[Robert Dip]

I fell in love with the ‘Hot Rod’ passion at the early age of 13. By the time I was 15, a Model A coupe was in my backyard, and that was it. By the time I was 16, the project was well under way, and that $15.00 purchase for ’47 netted me the engine, trans gears, rear end and all of the brake components. Having that drive shaft & tube cut to the proper length was a nightmare for me…..leaving all of my money at the machine shop to get this done. Then it happened….found a 283 from a scraped ’58 station wagon and got it for $150.00. Wow, was that an experience, because I actually thought it was a 265. Immediately ordered an adapter from Honest Charley….this was 1961, and checking the mail everyday in anticipation of receiving it. The ’47 flathead was tossed under the workbench, but did not stay there long. My ’35 Tudor was in need of that motor, and in it went. We drove the living daylights out of that car. And my Hot Rod project…well, the now tri-carbed 283 ran super, but tore the hell out of the ’39 box. It did not take long for the T-10 to be installed along with a ’58 Chev rear end. Welded the Ford rear spring hangers on, kept the original ’32 spring as the Model A coupe now had a $15.00 ’32 frame. A few years went by, and oh yea, the muscle cars were beating up my 283…..so…a 327 solved that problem. I was back in action. Long story short….still have that car that I built at 15 years young…..it’s a family member and it has seen a lot of enjoyable miles. This is what most of us did back then and today, we are back to our original roots….that darn Flathead…..I have a ’32 Roadster, a ’35 3W, and a ’39 Coupe….all running flatmotors, and no other engines will take their place. Been there, done that. Love my Flatheads with the speed goodies. Robert