Rob Petty

Thanks to the swap meets
• Vancouver Sun
• 27 May 2016
• ALYN EDWARDS 

Rob Petty is bringing his 1932 Ford two-door coach to the Coastal Swap Meet at the Tradex Centre, near the Abbotsford Airport, Friday and Saturday.
Rob Petty can point to 32 parts on his 1932 Ford hotrod that he purchased at vintage car swap meets.
Needless to say, he’s a big believer in events that bring hobbyists together with parts and cars available for sale.
“It’s hard to buy fenders and engines on eBay. How would you get them?” the Surrey customs broker says.
Petty has been on the Coastal Swap Meet committee since 1981. The 44th edition of the annual swap meet takes place today and Saturday at the Tradex Centre alongside the Abbotsford Airport.
The swap meet was originally held in the parking lot of the Coquitlam Recreation Centre, but outgrew that venue and moved to the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. The event that attracts thousands of collectible car enthusiasts from all over B.C., the Pacific Northwest and Prairie provinces has been held at Abbotsford’s Tradex Centre since 2006.
Petty always rents 10 stalls for himself and his buddies from the Pacific International Street Rod Association. He has been president of PISRA for 20 years.
Other clubs helping to put on the event taking place in the two presentation halls, the outside space and a car corral for vehicles offered for sale include The Totem Model A& T Club, B.C. Hot Rod Association and the Vintage Car Club of Canada — Vancouver chapter.
Petty’s 1932 Ford two-door coach hotrod will be prominently displayed along with other special interest vehicles. Many items used in the build of the car were purchased at the swap meet.
Most prominent is the vintage Moon equipment fuel tank mounted in front of the grille like the ones used on the original California hotrods that raced on the dry lakes east of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 1950s. Rob paid $150 for the new tank that was still in the packing box. The replacement cost is $800.
His ’32 Ford is a true barn find, purchased by a local enthusiast from the original owner who lived on a farm in Airdrie, Alta.
Petty had grown up in Vancouver with old cars. He purchased a 1947 Ford coupe at the age of 13 with $100 earned delivering newspapers. It was going to be a father-and-son restoration project. When he was in high school, both Rob and his father drove big Chryslers from the early 1960s. They had a spare 1961 they used as a parts car to keep their drivers running.
That’s how the younger Petty learned about cars and developed mechanical skills.
In his 20s, Petty bought another 1947 Ford coupe which he used as parts to restore his original coupe in an open carport in the back lane of the family home in Kitsilano.
The completed Ford coupe became a family second car when he married Fran. She drove it for years, including running their son and daughter to and from school.
In 1993, he traded the Ford coupe for the 1932 Ford sight unseen. He had met the owner while on a camping trip at Shuswap Lake and did the swap knowing his finished coupe was worth much more than the 1932 two-door sedan that had been off the road for 40 years.
“That’s what you have to do to get a ’32,” he says.
The ‘deuce’ languished in his possession for eight years while he and Fran raised their children in a home they bought in Surrey. Luckily, it had a garage for the car where Petty would build his world-class hotrod.
He attended swap meets in B.C., Washington and Oregon looking for parts for the car and parts he could buy and then resell at a profit to help pay for his hotrod project.
Fellow car club member George Criddle boxed the original 1932 Ford frame and installed an X member for strength so it could take modern V8 power salvaged from a 1993 Mustang with the five-litre engine coupled to a five speed transmission.
The bodywork was entrusted to Doug Rutherford Jr., and Sandy Morita painted the car Speedway Blue at Jimmy’s Rod Shop in Pitt Meadows.
The interior was trimmed in Bimini blue and pearl white for that 1950s hotrod look.
Because Rob and Fran have enjoyed their many Hawaiian holidays, they call their hotrod Tiki Dream. Tiki motifs include the gearshift top which is a carved little man representing the Polynesian culture.
Look up Rob Petty and at the Coastal Swap Meet and he would be glad to show you all the special features built into his hotrod including many parts purchased at swap meets.
The swap meet runs Friday from 2 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Tradex Convention Centre — Abbotsford Airport. For more information visit coastalswapmeet.com