SNEAK PEAK #3

Just popped by Charlie's place and Lord almighty is his T looking sweet. It probably won't be done for the Round Up but it'll be making an appearance along with his new line of Z-frames. If you're building pre-30's rod, don't make a move until you see what he's up to.

ANOTHER VISIT WITH MERCURY CHARLIE

Drew pulled the entire front clip off of his '67 Impala recently and got very serious about detailing the fenderwells, firewall, frame rails, etc. Since he was replacing one inner fenderwell, I suggested he consider sandblasting all the parts he pulled to eradicate all surface rust. Remembering that Mercury Charlie had mentioned that he a dedicated blast booth at his shop, we made a call and he told us he'd be happy to give us an estimate. So we carted about twenty pieces out to him. Now if you've ever tried you hand at sandblasting at home, and I have, you know what a frustrating, messy, and painstaking process it is. We chose to avoid the rigamarole altogether and bite the bullet by paying Charlie and his peeps to do it. The cost was not terrible by any stretch and going back out there gave me the opportunity to see the progression of Charlie's T. The frame itself, which he's treating as a prototype for a frame he's going to start marketing, is turning out to be a real beauty. He got a cool suicide perch figured out and is just to the point where he's hung his front and rear suspension. If you loved his old T, you'll flip when you see this one. The stance is going to be quite similar to his old one, which is to say "perfect". But the refinements are where this one is really going to shine. Go see it with you own two eyes.

So if you're in need of a good sandblaster, go see Charlie. He's got a whole paintbooth dedicated to just media blasting and it's one heavy duty set-up. And if you're planning on building a T, don' t miss the chance to see what he's doing on his new T.

More to come.