Canberra Hot Rod Association
History
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Jim Lawler's 1929 A Ford Bucket
This Bucket was bought as a rough tourer body which had been shortened. The rod was then built-up by Jim with help from Bill Jansen over a two year period. The car was registered in 1968/69 and was used for a short time before being swapped for a 1939 Dodge coupe owned at the time by Frank DalSanto. This car has gone through a number of owners and is still registered to this day and resides somewhere in Sydney NSW.
Specifications:
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Engine: |
1948 Ford 24 stud Side Valve V8 |
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Transmission: |
1939 Ford 3 speed manual |
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Differential: |
1939 ford Diff |
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Front Suspension: |
Beam axle with transverse spring, split radius rods |
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Steering: |
VW Kombi steering box |
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Rear Suspension: |
Transverse spring with split radius rods |
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Body: |
1929 Ford A tourer shortened |
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Chassis: |
A Ford chassis |
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Wheels: |
1939 Ford drum brakes front & rear |
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Other Modifications: |
Early Ford steel wheels |
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The car was purchased in 1997 at the 13th Nationals at Hawkesbury from Rod Turnbull from Mount Riverview, in the Blue Mountains, NSW. He said that he only owned the car for a period of some 12 months. In this time he applied the paint job that you currently see today.
These photos were taken at the Hawkesbury Nationals in 1997
The current owners are Chris and Debra Beuzeville, who have contributed the following:
"During my early days of ownership my brother also found the attached clipping, however I’m not sure of the age of the advertisement".
"Following is a list of the current specifications for the bucket that I have compiled over the last 4 years":
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Owner: |
Chris and Debra Beuzeville |
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Club: |
Street Rodders United |
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Body: |
Channelled / shortened tourer body (built 1968-69) |
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Colour: |
Ford Toreador Magenta |
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Interior: |
Black leather |
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Engine: |
1951 Ford 24 stud sidevalve V8 (255 CID) |
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Transmission: |
5 speed Toyota Celica |
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Diff: |
1968-69 HK/HT Holden |
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Suspension: |
Front tube beam axle, transverse leaf spring, 4 bar set up and Holden spindles. Rear transverse leaf spring, and 4 bar set up |
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Chassis: |
A Ford chassis |
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Steering: |
VW Kombi steering box (I would assume) |
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Brakes: |
1968-69 HK/HT Holden, disk brakes front, and drum brakes rear |
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Wheels /Tyres: |
Front Kumho 185/65, 6” x 14” steel rims. Rear Kumho 235/60, 8” x 15” steel rims |
During my period of ownership the
bucket has covered numerous kilometres including the following:
* In 1997, I picked up a longest distance travelled
trophy for my trip from Sydney to Broken Hill, for the Highway ’32 Rod
Run, (refer article in issue No. 117 of Australian Street Rodding.
This was one of my first big trips, and resulted in the handbrake busting,
the radiator springing a leak whilst I was driving into the sun, just on
dusk near Wilcannia, and two petrol tank mounts busting.
* For a period of 6 weeks at the beginning of 1998
the bucket was used as a daily driver in Sydney, as well as completing a
Sydney to Bathurst, return trip each week.
* In 1999,
the bucket almost completed a return trip to the 14th Nationals at
Geelong, where I made it as far back as Young, just less than 200km from
home. This trip was quite an eventful trip, resulting in the
complete destruction of one rear wheel bearing, the fuel pump packing it
in, one of the petrol tank mounts busting, and a universal joint almost
throwing in the towel.
"The above includes a very abbreviated list of items that have required replacement in the last 4 years, but I finally feel that I am getting on top of what has resulted from years of neglect".
Following is a compilation of photos of the bucket, in its late 90's form, that were taken on the grid at Mount Panorama, in Bathurst (the Buckets newest home).
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Major
aesthetic changes that have been carried out on the bucket during Chris'
ownership include the following items:
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Installation of a new radiator, chrome grille shell, and radiator support
struts.
* A pair of 97 carbs and dual carb inlet
manifold
* Mallory twin point distributor and spark
plug leads, new stainless steel upper radiator pipes
* New extractors and exhaust system, and a minor
engine re-spray.
* A set of wind-wings, and
corresponding rear vision mirrors.
* Installation of
a Fibreglass ’32 dashboard and set of gauges, a complete rewire of the
car, new brake, clutch, and accelerator pedals, and a new hand brake
lever.
* Tidy-up of the rear cross member, with the
addition of new petrol tank support brackets, and model A tail lights
(fitted with blue dots).
* Numerous other minor
modifications have been carried out in an attempt to tidy-up the car, and
also out of
necessity.
Future works to be carried
out on the bucket will include:
* A complete re-spray, with a more nostalgic kind of paint job in
mind.
* A panhard rod for the rear axle, as well as
new rear shock absorber towers
* Installation of a
HK/HT hydraulic clutch mechanism.
* Installation of a
new floor pan.
* Minor rebuild of the current motor.
Chris says: "As a final note, as you may have already gathered, I am very much interested in the history of the bucket, any light that you may be able to shed on this matter would be greatly appreciated".
Well, on May 21st 2003,
the following updates were sent to the CHRA Webmaster from Chris
Beuzeville via Bill Jansen:
Just a quick email to
show you the latest photos of Jim's bucket.
Also,
whilst tidying up the fire wall I noticed that the date of manufacture
stamped onto it was actually 1928
March 2006: Just a quick
update on Jim's bucket. Debra and I sold the bucket to Simon and Naomi
Lewis, of Coffs Harbour in May 2005, after owning it since
1997.
Also, the bucket was also owned by Paul Aird,
of the Romans Hot Rod Club, at some stage prior to me:
Regards,
Chris Beuzeville
History_J_Lawler_29bkt.jpg