Gary's Baby . . .

Dave spent more than a couple of hours grinding filler and paintwork away from the old door outlines that have previously been welded up. As I said, Gary has the '34 in to have the doors re-fitted so he doesn't need Hodgey and the boys to lift him out of the driver's seat any more. . .

As can be seen from the straight edge, Dave nearly needed a back-hoe to dig out all the body filler used to fill in the welds of the old door job.

'29 A Model Tudor . . .

Dave has been working hard on the steering column in the Tudor and it's not as simle as just cutting a hole and screwing it in. Angle of view from the driver's seat and height of the steering wheel, etc., all come into consideration. This one is not very friendly as it also has the big Mopar motor out front that has the oil filter sitting exactly where the steering column exits the firewall. . .

Gary's Baby . . .

Just a quick 'before' shot of Gary's baby before the boys get stuck right into it and start cutting out the door sections for replacement with working, all steel doors. Gazza's getting a bit long in the tooth and it's harder for him to throw the leg over the side of his faithfull ride these days and before long he will be needing a block and tackle to hoist him into the driving saddle. Maybe Hodgey can fabricate an articulating arm that comes out of the boot, grabs Gazza off the floor and dumps his arse into the front seat and Bob's your uncle?
Side rails have already been removed. . .

'29 A Model Tudor . . .

Small collection tonight folks, not a lot going on by the look of things, but 'things' can be deceiving! This is an old Willwood pedal box that's being used insead of the more normal unit with the master cylinder attached to the firewall. They were originally going to go that way but it put the brake pedal in a very stupid position and basically undriveable, so the boys dug out an oldie, but very bloody, goodie!

Dave has been spending quite a few hours trying to get the Holden HJ steering column set-up just right to sit in the Tudor. Not the job it was designed for but an extremely good, collapsable, donot unit. . .

'29 Model A Tudor . . .

Dave has mounted the rack and pinion steering into the front of the A model . . .

Hand made brackets for the rigid mounting of the rack and pinion . . .

Dave welding in the hand made brackets to hold the steering system in place. These brackets were cut out of 5mm stock with a plasma cutter for easy shaping and cutting of the heavy metal, the rest is just time taken with the grinders wearing 'flapper' discs . . .

Bob's Burger King Rod. . .

Extractors wrapped in 'Titanium' heat-wrap. Be careful what brand you buy, this was a new product from a very well known source and Dave paid the price by suffering all night and the next day from serious itchiness from the very fine fibres that got into his skin. His hands were rubbed/scratched raw from the resulting itches that also spread to most of his body . . .

The exhaust can either be 'open' at the end of the engine pipes or for legality and street use, it carefully snakes its way underneath the body and after passing through a couple of mufflers is dumped out the back . . .

Tail-pipes waiting to be installed. These pipes haven't been painted black, they have been given the heat treating process that different companies use different names for. This system was treated over in Castlemaine. I think that the most common name is "Jet Hot" coating, although I'm unsure as to who did this system? If it's that important that you know the source then give Andrew a ring. . .

Bob's Rod with the lot. . .

Here she is, straight back from the painter's shed, and what a Painter he is! Trev has come through with the goods once again. If there is anyone out there doing better 'patina' paintwork then I'm yet to see it or meet him. . .

Front view shows that the boys have to start again and reassembly the rod for the final time before 'hand-over'. . .