clean-up!

so,the shop was such a messy sh!t-hole,i had to take a few hours and clean it up from stem to stern.
i always think i'll get more done if i just keep workin. but when the shop's a mess your mind gets cluttered as much as the shop.
in other news,we sold the '67 dodge van to a guy in texas...kinda bitter-sweet,cuz its such a beautiful great running unrestored passenger van/the rear bench seat intact.which is really hard to find.
the yamaha tt500 racer is on ebay now with a bid at $3200 on it.so were slowly thinning out our collection,ive always been so weird about selling things! but once you do it,and you get some money,its actually kind of liberating. you can focus on some of the projects you want to work on...and you got the money to buy the misc things you need for said project!
i mean, we still have the bent metal bike for goodness sake!...that bike has been sitting in marks living room for like six years!..i was very ambitious with my design on the bike..and not so ambitious with actually building a bike that functions..hah! so after we got it running we figured out all the things on it that just dont work.so in the next month or so, im gonna get a hydraulic clutch kicker cover for it,re-do the foot clutch,probably make a different set of handlebars for it,do something different on the swingarm,and a few more misc. things. get it running and driving good...then put it up for sale.
i have no idea what it will sell for,but between mark and i,and other people helping,it easily has over 3000 hours into it.i look on ebay,and billy lane and jesse james bikes are on there for $65000, for months on end with no bids...but,i also see bikes that arent built by a celebrity builder that are stylish and done well,and they sell for great money..
at the end of the day,it doesnt really matter,cuz it aint makin me any money sittin in marks living room!
sorry no pics today,i'll get back on track manyana

lost camera

so on sunday the boys wanted to go to the shop and keep workin on the chopper bike,all of a sudden dad isnt such a repulsive dude! on the way we found this wood shipping box by the side of the road!

we went to fairhaven cycle and my buddy guy dug through some old parts and found me a single gear i could weld the sprocket to,after i machined the sprocket of course!

havin the chaos of the boys there...somehow they lost my camera.i finally found it today buried in the back of my truck.the neihbor kid ryan wears kiekland "mom" jeans just like me...i cant tell if he's tryin to to suck up, or if he's just a cheap bastard like me!

spent several hours today just planishing dents out....its me against the bondo!

"i care"

so today my son gideon and the neibhor kid ryan wanted to come to the shop so they could work on their chopper bike that they'r trying to put a 50cc engine into.so i figured i'd let them come along just to show "i care"

i taught em how to use the metal lathe,so they made so footpegs.

there was a couple rust spots on the bottom of the fender that i had to make some patch pieces for.

the whole time we were at the shop we were laughing and having so much fun,that ryan n gideon want to film it,and make an internet show...and they are both such a couple a morons, the script would write itself!

stinky-nuts

ok,so i got both a-pillar bottoms done..wow! them things blow!i dont know if we'll get the chassis to the shop this weekend,but im gonna start on the rear end tommorrow.i got hours n hours of hammer n dolly work to do on the body..with some patience you can planish dents out that most people would just fill up with bondo. but thats against the rules at my shop.i think i may have to cut off one of the rear fenders just to get it straightened out

itchy scratchy

so i got the nose pretty much done,i had to make the side wheelwell on the passenger side.i also rolled some cold rolled roundstock and beaded the inside of the fenders.the flanges of both front fenders were cracked.
you can weld em up all you want,but once they'r cracked...they'll crack again.
also if you run round stock in ther its much easier to manipulate the fender line visually.ghias have a kind of unique line,so this will make it easier to establish that line.
i started on the bottom of the a-pillar where the whole structure is destroyed with rust. its the last big pain in the ass,im hopin i can get the pan to my shop on saturday,so i can do the rockers.

more ghia

well,i plugged away on the nose all day,hope to have it all wrapped up manyana

kalarman galia

so,i been workin on a customers '67 convertable kharman ghia,it has a ton of rust,so some of the body parts ive had to make,and some of the are remanufactured peices...either way,kind of a pain in the neck!