Firing Order #3

Firing Order Magazine 1

Featuring:Chickz Ridez!

2 Firing Order Magazine


Publisher: Old Tripper MediaEditor: Robert DerrArt Director: Paula CollinsWriting Director: Karen DerrPhart Horn: Johnathan Ryan

Staff Photographers:Robert DerrMike RogersJeremy Derr

Contributing Writers:Rodger EvansBilly Etie

Advertising Directors:Karen DerrKomania

Copyright 2012 by Old Tripper MediaAll rights reserved - Printed in the USofA

713-875-7049 - [email protected]

God bless Elvis, apple pie, John Wayne,the USofA, Henry Ford & the V8 motor!

Notes from the Ol Tripper...

Thank goodness the show season’s finally rolled around again, I was definitely having withdrawals! This issue we’ve added a new section... “Chickz Ridez”. We all know the ladies dig cars but when we put out the call for women to send in their stories & photos of their cars/trucks/bikes... I was blown away. I’m an old rodder & grew up in an era where families only had one car and it was uncommon for a woman to have her own car but OMG has that ever changed! Women have a very wide range of interests & some very kikkin’ rides and I for one am jazzed at their willingness and ability to express themselves with the best of them! You go girls!!! BoB

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Make check or money order for $29 to Bob Derr and mail to: Bob Derr, 2310 Rutland St., Houston, TX 77008. Firing Order Magazine is a bi-monthly (6 issues year) & is $29 for a years subscription.

Cartoon by: Brian Willerton


6 1929 Ford PU 8 Readerz Photoz10 Off the Wall12 Keys To The Hills15 1950 Poncho16 1948 Chevy Taildragger18 Bill Griffin’s 80th B-day20 1950 Ford Shoebox22 Autorama Houston26 Reader’z Ridez28 The Golden Super Cruise32 V-day Street Show 34 Chickz Ridez39 Garage Scene40 Bonehead Tech44 Rally in the Alley

coNteNtS

Cover Photo: Mike Rogers - Driven Imagery

All content herein is Copyright by the publisher (Old Tripper Media). All rights reserved worldwide. No part of the publication may be copied or used without prior written permission from the publish-er. We reserve the right to edit, comment, title and departmentalize submissions. Submissions are considered copyright assigned to the publisher for publication. The publisher is not liable for claims or statements by contributors or advertisiers. For questions or comments call the Ol Tripper directly at... 713.875.7049.


1929 Ford PUPaul Fransua’s

A couple of years ago I spotted a cool looking garage in south Denver with some great look-ing American classics and hot rods out front. I made a mental note that I really need to get over there to check it out some day. As luck would have it a bare metal beauty led me straight to J&S Auto Service. There I had the pleasure of hanging out with manager Paul Fransua and his buds Mike and John with the Rattle Traps Car Club on a cool afternoon in January. If you happen to be in need of some wrench turning, Paul’s shop works on just about anything, but his real passion is for hot rods as exemplified by his rockin’ 1929 Ford Model A pickup.

I spotted Paul’s 1929 Ford Model A pickup at a few of the local car shows and cruises this sum-mer and as fate would have it we tracked each other down at the first of the year. Paul was looking for some photos of his club’s rides and I was looking for a chance to know more about his truck.

Paul has invested a solid year in building “the A“, doing nearly all the work himself. The chas-sis is a custom tube frame with Ford 8” rear end and ’54 Dodge front axle, riding on original wire wheels. The cab has been chopped 6 inches and channeled 4 inches. Bed is from a ‘40’s vintage pickup of unknown heritage and a cus-tom tailgate by American Knuckles LLC. Paul chopped a 1935 Chevy grill for the front end and has added some interesting war surplus bits here and there for added character. The entire body has been sanded to bare metal and clear-coated to maintain the finish.

The power plant is a 454 Chevy big block with Edelbrock carb, PerTronics ignition and handmade zoomie straight pipes for the “Sound System”. Power gets to the wheels via a Mun-cie 4-Speed. Steering is handled by a Flaming River reverse Corvair gearbox. Paul made quite the impression with this one during the burnout contest at Bandimere Speedway for the KBPI Rock-n-Roll Car Show in August. The “Sound System” was cranked to 10 and the tires were


screamin’ for mercy. Smokin’ good fun for all! The personal touches abound without going over the top. Speaking of top, the top is a re-movable vinyl soft top buttoned in place. Seats are covered with the requisite Mexican blanket and sport war surplus aviation belts liberated from a bomber. Shifter is a war surplus bayonet, with ammo box nearby acting as a convenience console. Steering wheel and column are from Speedway. Paul fabricated the unique gear and chain driven window cranks and added a cool looking war surplus fire extinguisher up front as an overflow reservoir. The shrunken head on the mirror appears to be a club mascot for Rattle Traps. Dashboard pin striping was done by Devin Brown – aka “1-Shot Slinger”, and air cleaner was striped by Stan Weaver.

If you’re cruisin’ around Denver keep your eyes out for Paul and his Bare Metal Beauty. It’s worth a closer look and a listen when it’s rum-bling by!

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Story & photos: Mike Rogers


Readerz Fotoz

Photo: Eddie Ray

Photo: T.J. Seeger

Photo: Jim Rothgary

Photo: Victor Venter South Africa

Got a kool foto to Share?SeNd it to...

[email protected]

Photo: Gabe & Chris Gibbany


Snappin' Old TinEvery Day!

Photo: Doll House Pin Up Photography Model: Terry B TX BombPhoto: Rodger Evans ~ HiDefRods

Photo: Rodger Evans ~ HiDefRods


Off The Wall

Chris Lyons is a long time hot rodder and sign painter. Chris has made several 3-D signs and originally built the VW Chopper in 1984 for Terry Ward who owned several Dirtys Restaurants in Houston, TX. After the 3rd Dirty’s opened, Chris told Terry he was going to need a helicopter to get around Houston’s traffic to check on his places. That’s when the idea of a VW helicopter came to Chris and he sketched it on a nap-kin one day during lunch.

It’s made with the front half of a real Bee-tle and parts from a helicopter. For the real helicopter parts Chris made evening trips to Hawk Helicopter Service at Houston’s Hob-by Airport. He built most of it in his garage and then Hawk Helicopter installed all of the working parts from a Hughes 300 chopper. They christened it the “Dirty Bird”!

Dirty’s used to move the Dirty Bird from one location to another but eventually the City had a problem with that and ordered it taken down. After losing a lengthy court battle, the Dirty Bird was removed and put in storage. A sad day indeed!

After 10 years of storage bills Chris got the call saying he could have it back if he’d just come take it away. By this time it was in pretty bad shape and was left outside Chris’ hot rod shop in Chappell, TX where it looked like it had just crashed into his fence.

One day Chris got an inquiry from a busi-ness owner in Austin who wanted it rebuilt and displayed as a sign for his restaurant in Austin, TX. The reburbed machine will be installed by the time you read this. It makes sense that a city who’s official motto is “Keep Austin Weird” would welcome the reborn Dirty Bird!

Chris LyonsVW Chopper VW Chopper

Off The Wall

Chris Lyons’


Off The Wall

VW Chopper

Off The Wall

Chris Lyons’ Southern Flyer DinerBrenham, TX Airport


Boerne is a quaint lil spot in the road just on the other side of San Antonio on I-10. Once a year the State of Texas actually re-routes the highway around the sleepy town and rods gather on the main street in front of the historic shops. While the guys are looking at cars, the ladies are shooping in all the unique stores. Perfect!

The show is sponsored by the City of Boerne Con-vention & Visitors Bureau and features a pre-1949 cut-off (1948 and earlier) which distinguishes it from a “classic show” (1949-1964).This was the 26th annual event and attracts some of the most beauti-ful rods in Texas. I got there early and watching all the cars cruise in was a real treat As you can see, the coupes, sedans and roadsters with a hand full of rattys made for a unique show and the weather cooperated.

The run includes vendors, a Silent Auction, Door Prizes, Goody Bags, 50/50 jar, a special drawing for pre-registered cars, a short cruise in the Texas hill country, an awards ceremony for top ten cars and other awards, food booths and shopping in down-town Boerne.

Keys To The Hills

Boerne, TX


Keys to the Hills


1950 PontiacDavid Barchus’

David Barchus bought this ‘50 Pontiac Chieftain in 1995 from a local guy from an ad in the local paper. As a teenager he remember admiring a 1952 Dark Green 2 door Pontiac that was parked near his home. It was for sale and he dreamed of buying it and tried his best to talk his dad into it but his dad wasn’t having any of it. David was especially taken with these cars because they came with straight 8 engines. When he compared them to the Chevrolets of that era, he liked the fact that Pontiacs have replaceable rod bearings and an open drive shaft. In other words they have no torque tube and no babbits. After buying the Poncho, he drove it around ratty style for sev-eral years. He wanted to restore the car to original and saved his money to rebuild the engine in September 2006. It’s bored .030 over and the crank was turned .010/.010. The optional high compression (7.8:1) head was installed and was also converted from 6V to 12V. All rust and rot was cut out and repaired, new glass was installed along with new weatherstripping. And what would a good resto be without a new interior. The grill and bumpers were re-chromed at New Age Plating and all of the stainless was polished. David went with a really glossy black which meant that the body work had to be perfect. His long time friend Valenteen lived in David’s garage apartment and worked on the body part time for a couple of years in between his regular job and gigs with his his rock and roll band, Valenteen Y Los Diablos. The beautifully restored Pontiac is a sight to behold driving down the street and David said the only thing really left to do is replace the rear leaf springs and pinion seal on the rear end.


Kim Mouton’s

1948 Chevy Aerosedan

Kim Mouton calls his ‘48 Chev Aerosedan ”Looking Back”. Kim consider it a resto mod bomb lowrider... Mouton style. It features the original body but the hood was nosed. Kim added an outside sunviser, fender skirts, spot lights, rear wiper, bumper wraps and real-ly... too many things to list. If it was available in 1948 he made an effort to put it on the car. He painted it casino gold urethane enamel with clear coat. The pinstriping was done in California, Arizona and by a local Houston artist. The big Chev’s drivetrain is a 283 from a ‘57 Vette/700R4 back to a Monte Carlo rear axle. Steering is a Mustang II setup and the rear was notched and has mono leaf springs. It has dual straight pipes and sits on airbags front and rear. Wheels are 14”x4.25” with wide whites & roulette hub caps. Kim covered the seats with mexican blankets, there’s no head liner, and he uses a wrench for the gas pedal.

One of the unique features on the car is the passing eye mirror which was used to look forward for pass-

ing on a two lane highway that had no divider so you wouldn’t hit oncoming traffic.

The spider web on the outside viser was striped by a local artist to give the illusion the car was moving and he wanted the web to look like it was blowing off the car in the wind. The spider was added to make the web look a little more realistic.

Kim’s love for old cars started as a youngster when his dad was turning wrenches at a Mobil station. Back then you could still see a few cars from the 30’s and 40’s come into the shop. Then there were those com-ic books like Superman with the old cars in the street scenes. Those things made a big impression on Kim growing up. Kim’s son also has a big influence on the cars he builds. He wants his son to have a love for the old vintage cars like he has. Kim says we should al-ways take our kids to car shows, they’re the next gen-eration of builders and hopefully they’ll realize building cars is not just a hobby. Its more of a lifestyle.


For Bill Griffin’s 80th birthday his family thought a car car show with friends and family was the perfect way to celebrate the milestone and a lot of others agreed! There were 119 cars registered for the 1st time car show! The Griffin’s are in the car business and put the show togeth-er, including sponsors, in just 5 weeks.

Bill Griffin moved to Texas from Alabama in 1963 and opened Bill’s Texaco service station in Victoria. Bill also opened College Auto Sales that same year. The Griffin’s Victoria Auto Auction has been in business since 1987, is family owned and operated and auctions cars on a weekly basis so I guess you could say cars are in their blood! ; - > Bill also had his newest ride on display: an all steel 40 Ford ragtop with original frame, Mustang II rack & pinion steering, QA-1 adjustable coilover shocks, Wilwood pow-er front disc brakes, 8” Ford rear end with gas shocks, GM performance 350/340hp crate motor, TCI 700R4 overdrive transmission, GM HEI ignition and intake, Holley 4 barrel carburetor, March performance serpentine belt system, over-the-top chrome trim, American Autowire fuse box and harness, upgraded cooling system/electric fans, new fuel system and Flowmaster exhaust. Comfort upgrades include air conditioning, power steering, power disc brakes, power windows, power antenna, tilt wheel,

glove soft leather seating for four with seatbelts, com-plete instrumentation, AM/FM/CD satellite stereo, shaved door and trunk handles with remote entry and beautiful two tone paint. Bill bought it at Barrett Jackson Sale in Palm Beach in 2012. Can you say Full Tilt Boogie?! Next year they plan on more booths, more opportunity for sponsors and possibly a two day event with a Classic Car Auction on day two.

The show was very well organized, the facility was per-fect for a car show and yours truly had a very good time, enjoying the great weather and the wide variety of rides... can’t wait till next year!

Victoria, TX


1950 Ford Shoebox

Fred Nelson’s first encounter with a chopped shoebox was 35 years ago when he was 15 at a car show. It was an oxi-dized black car in bad need of paint compared to the pristine cars that were parked beside it. For some reason that stuck with him. He even met the owner and remembered how the owners of the other high end cars seemed to snubbed him (sound familiar!?)

After building and owning over 40 cars, Fred thought his ‘41 Ford business coupe would be his last but that old dream of a chopped Shoebox would not leave him alone! Around BC, Canada, Fred says; “Shoebox Fords seem to be gold no mat-ter how rotted they are. No matter the amount of rot in them so I began looking outside the province”. He found a clean, running and complete ‘50 in Colorado and even including the long haul was more affordable than anything he could find locally.

From January to April he tore into the body, first welding in patch panels, then nosing and decking it. He frenched the headlights and tunneled the tail lights. The doors were shaved and the original Custom trim molding holes that were filled with bondo were cleaned up and welded closed. Then came the decision on the chop.

Fred had chopped more than one car but wasn’t sure he was

up to a shoebox so he handed the keys over to Tyler Selzler of Liquid Steel Hot Rods and Cus-toms in Kelowna BC. Tyler took 4.75 inches out of the front and 8 inches out of the rear of the roof giving it an incredible flow along with tilted door posts. His mastery of metalwork and hand crafting of the stainless left Fred contemplating painting the car in clear to show Tyler’s incredible work. Eventually he chose Hot Rod Flats Copper pearl which was applied by Dieter Ott in Vernon, B.C.

Next up came the interior. Fred said he had to go white with black piping like he remembered in the car from 35 years ago. Then Chad Crofford of Old Soul Pin Striping in Kelowna, B.C. laid some lines on the dash and also some on his cooler.

The bone stock flathead received a rebuilt Stomberg 97 and the overdrive keeps her running cool in the hot Okanagan summer. Solenoids open the doors, and vintage hidden wire feed operates the trunk and hood. A CD player may even find itself hidden somewhere out of site but for now he loves the music played by the Smitty mufflers.

Fred Nelson’s

Owner/Photos: Fred Nelson


1950 Ford Shoebox


The 53rd annual Houston Autorama had a cool exhibit this year... the amazing Gene Winfield actually chopping a top during the show and as usual, Mr. Winfield was as cordial as ever! The guy has an incredible energy level for a 78 year old! Autorama Houston has a new team running things after the original Millwinders handed the reigns over last year. The Millwinders put the show on for many years and were getting up in age so they knew it was time to let someone else take the wheel. As usual, the bulk of the show consists of the major car clubs in the area, the Pontiac Club, The Chevy Club, the Ford Club etc. Of course there were lots of vendors, a swap meet, burnout contest, celebs, show cars, and lone wolfs. Then there were the kustoms, lowriders, specialty and ratty clubs. And motorsickles, don’t forget the motorsi-clkles! And this year they allowed people to display cars outside the huge venue, a big success although it did sprinkle just a lil!

Autorama Houston


Autorama


RidezReader'z

Darrin Morast saw a rat rod a few years ago and had to have one. A friend offered him a ‘47 International manure spreader and he took it after his dad wouldn’t let him rat his ‘37 Chev PU. With the help of a local hot rodder he built a frame and started work. His neighbor gave him a Chev 350/350 combo. A ‘77 Firebird gave up it’s posi rear which is lo-cated with a 4 link and panhard bar. The grill is from a Alice Chalmers tractor, headlights are from his dad’s junk pile and seats came from a Astro minivan. The top was chopped 4 inches and the cab was channeled. The truck was finished in late 2012 and Darrin rocks it at every opportunity!

‘47 BinderOwner/photos: Darrin MorastDillon, Montana

This ‘08 HD Sportster XL883R is the first custom project by Youssef Azmi called “Fire-starter”. It all started when Youssef and his brother saw a article in Hot Bikes magazine on a $1,000 bike build. They were torn between a bobber, then a café racer, then back to a bobber, then a crazy mix of both, but wanted it to be obvious it was still a Sportster. The main challenge was parts and execution on a super tight budget. Since he lives in Saudi Arabia, ordering parts involved a certain risk of not fitting properly or not looking as good installed as they did online. He also wanted to thank his brother, Tarek, for his help and inspiration!

‘08 HD Sportster XL883ROwner/photos: Youssef AzmiJeddah, Saudi Arabia


Ridez Reader'z Ridez

Bonnie and Al Dyer’s ‘39 Ford is by no means a trailer queen but a serious driver. The Dyer’s have owned the car for 4 years now and have slowly but surely worked the lil bugs out of the car like installing a shroud on the radiator that vanquished it’s slight overheating problems. The coupe is powered by a 350/350 combo back to a Granada 9” rear end, Mustang II frontend with 1 turn cut off the coils, discs/front drums/back. The interior is basic... no door panels, no head liner, no insulation... just a couple of seats and some carpet on the floor. Creature comforts are a radio they can’t hear when driving, a heater, a cowl vent and one KICK azz horn. (6 volt trumpets hooked to 12 volts!).

‘39 Ford Standard Business CoupeOwners/photos: Bonnie & Al DyerFairfield,Maine

Youri Smith got the hulk of this car from his old work-place for overtime he didn’t work... wink, wink! He loves these old Cits because he was raised in them having over 20 so far. He thought it was gonna be an easy restoration until he started taking the car apart! Most of the back ot the car was rusted away so he built the back of the car out of scrap metal he had laying around to keep costs down. The exhaust is from a Suzuki GS450 motorcycle the bed is made from an old metal closet and the tailgate is from an old Singer Sewing machine frame. Yuri credits his pals for all their help... Ricky “The Rat” van Droffelaar ~ Overall Fabrication and great ideas + tattoos, Tjebbe “ZZchop” van der Leest ~ Paint and drinking beer etc, Tjeerd Plug ~ Fabrication and general-ly being annoying etc, Bart “Kustombart” Colenbrander ~ Special Paint & gas tank + consuming beer etc!

‘83 Citroën 2CVOwner/photos: Youri SmithEde, Holland


Like many of you, I spend a bit of my free time each day checking out some to the rod centric web forums. There have been many times when some-one posts a question such as “Where’s the best place to move to that’s rod friendly?” Well, here is one somewhat biased answer to that very question…

Imagine a place where thousands of folks just show up and cruise. No trophies, no contests, and best of all no entry fees. Families and friends can just hang out, shoot bull and enjoy an infinite variety of wheeled contraptions cruising and parked in every nook and cranny in the neighborhood. There are DJ’s playing great music to cruise to, and dozens of places to get a bite to eat or something cool to drink. Plus, there are several auto shops and tire shops along the way, offering great deals and places in their lots to show off your ride. Many of you may have thought that this concept faded away back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Well folks, it’s alive and well and happening every month (when it’s

not snowing) in Golden, Colorado. Welcome to the Golden Super Cruise!

The cruise was started by a small group of car en-thusiasts in 2004. The original organizers wanted to provide a safe, fun atmosphere to enjoy their rides, while assisting the businesses along South Golden Road. The first run drew around 60 driving partici-pants and has grown steadily ever since. The largest turnout of individual vehicles in the cruise was 3,000, with over 10,000 people in attendance. The cruise runs rain or shine most months on the first Saturday of the month, with the “Official Cruises” from May through October. The “Official Cruises” include trash dispensers and pickup, and additional law enforce-ment assistance for general traffic control. Non-Offi-cial Cruises just kind of happen when good weather blesses in what can be less than optimal weather months.

These days the cruise is organized by Michael Ma-son, who has been involved since day one. He has been instrumental in keeping the cruise alive and has

The Golden Super Cruise



provided much of the funding to allow it to continue. If you make it to the cruise and enjoy what it offers, please consider a donation to help with the on-going operational costs.

The cruise brings out all forms of wheeled contrap-tions. The majority of the participants are in muscle cars, restored and less than restored classics, hot rods, street rods, rat rods, low riders and street tun-ers. You are just as likely to see a Packard Hawk as a Pantera; or maybe a cool set of replicas like a Daytona Cobra Coupe and Ferrari 250 GTO. The 4x4 folks are also out in strength, alongside Europe-an sports cars from the ‘50s and ‘60s. How about a street legal modified oval racer or supercharged straight axel altered Nomad – yep, we got em!

If you’re ever in the area on a first Saturday, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It costs you nothing and will leave you with a bit of hope that there is still a bit of Americana left in America.


Story and Photos

By Mike Rogers



The 1st annual Vallentines Day celebration in the Historic Houston Heights was a cool scene that will not soon be forgotten. It was the brainchild of four hip shop owners in the area! The “Massacre” and other events were held in conjunction with the Korsairs Car Club and included the support of many other shops in the district.

The main culprits were, retro clothing store “Red Rocket of Houston” featured artist “Blue Rooster”, vintage resale clothing store “Style Cycle” featured Kelly Kuhn from KMCreative Jewelry, “Boomtown Coffee Shop” hosted hill country pinstriper “Mr. Oz” and Houston Cigar Lounge was handing out free stoogies.

Also in attendance was supporter Karbach Beer, a local micro brewer, who hosted a free beer tast-ing. Karbach’s brewmeister, Eric Warner, has beer tastings at their brewery on Friday from 5-7pm & Sundays 12-3pm.

Cars were limited to pre-64 and came and went all day and well into the night. When one car would leave, another would take it’s place. Flip ‘n Patties food truck was serving up their delicious Filipino street food & juicy burgers to keep the crowd happy during the “Lowbrow Art Show” while groovin’ to the tunes of World Famous Rockabilly DJ “Johnny Blue Dot”. Pretty good start to car show season and the start of a new tradition on 19th St!

V-Day Massacreon 19th St


Chickz Ridez

‘71 Honda CB500/4Owner/photos: Jackie BarlowMartinsburg, WV

‘71 Dodge Challenger R/TOwner/photos: Kasondra Fehr Houston, TX

Growing up with brothers and a gear head father, Jackie Barlow was never the typical girly girl. She started out by watching the guys work but grew tired of watching and became her dad’s “little helper”. During her senior year of high school she attended a tech school and took an automotive class showing up most of the boys in the class. After high school she started working full time at her dad’s motorcycle shop where her dad bought her this Honda CB500 stocker for $200. She knew it had to be a hardtail so out came the sawzall! After she found the gas tank off a ‘71 Indian enduro it became clear to her it would be like a mod-ern day board tracker. A great start for a first ground up build for a 19 year old!

Kasondra Fehr remembers the very day she decided to buy a muscle car! A friend asked her to drive one of his cars to a car show. The moment she turned the Ca-maro’s engine over and revved it up, she fell in love and couldn’t wipe the smile off her face for weeks! The hunt was on! Kasondra eventually found this R/T on eBay, had it inspected and made the deal becoming the car’s 5th and last owner. The car’s been given a full rotisserie res-toration and sports a balanced and blue printed 440 motor. She’s a member of the Houston Mopar Connection Club and loves to show her car at every opportunity . And rightly so, it’s a beautiful machine! Her daily is a special order 2011 Chal-lenger with every available option!


Chickz Ridez

‘58 Caddy SedanOwner/photos: Jennifer HeibelVictoria, TX

‘56 Chrysler ImperialOwners/photos: Marcell BaileyVictoria, TX

Jennifer Heibel did not grow up around old cars, but always loved looking at them and luckily found a good man that loved them as much as she does. After tinkering in the garage they finally decided to open their own shop, South Texas Performance. Jennifer ran across a Ford Fairlane while shopping for a car and made a deal on it but 2 months later saw this ‘58 Caddy on the HAMB and immediatly put the Fairlane up for sale. A deal was made and the Heibels roadtripped to Tennessee to pick up the big boat! They quickly paid the man, loaded the Caddy up and headed back to Texas. It has a new gas tank, fuel lines, and a few other small repairs and now runs like the dream car Jennifer always wanted! She loves her Caddy!

Marcell Bailey said building this Im-perial’s been both a nightmare and an awesome learning experience.The Bai-ley’s had been trying to buy this car for about 2 years when in June 2012 the guy that owned it decided to sell. The car was parked under a pecan tree for 7 years so you can only imagine the dirt, sap and leaves that were in every crevice on the outside of the car. After getting the mechanical work done the body was next in line. All the chrome was removed and sent to the chrome shop. Marcell stayed with the original Cloud White upper and added Desert Rose on the lower half and the roof which is the same original color of the interior. And yes... it’s rockin’ a Hemi!


Chickz Ridez

‘50 Ford F1Owner/photos: Sharon KnightShepherdsville, KY

‘66 Chevy CorvetteOwner/photos: Cathy Ormsby

Sharon Knight fell in love with rattys when the Road Warrior movies came out. After only 7 years of nagging... err... “ask-ing” her husband to build her one... he finally submitted! ; - > He’d built custom bikes before but nothing this big. Sharon loved rockin’ junk yards, yard sales, flea markets and swap meets for the build & says that part was a total blast!!! She considers a ratty a piece of art; bits and pieces of whatever put together and made to work. Part of her radiator shroud is made of coffee cans. Her husband Da-vid marked a pattern for the frame on the garage floor and built it from there. It’s powered by a Chev 4.3L V6, 700R tranny and S10 rear end. Sharon says although it rides a lil rough it’s no worse than riding on back of a Knuckle or Pan Head.

Cathy Ormsby loved cars from a early age, especially fast ones! Her father raced stock cars when she was a child and she was always around when he was working on them. As a teen, one of her neighbors also had stock cars and lots of people would hang out there but girls weren’t really allowed. For fun, she loves to work on her car or jet boat. And surprise... her husband also had fast cars and fast boats when they met! Perfect!!! Cruising one night they saw a for sale sign in this car, chased it down and bought it the next day. It’s actually a 427 car but had a 327 when purchased and since 427’s are hard to find and expensive to boot, she’s just stuck with the small block. It’s just been rebuilt and is still backed by the original 4-speed tranny. The car was originally blue but has now been dipped in Porsche Red!


Chickz Ridez

GMC PUOwner/photos: Ashleigh Pfarr-FrockBaltimore MD

‘29 Ford TruckOwner/photos: Tracy PopeDarwin, Australia

Ashleigh Pfarr-Frock was raised around hot rods and race cars. Her folks loved the demolition derbies on Saturday nights and she never forgot what fun that was. Lat-er she’d meet her husband who enjoyed the same hobbies... derbies, junkyards and swap-meets. Her husband always had a project and she decided she needed one too and found this truck that sat forever and a day with no one to care for it. She con-vinced the owner to sell and her timing was perfect. The owner was tired of the truck so up on a trailer it went. Even through the truck sat up for years, Ashleigh and husband had it running the next day. The brakes needed a lil overhaul and so after that was done it was time to turn her atten-tion to the stance. 2” lowered spindles took care of the front end and she plans bags for the rear end this year.

Tracy Pope hails from Darwin, Australia. She’s owned several different cars over the years and loved them all including a Trans Am, a Bronco, a GTO, and a Holden Tora-na. She recently decided it was time to own a hot rod. “Daisy”, as she is named due to her colour, is a ‘29 Ford pickup powered by a Holden 253 with future plans for a 383 transplant. Why a pickup? Tracy likes the look and the idea that she doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ since her theme/look is a workshop truck. A few stone chips here and there won’t look out of place. And she fits in nicely with rockabilly/pin up scene. Tracy plans to take her drag racing and to events like Powercruise just for fun but still wants to cruise her on a Friday nights. The truck’s garage mate is a beautiful ‘34 Ford coupe!.


Chickz Ridez

‘50 Buick SpecialOwner/photos: Meredith CarterBeasley, TX

After years of off-roading, Michelle and hus-band, Chris, decided to find something new to do as a family and decided to build a rat rod together. They found this ‘49 Chevy pickup but after looking it over, decided to leave the body as is and found a beat up ‘52 Ford cab and used that to rat out instead. Once the Ford project was complete, attention turned back to the ‘49 Chev as a ride for Michelle. She wanted an old truck but creature comforts as well so decided to drop the body on an extended cab S-10 frame, which just happened to be the right wheel base. Not one wire was cut in the transplant so ev-erything still works, including the cruise control which is nice on long drives to car shows. The patina was left as is but the interior has been upgraded with a/c, heat, radio, new dolphin gauges, and carpet. Pablo Vidaurri Mendoza with Degre576 did the pinstriping. Most of all, Michelle thanks her husband Chris!

‘49 Chevrolet 3600 PUOwner/photos: Michelle Koliba Victoria, TX

Meredith Carter got her ‘50 Buick in Nov. 2012. She was drawn to the cars defined body lines, elegant interior, and signature grille. It was restored about 10 years ago and still has the original 248ci straight eight with a Dynaflow transmission. Since purchasing the car, Mere-dith put the orginal steel wheels back on with spider caps and trim rings, added Coker white walls and has done other minor repairs. She plans on lowering it 2”-3” and showing it off at local car shows. Meredith is a member of the Villains Car Club and her interest in classics began when she met boyfriend Mike Pitz, a founding member of the Villains CC. Together, they’ve been cruising in classics and going to car shows for the last 6 years. She also has a ‘53 Chevy Bel Air and hopes to add a ‘55 Chevy to her collection one day.


Garage Scene

Rich Rulau - South Coast Rides ~ Rosenburg, TX

Nick Shirk ~ Hanover, PA

Jason Walters ~ Bluffton SCDon Watenpaugh aka dmw56 of Edgewood, NM

Kenny Allen ~ Chesterfield, VA

Donsrods ~ Florida

Chris Lyons ~ Parts unknown

Chris Walker ~ Stacy, MN


Bonehead Tech ~ Oxy/Acl Welding You’ve all heard the old stories about walking to school in the snow etc. Well this one sort of starts out as like one of those stories. When I was a kid we were building fence on our place. We wanted a good corner, so a neighbor brought over a oxy acetylene set and cut up some pipe. He made these fun-ny looking curved cuts, which made the pipe fit together really well. Then he changed the head on his torch, and whipped out some bailing wire and welded the pipe together. This was my first exposure to the process. Here we were ½ mile from anywhere, and we had a beautiful strong corner. It didn’t take me long to try it myself. In high school, I got my chance. That was a long time ago but I’ve welded off and on with O/A for many years. First off, safety. You should have a basic understanding of your cylinders, and the regulators. I like having a blowback preventer. You will also need gloves, and safety glasses.The regulators on both bottles only need to be at about 4psi. I like starting with a smaller tip (#0 or #1). These will work well for lighter gauge sheet metal, up to about 1/16th. Once your flame is going you want a sharp bright blue flame, and the sound should not be whistling. To start, take 2 piec-es of scrap and lay them out on your (fireproof) work bench. Start by heating a spot on both pieces at the seam, to a dull orange color. The area you are working in is only about ¼ inch or so, this happens pretty fast. You have to keep in mind that you control the heat by the, size, placement and duration of the flame to the metal. To get a better feel for this part, take another piece of scrap, that is plenty thick, like ¼ inch. Prac-tice making a puddle of molten steel, bright orange in color, oscillate the tip slightly while slowly moving the tip and the puddle in a straight line. For this practice, you won’t need filler rod. But for the weld, remember the two pieces of steel we talked about above? For that you will need a filler. Filler rod?, you ask. Yes that old time welder used bailing wire, and a lot of old time hot rodders used metal coat hang-ers. You can use the wire in those marker flags that utility companies use or, you can get steel filler rod from your local welding supply store. Some will look like copper rod, because they have a coating on them. Much like MIG wire, the copper is thin, and has no effect on your finished weld. Now back to our weld. You have the two pieces butted together and you have a ¼ inch spot on the seam, heated to a dull orange. Keep your filler rod close to the heat of your torch. I am right handed, and hold the torch in my right hand, and the filler in my left. You can move the puddle in any direction from there. For practice sake, go the direction you feel most comfortable in. I run the torch down the rod for an inch or two to burn off any oil. Heat the tip of the filler rod, and start to bring it all closer together. As you do this, the filler rod and the two pieces of steel should come up to a bright orange color, and start to get a glaze of molten steel. Dot the filler rod down to the seam, and burn off the round orange ball on the rod. When you first start, this seems like you are juggling, but as you get the hang of it, it gets easier. Now you should have a puddle of bright orange molten steel about a 1/4 inch, (or less) around. Now you just move the puddle about a third of the width of the puddle, and repeat the process. This all happens pretty fast, so remember, you control the heat. A cold weld will only heat the filler rod and the seam will not join. If that is the case the weld sits up high on top of the seam. If the weld is too hot, the seam will be below the surface of the surrounding materials, and usually you have not used enough filler. You can adjust the flame to make it hotter, or cooler. You will still need a sharp blue point of flame at the tip of the torch. As with most welding, practice is your friend.

The first time I saw this process used in the hot rod world was from a place in Oklahoma City, called Sammy’s. They did chops, and they welded the sheet metal back together with OA. These days, thanks to wire feed welders, I only use OA for the thinnest of metals.

A close cousin to this type of welding, is braze welding. May-be we should cover that one next time. -- Jeff --

Getting the flame set correctly

Tacked ends of weld area

Adding filler

The finished weld


The 2nd annual Rally In The Alley was a rockin’ success. It was held on a perfect Spring like day after a long Winter off season for car shows and the hoodlums were definitely restless! The Rally was put on by the Rumble Cats Car Club (Houston & Austin chapters) and held at Pappa’s Ice House in Spring, TX.

The Rumble Cats CC was originally formed in El Monte, California in 1995 and has chapters in So.Cal, Nor.Cal, Texas, Hawaii, Japan, Las Vegas, Indiana, Colorado, and Arizona... all Badsville loca-tions! ; - >

The show was limited to pre-65 cars/trucks, and pre-79 custom motorcycles... no muscle cars or trailer queens. Entertainment was by Dead Man’s Ransom, Nick Gaitan and The Umbrella Man, as well as Gamblers and Mark from L.A. Tunes. Be-tween bands “DJ Twinkle Toes” and “DJ Von Bads-ville” rocked the house. Awards were given between 5-6 pm and the party continued well into the night!

There were koool vendors on site including a tat-too artist, pinstripers & apparel shop displays. The Rumble Cats also held Pinewood Derby car races sponsored by STVS Machine. Wow, that really brought back the memories!

Spring, Tx


Spring, Tx


Rally In The Alley

Firing Order #3

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Transcript of Firing Order #3