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Stroker's (Tom Medley's) 1940 Rebuild Project

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On the road with Tom and his coupe in 2007.

Somewhere in Texas.

Ron Ceridono thinks that the trunk of Tom's coupe makes for a pretty good lounge chair.

Tom Medley once joked he would have liked a flamed '40 Coupe. But this isn't what he had in mind. Hot rodder, vintage go-karter, angler, cartoonist and creator of Stroker McGurk, Tom Medley recently suffered a hot rodder's most feared nightmare – a garage fire. A blaze in his Burbank shop torched nearly all its contents – tools, welders, sewing machines, memorabilia, etc.

Fortunately, Tom escaped injury but his beloved 1940 Ford Deluxe coupe wasn't as lucky. It was heavily damaged, interior vaporized, paint seared into oblivion, body panels warped into a wavy wasteland. In response, a collection of Tom's friends and family have joined together to rebuild the car and get the 91-year-old hot rod legend behind the wheel again.

Medley's history is well known, chronicled most recently by Dick Martin in the January 2011 issue of Rod & Custom.

www.rodandcustommagazine.com/thehistoryof/1101rc_tom_medley_story/printer_friendly.html

A Pat Ganahl photo-essay in The Rodder's Journal, Issue 7, also detailed Tom's career with Hot Rod and Rod & Custom magazines.

Tom's coupe epitomized the home-build hot rod. He acquired the car in the early 1980s, and built it in the same garage that is now a charred ruin. Medley has a self-taught, eclectic skillset: he did the upholstery, body and paint work all solo in the cramped 19x17 structure. Under the louvered hood, he installed a ZZ1 crate-motor Chevy 350 hooked to a 700R4 automatic transmission. The original Ford I-beam front axle was upgraded with a Mustang II front suspension that was, literally, taken out of a Mustang II. The '40 Ford rear axle and transverse leaf spring gaveway to an IRS Jaguar rear end. The car was a true driver, and Tom drove it on many cross-country jaunts.

All was immolated in the ensuing blaze. After the fire, friends rallied and put together a team to fix the '40. Randy Clark of Hot Rods & Custom Stuff was asked to help out on the restoration project. He kindly accepted the challenge. Randy, and wife, Peaches, retrieved the car from Burbank and hauled it back to their shop in Escondido, Calif. With its vast experience in restoring and building rods and customs from the ground up, Hot Rods & Custom Stuff is the ideal shop to do the job. And nothing is more “ground up” than a burned up car. Moreover, everyone involved with the project wanted it to go quickly – a key reason for choosing Hot Rods & Custom Stuff, and its “all under one roof” capability.

Once the coupe arrived in Escondido, clean up began, digging through the blackened debris to determine the true condition of his once very hot rod. The car was disassembled, the parts tagged and bagged. The trunk yielded one unique treasure: an original cast aluminum SCTA Roadrunners club plaque. How it survived the heat is anyone's guess.

First, the body was removed, then blasted with garnet media to remove what was left of the paint and fire-induced oxidation. This was followed up by a thorough massage with metal prep. Next, the Hot Rods & Custom Stuff metal craftsmen whirled into action. Thin gauge sheet metal, such as that used in automobiles, undergoes severe changes when subjected to heat. And garage fires are hot. Very hot. The '40's body panels were warped, twisted, stretched, and contorted in all directions. Only metal workers with years of experience understand how overheated, stressed steel will react to more heat, and the friendly persuasion of hammer and dolly. As of late December, the metal work was nearly complete – a miraculous achievement in light of the task before Hot Rods & Custom Stuff's craftsman. A tip of the welding helmet to each of them!

News of Medley's misfortune quickly swept through the hot rod community, triggering an outpouring of support that has been remarkable. Friends have offered parts and labor. Randy Clark's commitment and generosity have been truly amazing.

In light of the resources required to complete the project, more help is needed. If you would like to help rebuild Stroker's '40, a fund has been established for fans of Tom Medley and Stroker McGurk to donate additional support. Regardless of the amount donated, everyone who pitches in will receive a commemorative item from Stroker himself.

Interested in helping? If so, please click on the DONATE button located below, which leads to PayPal. There, you can use a debit or credit card to pledge support. Being a PayPal member is NOT required.

Checks can also be sent to the The Stroker McGurk 40 Ford Trust, 2710 Vista Crest Road, Orange, CA 92867.

Watch the area below to follow the progress on the rebuilding of Stoker's '40.

After the fire, Tom's coupe was brought to Hot Rods & Custom Stuff for refurbishment.

Some of the carnage inflicted by the fire. Ron Ceridono's lounge chair needs some work now.

The interior is gutted.

The source of the fire was the engine compartment. We'll check out the internals for health and will repair as necessary.

Up on the rack at Hot Rods & Custom Stuff to start the rebuild process.

The fenders have been removed from the body.

The left rear quarter with the fender removed.

Removing the doors.

The car needs to be completely disassembled to repair it correctly.

Removing the body from the chassis.

Removing the body from the chassis and placing it on a body dolly.

Taking a look at the chassis with the body removed.

The body separated from the chassis and resting on the body dolly.

Checking some of the stainless trim to determine if it can be used again. They'll be put aside for safe keeping.

The fire debris has been removed so work can proceed.

The body will be blasted with garnet media to remove all rust and old paint.

We use a garnet media for surface prep and it does a great job.

From rusty metal to white metal in one step.

Now we can start to see what we're really working with.

Out of the blasting booth and into the cold light of day.

A lot of distortion of the sheet metal is evident.

We checked the contours of the body against templates made from a known good one.

The judicious application of heat and quick quenching is shrinking the metal back into shape.

The chassis was stripped down to the bare frame and also media blasted.

If you think that heat doesn't affect metal, take a look at this front coil spring that was removed from the chassis.

Randy and Manny assess progress on the body rejuvenation.

A big THANKS to the suppliers who have contributed to this effort.

Stacks of parts from generous suppliers waiting to be installed.

Even Tom got into the act. He had a spare hood lying around, so we'll put it to good use.

Randy is caught reminiscing about those crazy phsychedelic paint jobs.

Front suspension components from TCI are fitted up.

The new front suspension components, courtesy of Total Cost Involved Engineering, are installed.

The new suspension also includes disc brakes.

The engine was thoroughly inspected and all suspect parts were replaced. Edelbrock threw in a carburetor and a water pump.

The body is back in shape and looking good.

At the recent 2012 Grand National Roadster Show we had a table full of Tom Medley's Stroker McGurk memorabilia available. Folks who made a contribution had an opportunity to pick their souvenier and have Tom sign it right there.

The t-shirts had Tom's photo on one side...

...and a Stroker caricature on the other.

Noted artist Tom Fritz had created a caracature of Tom and Stroker for Tom's 90th birthday celebration, and we had prints available.

Tom was busy all of Saturday afternoon meeting friends, both old and new, and signing memorabilia. All he needed to keep going was a rootbeer float.

There was a steady stream of Stroker fans lined up to meet and talk with Tom.

You won't meet a nicer guy than Tom Medley, and Hot Rods & Custom Stuff is proud to be a part of the resurrection of his coupe.

Tom Sewell is volunteering his award-winning upholstering skills to re-doing the interior on Tom's coupe. A huge "THANKS!" to Tom.

Jim "Jake" Jacobs stopped by to reminisce with Tom about their old times together at Rod & Custom magazine back in the 70's.

Robert Williams, the King of "Lowbrow Art" and his wife Suzanne stopped by to visit with their long-time friend, Tom Medley.

Meanwhile, back at the shop, the guys were putting the finishing touces on the engine.

The Jim Babb radiator has seen better days.

The "new" hood is fit check with the cowl, radiator support, grill and fenders.

Fitting the front fenders.

Tom visited the Hot Rods & Custom Stuff shop last week to lay eyes on his coupe. Manny, our metal guy, enlisted Tom to lend a hand in fixing up his coupe. A judicious application of force was called for on the rear fender. Not too much, yet not too little, Tom!

Tom's pleased with the "flashback" style on the hood.

But then again, maybe he's NOT so pleased. Judging by the look on his face, and the heft of the hammer, things could be changing in a split second.

Tom and long-time friend Bruce Bereiter, who has done plenty to help Tom out and get this project moving. A big "Thanks!" to Bruce and Jocko's Speed Shop.

Hot Rods & Custom Stuff proprieter, Randy Clark, was happy to have Tom visit, and by all accounts Tom was pleased with the progress on his coupe.

Doing the final fit up of the front suspension components. Today it was the sway bar.

One last area of rust on the floorpan that Randy wanted to make sure was corrected before the body went into the blast booth one last time to eliminate any possibility of rust popping up in the future. Our shop is about twenty miles from the coast, but it's surprising how aggressive salt-laden air can be, even this far inland. The blasting will be done and then immediately coated in DP90 epoxy primer to seal out any moisture.