Album of the Week - 27 Hours to La Paz

I picked up "27 Hours to La Paz" on ebay recently.  It's a seven inch ep that came with a Revelle model kit and a document of the first Mexican 1000.

There isn't much to it, the cover art is great but there's only one song with some funny lyrics.  I shot a video of it playing.  The sound isn't great but it really isn't worth reshooting.

After the song, there's basically the narration track of this video "27 Hours to La Paz."  The video is definitely worth watching.

What I'm working on - The O'Conner Deck

Here's another skateboard deck based on the 1986 Supreme Court.  I figure Sandra Day O'Conner would deserve one of the coolest decks.

So I went with the 1985 Vision, Mark Gonzales deck designed by Andy Takakjian.  I think there's still a bit too much pink in the hair but it's working.

Rowher Shut Down

The sequester really hasn't affected me much much until today.

I decided to head out to Rowher Flats to give the car a work out.  It had been running funky, not starting, etc.  It turns out the DUI Ignition needs 10.5 volts to spark.  So, even though the starter was turning the engine there wasn't enough juice to start it.

The Kirkland battery that was in it was just outside of warranty and the race had really beat the crap out of it so I replaced the battery with a Sears Platinum.  It was pricey but after a lot of poking around the internet it seemed to be the choice for a car that sits for chunks of time and then bounces around the desert.

The car ran great until it didn't.  The car stalled driving back from the locked Rowher gate.  I managed to limp it into the Lowes parking lot and was getting out my AAA card when I decided to check the wiring again.  Turns out the red wire on the distributor wasn't all the way on.

There's the culprit - the little red one.

I must've pulled it loose when I put the battery in.  So, I pushed it in and it started right up.

Hopefully fixed?  We'll see.

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.