TOP END TUDOR – JOHN & DEE ZAMMIT 1934 CHEVY TUDOR
When John and Dee Zammit decided to indulge themselves by owning a cool car, they never had the slightest idea that it would embark them on a six year journey into a world that was foremost foreign. Now with four years membership of the Highway 66 Rodders of Rockhampton under their belt and a few thousand miles behind the wheel of this gorgeous candied creation, they have found a new circle of friends and added one very classy car to the rodding community.
“Every now and then Dee and I would attend a car show when they were on locally in Rockhampton,” John explains, “I just love the look of classic old cars. One day Dee said that we should get one! So with the seed planted I thought that I would look around and buy a hot rod.”
Unsure of what he was actually looking to buy, John’s search led him to renowned local builder Warren Burggraaff, operating under his ‘Wazrodz and Restorations’ moniker. “Warren was recommended as the go-to guy, as he knew what was what. I didn’t know him before that or any of his cars,” John confesses. Although Dee had a soft spot towards a roadster, John felt that it was impractical. “Up here you would be either cooked in the sun or drenched in rain and you can’t leave anything in it unattended. I wanted a back seat for friends and air conditioning, so to me a tudor just made sense. It was Warren that said if you buy one already built, then it will always be known as somebody else’s,” he recalls.
John’s next line of questions was how he could go about building one, that ended with him receiving a shopping list for a massive list of parts. Taking on board his educated advice, John invited Warren to join him on a Brisbane bound flight to check out a potential candidate that was three quarters finished. That resulted in a firm “Don’t touch it!”
“During the return flight we got to talking about what I do as a fitter and turner and that I could make some parts for his shop. That led to me working in his shop on my rod.”
Back in Rocky, John decided to take on his own build, assisted with knowledgeable guidance from his new friend. Choosing a reproduction ‘33-’35 Chevy tudor body style was also directly related to his new mentor’s preferred manufacturer. It’s no secret that Warren is a little bowtie biased and he is extremely experienced in putting one together. When John had no defined make of vehicle in mind it was an easy decision to go with what Warren knew and was geared up for.
With a firm plan hatched, a body was ordered from Lawrie Scheuber at Central Park Street Rods (now trading under Chev Tech). The big selling points for John were the functional rear side windows, the extra 50mm of length and a wider American body style. “Considering that I’m 6’ 3” it ticked all the boxes, besides it’s hard to talk to a passenger in the dicky seat with a roof on a roadster,” he adds.
Unfortunately the wait time for a body shell was almost 12 months, but that gave John time to start on his shopping list and in turn, trade his time at Wazrodz for the required parts.
“Now and then he would say, ‘while you are making that part, you will need one’, so I would make two. Looking back I don’t think that I would have been able to do it just by myself but with Warren’s tuition, I thought it was achievable.”
When the body did arrive it came with the two widened rear guards. The running boards and front fenders were made by John from Warren’s own moulds, also widened to suit and hopefully rectify any tyre rubbing during tight turns, which is one of John’s pet hates. His stipulation for the project was to build a driver that could go over speed bumps and drive everywhere without worrying about it bottoming out, but still sport a killer stance without airbags, a characteristic that Warren has successfully achieved in the past.
Amplifying that this is a scratch built recreation of a ’34 Chevy tudor is the fabricated chassis. Using plasma cut 3mm plate and built to Warren’s tried and proven formula of stepping the front 50mm and the rear 30mm from stock, John jigged all the corresponding components and drew upon his qualified welding skills to stitch the new platform together under Warren’s watchful eye. A folded C-channel X member ties the boxed frame rails together while incorporating a tailshaft safety loop. At the pointy end a Holden HR front end is neatly nestled between the frame, equipped with HZ stubs and Girlock binders. Commodore rack and pinion steering makes easy work of directional duties.
Underneath that sweeping tailpan lies a Ford 28 spline diff, that John narrowed by three inches and located with shrink-wrapped parallel leaf springs and a combination of Wazrods and owner fabricated hangers and saddle plates. The unfussy combination provides trouble free performance without breaking the budget.
Rotating those super slick Coddington Slayer hoops is a rebuilt 350 small block Chevy, that has been treated to an Edelbrock Pro-Flo 2 EFI unit. John says that he chose the Edelbrock directional injection unit for practicality whilst retaining the visual appearance of a traditional carby equipped street rod engine. The improved 350 mill is dressed to impress with a host of polished goodies including many owner made components, such as the AC and alternator brackets crafted from stainless steel. A Turbo 350 transmission features a lockup converter to help preserve fuel economy.
With all the major motivational players accounted for, John finished welding the chassis and thoroughly smoothed away all unwanted slag, dags and splatters; it was then handed over to be powder coated in hammer finish charcoal.
With the foundation squared away, John could devote his time towards the body where he learnt more new skills along the way.
“I bogged and sanded most of the body,” he explains, “Warren primed it… I sanded it! He undercoated it… I sanded it!
An original bonnet needed to be located as this component is not available as an aftermarket item, thankfully Warren knew where to find a suitable four-piece panel (in his stash), albeit in less than perfect condition. In his stride, John used what remained of the original latching mechanism and hinge system and recreated it in stainless steel. He also crafted the external moulding that enhances the ventilation flutes.
The dazzling final colour choice was a joint decision between John and Dee, and as you can see they both got their own way. Vivacious candy apple appearing red hue is Spray Chief’s Red Glow, a combination of candy and pearl that was applied over a silver base on the bottom and black base above the Burggraaff signature styled flames. John’s desire for ghostly hot licks were fulfilled, almost disappearing in some light instances and igniting in others.
“I didn’t have to detail it underneath and I spent a lot more time than most people would have, but I thought that it’s only my time so I will try and achieve a standard that I was happy with. People would say, ‘but it will only get scratched,’ but at least I know that it was done right from the beginning.”
What John is referring to is the many hours that he spent smoothing the entire underside of the fenders and running boards. It’s as pretty down under as it is on top.
“I have heard others say that every stone chip is a badge of honour, people have trophies on the mantel but I collect memories from every wave, smile and thumbs up.”
Venturing inside the chopped Chevy reveals a plethora of Johns handiwork coupled with the expert skills of Russell and Aaron at Allenstown Upholstery. Not trying to reinvent the proverbial wheel, John followed his advisors previous successful pairings and provided his trimmers with a 1985 Subaru Liberty rear seat and a pair of 1990 Mazda MX6 buckets for them to refine and recover in Graphite coloured Ashford leather. Other than the black carpet, every remaining interior piece was constructed or modified by John before it was either cloaked in the supple hide or coated in paint. The dash panel, centre console, door cards, armrests, kick panels and intricate embellishments are all owner created. Power windows, cruise control, fob activated central locking, stereo and courtesy lights that were all owner wired with high temp “mine spec” strands of discarded wire off cuts that were purchased for a song from a local supplier.
If you have been paying attention throughout this article you can start to understand why this build consumed six years of John’s spare time. You will also pick up on the fact that where he can save some coin and DIY, he will, but not at the expense of the high standards incessant throughout the entire vehicle.
Final chassis assembly was completed at home and then trucked to Warren’s shop for body fitment. Back home, John continued to piece all the finished components together until he accomplished his goal.
When we discussed a timeline for completion, John wanted it done in two years; “Obviously that didn’t work out! It blew out a little bit,” he jokes.
“I learned a lot of new skills and had fun doing it, something that I would have never achieved if I had just bought one! There is no way that I would have finished it to the standard that it is without Warren’s guidance and help. I would also like to thank Garry, Clive, Russel, Aaron, James, Doug, Geoff and especially Dee, who supported me on this amazing ride.”
The completed Chevy’s first rod run was May in the Bay, and then the Mackay Hot Rod Show where it won Top Street Rod and qualified as a Meguiars Superstar finalist with an invitation to attend MotorEx in Sydney. Not wanting to trailer his built-for-the-street hot rod, John outfitted the Chevy with an array of ingenious ways to help protect the freshly finished Tudor during the 3,300 kilometre round trip.
“I knew that we couldn’t really compete with the show only quality of cars on display, but the experience was a real eye opener. I didn’t see many wrecking yard parts on winning cars though, it’s a bit like comparing apples with oranges,” he quips.
“For us I think it was a once in a life time opportunity that we may never be invited to do again. It pushed us to attend the long distance event and the prize money certainly helped with the fuel cost. To be driving a car at 110 kph that you built yourself though is pretty cool!”
“We are still gob smacked at the open generosity of fellow rodders that don’t know us from a bar of soap. It’s very refreshing to see that you’re not alone on the road and if you were ever broken down on the side of the road, someone would stop. I have only read about that in magazines.”
John ends our lengthy phone chat with a humorous story of when he was sitting in the Chev waiting for Dee at a stop in Coffs Harbour when a parking inspector came along and didn’t even attempt to get his hand under the guards and chalk the top of the tyres. “He just gave a grunt and moved onto the next car,” John says, “You don’t get that on a trailer.”
