inspritation - old sticker

After dealing with an inverted shackle today, I feel like I'm an honorary member of the Torture Team.

Manual Haiku 17 - Toyota Stout

New Truck Operation Hints

Abrupt stopping

is very annoying to

other occupant,

Albums of the Week

This week I was hoping to review one of my recent purchases, “Evel Knievel”  but it is simply too awful.  Two and a half songs (one where Evel just talks over music), an intro, 20 minutes of Evel rapping with kids (where the kids are so poorly miked you can’t hear them), and a 23 minute press conference (that seemed staged). 

It was made right before the Snake River jump.  Long before the internet and scores of sports channels.  If you had wanted to know what Evel was up to you’d have to wait for the Weekly World of Sports or buy this album.  But even the 7 year old me, who was caught up in “Snake River Mania,” would’ve been deeply disappointed

I almost gave up on Evel’s lp until  I came across another unlistenable gem, “An Evening at Hussong’s” ...

...or “A Night at Hussong’s” according to the vinyl...

it’s basically a live recording of a Mariachi band at the famous Ensenada bar. 

But when you mix the mediocre Mariachis and loud crowd with Evel grumbling at reporters and kids it turns into an okay listening experience.

 

and Evel has some pretty good advice for the kids.  There’s a lot talk about jumping off roofs.  According to Evel “you gotta jump into a bale of hay, a pile of hay or a trampoline or something to cushion the shock.”  You shouldn’t drive your motorcycle on the street until you’ve ridden for a year or two.  He even shows the importance of wearing a helmet by hitting a kid on the head until it hurts. Fun!

In the end, Evel Knievel's lp is not going to get another listen, although I might have to pin my “autographed” picture on the wall. 

As for "An Evening at Hussong's" all I hope is that the topless hippy on the back cover was one of the kids from Evel's rap session.

Rowher Flats - let's run over a camera!

We took the car out to Rowher Flats on Sunday.  I was experimenting with mounting a GoPro Hero camera on the fender.  Well, between "adapting" the camera rig and a too much dust for the mount adhesive there was a little problem.  Here's the result.

The camera somehow survived being run over by both the front and rear tire.

Inspiration - Box of Treasure 4

Another bit of treasure from my dad's box of racing memorabilia.  His position card from the 1970 Mexican 1000.

an article about a show I'm in.

Art Ltd did a nice show about Car 23 and my "Garage Sale" at Susanne Vielmetter.  Check it out here.

Inspiration - Box of Treasure 3

More from my dad's little box of racing treasure.  Dash plaques from the 1968 through 1971 Mexican 1000.  Three from the Baja 500 and a few from the Mint 400 (they were all the same so I picked the one that looked like it had been peeled from the dash).

I'd love to put them on Car 23 but it seems like something that could be lost in the middle of the desert (which is what probably happened to the 1971 Baja 500 plaque).

Inspiration - THE CONDOR

If there is any car other than a zebra striped fj40 I would want to race in the Mexican 1000 it would be "The Condor."  As a kid, it was one of my favorite vehicles and how could someone not love a giant four wheel drive RV with a big hippy mural on it's side.

This incarnation was the "Debbie Special."  I'm not sure but I think Condor Motor Coach might have run an unpainted one at some point.

I found a couple other images online

and a pretty good article on it in an old "Field and Stream" .  I wonder what happened to
the beast, it would be great to restore the car (and the painting) to it's former racing glory.

Happy New Year!

It's official!  I've registered for the NORRA Mexican 1000.  This year the race is from April 28th through May 2 from Mexicali to San Jose Del Cabo.
http://norra.com/mexican1000.php
Now it's time to finish up the car and practice, practice, practice.

oh and it looks like for this race Car 23 will be Car 28.

Happy Holidays!

New Tires! New Tires!

I picked up a set of new tires and rims for Car 23.  The old ones had some serious dry rot and the lug holes in the rims were getting a bit big.

I decided to give the Hankook Dynapro ATM a try.  They aren't the fanciest or the most aggressive off road tires but they seem to do the trick.  I'm getting more concerned about the paved parts of the course.  The Fj40 loves the dirt but doesn't really like going fast on a funky and grooved  paved surfaces (which is all the paved roads in Baja).  The Hankooks seem to be the best of both worlds.

The rims on the other hand were a challenge.  Fj40s need a really shallow  back spacing (3.75") or the tie rod ends rub on the rims.  Some people use spacers but that just seems like a bad idea, creating a weak spot where you really don't want one.  The guys at Big John's Performance tracked down a set of ProComp? rims that did the trick and were reasonably priced.

Now I've got some testing to do.  The tracking of the Hankooks is great (so far) but I haven't gotten it out to the dirt....I'lll keep you posted.

T-shirt Mania

Okay I haven't posted in a while.  Basically, I've been printing t-shirts, printing prints, dealing with the garage sale, ordering printing, printing Christmas cards and packing perks up.  Today I'll show off the shirts.

I have a pretty simple set up using a photo emulsion technique and do all my t-shirts in my garage (I should really do a walk through some time).  It's relatively easy and I've practiced enough I can really crank stuff out.  The thing I like about it is that there are mistakes and the image can be out of register thus a bit unique.  Something you don't see in modern t-shirts.

The front of the shirt has the fighting zebra on the pocket (I didn't get a good picture of it).

The back is Car 23 at Rowher flats.  

and "Tire Buyers" get a special tire enhanced shirt.

Car 23 is funded!

So, the United States Artists fund raising worked!  What a great organization.  Car 23 surpassed it's goal and raised $12,303 for preparations and racing in next year's Mexican 1000.  It will be so nice to see an zebra striped Fj40 back in the race and I am thrilled and so thankful to everyone for
supporting my project.

....now, it's time to get to work

The Car 23 shirt design is done.  Now I just need to make the screens and start printing them up.

If your interested check out the USA Projects site.