Indian Tadpole

What a lovely auto! I've certainly not seen one The Coronado kit I'm assuming is what's commonly referred to down here as a Continental kit, spare tire? The Mercury dash is spectacular & quite an upgrade from the common '53 dash setup. I do miss the ornate style of the "fities" (yank pronunciation) vehicles; they along with the "Rocco" thirties, luxury cruisers were the ultimate expression of opulent excess in automotive design....they had significant weight both figurative and literally and to this day and beyond they are jaw droppers. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Now the 356 Porsche and it's princely sum. I was Porsche poor for quite a few years, really just vehicle broke in general....cars, bikes & boats. When Houston went upside down economically due to the downturn in world oil prices and the demise of U.S. oil production in the early "80's I switched gears from relying on production of seismic equipment and software to include other business pursuits. I diversified rather than close shop & one of these pursuits was buying the shop equipment of the many defunct companies at auction and selling worldwide and my business was good. At the same time I acquired the executive toys that the wealthy could no longer afford boats, cars and motorcycles in particular. Two cars stood out & both were acquired at Sheriff's auctions. A Porsche 930 turbo and a 1956 cabriolet 356. The turbo was a "grey market" car illegally imported through Canada and never updated to U.S, spec D.O.T. requirements so never registered nor titled & had less than 200 miles on the odometer. I knew I could quickly turn it at the track for a healthy profit and enjoy it for a brief time as well. The little cabbie I really wanted to keep; as it was a well rebuilt car, not to show standards but as a road car, eventually it too was sacrificed... for mere profit. I've owned a lot of neat cars along life's way, but only three or four that I'd really like to still possess, not for the enormous increase in value, but for the sheer joy of possessing & diving them. The 356 is one of them. This coming from a old guy who has shown disdain for personally collecting things for most of his life.

Some may dismiss what was as fruitless, but I treasure the good memories of the past. I don't live there but do visit briefly, from time to time & it seems to revitalize my spirit and reassure me of my life's small significance in it all.

Rick C.

I have fond memories of a few cars that I owned over the years as well Rick. I'd like to have them back, not for what they are worth now but the joy they were. The Porsche for sure but my 1939 LaSalle hearse had a string of stories tied to it. It definitely wasn't a date night vehicle but we would load it up with kids and cruise the Miracle Mile just for the strange looks.

It messed with the drive in movie crowd when they had their car load of people for $6 night. Also no one crowded you in the back row. We would get a lot of strange looks though. Probably scorched a lot of romantic evenings as well.

A couple of first generation Mini Minors. One of them would slide you out from under your hair if I got on the gas pedal with too much enthusiasm.

The 1953 Meteor was probably the all time favorite. It did get to the point that the police were on me as soon as I hit the street. The car and I were well known for street racing if the chance arose and arise it did. Often. I sold it to a friend of mine and he totaled it within two weeks.

I drove for a year with one point left on my drivers license because I owned the Meteor and I couldn't stay off the gas pedal. I did enjoy loaning it out to unsuspecting friends before the word got out it wasn't safe because you'd be pulled over 5 time in the night..

I was never a big collector of anything but usable tools. Even being in the antique business for 50+ years. It came, I enjoyed it for a while and it moved on.

Steve.

I put the clutch together on a long 3/4" bolt so I could sit in the house and work with it. I'll drill and tap a couple of holes in it so I can put two bolts in it to hold the actuator I made on. It is press on tight but the bolts will be added to make sure it doesn't move

I set the arm back in line with the bolt hole that was in the clutch originally to anchor the clutch cable. That is why it isn't straight up and down.

Steve.

Steve I get some ribbing for having parts and bikes in my living room during phases of construction or just to study options along the way. I don't fabricate inside my living quarters but I feel the observation time a great aide to progress.

Recollections are aided and often richly enhanced by placing the vehicles involved in my mental scenes.

Rick C.

Rick, ten years after I was involved in all the mindless stupidity of my youth I was a volunteer fire fighter in a small town and had to clean up after the kids that weren't as lucky as I was. One kid I had talked to a few hours before sheered a telephone pole off 15 feet above the ground in his mustang. He took 4 of his friends with him.
Those years were sobering in reflection as I looked back at what I did. I shiver a little when I talk about them. Pure luck or divine guidance saved me.

Then there was my younger brother and the new 396, 375hp, 4 speed 1969 Chevelle that he and our mother shared. He said rumors had it that the tires would chirp a 100mph when you shifted into 4th gear. My friends would tell me that they had seen my mother in the Chevelle. When I asked what she was doing they would only say "I can't tell you." I did witness one shut down she was involved in and she admitted to another. The one I witnessed she taught the car load of kids not to yell "Goose it, Granny." She was 58 at the time.

Steve.

Indoor fabrication. If I wasn't being so closely watched I'd be guilty. It seems that I followed closely in my mothers, older brothers footsteps. It wasn't uncommon apparently to see his legs sticking out from under a car while wearing his best suit. He is a man I much admired.

Having the clutch in front of me is a blessing. The action when I operate the lever isn't working like it should to activate the clutch plates. I love a challenge indeed. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Steve.

fasteddy said:

Rick, ten years after I was involved in all the mindless stupidity of my youth I was a volunteer fire fighter in a small town and had to clean up after the kids that weren't as lucky as I was. One kid I had talked to a few hours before sheered a telephone pole off 15 feet above the ground in his mustang. He took 4 of his friends with him.
Those years were sobering in reflection as I looked back at what I did. I shiver a little when I talk about them. Pure luck or divine guidance saved me.

Then there was my younger brother and the new 396, 375hp, 4 speed 1969 Chevelle that he and our mother shared. He said rumors had it that the tires would chirp a 100mph when you shifted into 4th gear. My friends would tell me that they had seen my mother in the Chevelle. When I asked what she was doing they would only say "I can't tell you." I did witness one shut down she was involved in and she admitted to another. The one I witnessed she taught the car load of kids not to yell "Goose it, Granny." She was 58 at the time.

Steve.

Click to expand...

Goose it grandpa! I can only hope.

Got to mix some more photos into this build Steve, for all posterior.

fasteddy said:

Rick, ten years after I was involved in all the mindless stupidity of my youth I was a volunteer fire fighter in a small town and had to clean up after the kids that weren't as lucky as I was. One kid I had talked to a few hours before sheered a telephone pole off 15 feet above the ground in his mustang. He took 4 of his friends with him.
Those years were sobering in reflection as I looked back at what I did. I shiver a little when I talk about them. Pure luck or divine guidance saved me.

Then there was my younger brother and the new 396, 375hp, 4 speed 1969 Chevelle that he and our mother shared. He said rumors had it that the tires would chirp a 100mph when you shifted into 4th gear. My friends would tell me that they had seen my mother in the Chevelle. When I asked what she was doing they would only say "I can't tell you." I did witness one shut down she was involved in and she admitted to another. The one I witnessed she taught the car load of kids not to yell "Goose it, Granny." She was 58 at the time.

Steve.

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Amen brother!

My Mom and Granny's were pretty sedate behind the wheel, but my great Auntie was a wild woman in a Steerman biplane. She was an Army air corp.flight instructor leading up to & for the duration of WW2 & much of her training was done in the Steerman's. She and my great uncle flew their private Steerman's for two decades after the war(she had her own) and ran a small airfield too. Real characters the pair!

I'll try to get more photos up Tom. I'm trying to get back to the building of the tri car but my health is getting in the way. When I had the bone infection I received a year of antibiotics that were the strongest they had as well as two operations. The antibiotics destroyed the connective tissue between all the joint in my body and Art Ritis had a field day moving in. He likes to ask "Who's your Daddy", a lot.

I asked one of the doctors how close I was to the chop saw and he just said I was one of the lucky ones. The infection was the worst one they see apparently and very hard to get rid of.

I'll be in the garage tomorrow and get some photos or I'll mess with the clutch instead and show what's acting up in it.

Steve.

I had to look up a Stearman to see if I had the right one and then that lead to the acrobatic video. I would have loved to have met your great aunt and uncle. For a woman of that era to be training WW2 pilots is fascinating to me. I've read a lot about what it took for women to be allowed train pilots and ferry aircraft and it was not an easy path.

Did you get to go flying with them?

Steve.

Us 70 somethings got to use the time left to do the things that matter when we've got the strength to do so Steve. It's always day to day, but. I've enjoyed a couple of weeks now that allowed some real activity & pray you will have such periods as well only longer!

Rick C.

fasteddy said:

I had to look up a Stearman to see if I had the right one and then that lead to the acrobatic video. I would have loved to have met your great aunt and uncle. For a woman of that era to be training WW2 pilots is fascinating to me. I've read a lot about what it took for women to be allowed train pilots and ferry aircraft and it was not an easy path.

Did you get to go flying with them?

Steve.

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Yes sir and with my Mother's youngest brother as well. We had a smooth pasture that served as a landing field adjacent to our home when I was a boy. This served the family pilots long before I was born and continued to be used into the '60's. My uncle Woodrow never had any employment outside of flying and he used to buzz the house before landing but also in much more sophisticated & larger planes that were too large for the field to service. At times during his military service it was one way he had to let the family know he was still alive and stateside.

I've flown a lot in the Stearman planes over the years one of my employees was an unlimited class stunt pilot and owned both a U.S.Navy colored Stearman (blue & yellow) and a Pitt special in blood red and promoted air shows all over the U.S. he loved to try to get me to upchuck during stunt manuevers but I'm pretty good with keeping my lunch in check.

I love to fly but never got the bug to earn a license, yet love the machines especially the old war birds, choppers not so much.

Rick C.

My mothers younger brother was a pilot as well. First the models and then when they moved to Canada from England and were near an airport, any weekend he could get to the airport to hang around and help. When he was 14 he was given a permit slip for his parents to sign so he could go flying as payment for helping.

During the depression when he had finished school he went out West on top of a train with all the other young men looking for work and as the harvest finished he headed home to enlist having heard that Canada was at war. He got off at Winnipeg, Manitoba and headed for the tavern. As he was walking around the city he saw planes flying overhead and went in the direction they landed.

He went into the office and told the man behind the counter he could fly rings around the men flying. He was asked if perchance he was a pilot and if so did he have his flight log which he produced. The man looked it over and said sign these papers and we'll see what you can do.

He was rudely awakened early in the morning and told to follow the man who awoke him and get breakfast. When he said he didn't have time he had a train to catch and I'm sure a hangover to work through he was informed that he was now in the Canadian Air Force having sign his enlistment papers.

They got him into his uniform and put him in with an instructor and told to show them what he could do. Among the pilots who taught him how to fly were a couple of Canada's WW1 Aces. He was made a pilot instructor on the spot.

When they were short of fighter pilots after the Battle of Britain he was moved into that position but couldn't withstand the G forces when in a dive so he spent the war piloting a flying boat over the Atlantic hunting U Boats while stationed in Greenland.

Your relatives and mine were indeed part of the greatest generation and God bless them for it.

Steve.

Just had my spirits lifted and was put into a Christmas mood. I just heard "Grandma was run over by a reindeer" for the first time this year.

Steve.

fasteddy said:

I'll try to get more photos up Tom. I'm trying to get back to the building of the tri car but my health is getting in the way. When I had the bone infection I received a year of antibiotics that were the strongest they had as well as two operations. The antibiotics destroyed the connective tissue between all the joint in my body and Art Ritis had a field day moving in. He likes to ask "Who's your Daddy", a lot.

I asked one of the doctors how close I was to the chop saw and he just said I was one of the lucky ones. The infection was the worst one they see apparently and very hard to get rid of.

I'll be in the garage tomorrow and get some photos or I'll mess with the clutch instead and show what's acting up in it.

Steve.

Click to expand...

Steve, I knew you were feeling though. By contrast I am in the pink. Age is not a benefit, my Wife just turned 72 and I am on the long side of 67. Neither of us can do what we did ten years ago. The last 7yrs I have been building welding fixtures for Cat and other heavy equipment Co.'s. Pushing 1/2 ton fixtures loaded with 10mm steel fabrications is starting to break me down.
What you can do, when you can do it is all the forum can ask. Your climate cannot help you much either
As Red Green always said "Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together."
Tom

Hi Tom,
Red Green introduced Canada to people around the world. He was right though. If women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy. It's worked for me in the past.

Pushing 1,000 pound steel fixtures around. Not for the faint of heart at all. I'm sure that just moving the parts around and welding them is enough work for the day.

The winter weather here on the Wet Coast is rough but beats the snow I spent so much of my life in. We're in for pounding rain for a couple of days at least. As I always joked about there are no rain tires, no rain shovels and no rain blowers and the darned stuff goes down the drain on it's own.

I was in the garage today trying to figure out why the clutch isn't working and improving my vocabulary of words you wouldn't use in front of your mother. Nothing worked so it's back to seeing what is wrong.

I just keep going along as I can. Worked for mom and she lived to be 103 and a half in good health.

From the Wet Coast where you never tan, you just rust.

Steve.

Steve said;
I was in the garage today trying to figure out why the clutch isn't working and improving my vocabulary of words you wouldn't use in front of your mother. Nothing worked so it's back to seeing what is wrong.
Photos of your dysfunctional clutch set up duly noted, is instructional too. There are some rather mechanically clever fellows on this forum.
I myself have been (I am a certified Tool and Die Maker) known to proclaim. " If I can't fix it, it ain't broke"
I like your take on precip. Steve.
"We're in for pounding rain for a couple of days at least. As I always joked about there are no rain tires, no rain shovels and no rain blowers and the darned stuff goes down the drain on it's own."
Take care Steve,
Frosty Tom from Rubicon

Hi Tom,
That was myself with furniture when I was restoring it. If I couldn't restore it didn't need it. I was known as The Guy. As in, I know a guy that can repair that. Let me give him a call. Unfortunately it was my fellow restorers who wanted out of the job but wanted to look good doing it and I couldn't resist the challenge. Never was beaten either no matter how long it took. I'd lose money to prove I could do it.

I wish I'd been a tool and die maker. I would have followed in my mothers fathers footsteps and they would have been large ones. He was foreman of a large lighting company in Birmingham England in his early twenties with over a 130 employees. He started at 13 in 1899.

He was in charge of installing the lighting in the Titanic. He never talked about the ship. My grandmother said that the only time she saw him cry was when he heard that it had sunk.

Steve.

My father joined the RAF in 1937, ended up as an armourer sergeant and then demobilised in 1944 (I only recently found this out) after recovering from a bomb going off when he was on disposal duties; not all the German engineering functioned as designed, and some loonies/heroes had to go and render them safe.

I grew up looking upwards every time he did, as we lived right by the airport. Noratlas, CL4, tiger Moth, Auster (development of Taylorcraft), Piper, Cessna, Viscount, F27, Carvair (look it up, not telling yer!), Vickers Viking, Britannia, damn, you people have brought up all those memories. The first Antonov to fly into Birmingham, the first Ilyushin. There was even a Lockheed Jetstar. Learjets, HS125, the RAF VC10 for a week doing instrumentation calibration for one of the world's first instrument ony landing systems.

Work, at 65, I feel the effects of slapping oil barrels and llead and all the rest around. Retired now, and absolutely glad of it. As for living while you still have the wind to do it, been out this evening jamming in a pub. Stayed regrettably sober as I was driving, but I am now in the arms of Old Rosie.