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123. The Pile Up EP11: Odd Rods III
123. The Pile Up EP11: Odd Rods III
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About this episode
Dive into the quirky world of odd rods as the hosts continue their exploration of unique custom cars in the third installment of their Odd Rod series. They discuss standout vehicles like the Megacycle and the Ice Truck, sharing personal anecdotes and insights from listeners who reminisce about their own automotive experiences. The episode features a deep dive into the design and engineering of these one-off creations, highlighting the craftsmanship and creativity that define the custom car culture. With plenty of humor and camaraderie, this episode is a vibrant celebration of automotive artistry.
Topics:
custom cars
odd rods
Megacycle
Ice Truck
listener stories
car design
automotive craftsmanship
personal anecdotes
Cars:
Buick Skylark
Chevrolet Corvette
Chevrolet Impala
Ford Fairlane
Ford Model T
Volkswagen Rabbit
The Queen and Emdog continue to stumble and fumble through the very wacky world of Odd Rods. Queenie finally gets to unveil one of her top tier favorites. A model T inspired pre-war body and on a period technical Indy car inspired chassis. That's the amazing Ice Truck by Dan Woods. Em dog brings out a heavy hitter with Fritz Schenk's Roswell Rod, a Roth inspired rod that is so out of this world it will make you want to believe.
Dan Woods Ice Truck & insta
Fritz Schenk's Roswell Rod
Recorded, edited & mixed by Emdognightmare & Queen of the Vans
Production & research Queen of the Vans & Emdognightmare
Find us: Car Krush
Stay updated w/ our newsletter
Hugs, thank you & high fives to Greg Meleney for the killer tunez!
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Ford Model T
"...hat it has the, what that looks like just a stock Model T windshield. So it's like, it's got a Model T cowl..."
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome to the PILOP.
That was my cartoon character landing at the bottom of an Acme branded canyon.
Mine was shooting out of a canyon, but not out of a canyon.
Oh, no, shooting out of a canyon into the canyon, out of a canyon through the canyon.
I slit the sheet of the sheet.
I slit underneath the sheet.
I sit.
Listen, lady with your fast tongue.
Okay.
Happy Wednesday.
Yeah, hi.
It's actually Sunday.
Well, for us, it's Sunday.
We're talking to you from the past.
But you're getting it.
Yeah, you're getting it in the future.
You're in the future.
This is a future-made episode.
Just for you.
Which is good, because we've got some futuristic-looking cars of the past.
We're back with Beatnik, oh, go ahead.
We're back with Odd Rod's part three, because we picked six each.
And it turns out we talked about them so much we couldn't get through them all in
one episode.
I'm pretty pleased with that in the sense that, like, if I were going to talk about
anything, Megacycle was great.
Yeah, Megacycle was really cool.
And oh, that's something I wanted to reiterate.
I said it looked like a fly, but what I meant was it looked like a dragonfly.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Also, I came to think that the quarter panels look like surfboards.
And I was like, I didn't really say anything about the tail lights in the ends of the
quarters that look like surfboards.
Oh, yeah, they did kind of.
Yeah.
It's pretty cool.
Yeah.
I was like, I can't believe that I kind of just, I just saw a photo and I was
like, I didn't talk about that at all.
Yeah, we didn't talk about the rear at all.
And the fact that it's like a two tone, like it's a flip.
It's like a dark blue on one side and a light blue on another half.
Oh, I didn't even notice that.
Yeah.
I know.
It's very subtle and kind of funny.
And like, I don't think we even described that.
Sorry.
Well, we've missed some stuff.
If you all know, just go back to the show notes and you can see it because then
you can describe it for yourself.
Wow.
So we had a nice write in.
Yeah.
We got a couple of nice writing.
Yeah.
Mateo wrote in to talk about how in his childhood his grandfather took into
shows and his grandpa knew a lot of customizers and stuff, but his grandpa worked
on MGs and, you know, he said he grew up like watching Nick at night.
I did too with my grandparents.
Me too.
And I think what Mateo was saying was he has a sort of a love for the old
world and old stuff.
And I of course love hanging out with my grandfather who was a knowledgeable
craftsman as well.
I get that feeling.
He also wrote to say that was part of why he was enjoying our odd rod
episodes and stuff about Jean, the Jean episode, but that he enjoys the podcast and enjoys
listening to it.
And that was so nice to say.
It was a very nice message.
I really appreciate it.
Again, it's cool that anybody's listening at all.
So because you don't have to.
You chose to.
You chose to appreciate that.
Also Heidi commended the choice of the mega cycle.
Oh, I haven't talked to Heidi for a long time.
Hi, Heidi.
She's out there.
She's out there.
And yeah, I expect it is such, you know, if any of y'all don't know who Heidi is, a.k.a.
a cheeky hand on Instagram, she makes these really wonderful flaked badges.
She makes these really wonderful flaked badges for your rides, emblems, emblems.
And you deliver the name and Heidi includes the design of the emblem for you.
That's a part of the product.
And then makes these layered acrylic emblems and signage and display.
It's multifaceted.
It's like whether you're saying something's purely functional or purely art, you know,
that these are both.
So anyway, Heidi is a cool customizer in that regard.
So yeah, check out her stuff.
It was good to hear from her friend of the pod, Heidi, cheeky hand.
Yep.
And we also heard from Greece girl.
Oh, what?
Greece girl.
Yeah.
Goose girl.
Goose girl.
New Supergirl.
She's Canadian.
Greece girl.
What?
I think you got it.
I think that was right.
Was that right?
Was that correct?
Okay.
Greece girl.
She just said that she really liked the last episode.
Absolutely.
We really appreciate that, Kristen.
Thank you.
And if you all don't know who that is, check out her stuff.
She's working on a Studebaker right now, I believe.
Or she has many Studebakers.
I think her and her husband live in Texas and have like an airplane hangar or something.
One of my picks sort of involves a Studebaker.
A little bit.
It's an odd rod.
So again, we were talking about non-production bodies, but it's got some Studebaker style.
So I kind of ties in.
All right.
So listen.
We need to get into it because we have been so passionate about these picks and these
cars that last time we got one car each.
Yeah.
And then we just kind of cut it short there because it just, I don't want to short
these, but this next car, odd rod, because I think it's more truck than car is a deep
cut for me.
And I think probably a lot of people out there, but heavy inspiration.
The ice truck from Dan Woods.
Ooh.
Now Emily says that because she has to feign surprise.
We've talked about this thing for weeks.
No, also I'm excited about it.
Yeah.
Is there any surprise over here?
Well, it's okay if you do, but we've talked about it a lot.
We have talked about it a lot.
So what the ice truck is, is a low slung, early body on formula car inspired or Indy car inspired
technology.
So this is something that Rizzo and I kind of laughed about, like that it's like a straight
axle in the front and then a jagged rear end with like independent rear suspension
in the back.
It's kind of funny.
Yeah.
But stylistically, it's a critical choice, but it does some things.
So we're talking about a C cab on a really low to the ground chassis and the C cab shape,
if you're not familiar with it is like a, consider like a 20s beer truck shape.
Like a lot of times wood bodies.
I'm not the definitive source on this, but the C cab is not really like a body style that
just got made.
I feel like they made them out of, you know, a lot of them are wood.
The true like, you know, antique C cab.
There's no particularly like stamped C cab.
What's antique?
Like how old are they?
Like, you know, like 20s.
Early teens.
Oh, okay.
Wow.
And back in the day.
So yeah, there's like a lot of a lot of them are wood because they're trucks and they're
special built, but the C cab is just like, it's open like a carriage so the driver can
get in and out quickly and or easily, you know, and got to open up that door for the
folks in the back.
Yeah.
So imagine a C shape, a Pacman big C shape is the opening for the cab.
And then it tapers back and goes into a box shape for hauling stuff.
And that is true for a traditional C cab.
Well, you know, again, like we'd say like fire truck, beer truck kind of thing.
And then this one is like, we're talking about it's down to the ground and it's very
dune buggy trike-esque.
It's 100 inches wide and 106 inch wheelbase.
But then it's got this wild custom.
100 inches wide?
Yeah.
It's 100 inches wide and 106 inch wide.
Whoa.
So it's almost a little square.
Yeah.
Oh, cute.
It's almost a big square.
Yeah.
That's why Dan Wood said it's like the world's, you know, fastest go cart because it's like
so wide.
He's like, you can't flip it over.
Now, does that with include the wheels?
Yeah.
That's what it is.
Oh, okay.
Wow.
They do stick out a lot.
It's mean.
It looks mean.
Yeah.
It's got a lot of attitude.
And what's really, I think sort of brings it back to earth is that it has the, what that
looks like just a stock Model T windshield.
So it's like, it's got a Model T cowl.
I'm pretty sure that that's also how uncertainty was started was just a Model T cowl and he
built the rest of the body.
And so this is like a Model T cowl.
And then the rest of it is just hand formed, which is kind of just how any C cab gets
made.
There's so many versions of C cabs.
Anybody's welcome to write me in and say like, hey, no, somebody made this one to find, you
know, whatever, if there's more on it than I'm missing, but I don't think there's a
lot of 10 ones either.
These are, this is a fiberglass body.
Like it's a, you know, one off body.
You know, Dan Woods previous cars, the milk truck was also a C cab, but a very
different shape skirted over the back tires.
So it's like kind of a quote unquote fender flare, but not nearly as aggressive as
this.
Yeah.
No, this is real aggressive.
And this rod and custom feature with Newton's artwork is just absolutely futuristic
even to this moment.
It's not outdated to me.
Oh, these aren't photos of it.
No, that's that's the illustration.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Now, if you, I don't know if you're viewing it on like custom Rama or something, but I
am.
And then they're in that article, they included some like very, you know, towards
completion pictures of the ice truck.
So it like wasn't, they weren't just teasing wild renderings.
It existed and it.
So imagine this like, okay, it's a C cab and it's very truck like, right?
It wasn't, it did have a feature in truck and later, I think.
And it tapers to the back, but also you're sitting, the seats are very laid
back and you're basically sitting against the independent rear suspension.
Oh, wow.
Gosh, because it almost looks like you could fit somebody in the back.
Yeah.
So it's got like a little.
But you can't really.
It's a, it's probably like a little package tray, you know, like a little
shelf because the independent rear suspension is about the height of your
shoulders, the way the seats are laid back in there.
You're sunk into this thing.
It's crazy.
But in model T fashion, the steering wheel comes straight up from the floor 90
degrees to the floor.
Well, how are you going to reach it then?
Well, you sit around it.
It's in between your legs.
Oh, because it comes back.
It's back.
It's not by the cowl.
It comes up.
Yeah.
It's in the middle of the seat.
Oh, whoa.
Comes up right out of the seat.
It's like, it's in your nuts.
Oh my goodness.
And does it have like three pillars that it comes out of three?
Like, like a cone shape.
Dan Woods goes to the doctor and they're like, what's with the steering wheel
between your legs?
And he says, it's driving me nuts.
Just come up with that just now.
It's a pirate joke.
Oh, okay.
I don't know why it's a, you know, the pirates got the steering wheel
between his legs.
And then they say, what's with the steering wheel?
Sorry, everybody.
I'm so sorry.
Okay.
Dad jokes over there.
I'm so sorry.
The interior looks plush.
Oh my God.
It's 70s Van Plush.
It's really pretty.
It's like blue.
It's like an ice blue.
And it's an ice blue on the outside.
It looks like, hence the name, ice truck.
Maybe not.
That's probably maybe not.
Yeah.
I would say that's there.
And then it's got gold lettering and gold details.
Right?
It's got some gold striping around there.
Yeah.
It has a silver leaf.
Oh, it does.
Okay.
Then it has a brass.
It's a white.
Yeah.
The radiator's brass.
Oh, the ice looks like it's the fritz.
The photo with fritz and just a body.
If you're on custom drama looking at it.
Again, we're using custom drama.com as research material
because it's a excellent resource.
And we'll put a link to that in the show notes.
Yeah.
Y'all know I love a link to the show notes.
Yeah.
I love it.
Jump on custom drama, support them.
It's worth it.
It's a great archive of very cool stuff.
Wow.
The back of it is incredible.
Just the way it's, what is that shape?
Well, I guess trapezoidal.
Yeah.
It's got six sides.
I mean, yeah.
It's a hexagon.
And then it's pushed out in the center across the center axis.
And that is sucks.
Such a cool look.
Yeah.
That makes it like a portal.
Yeah.
It does look like a portal.
And then the fender flares are super cool, but there's like just straight lines clearing
the suspension and that gives for a really aggressive square fender opening.
And then the radius rods that go into the little sockets up in the body.
Wow.
That is so cool.
I love that little detail.
It's just like, it's just enough for everything.
And that's it.
It's like mechanical cars.
Right.
Which is what's so cool about like uncertainty.
And like uncertainty, he talked about economy of pieces, you know, having the right balance
and things being as simple as possible.
Right.
That's important.
Yeah.
And this has, I mean, I'm not, you know, duh, like Newt is a design master.
Yeah.
Here comes the Ed Newt again.
Yeah.
Designed the little red record.
Exactly.
Yeah, Dan Woods was working for Ed Big Daddy Roth and they were working on Druid Princess,
which is another one that I love.
It's not in my picks for this, but it is an inspiration.
So Dan also like Dan made his own widened wire wheels.
He would buy whole Buick cars just to cut the wheels and like add another wide section
to them.
Oh, wow.
I mean, he's like, these are like 12 inch wheels.
But I think he went way beyond that.
I think 22 at some point he talked about, I don't know, maybe I'm tripping, but.
Oh, you're talking about wheels for the car, not wire wheels that you would use to.
Nope.
Do work with it.
No, like low rider wires, you know, Buick's had them and he would buy a whole car just
for the wheels and then scrap the car.
He said he dragged lots of them to the yard.
But he would, he would go to this machine shop and they would, they'd been, you
know, machine the faces and.
And what would that do to him?
Well, if you, if you put the outside, if you put it inside the jaws of the lathe, right,
the rim is touching.
So then it's flat.
So if you cut the weld, like if you'd cut the wheel off rough, just they are all welded
in the center, typically steel wheels.
And then then you leave some of the weld there and some of the old meat that's
on the opposite side of it.
And then you, you take the lathe and cut it.
Well, when you do that, it's going to be perpendicular to the outside edge.
If the outside edge is seated in the jaws.
Oh, okay.
So you get, you wind up eats the way to true it.
And then you just have it balanced afterwards.
And there you are.
You got a big sick ass wheel.
Oh, and then somebody, he went to a shop and like bug the guy.
It was a wheel shop.
And he bugged him to teach him how to lace wheels.
And he was, you know, just a youngster.
And I think that's an important thing to think about.
If you're someone that wants to like learn a trade, it does go a lot
easier when you're a kid and you're like, I'd like to learn that.
People will feed knowledge to you.
Yeah.
But if you're a little older, they're more apt to be like, hmm.
What do you do if you're older?
I don't know.
Die.
No, you know, you just might have to pay somebody or something.
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
I mean, you know, you can always pay for a lesson here or there.
I mean, where, where someone's kind of trade.
If you have a skill where someone's willing to teach it or the truth
part, you know, just prove it.
You have to prove it and show up somewhere.
You know, that's, you can get into a thing like that by sleeping on
someone's porch.
You know, you can be like, well, I'm not leaving.
So you're going to have to put a broom in my hand.
You know.
Yeah.
It works.
Interesting.
But I do think, you know, when you're younger, it's, I just, okay.
So I just had a cool experience this week, a place that rewinds
motors for us.
I said, if I wanted to learn about winding, is there a book
that you would recommend?
And he was like, yes, I'll go get it.
I can't give you this one because my father gave it to me.
And I was like, okay.
And he went upstairs.
He came back down and said, it must be at home.
But I was like, well, maybe you'd send me a picture of it.
And he was like, sure, I will.
The next day, his mother called me and said, hi, we have a
book for you if you come by.
And they gave me a brand new copy of the same book.
What?
And he taped his business card in the front of it because
I was going to ask him to write his name in it for me.
You know, like, yeah.
So, you know, it's really special when people pass down
knowledge like that.
Yeah.
And like when you like, it's like when you're like, now for
me, I'm like, wow, I'm like, might be snagging another
mentor here to learn some stuff from.
So I'm hoping so.
And he was like, you know, he's like, if you picked up
on that, he's like all these, all these electric cars
or electric motors, he's like, you could do pretty good.
He had just explained to me how much sort of like wire
he had left town, but he also showed me his 100 year
old lathe.
Whoa.
And he said they were at a scrapyard in Seattle.
This lathe was flipped over in the mud.
It's huge.
Okay.
I was like, can I see your lathe?
And so it's huge.
And it's like the bell end on the motor was cracked.
It looks like a 75 horsepower motor.
It's huge.
Wow.
It might be lower just because older motors are
huge, but he said, yeah, they had, they
were going to scrap it.
And then his father said, I'll give you $500
for it.
It's fine.
And he said, how much to deliver it down to our shop?
And they said like $300 or it's free.
Oh, wow.
I think they said free.
Whoa.
But then they ripped their garage door off when
they delivered it, so they gave him the lathe in
the end.
It's terrible.
But anyway, he fired it up for me.
It was amazing.
Wow.
Yeah.
I mean, it's like, it's like the monarch that we
have that's in the basement.
That's so big.
But it's not as long of a bed, but it's a
bigger lathe.
It's just cool.
I love all that stuff.
So that's a big part of Dan Wood's story is that
he's like, he went to a radiator shop and he
learned how to make those radiators.
Like those big wild radiators on his cars are
like, they're functional and he made them.
Right.
Yeah.
Like he hung around and people would teach
him.
And like he talks about in that thing that's
sort of like granted to young people where he's
like, we put the wheels together and putting
the welds so close to the spokes was a real
task grinding all of the weld away.
And he's like, but again, it only cost me my
time.
Yeah.
You know, and then figuring out how to chrome
them and all this.
And he talks about it.
And he's like, you know, eventually I had a
wheel business for a while.
Like he has a picture of his business card
from it.
He posted stuff on his Instagram and shares
his story.
It's so cool.
Oh, that is really cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And he worked for Ed Roth and like it's
always says blue skies.
But in the building of the ice truck, he
got drafted to Vietnam.
Yeah.
So really sad.
Yeah.
Terrifying.
Yeah.
I've read some of his stories about it.
It's pretty, the stuff he posts on his
Instagram is very cool.
It's really remarkable that he was able
to come back and just get right back
into it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He always signs off blue skies always.
You know, so he's a good, good positive
mental attitude.
And he posted a photo of Gene before he
passed and was, they were at Grand
National, I think.
And he was talking about how cool it was
to just sort of even be in that scene.
And I thought that was really neat.
But yeah, I mean, you know, I've seen it
at Galpin and it's really cool.
I didn't know what it or the milk truck
were or the pizza wagon when I saw them.
I think I've maybe a little bit because
you know, I've always loved zingers
and stuff like that.
I don't think I was totally familiar,
but I was really like, wow, these are
wild.
I mean, I liked, I also like at Galpin
they've got Ed's Rotar and I really
liked the Rotar it hovers a little bit.
Oh wow.
That sounds cool.
I don't know that car.
I was a little more focused probably on
the big daddy cars and little red
records there.
It's sick.
The Pink Panther car is sick.
But yeah, those things are nuts,
the Dan Woods cars.
And the ice truck is just like that blue
is so cool.
A little bit of the backstory of the car.
And I should wrap it up.
I don't want to take too long.
But Dan showed the car
and some people loved it
and some people just thought it was
like a wacky show car.
And then other people thought it was
like the future.
And a young guy working for
Dan at his shop
really took notice of the car
and felt like early bodies
on, you know, high tech race
suspension was like it.
And that was Boyd Cottington.
And so that's kind of like leads into
the billet rod movement.
Like this is, this is all on customer
on month.
This is their writing.
Right.
But I'm just, I'm telling you,
go read the article.
Like it's a good article and support
their website and stuff.
That's good to do.
So
what year was it built?
It came out in 70.
But it was started in 67, right?
You were saying?
I think quite a bit was done in 67
when that article came out
and that rod and custom article came out.
And then Vietnam happened between them.
Yeah.
And what happened is that
the truck kind of sat
and I think people liked it.
But I think that Dan eventually
business was just so busy.
I think one of his posts,
he said life happened,
business took over
and they were building stuff for people.
So it got sold
and then the car got redone
and then was in the show rod,
like the magazines we were looking at,
the show world magazines.
Oh.
It was in that as Blood Alley
because somebody else owned it
and people didn't,
like it didn't mention Dan Woods
and so people didn't know it's the same.
They didn't know it was the ice truck.
And then Dave Shudden went to,
you know, fast forward to like 05
and Dave Shudden didn't know
that it got completed
or anything like that
was going to build a replica
or a tribute.
And somebody was like,
no, I know where it is.
So they made a deal
and he bought Blood Alley
and restored it
and Fritz Schenck painted it.
You know, so that ties back
into the mega hauler or mega cycle.
And so there's a really cool photo
of Fritz doing the pinch striping
and stuff on his back.
You know, it's got the silver leaf on it
and you can see the fiberglass
guts in the car.
It's cool.
Yeah, it's gorgeous.
I love it.
I love the shapes that it has
because it's like kind of curvy
but then also it's very geometric.
Yeah, it's totally,
it's like faceted.
It's flat.
It's monocoque.
It's like a, almost like this.
I just wanted to say cock.
Time.
Sorry.
It's very immature.
No, it is.
Sorry.
It is truly a monocoque design
because
front to back it's the same fuselage.
There's no split,
like there's no bed split off of it
or anything.
That's what monocoque is.
Oh, okay.
Like the VW Rabbit pickup.
Right.
Yeah.
Just one slab all the way down the side.
And I think the Toronato is also
the early version of monocoque.
Not that early cars aren't,
I mean, lots of early cars are monocoque.
But this is even,
this is.
The technical tip,
technical word of the day.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I think that,
yeah, that's,
it's a part of it.
So,
any who,
Dave did a restoration
and it is miraculous.
It's all aluminum Buick V8
and it's punched big time.
And so it's got a blower on it
and the thing's fast AF.
Scary, fast.
Dan,
people thought it was a show car
and Dan built it to blow the fucking
tires off of it.
Yeah.
He said that he would just go out
behind shows and light them up
and he's like,
because you couldn't flip it,
it was so wide.
So.
Whoa, that's awesome.
I didn't know,
I didn't know it drove.
Yeah.
I mean,
that arrangement with the Model T
wheel between your legs is wild.
I wonder if he ever took it out
or spin like around the block
or down to the burger joint.
Oh, I'm sure.
To the record store.
I bet he did.
Wherever he went.
Yeah.
That would be so fun.
It might have been registered
as a built car.
I don't know.
Yeah, I forget you have to
there's lots you have to follow.
Yeah.
And yeah, I mean,
it's just,
you should,
you got to check the photos out.
You just can't,
it's hard to believe this truck.
It's so beautiful.
The headers,
you know,
the headers are like running boards.
They're,
they're like two inches off the ground.
Oh yeah,
they do look like running boards
and they're so shiny.
There's so much to be seen.
How much do you burn your legs
getting into that?
Yeah.
Probably fairly cool
by that distance.
I don't know.
That's fine.
Who cares?
Yeah.
The radiator is like a reverse.
Fashion over function sometimes.
And the radiator,
viewed from the side,
is like a reverse cow pusher.
It's like,
it would suck a cow into it
if it were a train.
Oh wait,
is the radiator the...
Yeah.
It's like open,
it's like formula look,
you know,
and it's like
to pull air in
but the arrangement,
you've just...
Covered in brass?
Yeah, it's brass.
Like a tee,
a tee would be like that.
It's hard to tell what's going on there
but it looks formidable.
It's a pretty,
it's a pretty stout look.
You know,
without that...
I love the brass.
I mean,
you could have a different grill shell for sure
but you know,
you need some weight on the front of this car.
Like not,
I don't mean literally,
I mean like design wise.
You know,
it looks heavy
and it just,
it balances it out.
And he,
obviously he knew that, right?
I'm not
giving a design lesson here.
But it does have a center console,
which was something that I didn't realize
until they talked about that.
Like when it,
the center console had been modified
or lost or something
during the restoration,
like
that was something they had to,
they had to fix.
Oh yeah, I see that.
Yeah.
I didn't know,
I couldn't even tell from other photos
until they said that.
I wonder,
you know,
about some of these cars,
like what they're like inside.
You don't have a lot of intense,
like you don't see the toe boards
and how the pedals are arranged
and stuff.
Right, yeah.
Interesting.
Photographers.
Well,
and the seats probably don't go back and forth.
Nope.
So you got to just be
pretty much,
you got to be tall enough
or short enough.
Yeah.
It's weird, right?
You're like laid back,
but then reaching for the,
I don't know,
with the steering wheel in between your
no door open,
but also the steering wheel,
like the column
is,
there's three
columns
and they come out in like a pointed,
like an inverted triangle.
It's the spokes,
it's the spokes of the steering wheel.
These are the spokes of the steering wheel
going into the seat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
They go down and meet.
Okay.
But they're,
so there's like
an inverted triangle going into
between your legs.
Well,
your steering wheels already like that.
It's just dished about two inches.
This is dished about 20 inches.
Yeah.
It just seems like it'd be wide down there.
No,
it's probably like
a three inch circle.
Okay.
The spokes meet it.
Okay.
Like any steering wheel.
All right.
Okay.
Post sneezing fit.
Now I'm stuffy
because I went to blow my nose.
Now I'm all stuffy.
Sorry.
I cut it out,
but there was a big sneezing fit.
Yeah.
I don't know if the allergies got to me
or what.
Anyway,
I stuff.
She sneezed like 20 times.
Yeah.
I'm sneeze free,
but I'm going to be really
nicely now.
Oh,
which was already too much.
Okay.
So we were going off probably about
the radius rods
and the way they fit in the body,
the headers,
the shape of the radiator being
a reverse cowl pusher shape.
It's got a blower on it,
which is about three quarters
of the way up the windshield.
As it should be.
The C cab overlaps the windshield
as well.
It's got a Model T cowl.
And then the rest of it's,
you know, scratch built
and it's probably like a
fiberglass body.
It's like basically flat sided.
So it's very true to what
looks like a wood style.
It's not really flat sided.
It's got like,
it's like,
it's peeked in the center.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's peeked in the center.
Okay.
I think I'm going to,
I'm going to give you the floor
and you should take over.
Well,
speaking of Fritz Schenck,
who painted the ice truck,
as you will recall,
as you just mentioned.
And the mega cycle.
Oh yeah.
Call back to the last episode.
Call back to the last episode.
Yep.
If you will.
Great.
Very nice.
Very nice.
He built the Roswell rod
in the early 2000s.
He was channeling his hero,
Ed Roth.
Okay.
What I love about this
is it was built in the early 2000s.
So it's modern,
but I didn't realize that
when I picked it.
I was surprised to see that.
Really?
Yeah.
Because it looks so,
it looks like futuristic
like what the 70s
and 60s would,
would be like.
So he totally nailed it.
The frame is all handmade
in a square tube
with the exception
of a 1970 Buick Skylar front end.
Okay.
Yeah.
So that's already badass.
Yeah.
There's another car
that you have in your list.
A great pick.
You've got the Beatnik Bandit too.
Yes.
And I was looking in the body
and I was like,
oh, this is like a GM
or a Detroit front end.
So that must be a cue
borrowed from another Ed car.
Yeah.
I don't know what clip
he used on that one,
but Gene would do stuff
like that too.
He'd have these big body cars.
You know,
just like big old mobiles
and use them on like
for a fiberglass
Merck body.
Wow.
So.
Yeah.
It's interesting.
But.
I mean,
I think the 64 Fairlane
was the NASCAR front end
for up until
like 20 years ago.
Oh, wow.
So.
Some of those are just like
proven designs.
64 Ford Fairlane?
Yeah.
Till a few years ago?
Yeah.
How's that?
Till the car of tomorrow.
It just became this geometry
that they liked for the arrangement.
I think it's a,
I think it's a,
just a coil
and a lower control arm.
And it's just like,
I don't know.
It just works.
It's good geometry.
It has a little bump steer.
It's like highly adjustable
and simplistic.
And so it was just like,
it was the design that they,
the cars had standard
for a long time.
Huh.
Interesting.
So some of these,
so it may be like.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Yeah.
There just may be a front clip
that is like the clip.
Right.
Well for
Shank,
it was the 70 Buick Skylark.
Okay.
That's the one he left.
You can,
I guess you could chop some of that out
if you want.
It's a two-seater bubble top.
And the color is
Roswell radiation flow
orange.
And it was a one off from
House of Color.
It's a really good color.
It is a really good color.
It is bright.
It's like a bright marigold.
It's all Halloween orange
and chimney red.
I wouldn't call that
Halloween orange.
You think so?
Yeah, totally.
If I were going to
print a little pumpkin
and die cut it.
I'd pick that orange
for the pumpkin.
I feel like it's more of
a marigold color.
I was born in October.
It's a
I was born in October.
Listen,
just because orange is your
lost your voice there.
Jack-o-lantern's got your
tongue.
Oh, snap.
What kind of orange
would you call that surf
orange?
I would call it like a
marigold.
I guess he called it
radiation orange.
Yeah,
Roswell radiation flow
orange.
It has candy red scallops
and black, red and white
pinstripes.
Really thin scallops
and like really wild
arrangement where they
change directions.
And so this car
has a super
beatnik bandit-esque shape
to it.
Yep.
Big,
Impala type fin
or El Camino type fin
from the 60s,
like where it overhangs
the back of the car
but exaggerated.
Right,
but they're horizontal.
And then,
is that Impala taillights?
No,
they're Thunderbird.
Thunderbird,
okay.
The steering wheel's
like a boat steering wheel.
I thought it was like a
Star Wars steering wheel.
Sure.
And it was handmade by him.
Sure,
but it's like,
yeah, it's kind of like a
boat steering wheel.
It's a little different,
but call it what you will.
I'm just trying to describe it
for the listener.
Okay.
Well, that was in my
description that I have in
my notes.
Well, does he say it's
from Star Wars?
I don't think so.
It's just said that
it's handmade by him.
Okay.
I don't remember
saying boat.
Well,
maybe.
Like in the reactor,
Gene's got it like he
described it as a boat steering
wheel, but it's like you hold
these two rods like that,
but the bands come across
the top and taper,
whereas Fritz is just the
vertical bars and it's under
your hands.
So it's pretty close to that.
That's what I was thinking.
Just look like the Star Wars
thing to me.
Well, that's fine.
Yeah.
That's fine.
I'm just over here.
Okay.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know what
that means,
but blown.
Yeah.
With the 327,
yeah.
With the 327 Chevy blasting
out of the engine bay.
The whole body's got a
serious rake.
Yeah.
It's got a serious.
It's like a very aggressive
triangle,
like an aerodynamic triangle.
It looks like it's in motion.
Yeah.
It's definitely got a triangle
shape to it.
And there's a little bit
of a face,
a little bit of a bug face
with the eyes,
like the headlights and the
grill.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's got a cute little
car is actually
and it also has a sharp
beak flying out in the front.
The nose is like it has this
thin,
large oval that goes all the way
across the front and then it has
molded on top.
It has this like sort of like
beak like thing that comes out.
Yeah.
It's it's like a second plane
to what becomes the fender.
Yeah.
And the fins.
It's not on the same plane as
that.
That plane ends on the headlight,
which the headlight is very like
58 Chevy.
Even the fender has little peaks
like the 58 Chevy.
And then I love the floating
fender over the front wheels,
but then the back is totally
encased and it's like a running
board.
It looks really hard to get into.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
For sure.
And also it was supposed to be
the first bubble top
from the East Coast custom.
Okay.
To do it according to the
article I read.
I can't remember which article
this was.
Okay.
Maybe they were telling the truth.
Maybe not.
Yeah, I don't know.
I find it hard to believe.
But also the steering wheel
has a matching chrome shifter.
Yeah.
The shifter like perfectly matches
it.
Yeah.
And it has a Roswell radiation
flow interior with slick white
and red piping seats and door
panels.
Yeah.
It's pretty slick.
I mean, it's it's it's
bright white against that
orange totally molded dash
asymmetrical dash as well,
which does prioritize the
speedometer.
The gauges are in a triangular
arrangement.
They're in like a delta
pinstripe dash.
It is more style in the
dash than it is dash.
There's not some big screen to be
staring at or anything like that.
It's very simplistic,
which is interesting when you
like look at it and you're
like this is to me what
if I were going to imagine a
car that lives on Mars,
you know, Roswell rod like
alien-esque feeling to it.
So it feels almost futuristic,
but it's a past future in the
sense that like it's just a
super simple mechanical car.
No digital readout.
It's needles.
Right. Yeah.
You know, so it's like just
sort of weird cues
combined there.
I love it.
I like the simplicity.
Yeah.
I love it too.
Heavily skirted like
tunneled around the
tail light area and you can
see it's you can see they
had to get pretty low to
get a shot of the rear end
and you still can't really
see the rear suspension that
well.
It just looks like an axle.
It doesn't look like it has
independent rear suspension
or anything.
So it might.
I really can't even tell
from this photo.
It looks like it's an axle
and a four bar,
but I don't know.
And drum brakes.
So I think it's just an
axle.
Nothing wrong with that,
but just an observation.
It has a four link.
So it does have a rear
four link and coilovers.
It's pretty much a
perfect car.
Was it hand-lead fiberglass?
I mean, it's just like
it's all the right elements.
Right.
You know, and those headlights
are Buick Skylark.
Okay.
Headlights.
Okay.
Cool.
Oh, and this is interesting.
The grill is made from two
Model A wishbones.
Really?
Which I didn't,
I looked at that and I
didn't really.
Wow.
That's cool.
Really cool.
That's sick.
Huh.
Yeah.
So a little nod to the past.
Yeah.
I love that.
That's really cool.
I love the astro Supremes.
Really skinny five spokes.
I'm assuming that's what's
on there, which is,
which is cool to have Astro
on the Roswell rod.
Mention the blower again.
Tiny fiberglass car.
It's almost above the bubble.
Tiny, tiny fiberglass car
blown motor.
I love it.
And it has the cheater
slicks on the back.
So I was wondering,
does the car like,
do you think that he's
taking it to the drag strip
at all?
Just one time?
I don't doubt that he's got
hot and heavy with it.
It looks like a manual
transmission, which is pretty
cool.
I doubt it.
If it were me,
I don't know.
I wouldn't want to tear it up.
No, you wouldn't.
It's too nice.
I can't speak for it, so.
Too nice.
Is there any chance that
if you are torquing the
engine that it would crack
any of the fiberglass?
If I was too strong.
Sure.
It's always possible,
but fiberglass is pretty
flexible.
Okay.
It's a neat thing,
but maybe,
you know,
kind of doubt it.
Yeah, it's neat.
It's a neat little
little cutie.
I mean, it's pretty much
a perfect car.
I think.
Yeah, I love the fins
in the back.
Yeah.
I mean, you just look at it.
I don't think it needs
anything else.
No, I agree.
I just,
you could make it into
a Hot Wheels and people
would shit their pants.
Do you think it was a Hot Wheels?
Hot Wheels has done some
knockoff, you know,
bubble top type stuff.
What else you got on it?
Is that it?
Okay.
Fine.
Well, look.
I didn't read much about
Fritz Schenck,
either.
Well,
you know.
By much, I mean anything.
Fritz by Fritz is
embroidered into the seats.
Yep.
That's his,
you know,
his franchise,
his shop name,
uh-huh.
Does he do mostly painting?
Well, it looks like
it shows that he does
everything.
He does, yeah,
fiberglass and pinstriping.
Okay.
Cool.
All kinds of odds and ends
and he makes small things
you can buy.
I think he has a mold
of like halves of bowling pins
and he'll paint and
pinstripe them and sell them
for followers
that love his work
and stuff and makes
like the fiberglass,
like heavy,
like boat flake
fiberglass surf helmets.
Stuff like that.
He's a custom man
of enterprise.
Nice.
Well,
get in where you fit in.
Okay.
We've got to take a detour
because again,
we've talked for so long
about both of these,
but Ice Truck
really deserves the time
because,
oh my God,
it's pretty amazing
and the Roswell rod is,
I mean,
so bright.
I love orange.
Yeah,
it's gorgeous.
I know,
that's your favorite color.
I mean,
it's just a hot wheels,
just sitting there.
I think that's what it,
your car should just like,
you should just feel like
you're looking at a toy.
I feel like,
yeah,
but it's fun
because it's full size
and raw power,
right?
But we're,
you know,
there's not enough time
to cover the next two
because they're both
pretty good stories
and they're both Roth cars.
So,
No,
mine's embarrassed.
Oh,
wait,
no,
mine is a Roth.
I forgot.
We've got so many left.
Yeah.
Well,
and we also,
you know,
got TV and movie cars.
And so I was like,
Oh,
he's going to love that.
We're going to do a TV.
We are going to do TV.
I think we're going to do TV.
Separate and movie car separate.
Yeah,
they're separate because there's
so many.
Yeah.
So,
there's obviously some
bare stuff in there.
That's exciting.
But anyway,
we have been,
we've been in the shop
working on my 67
Econoline.
I've got the windshield out.
So we've been fixing
some rust around the windshield
opening.
It wasn't too much.
Emily's been,
we've been wire wheeling
the crap out of it.
There's been a lot of wire wheeling.
When we stripped that van
before it was mine,
we just like stripped it
with like angle grinders and stuff.
So it was like,
we were pretty hard on the body,
but we didn't strip the nose.
So at least the sheet metal
is not too worn out there.
You know,
when it was John's
and John was just grinding,
they were like,
take the grinder,
the corner,
like,
you know,
thin the corner out.
I'm like,
oh my God.
Anyway,
it's just epoxy everywhere
but the nose.
Anyway,
we're painting,
we're going to paint the dash.
Oh yeah.
Because you filled in
a bunch of holes in the dash.
Yeah.
Somebody had cut the,
that dash has a speaker grill
where like a mono speaker
was mounted.
And somebody had cut
that open to a double den
radio.
And it's just been
an open hole the whole time
I've owned it.
It drives me nuts.
Yep.
She hates it.
And then the ashtray,
so I don't smoke.
So I don't need the ashtray
and that's where my phone
goes.
I have a phone mount there
with the phone mount.
It's just sheet metal right now.
Yep.
But we got rid of the ashtray
underneath of it.
And then I rearranged
the heater controls.
After driving that fan,
I've been driving them
for like two years daily now.
Yeah.
And the heater controls
are too far away
in the middle of the dash.
They were too far.
It's distracting.
Even for your arms.
Well, because I,
you know,
I'll speed it up,
slow it down.
A lot of times in the winter
it's actually checking
what speed it's on
to make sure it is on
because it's hard to hear
whether it's on
or it's the radiator fan.
I have an electric fan
radiator.
So sometimes I'm like,
is it running?
Because it gets cold.
Very cold.
That fan is so cold.
So then
Nothing but air holes everywhere.
Yeah.
Well, it's not insulated.
So it's just
that's part of it.
Yeah.
It's a big part of it.
Yeah, it's true.
So we welded up
all the dash pad holes.
Oh my God.
It looks,
it's smooth.
It looks really good.
Yeah.
And then Rose did
a bunch of like
Yeah.
Did you do some?
We did have to do some shrinking.
Opposite of shrinking too?
Yeah, sure.
Hammer and Dolly.
Yeah.
Stretching it out.
Okay.
She stretched it.
She shrink it.
She stretched it.
She shrink it.
That's pretty much
what you do back and forth.
Yeah.
It turned out really
it was an awesome process
to see first of all.
It was very cool
to see Rose in her element
like that
because I've not seen that
before.
And then just to see
how everything works.
We uncovered a little
damage where there was
all that body filler
and this van
to get it in gloss black
is just piecemeal paint
one panel at a time
which is fun on the
economy.
There seems everywhere.
So you're going to have
to be creative with the
clear lines,
but that's the only way
it's going to happen for me.
Not having a place
where I can just like
leave it inside
and work on it.
So we're going to
do the windshield frame
and the pillars.
So the pillars
will be painted
and then
then we'll go after
the jams
and the lower half
of the nose
and the door frame
where that
where there's a
that.
Oh my God,
that whole corner is so messed up.
Some erectile damage?
Yeah.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Well, yeah,
you can't open the door.
So it's limp, you know.
Well, that top hinge
even broke.
So they're like
you open the door
and it does go limp.
Oh jeez.
Oh no,
we got to open that door
today.
Yep, we do.
We do.
So we're going to paint
that pillar and stuff.
So that's been cool
and fixing the rest
in the windshield frame
is cool.
But then I also got
a little
because I'm
thinking about
building a body
and
somebody gave me
a Cadillac motor.
Yep.
65.
Yep.
340 horse
with the transition
transmission.
Important that it came
with the transmission
because it's its own
two year
or three year
bell housing design.
Well,
I don't know
exactly what that means.
Well, it means it like
we explain it to me.
That bell housing
bolt pattern for the
transmission.
It's not just like
you can just throw any
Chevy transmission
behind it.
It's not that pattern.
Oh,
okay.
So it's good that you got
okay.
It's only that
transmission.
Oh,
it's only two or three
years.
Okay.
I see what you're saying.
Okay.
They did it from
like 65 to 67
or something.
Oh,
okay.
So it's rare.
Or eight.
Yeah.
It's hard to find.
And by 69
just yet,
I'd rather,
as Jean says,
do it then talk about it.
Yep.
So I don't want to
set myself up for failure,
but I got a cowl in
and that's what I want to
start from to get my
proportions.
So I got a Model T cowl.
Yep.
And it looks pretty
good for anywhere
from a hundred to
110 years old.
Oh,
wait,
the cowl is a
new old stock
or old stock.
It's original.
It's an original.
It's what
hot riders would call
Henry Steele.
Whoa.
That's crazy.
Yeah.
So it's like,
is it easy to find?
Kind of.
I think it's like
1913 to 1925.
Yeah,
I had like four or five
to choose from.
Oh,
whoa.
Okay.
They were all about
$110,
120 bucks,
150,
170.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Yeah.
I didn't know
that would be easy to find.
I thought it'd be all like
where you.
Well,
I was trying to buy one out
of Washington
and it like disappeared
like dammit.
It's dumb.
But the,
the one from Georgia
shipped right away.
It's here.
I got it in the van.
And so the Cadillac motor,
the cowl,
I need to get some
two inch by four inch
rail to make some
frame rail.
And then we're
going to start
scheming up a body.
That's going to be
pretty neat.
But we're,
you know,
also need to do
a motor swap
on my
after.
Yeah.
I've got breaks to do
on my Corvette
at some point,
which is never
what it feels like.
Yeah.
I want to do the
astro swap.
So that thing runs good.
It's more little guys
got like a burn valve
or something.
So
it's nice to have two cars
because like, you know,
like I said,
having to do the windshield
in the van at least
I've got something to drive.
Yeah.
So I want to do that swap.
It's, I mean,
the motor was in,
it's what we took
out of the 67.
So that's another
four, three
and runs good.
So it's 40 over.
I've had the heads off.
Oh yeah.
That engine.
Yeah.
I've got two in the shop
and finishing up
like one more set
of bubble windows,
some red gemstones
and I'm like taking
a break from them
for a little bit
to work on this hot rod
project.
And to just enjoy life.
Man, you know,
you're working.
So everybody,
she has been working
so insane.
She works
like a full time job
and then she goes
to the shop after work
and then she works
on the weekends.
It gets old.
Sometimes she only takes
one, she takes one day
off.
Yeah.
It gets so old.
Just having to like.
Yeah.
It's not,
I like making stuff
for people,
but it also brings stress
because eventually like,
you know,
people want their stuff
and sometimes it's not,
you know, whatever like
the heat kept me out
of the shop in the summer.
It just was too hot.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I wind up on like
rooftops
and stuff at work
and out in the sun
and I just don't want
to go in the shop
and sweat
until bedtime.
Yeah.
So I just need
a little,
a little bit of a break.
Again,
it's really cool getting
to use my skills
to build something
for myself.
So it's nice.
It's really cool
working on the van.
And again,
like driving that thing
daily,
the dash is what I stare at
all the time.
So it's nice to rearrange it.
Even like the
trouble light
for my computer
is in a spot
that like I find obnoxious.
Like,
and I mean this
in like a
trying to eliminate
distracted driving
by rearranging
your dash,
you know.
Yeah.
To make it more
for you,
make it more how you
are going to drive
and what you're going to look at.
Yeah.
Did you move the computer light?
I'm going to.
I'm going to put something else.
I welded up the hole that it was.
Oh, okay.
It was mounted
in a dash pad hole
so it's kind of loose anyway.
Okay.
It didn't ground
through the body
so it didn't need to be tight
but it was like flopping around.
It was almost
the same size
as the hole.
It just,
when I did all that,
I was in a rush
when I did all that.
So I just was like,
here's a hole
and just dropped it in.
As you do sometimes.
Here's a hole,
drop it in.
Yeah.
So,
yeah,
working on my fan.
It's cool.
It's been really fun.
Yeah.
I've had a great time.
You know,
I made that roll pan
and then I was like,
oh, I should louver it.
And then I was like,
it doesn't even need
the license plate hole.
I have license plates
and I like it there
because it's got a light
that Ford made for it.
Right there.
Yeah.
I kind of like it.
I feel like,
because if,
yeah,
so,
yeah,
I made this rear roll pan
because the roll pan
is less,
it's more gone
than it is there.
It's basically
the license plate frame
and the,
you know,
the rest of it's gone.
So,
yeah,
anyway,
I made one
and then I was like,
just moved the goal post
twice on myself.
I louvered
and it doesn't need
the license plate opening,
which makes it simpler,
but
the laser files
I have for it
have the license plate cut out.
So I got to make a new file.
But anyway,
working through the rest
on my van,
that's what the story is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's what the story is.
We're sticking to it.
But doing the,
doing the cab
is almost like
interior work.
And so I talked to
Rismo
and he is also
interested in making
some seats for me.
And I was like,
well,
Chevy thing that they did
in the 60s,
I think it was Chevy.
And he was like,
oh yeah.
He's like,
I have some orange plaid
that would look.
Guess who's favorite color
is orange.
It's me.
I mean,
I don't,
I guess I don't want to
put too much emotion
into Joe's response.
He might have just said,
oh yeah,
I got some of that.
You can have
all the emotion.
But I was excited
on my end.
So that's kind of cool.
It'd be neat to do that
and be neat to have.
I put a seat cover in
there.
Somebody got me some
and like within a week,
it broke the piping off the edge.
Oh, they were trash.
I feel like
within the first day,
they had rips in them.
Yeah, it was garbage.
It was really bad.
Pretty disappointing,
but really disappointing.
You know,
all the more reason to get
something from Joe.
Yeah.
Those will be tight.
It'll be neat.
It'll be,
it's be totally foreign to
me to have cool stuff
in my own van.
Yeah.
I love it.
Really,
it's coming along.
It's looking so cool.
It's cool to get to
use my skills
so that's if you're like,
why are you making stuff for me?
It's because I'm making some
stuff for me.
I think that's all we have
today.
That's it.
That's the whole,
that's our life right up
until this moment.
Everything that we've told
you is everything that's
happened.
It's all true.
It's all real.
We'll eat roughly
two to three meals a day
from there.
Absolutely.
Just to give you an idea
on what's going to happen
between now and then
the next show.
I usually eat four meals a
day or five.
Okay.
But I'm like,
that's a snack.
Yeah.
You haven't been eating that
much.
One to two,
a number of sleeps,
and then we'll talk to you
again.
Thanks for listening.
Done been piled up.
Done been piled up.
Bye.
Bye.
Thank you.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
Bye.
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