The 23rd Annual West Coast Nationals in Pleasanton is this coming weekend and Attebury Street Rods will be there. No booth or anything like that, but Ron will be out there with the white Slammed '32. Haven't seen him in awhile, have questions, or just want to talk hot rods scope him out because he'll only be there from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon.
See you all there!
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Aug 18, 2009
Conclusion to Bonneville Speed Week 2009
If you haven't all heard by now, there were no land speed records broken this time, but we're positive we'll get 'em next year.
The salt car ran great and we learned a lot. The experimental gear box and belt drive worked perfectly, no issues at all, we're very happy because everything worked like it was supposed to. But there's one thing we weren't expecting. Ron's a drag racer and in drag racing you obviously want the car as light as possible...well this sure isn't drag racing! On the salt you want it heavy and the guys learned that very quick. So the car was aero light, and the air had no where to escape under the car, which caused it to keep lifting up the back end every time he would approach 155mph. After a lot of thought and talking to some experts in air flow there's a plan for some changes to the belly pan to create some down force.
We won't be attending the World Finals in October, there's way too much going on from now to then, but we will be back on the salt in 2010. See ya in the new year!
The salt car ran great and we learned a lot. The experimental gear box and belt drive worked perfectly, no issues at all, we're very happy because everything worked like it was supposed to. But there's one thing we weren't expecting. Ron's a drag racer and in drag racing you obviously want the car as light as possible...well this sure isn't drag racing! On the salt you want it heavy and the guys learned that very quick. So the car was aero light, and the air had no where to escape under the car, which caused it to keep lifting up the back end every time he would approach 155mph. After a lot of thought and talking to some experts in air flow there's a plan for some changes to the belly pan to create some down force.
We won't be attending the World Finals in October, there's way too much going on from now to then, but we will be back on the salt in 2010. See ya in the new year!
The Willy's wins again!
The enthusiastically attended event known as the 2009 Carmel-By-The-Sea Concours on the Avenue, which was held on August 11th was a hit for Bruce Cohn and his gorgeous 1933 Willy's Roadster finished last year by Attebury Street Rods. Bruce won 2nd in class with the 33 Willys out of 200 cars attending the event.
This car has seen it's days in the lights and it hasn't slowed down since. Congrats Bruce!!
Aug 11, 2009
Short and sweet...kinda like today!
We don't have the shop around the corner for more readily available parts, and Salty is still trying to liftoff.
One good thing is Ron got his C license today, so at least the car got him that far before trying to perform a dance routine on the salt.
Back on the road to home tomorrow, and I'll be posting again soon with the new "plan" to get Salty to keep his butt firmly planted on the ground.
One good thing is Ron got his C license today, so at least the car got him that far before trying to perform a dance routine on the salt.
Back on the road to home tomorrow, and I'll be posting again soon with the new "plan" to get Salty to keep his butt firmly planted on the ground.
Aug 10, 2009
Attention passengers,
This is your captain....
Salty spread his wings today. Thank goodness for some dragster kinards (anti stall wings) left in the trailer. I can't even start to explain how they attached these things to the back of the car to create a wing for down force. It took a lot of fabrication and brains. AND not only did Salty spread his wings today we fattened him up with a healty diet of lead blocks in the front and rear.
Because of all the work that had to be done today we didn't get a chance to make a run, but the alarm is already set for the butt crack of dawn and we'll be in line first thing to see how this car reacts to all the changes.
We did learn today that Ron received his E and D license, so if he clocks in at 150-175mph tomorrow he will get his C license and we'll be moving over to play with the big boys on the long course.
Salty spread his wings today. Thank goodness for some dragster kinards (anti stall wings) left in the trailer. I can't even start to explain how they attached these things to the back of the car to create a wing for down force. It took a lot of fabrication and brains. AND not only did Salty spread his wings today we fattened him up with a healty diet of lead blocks in the front and rear.
Because of all the work that had to be done today we didn't get a chance to make a run, but the alarm is already set for the butt crack of dawn and we'll be in line first thing to see how this car reacts to all the changes.
We did learn today that Ron received his E and D license, so if he clocks in at 150-175mph tomorrow he will get his C license and we'll be moving over to play with the big boys on the long course.
Aug 9, 2009
Flyin' 34
We've got a jet on our hands now!
First I'll talk about the positive that happened today. Weather was beautiful and that's always a plus here on the salt. And on the first and only run this afternoon the car was running and shifting perfectly....until it started to attempt to liftoff when Ron started to increase the speed around the 2 mile marker.
Maybe Ron shouldn't have tried to tighten his pants and lose all that weight before the race. Lead we need lead, stat!!! And I specifically remember the conversation Ron and Matt had while packing the trailer for the race.
"Ron, do you think we need to leave all that lead shot in here just incase."
"Ah nah Matt, we'll be fine I don't foresee us having a weight issue at all."
WRONG! So we've came across some lead that Jack Costella gave us, and tomorrow we're visiting a local shop to fabricate some brackets to mount some wings on the back of the car, leftover from the dragster actually.
We have some work to do tomorrow but we're sure it's easy enough we should have time to get at least one run in tomorrow. Other then that Ron is feeling great about Salty. There's no doubt he'll be entering the long course in the week to come. We need some down force and weight and 200mph is within reach.
On another note, Jack Costella, Ron's ex brother-in-law (and one of the main influences that got Ron into racing at a very young age), one of his cars broke another record today. A naturally aspirated flathead streamliner that he built ran 278mph breaking another record once again.
AND finally here are some pictures of Salty!
Aug 8, 2009
First Run
The first run is complete and a success. Ron passed the 125mph mark and can now move on to the next few rounds before being able to enter the long course hopefully by tomorrow close of track.
The rookie driver meeting this morning took 2 long hours, and waiting in line to run is taking even longer. We don't know exactly how many rookies came out this year but so far we're guessing at least 100.
We have pictures to down load and will have much more to update by tomorrow evening...so stay tuned.
The rookie driver meeting this morning took 2 long hours, and waiting in line to run is taking even longer. We don't know exactly how many rookies came out this year but so far we're guessing at least 100.
We have pictures to down load and will have much more to update by tomorrow evening...so stay tuned.
Aug 7, 2009
Mother Nature can be a #$!%* at the races
For those of you who don't know the previous story of when we were at a Good Guys nostalgia race in Las Vegas I'm going to tell you. Lucky you! Now when I think of Vegas I think desert, and when I think desert I sure don't incorporate huge, large, nasty bugs with the hot dry desert. I was proven wrong.
It was really late for our last qualifying run of the day, close to midnight. We were in line waiting for some door bangers to finish up when the lights started to dim a little bit. Then they started to dim a lot, and slowly we started to notice people scurrying away in every direction. Then, women start to squeal as if they were in pain, and in a matter of seconds the entire Las Vegas race facility was being taken over by an alien life form known as Cicada. Notice in the description how it keeps saying "LARGE size" and notice it has wings! Wings the size of a Boeing jet I swear! And then imagine thousands of those bugs with Boeing size jet wings flying around you like one of those cash prize machines where the dollar bills are flying every where and you have to try and get as much in your pockets before the time is up. Well I sure didn’t put any of the Cicada in my pocket that night, at least not by choice.
Ron was strapped in the car at this time ready for his run…guess what, Ron doesn’t like bugs, more so the kind with 8 legs, but hey, a bug is a bug. We tried covering the cockpit to keep the Cicada out, until it was his turn to qualify. Luckily, Ron likes racing a lot more then bugs, but the officials were tempted to stop the race because if you can imagine what happens to a drag strip when hundreds of LARGE bugs get ran over on the asphalt…I’m thinking a slip ‘n slid is the best way to describe this.
Officials let us run, we qualified really well, and when we got to the end of the track to pick Ron up the dragster was blanketed in bug juice. “How’d that taste Ron?”
So I’m guessing the Cicada thing could be classified as a natural phenomenon of some sort since we heard through the grape vine that the Cicada ONLY come out like that once every 10 years or so…lucky us! But when we thought we couldn’t get any luckier we hit the jack pot with another natural phenomenon yesterday when arriving at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Mother Nature saw us coming from miles away and now we get to check something else off of our “What to Experience Before You Die List.” Yesterday she delivered us right in the middle of a Salt Storm! Don’t be jealous, you only wish you were as lucky as us.
Between the salt, 40mph winds, people being swept off their feet as if they were a woman being sung a solo by Frank Sinatra, and objects in the pits being turned into projectiles, somehow we managed to get the salt car to tech. And it PASSED! The rookie car Salty, who was so feverishly created by Ron, Matt and Chet is going to see its day up in the lights. Keep those land speed record fingers crossed for us because Ron and the team will be seeing what Salty can do starting tomorrow, Saturday.
Hey Mother Nature you can’t stop us, we’re looking to catch Salt Fever!
It was really late for our last qualifying run of the day, close to midnight. We were in line waiting for some door bangers to finish up when the lights started to dim a little bit. Then they started to dim a lot, and slowly we started to notice people scurrying away in every direction. Then, women start to squeal as if they were in pain, and in a matter of seconds the entire Las Vegas race facility was being taken over by an alien life form known as Cicada. Notice in the description how it keeps saying "LARGE size" and notice it has wings! Wings the size of a Boeing jet I swear! And then imagine thousands of those bugs with Boeing size jet wings flying around you like one of those cash prize machines where the dollar bills are flying every where and you have to try and get as much in your pockets before the time is up. Well I sure didn’t put any of the Cicada in my pocket that night, at least not by choice.
Ron was strapped in the car at this time ready for his run…guess what, Ron doesn’t like bugs, more so the kind with 8 legs, but hey, a bug is a bug. We tried covering the cockpit to keep the Cicada out, until it was his turn to qualify. Luckily, Ron likes racing a lot more then bugs, but the officials were tempted to stop the race because if you can imagine what happens to a drag strip when hundreds of LARGE bugs get ran over on the asphalt…I’m thinking a slip ‘n slid is the best way to describe this.
Officials let us run, we qualified really well, and when we got to the end of the track to pick Ron up the dragster was blanketed in bug juice. “How’d that taste Ron?”
So I’m guessing the Cicada thing could be classified as a natural phenomenon of some sort since we heard through the grape vine that the Cicada ONLY come out like that once every 10 years or so…lucky us! But when we thought we couldn’t get any luckier we hit the jack pot with another natural phenomenon yesterday when arriving at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Mother Nature saw us coming from miles away and now we get to check something else off of our “What to Experience Before You Die List.” Yesterday she delivered us right in the middle of a Salt Storm! Don’t be jealous, you only wish you were as lucky as us.
Between the salt, 40mph winds, people being swept off their feet as if they were a woman being sung a solo by Frank Sinatra, and objects in the pits being turned into projectiles, somehow we managed to get the salt car to tech. And it PASSED! The rookie car Salty, who was so feverishly created by Ron, Matt and Chet is going to see its day up in the lights. Keep those land speed record fingers crossed for us because Ron and the team will be seeing what Salty can do starting tomorrow, Saturday.
Hey Mother Nature you can’t stop us, we’re looking to catch Salt Fever!
Aug 4, 2009
Fun Friday Night
Big congrats to Bob Zieske of Rocklin CA, and his 1937 Ford Cabriolet rebuilt by ASR. Bob attended Vintage Fridays on Friday, July 31st put on by Sacramento Vintage Ford and took home the 'Best of Show' award for the evening!
The '37 was rebuilt by ASR including the chassis and rear end, and paint was done by Danny Settle at Innovative Auto.
That's huge, keep pulling in those awards Bob, you and that gorgeous car deserve it!
Aug 3, 2009
Smooth '37
Earlier this summer a long awaited homecoming finally happened. On Father's Day Gary Thompson of San Martin, CA picked up his finished 1937 Ford from Attebury Street Rods.
I must say this is one of my current favorites to leave the shop. Maybe it's the striking paint job done by Trent Jones, the beautiful interior done by Mike Miller, or just simply the mix between classic and modern styles throughout the Ford but it sure is a looker. Or maybe I'm partial because of the striking resemblance to another familiar hot rod close to my heart.
What a beaut Gary!
Bonneville or Bust
Imagine a place so flat you seem to see the curvature of the planet, so barren not even the simplest life forms can exist. Imagine the passing thunder of strange vehicles hurtling by on a vast dazzling white plain. This is not an alien world far from earth; it is Utah's famous Bonneville Salt Flats, and Attebury Street Rods is on their way! (Description from www.utah.com)
From Thursday, August 6th to Friday, August 14th we will be attending and participating in Speed Week 2009 courtesy of SCTA. Ron, Matt Dowd and Chet Thomas will debut their Gas Rear-Engine Modified Roadster in the C/GRMR class.
It has been a long nine months of hard labor, relentless motivation and not to mention team work. Countless hours have been put into what is affectionately know as “Salty” who is anxiously awaiting his birth coming this Thursday. We hope he’s a kicker and a screamer, and what he’s showed us so far he’s pointing in that direction and we love it.
Salty is a collaboration of Ron, Matt and Chet’s desire to get back behind the wheel and get their names in the record books. It never would have been possible without all three parties involved and not to mention all the family and friends who have helped along the way.
Stay tuned for race results, photos and our experience from the Salt. We can't wait to come down with SALT FEVER!
From Thursday, August 6th to Friday, August 14th we will be attending and participating in Speed Week 2009 courtesy of SCTA. Ron, Matt Dowd and Chet Thomas will debut their Gas Rear-Engine Modified Roadster in the C/GRMR class.
It has been a long nine months of hard labor, relentless motivation and not to mention team work. Countless hours have been put into what is affectionately know as “Salty” who is anxiously awaiting his birth coming this Thursday. We hope he’s a kicker and a screamer, and what he’s showed us so far he’s pointing in that direction and we love it.
Salty is a collaboration of Ron, Matt and Chet’s desire to get back behind the wheel and get their names in the record books. It never would have been possible without all three parties involved and not to mention all the family and friends who have helped along the way.
Stay tuned for race results, photos and our experience from the Salt. We can't wait to come down with SALT FEVER!
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