Innehållsförteckning för Issue# 20 från Rodding USA

Entering through the doors of Cobo Hall in Detroit it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the size of the room. The space seems endless and it is hard to imagine they could find enough cars to fill both levels of the hall, but it was full and with no room to spare. Of course one of the main reasons many people come out to the Autorama is to see the Great 8 finalists which are chosen out of many contenders for the Don Ridler Memorial award. All 8 must meet the long standing standards and strict criteria of the Ridler. Creativity, workmanship, and engineering are just a few of the things the judges will take into consideration. When the Ridler was first awarded back in 1964 the cash prize…

The Chattanooga Cruise In is an event which started in 2011, but if you didn’t know any better, you’d think an event of this magnitude had been gaining momentum for decades. And though it started as a simple cruise in and open house at Coker Tire’s world headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, it has turned into a highly acclaimed event drawing hot rodders from all over the Southeast. The 2016 event saw record-breaking crowds with approximately 2,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles in attendance, and an estimated 15,000 spectators throughout the span of the one-day event. no grown rapidly, thanks to its long list of attractions and an old fashioned marketing plan called “word of mouth”. When hot rodders leave this event, they hurry home to tell their buddies exactly what they…

By the time qualifying started on Thursday, the track was in pristine condition all the way from the water box to the shut-off area. Walking the pits you could be forgiven if you thought there was no more room: it was so packed a couple of teams were pitted in the staging lanes, but they still kept coming in and somehow found a spot. All told there were around 500 race entries with 450 actually qualifying. With so many cars to get through elimination rounds fingers were crossed the rain would hold off and there wouldn’t be many oil-downs or mishaps. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings just as the NE1 class was starting their first race of the day, the skies opened up and down it came. Thankfully it didn’t…

Early May and traditional hot rods from across the land descend on the Travis County Fairgrounds on the East end of Austin, Texas for the annual Roundup. This is one of the best traditional hot rod shows in the country and rather than bore you with words we’ll let you drool over the cool cars which showed up at this year’s event.…

Bill Hill was born, raised and still lives in Liberal, Kansas which is located close to the geographic center of the continental United States. His dad owned a full service gas station, Chet Hill Service which was located on Highway 54. Chet was a good mechanic and Bill grew up working in the station and learned how to work on cars from his dad. Along with working and servicing cars at the station, Bill had the opportunity to see a variety of makes, models and years of cars that were passing through. His older brother Dale owned a 1955 Chevy and a 1932 Ford 3/window coupe and now it was Bill’s turn to get into the hobby. car was a Chevy Nova shared with his sister Twilla. Of course he…

We pick up the story on this well-known 1934 Ford coupe when Californian Tony Andrews purchased the car on Saturday November 5th 1966 from Mrs. Dellie Kinsey in Sylvester, Texas for the sum of $250. Tony kept a notebook diary on the coupe which is still with the car and it’s from his notes written in 1966 that we begin: This car was found in Sylvester, Texas in an open garage where it was parked sometime in 1950. Numerous attempts had been made to buy it by rodders but to no avail. Mrs. Kinsey had in her care two younger brothers in their ‘60s. These poor miserable, slobbering men greeted me both times I stopped and after almost 30 minutes of carefully repeated questions on the second visit I discovered…

Since 1956, The Portland Roadster Show in Portland, Oregon, has been presented by the Multnomah Hot Rod Council. The council is made up of 18 local car clubs which are the backbone of the organization. The show was originally conceived by Portland Mayor Terry Shrunk, Dee Wescott, Bill Peterson and Bob Knowles. They felt if they could make money on the show it would help pay for a drag strip, to take racing off the streets. It was decided to purchase land in partners with the North West Timing Association to build a drag strip. That strip, now known as the Woodburn drag strip, is still in operation. The first Roadster Show was produced by Dee Wescott and Bill Peterson, after which Peterson ran it until his death in 1977.…

Back in 1957 Chris Evans was a freshman in high school in Middleton, New York and that winter he purchased a copy of Rodding and Re-styling magazine for 25-cents. On the cover was a fender-less Model A roadster which was photographed in the snow and was named the “Neuman Special.” He carried that magazine with him for the whole year and would just stare at the red roadster and dream about owning one some day. Chris says “it gave me butterflies in my stomach just looking at it and any real car guy knows what I’m talking about.” He lost the magazine after he went off to college in Arizona but the car never left his mind. Fast forward to 2012 and Chris is walking around the Goodguys swap meet…

Lynn Newkirk of Arvada, Colorado has gone through many cars throughout his many years in hot rodding, and in the beginning it was model cars and slot cars which peaked his interest. He grew up with three sisters which you would think would not add much in the way of car culture, but as they got older they ended up with boyfriends who were into cars. One of the sisters married one of these “car guys” and they had a 1940 Ford coupe race car with a 392 Hemi under the hood and a ’40 Ford sedan street car also powered by a 392 Hemi. Lynn started racing at Bandimere drag strip in 1973 at the “high school drags” in his ’65 Chevelle SS. He then bought a ’55 Chevy…

Every home shop/garage has lighting and it can vary from incandescent bulbs to an array of fluorescents fixtures which have been the norm for many years. The fluorescents were a good option considering cost and relative low maintenance other than ballasts burning out and bulb intensity fading over the years. This past November while attending the SEMA Show in Las Vegas I ran across a company which sells the huge fans you see in big-box store and factories. When you see the enormity of the blades many first reactions are wow, that’s a big fan which is most likely where the Big Ass Fans company name originated. In their display was a small light fixture measuring 9” x 23” and it hurt your eyes due to the intensity of light…

So many circumstances guide our paths in life, and if you ask 25 rodders how they got into the hobby you’ll probably get 25 different answers. Paul Spinden Jr. probably didn’t have much of a chance of not being involved in rodding, considering that his dad Paul Sr. was a member of the Road Dusters racing team, a car club based in Golden, Colorado. In fact, 13 days after Paul was born in 1957 he went to his first race in Pampa, Texas. Paul Sr. ran his 1933 Dodge coupe to a win at 104.40 mph in the B/F (nitro) class. A few years later Paul Sr. & Mona gave their kids pedal cars for Christmas. Paul received a Jeep while his younger brother Cliff was peddling a Ford Falcon.…

(Editor’s Note) Vintage Air provides a few seminars annually and we were fortunate enough to catch up with Rick Love, Executive Vice President of Vintage Air, Inc.at SoCal Arizona in Phoenix for his annual “Basics of Air Conditioning” seminar. If you have the opportunity to attend one of these free seminars make sure that you do and when it’s over you will have a wealth of knowledge on how an A/C system works. Upcoming Seminars: July 8, 2016 Goodguy’s Natonals in Columbus, OH August 4, 2016 NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Louisville, KY Following are the major points highlighted in the seminar: Primary purpose of air conditioning: To remove heat and humidity from inside the vehicle. How system works: Refrigerant absorbs heat as it changes states from liquid to gas,…

The California Car Duster is a staple in every hot rodder’s arsenal of cleaning supplies and it was Jim DeFrank who brought that product to market pedaling them on late night infomercials. That success led to Jim and wife Loraine founding California Car Cover which is located in Chatsworth, California. Jim’s inkling for hot rods began at an early age in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and he spent his youth at car shows and drag strips. He married Loraine in 1965 and shortly after they packed their belongings in a 1955 Chevy and moved to warm and sunny Southern California. Jim had various careers before California Car Cover which included time at 20th Century Studios, operating a Snap-On truck and working and owning a few auto parts stores. He also co-owned an…