 'Fix it'. Now she really doesn't get what goes into a fix like that, and if i'm gonna do that fender, i might as well do the whole car so it matches, and there was this little rust split on the tail pan that needed a fix anyway so i might as well fix that and do some kustom work while i'm at it... And now begins - The Bondo Chronicles.

I figgered, i'd just knock it out, block it out and reshoot it in semi gloss. it was the most expensive bit of bodywork ever.

I decided to chip at it to see how bad it was. i shoulda just left it alone.

I've never seen such horrors. 

Daddy needs a new Hot Rod

I have hit the wall.
After the Kliche Koupe thrash of 2010, i was pretty much burned out over fixing up old cars, but i had a neat little 54 ford that had potential; then the engine blew up. Having to thrash to get that done for LB Motorama in 2011 kinda killed my joy because it still needed more work than i was really willing to put into it. I traded that for a nifty little 28 RPU that is posted a little back in this blog. I hated it. It helped me to reaffirm what i like and don't like in my cars, so I sold it. I bought a 49 Fleetline 2 door that i could do exactly the way i wanted it, until i realized i simply do not have the time or energy for a big project. so i sold it. Then I found a really cool 48 plymouth kustom that just needed 'a little bit of work'. Really, it wasn't that much work. Problem was that i simply didn't have the mental energy to piddle with it. So I sold it.

So what then?

Now, my wife is a peach. she actually digs old cars, and not only does she not mind me playing with them, she encourages me to make them nice so she can be proud to roll down the strip in them. i'm a blessed man. She also, like me, has pretty solid opinions on what she likes and doesn't. She actually picked out our 52 coupe and our 48 plymouth so we see 'pretty' eye to eye on most car stuff. This trip to craigslist however was not so agreeable. everything I liked she had reservations about. The ones she did like, i had reservations about.

I kept showing her stuff just to test her waters and see where she was and just for giggles I showed her this 57 and she told me to call the guy. I got him to send me more pics and she told me to go get it. So i did.

Its a nice driver. The paint is a few years old and is not close to perfect, but i can live with it. The interior is brand new, so are the tires, gas tank, lots of the chrome, etc. its got a late model 350 and a 4 speed. It gets up and goes, and cruises the freeway no problem. Really, it don't need a whole bunch.

This car is a great bit of exercise for me. I can see EVERY little thing that's wrong with it, but I'm deciding to be OK with it. I'm not going to spend a bunch more money on it for a long time. This will probably be the last car for me for quite a while. I really just don't have the time, money or energy to play with cars right now, but i'm more than thrilled to get out for a drive! Cosmetically, my wife is pushing me to get the rear window stainless polished and installed and i need to have 2 emblems replaced, but none of that is really NECESSARY. Mechanically it needs a front end rebuild and could use some blocks out back. That's all easy stuff that doesn't create any stress like painting a car gloss black.

in all honesty, my last 4 rides really burned me out on cars. that's partially why i bought this one. i don't HAVE to work on it. its as done as it needs to be for what it is: a driver. i can just drive it without having to think about it.

In all honesty, this is one of the nicest, most solid old cars I've ever owned and probably the best money spent for dollar value. I'm happy.