The Rudge Quest
Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2017 8:59 pm
Some of you may remember the Fudge Rudges I did a few years ago, that was a fun ride.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31118&hilit=fudge
I had often thought of building a set of Rudges but the cost of entry to that party is so high I wasn't pursuing it very hard. But all trees start with a seed. The seed in this case was a gearbox that popped up that had B Rudge Drums on it, and one rough spinner. I picked it up in FL on one of my trips. Not sure what I would do with it but we always use gearboxes and the drums were interesting, if nothing else. In the back of my mind I started thinking of building a set. Several months later I saw an ad in one of the club classifieds for a single Rudge at a decent price, so I bought it. I now had one wheel, two drums, and one spinner, so I had a long way to go. I figured more Rudge stuff would float by...so I waited, and waited and waited some more. No more Rudge stuff was popping up, and I see a fair amount of parts. A friend was going to the lit meet this year and I told him to be on the lookout for any Rudge stuff. He called and said a guy had one Rudge wheel and some misc. pieces, but the price was a little jaw dropping. I had to think. After careful thought I said buy it, after trying to negotiate in vain, I paid close to the seller's asking, and it hurt. I now had two wheels, three hubs, and three spinners for anyone keeping count. In order to keep the momentum going I put out the word to anyone and everyone that I was buying, and now that I better understood the Rudge Market I paid market, which still hurt, but I was getting used to the sticker shock. I was able to pick up a third wheel from a friend and finally secured a 4th through a well known dealer on the West Coast. The plan now is to send all my components to Martin "That Guy In Colorado" Willis and see if he can make chicken salad out of the chicken poop I'm sending him. I'm confident he can make it work, his reputation as a miracle worker is well known.
Also, since my car is by no means a show queen I've decided to keep them un-restored, and I can finally get the fake ones off my car.
Stay tuned.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=31118&hilit=fudge
I had often thought of building a set of Rudges but the cost of entry to that party is so high I wasn't pursuing it very hard. But all trees start with a seed. The seed in this case was a gearbox that popped up that had B Rudge Drums on it, and one rough spinner. I picked it up in FL on one of my trips. Not sure what I would do with it but we always use gearboxes and the drums were interesting, if nothing else. In the back of my mind I started thinking of building a set. Several months later I saw an ad in one of the club classifieds for a single Rudge at a decent price, so I bought it. I now had one wheel, two drums, and one spinner, so I had a long way to go. I figured more Rudge stuff would float by...so I waited, and waited and waited some more. No more Rudge stuff was popping up, and I see a fair amount of parts. A friend was going to the lit meet this year and I told him to be on the lookout for any Rudge stuff. He called and said a guy had one Rudge wheel and some misc. pieces, but the price was a little jaw dropping. I had to think. After careful thought I said buy it, after trying to negotiate in vain, I paid close to the seller's asking, and it hurt. I now had two wheels, three hubs, and three spinners for anyone keeping count. In order to keep the momentum going I put out the word to anyone and everyone that I was buying, and now that I better understood the Rudge Market I paid market, which still hurt, but I was getting used to the sticker shock. I was able to pick up a third wheel from a friend and finally secured a 4th through a well known dealer on the West Coast. The plan now is to send all my components to Martin "That Guy In Colorado" Willis and see if he can make chicken salad out of the chicken poop I'm sending him. I'm confident he can make it work, his reputation as a miracle worker is well known.
Also, since my car is by no means a show queen I've decided to keep them un-restored, and I can finally get the fake ones off my car.
Stay tuned.