NERVOUS SURGEONS

 

The sun had set some 3 hours earlier, and it was already 10 o’clock, but the streets of LA appeared full of young tired children, and equally exhausted adults, it was then that we realised we were cruising past the Disney empire, and it was in disgorging its visitors out into the night. We cruised around for a while until we finally selected and booked into a Motel that offered exactly what we needed, a bed for the night!

 

With our bags stowed hap hazard in our rooms, we once again boarded the bus and headed out to get a drink, only one problem with this, and that was all of the bars we pulled up at were either closing or closed. In desperation we pulled into a Disney themed restaurant, who on closer inspection had precisely 3 other customers, so the welcome we got was very warm and inviting, a bit like the beer they served, but it was at least wet. Of course before the alcohol could be delivered to the table, Paranoid Paul had to prove he was old enough to have a drink, this caused a huge amount of laughter amongst the group as Paul was 38 years old!

 

This turned out to be the warm up act as soon our area of the restaurant was awash with laughter and tears cascading down peoples faces, as we attempted to answer the questions on the back of a child’s place mat, with Geoff assuming the role of question master, he attempted to keep us under control and keep the quiz rolling along despite our apparent lack of knowledge. We all agreed this improtu quiz night was a great success and something we still laugh about to this day.

 

 

The next day arrived and so did an eerie quiet on the streets as it turned out to be a National holiday, Columbus Day. We had planned to visit several Hot Rod shops, we just hoped they were open, but undeterred and full of optimism, we set off for the home of Limeworks, owned and run by ex-pat Steve Dennish.

 

 

Like everyone else who has dropped in, we received a warm welcome and a guided tour, and was surprised to see 3 British cars at the shop, Steve’s old gasser pop The Hummer (which had exploded its clutch at the Hot Rod Reunion), a Ford Prefect gasser under a tarp and low and behold a MK1 Cortina.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really enjoyable tour, but I have to admit I had harboured a faint hope that this ex-pat maybe able to give me a fix and feed my craving for a cup of tea, but with no sign of a kettle being put on we headed off to Boyds.

 

 

Looking through the front of house stock was an experience, but one which found some of us being very picky about certain design elements and the quality of the finish seen on some of the cars For Sale.

 

 

It wasn’t that we were being unkind, or rod elitist but with these cars wearing price tags in excess of $100,000 I think we had every right to subject the cars to close scrutiny as anyone spending big bucks would expect a lot of bang and not some of the poor door gaps and under carriage and paint blemishes, that were clear to see.

 

 

The ‘American Hot Rod’ film crew were also in attendance, but thankfully none of our ugly mugs will be seen, we didn’t see Boyd but Paranoid got the next best thing a Boyd T shirt!

 

Of course when in LA, there is one Hot Rod shop that is on everyone’s itinerary and that is So Cal Speed Shop. When we arrived, I was surprised about its location as it appeared tucked away in what could be described as a less than desirable neighbourhood, but apparently that also makes economic sense as the commercial units cost a lot less, in this part of the City.

 

 

However once inside the doors, you forget the outside world as you have just been transported to a new one, where anything is possible, and a true Aladdin’s cave of hot rod goodies awaits you.

 

 

Our guide for the experience was a face known to so many of us as it was another ex-pat, John Reid. It felt like we were being given the royal tour, especially as we were allowed to see the Doanne Spencer 32 Roadster, now that’s Hot Rod heritage along with his last creation that was now being finished by the highly skilled craftsmen at So Cal.

 

 

 

 

Like his original 32 his last rod was full of individual design elements again pushing the boundaries of Hot Rodding!

 

 

 

 

 

Sat almost next to it was a Tri Chevy chassis which clearly was built as an out and out Gasser, John informed us that this was a customers (Todd Haas) and it would soon be reunited with its original 57 Chevy body, it looked a fine piece of work and if you want to know how it turned out you can see it at www.rodandcustommagazine.com and it’s on their Featured Cars section.

 

 

In the main workshop various rides were being worked on not least of which was a steel 32, which the owner wanted to use on the street, and then go Drag Racing, and to facilitate this he had instructed So Cal to build a removable roll

Cage to NHRA specifications, the only problem was that this meant it was so substantial it took in excess of 4 people to lift it.  We wondered just how you would facilitate swapping it in and out, especially when the paint job that was due to be laid on the roadster, would come with a $20,000 price tag, you wouldn’t want to be scratching that would you?

 

 

 

Outside the workshop sat 2 very interesting rides, a 36 ford convertible awaiting its scheduled slot in the hands of So cal employees, and the other ride that had already had the magical hands of So Cal’s most well known current builder - Jimmy Shine (real name James Falschlehner) laid upon it, with his inspirational 34 pick up truck, glistening in the late afternoon sun, mainly thanks to bare metal appearance. We all checked the truck over and it is very well engineered and sweetly put together with many intricate details, setting it apart from other trucks.

 

 

 

 

As we entered another workshop, we noticed the Thacker & Shine 32 sat in the corner of the huge building, this fine Hot Rod had carried both Tony Thacker and Jimmy Shine into the 200 mph club. 

 

 

Sat diagonally opposite it on the other side of the  workshop was Jimmy Shine, he was deep in conversation with several people, who John went onto inform us was a television production crew, who were discussing filming an American Hot Rod style programme at So- Cal. We didn’t realise it at the time but they were in fact discussing the filming schedule for ‘Hot Rod Apprentice’ – ‘Hard Shine’ currently showing on the Discovery Channel.

Also sat in the workshop was a Ford Victoria with a heavy Pro Street stance and a Dodge Charger on the Chassis construction table, all of which by now I presume have been finished, talking of which I had better finish, but there may well be another instalment but if so, I promise it will be the last!