Took a month off from the blog

A VISIT WITH MERCURY CHARLIE

Had the chance to spend a couple hours with Mercury Charlie today at his shop in North Austin. We covered a lot of ground as Charlie and I always do. It started with the new Mercury Charlie Mercury shift knobs which we will be carrying on our HotRodshiftknob.com site. And before long, the conversation came around to T's. Charlie revealed that he's going to build another T for this year's Lone Star Round Up. He shared a few details and let's just say if he does half the stuff he talked about, it's going to be badass. He also talked about his intention to offer a line of custom-built perimeter frames specifically for T's using the stance of his old T as the starting point, which had a 13" kickup in back and a 3" Z at the firewall.  I'm strongly considering having Charlie build my T's frame since it was his T that started me down the path to owning one and Marty is not too keen on T's. We talked about rear suspension and Charlie's preference is to use traverse springs, as he found the coils on his old T to be less than ideal after trying several different shock/coil combos on his old car. I shared my plan to used my 425 nailhead, Turbo 400 and 12-bolt rear in my T and the only part Charlie questioned was using a 12-bolt, explaining that the Ford 9" is not only much stronger than a 12-bolt, but far easier and less expensive to repair in the unlikely event that it ever needs repair. His final point was that a 9" can be built to exact specs, as in width and gear ratio -- with all new parts-- for a relatively affordable price. And lastly, he mentioned that he can get good prices through his supplier, John's Industries. As usual, I enjoyed the hell out of our visit and Charlie's willingness to share his POV. A really good day, filled with good company and valuable information.

TBD

HOT ROD FLATZ PEARLS

Sent a PM to a fellow HAMBER complimenting the paint on his car and asking what it was. Hot Rod Flatz Burgundy Pearl is the color and paint type. Single stage with flatteners mixed into the base coat.

Turns out they make a Hot Rod Flatz in Purple Pearl as well. Hmmmm.

AN UNUSUAL COLOR COMBO

  
I was looking at eggplant color references on Google when I happened upon this image of a restaurant interior in Arizona. My first thought was how much I liked the deep eggplant color. Then my eye went to the pistachio color table clothes and I realized I  had come across a truly unusual color combo and one I quite like. Seeing as how the interior of the T is quite small, I'd always assumed I'd use traditional white. But in seeing this, I realize a real light value of pistachio/sea foam would be quite interesting and a lot more unusual than white. I do believe Lily Munster would approve. Hmmm.

JEFF MYERS' RECIPE FOR SUEDE SUCCESS

Regarding my prior post, I just received a PM from Jeff Myers ( FINKd on the HAMB)

"The color was a kustom mix kinda maroon but with some purple. The sheen is Sikkens matte clear with about 50% more matte paste added, then hardened , reduced and sprayed. It holds up well but you can't rub on it much or it will turn shiny. I use Sikkens paint only, except on kandy jobs then i use House of Kolor.
Sikkens' matte clears have worked better for me then any others."

Thanks, Jeff.

THE PERFECT SHEEN

I came across the perfect sheen and a color pretty close to what I have in mind for the T.

It started with a photo in the March 2010 issue of R&C (and it's still '09). Anyhow, the shot was of a '38 Plymouth owned by a guy named Shoe Nyegaard. I did a post on the HAMB asking for any info and was led to a HAMBer whose handle is FINKD. His HAMB gallery has these two shots of the very car I was loooking at in R&C. I sent a private message to him and am hoping to get the details. This is precisely the texture I want to achieve on Lily. More on this when I know more...