bob thanks for the potos. :thumbsup:
rick kirkindall :)

Good thing i wear my sunglasses when I surf the net. :hail: that car is bright

Hi All,

I just did a little search and found the first mock up we did of the hood.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-02-11%20(1).JPG
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-12-08%20016.jpg

After looking at the early photo, it is hard to believe that it looks as good as it does today.

Anyway... Back to work. :-)

Hi All,

It looks like our first show is going to be the Detroit Autorama coming up this March. When I told the guy's in the shop, they said, Ohhhh, maybe we will win the Riddler.....

BRAHHHAHHHHAHHHH!!!!!!

They may have been perfectly serious at the time but it is hard to tell. Maybe I should have taken the laugh as a little clue. :-)

Anyway... It did bring up an interesting topic. The general feeling was that, even if this car came out absolutely perfect, it would not be given a second look for this award.

First off, it is completely different than any car that has ever won the award. They are all polished chrome, SS lines, shaved, frenched, blank firewall, minimalist street rod type cars. Ours is built to mimic factory construction. Wires everywhere, factory connectors, factory labels, etc... We would be more successful in a concourse competition than this type of show car setting.

Second, we are not one of the big name shops or builders. I think that there is a certain mind set at these events. If Foose has a car there, he will make the finals, regardless of the entry.

Third, We have not spent 1/2 mill on this project. This also seams to have an impact on the judges.

While these are all good points, I feel that we may generate some interest if only due to the unique aspect of this project. The fact that it is totally different from the projects normally given the nod might even work in our favor, that is of course if creativity has anything to do with the competition at all.

What do you think??? Will a project of this nature be given any consideration or will the judges keep picking cars that are more of the same???

Bob to be eligiable for the riddler the car cannot be seen with paint on it...not on the web in pictures or anything....This is my understanding anyway and I may be completely wrong?


usually muscle cars do not far well at that show..Roy pigford built IMO a perfect riddler car(i.e.flawless) and got beat out buy a bolt together 41 Willys (prostreeted at that)

So IMO no it wouldn't far that well..not that the car is not nice but usually those type cars don't far well

Third, We have not spent 1/2 mill on this project. This also seams to have an impact on the judges.(quote)


1/2 mill will not cover a riddler winner these days !

I dont ever remember seeing a Riddler winner that was not a street rod...maybe there has been some but not many if ever.

I don't remember one either.....

Hi All,

One more step toward completion.

Wayne got the fenders painted last night, as well as the front upper and lower valance and some miscellaneous parts.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-16%20018.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-16%20013.jpg

I, on the other hand, got little done other than sanding a few small parts getting them ready for paint.

I thought that now would be a good time to look back into the past and see just where we were one year ago. Here are a few photos of the project from last Nov.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/04-11-16%20(1).JPG
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/04-11-29.JPG

We have come quite far over the past 12 months. I look forward to the day that we can drive this car whenever the mood strikes us. Hopefully, it will be sooner than next Nov. :-)

Catch ya'll l8r

Hi All,

Haven't had much to post lately. The detail work is just eating up so much time. I spent ALL day Friday detailing the interior "C" pillar vent grills. I sanded all the corrosion from the surfaces. You know what I mean right? All that pitting that develops over the years. Sanding in between all those vents is a royal pain in the butt. All that work, just to get them ready for paint.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-21%20019.jpg

What we are going to do is paint them the dark charcoal color and then wet sand the fronts to expose the chrome after which we will clear coat the pieces. They should look pretty good at that point. The chrome front surfaces of the grills are now an interesting blend of chrome and brass which will look great with the current color combinations.

On Saturday, I worked up the seat brackets. These were much more involved than I had originally thought they were going to be. The seat tracks were much wider than the ford mounting locations. Also, the factory mounting locations are recessed into the floor about 2". To resolve these issues, I searched through the cash of stock Hydro-Flo material and decided to use two pieces of 2" x 2" unistrut. I had to taper and box the ends to clear the contours of the floor. I also had to remove about an inch of material fron the top of the rear mount to clear the seat when it is in the full down position.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-21%20001.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-21%20004.jpg

Even though I was spending my spare time working on inane details, Wayne actually got the raw end of the deal. In between working on customer cars, he would continue sanding on the body getting it just right before rolling it into the paint booth. He will be wiping all the surfaces down reviewing the work today. He is being even more critical of this aspect of the build than he was with the bolt on items. He says "I only want to paint this once". This is such a large phase of the project, reworking any mistakes would really suck. Here is a shot of all the painted pieces currently in storage. If Wayne gets his wish, we will be able to start assembly at the beginning of December.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-21%20009.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-11-21%20015.jpg

Catch ya'll l8r