Bodywork 101 - Straighten a Body Panel like Pro   You can’t expect to learn bodywork in 1 afternoon, no matter how good the teacher is, but one thing’s for certain: You’ll never learn unless you get in there and try it. This blog and the ones that will follow will show some basic bodywork techniques anyone can do (especially if I can do it!). Since I’m starting from nothing, I hope the pictures and videos will help you get started too.   Just starting, that’s where I am with my 1963 Falcon Wagon build. The body’s really not that bad, but after 45 years on the road, a Sherman tank needs panel work before glossy paint. As I mentioned in the "Holman & Moody Boss 429 - (you should read this)" I headed over to Squeeg’s Kustom to get started learning. I hooked up with Matt Vesay and interrupted his work on a stretched Dearborn Deuce body to get started on the upper splash apron (just above the front bumper) from a custom getting painted. The panel was fiberglass, but that didn’t really matter for what I needed...

Custom 1965 Chevy Suburban     MyRideisMe.com is happy to have 680 members now, including this bad 1965 Chevy Suburban owned by Cameron and Debbie Day from Austin, TX. This is another well done "shop truck" for their hot rod parts business House O Speed. They have created a GREAT garage already even though they just joined. Their garage is a great example of how you can show detailed pics of the interior, engine and exterior of your ride in an organized way. You don't need to insert pics in an email to show a buddy what you're up to on your ride, just send them over to your MyRideisMe.com garage and you're all set!   Cam says, this is Ratiki. It began life as an Arizona based 1965 Chevy Suburban built by my friends and I from the ground up over the span of five years. The concept was Cam's, that existed as ideas, a few magazine pics and some sketches. Cam then turned to my buddy Brian Stupski from Problem Child Kustoms to render the truck. Brian kindly referred the Day's over cause he knows I've got...

The first step in fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Hi, I’m Craig, I don’t know crap about bodywork. (Hi Craig). With that out of the way, I moved onto the next step. That’s seeking help. I turned to my new friends over at Squeeg’s Kustoms in Mesa, Arizona. Squeeg’s has been turning out show quality paint and bodywork since 1964 and Doug Jerger, the owner and Squeeg’s son, has kept the business rolling. One of Doug’s latest paint jobs was for his America’s Most Beautiful Roadster (AMBR) contenting 32 Roadster. I was in good hands for my shotgun lesson in body work to support the 63 Falcon Wagon project. When hot rods and custom car building’s in your head nearly every waking minute, hanging out in a shop like Squeeg’s might as well be Disneyland. When I pulled up, Doug and the Jerry Courlton were standing out front marveling at the fresh custom paint on Jerry’s Corvette super gas race car body. Wow. It’s tough to put down this many colors without having that, “I’m stuck in the 80’s” look, but Doug nailed the graphics and...

You're in trouble when you invite Brian Stupski from Problem Child Kustoms Studio to dinner. Brian's used to designing super high-end custom hot rods and concept cars for SEMA, which is all great, but when you ask him for help with your own projects, he doesn't know when to throttle back. "Brian, I don't have an extra $200k!" It's great to dream though! Look what he does when I cut him loose on something near and dear to me. The Nissan Armada. Brian also helped with a blog I wrote for Nissan. I was trying to win a trip to the Lake Tahoe, NV press event for the GTR. You might have read about it in EVERY magazine! I could have driven the GTR on a track. Too bad, my story didn't win, even with this AMAZING illustration. Here's a snippet of the Nissan Blog I wrote. I was trying to describe what I do for Nissan: It's tough to focus; I've had something on my mind since this morning. Then it hit me; I can see it now: Grocery shopping, trips to the mall, the neighbor kid’s hair...

Hot Rod Friends at their Best What do Hot Rods, cool Kustoms, the LA Roadster show and Octopus have in common? The Throttle Kings of Southern California. In 2007 when MyRideisMe.com was barely idling, I hit the LA Roadster show hard with cards and t-shirts to spread the word. That was when I first met Victor Busatamante. Victor listened about my dream of "Myspace for car guys" and offered a beer to celebrate that I was done jabbering. By that time, I had the pitch down, but even I was tired of hearing it. One beer led to another, then Victor and his buddies were making carne asada and fed me well. You don't meet guys that generous every day. I was grateful for the hospitality so I loaded up the boys with MyRideisMe.com t-shirts. Fast forward 1 year to 2008. As Saturday at the Roadster Show was winding down, I set out to find Victor and his guys again. Not so hard, just look for the guys having the most fun! A little ways out, I found them. This year was no different then last. Everyone was having a...

I think it was Earl Sheib who said, "Body work is glamorous!" He was lying! Ok, I made that up. Body work's dirty and you have to use a bunch of tools that make noise. I like that part! But, it takes so much time. It's hard work. This week, I enlisted another friend, Joe Nagy. He came over to hit the roof of the wagon, and that we did. (for a good laugh, check out the Earl Scheib home page and the endorsement from Danny Boneduce) On the left, you can see where we started. For some reason, I really like wagons, but I guess that was before I wanted to paint one! The roofs, as they're known, are LONG. I'm pretty lucky that the roof's straight and basically trouble free except for more of that black primer filled with that strange oil the previous owner used to keep it sorta-shiny. (I already said, please don't do that...) Joe and I fired up the wire wheel and DA sander only to find that sucked. From there I decided to go back to the paint stripper to ease the...

The LA Roadster Show is one of the MUST shows of the year, at least for me. The Pomona Fairplex gets another sweet show too, the Grand National Roadster Show. (let's not forget 2 NHRA events!) It's no wonder, about a ka-jillion hot rodders and custom car builders are in the greater LA area. The LA Roadster Show is put on by, you guessed it, the LA Roadster Car Club. Founded in 1957, this is the 44th annual show. I posted some pics of the LA Roadster Show, but only of the show itself. Here's those pics (Click HERE). Sorry, they're not my best effort. Camera broke, I'm not so talented behind it anways, 'nuff said! I also got some from the So-Cal show (Click HERE). So before next year's show, I better show you what I found outside the show; in the swap and in the show lot, I call it. That's where I found this hot little sedan. This is my favorite picture from the show. (if the owner wants it, you can have it free, just email me.) One thing that's true at all the LA...

2010 Pin-up Girl Wall Calendars Pinup models go with Hot Rods like whipped cream on pumpkin pie. That's why you'll find hot rods, muscle cars and even some hot bikes shot with the much finer sex in the pinup photo gallery at MyRideisMe.com. It just seemed like the right thing to do! Then, with the popularity of the killer photos of one of my favorite models, Zoe Scarlett done by Photographer: Dirk Behlau and, the most popular blog at MyRideisMe.com about the Hot Rods and Pinups II book shot by David Perry, I start thinking... why don't I shoot some pinup pictures? Piece of cake, I'll let you in on the secrets: 1) Get a hot girl and 2) pose her next to a rad hot rod. Done. Except for a couple of things... imagine this: Excuse me hot rod owner, I think your wife's hot. She looks like a pinup model. Can I take some pictures of her? At that point, either you're feeling the left side of your face caving in or you've met Don Simms and you'll be fine. Don and his buddies from the Throttle...

1963 Ford Falcon Build Update   In case you missed the last story, I'm rebuilding my 1963 Falcon Wagon. Originally, I just planned to put some paint on it and re-do the interior, but after inviting a bunch of friends over (here's the story), my wagon's now a stripped hulk sitting in my garage. Borderline panicking but not quitting, I've still got great friends helping out. We're making progress. It'd be easier to get out to the garage if it wasn't 112 today!   First off, I have to mention the tireless help I've been getting from my friend Ken Ford. (perfect name for the project, right?) Ken's a body guy and was looking for a reason to get dirty on a project. He's got a Harley at home now has built several VW's in the past, including a few vans, so he knows how to get body panels looking good.   It's a good thing too! We've been moving around the car looking for disasters. We really only found 1. The previous owner decided to fill the cowl vent. I guess it looks a little smoother, but I'd...

Even if you are only slightly interested in Nissan and Infiniti cars and trucks the Stillen Nissan/Infiniti Customer appreciation open house is a great show to see. Set right behind John Wayne Airport in Costa Mesa, California is Stillen. The performance shop owned and run by the most successful driver in IMSA history, Steve Millen. Steve was a factory driver for Nissan in the 90s and has special place in his shop for Nissan/Infiniti vehicles (Ford too but that's another blog!). Steve had heavily discounted Nissan/Infiniti parts on hand for customers as well as discounted dyno runs and free installation on anything purchased that day. All of the streets directly in front of Stillen were closed down by Costa Mesa PD and opened up for customer cars. Now I am not too good at counting and easily get side tracked when the bright and shiny are in front of me, so I lost track at the number of cars around 150 or so and that was easily only a quarter of the number of vehicles on display. There were vehicles from the last 30 years on display, a first...

1963 Ford Falcon Wagon Project Start   A lifelong family friend told me, "The funnest part's over." On Saturday 6/7, I had a "Strip Party" at my house. Sounds more fun than it was cause we were stripping a 1963 Falcon Wagon. Including me, 12 guys took apart this wagon Overhaulin' style. (Chip, are you seeing this?)   Imagine a guy with big dreams about a cool cruising wagon that can carry his family to cruises and shows in style. That same guy has said family out of the country, in Japan, for 7 weeks. What to do? I got the idea to invite my buddies and fellow MyRideisMe.com members over for a party to kick-off the disassembly of the wagon. I supply beer and pizza and my friends, new and old, got to dive into some 45 year old dirt in my garage. Sound like fun? Then you're in the right place. This is My Ride is Me at it's finest.   The tear-down thrash started when my friend Mike Schnur showed up. He was early, but I was thrilled to see him over. Mike's the undisputed "Falcon...

When Kevin Nichols sets up to build his first street car (he's been primarily a drag racer) he doesn't mess around! I ran into Kevin a few weeks ago at the 83rd Ave. show up in Peoria. This car's under construction, but there's still a ton to see. Plus, sometimes cars that aren't quite finished yet tell a better story than a finished car. The first thing that jumps out of this bad Stude is the engine. How's 510 cubic inches for ya? If it was only a blown Chevy big block, that'd be cool, but this engine's from Kevin's Super Eliminator and Advanced E.T. At NHRA events it ran 6.70's! A sub 7 second E.T. digger that's been his passion for years suddenly lost sponsorship and went down the road. The engine's electronic fuel injection will push pump gas through the 8-71 blower and it'll have power steering, and A/C! This will be a driver. Like most projects, the timeline for the Stude's slightly blown. Alright, it's been thrown out the window! 3 years into the build Kevin's proud to say he's done almost all the work himself....