Kelsey Hayes Bent Spoke 40 Spoke 16 " Wire spoke Wheels Comparison

Every early Ford enthusiast recognizes the "Buzz Word" Kelsey Hayes Wheels..

I am more of a Chevrolet fan and I thought I would just display a comparison of the two different versions of the 16" Kelsey Hayes Bent Spoke 40 Spoke accessory wheels.

Seems to me, an argument about which one is the most appealing and proportionate in design would be futile.  The center is much more appealing in shape and size on the Chevrolet version.

Actually I have some Mopar wheels and they have the same center as the Chevrolet version.  To me, it just doesn't get any better in the early wire spoke wheels. The Mopar wheels are for sale for $400 for the set of 4 with a 36 spoke spare included.

I'm now offering a set of 4 of these Chevy wheels for $800.  These are extremely hard to find. I put this set together by advertising up and down the west coast and watching eBay diligently.  5/6/22

1936 Chevrolet Manufacturing Assembly

1936 Chevrolet Assembly Line
This is fascinating to watch these guys work around these massive pieces of manufacturing equipment without any modern safety measures, only common sense. Everyone is aware of what is going on around them and maintains their own margin of safety.

1964 Corvette Coupe Restoration Part 2

1964 Corvette Coupe Restoration Part 2.

Restoration of a 1964 Corvette Stingray requires some different skills from restoration of a metal classic car, or muscle car.

Dealing with rust is a challenge on the Stingray as well, but it is limited to the windshield aperture and chassis etc.

The windshield opening structure was rusted and released from the fiberglass, and had to be cleaned, treated and re glued to the fiberglass. This was accomplished fairly easily in comparison to what it might have been, years ago, when we didn't have the modern products. Now we have POR15 to encapsulate the rusty surface and provide a solid substrate to apply urethane body panel adhesive to. These adhesives are used in place of welding at times, on body panel replacements, in the collision repair industry.

I actually brought this car to a much higher level of fit and finish than it was from the factory originally.

    

VCCA Flint Michigan 2011 Meet Preview 1934 Chevrolet Cabriolet

The 50th Anniversary of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America will be celebrated along with the 100th Anniversary of Chevrolet, this July 2011, in Flint, Michigan. The celebration begins on the 17th and concludes on the 22nd with the presentation of awards.

Most of the activities will be reserved for the members of the VCCA, although a large number of vintage Chevrolets will be on display, on the 21st at Saginaw St. in Flint. The general public may be able to view the cars there.

We have just completed a complete restoration of a 1934 Chevrolet Cabriolet, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful production cars built in the USA, and will be part of the celebration. This one has been quite a project, reviving it to it's former glory. Actually in it's day, it wasn't considered that special, but to bring the car back to the level of perfection that this car is at now, requires extreme patience and unwavering dedication. Not to mention the financial aspect of it.

This project has been a team effort over the last few years. Dan started with the initial assembly of the wood kit. Dennis and I worked together refining the fit and and final assembly of the wood. I did the sheet metal restoration, paint and assembly of the body. We recast the windshield frame in bronze to replace the original pot metal frame. Dennis restored all the mechanical components and assembled the chassis. Dan then took care of the upholstery and top, using the Hampton kits.

One of the biggest obstacles you encounter when doing restoration work, is outside sub work, such as chrome plating etc. After we made some replacement top irons, the local chrome shop destroyed all the top irons by polishing the metal away and losing the crisp detail, as well as the flat bearing surfaces. Dennis then remade all the irons and fortunately has a very close friend who does master machine work, ending up with an extremely nice top assembly.

I gotta say, it is always a pleasure working with Dennis, as he is the gentleman of gentlemen and his talent and skill are equally rated, in my book.

1937 Chevrolet Pickup Truck AAA Road Test Original Report

1937 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup Truck hauls 1000 pound load for 10,224 miles around the nation. Detroit to Detroit in 1937. Gas was relatively expensive in 1937. At 20.5 cents a gallon, it was comparable to the price today if you figure overall inflation. The total cost to haul the 1000 pound load was less than 1 cent per mile, and the total cost of repair parts for the trip was 73 cents.

This truck had the accessory, tandem wiper assembly like the one on my 1937 Chevy Truck. It also sports the single fog light like I did on mine. I know my trip around the nation in my 37 Chevy cost a lot more in 2007 but I averaged a lot higher speed as well. Their speed in 1937 was 31.18 miles per hour, but then the roads were nothing like they are today. I maintained 70 miles per hour most of the way across on the return trip.

1934 Chevrolet Cabriolet image 34 Chevy Cabriolet

1934 Chevrolet Cabriolet in Ox Blood Red and Black Fenders. This Car is nearing completion. We still need some good headlights for it though. The headlights are 1934 Master only. If you have some headlights that are worthy of restoration, and are willing to part with them, please use the Contact Doug link.

General Jumbo Cleve-Weld Wheel

General Tire company offered a wheel/tire combination in the early 30s. Here is a nice example of what you would get. There aren't any appropriate General tires available for these General Jumbo rims, although you can get a period correct Good Year tire that fits. That is what I intend to do for my 37 Chevy Pickup Truck. It will certainly set my truck further apart from anything else out there.

1937 Chevrolet Panel Truck

1937 Chevrolet Panel Truck shown here in an original photo offered by Darrins Photoclique on E-bay. This is a great photo showing what the custom pickup truck, in my previous blog post looked like before it was customized.

1937 CHEVROLET PICKUP TRUCK

Picture of my 1937 Chevrolet Pickup Truck Model GC. This was taken while I was on my solo, cross country trip from Seattle to North Carolina. I thought I'd made note in my journal, of where this was in Montana but couldn't find that note. Just thought I'd share this.

1937 Chevrolet Truck Grill Emblem All Original

Genuine OEM 1937 Chevrolet Truck Grill Emblem with original paint. The reproduction grill emblems are designed from the 1937 Chevrolet Car emblems which are daintier in fashion. If you look closely at this original and compare to the repops, you'll notice the more bolder styling on the truck emblem and of course the quality and crispness of detail.

1939 Chevrolet Sport Coupe

This 1939 Chevrolet Sport Coupe is restored to it's original glory with the exception of taller highway gears and a little larger stove bolt six. We used a 1954, 235 cubic inch inline six, so it still looks quite original under the hood but is capable of maintaining highway speeds. We used all the original accessories on the engine including the old style valve cover. If you are not an expert on these early Chevrolets, you'll not be able to tell it's been upgraded. Maintaining the design appearance is something I strongly lean towards. The paint is a near perfect match to the original Mars Gray. This was accomplished by taking the modern Dupont replacement paint, eliminating the glittery metallic substance in the formula, and replacing it with the dullest aluminum that was available in the mixing bank. The glass is date bugged and black edged just as it was originally. All fasteners are also of correct markings and finish. Detail, detail, detail.

1937 Chevrolet Truck 1932 Chevrolet Cabriolet

A 1937 Chevrolet Truck alongside a 1932 Chevrolet Cabriolet makes one wonder why the Fords of that era become so popular. The biggest major reason is pretty well known by those that are knowledgeable about the era. Flathead V8 Fords captured the attention of anyone who wanted to go fast at an easily affordable price. The 1932 Chevrolet Cabriolet was also of structural wood construction and didn't last as well as the Fords that were all metal in 1932. The 1937 Chevrolet Truck was the first year for all metal construction in the Chevrolet line. There were high end cars that would go faster than the 1932 Ford, but the cost was prohibitive to the average person, just as those Classic Cars are out of reach to the average collector today.

The 1932 Chevrolet Cabriolet belongs to a client, and the 1937 Chevrolet Pickup Truck is my own, both of which I restored. I drove the 1937 Chevy, solo, from Seattle to North Carolina and back, in 2007.

Vintage Chevrolet Truck Accessories

In Astoria, Oregon I spotted a vintage 1953 Chevrolet Truck. Shortly thereafter a mother and her four daughters showed up. The mother was photographing her daughters on the 1953 Chevrolet Truck. I saw an opportunity to show how the right accessories can really dress up this vintage Chevrolet. I offered to take a picture of the mother standing with her daughters in exchange for getting some pictures of my own to post here on my blog.