#and my other package is still stuck in Montana where it has been sitting for the past week

[victory-cookies]

my pakige…

[liveittolearnit280-blog]

Q&A: Samantha Iraldi, “our job to supply exactly what the client wants”

By: Jade Freeberg 

Sam Iraldi is an associate wedding planner at Kyle Michelle Weddings, this is her first job in event planning and she can’t imagine her life now without it.

Kyle Michelle Weddings is located in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. They take pride in creating the most unique and one of a kind weddings and events in the Northeast.

I had the opportunity to reach out to her via email to learn more about her position and her team at Kyle Michelle Weddings.  

Q. What is your name, where do you work and what is your position title?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: My name is Samantha Iraldi and I work at Kyle Michelle weddings as an associate wedding planner.

Q. How did you find this job in event planning, and did you have an interest in event planning prior to this job?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: This job in event planning actually found me. My boss and I had known each other from working together at our other job, and she asked if I would be interested in helping her out with her wedding planning company as her interns were leaving for the summer. She noticed my work ethic and my way with people from working at our other job together and thought I’d be a great fit to her company. I had never thought about event planning prior to this job, but now I don’t know how I can ever be without it!

Q. Do you remember your first day on the job or the first clients you worked with? What was it like, what was your experience like?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: Prior to my first day on the job I had interviewed on a Friday and started that Monday as an intern. We spent almost the entire day alphabetizing the seating chart for our couple who was getting married that Saturday. The venue printed the escort board on a sticker to place on a mirror displayed at the venue, and we needed to triple check that we had all guests on the list as well as in the correct order and spelled correctly. I didn’t send or receive many emails that day except for from my boss and coworker involving information for that weekend's wedding. The first clients I worked with will always have a special place in my heart. The day of their wedding was crazy and I felt as though I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but I did what had to be done and that’s all that mattered to me. People ask me what my first wedding experience was like, and I always tell them that I honestly don’t remember because it was such a blur. The bride, groom, and their families welcomed me on the day with open arms, trusting me to do my job even though it was the first day they had ever met me. I am so thankful to have experienced their wedding first! We still keep in touch and we also planned that bride's sister’s wedding! We are now planning one of the bride's closest friends weddings, and I have really taken charge over her event. I recently told her that her friend’s wedding was the first I had worked, and she was shocked, because she remembers how smooth it went and that’s why she hired us. I took that as a compliment, as maybe it looked like I was more experienced that I had actually been at that time. I realized then and am still realizing now that working face to face with people and being able to communicate is key in the event industry. People may have their opinions on what they think will look best or fit best, what is the best price, etc. but it is our job to supply exactly what the client wants, whether that means it’ll be easy or if we need to have some tough conversations with vendors.

Q. What is the overall experience of working with your event planning company?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: The overall experience of working at Kyle Michelle Weddings is one of a kind. Not only are our clients amazing and trusting in us, but our work environment makes the job that much more inviting to go to. There are only 4 of us, and we are a little family. We are able to joke, laugh, discuss anything whether it's work related or something personal, while also keeping a boundary between employer and employee. We work so well together because we are so close, and are at the point where we can all look a certain way at the other and know exactly what one is thinking. When it comes to our clients and the conclusion of their wedding day, it is heartbreaking. We spend about a year with each client attending meetings, planning, texting, being their person to talk to in need, and then at the end of the night realize we won’t be talking or seeing them all the time anymore, or even at all. Though it’s sad, it is the best feeling. We leave at the end of the night riding a high, thinking back to everything we went through to plan their perfect day. It is one of the best feelings and sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be a part of someone’s most important day.

Q. How involved are the clients in the planning process?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: That is up to them. We offer several packages based around how much the client wants us involved or how much they don’t LOL. Some couples are capable of planning everything themselves and just want us there on the day to answer questions so they aren’t bothered by Uncle Joe, some need us every step of the way up to what color seat cushion they should rent, and some in between. We help in any way that they are looking for.

Q. How many weddings does your team take on per year?

SAMANTHA IRALDI:  Twenty to twenty five.

Q. What lengths have you and your team gone to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of a client on their wedding day?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: This list is never ending! We once had to go to the liquor store and purchase about 25 bottles of champagne for a toast as the groom assured us he would be purchasing it but forgot. We also have dealt a lot with weather issues, specifically rain; we have gotten ourselves soaked in order to keep all of the important people dry on the day. We have also had to deal with vendors demanding money; we once had a rental car break down and become unable to drive the bride and groom to their destination, but still demanded to be paid. My boss actually had to get the police involved nonchalantly during the wedding. Something we also always do is provide something of our own at no cost, whether it be a card box, table numbers, welcome bags, bathroom baskets, etc. It is important to us to ensure the day is as it should be.

Q. What was your favorite wedding your team planned this past year?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: This past year, my favorite wedding as well as my team's favorite wedding, if I could guess, was on October 5th 2019. Our clients were very special. The bride, Annie, had a dream of replicating the firefly music festival at her wedding, while making sure it still give off more wedding vibes than music festival vibes. This was by far our biggest wedding. Annie decided to turn her parents estate into her wedding venue. We brought in 10 tipi tents from Montana, we installed multiple platforms on the property for the tents to stand on to ensure no guest was walking in heels on uneven grass, we installed a temporary dance floor that the couple now owns and can get reinstalled if they are to have another party, wedding, etc. All in all we had about 35 vendors, as we were still hiring people up until the day. We rented about 50 guest tables, 400 chairs, rugs, etc. The florist spent 4 days setting up. We had to bring in heaters at the last minute as the weather got a bit crisp throughout the night. And on the day of, all the couple cared about was getting married. Yes, they loved and appreciated everything we had done for them and the environment we created, but they weren’t stuck up or complaining about one pillow being out of place, but instead were soaking it all in. We call this our “epic wedding”, and any vendor or guest involved will tell you the same. It is for sure one for the history books.

Q. With the outbreak of coronavirus, how is your team dealing with this?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: We are still working as usual, but from home and sending cancelation and ‘new date’ emails rather than our norm. We have had 5 couples so far have to reschedule their weddings, and what once was a full May of weddings is now an empty May, with only 1 wedding from now until August. It has been hard on our couples more emotionally than anything, as they were so close to the finish line and now just need to sit and wait patiently until their new date. Thankfully their vendors have been awesome, and all worked together to find a new date that worked for all.

Q. What sorts of services do you offer (month-of coordination, full-service planning, or à la carte planning)?

SAMANTHA IRALDI: We offer day of, partial, and full planning, though everything can be customized to the couple wants/needs. For example, some couples only need us for day of, but ask for a little extra help when it comes to transportation, so we can customize that for them in their proposal. Each proposal is also a working document, so if a couple decides down the road that they need more help than expected, we can adjust accordingly.

Q. How many team members do you have and how do you guys work together, what duties does each person have?

SAMANTHA IRALDI:  We have 4 team members who work our normally scheduled hours, we have 1 intern, and we have 2 members who sometimes do weddings with us on the weekends if we need extra hands. Each of us don’t have a specific role, we more so just do what needs to be done, and what we are good at. For example, I am more detail oriented so I thrive when doing floor plans, timelines, budgets, etc. Some of our other team members are more on the creative side, so they provide the content for our Instagram, blogs, etc. Nobody has 1 specific job.

To learn more about Samantha or Kyle Michelle Weddings and their team of wedding planners visit https://www.kylemichelleweddings.com.

[itsworn]

Hot Rodding Pioneer Barney Navarro and His Ground-Breaking Model T Race Car, Then and Now

Barney Navarro’s legend has been passed around for generations now. It’s the classic tale of a panoramic vision, bulldog determination, and goal-oriented discipline. His interests and accomplishments ranged far beyond the realm of hot rodding, yet were largely the result of lessons learned on the sanctified dry lakebeds of southern California.

Young Navarro was already an esteemed high-performance engineer and machinist when he first rolled onto the sacred silt. That’s where this chapter of his odyssey began, on November 16, 1941. Early that morning, Navarro pulled the rowdy flathead V8 from his daily driven ’39 Ford sedan (equipped with shaved heads and the first ever Weiand dual-carb high-rise intake manifold) and swapped it into Bud Swanson’s T roadster. That afternoon, Navarro turned 107 mph at the last Muroc dry lakes meet before World War II put the kibosh on racing activities there. But his theories and hard parts were now officially documented entities. From that day, the legend was validated.

A typical early 1950s lakes scene for Barney Navarro and his No. 31 roadster, except for the atypically static Navarro, sidelined with some torched pistons. That’s Tom Beatty and wife Frankie in the background with Beatty’s infamous “Rust Bucket” T.

During his stint in the Army Air Corps (1945-1947), Navarro carefully considered all angles of manufacturing an aftermarket intake manifold of his own design for the Ford V8. Upon returning to his civilian home base of Eagle Rock, California, he implemented those plans, hastening the birth of Navarro Racing Equipment. He was in business, which meant his company would need an appropriate vehicle to showcase its products. This mobile public relations representative would also double as a research-and-development tool.

So it came to be that, for a few enchanted years (approximately 1947-1953), Navarro’s tool of choice was a humble ’27 Ford Model T roadster, thrashed together in a four-day frenzy with best friend (and fellow Glendale Stokers car club member) Tom Beatty. The resultant racer would ultimately prove itself to be an invaluable utensil that expedited the evolution of postwar high performance.

Bernard Julian Navarro put the hot rodding community on notice, circa 1925: He will race smarter than you. Mom Olga cheered him on, as sister Delores provided ballast.

Inside No. 31

Navarro and Beatty had been wrenching together since before joining the Glendale Stokers in 1940, so when they swaggered into Navarro’s roadster project (all four days of it) in October of 1947, they did so with confident abandon. They laid the foundation with a pair of Essex framerails connected via tubular crossmembers. A token roll bar was later added for more chassis rigidity. Suspension consisted of basically stock Ford components: Model 40 front axle with ’46 spindles, Houdaille shocks, spring-behind-axle split-bone arrangement, ’34 rearend with 4.11 Halibrand quick-change hung on shortened radius rods, and so on. A 6-gallon war surplus fuel tank fed the monster. The most exotic item was a Franklin steering box. The engine was located as far aft as was feasible, leaving scant elbow room for the lanky Navarro.

Of course, the engine was the focal point, and it didn’t disappoint. After prepping the standard-bore 59A block, Navarro turned to Charlie Braden at Norden Machine Works to assist with construction of a 180-degree manganese-molybdenum crank, ground down from the stock stroke to a svelte 3 inches, netting 176 inches of high-winding displacement (perfect for the SCTA’s A/Modified class). The 180-degree theory was an attempt to counteract the flathead’s inherent exhaust flow roadblocks, and hopefully cool the inferno in the siamesed exhaust ports.

Barney Navarro’s first timed run at the dry lakes was at Muroc in 1941. An enormous field of entrants limited him to this single pass on that day, but his homebuilt flathead V8 powered Bud Swanson’s T roadster to a respectable 107 mph. In a 2006 interview with Henry Astor, Navarro recalled his excitement: “When I took off with that thing, I couldn’t hold the clutch down. My leg was jumping up and down! The car wasn’t very stable. It didn’t have enough caster in the front, and the back end wanted to come around and meet the front. I couldn’t find enough wedges to wedge the front axle, so I stuck some end wrenches between the spring and axle.”

Navarro then approached his best friend and mentor, Ed Winfield, for a custom-ground steel billet cam, featuring lobes configured to coincide with the 180-degree crank’s altered firing order (1-8-3-6-4-5-2-7). Skeptical of roller lifters, Navarro opted to machine his own mushroom tappets, declaring, “A flat or mushroom lifter gives a quicker lift with less spring tension and no side thrust.”

Navarro designed and cast an intake manifold to accommodate a GMC 3-71 blower, fed by four Stromberg 48 carbs riding a very trick adapter manifold (featuring hidden internal airways to cool the fuel charge). Four V-belts spun the blower, while a fifth drove the water pump. Regardless, belt slippage still prohibited the blower from reaching its potential, so Navarro drilled the faces and V-sections of the aluminum pulleys to promote some cool airflow, which improved belt traction somewhat. Deck surfaces were crowned with a pair of Navarro cylinder heads.

Shop employee Bob Trammel’s T roadster sits oblivious to an approaching tornado: This car was the first to test Navarro’s supercharger package. Navarro installed his 3-71 GMC blower on Trammel’s 268-inch flatty and copped a 143-mph timing tag at El Mirage. Then the car was driven to Montana, where you could pretty much name your price for a California roadster with a 143-mph SCTA timing tag attached.

The 176-inch screamer produced 270 hp at 6,500 rpm on the dyno, but in competition it routinely sang soprano at 8,000 revs, generating even more horsepower and spooking a litany of wary drivers (of which Walt James was most successful). At those rpm’s, the pistons and rods swinging from the 180-degree crank essentially balanced themselves. (A later version of this engine, built with Don Yates, produced 413 hp on nitro, thanks to the far superior Gilmer belt drive assembly).

The 176er was backed with a ’39 Ford trans, directing torque to the Halibrand quickie. This assemblage was covered with some ’27 T roadster body panels that Navarro had discovered in a gully near his Eagle Rock home. Metal shaper extraordinaire Art Ingles (an employee at Kurtis Kraft) ironed out the biggest wrinkles and fabbed the hood top and side panels, nosepiece, bellypan, and even cast the aluminum grill. Navarro eventually coated the carcass with ’47 Ford maroon lacquer in a dirt floor shed behind the shop, and declared the project to be done.

Navarro bought this 3-71 GMC unit from Kong Jackson for $60 and tricked it up before he even had a car to put it on. The housing required only miniscule internal machining to allow free-spinning rotors to produce 16 pounds of boost in 1948. Carbs rode sidesaddle to accommodate packaging. Navarro told Henry Astor, “I don’t know where [Jackson] got it. It was after the war, and I was working at the [Hedreich Bros.] die shop. So I took the blower down there and made all the pieces for it there.”

Versatile

Originally intended to run the California Racing Association’s dirt ovals (which it did), the roadster proved versatile enough to pound any course it was aimed at. At the 1948 season opener at El Mirage, the Navarro roadster set a 136.77-mph record. By season’s end it was netting 146s. At the inaugural Bonneville National Speed Trials in 1949, it went 147. And when a bearing seizure pretzeled a bank of connecting rods during an oxygen injection test at the 1950 Fall Finals meet at Bonneville, Navarro hacksawed the twisted rods down to their main caps, reinstalled the battered cylinder head, added some cardboard aero via old StaBil oil cartons, and stunned the troops with a 78.76-mph O/Streamliner record blast in his now 88ci flathead V4 streamliner. (A spirited Wally Parks is rumored to be the instigator of these shenanigans.)

It should be noted that Navarro was an absolute pragmatist. He put no value on his record runs, other than the data gleaned and free promotion of his products. He was there to test theories and solve problems, period.

When his first crankshaft expired after a single season of racing, Navarro collaborated with Norden Machine Works in 1948 to produce this 180-degree masterpiece, employing a 3-inch stroke. The single-plane crank buzzed the flatty to 8,000 rpm effortlessly, as the rigidly mounted engine relayed bad vibes through the chassis and straight up Navarro’s spine, prompting this observation of its first lakes run: “I watched the tachometer needle break off at the indicating end, and then the tail broke off due to the vibration coming out of the engine.” Regardless, Navarro also quipped, “But you could run it that way all day long.”

As its creator earned his stripes, so did the roadster ultimately receive a race entry number on its doors. In the No. 31 roadster, superhero Navarro had custom-crafted his own trusty sidekick, in essence a mechanically animated version of himself: able and equipped for the task at hand. Indeed, both car and owner earned icon status throughout the hot rod microcosm, as Navarro’s T was subjected to more mad-scientist experimentation than doctors Frankenstein, Moreau, and Jekyll combined could have dished out. No. 31 not only survived the torture, but excelled. It pitched dirt clods at the inaugural CRA race (Labor Day, 1946) at the Gardena Bowl (later renamed Carrell Speedway), and even established a commanding presence at the first ever Santa Ana Drags despite grenading a rearend. All of that and plenty more, while chugging down countless alky cocktails and suffering brutal doses of blower boost.

The early 1950s found Navarro Racing Equipment jammed in high gear. The roadster was still running the lakes and salt, but the shop was almost too busy. Manifolds and cylinder heads were selling well, custom machining orders were common, and the sales and shipping chores were constant. Car magazines were commissioning Navarro to write monthly tech features (which he considered a pragmatic alternative to buying advertising space). He was also in high demand as a test driver and parts development consultant to manufacturers around the globe. And he was now involved in big-league powerboat racing, and even had an Indy car endeavor on the horizon. Heady stuff, but exhausting.

This artwork for a 1953 Hop Up magazine ad portrays Navarro’s disdain for snake oil salesman types and their shortsighted “get rich quick” approach to doing business. Navarro Speed Equipment even went so far as to advertise Moly Caps Engine Vitamins as a poke in the eye to such hucksters. Aimed directly at the Spiegel family’s Newhouse Automotive ads, Navarro’s faux distributor was dubbed “Old Home Automotive Laboratories” (a play on Newhouse). Ironically, the molybdenum sulfide powder Moly Caps (oil additives, priced at a dollar for a box of three capsules) sold like hotcakes worldwide. Go figure.

Something had to give, and the No. 31 roadster ultimately drew the short straw. Navarro was already looking past hot rodding, to the medical, electronic, and construction fields (among others). At some point in 1953, the roadster was unceremoniously traded to “a guy from Fresno” for a more practical stock sedan. Wife Donna confirms, “He was done with rodding, and he just moved on.” And just like that, the Navarro roadster evaporated from the high-velocity domain it had categorically ruled.

A Wondrous Perpetuation

In the spring of 1991, construction contractor Scott Perrott was inspired to build a street-legal track roadster in his Portland, Oregon, garage. While shopping for project parts, Perrott happened across an ad in the April 1992 issue of Hemmings Motor News for a stack of Model T body panels styled akin to Barney Navarro’s old No. 31. The package also included an Essex frame. The body parts were painted blue, but the telltale edges of a Navarro Racing Equipment decal under the paint was a promising omen. Comparisons with vintage photos confirmed a match with No. 31, right down to identical holes in the framerails.

World premiere of the Navarro Racing Equipment four-day wonder at El Mirage in October 1948. With Navarro’s back against the turtle-deck and steering wheel in his chest, entry and egress must have been challenging, never mind the shifting and steering chores. But those inconveniences were discounted in lieu of achieving the best possible weight distribution. The homely roadster wouldn’t look like this for long.

The seller had purchased the tin at California’s perennial Turlock Swap Meet and offered it to the Navarros, who waved it off as old news. So Perrott hightailed it to Carson City, Nevada, and laid down $1,750 to collect the goods. Upon returning home with the tin, Perrott sent photos to Navarro, who confirmed the car’s pedigree and agreed to support the project with feedback, advice, and a personal challenge to Perrott. Perrott recounts, “Barney said the car was too complicated for anyone to comprehend. And I’ll confess, there were times during the restoration that I agreed with him.”

Perrott had now swerved from hot rod builder to race car restorer. Thanks to some photos in a Don Montgomery book, “I knew what it was supposed to look like,” he recalls. And from there, a life-changing two-year restoration odyssey unfolded.

Navarro’s T leads the pack into a turn at Carrell Speedway. Deuce radiator shell and hood blister delete denoted No. 31’s dirt track package. The outboard exhaust was only used on dirt ovals, to avoid creating blinding dust storms (pipes exited framerails and tucked up under the chassis at the lakes). Supercharging was considered quite exotic at this time, but was legal if engine size was kept under 181 ci. Don Blair ran a Mercedes blower, and Navarro promptly followed with his 3-71 GMC. Navarro’s huffed workhorse dominated the field. Walt James was Navarro’s designated speedway driver, but it’s hard telling who was piloting the car in this shot. Perhaps one of our knowledgeable readers can set us straight.

The body (minus hood and nosepiece) bolted to the frame with ease, further confirming it as Navarro’s. The Art Ingles–crafted belly pan and turtle-deck lid also slipped into place organically. The missing Ingles trademark nosepiece (one of 10 that he crafted) was eventually sniffed out and purchased by Perrott.

Once the motor plate location was absolutely verified, chassis construction commenced. The gifted Eric Sanders oversaw most of that action in his Eugene, Oregon, shop. The correct 6.00-16 tires on 16×4.5 ’48 Ford wheels were bolted to ’46 Ford juice brakes and spindles. Then the dots were connected. Eventually.

By June 10, 1951, paint was sprayed and dried, and was being weathered off at El Mirage. This blast earned Third Place honors in the A/Modified Roadster class, with a 113.636-mph speed.

Navarro had sold his signature 176-inch engine to a Montana gentleman at some point in the 1960s, sans blower (which went to racer and Navarro employee Don Yates). So Perrott and company were resigned to re-creating the warrior flathead from scratch. The new engine would be relatively mild internally (to accommodate street use), but absolutely correct visually. Despite rigorous research, some insidious engineering aspects of the engine build presented conundrums. For example, recreating Navarro’s unique carb adapter and blower drive began with a “How did he do that?” from Perrott, prompting the drafting of machinist Bob Coutts into the project. Once Coutts and Perrott reverse-imagineered the convoluted intake system, the rest of the drivetrain build seemed relatively straightforward.

The body, drivetrain, and chassis projects seemed to coincide in sync: Two years after hatching his plan, Perrott was driving No. 31. From the first nervous test drive around the block to the flat-out runs on courses around the planet, Barney Navarro’s spirit has ridden shotgun with Perrott. Chauffeuring that phantom passenger around is a responsibility that Scott Perrott considers a humbling honor. It’s certainly precious cargo. Legendary, even.

This uncredited spy photo depicts emblematic lakes lore. Someone must have procured a military surplus generator somewhere along the line to power that welder. Note the oxygen injection setup hovering over carbs. Tubing from stacks connected to in-car oxygen tanks.

Epilogue

Barney Navarro died on his 88th birthday, in 2007. His greatest natural gift may have been that of farsightedness. Navarro possessed a wide-angle perspective that allowed him to prudently assess all factors well before approaching any challenge. His bottom line was simplicity. He told author Paul D. Smith, “You don’t violate the laws of nature. You can’t; they’re inviolate. If you understand the basic physics, you have the problem beat. Now it’s a matter of ingenuity and figuring out the limitations of what the rulebooks allow you, working within those parameters.”

Navarro credits his science teacher at Glendale High School, Mr. DeBra, for an even more basic tenet that stuck: “There’s nothing more fun than learning.”

Key components of Navarro’s oxygen-injection system. Testing showed a 29.9 percent increase in oxygen to be as powerful as a 90 percent nitro mix. A 30 percent oxygen boost proved fatal to pistons. His standard oxy/alky combo bumped Barney’s speed from 102 to 136 mph at one lakes meet. But Navarro was actually a stalwart opponent of liquid or gaseous power adders, because the fuel and gas cars were all lumped in together at early lakes meets. Indeed, he perceived nitromethane to be “an unfair advantage. It wasn’t demonstrating mechanical skill, or utilizing the laws of physics. It was chemistry.”

Donna Navarro’s take on Barney’s approach to problem solving: “Even in high school they called him the Professor. Barney could be impatient at times. He didn’t suffer fools gladly. As soon as he solved one problem, he was on to greater challenges. He was very advanced in his thinking. His intellect was just astonishing!”

Navarro assessed his own legacy in a 2007 Ken Gross interview. He said, “I hadn’t planned all these things. There were serendipitous coincidences that provided me with opportunities, and I availed myself of them.”

Scott Perrott summarizes: “Barney was like a sophisticated Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. You could talk about anything with him, he was so knowledgeable.”

Cooling after a 106-mph run. Note the roadster finally has number, roll bar, and hood bubble. The ’32 radiator shell was replaced with this Art Ingles nosepiece in 1949. The roadster’s race number denotes a 31st place in SCTA’s season points tally (Navarro strongly preferred his previous No. 9 signage). Dry lakes pit parking was casual: wherever you coasted to a stop.

The unassuming Navarro Racing Equipment storefront at 5142 San Fernando Road in Glendale features a mocked-up flathead for window bait. Thieves made off with the partial engine anyway. Kong Jackson, Ed Winfield, Frank Kurtis, Doane Spencer, and other luminaries populated the same cozy neighborhood.

Inside the shop, Barney Navarro revels in his element. This example from 1948 offers a peek at Navarro’s concrete cutting saw under development. It opened new possibilities in the construction industry.

Barney and wife Donna processed orders via telephone from rodders around the world. Donna also ran the mills and lathes when needed. That’s Navarro’s six-cylinder Rambler Indy engine providing office décor at his last shop (on Chevy Chase Drive) in 1993. This property was sold in 2008.

Time and nature had taken a toll. The Panel Beater (in Eugene, Oregon) was the tin masseuse. Among other chores, he re-created the lower 4 inches of dissolved matter and managed an even better fit to the Essex framerails. Dale Withers in Portland later squirted the ’46 Ford maroon enamel. And Portland hot rod hero Roger Simonatti wired and detailed the car.

Perrott’s 286ci tribute to Navarro’s mighty 176er, mocked up in his garage and almost ready for final assembly. The 3-71 supercharger (built by Portland blower guru Gale Plummer) rides a Navarro manifold, of course. Bob Coutts built the blower’s snout, drive, and carb manifold to Navarro’s specs. Heads are Navarro Hi Dome. Mag is Harman-Collins. Perrot has Navarro’s original headers and heavily milled heads, slated for a future re-creation of the fabled 176er. Joining them will be Jahns pistons on Cunningham rods and a billet-steel clone of the Winfield SU1A cam. Navarro’s signature Norden 180-degree 3-inch-stroke manganese-molybdenum crankshaft has been approximated with a billet-steel unit from Moldex. And yes, this build is Navarro Approved.

Back at The Panel Beater’s tin spa, the body is recovering nicely. This angle offers a rare peek at the aluminum Art Ingles belly pan.

Barney Navarro was reunited with No. 31 at Muroc dry lake in 1996, thanks to Scott Perrott and friends. As Perrott rolled the roadster onto the lakebed, he heard Navarro’s distinctive baritone proclaim, “Hey, that’s my car!” Mission accomplished.

The principles (left to right): Barney Navarro, Scott Perrott, and Donna Navarro at the Navarro Racing Equipment shop on Chevy Chase Drive in 1996, following test runs at the Muroc Reunion. The car was brought inside so Navarro could fine-tune the carbs.

On July 14, 2005, many tangibles of the Navarro legacy were scattered to the winds. The auction was a sad but necessary purge. Mike Herman at H&H Flatheads bought the Navarro brand and most of the parts inventory, but Scott Perrott got the Rambler Indy engine, and the general public paid fair prices for historical tools and machinery.

An iconic race car restoration is celebrated with a cushy parking spot at a museum, right? Wrong. Race cars are meant to be raced. While it has done some brief museum time, No. 31 prefers to kick up its heels. Perrott ran the course at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2000 (where it was reunited with Tom Beatty’s belly tank), tossed sand at the Race of Gentlemen at Pismo Beach in 2016, and closed the year burning rubber at the Santa Margarita Ranch’s RPM Nationals drags.

While 17 boxes of photos, documents, and memorabilia were being sorted through (thank you, Donna Navarro!), the lack of timing tags became apparent. Scott Perrott set us straight: “Barney had tons of tags. He considered them excellent shim stock.” Mystery solved. This tag was a rare survivor.

The typical fate of a Navarro timing tag.

Founded in 1940, the Glendale (nee Sun Valley) Stokers included hot rod notables Bill Davis, Doane Spencer, Frank Livingston, George Hill, Tom Beatty, and the Watson brothers, among others. Decades after Navarro made the molds for the plaques, he was presented with this one by surviving club members. It has never been mounted.

The end. For now.

The post Hot Rodding Pioneer Barney Navarro and His Ground-Breaking Model T Race Car, Then and Now appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-rodding-pioneer-barney-navarro-ground-breaking-model-t-race-car-now/ via IFTTT

[theviewfromscottsoffice]

A Diet That Really Isn't A Diet

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and if you were dreaming of a white Christmas here in Montana your dream sure came true. 

With the new year looming large just a few days away it's the time of year where everyone starts thinking about New year's resolutions. I don't know about you but one of mine each year seems to be losing weight. 

I have always been terrible when it comes to maintaining weight. Each year I start off great. I get down to the weight I want to be, I exercise on a regular basis and everything goes well until about September. Then the Holidays hit and before I know it I've put on 20 pounds of unwanted flab and I start the whole cycle all over again. Sound familiar to anyone?

This year I decide to do something about it before the first of the year and do a little more research into dieting options that won't starve you to death and leave you feeling more miserable than being fat. So in late October the journey began. 

I had heard about the Caveman diet or Paleo so I decided to check it out. It sounded like something I could really wrap my head around, well at least my mouth.

So what is the Caveman diet you ask, well the Daily Burn Blog describes it as this. ( http://dailyburn.com/life/health/what-is-paleo-diet-food-list/ )

"While this ancient nutrition style has been around for (literally) ages, it wasn’t until 2002 that Loren Cordain, PhD, popularized the caveman plan when he published his book, The Paleo Diet. “It really isn’t a diet, but rather a lifetime program of eating to improve health and well-being and minimize the risk of chronic diseases that plague the Western world,” explains Dr. Cordain. According to a recent nationwide analysis of U.S. grocery purchases, processed foods make up more than 60 percent of the calories in food we buy. By replacing packaged goods with nutrient-rich, whole, fresh foods, Dr. Cordain, his mentors and other Paleo followers believe a person’s health will improve."

"Back in the day, cavemen stuck to a fairly basic menu — after all, they could only eat what they could catch. “Evolution through natural selection formed the organizing template not only for all of biology but also for nutrition,” says Cordain. Paleo-era humans consumed a diet high in protein and fiber but devoid of refined sugar and highly processed foods. “We can’t fully mimic the exact foods that our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate, but we don’t have to in order to make improvements in our general health and well-being,” says Dr. Cordain. He explains that contemporary paleo diets emulate the fare of our pre-agricultural predecessors — using everyday food available at supermarkets today."

Here is a short list of what you can eat on this diet. 

So in short on this diet in which you are really not dieting I have been eating a lot of meat from beef to fish, most nuts with the exception of peanuts, fresh organic fruits and lots of vegetables. I have cut out all dairy except for grass fed butter which I use in my Bullet Proof Coffee and all grains, believe it or not I really cant say I've missed any of it but I'm not going to lie the first couple of weeks were hell.

When you cut out the grains you go through whats called the carb flu. For me personally I experienced fatigue, headaches and brain fog but day by day these symptoms decreased as I became fat adapted. 

Being fat adapted is probably the greatest thing about this way of eating. When your not getting your energy from sugary sources and carbs it has to come from somewhere so it comes from your fat stores. When this happens your appetite decreases, you have steady energy through out the day and you actually feel more alert and sharper.  No longer do I feel famished all the time, I can actually go hours without thinking about my next meal and there is no need to carbo load before a workout.

When I started this right before Halloween I weighed 203.5 pounds my BMI tells me I should be around 185 to 145 for my height. I have been through Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas and I now weigh 190 and all without starving and minimal exercise (I go to the doctors this week and I will hopefully find out exactly whats wrong with my knee). 

So this has been my experience as of today. I didn't want to bore everyone with a lot of scientific facts but if you are curious there are a few links in this article and I would be more than happy to discuss this in more detail with anyone who is interested. I plan on sticking with this until I reach the weight and look I want but I also want to see if this is a sustainable way of life. I really want to see what the benefits are long term. All I can say is as I sit here and write this drinking my Bullet Proof Coffee I feel really good. 

In a couple of months I'll check back in on this topic and give you all an update on how things are going. Right now I'm going to check on my maternity session and make sure we are still on for this week. Watch for that blog in the next couple of weeks. Next week, unless something more exciting happens I hope to have more info on my knee. Maybe I'll write something about coping with injury. The nice thing about having a blog is I can write about whatever is on my mind besides photography and hopefully touch on things you want to hear about or learn. 

I would love to hear from you, please feel free to comment if even just to say hi. I kind of like to talk hence the blog. Until next week I'll sign off with a joke. 

DOC: Your fat and you need to go on a diet. I'm not going to sugarcoat it because you'll eat that too.  

Happy New Year

Scott