whats goin on. part 2

Last month was my annual trip to florida for the spring show in Daytona. I arrived on wednesday at the Jim Bags house to get my trailer and the show stuff that I left there in November. We went to the track the next day to set up for the show. The wind seems to get worse every year. It was all we could do to get it up even with two of us.

The show was a little down this year. the economy I guess.




this was early on sat. the weather was cold and rainy also.not the best weather for a show.



After the show I had several jobs to do for a couple of my regulars.
My friend Wayne from Melbourne had me do some more work on his bus and a 39 Nash. then It was off to St Cloud. Stayed with Lou and Agnes. And I got to do this cool Dodge challenger

It's been a long busy spring. since i've been back the phone has been ringing out of my pocket. here's a sample.

More stuff for Mr. Green

Between all that I have been working on the Flying Eagle. The Engine compartment was in need of attention among other things. I'll keep you up on that as it goes. It is getting a serpetine belt system as well as a vintage air system. Got all the dash out and the engine compartment apart.

Had to redo the glass in the little door between the front and rear compartment. Thanks Chris for the glass. I think I nailed the butterfly!

The new hood with the louvers punched in it. wait till you see what I did to the underside.......<>

painting the engine bay to match the outside candy orange. more to come!

Whats goin on -- pt 1

I have been getting people asking me why I haven't been posting. Well it's been a crazy 2 months. With my Dad passing away, finishing the Deathstar, the council meeting in Wisconsin, doing the spring show in Florida,planing my clubs van-in,working on next years nationals,getting the van ready to show in Detroit , going to Detroit, and the weather screwing it all up. There hasn't been enough hours in the day to do much else. Like house work! As I mentioned the Deathstar is painted and buffed. It is now at the upholstery shop having the interior redone. Looks like it will be 90% different. People won't recognize it. I decided a while ago that I wouldn't post any pictures of it till it was completely finished. I still need to do the hand painting on it. Stripes, lettering, and more stripes. I'm supposed get it back by the end of May. It's gona take me a week to do all I need to do yet, It will debut at this years National Truck-in in July. At that point I will post all the pictures of the process from start to finish. Somewhere around 200 photos......well maybe not all . In the mean time here is a small sample of what we've been up to. This is a small section of the driver side. This may be the best thing I've ever done.

Some of the work I've done recently includes this Coke cooler I did for the owner of a local body shop.

This motorcycle was finished in time for the Easyrider show. He won something. cant remember what.

Here's another bike I just finished up As I mentioned we went to the Auto-Rama in Detroit. I was a participant in the pinstripers jam and auction again. It was fun to see all the guys again. There were over 100 stripers there. Wendel, Mark, Scal,Shane,and the fabulous Flash, were on hand. And of course this would be Ray"El Vago"Smith ,and his bride, Jan. Ray received a special lifetime award that weekend. Well deserved!!

This is some of the art that was done for the auction.

And of course the auction

FINALLY

Yes , It's been a while. so I'll finish this story. We left Vegas that Thursday morning. The sun was out and it looked like a smooth trip home. You can see the in-n-out score on the back window. lol Going north on 15 toward Utah and route 70,and the scenery turned beautiful again.We got into Utah and there was one last chance for a..... We decided to take a short (?) side trip through Zion National Park since it was on the way. Again it was worth the effort.

This place is as gorgeous as any park. We could have spent twice as much time there but we had to get moving. We made it to 70 and had a Mexican dinner with Debbie. Then hit the road for a two day trip back home.. the farther up the mountains we got the colder it became...freezing fog??

We made it through the canyon in Colorado before it snowed and the rest was easy. What a welcome sight!

Now ...how to get this in the garage.