Alter Boys 2009

We quickly give Joe’s shoebox Ford a tagteam cleaning scrubbing the oh so protective and stubborn elusive blue coating off the whitewalls of the four freshly mounted Goodyear Super Cushions. A hand off of the quick detailer and I’m wiping down the body and chrome. Final stretch, the interior including polishing the windows for a glare-free ride, disposing of the never ending pile of fliers of past shows and we’re on the road to the AMVETS Post 79 in Natick, MA. Remembering that this show in the past was quite possibly the best representation of traditional Hotrods and Customs in the New England area, Joe keeps the throttle wide open as we sail up the expressway.

The superb crowd and club friendliness makes me remember why I have been looking forward to this show all year. I’ve seen this club at shows all over New England for the last couple of years, they really put the extra effort into making their cars the coolest which gives them a very stellar reputation.

Turning onto Speen Street in Natick we quickly see the Alter Boys’ sign painted appropriately on two old car doors marking the entrance. We are greeted by two of the Alter Boys who mark our hands and head us to Pete Flaven who is on traffic duty lining up the cars. (Pete’s 33 Ford was also in Piecrust’s June 29th Sin Alley Saints story.) We slide out of the Ford and head to the show taking a quick glance at the vendors in the first lot. We approach the second lot in record time to check out the altered wheelbase and front engine dragsters lined up for a group photo.

I look at the nostalgic dragsters but I am quickly drawn to 1948 Fiat that reads Brady&Mahan that is owned by the lucky lucky Jack Brady of Cumberland, RI. I have seen this car run at New England Dragway numerous times throughout the years and it’s by far my favorite altered to see blast down the strip. It’s a real race car, meaning it has three pedals(gas, brake and clutch). Those pedals react via its hopped-up small block Chevy which exhales through zoomie style exhaust. Atop this growling beast sits a six pot intake with six Stromberg 97s. The power is fed through its 1965 Chevy three speed manual transmission hooked to a Ford 9 inch that turns its big Mickey Thompson hides.

The next group of cars we see are the cars of the Alter Boys. This section clearly has the most foot traffic of the day. In the back of their area the Alter Boys sell their Jalopy Jamboree shirts under a tent which is also shared with Tony “Flash” Dowers of Mag-Neto Magazine who is selling shirts as well as new and past issues of Mag-Neto Magazine. Eli English had part of his collection of cars at the show including his beautiful black 1955 Ford Customline which laid in the grass behind the other alterboys cars. Eli also brought his 1931 Ford Model A coupe with a stump pulling 1959 Buick Nailhead mounted neatly between the 1932 Ford frame rails. Next to the coupe is John Schols’ fresh 1931 Ford Model A roadster with a 1954 Oldsmobile 324 also sitting on 1932 Ford rails. Jared Brouilett drove his Model T roadster which is propelled by a vintage Ford Flathead with a 2 pot intake. We stand and watch carefully while Pete Flaven’s Green 1933 Ford coupe gets its aluminum hood and grille lettered by a very talented pinstriper named Don Fearon. When Don finished striping we check out his work and find amazing perfect crisp dark lines which read “Edmunds racing equip. and Sta-Lube” on the grille.

Down the hill I see a plethora of 1932 Fords, Model A s and T s, Coupes, Sedans and Roadsters all of which share the same concept which is the traditional Hotrod. I am quickly overloaded with the sight of bias ply tires, Buick brakes, quickchange and two speed rear-ends, chopped tops and channel jobs. The shutter on my camera just wants to stay open to absorb all the detail and colors of the cars. I see a crowd of people standing around a 1932 Ford coupe that is giving off a vintage aura. I get closer to the car and see four Stromberg 97s that feed a small Cragar blower that is mounted upon an iconic small block Chevy. Which in turn is connected to a 1939 Ford transmisson and is modified with Lincoln Zepher gears leading to the almighty holy grail of vintage rearends the Columbia two speed. The car also has the perfect stance with its 16×3 1/2 front V8-60 wheels with 4.50/4.75 16 Firestones and its 16×5 rears wrapped with massive 8.90 16 Firestones.

Across from the 32 there lies a 1954 Chevy that is absolutely stunning, its paint and chrome are simply amazing. Checking the car out I hear the owner talking about how there was 7 inches added to the roof top during the chop which explains its perfect proportions. Its dechromed, shaved and Frenched exterior are only the start of the body mods. The pristine bodywork was done by a guy at the show, who painted the car in his garage. I would have never believed it if I didn’t hear it myself. The black paint soaks me in and it seems a mile deep. The ebony interior and trunk are designed perfectly to complement the exterior. The Chevy’s chrome smoothie wheels and wide white walls tuck nicely inside the wheel wells with the help from the airbag suspension at all four corners.

I am happy to see all the club jackets and clubwear being worn through the day, including Sin Alley Saints, Double-Crossers, Road Lords, Rod Knockers and of course the Alter Boys. The show continues into the night playing videos of the “Alter Boys do Bonneville” and then “Devil at Your Feet” . Just as I suspected another amazing show put on by the Alter Boys. You guys never seem to let us down! Hopefully I will be bringing my coupe next year…We will see!

Gathering of the Faithful

To start this off I’m going to set straight exactly what show we attended. We drove to Plum Corner in Rochester for the one andonly “Flathead Jacks” 10th annual Gathering of the Faithful New England Speed Meeting. We have attended this show for a few years now, every year guarantees cool cars and cold people since it’s in October in New England

This show draws a lot of cars that don’t go to everyday cruise nights and local shows. The type of cars that show up are old roundy rounds, midgets, vintage racers and of course the enthusiasts. This pre- 1960 show draws mostly hot rods, though you will see some customs and muscle cars in the mix. The Gathering is one of the only shows around where you can see a variety of cars from vintage slingshots, old race cars and hot rods in the same place.

On the front row sat a black on black 1931 Ford Model A roadster which wore old salt flat numbers 37b. Under the louvered hood was a warmed over 1941 Flathead motor. The motor had been bored to 239 cubic inches with Edelbrock heads ported and polished to let the flatty breathe deeper. Bolted to the top of the motor is a Thickstun 2×2 manifold with two Holly 94’s (Ford of course) to complete the hopped up motor. This roadster is a real driver and has frequented the salt flats on the west coast numerous times in the last few years.

A few hours into the show everyone huddled around the stage with coffee in hand while a seminar was put on by Mac Van Pelt. Mac is the author of the How-to manual ”The Ins and Outs of Early Ford Transmissions”. Mac pulled apart and went through an early Ford transmission in great depth with lots of questions and answers interspersed enabling the studious crowd to absorb his knowledge.

This was the ending show of my Massachusetts season and what a way to end the year. I can’t wait for the spring!

chuck’s triumph “the mindbender”

Today my son and I went to see my friend Chuck who I had heard painted his Triumph and it was KRAZY. Around the back of the building I can’t help but laugh at the freak drop/Kandy bubble paint job on their shop truck. What other shop truck have you ever seen that had freak drops painted on it? (I love it! ) Chuck greeted us at the door as if he knew we were coming and this wasn’t planned at all. Crazy minds think alike I suppose…We do both have lots of the same tattoos just as a side note on our insanity. In the shop we checked over the paint booth which is air brushed and pinstriped to the hills and well beyond. Their spray booth is covered with Kandy painted and metal flaked welding helmets and other Hotrod-esque items.

Against the spray booth leaned the long Triumph chopper on its chrome kickstand. The bike is still being built, but I wanted to get down to take pictures of its insane custom late 60’s inspired paint job. The fully chrome looong twisted square bar springer front end is a site in itself. The front wheel was probably a good foot further forward from its stock position with some help from the Kandy blue frame’s neck being stretched.

The gas tank was soaked with Kandy yellow paint and rainbow flake. On each side of the tank he had painted a different pattern. The right side was a panel of large Kandy orange gills with Kandy root beer shading. The left side of the gas tank popped with layers of Kandy faded bubbles. The top of the tank also had two separate panels, on the left side, a blue Kandy lace job showing its finely detailed lacey pattern. The right side of the top panel was a Kandy green small fish scale. And that’s just the gas tank!

The rear fender was bobbed and graced with a long Kandy red lace job and Kandy green fish scale panel running front to rear. The background of the fender panels were surrounded by green, silver and blue Kandy boarders. Off the sides of the fender were two brackets for the not so sissy bar which makes a good mount for its hand grenade and devil tail also soaked with silver Kandy and tons of metal flake that of course added to the sick-ness.

Behind the engine hung a spade shaped oil tank which I believe a late 60’s show rod custom paint book had exploded onto. It then was fogged with clear coat which causes you to just stare at the bike to try to figure out what happened…Give up… There’s a method to Chuck’s madness and it’s locked away in his shed. The spade was time warped with different trippy styles including; Kandy shaded bubbles, turnpikes, Kandy fine-line strips, Kandy droplet panels, freaky flame panels and then topped off with Indian Larry’s legendary question mark to complete the madness.

Chuck is now plugging away on the mechanical part of the chopper, and I will get back to him in the spring for a full write-up when it’s done. He will be causing hell in the South Shore before you know it. Just watch out for his Suicidal Tendencies flipped cap coming at you!