My 32 Roadster

My dad and grandfather were 'mechanics' so I grow up in various shops/garages. I don't have a car from my dad, but I have all of his tools which I use often.
 
I had a chance to check out your car at duece days. Very nice, love the originality!
 

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Good morning everyone , I am going to keep adding to this thread as I can and continue the stories . Here are a couple more pics .
The first one is of the 32 5w my Dad bought from a farmer in the late 60's. It was brush painted green . My Dad said the farmer brush painted it green so you couldn't see it clearly from the road . He used to get people stopping all the time to ask if it was for sale and he got tired of it so he painted it green to match the landscape . After that it was kinda camouflage so he wasn't getting bothered anymore. Well , except by my Dad ;) He said it took him quite a few years to talk to guy out of it .

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The second pic is in the early 70's when he would mock up the parts he had waiting on a body to come along .

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The front tires on the 32 were new. My Dad's Mom (my grandmother) bought them for him as a birthday present in the late 50's I believe. The whitewalls were starting to bleed through from my Dad cleaning them throughout the years . They were basically "garage" worn out . I still have them hanging up in the garage .
 
Nice story and great looking 32!:cool: Maybe I should put my fenders back on.:eek: (Just Kidding BobWop)
Enjoy the roadster and the memories.
 
Great stories and an awesome roadster! I wouldn't chance a thing. Drive it, enjoy it, and keep those memories alive.

Thanks for sharing.
 
Well let’s head back to 1956 in Santa Rosa. My Dad was attending High School, he was 17 years old and taking auto shop. He had a 1932 Roadster roller. He had to work on the car in a little one car wooden garage he rented. His parents would not let him keep or work on his Hot Rod at home. One of his projects he wanted to do was build a custom dash for it. Since he was taking Auto Shop and his car was not at school to work on he decided to build the dash at school. He took an original 32 Roadster dash, filled in the oval and then laid out a pattern for 8 Stewart Warner gauges. The two center gauge holes were larger and meant for a speedo and tach. The other 6 gauges, 3 on each side of the larger ones were meant for whatever else you could fill it with. 8 gauges is a little over kill but he liked the look. He wanted his to be different so he came up with an idea. He wanted his gauges to be recessed so he made some bezels that were about an inch deep that would drop into the face of the dash, and then the gauge would drop into the bezel. The end result was the S&W gauges were sunk into the dash which gave it a great Hot Rod look that he had not seen before. He hand made all the bezels, cut all the holes in the dash and made tabs that would hold the bezels/gauges in from the back side. It was a one of a kind and it came out great. My Dad kept tinkering on the Roadster as he could but he soon graduated High school in 56 and life was starting to move. I am working on getting the details of exactly what happened between 1956 and 1963 . The short story is his Step Dad received a good job offer in Los Angeles so the family moved to Burbank Ca. My Dad went into the Air Force and served between 1958 and 1962. In 1962 my Dad met my Mom at work . He worked down stairs at California Hobby distributors ( still in business today) and my Mom worked upstairs. They met and were married in 1963 .So back to the dash , my Mom remembers their first date in 1962 and said he brought her over to sit in his Roadster and show her the dash he made. Again , he was very proud of that dash. That was the first and last time she saw the Roadster. My Dad purposed in 1963 and gave her a very nice ring. How could he afford the ring? Well , I guess he had found something he loved more that his Roadster and his custom dash. He sold the car to buy her a ring. They were married and started a family in 1966 with my brother being born. Two years later I came into this world. Two weeks before I was born my Parents moved to Solano Beach in San Diego. I grew up in San Diego until I was 9. My Father wanted to move back to Santa Rosa so our family moved in 1977. Santa Rosa had a lot of car interest and soon my Dad had a great group of friends. One of them was a guy named Chris.He was a great guy that wheeled and dealed in cars and parts. He always had neat cars and all sorts of cool stuff. My Dad and Chris would talk old Fords for hours on end, telling story after story. Somewhere along the way the high school auto shop dash story came up. My Dad told Chris all about the bezels he made to sink the gauges in and on and on. Chris just had a funny look on his face the whole time. Once my Dad was done Chris said very calmly, I have that dash. My Dad said no way, not possible, can’t be the same one. Chris said, ok you’re probably right, and just let it be. A week went by and Chris stopped by the house. He said hey Allan, I have something for you. He handed my Dad back his dash and said here, you should have this. It was my Dad’s dash, just how my Dad left it when it was sold with his Roadster in 1962. My Dad was speechless. There was no story as to where it was all those years. Chris had got it with a pile of parts he bought from someone somewhere and he thought it was neat so held on to it.
I have the dash hanging in the garage and it will be put in our Roadster, where it belongs, as soon as I have time. My Dad also made/modified the dash oval that is in our Roadster now so it has meaning to me as well. It looks very stock but there are no holes for the choke and throttle , the gauges are S/W which don’t fit the stock holes and the gauges are centered top to bottom on the oval where as the original is not. Very subtle changes. He made the stainless face and did the engine turning on it. I remember that story as well :D


1958 Pics of the Roadster and dash


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Here is the dash today hanging in my garage

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Pictures we want pictures.

1958 Pics of the Roadster and dash===nothing

Here is the dash today hanging in my garage ===blank

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We don't often get the chance to read a story like this...your dad, you, and the Roadster. It has captured our imagination to the point that we wish we were in your shoes. I was also in Victoria, and spending time to look at your ( family ) car.....but now that I have read your story of the past and the importance of this Deuce Roadster, I would look at it in another light. So many imitations of barn/garage find cars that it now takes away from the true meaning of what was back then. Not so here, it's all real, and it's part of the American Dream....your Dad was in it, and now, you continue his dream. Thanks for sharing.....and.....don't stop just yet....we are all eyes. Robert
 
Must be my eyes. Mom told me I'd go blind if I didn't stop.
Nope nothing but empty page
Thanks for the try guys. I'll go pout now.
 
B-O-B
As said in another thread the other day to some one !!!

It is very apparent he don't like you >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LOL LOL
 
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