So after lunch was finished up over at that park with the big lake and we had had enough of the guitar serenading dude, TheKenMan, this olelongrooffan, and many of the Cool Cruisers headed over to that parking lot adjacent to that place with the big golden arches for the final, full attendance, car cruise of the Spring 2015 season. Many of the members of this club were headed back to places north in the next few days and they weren’t quite ready to let another year pass through their lives.


Once TheKenMan and myself had arrived, we set off for that building in the distance to get us some cold ice cream, or whatever that stuff is MickeyD calls ice cream. After we had spent a moment in the cool a/c of that place and munched down on that ice cream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream, we moseyed on back toward TheKenMan’s street rod, only to find this 41 Bowtie squeezed in between it and my longerroof. TheKenMan struck up a conversation with the BigTalkingDude (not the pilot of that Bowtie) while I headed over to grab my new image taker to see what I could grab to share with my fellow Hoons. Now about that name, BigTalkingDude. I am pretty confident that at every automobile gathering there is some guy who knows all there is to know about all of the cars in attendance and doesn’t bother to share that information with anyone who will listen. In this case, it was that dude talking with TheKenMan. I just kind of stood back and let him ramble on while gathering us some images of these two street rods of the same era.

As I was checking out this Bowtie, I noticed the gasket in between the two wind screens was rubber where as Ken’s 39 had a chrome strip down the center. He mentioned that the Bowtie had had a mild chop to the roof and the builder probably couldn’t find an appropriate piece to fit in there. I queried of him as to how the boulder could find a windscreen to fit the chop. He mentioned that they would take a standard windshield and cut it down to fit. “A royal pain in the ass that is,” related TheKenMan. “I have known of several guys who cut down three or four windshields before they were able to get one right without cracking it.” An expensive proposition I would say.

So while TheKenMan was still being entertained by the BigTalkingDude, this olelongrooffan just meandered around checking out these two, desirable to many, street rods. It was from this angle that I really noticed the chop the Bowtie had undergone. The 39 Ford looked almost Model T like with its upright position compared to the low and slow stance of that Bowtie beside it.
A brief digression if I may. Once the BigTalkingDude had vacated the scene, other fan boys came almost out of the woodwork to check out these rides. One of a trio that approached asked the owner of that Bowtie, who had also reappeared, what the wheels on his chopped up street rod were. Halibrand was his response. The questioner asked where they could be found. The owner mentioned they were on the car when he bought it. Now as much as I hate it when some young whipper snapper does this, I pulled out my almost smart phone and found a link to a site with them available. I asked that old dude if I could forward that link and he looked at me kind of look this olelongrooffan used to get when a youngster would ask me the same thing. I realized the error of my ways and old school wrote down the link on a handy note pad and gave it to that dude. He thanked me profusely and thereafter this olelongrooffan was included in the conversations between those old street rod loving dudes. Yeah, sometimes, being the youngster, even at 55 years old, has its perks.

So a bit later after a bunch of those guys had moved on along to check out that Shoebox with electric brakes just down aways, TheKenMan (looking at that paperwork), Phil and a couple other dudes were the only ones left hanging around shooting the bull and checking out some printed out images of a 30’s Ford four door cabriolet Phil had picked up the previous week up in Kentucky. Of course, we were railed with stories of blown out trailer tires, torrential downpours, sleeping in the back seat of that F350 crew cab and shooting the gap between weigh stations.

Oh yeah, those other two dudes? They showed up in this maroone street rod and parked it all catty wampous between TheKenMan’s ride and a van with a classic car touting website on its vinyl wrap.

Soon the lure of that trio of street rods proved to great to restrain these old timers from heading over to get a closer look.

Soon enough, after evaluating those headlight bezzles and declaring them as originating from a 1941 Ford Truck, old Phil plopped down in the pilot’s seat of TheKenMan’s pride and joy and started to further demonstrate his knowledge of this era gone by Blue Oval products.

And Phil had some very nice things to say about TheKenMan’s 39 street rod. Even though Ken sheepishly admitted it had a SBC under the hood mated with that floor mounted automatic shifter, he was glowing with joy over the accolades bestowed upon him by a genuine fan boy of old Fords.

And it was inevitable that those images would make another appearance while evaluating Ken’s ride. The above image shows where the upholstery on the rear seat had been replaced. This olelongrooffan amateurishly stated that all looked complete to me. Phil, with a patience seldom seen in a old man these days, stated yes is does but see how the pleat in this area is unlike the others? Yeah, I guess I’ve got a ways to go to pick up on something like that from a grainy image taken with an image taker much like my old, and now back up, elcheapoebay image taker.

The conversation continued on as to whether this was a true “Deluxe” with some claiming it is due to the banjo steering wheel as seen in the left image above.

While others concluded that without the dual strips of chrome alongside the hood, a final conclusion could not be drawn in the determination. Either way, it was a blast to spend an hour or so with these old guys talking obscure items on cars from an era long gone by.
And that experience, my fellow Hoons, has gotten this olelongrooffan to reevaluate my “I went here and saw this” slant toward my contributions here in the Hooniverse. Sure, there will still be plenty of those but it is high time, after five years contributing here in the Hooniverse, that this olelongrooffan really starts to get the back story of the stuff found and shared with my fellow Hoons.

How else would I be able to spot this tri-power carb and intake system from a 50’s era Pontiac or Oldsmobile. The determination of which it is is still out with that jury of old men.
Oh yeah, estimated retail value of that old setup. “No less than $2,500.00 as it sits.”
Images Copyright Hooniverse 2015/longrooffan