What I'm Working On - Powell Deck

It's odd when an idea comes to you that makes no sense but makes perfect sense.  That's what happened when I started working on a set of 1980s skateboard decks based on the 1986 Supreme Court.

Here's the first one Justice Lewis Powell, appointed by Nixon and served on the Supreme Court from 1972-1987.

It's in the style of the 1986 Tracker, Dan Wilkes deck, illustrated by Garry S. Davis.

Powell had a bit of a reptilian feel to him.

My drawing hand is way out of practice and I don't feel like I'm doing the original justice.  Then again it's for Powell, who led us down the path to "corporations are people" and "money is speech"- so maybe I'm being too flattering.

Summer of Cars 4 - Monterey - Gooding Auction

So, wrapping up the summer I had a chance to go up to Monterey for Pebble Beach, the Historic Races and lots in between.

The weekend started out with the Gooding Auction.  There were some amazing vehicles, all of which I couldn't even consider affording.

I loved this 1934 Packard.  It was giant and somehow understated.  Maybe it was the company it was in. 

MINI-RANT,  If you're not going to "restore" a car, don't upgrade it half way.

 I was stunned that this FJ40 went for $71,000.  It's a good looking car but falls into the gap between restored to stock condition or resto-mod.  There was plenty that wasn't stock, toyota emblem, short bumper, color, upside down bezel, ostrich skin dash pad (yes, there was an ostrich skin dash pad) and more.  So, if your not going to make it stock, why not clean up some of the mechanical bits.  Get rid of the sluggish 3 speed transmission and add a four speed one.  That way driving on the freeway goes from terrifying to just uncomfortable.  What about power steering?  It's a period correct upgrade and really nice.  And while your at it, front disc brakes - it's nice to stop.  I mean, for 70,000 why not?

other highlights

cool Fiat

cooler fiat

James Bond reference triggered

cool hood ornament

 cool plastic

 After the evening it was refreshing to walk out of the auction and see this Manx Buggy parked across the street.

Summer of Cars Part 3 - The Lamay Musuem - let's wrap this up.

Okay, summer is well over and I still haven't wrapped the summer of cars up.  On our road trip up north we did get a chance to check out the Lamay Museum in Tacoma BUT we managed to lose our camera right afterward so no pictures.

The floor you enter on is spectacular but some of the lower floors start looking like a parking garage.  I really wish museums would make it easier to walk around the cars.

The kids and I enjoyed the slot cars probably more than the virtual racing.  Other than that it's well worth the visit.

Summer of Cars Part 2 - Go Kart! Part 2

GO KART!

We made it down to Jamul and assembling the go cart wasn't as much of a pain as I thought it would be.

The engine went in fine and aligning the chain was a piece of cake.  We didn't have a 1/4" key to keep the rear wheels from spinning free.  So, I had to use a bench grinder and make one.  And the rear breaks would stick but that was fixed with a beefier spring.  Overall it was much easier than I expected and within an hour we were doing some test runs.

Okay, maybe I'm a bit big for it.

But the kids loved it.

and plenty of other adults.

We even had expert supervision by grandma.

Eventually it was test so thoroughly that the rear tire came off.

but in the traditional "Jamul way" it was quickly repaired with a hose clamp and some duck tape.

Summer of Cars Part 2 - Go Kart! Part 1

The summer started with the cragslist impulse purchase of a $60 "go kart."  "Go kart" is in quotes because it was really just a frame and two tires.

You might notice a motor on the back but after a trip to the lawnmower shop I learned it was worthless.  Basically, for the price of repairing this underpowered 3.5 horsepower motor I could buy a new 6.5 hp engine at Harbor Freight.  And after a 20% discount coupon appeared in my inbox I got the motor for less than $100.  Awesome.

A quick paint job and upholstery.  

The two front tires were fine but the back weren't.

I did appreciate the use of old sockets as spacers on the busted wheels.

A trip to my local go kart shop, Catkart was a big help.  I picked up some pedals, linkage,  rims and tires for the rear.  The kart quickly became a money pit, consumed way too much time but it was so much fun.

Finally we strapped the frame on the roof and threw the rest of the bits into the back of the subaru and headed to my folks in Jamul.


stay continued for part 2

What I'm working on

finally getting around to learning how to make an animated gif....it's sort of fun

Summer of Cars Part 1 - Braving Baja

So it turned out this summer a lot of time was spent looking at cars.  It started in May with a quick trip to the Petersen Automotive Museum to check out Braving Baja: 1000 Miles to Glory.

It was a decent show but a bit small.  I think if I didn't know anything about off road racing it would've been a nice introduction.

It tended to be a bit motorcycle centric.  There were a couple great cars but most of the best cars were at the start of the 2013 Mexican 1000 which was the same weekend as the show opening.

The always fantastic Bel-Ray Bullet did the 1000 and then, still dirty, went to the museum.

The did have a copy of Cycle Psychos on hand

and I enjoyed seeing the early tool bag

and the weird cut window on this bug.  

Overall, I wish there had been more, like Big Oly (the real one, not the fake modern one in the lobby), a Grabber Olds,  maybe a volvo burro or even the  Four Wheeler Fj40 that Specter Off Road has in their shop all of 30 miles from the museum.

Luckily the museum is big and there was plenty more to see.  It makes me glad I'm a member.

next up  Go Kart!

A show I'm in - Summer Viewing Room

I had a couple pieces up at Susanne Vielmetter's for the "Summer Viewing Room" show.  It was a nice grouping of works from the gallery artists. 

Darts (red) - 2013

I've been trying to make my work a bit more interactive and for this show it seemed to work.

This Piece is for You - 2013

Summer's Over - I really need to get back to work on this blog

Well, it's been almost four months since my last post and I either need to consistently update this thing or shut it down.  So, let's shoot for updating it.  Keep you fingers crossed this could be a bumpy ride.

Inspiration - Toyota ShopTalk April 1971

Shop Talk was the magazine for Toyota parts and service managers.  This was the first (and possibly only) issue.

The first article was on my dad racing in Baja.  It's a pretty good read but I'm a little dissapointed that the full page psychedelic image wasn't his Toyota.

What i'm working on

....sort of....I've been trying to figure it out for a while.

Old Gold - White Light, White Heat....

White Light, White Heat, White Noise, White Cube, White Album, White Christmas
Sean Duffy
2006
3 Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat album covers, 3 Beatles - White Album covers, 24 music boxes, wood and hardware.

Latest Race Repair

Well it's almost been a year since the Mexican 1000 and I just got around doing what I believe is the last race-damage repair.  At some point south of Lorretto the fan shroud came loose and chipped off a couple fan blades.

new fan - old fan

I eventually repaired the shroud with some bailing wire before driving the car home.  The water temperature never changed and even though Man-a-fre gave me a good used one when I returned to the US it took me almost a year to put it on.

In other news, the spur trails on the way to  Rowher Flats have been shut down.  They were dug up with some kind of earth mover and are impassible (I tried).  Since they're spurs off the Sierra Pellona Mtwy, they're technically not in the Rowher Flats OHV park but does seem silly to go from two parallel fire breaks to one.  But what do I know.

all dug up

On a brighter note - There's an apricot tree near the top of hills and it was in full bloom.  It was amazing that in the middle of this windy high desert there was one tree that was so happy.