|
|
|
|
| FIVE
ALARM FORD: Full-time pastime |
 |
|
| |
STORY: John Matthew
PHOTOGRAPHY: Douglas Little
In 1997, a supercomputer named Deeper Blue defeated world chess
champion Gary Kasparov. Deeper Blue processed 200 million potential
moves per second, allowing it to accurately project up to 30
moves in advance. For Dave Hovey's 1933 Ford, the process was
similar.
"When you take a project like this on you always have to
think 10 to 15 steps ahead all the time," Hovey said. "If
you just do it one step at a time you'll do something and something
else won't fit. You always got to keep thinking ahead."
|
|
 |
The opening move was to select a car. Both Hovey and his wife
Jennie wanted a two-door hotrod. Something they could restore
close to original, but still drive around with their six grandchildren.
With its distinct four-piece hood and concaved grill the 1933
Ford was the natural choice. "Between the '33 and the '34,
everyone wants the '33," Hovey concluded.
By coincidence, a friend of Hovey had owned a 1933 Ford. While
he had sold it some time ago, he knew the purchaser hadn't done
much with it and it had been sitting in pieces in a Stonewall
garage for nearly a decade. Hovey reached out to the owner and
purchased the car. While the car had all the original parts,
it was in pieces and those pieces were scattered throughout
the garage and property requiring several trips to completely
gather.
The scavenger hunt was the beginning of three years of restoration
and modification. It wasn't three years of weekends and evenings;
it was a full time job. "It was so long. I worked on it
everyday. Sometimes I figured I shouldn't have taken it on because
it was so time consuming," Hovey said. "But I had
to get it done . . . I'm not going to be working on this 10
or 15 years."
The project was a practice in perfection. Hovey estimated he
had the body on and off the frame six times. He had the hood
on and off a further 20 times, constantly shimming and trimming.
Hovey's nemeses throughout were the gaps on the body, striving
to achieve uniformity where inconsistency had been previously
built in. "Ford never made anything to fit back then,"
he speculated. "It was just slopped together."
Hovey, a licensed mechanic since 1965 and now retired from the
Winnipeg Fire Department, said his favourite job was custom
fabricating parts for the resto-rod. Admittedly, his least favourite
job was bodywork, particularly painting. "I don't like
doing bodywork. I don't like doing painting because it's so
filthy." This dislike did not hamper effort or result.
Hovey shark-skinned his whole garage, fabricated all his own
jigs and even used his own paint colour - Hovey Red. Hovey had
created the show stopping custom colour for a previous project,
a 1957 Chevy hardtop. "It's my own mix," he said.
"When it's out in the sun it's super bright. It's like
a different colour outside. But in the Convention Centre it
looks like a candy colour."
All the strategy and execution exemplified by the exterior of
the hood was matched underneath it. Despite having past experience
and having the car already set up for a high-horsepower power
plant, Hovey instead went with a 305 Vortec.
"My 57 had 420 horsepower in it when I sold it," Hovey
recalled. "It was unbearable to drive on the street-first
gear, second gear, first gear, second gear. It had power like
you wouldn't believe, but for everyday driving it was not fun.
I've been through the high-horsepower thing, that's it. I wanted
something that was reliable and drove smooth and this was it."
At approximately 250 horsepower, Hovey can still light up the
tires when needed, a tribute to the car's lightweight.
The body was put on the frame for the last time in August of
2002 and the car hit the road for the first time in July of
2003. It didn't take long for the dividends to start to roll
in. It made its first show appearance at the World of Wheels
this past spring where it took prizes for Best Rod and Best
in Manitoba.
Whether on the road or at the show, Hovey has implemented some
unique, yet simple, strategies to protect the prize car.
To protect the body from being starred by rocks kicked up by
the tires, Hovey had Truckworks apply a thick layer of their
spray-on bed liner to the underside of the car. Once at the
car show, Hovey has to protect his car not from stones, but
from over-enthusiastic spectators. "I found the trick now
is to leave the doors open. If I leave the doors shut everyone
wants to jump on the running boards."
CONTRIBUTORS
Bill Bourbonnais | front & rear end
Don Cook | metal work
John Scheel | upholstery
Chase Body Supply | Gikkens paint
MOD LIST
Chopped two inches
Hidden door hinges
Gikkens base-clear
Hovey Red paint
1995 Chevrolet 305 Vortec V8
350 Chevrolet turbo transmission
Jaguar 3:31 posi differential
1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass tilt steering
Budnik wheels
Mazda 626 bucket seats
|
|
| |
Profiles
|
