honest charley garage

[caption id="attachment_2796" align="aligncenter" width="640"] SHAY OWNER'S CLUB INTERNATIONAL Tour Group[/caption] Look closely and you'll see the lug count isn't quite what you expected. They're replicas! Harry Shay's Model A replicas were built between 1979 and 1982 and could be bought through Ford dealers and a group of Shay Model A enthusiasts found their way to Coker Tire Company today for a tour.

There are plenty of cool things going on around here, but one of the coolest is the fact that the Honest Charley Garage crew will be making their TV debut this Wednesday night on the Speed Channel! That's right, our boys across the street are going big time! They were approached with the idea to appear on the TV Show, Car Warriors, which is a weekly program on Speed, airing on Wednesday nights at 9pm EST. Of course, HCG obliged and built a killer car while out West for filming. We don't want to spoil the surprise, so tune into see the HCG crew turning wrenches and building an awesome car in just 48 hours!!! Just as an FYI, Honest Charley Garage is part of the Coker Group, and does high quality automotive

In case you haven't heard, Corky really, really likes vintage motorcycles. About a year ago he picked up an unrestored 1917 Harley Davidson with sidecar. It was basically all there but the sheetmetal on the sidecar was pretty rough so our guys, Richard Marter and Delton Scott, completely built a new sidecar body using the bones as patterns. These guys can do anything! The knucklehead sittin in the sidecar is our main man Hal Everett. He is a dang good mechanic...not to be confused though with a dang good sheet metal man...that title still rests on Delton and Richards shoulders! Maybe you saw Hal on our Barn Finds episode of Hot Rod TV recently. Hal's a mess and a fun part of HCG! The bike? It's at Dudes getting the restoration completed. It'll be Dude-ified, restored, finished and shown in 2012.

In case you haven't heard, we recreated the infamous Marmon Wasp, which was the winner car at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 back in 1911. It was driven by Ray Harroun, and it was the first racecar of its kind--it had a single seat, and a rear view mirror, as opposed to other cars at the time, which had a ride-along mechanic. This lighter design, in combination with strict guidelines from the engineers at Firestone tires regarding speed and possible tire failure, gave Ray Harroun the win with an average speed of nearly 75mph. By the way, the Firestone representatives allegedly stated that speeds over 75mph would result in tire failure...

With the Marmon Wasp mostly complete, we snuck it out of the shop for a few minutes and snapped some pictures of it. We're just gonna let those pictures do the talkin'... [caption id="attachment_1503" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The Marmon Wasp, hand built by Honest Charley Garage"][/caption]

Hey, remember when we said we had a short deadline on the Marmon Wasp rebuild? Well, it just got shortened up! Everybody at Honest Charley Garage is thrashing on this thing to get it done in time, and it's time for the final touches to make it as authentic as possible. The body is on, and the guys are hammering out the belly pan as this is being typed. The seat arrived today, so the "interior" (if you want to call it that) is complete. [caption id="attachment_1491" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Engine is pretty much done--paint didn\'t last too long on that exhaust!"][/caption]

Ya know, the funnest part of building an old car is driving it for the first time. Anybody that has taken the time to build an old hot rod or vintage race car knows the first drive is always the most exciting, even if the car is barely hanging together. In fact, the less complete the car is, the more fun it is to drive! We've definitely taken a few drives around the block with unfinished cars, and this one was extra special. If you recall, we drove the Marmon Wasp quite a bit in its earlier configuration, but with the new engine and drive train, it's a whole new animal. [caption id="attachment_1459" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="It drives!!! "][/caption]

That's right! All of the hard work by the guys at Honest Charley Garage is paying off because the rumble of the massive T-Head engine is filling the shop! Hal and Delton teamed up and installed all of the necessary components to fire this thing up, and boy does it sound awesome! We're really getting pumped, as the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 draws closer and closer! At the same time, we know there's a lot of work left to do on the Marmon Wasp, so we're really leaning on our guys at HCG to get the job done. [caption id="attachment_1444" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="YES, that is fire coming out of the cylinders! Hal is over there controlling the throttle, while we soaked up the exhaust fumes and enjoyed the fireworks display!"][/caption]

It's time for the daily update on the Marmon Wasp--today, it's ALL about the engine! When our Marmon Wasp replica was first built, it had an overhead valve inline six-cylinder engine, which was no where near correct for this era. It was built just to get it on the road, but we're going all out this time with a period-correct power plant! The original Marmon Wasp used a six-cylinder T-Head engine, which was a one-off build, so we were on the hunt for a similar engine. Luckily, we found one and it's almost identical to the original! [caption id="attachment_1429" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Hal preparing the Marmon Wasp Engine and Chassis"][/caption]

With most of the painting complete, Hal and Delton could get busy on reassembling the Marmon Wasp chassis and getting it back on its wheels. Speaking of wheels, Richard worked his magic on the wheels to recreate the original look, and had help from J.D. Scott to machine a few necessary parts for the hubs. The end result is a perfectly matched appearance, down to the intentional dings in the wheel covers. [caption id="attachment_1414" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Not so mellow yellow...this thing is bright!"][/caption]

As you probably know by now, the Marmon Wasp replica built by Honest Charley Garage has actually been semi-complete for a year or so. However, it's never seen an ounce of paint, so it's time to get with the program and blast some yellow on this beast! Richard aka the "Car Carpenter" did an awesome job on the metal work, getting it ready for Zane to prep the panels and lay down some paint. [caption id="attachment_1381" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Zane lays down the base color, which has been professionally matched to the original Marmon Wasp."][/caption]

The guys at Honest Charley Garage are still hammering away (literally) at the Marmon Wasp rebuild. Lots of metal work happening right now, with the chassis nearing completion, but Zane is also hitting it hard in the body shop. We're going to be providing daily updates of the car's progress, and show you guys its debut at the 100th anniversary Indy 500, which is just a few weeks away. We're counting on the guys at HCG to get the job done in time, so follow take a look at some of our latest photos to see exactly what these guys are capable of... [caption id="attachment_1357" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Delton Scott making a bracket for the revamped Marmon Wasp chassis."][/caption] Click to see lots more cool photos of the fabrication process!

If you guys follow along with our blog, or Coker Tire in general, then you know we built a replica of the Marmon Wasp, the winning car from the inaugural Indy 500, which took place in 1911. That's 100 years ago, if you hadn't already done the math. So, with this year marking the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 it's the perfect time to unveil the Marmon Wasp in finished form. [caption id="attachment_1347" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="The old engine--A Ford inline six-cylinder....not exactly period correct!"][/caption]

We have groups of people come into our facility for tours all the time, but it's extra special when they show up in a cool car! Take for example, the Bandit Run--this event came through Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago, and made a stop right here at Coker Tire. Many Trans Ams surrounded the area, including over a dozen "Bandit" Trans Ams, which parked in front of Honest Charley Garage, across the street.

We had a special guest here at the Coker Tire headquarters today. His name is Dr. Leonard J. Nyberg Jr. PhD, and he's a retired Economics Professor from Lisbon, New Hampshire. If that last name sounds familiar, you may remember the 1910 Nyberg racecar built by the Honest Charley Garage. Dr. Nyberg stopped by the office with his wife Dawn, on their way back from West Palm Beach, Florida. He's been searching for a Nyberg vehicle for years and was excited to find out he could scope out the one in the Coker Collection. Dr. Nyberg knew the car was here, and actually saw photos of it, but wanted to check it out in person, so he did just that and slid behind the wheel for a quick photo opp! He's been researching Nyberg Automobile Works for