Rockin' Rides & Rods in Progress; Roseburg, Oregon... Gearhead Hotbed
Story by David Marin

Continued from previous page.


Then, with “encouragement” from his mother-in-law, Jack purchased a “family” 1956 Chrysler New Yorker station wagon that subsequently turned into a 1955 Ford pickup powered by a Buick engine. All that was in San Diego from 1958 to 1972 when he moved his family to Roseburg.

Part of the household move to Roseburg included a vehicle that has to be considered “of historic significance”. We’re talking about a 1941 Ford pickup Jack bought in Lemon Grove (near San Diego) in 1958. What’s special about a ’41 Ford pickup? Well, this one features dashboard and glove box pin striping by Von Dutch. Nuff said.

The Zink family make the process of restoring and/or building automotive projects a family undertaking with Jack, Mary and their son John (who also has an in progress ’40 Ford two door sedan) all participating in the assorted tasks. Currently the trio is working on a 1948 Ford woody wagon that will likely go together with a 302 Ford V8 providing the power.

“We found the woody at a truck stop in Rice Hill, Oregon,” Jack says. “We’re also working on a 1946 Ford four door sedan that is going back together as a stocker.”

There’s also a splendid in progress 1937 Ford four door convertible that the Zinks found in Jacksonville, Oregon, also going together as a stock restoration.

Too, there’s a finished and gorgeous turquoise 1946 Mercury convertible that Jack and Mary purchased “partly finished” from a friend in Roseburg.

“The Merc came from the Oregon Coast,” Jack says. “It’s a street rod with a 351 cubic inch Ford Windsor engine, C/4 transmission and four wheel disk brakes.”

“And the Merc and ’48 woody are my favorites,” Mary chimes in. It should be noted that Mary Zink is an active and enthusiastic gearhead. She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and has served as Treasurer of the Umpqua Flatheads Car Club for many years. What we know from first hand experience is that when questions are asked around any of the local events, the most frequently used answer is, “ask Mary Zink”.

“I just really enjoy the hobby,” Mary says. “The people are especially nice and the events are a lot of fun in addition to being good for the community.”

We’ve gone ga-ga over the Zink’s collection long enough and we’re ready to hit the road when Mary guides us into an office-type area where we’re confronted with a virtual banquet of sandwich meats and cheeses, scrumptious cookies and treats and an assortment of iced drinks (did we mention the temp is in the nineties?). Well, it is.

Another brief cruise and Dick Thornley has us at the home of Don and Lora Block where we’re eyeballing cool old iron and assorted projects that are obviously being taken far beyond the “daily driver” level.

Don’s interest in old iron started in Oakland, California at age 15 with the clandestine purchase of a 1936 Ford five-window coupe.

“I bought the car from a friend even though I didn’t have a drivers’ license,” Don says. “My parents and I had been talking about it and I kind of thought I had their permission, but I didn’t. I brought the car home and the very next day it was for sale in the Oakland Tribune classified ads.”

A few months later, with his 16th birthday behind him and a drivers’ license in his wallet Don bought a 1941 Ford coupe.

“I got the ’41 from a neighbor kid,” he says. “The Dad of one of the kids at school agreed to paint the car for free if I had it ready. I had to take the car home three times before I got it right. It then got painted Triton Oil Purple.”

The hook was set and a string of cars followed. Another ’41 Ford, then a ’32 Ford roadster that became a drag race car.

“Vic Hubbard Speed Shop in Hayward, California built me a 59AB flathead out of a ’48 Merc for the ’32,” Don says. “I ran in B/Street Roadster where the record was 91 miles per hour. My first outing I ran 100 miles per hour and eventually got that car up to 106 miles per hour.”

Don’s dream car at that time (1953) was a 1950 Merc but his Dad was a Chevrolet man and guided Don toward the purchase of a new Chev.

“Dad brought home a handful of brochures on the new 1953 Chevrolets and that’s what I wound up buying.”

Soon the ’53 Chev two-door hardtop was getting “the treatment” from none other than Joe “Candy Apple Red” Bailon.

“Joe was known as a lead guy and he did a lot of work on the ’53”, Don continues. “Gordon Vann, a well known hammer welder went wild on the ’53 and made custom chrome strips, handmade the custom taillights, lots of unique touches. I showed that car at the Oakland Roadster Show and lots of major events and won a ton of trophies.”

Don’s ’53 Chev made the cover of Car Craft Magazine before he decided to try something else.

“In 1955 I traded the Chev for an Olds V8 powered 1946 Ford,” he says. “I didn’t have the ’46 very long and then had a 1939 Ford junker. A bunch of us used to hang out at the local drive-in and one night four of us decided to do some hill climbing with the ’39. Naturally we rolled the car, caved in the roof, but still managed to get to a party later that evening. That was the night I met my wife Lora.”

Thankfully, Lora didn’t see Don’s mashed-in ’39 and the very next day he went out and purchase a 1954 Ford convertible… “to impress Lora”.

The ’54 was traded in on a ’56 Thunderbird, which led to a conversation that brought a ’29 Ford roadster pickup into Don’s life.

“We had the Thunderbird at one of Lora’s high school reunions and I got to talking with a car guy and mentioned to him that I was looking for a ’29 Ford,” Don says.

“He happened to have the roadster pickup and sold it to me for $100. That pickup wound up being a winner at a number of the national shows.”

Don kept building, showing and selling cars. He moved his family to Roseburg in 1968 and didn’t miss a beat. He built “Cream Sickle”, a Downs fiberglass body 1937 Ford three window coupe sitting on a TCI chassis, powered by a Chev small block, auto trans and all the bell and whistles.

“We showed the ’37 at Cool April Nights in Redding and won a PPG award for ‘Best Use of Color’ and the car was featured in the PPG 2006 calendar,” Don says.

As we pull up to Don’s shop we’re greeted by a dazzling 1933 Ford three-window coupe. Don explains that he found the coupe in Placerville, California in 1999.

“Actually, Lora was in Placerville on other business so I had her go by and look at the car,” Don says. “It was completely in pieces and there were 18 bullet holes in the body. I brought it home and it took a while, but there it is.”

There it is indeed, a real beauty with ZZ4 power, a TH350 trans, the fit of the doors is “just so” and the pearl yellow paint that Don “made” is amazing.

Don has a pair of projects underway in his shop today, both eye-grabbers, but we’re first looking at all steel 1934 Ford Phaeton that’s going together with ZZ/4 power backed by a 700R4 trans.

“I found the car in Eugene,” he says. “It was pretty much together when it was delivered and I’ve been kind of tweaking things here and there and getting the car ready for purple paint.”

Now we can take our time with the other project in Don’s shop. It’s a 1950 Merc (the car Don wanted when his Dad urged him to buy a ’53 Chev).

“I’d been looking for a ’50 Merc for more than 10 years and found a lot of them,” he says. “There were just none that I liked. I found the Merc near Salem, all in pieces, but, the pieces were bare metal and the sheet metal was great, even the original floor was intact.”

Since he was fulfilling a 50-year-old dream Don had to power the car with something special so he went out and found a 392 cubic inch Chrysler HEMI.

“Actually, I bought the HEMI from a fellow, Ron Foss, here in Roseburg,” he says. “The car should be done and ready for cruising this spring (2008).”

Hey, guess what we’ve found parked close to Don’s ’50 Merc. Why it’s a table covered with trays of all sorts of cookies and yummies and cold drinks. Man, this job is tough! While we’re munching we check out this very sharp 1967 Ford pickup that’s parked outside Don’s shop. Don lets us know that the pickup belongs to his daughter Melinda Bailey.

“Melinda bought the pickup from her mother-in-law and did all the resto work on it herself,” Don says. “She put a lot of sanding time and elbow grease into that truck.”

Loosening our belts a notch we climb back in Dick Thornley’s van and head for the home of Dave and Marilyn Owens. Dave is a physician, an otolaryngologist, which is the fancy way of saying ear, nose and throat specialist. Born in New York and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Dave’s interest in cars began in eighth-grade auto shop. He acquired his first car, a 1939 Ford, while in high school in 1958.

“I paid $125.00 for the car, put in a rebuilt flathead engine, painted the car primer black and drove it through high school,” he says. “When I graduated from high school I sold the car for $200.00 and went off to college and medical school.”

Education, then building a medical practice kept his automotive pursuits on the back burner until 1983 when he brought home a 1938 Ford pickup.

“I still have the ’38, but it was put on the back burner because I found and purchased the 1939 Ford Standard Coupe,” Dave continues. “The ’39 is powered by a 283 Chev engine with a ’39 Ford transmission. It was built by one of my patients, Eugene Rue, who has since passed away. He and I had a lot of fun working on cars together.”

Dr. Dave is currently finishing the ground up restoration of a 1951 MG/TD, a project given to him as a birthday present from wife Marilyn.

“The MG came from a fellow here in Roseburg who bought the car from a guy in Colorado,” he says. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to cruising it soon.”

Dave also owns a matching numbers 327/4-speed powered 1963 Corvette that he purchased from a neighbor. He doesn’t go to many car shows but does make the British Car Show in Portland. “I enjoy that show and I go to the local show,” he says. “I like wandering through swap meets and I’ve been to a few auctions, but they’re dangerous.”

Here we are at the end of the trail, things are cooling down, the shadows are getting long and with a thank you and farewell to Dr. Dave, it’s time to put the wraps on another installment of “Rods in Progress” and head for the barn.

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