UPDATE: 10/10/09 - I've been getting a few calls and emails about restarting Church of Hot Rod. If interested, leave a comment here or reply in the forum. Whatever you do on Sunday, it's always a great to meet friends and go for a drive. We're pushing it here in Chandler, Arizona cause it's still damn hot, even at 8 AM in the morning. This was a special Sunday cause our better halves joined the normal Sunday coffee run and we made it a breakfast cruise over to the Good Egg near Chandler Heights and Alma School. We had some special occasions to celebrate too. (click and save this photo, it'd make a great desktop!) Bonnie, my hot rod, was celebrating the repair of a CRACKED FRAME, found, luckily while the car was parked in my garage. Doug from Squeeg's Kustom, helped me fix the crack on Saturday and make today's breakfast 5 roadsters strong. More on that later. (of course I took pictures!) I celebrated the cruise-in by putting a new red rag on the oil breather. (nothin but the Sunday's best!) My lovely wife Miyuki also joined...

A person seeing my photography for the first time usually pauses for a moment, gazing, trying to understand just what it is they are looking at. I start to smile, knowing what is coming next. I say, “No…It’s a photograph”. The reply is almost always, “Really, I thought this had been airbrushed or something.” The beauty of a well-designed automobile, truck, or, motorcycle inspires me to photograph them. I have a true appreciation for all the time and effort needed to bring a vehicle to a prime conditioned state. I see photography as a means of permanently recording that beauty. When I first began searching the internet for a more artistic type of photography, I came across a series of photographs from Trey Ratcliff at the website: www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms. Trey produces amazing photographs with HDR, a computer generated enhancement tool. To fully understand all the nuances of HDR, check out the website, www.HDR.com. The HDR technique I use blends several photos together bringing to life the color and texture that is seen, but not recorded by a single photograph. Every reflection, color, and shadow is enhanced to a degree that...

MyRideisMe.com featured a blog a while ago about the stunning, Grand National Roadster Show stealing (click to read->) 27 Chevy Modified built by Dan Collins of the Old Gold Garage. The car was built for his wife, Tiffany Collins, who actually purchased the car in a rusty hulk in Temecula, CA. If you dug this car, check out how the car was deservingly featured on the cover of Rod and Custom Magazine and they took some great studio pictures of the car and filled in some details. Take a look at the Rod and Custom online story. Congratulations Dan and...

Hot Rod Pinup of the Month: Hot rods and pinups are like peas and carrots, so I'm starting a new feature at MyRideisMe.com called Pinup of the month. I'm lucky to have the lovely Kim Falcon as our first for the month of August. In Kim's own words and from her website kimfalcon.com "...but for dad, he's slipping you an extra couple bucks for gas money." "I Love music. Pin-up modeling, Photography, ROCK-N-ROLL!! Vegetarian food!!, Driving around town in the 64 Cadillac Hearse listening to the Misfits, My children! Love Rockabilly!!!! Love Tiger Army! Absolutely obsessed with roses!!!! I love to travel the world." What she doesn't say (pure modesty, I guess) is that she's super cool and all over the place in the world of pinup modeling. She was mentioned as #6 amoung modern pinups by a cool site I just found called Askmen.com. Here's a link: Top Pinups; that list includes all my favorites like Zoe Scarlett, Heidi Van Horne and Dayna Delux. Even cooler? She's also the proud owner of this 1962 Ford Falcon. A Falcon girl too? Damn! Can she get any hotter? I guess...

The first-ever SEMA Pinewood Drag Race sponsored by Fellers and DUB Publishing, was held July 25 during the SEMA Installation Banquet and Gala Fundraiser in Irvine, Calif. The benefactors are kids! SEMA combined a fun way to get SEMA members doing something they love, racing, and at the same time, give back to some important charities. All proceeds from the first SEMA Pinewood Drag Race are to be generously donated to Childhelp, a charity home for abused and at-risk kids (click here to donate); and the Victory Junction Gang, a camp developed by NASCAR racer Kyle Petty for kids with health-care needs (click here to donate). As you know, Pinewood derby racing has long been a part, for me a critical part of the Cub Scouts. I remember building a car with my dad and racing against what seemed like a million cars... when I was just a kid. We had that car flying with, probably illegal, anti-seize compound used to lubricate my highly modified wheels. Through the first couple rounds, we did great. Then, when it really mattered, a volunteer, trying to help (I think) soaked my wheels...

When I had the 289 CID motor in this car, engine oil temperature was not a problem and at times it ran cool. The installation of the 383 (stroked 351W) changed all of that. Any extended driving or repeated hard acceleration would push the engine oil temperature up to 240º, and sometimes to the end of the gauge at 250º. Water temperature appeared to be stable, and no more than a couple of degrees warmer than with the smaller motor, so it appeared I had to remedy an oil temperature problem. Some of the options for mounting the cooler were: 1) In front of, or behind the radiator which created problems directing the oil supply hoses to and from the cooler. The design of the car has the engine radiator sealed by body/hood panels to ensure forward motion air pressure is forced through the radiator with minimal losses around it. Attaching the oil cooler to the radiator would require cut or modified body panels, extended lengths of hose, and the general dissatisfaction of having a cooler attached to the radiator through the fins using the typical plastic fasteners. The...

Ford Falcon Wagon Tailgate   I should have called this "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" as I update everyone on the MyRideisMe.com 1963 Falcon Wagon build. It no doubt I drastically underestimated the work needed to get ready for paint! Also, my plan for the Falcon changed from a quick paint job to, "I might as well do it right" which of course is the right way to go. I've made some good progress on the body work even though Arizona's held 100-plus degrees making it damn hot in the garage. It'll be another 20 days before it cools down, so waiting's not an option. Damn! I'm writing about the weather!   Want the good, the bad or the ugly? OK, bad first. Remember the blog when I showed off my skills filling the back-up lights in the tailgate. Please disregard everything I said! I screwed up that tailgate beyond reasonable repair, at least for me. Luckily, I have Mr. Freeze, (my buddy Rob) backing me up with another tailgate on hand (and rust free!).   The original tailgate was repaired (another big pile of manure the...

If you have ever been to a large auto swap meet with commercial vendors or flipped through a car catalog that offers automobile collectibles for sale, then you've probably seen the art of George Trosley (Troz). Troz started his career the traditional way by attending Hussian School of Commercial Art in Philadelphia, PA. After schooling, he landed several well paying commercial jobs working for various studios. But Troz felt that something was missing in his life. Illustrating commercial products was boring and tedious. Taking a big chance in 1973, he threw it all away to chase his dream of becoming a freelance cartoonist. He soon began drawing for CARtoons magazine where he would later create a couple of the best loved characters of the magazine known as Krass and Bernie. Originally Troz wanted to name them “Crash and Burn” which were the nicknames for his brother and himself growing up. They received the nicknames from all their crazy mini-bike and go-cart stunts. Being the hard worker that he is, Troz refers to himself as an “art prostitute”; he is not scared to draw anything for anybody. His work has...

It's a long haul from Arizona, but I wanted to tell you about a great cause, a great man and what looks like a really fun event. It's the Iowa SuperCruise & SuperShow'n Shine in Des Moines benefiting those suffering from spinal injuries, disease, and paralysis in coordination with the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF). Joe Kelly, the organizer and chief promoter, contacted me to see if I'd help spread the word. Of course I will, this is what hot rodding's all about! For the past ten years Joe has suffered and survived the crippling pain associated with spinal injury, disease, and permanent nerve damage. So it's no wonder he's got his heart and soul behind this show. He credits his beautiful wife and three wonderful children for his strength to continue when his own pain, at times, leaves him unable to care for himself. I'm inspired by his courage. It'd be easy for any of us to give up to the pain, but not Joe. Held August 30th, the Iowa SuperCruise & SuperShow'n Shine is an all-day event consisting of a cruise around metro and the surrounding...

I got in touch with Noddy Watts the man behind "Beach Hop" New Zealand's #1 Nostalgia festival. I'm saving my pennies (ok, quarters!) to attend this show. He're what Noddy had to say about it: "New Zealand is a small country with just 4 million people at the bottom of the South Pacific. Is Hot Rodding known in this island paradise? Hell yeah! One of New Zealand's biggest Festivals just happens to be the "Beach Hop" - celebration of the 50s & 60s. Over 100,000 people attend the free 5 day event - that is 2.5% of the entire population! A highlight is the 1300+ entered Hot Rods and Classic Cars that take over the town for the week with non stop cruising and car shows - amongst stunning South Pacific coastal scenery - blue seas and white sands. Take a look at www.beachhop.co.nz Held in the popular seaside holiday resort of Whangamata, the fun never stops with music, kulture, fashion, more music, hot rods, motorbikes, dancing, dragsters, scooters of this golden era. With 100,000 people attending, this is one of the largest events of its kind in the...