Go-jobs

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Kevin Pharis]

Wonderful pics!

I think that fella reclining in the speedster eventually turned it into a motorbike…

[OilyBill]

These photos are wonderful. The kids in the speedster were probably told: "You kids, get in, sit down, shut up, and hold on! If anyone falls out, I'll beat your ass!" Seatbelts were only a gleam in the future's eyes.

[OilyBill]

Any names associated with any of these vehicles? I knew Blacky Gold, who helped found the Southern California Timing Association, and he said he used to run in the desert where Edward's Air Force Base is now. He started with Model T's, so the first pic is REALLY interesting to me. He helped me do my Model T engine, and my Model A engine is probably the last one he ever worked on. At one time he was assisting the renowned Ken Petrick in his shop, overhauling Model T and Model A engines. He knew EVERYTHING about Model T's. He ACTUALLY KNEW all the big names in hot rodding, like Iskendarian and Edelbrock, and hung out at their garages when they were starting out in the business, in the 30's and 40's. He said when he was starting out, he would race a car until the engine failed, then he would take off any valuable speed parts, go buy another Model T for $5, and build that one up to replace the first one.
He stated that the cars he built were never the fastest, being 2-3 mph slower than the fastest cars, but he said that his cars could all be driven on the street in normal traffic, and handled and drove like any other car on the roads, in spite of the power it had. (which is what he did all the time, while some of the fastest cars were unpleasant to drive, and actually hazardous if used as road vehicles. He drove all his cars from his home to the Edwards area for racing purposes and to participate in SCTA events.)
He was a very skilled machinist, and for a while worked at JPL in Burbank. He had retained some of the parts he worked on, that were never used on spacecraft, and showed them to me. They were spares or duplicates, but once the spacecraft was assembled, they were just regarded as scrap, since there was no further use for them. He was close friends with the Eastwood brothers, who also worked at JPL. He didn't like having his picture taken (superstitious) but he let me take a photo of him with my Model A engine as we were finishing it up, which I interpreted as a great compliment. He refused all offers of pay for his services, only allowing me to buy him lunch at a local Carl's Junior. I only saw one other picture of him, taken at the dry lake beds in the 1930's. He frequently drove his beautiful black 1932 Ford V-8 Coupe to my house when he was working on my Model A engine, which attracted a lot of neighborly attention. He was then nearing 100, and he was as sharp as ever. I have always been hoping to find a pic of him at the lake beds, doing the racing he loved so well.

[pete eastwood]

Any names associated with any of these vehicles? I knew Blacky Gold, who helped found the Southern California Timing Association, and he said he used to run in the desert where Edward's Air Force Base is now. He started with Model T's, so the first pic is REALLY interesting to me. He helped me do my Model T engine, and my Model A engine is probably the last one he ever worked on. At one time he was assisting the renowned Ken Petrick in his shop, overhauling Model T and Model A engines. He knew EVERYTHING about Model T's. He ACTUALLY KNEW all the big names in hot rodding, like Iskendarian and Edelbrock, and hung out at their garages when they were starting out in the business, in the 30's and 40's. He said when he was starting out, he would race a car until the engine failed, then he would take off any valuable speed parts, go buy another Model T for $5, and build that one up to replace the first one.
He stated that the cars he built were never the fastest, being 2-3 mph slower than the fastest cars, but he said that his cars could all be driven on the street in normal traffic, and handled and drove like any other car on the roads, in spite of the power it had. (which is what he did all the time, while some of the fastest cars were unpleasant to drive, and actually hazardous if used as road vehicles. He drove all his cars from his home to the Edwards area for racing purposes and to participate in SCTA events.)
He was a very skilled machinist, and for a while worked at JPL in Burbank. He had retained some of the parts he worked on, that were never used on spacecraft, and showed them to me. They were spares or duplicates, but once the spacecraft was assembled, they were just regarded as scrap, since there was no further use for them. He was close friends with the Eastwood brothers, who also worked at JPL. He didn't like having his picture taken (superstitious) but he let me take a photo of him with my Model A engine as we were finishing it up, which I interpreted as a great compliment. He refused all offers of pay for his services, only allowing me to buy him lunch at a local Carl's Junior. I only saw one other picture of him, taken at the dry lake beds in the 1930's. He frequently drove his beautiful black 1932 Ford V-8 Coupe to my house when he was working on my Model A engine, which attracted a lot of neighborly attention. He was then nearing 100, and he was as sharp as ever. I have always been hoping to find a pic of him at the lake beds, doing the racing he loved so well.

Blackie And my dad, Doug Eastwood, went to high school together in Pasadena. They were life long friends. I grew up around Blackie, he was everything you said he was! Blackie gave me his scrapbooks from his days of racing at the dry lakes.
Here's my dad's "gow job" This would have been around 1935

[Chuck Regan]

At lunch with Ed Iskendarian on his 101st birthday last July. Ed talks fondly of El Mirage and Muroc dry lakes and still calls ‘em gow jobs.

[Wayne Sheldon]

Unfortunately, I am not a really good researcher. I remember too much, and never took enough proper notes. On top of that, A computer partial meltdown a few years ago wiped out a lot of information and bookmarks that I had kept!
There are a few photos here that I am familiar with, unfortunately, some of the information I did have on them was lost.
Picture number two was discussed at some length on this forum a few years ago. That discussion included a few more photos of the car during construction. But I do not think I have any more of it myself.
An unusual car, however, as I recall an interesting story?

[Bryant]

I really like the way number 1 looks! very clean approach.
Bryant

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Dollisdad]

[Billy Vrana]

That track at Cedarburg ran cars and motorcycles up into the late 60s/early 70s,

[Wayne Sheldon]

MORE wonderful speedster photos!
Again, thank you!

262283.jpg (53.43 KiB) Viewed 3689 times

This one has been a favorite of mine for a long time! I probably looked it over a hundred times before someone else commented on the forum about the early front axle! And there it was, a 1909 into 1911 front axle! The car has after-market electric headlamps and wire wheels! I would like to know what make the wheels are if some wheel expert knows and is willing to share?
It may be possible that the wheels could be from a Metz, although their construction would make adapting them a bit difficult. Metz offered both wood or wire wheels fairly early, beginning on the two cylinder models around 1908, but they were a smaller size, I think 28 inch. When the Metz 22 came about in 1911, they went to a 30X3 size (24 inch rim). So I actually doubt they were Metz wheels.

[Kevin Pharis]

Look like Universal Wire Wheels (inspiration for the McLaren Wire Wheel) to me. Note that the large domed hubcap with relatively small hex is the same diameter as the wheel center

[Dan Hatch]

Also looks like a WT axle.

[5 WoodenWheels]

I was intrigued by this post, have never heard of a "go-job." There are references to early mods to Model Ts and other cars, and the term "Gow-job" comes up from time to time. The following article treats the evolution of home-built cars in some detail.

https://www.classicspeedsters.com/blog/ ... speedsters

[David Mazza]

I’m currently building one, it’s taking forever because of being a dad to a young child and work. But it will be finished someday I have not stopped thinking of it everyday!

[OilyBill]

I really like the way number 1 looks! very clean approach.
Bryant

As soon as I saw that car, I thought about Blackie. That would have fit perfectly with the way he designed and modified his cars. Nothing he ever did looked like a botch job. If that first pic is not of a Blackie Gold car, then it must have been someone who worked exactly like him. Obviously carefully done, and every detail considered. As soon as I saw the pic, I thought "Blackie Gold!"

[OilyBill]

Any names associated with any of these vehicles? I knew Blacky Gold, who helped found the Southern California Timing Association, and he said he used to run in the desert where Edward's Air Force Base is now. He started with Model T's, so the first pic is REALLY interesting to me. He helped me do my Model T engine, and my Model A engine is probably the last one he ever worked on. At one time he was assisting the renowned Ken Petrick in his shop, overhauling Model T and Model A engines. He knew EVERYTHING about Model T's. He ACTUALLY KNEW all the big names in hot rodding, like Iskendarian and Edelbrock, and hung out at their garages when they were starting out in the business, in the 30's and 40's. He said when he was starting out, he would race a car until the engine failed, then he would take off any valuable speed parts, go buy another Model T for $5, and build that one up to replace the first one.
He stated that the cars he built were never the fastest, being 2-3 mph slower than the fastest cars, but he said that his cars could all be driven on the street in normal traffic, and handled and drove like any other car on the roads, in spite of the power it had. (which is what he did all the time, while some of the fastest cars were unpleasant to drive, and actually hazardous if used as road vehicles. He drove all his cars from his home to the Edwards area for racing purposes and to participate in SCTA events.)
He was a very skilled machinist, and for a while worked at JPL in Burbank. He had retained some of the parts he worked on, that were never used on spacecraft, and showed them to me. They were spares or duplicates, but once the spacecraft was assembled, they were just regarded as scrap, since there was no further use for them. He was close friends with the Eastwood brothers, who also worked at JPL. He didn't like having his picture taken (superstitious) but he let me take a photo of him with my Model A engine as we were finishing it up, which I interpreted as a great compliment. He refused all offers of pay for his services, only allowing me to buy him lunch at a local Carl's Junior. I only saw one other picture of him, taken at the dry lake beds in the 1930's. He frequently drove his beautiful black 1932 Ford V-8 Coupe to my house when he was working on my Model A engine, which attracted a lot of neighborly attention. He was then nearing 100, and he was as sharp as ever. I have always been hoping to find a pic of him at the lake beds, doing the racing he loved so well.

Blackie And my dad, Doug Eastwood, went to high school together in Pasadena. They were life long friends. I grew up around Blackie, he was everything you said he was! Blackie gave me his scrapbooks from his days of racing at the dry lakes.
Here's my dad's "gow job" This would have been around 1935

You should post some of those pics! Although not specifically of Model T's (Although a lot of early Blackie's pics WOULD BE of Model T's), they would be historic from the standpoint of showing the very earliest hot rod efforts, which really started universally with the Model T. Everybody thinks hot rods started in the 1950's, when they actually originated 30 years earlier!

[David Mazza]

The first car in the series of photos was built by Roy Aldrich. It was a rajo bbr and was heavily modified and raced and in constant use till the 1950s. It eventually languished and was partially dismantled. It was awhile ago purchased by the Langs of Langs old car parts. They were by miracle able to find all of the parts to make it absolutely complete and although it’s taking a long time, it will be preserved and run again. It is in the same condition as in that dry lakes photo. Living in Massachusetts I visited langs and saw this roadster sitting in the corner and recognized it as it was published in old hot rod books. When I got to touch and sit it it, it sealed my fate to build the roadster I am currently! It is hard to imagine going nearly 100mph in that car, the Aldrich roadster has some rather crude engineering and fabrication! But it worked for him and I won’t feel bad as some of my own work it’s modern pretty, it’s strong and will be as safe an 80hp car with two wheel brakes can be! Lol!

[David Mazza]

Not many have survived as this one. It’s charm and character are practically religious. This is at Langs, they have a few astonishing gems stashed away.