An opportunity came from a classmate at Monroe who told Wade his brother worked on restoring older motorcycles. Wade persuaded his friend to see if his brother needed any help at his shop. Wade didn’t have any experience, but he was willing to work in exchange for a chance to learn.
Wade got a favorable response and soon met with Jesse, his classmate’s brother. Jessie explained that he worked at his uncle’s gas station garage, fixing cars. Jesse was allowed to work on his own projects when he didn’t have paying customers and on the weekends when they were closed.
Jesse showed Wade his British-built James motorcycle, which he was currently working on. Jesse said he bought the bike from a guy who had started taking it apart because it wasn’t running properly. After he got into the repair, the guy realized fixing it was over his head. Jesse got the motorcycle dirt cheap and had slowly been finding parts and repairing it. He told Wade he would show him what he needed to do to get the James motorcycle running again.
Wade jumped at the chance and started coming over after school and on the weekends. Jesse also told him about a 1949 Indian motorcycle he had his eye on. “I might also be able to get this one and rebuild it to sell,” he told Wade.
Jesse was very patient with Wade, showing and explaining each repair procedure thoroughly. They clicked as a team in the rebuilding of the carburetor, cylinder head and gasket set, the exhaust, and the fuel lines. Wade was a quick study, and Jesse rarely had to repeat anything a second time.
Wade really enjoyed his summer work. He soon met Jesse’s uncle, and they also became friends. His uncle would pay Wade when he needed help with the gas station and Jesse was not available. The James was soon up and running, and although it didn’t have brakes yet, the engine that Wade had worked on was running well. Jesse sold the James for a good price and paid Wade a bonus before they got the breaks finished. It was a good summer.
Shortly before August, with high school football practice starting, Wade had still not made a decision on high school. Then he was surprised by a call from Coach Metler. Practice would be starting, and the coach said he would very much like Wade to try out for the team.
Wade made the team and practice started, leaving little time to work at the garage. Jesse and his uncle were a little disappointed about Wade’s sudden departure, but they understood and accepted Wade’s decision. Everything went well at St John’s during Wade’s first year. He played first string on the varsity team his freshman year and settled into school work. He stayed in contact with Jesse and his uncle and helped out at the garage when he had time. The year flew by.
The summer between Wade’s first and second year of high school was spent back at the garage, and Wade worked on a number of motorcycles and cars. He learned a lot about mechanics and repair. After a good summer at the garage, including fixing his own car, August was coming around once more, and football practice would start again in just a couple of weeks.
Everything was going well at football practice until one hot summer day in August. On the field it was a hot 97 degrees with 95% humidity, and in those days the players were not expected to hydrate as they do today. Need for water was considered a softness that had to be overcome. Players were expected to “suck it up.” It was not uncommon for young players to be passing out or throwing up from the heat and dehydration exhaustion throughout the twice-daily summer practice sessions. The dehydration conditioning was considered part of “getting in shape.”
During the afternoon practice one hot summer day, Wade was assigned to play defensive tackle between the offensive guard and tackle. It was scrimmage at full speed with pads. On this play, Wade was blocked by the two large offensive linemen opposite him to his left and right side. The double team block was to ensure that Wade could not reach the runner who would be running full speed behind the offensive lineman.
Wade saw the large fullback coming out of the backfield and reached across his blockers in an effort to stop him. As Wade reached over the offensive line, his arm somehow got caught in the fullback’s waistband. Wade missed the tackle, but his arm remained caught with the fullback – while his torso was locked in a stationary position between the two blocking lineman. The 235-pound fullback tore Wade’s arm completely out of its shoulder socket.
The few seconds the play took seemed to Wade like a slow motion movie of choreographed steps representing increasing levels of excruciating pain. The final steps culminated in Wade’s body lying motionless on the ground, with his arm somewhere near the middle of his back. The pain was unbearable throughout his entire body. He began to convulse, but he didn’t throw up because he hadn’t had any water. He could hear the defensive coach running over, screaming at him, not out of concern for his painful condition, but because he missed the tackle.
The players were gathered around Wade, who remained limp on the ground in a contorted fetal position, his arm behind him near the center of his back. Where his arm was supposed to be connected to his shoulder socket, there was only a flap of skin. Seeing Wade in this static position on the ground, his coach started to run toward him faster. As he got close enough to assess the damage, he yelled to one the players, “Call an ambulance!”
Wade had been doubled teamed before by offensive linemen who outweighed him by 150 pounds. He knew the key defensive move was to keep the two linemen from getting to his torso by using his forearms to penetrate under those linemen, catching the backfield runner’s legs as he tried to run past them. It hadn’t worked this time. A lineman had gotten under Wade first.
However, Wade wasn’t thinking about tackling protocol as the ambulance attendants got him on the gurney for the ride back to the hospital. He remained in bent position in the ambulance in order to withstand the immense pain. As they closed the rear door to drive him away, he heard the coach say, “Son, you’ll be back on the field in no time.”
Wade arrived at the emergency room of the local hospital, where the attending physician told Wade, “This is the worse dislocation I’ve ever seen.”
The physician continued speaking to Wade, “You should immediately see an orthopedic surgeon after we finish here. I don’t think this is going to heal properly without surgery. But first we have to get your shoulder back in its socket, and it’s going to be very painful.”
He gave Wade a shot for pain and started to get him hydrated with an IV. After the morphine had some time to work, the physician told Wade, “There’s no easy way to do this and I apologize in advance for what we’re about to do. I’m also sorry about the light medication dose I’m giving you, but you can’t tolerate a higher dose in your dehydrated condition. I want you to try to remain as relaxed as you possibly can. Don’t try to pull or fight the direction we will be pulling you arm. It will only make it more difficult.”
The automated surgical table was lowered to about knee height. It took the doctor and two interns, their shoes covered with blue surgical wraps, on Wade’s neck and ribs to twist and pull his arm until it reset in the shoulder socket. As the medical staff pulled, Wade tried to imagine himself outside of his body looking down at the procedure to block out the pain. He heard strange sounds of muscle, cartilage and bone gristle as they rubbed against each other searching for a natural position.
At some point, Wade screamed and almost passed out from the pain. But finally his arm popped back into its socket, and the medical staff began wrapping and taping it flat against his chest. He was taped from his waist to his neck, his arm immobile, pressed against his body.
Wade didn’t have the surgery suggested by the emergency physician. Instead he gave up football for the season and began physical therapy as soon as his doctor allowed it. After several months of physical therapy, the shoulder began to function normally as long as he didn’t try to raise his arm above his head. Wade now had several warnings from doctors that there was so much damage that the shoulder would continue to separate along the same dislocation path.
As daily mobility returned, Wade could only think of getting back to the gara
ge. He called Jesse, told him what happened, and asked when he could come back. Jesse said he would check with his uncle. In a few days, Wade was back working at the garage.
10
Wade applied himself to learning about internal combustion engines as intently as he did to football. His passion and natural mechanical ability, combined with the good instruction by Jesse, resulted in quick accumulation of knowledge and skill.
Not only was Wade a fast learner, but the James motorcycle was an excellent bike for learning basic skills. It had fewer parts and was less expensive to repair than other more complex and expensive motorcycles. After he completed his first project with Jesse, he shifted over to help Jesse do repair work on cars for paying customers. Between mechanical assignments, Wade helped clean up the garage, get parts, and do simple tasks like screw on a cylinder head once a gasket had been properly aligned by Jesse. He would change oil and spark plugs and adjust brakes. He learned to adjust carburetors and eventually how to rebuild them. He would also test drive vehicles after repair work had been done, which gave him immediate feedback on the work he had performed.
Jesse was a patient and excellent teacher. He not only explained what to do, but he explained why it was done that way. After showing Wade each step, he would watch Wade do the same task to make sure he had learned it correctly. Both the garage and Jesse benefited as Wade assisted them without pay. From time to time, a satisfied customer would tip Wade as well as Jesse, which left Wade feeling appreciated and confident that he had done a good job.
Wade was able to assist in the rebuilding of many motorcycles after the 1947 faded blue Indian motorcycle. One day when Jesse was off, Jesse’s uncle asked Wade, “Are you interested in working on cars as well?”
Wade quickly replied, “Definitely.”
Soon motorcycle work graduated to work on cars of different types, and Wade was happy as he continued assisting part-time at the garage for the next year.
Jesse’s uncle told Wade that if he ever wanted to do his own project car, he would extend the same deal to Wade that he had given Jesse. Wade could use the garage and tools on off hours and when they were closed. Wade thanked Jesse’s uncle and said he would think about it. In fact, Wade was excited. He felt he was ready for his own project. He wasn’t sure how complex a job he could take on at this point, but he knew he could rely on the expertise of Jesse and Jesse’s uncle if he got into mechanical trouble.
Wade came across an opportunity to buy a partially dismantled 1933 Chevy two-door coup, at a low price. The car had its original chassis and body intact. The engine and drive train had been removed long before. The front fenders and hood were off but came with the deal. Cosmetically, the car wasn’t in perfect condition. The original paint job was faded, but the car had been garaged for many years and had a few spots of surface rust. It had most of its original parts, and it seemed structurally in good shape. The price attractive at a few hundred dollars, but Wade had to consider parts it might need.
In order to get the parts, Wade would connect with a friend he had known since grammar school. Wade had known Ed for a long time but had not seen him since junior high school. Ed’s father owned two service stations, and his uncle owned a junk yard. It seemed Ed might have access to parts Wade would need at good prices. After getting reacquainted and making a few small transactions, Wade and Ed renewed their childhood friendship, and Ed became Wade’s new supplier for parts.
Wade invited Ed over to meet Jesse and Jesse’s uncle. Ed started coming over to hang out, and he helped Wade around the garage. Wade told him about his '33 Chevy, and they discussed its restoration as a hot rod. Ed and Wade went to see the car several times before Wade purchased it. Wade used Ed’s dad’s truck and trailer to hall the '33 back to the garage.
The '33 remained covered, behind the garage, while Wade started to assemble parts he would need. He finally had his first race car, but he had to figure out how he was going to build it for the drag racing track. He talked to a lot of people at nearby garages and also at the track to get ideas about how he might construct his racing machine.
Ed assured Wade that he could get most of the parts he needed from his uncle’s junk yard. Wade and Ed were together much of the time as early work had begun on the '33. They really enjoyed each others’ company and would often go out to grab something to eat or to a sporting event after working together at the garage.
Ed Langer was about two years older than Wade. He worked at his father’s service stations on weekends, and in the afternoons when he wasn’t at Wade’s garage. Wade, in turn, would sometimes go over to Ed’s father’s stations and work for a while. Ed’s mother prepared delicious, hearty meals for all of them when they came home from work.
A few times, Ed brought over parts that Jesse or his uncle had been looking for to complete a customer job. Jesse and his uncle always offered to pay Ed for the parts, but Ed would never accept money from them. Ed would always say it was nothing and they should consider it a gift. He would explain that he just found the part in his uncle’s large junk yard.
Ed was also well liked by both Jesse and his uncle. As Wade collected the parts he would need to complete his rod, he sometimes asked Ed for ideas on the building process. In the evening, Wade would review a copy of the NHRA classification descriptions to determine which racing class he wanted to be in. Wade would compare the NHRA engine and drive-train requirements for each classification.
At one point Jesse made the suggestion, “Why don’t you put a Cadillac engine in her?”
“That would be different,” Wade considered. Instead of the 283 or 350 cubic inch Chevy block engine which everyone else was using, Jesse’s idea was that it should be a different engine. The idea of a Cadillac engine appealed to Wade. Certain year Cadillac engines used the same basic parts as Chevys, and with slight modification, the less expensive Chevy parts could be used to save money. Wade said, “It would sure stand out at the track. It’s also unlikely that anyone else would be running a similar body and drive train, and that would separate us from the pack.”
Wade drifted from the conversation and started to consider technical questions he had to answer. He got lost thinking about finding or making motor mounts that fit, and wondering what four speed transmission would connect to the Cadillac flywheel and engine assembly. What multi-carburetor intake manifold would work on a Cadillac? What off-the-shelf headers would work on the Cadillac – and could they be modified? Finally Wade commented, “I think using a Cadillac engine is just going to be too expensive.”
At this point, Ed jumped into the conversation with, “Let me work on that angle. I may be able to come up with something at the right price”.
Wade’s advanced NHRA research on car classification produced results. He found a category that he liked very much called, Modified Stock M/S Category. In those days, the criteria for getting into the M/S category was the outer shell of the car had to be street legal and look like a conventional street driver – but there were no restrictions on engine drive-train or interior. The classification at the time for modified stock was fairly straightforward. Wade paraphrased the classification for Ed, “As long as the car looks stock and is technically drivable as a street vehicle on the outside, anything on the engine, drive train, chassis and interior of the car is fair game.”
For Wade, that description was a perfect fit with what he wanted to do with the '33, so that the outer body of the car would be put back to its near original configuration, including fenders, radiator, hood, head and taillights. The few rust spots on the body would be filled and primed. Wade’s vision was that the car would look vintage and rough on the outside, with a really mean, fast engine on the inside.
Wade never got around to painting the '33 other than in black primer. He liked its unfinished, sleeper, rat rod appearance. The chassis was modified on the front end with Ford spindles, which replaced the original spindles and supported struts with a welded brace to the existing and front end. The spindles were fitted with dru
m brakes all around. Tires on the rear were large truck tires on rims modified with an adapter plate welded to cover the brake drums. The front wheels were thinner economy truck threads, compliments of Ed’s father. The engine was Cadillac, supplied by Ed initially with two four-barrel carburetors, and later modified to six two-barrel carbs. The headers were modified Chevy with an adapter place on the exhaust manifold. The transmission was a Corvette four speed Synchromesh coupled to a Pontiac Posi-traction 4:10 rear end to ensure that both rear wheels spun at the same gear ratio, ideal for the quarter mile track. The interior had a roll bar, small fire extinguisher and seat belt as required by NHRA, with a single bucket seat for the driver. From the outside, the car’s low-slung, unfinished body gave the impression it was not going to make it out of the pit area, much less down the track. When the massive engine started, the concern shifted to whether the old body could possibly remain intact to the end of the race.
Wade and his '33 achieved instant success at the track in the Modified Stock category, winning almost every race except when there was a mechanical problem. He received winning trophies in his class every week they raced and Wade’s ‘33 became known as the car to beat in the M/S classification. His winning streak received enough word of mouth publicity that it attracted cars outside the state to compete in the class. The attention brought more fans and business to the track, which was greatly appreciated by the track owners. The track announcer would frequently introduce Wade by name and refer to him “as our Modified Stock Track Champion.”
Wade’s popularity among fans at the track spread, and he also became well known in the pit area among other racing teams.
Wade’s crew consisted of Wade, his cousin, and his cousin’s younger friend, who wanted to learn about racing mechanics. Many weeks, his crew also included Ed, who was considered an important member of the team. Ed was always there when they were getting ready for a race. Between races and when there was little to do, Ed would be off talking and joking with members of other pit crews.
Silent Sanction: A Novel Page 6
