OL SKOOL SUV---Wagon of the Month for July

Hello everyone jeff here in Hollywood fl. I am married with 2 great daughters . I also have a female shepherd and a mutt hence my need for wagons. as a kid growing up in Brooklyn NY most of the cars I remember my parents owning were wagons . a few dodges, a Plymouth, and a Pontiac besides that it was a chevy nova and a Buick deuce and a quarter. I can remember many trips in the wagon up to Fallsburg NY to visit my grandmother who would stay up there for the summer. My mother's mother lived in rockaway long island so I can recall many trips out thru Kennedy airport as my dad was an airplane mechanic and loved driving thru there on the way to grandma's. my mom on the other always would stop at green acres shopping center. I can still remember cruising with my mom 460 a/c blowing strong ( 4 windows down at 60 mph) for those to young to remember and the a/m radio blasting away. why I can even remember graduating high school and my dad telling me get rid of that junky hot rod (68 firebird with a 1968 396/375 bbc with a tunnel ram and m22 and he would give me a 1974 dodge fully loaded wagon to which I replied" dad i'm 18 why do I need a station wagon?". all of these memories came back to make me laugh at different times as you will see. throughout most of my teens thru late 30's I had mustangs ,Camaro's ,1937 ford pickup, a few bikes, a vw trike , 68 ranchero gt 390, so I guess I became a ford man when I bought a  brand new 1989 Saleen Mustang . Fast forward a few months and it was stolen so I replaced it with a 1990 saleen mustang convertible which I still have. Fast forward thru a divorce, a move to fl, and some track fun with the mustang and I knew that soon I would be needing something big and kool to handle my family which was coming in a few yrs. all of my friends growing up owned chevy's so I figured I would look for one to fix up as there seemed to be a lot more chevy parts then ford parts available. little did I know that a year or two could make a major difference in what was being reproduced at the time.
in 1998 I decided to purchase my 1959 chevy brookwood. I found it on the internet in Virginia. the car had been purchased by a guy who owns the local Jeep dealership for a project to build with his son, while waiting for the wagon to be shipped in from texas he found a chevy conv project instead so he sold me the wagon. My truck and trailer barely fit on the roads up to the house to pick up the wagon and thank goodness for trailer brakes or I might not be writing this. the car was basically in good condition on the body with a small amount of rust on the rear edge of the roof and a dented tailfin. in addition the floor pans looked like swiss cheese . a 283 with a powerglide and everything manual was how my wagon was originally delivered in texas. somewhere along the line an underdash a/c was added. I decided to remove the body from the frame with the help of a friend and we scrapped and cleaned everywhere we could ,new floor pans, e-z  wiring harness,bushings and some custom made gaskets for the windows  and paint and we where on the road. bare economy at first while a rolling project is what it was. around this time I met my wife and she helped me put the interior back together and finish things up she thought. Little did she realize 12 yrs later I would still be fixing and tinkering on the wagon
Some of the original upgrades included a 400/700r4 , upgraded steering to a power steering 605 box and gm disc brakes in the front with a dual master system. Tilt steering column from a chevy van made it more comfy and a vintage air monster cooler tried to cool the interior. sounds were upgraded to a custom autosound system and we were rolling in style. On a trip up to the Daytona beach turkey run a rock chip on the hood prompted me to have a pinstriper named coop paint a little flame on the hood . old school flamethrowers were kool till I washed down a cylinder and now my 400 was only running on 7 cylinders. so I upgraded to a GMPP 350/330 ho engine Some local shows and the 2006 hot rod power tour and we were getting the car more and more reliable to drive all over. over the next few yrs more and more upgreades were done. these included an upgrade to wildwood disc brakes up front ,air ride technologies cool ride with tubular control arms and upgraded sway bars, onboard compressor and 2 - 3 gal tanks hidden up inside the 1/4 panels. . after listening to the custom autosound radio it brought back the 460 days with my mom and the crummy am radio sound so we upgraded the stereo to a sony hidden in the glovebox. minor other small upgrades were done along the way .
For the next few yrs some local shows , trips to Orlando fl, Cypress Gardens and other local shows and we were set for the 2010 hot rod power tour with the family. Well we made it past Orlando when the rear end started to go. I called a friend and he said no problem tow it to his shop and we will get it fixed. new bearings in the rear and I was set to go. backed out of the shop and reverse blew in the tranny so we left the wagon at the tranny shop and rented a 2010 dodge charger to do the power tour and picked up the wagon on the way home. after this repair the car became way more reliable and comfortable to drive and be in. I guess the rear was going for a while.
for the 2011 hot rod power tour my wife decided not to go so one of my friends I grew up with decided to go. I picked him up in Ocala and we did the whole tour with no problems all the way to Detroit and back. Some of the places we got to stop at were Dearborn village, The Gilmore Museum, and the automotive hall of fame.  so here we are my buddy steve and I driving down the highway and I say remember when my dad offered me the wagon when I was a kid? guess he would be having the last laugh now seeing us cruising across the country in the wagon. just as we were getting ready to head into the corvette museum in Bowling green Ky, a friend from south florida by me calls and says he broke the crank in his car so can I pick him up in Lexington ky and bring him home, no problem we find a ride for his car and pile in the wagon for the ride home to fla.
after the power tour I decided to add an underdash a/c to supplement the indash vintage air monster cooler I had put in years ago. seems in the heat of summer we just couldn't really cool the top 10" or so of the interior due to the sun beating of the massive roof . some minor upgrades including new controls for the air ride setup with ride height sensors were installed and a completely rebuilt rear with an eaton posi , 3:27 rear gears and caddy rear disc brakes and we were rolling and stopping even smoother
some people seemed to get hooked on the experience of the power tour while others just can't understand why . as a car guy it was quite a sight and still is quite a thrill when your crusing with hundred's of cars and meeting new car loving friends. so 2012 comes along and I had to go after all Detroit to texas and I get to drive on rt 66. on the trip up I get to stop at the corvette museum finally and it was great .so now it's up to Detroit to see the gm heritage center collection and the Detroit grand prix. On my way to Detroit with about an hour to go on some highway to narrow to pull over at night the speedometer starts to seize up . no big deal except the noises and vibrations its making is incredible. screws are vibrating out of the dash , the needle first starts to go slowly 360 degrees around then begins to spin faster and faster till it breaks off . even the radio won't play loud enough to drown out the noise. finally I get to my hotel where I can disconnect it for the rest of the trip. the gm center and grand prix were cool and I went to the model T plant in Detroit. just an incredible feeling to be standing in the place were the model T was built and how it changed America. Now cruising down RT66 after leaving Michigan was definitely a bucket list item and getting to stop at the Blue whale, pop's Clanton's, the will rogers museum and actually driving on an original section of 66 were all cool. on the way home from texas at the end of the tour I stopped at the Barber vintage museum which is incredible and the Sloss furnaces historical site . A Dakota digital VHX analog dash was added after I got home so now we have an accurate speedometer ,tach , and all kinds of other goodies.
this has just begun . I just got an emergency phone call from work and have to run but I will finish tonight and add some pics also

Jeff I saw you and that beautiful wagon on the Hot Rod Power Tour interview!Bet you were proud of all the work you had done on it since bringing it home.

Flasheroo wrote:

Jeff I saw you and that beautiful wagon on the Hot Rod Power Tour interview!Bet you were proud of all the work you had done on it since bringing it home.

I have been looking for that can you tell me where you found it?

ok back from my job so back to the story of my wagon. in the summer of 2011 after the tour I took my family up thru fla and into Ga. we stopped at pres carter birthplace, Andersonville military park, kennesaw battlefield and did the junior ranger programs together so she could get a jr ranger badge and a special 150 anniveriversary of the civil war badge. many of our national parks have these programs for kids and they are a good learning experience and time to spend with your kids. From there it was up to six flags over Atlanta. we arrived early in the day and while parking a minivan with a bunch of teenagers pulls up . Now one of the advantages to airbags is that it is tough to drive a car sitting on the ground. so just as the kids are all getting out of the van , the wagon begins to air down, everyone looks at the wagon and the soccer mom says "thanks you just made me the uncoolest mom in history" and we all laughed. Well after six flags it was off to the Varsity diner in Atlanta for a creamsicle and then we followed the old Dixie highway north from Atlanta all the way to Chattanooga. a lot of little historical points along the way some relating back to the civil war also. after a few days it was off to the "MOUNTAIN MOONSHINE FESTIVAL" in Hiawassee ga and a cruise up to the top of mount baldy. the highest point in Ga I think. after getting home cruise control was added and some custom made speaker enclosure's for the rear also were installed. in the summer of 2012 we attended the key west power cruise was a neat trip down to the southernmost point in the continental US and the end of rt 1
in the fall of 2012 some more goodies were added including power door locks and power front windows activated by the original crank style handles. I also decided to add unisteer power rack and pinion steering kit to the wagon. This years Hot Rod Power Tour took me from fla up to the Wellborn Mopar collection and the Barber vintage collection again and the onto Texas where the trip was really awesome. I was able to meet the gang at Gas Monkey garage and get some autographs and then onto Rick Fairless's Strokers Dallas. man what incredible painting talent displayed on some of these bikes. Then it was onto the Fort Worth Stockyards where I went to the rodeo, wild west show, cattle drive, cowboy hall of fame, Billy Bob's Texas Honky Tonk , and the cattlemans steakhouse. Then it was onto the power tour. This years tour went thru Texarkana and on the way Street and Performance invited us for Lunch. what a neat place to visit and understand how many products they make. then we cruised thru hot springs ark and went up into the observation tower . mighty impressive views from up on top .then into little rock for the evening. A trip to central high school brought some early school lessons into reality . from little rock we went to Memphis tn where things got really kool. on sunday magnaflow had a special thing at gas monkey garage and on the way to Memphis setup a small lunch stop at centrakl bbq. well as I pull up a guy is staring at my wagon and as soon as I get out he comes over and we start chatting that's when I realize it is the nascar announcer Rutledge Wood ,this was way kool got him to autograph my dash right next to the gas monkey crew and he entertained us with some nascar , top gear with Tanner Faust stories and some of his own car antics. Congratulations to Rutledge on his Pro am celebrity race win on tv. From there it was onto the Lorraine Hotel for some civil rights history memories as I can remember tv being interrupted to bring us the news that MLK was shot on the balcony of the hotel . Then it was onto the Hollowed rock and roll grounds of sun studio. That evening Beale st was closed off and the power tour cars were parked all over the streets .What a party , I saw Rusty Wallace walking the streets ,som neat blu band had a couple drinks at bb kings, and jerry lee Lewis's place .the next day it was a trip down to the Tupelo Auto Museum which is a huge collection of cars. as discussed in the convienent place for your car to break down thread I described how I lost my brakes but things went ok so I was on my way to Hoover al. Then it was the Lookout Mountain Parkway up to Chattanooga for the Coker tire Party . Another great place to stop if your close by . then it was onto Charlotte for the end of the tour. Saturday was the final ceremony for the power tour and then a trip to the nascar hall of fame. This is where the fun really begins. I decided to head back to Robbinsville NC for the "TAIL OF THE DRAGON" for those who don't know this is considered by many to be the ultimate road for bikes. 318 turns in 11 miles unlike fla which is 11 turns in 318 miles. This is where I found that neat little hotel I found with my own private carport for the night. I ran the Tail and all was well , then I havd seen brochures for a few yrs for the Cherahola skyway so that was the next stop. Luckily just as I pulled over I blew the power steering pump so the last half of the skyway, moonshiner's 28 and the rest of the way home was done by Armstrong power steering.
It seems my wagon never stops changing as sitting in my garage I have a fuel injection setup for it, a reproduction interior with a power bench seat , and a newer cruise control to put in. I enjoy doing the work myself and do have a few friends who look over my shoulder when I screw up. One of the things you first notice when you walk up to my wagon is the pinstriping all over . there is a very practical reason for this ,as some of you will agree my car is a driver - anywhere ,anytime, I am up for a roadtrip, this leads to rock chips which leads to more pinstripes. Its kind of a vicious cycle but it works for me. It is amazing to me the variety of people who come up to talk with us and tell us stories everytime we stop.

after meeting a bunch of you at the Daytona wagonfest this year, felt like all my grandkids were running around when I saw your wagons LOL. well I guess I Have all month to add more stories and pic so check back in a few and hope to meet you all soon
P.S. I have recently purchased a 1993 roadmaster wagon to become my DD as the OL SKOOL SUV gets a rest

the car has also had a few different style wheels

the engine blowing flamethrower

the engine when it is clean

we attended a bunch of lowrider shows when my oldest daughter still lived at home. tho the music wasn't my style the paint jobs and hopping cars were impressive

the new flames

That was a kool write up ! Hate I missed power tour in my own town , but life got in the way . You have done some really cool work on the wagon . Thanks for sharing some of it with us .

Cool Write up Jeff.

Here are a couple of pics of his ride:


2012 Billetproof show at Don Garlits in Ocala, FL


Another Billet shot



WF 13 back at the hotel (unfortunately Billetproof was the same day, but Jeff made the 1.5 trek over after the show to have some famous bacon wrapped steaks!)

That's awesome! 59's are SO COOL!

-Mike

hey sprocket cool pics from the wagonfest bbq . how do you post the pics like that

You and that wagon sure have a lot of stories to tell. I saw it in the pits at Memphis International Raceway during the Power Tour but didn't get to meet you as there was nobody around it at the time. I dig it!

a few more pics

59 wagon man wrote:

hey sprocket cool pics from the wagonfest bbq . how do you post the pics like that

It's pretty easy, just follow steps here. https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t55-read-this-first-how-to-post-pics-now-with-pics


Now you need to bring everybody up on recent wagon developments in your life.  

He was mad busy at work when I saw him today.

Jeff

Thanks for the great story down memory lane. I always enjoy a good car story. As I told you in Daytona, we had the same color station wagon. It was a Parkwood, 6 cylinder 3 on the column.

thanks again and keep enjoying your wagon

Tom

just trying to get caught up with things and i'll
post the good news with some pics