On the Road

Tennessee to Kentucky and back

One of the universal reasons rodders enjoy driving their cars seems to stem from the ability to "leg it out" on the open road. Mix in a mechanically sound street rod with curb appeal, a cup full of rodding's landmark events, and you possess automotive nirvana.

An Opportunity Arises...
I own a street rod, however, I am geographically challenged (and challenged in many more ways than one--Man. Ed. Dawn Brookshire). I must drive north almost 800 miles to leave shaky ground or east 220 miles only to find myself still in the middle of the desert. I may live in SoCal, but for once in my life my real estate is undesirable. While my career is ideally suited, it's driven by unyielding deadlines. As luck would have it Santa lives in Tennessee and Christmas came early this year.

I was lamenting my plight during a phone call with rod builder Bobby Alloway. We began by discussing some "this and that's" when during the conversation I mentioned, "Wouldn't it be kool if I had a street rod parked at your shop to drive to rodding's fun events?" He agreed, and out of the clear blue (well, almost) said, "Why don't I build a lil' Deuce highboy roadster with a big-block Chevy that you can drive. Now, I'll still own the car so don't be thinkin' you can drive it home afterwards otherwise I'm likely to pitch a fit" (Bobby speaks Southern). I went from feeling like a shot duck to being on top of the world and that's how I came to be a participant rather than an observer for the summer of 2003.

For the Record...
The roadster is built around a Rats Glass Deuce body bolted to a pair of Just-A-Hobby framerails. Pete & Jake's Hot Rod Parts (P&J) supplied the suspension components, which include a chromed tube axle with shocks, a spring, and steering arms. There's also a Mullins-Vega box (Borgeson U-joints) along with polished Wilwood disc brakes. In back a drum brake-equipped Ford 9-inch is suspended by Aldan coilovers (220-pound springs), again from P&J. Speaking of brakes, a Ford Racing Performance Parts dual reservoir aluminum Mustang master cylinder is used with a P&J brake arm and a Lokar pedal. Rolling stock consists of American Salt Flat Special wheels wrapped in BFGoodrich rubber.

Alloway cars are known for their "grunt" and this highboy is no exception. The powertrain sits behind a Steve Long radiator nestled within a Rat's Glass grille shell with a Jim Rench insert. All of this resides beneath a Rootlieb hood. Dan's Polishing handled the brightwork on the fully-polished and detailed 454-inch marine big-block (yep, a boat motor). A Holley 670 Street Avenger, fitted with Lokar throttle cable, finds its fuel from a submerged pump within a gas tank from Tanks. An MSD unit "lights" the ignition timing--now that's what I call puttin' "pepper in the gumbo." The 700-R4 is operated via a combination of Bow Tie Overdrives' throttle lever, a GM TV cable, and a Lokar shifter. The rearend spins a 3.54 ring-and-pinion running the power out to 29-inch tall BFG tires. This overdrive/final drive ratio/tire combo yields 2,000 rpm at 70 mph. Life couldn't be better for the big-block, me, or my wallet as the V-8 logs between 11 to 13 mpg.

The interior is based on black carpeting and a leather bench seat stitched by Steve Holcomb of Pro Auto Custom Interiors. The simple yet effective dash features the Hot Rod series (speedo, tach, oil pressure, water temp, fuel, and voltage meter) from Classic Instruments and the series is right at home in the Roy Brizio Street Rods insert. Wiring is a combination of a Painless fuse panel with an Alloway harness and an electric trunk lift kit from Down's. Lighting is a combination of Vintique headlights from Lobeck's V-8 Shop held by The Deuce Factory mounts and Billet Specialties taillights. The ididit steering column is topped off with a four-spoke black leather wrapped Lecarra wheel. The view ahead comes by way of a DuVall-style windshield from Grant Engineering out of Canada.

It's worth noting that those who are mechanically challenged, yet want into the rodding world, or for those who can twist wrenches, this package is an excellent opportunity. The Alloway highboy is both affordable as a turnkey or as an unassembled package. There's nothing intimidating about the highboy and because of parts availability it's as close to a bolt-together car that exists in our hobby. (Very similar to this year's Road Tour roadster, which was also designed to be a homegrown street rod.)

Buckle Up...
Riding shotgun on this trip was Nick Licata, my ever so dedicated counterpart on www.streetroderweb.com. It was his job to gather photos from the drive and the reunion that could be posted on the STREET RODDER Web site. (It proved beneficial having Nick along, as he's consistently looking for a place to eat.) While our initial start was a scheduled drive to Indy, continuous rain washed out our plans.

The rain continued, but we hunkered down and showed our true colors, not shying away from the drive to the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion (see coverage in this issue). The trip from Alloway's Hot Rod Shop to Bowling Green runs approximately 240 miles.

We flew into Knoxville, Tennessee, near Alloway's shop the night before. This allowed us time to check over our ride before hitting the highways. It was now clear that Bobby was about to have a "spell" and was truly concerned about the thought process that allowed him to build a $60,000 turnkey street rod and give it to a pair of magazine guys from Southern California.

It should be told that I wanted magazine red for the color but Bobby instructed me to "just settle down"--he would come up with the appropriate color. There it sat in the detail booth, looking magical in its DuPont vibrant green splashed with flames sprayed on by Wade Hughes of Hot Rod Flames fame from Cincinnati, Ohio. Joshua Shaw gets credit for laying out the flames and the pinstriping. By now Bobby was definitely on the verge of having a "fit."

The Drive...
I have always heard that the roads in the South and East are rough and don't compare to the West Coast. I am here to write about the drive westward on I-40 from Louisville to Nashville (approximately 180 miles) and then north on I-65 toward Bowling Green (approximately 62 miles). I must admit, the drive was as good as anything I've ever experienced back home. The comfort of the drive was derived from a superb riding/handling street rod and well cared for roads. The constant visual stimuli of rolling hills filled with luscious green trees, picture-perfect communities, and wide-open spaces truly made the drive special in an open roadster.

A stop in Music City at Hunter's Custom Automotive to visit longtime rodder Johnny Freund was next. Hunter's has been around since 1968 and occupies a 50,000 square-foot facility. It services the area's automotive enthusiast needs whether it be street rod, sport trucks, SUVs, or tuner cars. The multi-level building is loaded with inventory, which enables Johnny and his staff (Orville, John, Eddie, Linda, and Lynn) to satisfy their customers. It was here that we gave the highboy a once over and had an opportunity to take advantage of Hunter's state-of-the-art tire balancing equipment. We wanted to really fine-tune the highboy's ride. We logged the last 62 miles into Bowling Green in less than an hour while staying just ahead of the rain.

The next morning we visited Holley Performance Products, as did the rodders in town for the reunion who were treated to plant tours as part of Holley's 100th anniversary celebration. We headed directly to the chassis dyno where Jon Sams, senior product technician for the Technology Center, and Matt Held, our editorial contact at Holley, put the roadster through the paces. We swapped the 570 Street Avenger for a 670 and bumped the horsepower from a respectable 245.6 to 252.2. But the real number every street rodder should pay attention to is torque. The big-block went from 345.9 to 381.3 lb-ft of torque with an almost flat curve between 1,500 to 3,500 rpm, that's street power--lots of useable torque.

The remainder of our stay in Bowling Green was super with great weather, an outstanding reunion, and an easy drive home. Stay tuned next month as we follow the summer's weather pattern (rain) as we head to Goodguys Nationals in Columbus, Ohio, and then on to the NSRA Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.