Automotive American – Classic Vintage & Modern
Tag: Matt Murray
More great content from Matt and the team at Irontrap
Our 1929 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup is styled as a pre-war hot rod, and one of our favorite builds. This jalopy is very reminiscent of the early shop trucks that could be found at Bonnevile, both racing and being used as support vehicles. Similar to the Pagoda City Coupe, this hot rod needs to be driven and is very bare bones. We can’t wait to drive this all over this summer!!
The next major installment in the Hot Rodding 101 series Matt dives into the Cadillac Lasalle Transmission. The 37-48 Cad/Lasalle was THE transmission that was used in a ton of hot rods that were built during the “heyday” of hot rodding. The Cad/Lasalle can be a bit of a confusing transmission, as there is a lot of differences and versions out there. Matt takes us on a crash course on the Cad/Lasalle to help you learn about this great transmission!!
The next topic for our Hot Rodding 101 series is Hubcaps or Wheel Covers. Hubcaps are very important to the overall look of a build, because they can be very plain and subtle, or be wild and stand out. Ford used many different style of wheels from the lates 20s to the 60s, and all use different hubcaps. Matt sits down and briefly covers wire wheel, wide five, “poverty caps, and full wheel covers. Comment below with your favorite hubcap combination!!
The “Jersey Devil” has a great running flathead, and a brand new dual exhaust, it’s time to refresh the brakes and take it for a spin! Steve works on going through the braking system that was actually recently replaced before the car sat. New wheel cylinders, a master cylinder and some rubber hoses and the braking system is good as new. Matt works on installing some new wide whites, and killer single bar flipper caps. Once back on the ground, Matt and Steve take it around the block for its maiden voyage!! A few more small projects to wrap up and we have ourselves a new daily driver!!
Recently we have spent a lot of time rebuilding Stromberg carburetors for a few of the projects currently in the shop. While rebuilding them Steve and Matt found a few common issues that were found in the majority of the carbs. Matt decided to put together a video covering the common issues we found as a part of our hot rodding 101 series. Be sure to comment below if you have any other issues you seem to find with every Stromberg!
One of the most asked question on any internet forum, or Facebook group seems to involve tires. “What tires should I run on my Hot Rod” seems to be asked time and time again. The real answer is any type of tire, but if you are trying to emulate a certain time period in hot rodding history there are certain styles that were used at specific times. Matt uses a few of the projects in the shop to explain the different looks and styles that were common. This is not the definitive guideline of what tires you should run, but more of a discussion on the subject. Comment below with your favorite hot rod tire combo!!
While we had the Schroll 32 Coupe at the Wheels of Time Jamboree there was an open space in the shop. The 1939 Mercury has been sitting in storage until we had some free time and space, but starting to free up the engine should be an easy job. Boy did we under estimate how stuck this engine is
In the last update on “Beautiful”, our 1934 Ford 5 Window Coupe, Matt was able to get the engine to turn over with very little work. Today we are going to work on flushing the engine and radiator of all the rust and debris and start putting the engine back together. On a recent pick Matt was able to pick up two new water pumps amongst other parts for for 34 Fords. After a day of tinkering we made major progress on the “Beautiful” and may have moved her under her own power!!
The time has finally come to take the engine for the 1933 Ford 3 Window Coupe up to Ronnie “Roadster” San Giovanni, the master of the Ardun OHV conversion.
Ron built his first Ardun back in the early 1980’s and has been hooked ever since. His blue 1932 Ford Roadster with a blown Ardun has been cross country twice and around 100k miles.
Ron is a wealth of knowledge about hot rods, local Connecticut racing history and of course flatheads. Matt spent the better part of the day talking with Ron about his set of heads, and his large Italmeccanica blower that Ron has surprisingly never seen before!
We could have put together a 4 hour video with Ron and wife talking about every amazing piece of history they have in their shop and all the amazing engines Ron has built. We can’t wait to return to pick up the engine and spend more time with Ron!!
