Some cool cnc turning machining images:
Black Widow – Christopher Allison Photography –
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Christopher Allison Photography
619-368-2202
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The Original Black Widow restored by Richard Riddell
Built in 1952
“THE BLACK WIDOW” Builders: Wally Olson (1952), Bill Scott (1954) and Richard Riddell (2005) The garage uncover of the century! How long have you been hot rodding vehicles–considering that the 1950’s? A lot of of us got started in the 50’s and 60’s. (For you actual old birds out there that bear in mind hot rodding “T” roadsters with Roto-Faze ignitions, Ruxtell two-speed rear axles, Riley 2-port heads and Laurel lowering kits, effectively what can we say you are a generation before us and we take our hats off to you ‘original’ hot rodders.) BUT for all of us “The Black Widow” is a severe piece of 1950’s hot rodding annals and a benchmark for the business! In an article in Hot Rod Deluxe, July 2008 entitled, “Tangled Web” the complete-story of Richard Riddell’s quest to restore the original Black Widow had its public debut. Hot Rod Deluxe reported the car’s winning the 2008 Grand National Roadster Show which was a dream come true, taking “Best Early Altered T Roadster”. (See also Rod and Custom, June 2008.) It was also a contender for the Bruce Meyer award at the ‘Grand Nats.’ Why do guys like Richard Riddell (and the rest of us) commit years (3400 hours in Richard’s case) restoring a car we located in a barn? Answer: ‘For the really like of the sport!’ All of us keep in mind some other automobiles with similar names, for instance the ‘Black Widow’ Monogram model automobile (“1/24 scale model/Ford ‘T’ Pickup Rod/removable top” by Mattel top quality hobby kits). Also, we remember Common Motors/Chevrolet coming out in 1957 with their very first racing version Chevy called “The Black Widow.” But predating each of these historic cars is the “The Black Widow” built by Wally Olson to help hold his children out of difficulty in 1952 and initial débuted in Hot Rod magazine, September 1954 in an write-up entitled, “Lil’ Beau T”, which study, “Wally Olson, Fresno, California, automotive machinist, is the lucky owner and builder. Duane Taylor was referred to as in for the body perform.” It added as to why he constructed the auto, “What with so considerably current upheaval in the teen-age ranks, Wally figured that a confident-fire way to eliminate these totally free-time, practically nothing-to-do troubles would be to interest them (his 9 and 12 year old sons) in a rod. So far the notion has worked like a charm.” In time the family members moved on to other projects and Bill Scott bought the car and redid it with fenders, headlights and all the stuff to make it ‘street legal’—as we employed to contact it! The very first documentation of the car becoming known as “Black Widow” is discovered in the magazine Rodding and Re-styling, August 1957 concern. That write-up reported Bill Scott’s alterations to Wally Olson’s vehicle, “The front finish was revised to incorporate a tubular axle and tube shocks. The new owners also equipped the auto with a new power plant. The original mill is a ’41 Merc bored out .100 inch over stock, ported and relieved…includes eight.5-to-1 Offenhauser heads, a Weber full-race cam, and an Evans three-caberator manifold.” [Note: The several engines that have been housed in this auto later varied see final Merc construct information under.] Don’t you adore the sound of that “ported and relieved” and “full-race cam”—when’s the final time you used those terms? By the time the 1959 Hot Rod Annual was published the vehicle-title stuck for all time “The Black Widow.” Riddell’s two-Year Renovation! According to extended time race auto builder Richard Riddell’s log he states, “Sometime in 1955 Wally sold his roadster to Bill Scott. Bill once again named on Duane Taylor to turn the car into a bonified street rod. With the extra of windshield, head lights, tail lings, and fenders it was finally capable to jump into his tiny Hot Rod and go crusin’. The pin stripping was accomplished by none other than Dean Jefferies with the familiar cobweb and spider on the turtle deck.” He reports that the car’s initial win was “…a 5 foot trophy at the Sacramento AutoRama in 1957 for ‘Best Roadster’. Yes, Bill’s auto was having the time of its life becoming 1 of the ideal looking early California street roadsters of all time.” Richard states, “Bill Scott died about 1987…for many years the vehicle languished…getting worse and worse…as is so frequently the case for old Hot Rods.” The garage uncover in 2005 notes, “At a glance the roadster didn’t appear that poor.” But the Naugahyde and carpet had been shot, fenders, original wheels and hub caps to name a few difficulties for the however to commence restoration. Riddell notes, “Under a somewhat decent physique and paint job lurked a mess that went beyond your worst nightmare.” He adds, “I began wondering how I could salvage this little beauty in the rough. Not that several individuals have restored an old Hot Rod but, these who have know what I’m talking about. It is a lot tougher than building a rod from scratch. But the roadster was begging to be restored and I’m glad that I was selected to do it.”and#9472Richard died shortly right after finishing the project but happily he was able to see “The Black Widow” win the ‘Grand Nats’ and have a feature center-spread post in Hot Rod Deluxe. Here are a handful of of the Riddell-engineered refinements to this original vehicle. and#61692 Recessed pockets had to be built in the frame rails to accept the front motor mounts which double as water pumps. and#61692 New front radius rods were built out of heavy wall chrome-moly tubing. The original ones had been so poorly made that they have been unsafe. and#61692 The correct master cylinder banjo fitting was not obtainable so, he fabricated a new a single from scratch. and#61692 The tooling mandral had to be CNC machined to facilitate metal spinning new brass tail pipe finish bells. Hey would you agree? Hot rodding is an art type and some Hot Rod Artists have mastered the craft and Richard Riddell is 1 of them!!! Reconstruction points of interest: and#61656 Original steel body and doors welded shut and#61656 ‘42 Merc 274 c.i flathead (current engine) and#61656 ’39 Lincoln-Zephyr tranny and#61656 ’34 Ford rear with Halibrand fast-adjust center and enclosed drive shaft and#61656 ’39 Ford hydraulic brakes all about and wide “5” 16-iunch wheels and caps and#61656 ’37 Ford tube axle and#61656 Engine by RPM Machine and#61656 Chrome by Ace Plating and#61656 Frame accomplished by Capps Powder Coat and#61656 Physique/paint by Showtime Customs and#61656 Upholstery by Brents Why is the automobile becoming sold? To quote his wife Pat, “Unfortunately, Richard passed away on March 18, 2008 and will not get to enjoy seeing the new owner drive away with a piece of automotive history.” Richard’s loyal wife Pat grew up around racing considering that she was 9 years old. Her maiden name was Rodriguez. If you grew up at Lion’s Dragstrip, as she did, you could bear in mind her father’s rail? He and his brother ran an old prime alky rail beneath the name “Rodriguez Brothers”. Pat mentioned, ‘As I was developing up I frequently wondered how I would ever meet someone to marry, because all that our loved ones ever did was go to the drags. Then one particular day Richard came along and met me at the Winternationals.’ Nicely the rest is history. For Pat soon after Richard’s death there are just as well many memories attached to all the memorabilia, race automobiles and hot rods in their storage—she would like to sell “The Black Widow” to some deserving hot rodder. Terms of sale: 5,000.00. Please get in touch with Don Burdge at DreamRodLocator or call him at 619.804.8033. You need to get in touch with me before Leno does! We have hundreds of added photos and numerous 50’s and present magazine articles available to seriously interested purchasers.