Did I Mention We're Almost Done?

Well, my family claims I've been saying that for the last two years. I don't know about that, but we are making good progress on the seemingly endless stream of small details that as a whole, make the Milner Coupe what it is. And as always we have to make those choices that determine whether we are building a mirrored image of the Coupe or a faithful tribute. Ours is the latter. Case in point: the headlights. We're using the right Arrow lights. We have the same mounts. We even made the choice to have both wires exit out of one hole in the can, just like the Coupe.

But we are breaking rank when it it comes to the actual installation. Take a good look at the Graffiti Coupe from the front. It's got 'da kine Marty Feldman eyes. The headlights aren't level or even. The most apparent reason for this is that the headlight mounts are setting on top of frame rivets. This pitches them at an angle. And perhaps in an effort to make the level 'mo betta', they used different sized spacers between the light and the mount. We opted to attach the mounts flush to the frame and use uniform spacers beneath the lights. Not exactly 100% duh, but proper.

The picture below shows our fan after being shortened to fit. The Coupe has a customized '57 Chevy fan. There is a very similar looking 15" fan available but if your radiator is built like the Coupe's it won't work. The smaller fan no doubt contributed to the cooling problem that led the current owner to install an electric fan in the grill shell. Smart, but not in our plans. Our genius solution is to drive really fast and use the wind. We should probably carry a gallon of water in the trunk.



Ride - Wondermints

Moving Pictures

These are some pictures 'da Hui took at our 2nd and 3rd visit to see the Coupe a few years ago. The Wolfman came along to explain things, ya understand.

Revenge Of The Nerfs

I like this shot. I can't really explain why. It shows a lot of what I like about the Coupe I guess. The cool, fat curve of the deck lid. Those perfect-for-this-car '41 Chevrolet tailights. The not-so-perfect paint job. The stock '32 Ford handle. The famous license plate of course. And that wicked who'd a thunk it nerf bar.

At it's core the Milner Coupe is a solid period hot rod. When purchased it was basically a '32 Ford 5W body and frame with a '57 Chevy drive train. But even then it had enough odd accouterments like the '47 rear crossmember and the PSI traction outfit to make it one of a kind. Throw in the uniquely applied 50's Ford upholstery trim, and the fairly rare Stewart Warner dash insert and it starts to get easy to see what may have caught Gary Kurtz' eye. But the addition of some of the parts that were added afterward for the film also contributed greatly to the funky karma that makes this deuce so special.

For the folks building their own 'Graffiti Coupe', the nerf bar is tough. Until a couple years ago, you had to make your own. They rarely came out right. The bar's shape has to be perfect to have it resemble the Coupe from all angles. It's a very weird shaped piece of tubing. You can fudge on a lot of different parts when building your clone, but this particular nerf bar is unique to the Coupe and it helps to make the rear of the car instantly recognizable.

It isn't custom anyway. DB The Swede of Massachusetts was the first to figure this out. Because it looked like a larger version of an MG front bumper guard, we had suspected it might be English. Right continent, wrong country. It is a 1971 Alfa Romeo Duetto front bumper guard. An add-on piece, they were manufactured by AMCO. DB was kind enough to share his discovery and it was 'off to the races' to find one for our Coupe. We were lucky and located one right away. And it was a good thing we did.

Because at this same period of time we were at a dead stand still on our frame. We were placing the rear crossmember when it was announced from the mid west by Paul LeMat's 'lost twin brother of a different mother' that the Graffiti Coupe's wheel base had been extended!!! To almost 109 inches!!! So, not knowing otherwise, we stopped. Getting the wheelbase wrong would drastically reduce the odds of getting the stance right or having the slicks sit in the fenders properly. This was huge. We called the owner. He said that as far as he knew it was stock. But we figured "What does he know? The Great & Powerful Odd said it was 109"!!! So we waited until I could get to the Coupe and measure... Like that was ever gonna happen.

In the end, it was the photo above and others like it that confirmed the Coupe's wheelbase measurement. It was so simple. One of those V8 juice moments. Using the right nerf bar and mounting it the same way as the Coupe's leaves no margin of error. It's stock.

Thanks DB, you're a daisy!

(Every Time I Hear) That Mellow Saxophone - Roy Montrell

Jerry Colvin...Sa-lute

Jerry Colvin of Jerry's Valley Radiator Service in Spokane, WA hand built our radiator. We provided him with a decent, stock '32 Ford and he did the rest. He figured out what the mounting brackets were from (hint: truck) and put them right where they should be for the grill shell. He located an old Chevy filler neck and did a great job setting it in place. And, not being a computer guy, spent hours pouring over photographs of the Coupe's cooling unit to make sure we came as close as possible. And it wasn't like those dim pictures were a step-by-step manual. They were from weird angles, poorly lit, and printed out of our office scanners. But Jerry proved himself more than up to the challenge.

The Coupe's grill shell support rods bracket is split and spread apart. Jerry even noticed that they weren't installed evenly and called to ask how we preferred them done. He also did some cool 'radiator guy' tricks to the bottom pan to make sure we had a quality unit when we were done and not one that just looked right. I don't know if we could have done better even if we had the Coupe at our disposal for comparison. I suspect not.

This is the last summer for Jerry's Valley Radiator Service. The county is widening the road and by this time next year the shop will be just a memory. Jerry has decided to retire and pursue his life long hobby of photography. With his attention for detail, the hot rod world may be gaining a new great photographer and not just losing one of the best radiator fabricators in the business. We're proud to have his work represented in our car. Like the headers, the radiator is something the cloners rarely get right. Jerry always does his best and it shows.

Merle's Boogie Woogie - Merle Travis

Happy Independence Day

Here's wishing everyone in 'Milner Coupeville' a pleasant and safe 4th of July holiday. We here at the West Coast office will hoist a cold one or ten and take a long moment to appreciate the true independence that we have in this country of ours.

Our American liberty is a precious and fragile right that is rapidly being undermined and crushed by the weight and backbreaking burden of new and excessively paranoid laws under the guise of protecting the very freedoms they erode.

A lot of us have three days off work to enjoy our families and friends and a nice long weekend to drive the tires off our hot rods.

May we suggest that we make this a true Independence Day? Turn off your TVs and radios! Ignore the babbling naysayers and talking heads we call the media! Take a look around and realize that this is our country. Not the celebrity's. Not the Wall St. investor's. Certainly not the politicians!

Forget about the incessant negativity. It's all bogus. Things aren't that bad. Sure, the price of gas blows. But here's the big secret...the economy is doing what it always does, righting itself. If your livelihood doesn't depend on making 'money for nothing' (stock market investing), and you have a real job and have owned your home for a while and haven't spent like a drunken sailor the last five years, I'll bet you're doing alright.

So let's flip the politicos the bird and concentrate on what we do have and what we have earned. Click off the 'news at 11:00' fear mongers, say a prayer for the safe and immediate return home of our poor GIs overseas, and let's just be thankful this weekend.

We're Americans. We live in America. There's no place better.

Be happy.

Wonderful Day - O.A.R.

Looks Familiar

Back That Thing Up

Well I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. This is one of a bunch of photos we took in Portland, Oregon February 19, 2005. It was the first time we had seen the Coupe in person. That visit and the accompanying batch of pictures fired the go shot for a lot of the clone builders. Got real serious 'bout then.

There's a few folks around the country who spent more time staring at these snapshots than the Warren Commission spent looking at the grassy knoll. Learned a few things me thinks. 'da Hui' sees these images in the dark now. Note the bodacious curvatures, reminiscent of those of the exposed rear end in the previous post. Ours is missing a few of the badges of experience and honor of course. We're not trying to fool anybody, just pay homage...

Little Wild One (No. 5) - Marshall Crenshaw