Fastback Beach by Shirlee Matheson

Author:Shirlee Matheson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2003-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Ned Barnier has given me a box of his old magazines. One of my favorite rods is Lightnin’ Bug, a “T” pickup with the body channeled — lowered six inches over the frame. It’s powered by a ’52 Cad engine and turned a hundred in the quarter mile. Pretty hot for 1954! This car was in almost all the scenes of 77 Sunset Strip, an old television show starring Kookie Burns.

I want to build one of these old-style rods!

I’ve been working for Ned for two hours a night after school and six hours on Saturday. He lines up all sorts of work for me — landscaping around the community hall, painting interior walls, and yesterday he had me check and oil the bearings on their furnace. He’s impressed with how quickly I figure things out.

“When I had my stroke, they took my license,” he tells me, “but I’m in therapy. I’ll get it back soon.”

“Maybe you’ll make a rod run this summer yet,” Mrs. B adds.

“A rod run?” My ears perk up.

Mrs. B smiles. “Ned, I think it’s time.”

He pauses for a moment. “All right. After lunch we’ll take the wraps off the coupe.”

It’s the coolest machine I’ve ever seen. All I can do is stare. The bright red paint and the body lines are beautiful. It sits just right.

He opens the driver’s door and I look inside. The upholstery is red and white pleated leather. The dash is full of high-end gauges and a Sun Super tachometer. My mind flashes back to Larry’s comment about there being lots of good racing parts. I feel a pain in my gut and decide that the Lark will know nothing about this car.

Millie goes over to the garage wall and takes down a sign covered in plastic. “These are the specs of the car, Miles. We put this sign up beside it at car shows.”

I scan the list: “1937 Ford coupe, ’58 Corvette 283-cubic-inch engine, 270 horsepower.” I turn to look at Ned and grin. “Dual quad carbs, Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed, Hurst synchro-loc shifter.” This is a thoroughbred. “’57 Olds rear end, 3.70 to 1 ratio; ’56 Ford F-100 front brakes, steering column and steering box.”

“The front axle is dropped four inches for a nice rake,” Ned explains.

It sits butt in the air like a greyhound at the starting line.

“Does it run?” I ask.

“I haven’t run it for over a year. I want to pull the heads and freshen them up first. That’s what I was talking to you about. Maybe you and I could do it together.”

“Sure,” I say.

“I’ll pay you by the hour, myself,” Ned says. “Your community work is for the association. But this will be our project. You with me?”

“How fast will it do a quarter mile?” I ask.

“It’d probably do something around thirteen seconds,” Ned explains, “although this is a street machine, not a racer.”

“I’d love to own a rod,” I say, “but I don’t have the money.”

“It doesn’t take much money to get started, but it takes some scrounging,” Ned says.

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