Hot Rods & Harleys 08

On Saturday, May 17, 2008, We attended the Hot Rods and Harleys show in downtown Rahway. We hung out all day with friends, ate some good food, and listened to great music. Zach and I even won the best in show for our class and brought home another trophy. We got a few offers to buy the Vette, and our new friend Charlie introduced us to George, who has a 1967 GTO that we may paint.

We also saw our friend Joe's latest acquisition, a 1937 Ford that was awesome! Pictured here is our friend Jack Dunlap congratulating Joe on his latest trophy win.

Choose your color...

I'm not going to paint it right away, but you know I am already thinking of a color change. I rendered a few digital choices, which one is your favorite?

Buell

OK, I know it has been a while since my last post (like anyone is actually reading this but me). I have been busy with work and my new toy....a 2000 Buell M2 Cyclone. I found it for sale online at Craigslist, and it was a steal with only 5,700 miles. She has been custom painted gray, with smoked lenses and shortened signals front and rear, bar end mirrors, Sidewinder intake and a Vance and Hines exhaust. I was going to build a Mutant, but now I'm just enjoying the ride!

Car Graveyard

Jimmy and I went out to an estate auction for a distant relative of his this past weekend. This guy had collected over 100 cars on the property, including a 1954 Corvette, 1956 Corvette, six different Nomads, a 1957 Chevy convertible, 1932 Ford 5 window coupe, 1965 Impala SS....and many more. Nearly every car was rusted beyond repair and had a large tree growing right through the car due to the decades of neglect. Although this guy liked classic cars, he killed more than any one man I ever knew. It was really sad....

I found a cool commercial....

I've been looking for this BFG tires commercial for some time now, and I finally found it!

Element Burnout

I came across this pic of a Honda Element that looks like my daily driver..... although I haven't done this to mine yet! I told you that had a hemi in it!

Dragin' Wagon in Primer

Tommy's Malibu Wagon is starting to take shape. He installed the most of the roll cage, and we just finished the body work. (Tommy did all the work, I really just sanded a little.) The we brought it over to the garage for a quick coat of 2K primer before sending it over to the paint shop. I can't wait to see the finished job! Gotta love that big cowl hood!

A dangerous thing...

Waking up on Saturday morning and browsing the web can be a dangerous thing. I was peacefully reading the corvette forum, when all of a sudden I was attacked by a new rear suspension for the vette. True, rear dual coil overs for 63-79 Corvettes from Shark Bite. Damn.....now my gears are turning.

Vintage Drag Racing Film

My friend Jason was nice enough to give me some of his family video from Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. This video was shot in 1967, and features muscle cars, gassers and some wicked front engine dragsters! It is not the cleanest footage, but it is great old film. I also added a little Rush Red Barchetta. Thanks again Jason.

New SHC Videos

Check out the latest videos on the South Hill Customs YouTube site! I have a series of 13 videos I made with Kevin Mackay of Corvette Repair Inc. Kevin is a Corvette restoration specialist who specializes in vintage Corvette race cars, and the stories he tells in this series are almost unbelievable. The clip below is a time line of the 1964 Corvette Sting Ray from the day I brought it home, until now.



I also posted a short video I made about the NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society) when they made their first visit to Woodbridge a few years back. Check it out...

Pro-Touring Wheel Sizing

I have been looking for this tool for sizing up the new wheels for the Vette, but couldn't remember who made it. After a few minutes searching, I found Percy's and their WheelRite tool. With this, I can then get down and find the best (biggest) tire combination for the Vette without rubbing the body and suspension. I found it also on eBay and JEGS for under $100.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday !!!

If you are from the New Jersey, and a car nut, than those words are like sweet music to your ears. Tommy called me today and told me to check out this video, very cool!

Back in Black

Oh Yeah!

New Soft top

This morning I got up early and left the garage at 7:00 am (of course waking all the neighbors up on the holiday) and drove in the rain to Atlas Auto Trim to get the new black soft top installed. I wasn't crazy about driving in the rain with racing tires on, and getting all that black, highway, February road slime on the new paint, but she made it there just fine. Sandy the owner thought it might be done in one day, but he didn't want to rush, and said it will be ready tomorrow late morning. One of the weatherstrip pieces from Al Knoch was a duplicate from the drivers side, so I will have to call them for a new one. I can't wait to pick her up tomorrow with a brand new black top and new weatherstripping! I don't like the feeling of an empty garage, unless my pockets are full!

Wagon Work

Tommy and I spent a few hours today working on his Malibu Wagon. I was working on some patch panels on the right rear quarter panel and wheel tub, and Tommy was working on the roll bar and new racing seat. I was a bit rusty with the mig welder (no pun intended), but we managed to get done before the rain started to get heavy.

1979 Camaro

When I was getting gas today, a few nice people stopped by and commented on the Vette. One particular man told me about his newly acquired 1974 Corvette sitting behind the gas station, and his 1979 Camaro. After our brief introductions, we realized that Billy was the owner of my old 1979 Camaro that once held my Pat Musi small block. He has since painted it and swapped the rear for a TA rear with disc brakes, fixed the interior and is in the process of changing out he tired 327 for a new crate motor and trans. I'll try to post some pics and videos of it when I find them, and get some pics of it now when I meet up with Billy again.

Valve Adjustment

Today I took the Vette out for a spin and to get some gas after I finished putting the glove box back in. Why was the glove box out? Well, I removed it so that I could gain access to the backside of the windshield wiper motor that still needed to be installed, which I did this past week. The only problem I had was that I wired the switch backwards, and it ran in the off position and turned off when I put it to "on". Easy fix, swap the wires back to the stock location, put the wiper arms on the outside, and button everything up.

So, what does all this have to do with today's gas run and the title of this post? I needed the gas for Monday, as I am finally taking the Vette down to get the new black soft top installed. I can't wait, and hopefully will remember to take some photos.

As for the valve adjustment...Tommy has been reminding me to check the valves, and I found an interesting link here on the subject.

Mission Statement

Hello, and welcome to the new and improved South Hill Customs.

Our mission is to design and build cool, custom vehicles and hot rods that are built to be driven and raced hard. Our lifelong passion for anything automotive has compelled us at South Hill Customs to embrace all aspects of the car culture, from classics and muscle cars, to imports and off road vehicles.

Whether your just cruising or hardcore racing, you need to make South Hill Customs your onlne resource for all you vehicle needs.

RSS and Podcasting

The latest updates to the South Hill Customs site are now available via RSS feeds. Simply click on the link on the top right to subscribe. I've just started to work on my MP3 files for the podcast, we will see how they work.

You may also notice some new content and Adsense links, which will be geared towards automotive interest. I'm interested in seeing how this all works.

New Year

I can't believe that it almost the end of January, and I still haven't posted anything yet in 2008. I've again been so busy at work, and any free time I have has been spent elsewhere. I went out to the garage Sunday, and replaced the stock water neck with a nice aluminum piece that Tommy gave me. The stock piece was pushing down on the temperature sending unit, and it was constantly falling off. I never knew what my operating temp was at without pulling over and re-installing the stupid connector. The new piece is much higher, leaving me plenty of room. It also matches the valve covers!

BIG BLOCK Road Trip!

I have some time off from the Vette now, because I'm waiting to redo the soft top after the holidays. So, Tommy and I set out to prepare the powertrain for his 80 Malibu wagon with a quick winter road trip. We started out by going to Transmission Specialties in PA for a nicely rebuilt Turbo 350 and torque converter. Look how happy Tommy is putting tie-downs on it!

Then we stopped by to see our pal Bobby at Fischer Automotive. Bobby has plenty of big blocks on hand, and his reputation for performance engines at Englishtown Raceway Park is well known.
We picked up the long block for the Malibu, all 461 cubic inches and 500+ hp and tucked it away in the South Hill Customs Garage for Tommy. (Thanks again for the White Rose burgers pal!)We got a new project started now! I promise Tommy, I won't sneak that big block into the Stingray, even if it is so very tempting.

My Inspiration.

Last week I took the vette out to a few cruise nights, and ran into some old familiar faces. I even picked up a trophy! I got to thinking about why I've been such a gearhead all my life, and it all started with some of my earliest memories. My father had a Camaro when I was about two, and my grandparents raced Austin Healeys and Jaguars. Check out the damage to the Jag, my grandmother rolled it in a road race! My grandfather said he set the air pressure a bit too low, she hit the turn and flipped! They fixed it, and I still remember taking a ride in it.


I stopped by to see my grandfather a few weeks ago. We still like to do some bench racing, and he keeps up with the South Hill Customs via printed copy through the mail. Thanks for the inspiration Pap!

Found Wagon

I was just surfin' and came across my old 1965 Impala Wagon on the Air Ride Technologies website.

I'm thinking about an Air Ride system on the Vette....maybe.





Tomorrow (Saturday & Sunday) I am going to check out the Fall Swap Meet at Englishtown Raceway Park. Tommy needs some parts for the Malibu wagon, and I am always looking for the next project. I am sorry to say Zach and Jimmy won't be coming with us this year, but we will be thinking of them both.

Here it is!

I have almost everything installed but the wiper motor, wiper arms and rear carpet. Sarah and I took a little shake-down run this afternoon, where we came up behind a new Mustang GT and a Honda S-2000. Now I am not in favor of street racing, but I had to give them a little taste of classic GM muscle. Needless to say it was over quickly, and all they got a good look at was the tail lights.

Is this Tommy?

I found this and thought it was Tommy!

Vette Dogs

I came across this site, "Vette Dogs", and thought this looked like fun. These guys drive their cars like Tommy and I do.....HARD! Click on the play button and check this out...

Busy Working!

Tommy said, "If you spent half as much time working on the car as you do updating the South Hill Customs Blog, you would be driving that Vette already!" Good advice, pal! I have already taken two trips around the block with the kids because the motor is running, the hood is on, the door glass is installed and all of the electrical bugs have been worked out!

I have a video clip!

We had plenty of problems: leaky fuel line from Barry Grant (Thanks to Mr. Chris for going all the way back to the shop after he got home from a hard day at work and picking up the fuel line and new battery). We had a huge air lock in the cooling system which took a while to get out, I had the distributor in 180 degrees out of phase, the vacuum line for the distributor needed some persuasion to stay on the new carb, and I had to take the intake off and install better gaskets on the front and rear of the intake because we had a major leak!

Only two boxes of parts left to install, and the windshield....but I will need to recruit some help for that.

Good Time....

Zach and I went to Corvettes at Carlisle last weekend to get the last few parts we needed for the Stingray. There are plenty of other parts that will need to be replaced, but we can do those later. I absolutely needed to pick up the wiring harness, clock, nose emblem, and a few screws and small parts. We left home at 5:00 a.m. for the 3 hour drive to Carlisle, and were able to pickup all of our parts in only 3 trips back to the car. We scored on a pair of used seat backs for $25/pr (regular price is $160/pr), a new black soft top, rear carpet....and FINALLY found a 64 clock. I guess we won't need to fill the hole in the dash now.


The clock needed to be restored, so for now I disassembled it, painted the needles and gave it a new glass face. I didn't even check to see if it works yet. I am also going to install the radio again...I don't feel like doing the radio delete option, frankly I can't wait to start it!!!

I already wired the entire car, except for the dash, and plan to test the electrical system this weekend. If I am luck, I can fire it up!

Dashing!

Now that vacation is over, I am back on task, and making progress. I finished cleaning up a few pieces and installed them, like the heater box, fan and water pump pulley, belt, throttle linkage and dust shields. I also stayed late one night in the garage and cleaned up, sorting through the many bags and boxes for missing screws.

The dash was a project that I wanted to make look real nice, after all it is right in front of my face! I purchased a new dash from eBay last year for around $40, minus the gauges, because my old dash was missing a large chunk under the wiper switch. You couldn't really see that it was missing, but it needed replaced. So, I stripped the core down and then started to prep it for the new start button.

I masked off the rings and painted the rest off the dash, leaving the chrome exposed. I know this is not correect, but it looks nice. The gauges were restored by a previous owner, and still look great.

I had to repaint the inside of the gauge cluster, and create new glass bumpers for each lens.

When I was finished I installed the new headlight switch, rebuilt the wiper switch, and put the start button in. I have a new lighter element, but need the dash piece still.

Vacation Break

So, we decided to take a break and hit the west coast for vacation, and of course we had to stop by a few hot rod museums and shops. We saw hundreds of awesome exotic cars while in LA, especially up the Pacific Coast Highway, but the Peterson Museum had some cool displays of old California hot rods.

By far the best part was the trip to the So-Cal Speed Shop in Pomona. There we we able to check out the entire shop, and meet Jimmy Shine, star of the new TLC show "Hard Shine". He was great, and took time to show us the cars from the show. Thanks also to Gill who gave us the tour!

Grill

I made a temporary grill out of oval perforated sheet aluminum, which is just sitting in place now. I will make another and paint it black, and see which one I like best. I also spent a few hours installing the radiator (thanks Nancy for the hand), fuel pump, and hoses. All I really need is the heater box installed when I get the back-ordered gaskets, and the wiring harness.


The clutch was also finished up, every piece new or refurbished, even new cotter pins. Feels tight, I can't wait to drop it in gear!

I also installed new felt channels on the vent windows, and as soon as the other felts come in I will continue the rest of the door restoration. They were a pain to install by myself, thanks again to Nancy for the helping hand.

Oil and Gaskets

I had a dream that I was driving the Stingray already, jammin' the gears down the highway, and then I realized that I forgot to put the oil in the motor! I'm so glad it was just a dream. First thing today I did was get some oil and an oil filter installed. I also put the exhaust gaskets on the headers, installed the new Demon carb, and the fuel line. Jimmy stopped by the other night and we installed the harmonic balancer, lower pulley and water pump. Before that, I adjusted the transmission mount so that the shifter was centered in the body. The cross bracing on the radiator mount was welded in tonight too. This entire entry is practically out of sequence/backwards, so I'll keep up with it. I started today by installing the headlights, although I can't turn them on without the harness.

I did get all the parts out of the house and into the garage this past week, and that has definitely helped move me along. I ordered all my parts, except for the wiring harness. Now I need to work on the dash soon.