Rat Fink Reunion 2010

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Check this out guys and gals.  I told you to keep an eye on Andy’s Pinstriping blog didn’t I?  Here’s his latest work, getting ready for the Rat Fink Reunion 2010.

 “As is tradition every year at the Rat Fink Reunion, The artist’s give out an “Artist’s Choice” award to their favorite vehicle at the show.  This years “trophy” from me is a metal panel that features my man Fink doing some ca-razy stripe and letter work…and to finish it off I also distressed the panel so it looks like it was hanging in Ed’s shop in Maywood California back in the early sixties. I hope whoever receives this enjoys it as it was a labor of love to make!”  Andy

 

Click on the image to blow it up real big.  Looks even cooler!

Rat Fink Reunion 2010, Manti, Utah June 3-5, be there or be square!  I hope to attend this year’s event.  How often is there an event of this caliber in Utah right?

Hechtspeed

 

Happy Hot Rod-days and a Merry New-gear!!!

Just wanted to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  2010 will be rockin’ at MyRideisMe.com. 

I thought I’d share this Gingerbread Rat Rod I made last year.  I was planning a Chop Top 1932 Tudor for this year, we’ll see if I can find time…

Hechtspeed

Diesel Rat Rod: Blowin’ Smoke

Photos by Swanee

SEMA 2009 proved to be an extreme mix of automotive genius and variety.  Rat rods are becoming part of that creative pool. Rat rods, in general, are built solely from old parts and pieces that are deliberately left raw and natural.  Additional trinkets are added, leaving their patina to show.  The surge of this style of building is gaining support by a recent article by Car and Driver Magazine.  Check it out: Car and Driver Top 10 Favorites from SEMA

Case in point, is this “Diesel Rod”, a 1928 Dodge 4 door body, rusted and abused beyond restoration, was chopped and channeled onto a hand built frame.  Stepping way out of the box and into the next field, a retired 1998 Dodge pickup donates its motor, a Cummins 12 valve mechanical diesel engine.  The diesel motor produces plenty of horsepower and torque plus gets 20+ MPG.

The diesel rod is the imagination of Steve Darnell, owner of a fabrication shop aptly named, WELDERUP. www.welderup.com

Steve has been around cars all his life. Finding old cars is his reason for living, even better when he can drive the beauty home!  Steve’s daily driver is a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, left in its original condition.

Steve and his crew build rolling works of art.  This diesel rod has so many features that every time you see it, the more it pops.  The trim around the body is a bandsaw blade, a chainsaw blade surrounds the cowl. Brass screen mesh, from a gold mine, has been recycled into interior door panels. The dash is sheet metal from an old piece of farm equipment.  The rear bumper is two pistons from an excavator engine and the steering support is a connecting rod from the same piece of machinery.

This entire project, as well as others, is based on the recycling of old parts. Sheetmetal, handles, gears, chains and endless other parts come from salvaging in the backfields of the farm and ranch community.

Steve jumps at any chance to cruise the streets and enjoys all the attention he gets riding in this rat. Burnouts at every stoplight baby!   Fire from the propane injection and smoke bellowing out from the single exhaust pipe.

No trailer queen here, the diesel rod was built to be driven and enjoyed by everyone.

The diesel rod has been featured in a variety of magazines; Diesel World, Diesel Tech, Diesel Power, and Hot Rod. This rod brings the diesel heads together. Rebel Rodz teased the rat rod community and overseas e-magazines like, El Diablo (Spain) by featuring this rat and Mattblackrat (England) http://www.mattblackrat.com/ found the diesel rod to be an interesting ride.

(This is a picture of the hand crank starter. About half a turn is all you’ll need, believe it or not, to fire this thing up. I watched him do it and couldn’t believe how easy it was.)

What is next?  ENJOY IT!  Welderup is based in Montana but, the crew isn’t scared to drive all over the U.S…  Be on the lookout as the “show” rolls into town!

Alan57

http://www.alan57.com/

Billetproof 2009 – 2nd Annual Washington Washout

The 2nd Annual Billetproof Washington Washout was even more impressive than last year. MyRideisMe.com member Michael Nantz gives us the scoop and pictures of his favorite rides:

“There were spectators hovering around every car. The weather was some of the best you could hope for at any car show and there were some big vendors this year; the guys from SoCal Speed Shop in Sacramento made the trek up to Washington and were busy in their booth all day.

For the first day of this 2 day car show there were 650+ cars of all styles. There was the “standard” rat rods (which is a term I can’t stand but will say it anyway) to the traditional rods to some very rare and old customs.
At the show on day 1 the first car I came across was the 1930 Model A from Top Ten Hot Rods which was my favorite car of the show with its 1957 392 Hemi with Enderle fuel injection force fed by matching, twin 1957 McCulloch superchargers modified to run without clutches to feed about 20lbs of boost, EACH… to the 7:1 Hemi. All that runs through a Chrysler 4 speed.  When they fired this car up it brought back memories of being at the Fremont Drag Strip.  See our feature story of this Hot rod from the LA Roadster Show.

Throughout the rest of the day I took over 700 pictures and spoke with many of the good people at the show. Everyone I spoke to was having a great time and were glad they made it to the show.

Saturday night kicked off the downtown Chehalis Cruise Nigh. What a great turn out with everyone cruising main street. There was also a huge gathering at the Olympic Club which contains a vintage movie theater.
Day 2 of the show was a little bit smaller as this was the first year of the 2 day show. The final count I heard was around 300 cars which is still a great showing.

In the end I had a great time at the 2nd annual Billetproof Show in Washington and I highly recommend it to everyone. Next year look for a burnout contest on Sunday in a special area so that all can watch.”
Michael Nantz

This is what MyRideisMe.com is all about.  Readers and members sharing their passion, whether its your own hot rod build project or your experience at a local car show.  Michael gets it!!!  Follow his lead and let us know what you thought of Billetproof in Washington and at your local cruise! Leave a comment of shoot us an email.

Hechtspeed

2008 Speed Week-”Car Show” on the Salt

I’m a little intimidated to tackle a story that even has the words: Salt Flats, Bonneville, and Speed Week included. The 2008 Speed Week day-trip I made last year was only my second time on the salt in Bonneville, the “Fastest Place On Earth” as the Bonneville Speed Week website declares. I wanted to share a few words and pictures from that day.

I made the 1.5 hour drive out to Bonneville International Raceway with my good’ol 1959 JC Higgins rat rod cruiser pedal bike. The Bonneville salt-essentials strapped on the rear rack: bottles of water, sunflower seeds, sunblock and the old point and shoot camera. You need a bike just to get around the pit area. Why you ask? The pit area is 3 miles long and about 2 miles from the starting line!!!

I spent most of my time near the starting line and in the pits soaking in sun, salt and of course the coolest “Car Show/Cruise-In” ever! OK, so there’s no official car show, but that’s what I call it. There are a few hundred old roadsters, coupes, muscle cars, pusher trucks, rat rods, and motorcycles all over the pit area during the week long event.

Bonneville is the total experience for a hot rod nut; well worth the drive, whether its 1.5 hours or 1.5 days. The cars, the racing, the people, the beautiful salt scenery, its a must-do event!

What kind of a hot rod and racing website would MyRideisMe.com be without covering Speed Week this year? Don’t worry, we’ll be there from August 8-14 for Speed Week 2009! Not even a bias ply flat in the middle of the Utah desert is going to stop us!

David Perry’s Pinup Book goes to DVD: Hot Rod Pinups

Written by: Erock805 (Erick’s Garage)

It opens like a shot, not knowing the music, it felt like motor head, loose, violent, and melodic and real…what you see is what you hear…a front engine rail blitzing through the lights. Smoke and raw fuel and flame blasting from the pipes…you can almost feel it in your chest. The track lights lit up the night just like you remember they did. You can almost smell the nitro… Perfect!

At this point, I am not even thinking about the pleasures of the flesh I am about to witness. All I can think about is the first time I heard that sound, felt the thunder and cried in joy as the fumes burned my eyes…

David Perry…creator of Hot Rod Pinups, the DVD, my new hero.

Then came little Ruby Rae, and a song that defined what I was witness to…a real live girl. Ruby quickly reminded me what I was here for. I’m watching a pinup video… a first for me. Sure, I’ve watched a ton of hot rod flicks, and gasser movies, they usually have a couple models, but never a video featuring pinups…
Back to Ruby Rae, once she started working about the shop, I quickly forgot all about the nitro. In fact her opening silhouette was enough to make me wanna propose. I bet that wouldn’t go over to well with the current luckiest girl in the world… Princess. Who am I kidding…no way, I ain’t gotta a chance. Plus I’m not sure any other girl in the world would have the patience to put up with me and my 5 car habit.

Back to the show…Hot Rod Pinups is the Real Deal. Real cars, real life style and real ladies. The ladies are not the waif plastic Paris Hilton ladies so mainstream today. Nope, real live girls that are all hot rod: Beautiful curves, lines and features – Ladies that have style, comfort and strength. A moving experience.

Now I am no rockabilly king, I am a rocker, a metal head yet I enjoy most music and I know what’s good. So believe me when I tell you this soundtrack has something for everyone, its ruff, melodic and surprising. The tunez from Gearhead Records fits the scene on the screen better than most of the Vids I have seen. There are few things worse than watching a good video and not being able to tell one song from the next and for Hot Rod Pinups, each song, while in the same genre, transitions well. The mix breaks up the babe-mania, and adds depth to the experience. It takes you up and down and all around town. I need this sound track for my ride.

Everything about this flick kicks. The Sets are real. The tattoo and auto shops, parties, drags, and Bonneville are suited perfectly for the fair pinup vixens that drive us wild! These are real venues for real girls. This DVD is well put together and everything worked: locations, sets, wardrobe, cinematography and tunez. It all comes together like pb and j. its right so go getchya one!

Gearhead Records is my new brand…well done Mr. Perry I dug it. I wonder if I can continuous loop a DVD?

You can grab the DVD and Hot Rod Pinups I & II all from Amazon.com. The DVD was listed at $18 bucks and the books are both around $23.

3 Steps to Personalizing your Hot Rod

I’ve always liked my car… Good thing, right? I guess I always wanted a hot rod. Bonnie, as in Bonneville, sure has changed since I bought her at a Goodguys show. The 3 pictures shown here are the 3 evolutionary changes of the car.

Step 1: As I bought her: I was thinking of buying a Zipper bodied Lakes Modified until I found out there’s a 6 month wait to get one. I felt pretty lucky to grab this when I did.

You’ll see the long split wishbones hooked to a 3 inch dropped axle. The rear axle is a old school banjo. The wheels are the 1935 style wires with some hard as hell bias ply or tractor style tires. I’m not sure what kind of paint the original owner used, but that yellow is tough as NAILS!! The engine block hasn’t never changed, but it did get updated. I’ve got the original header on it too. The quarter elliptical spring suspension front and back is there, but there’s friction shocks (only better then nothing at all!) in the front and nothing in the rear.

Step 2: My Redo: Since I was never a fan of the wires, even on lakes-style modifieds, I went to 15 inch steelies with wide white walls. I’ve always (like so many other people) liked the look of a red wheels with a white wall. It’s classic. I went to radials too. The front and rear suspension was updated. The front cause I had to. The axle had a crack in the passenger side king pin bushing. If that would have failed, the wheel comes off. NOT good. I changed to hairpins front and back too. I like the look of the wishbones, but setup the way they were, the rear axle is bound up. I found a pretty nasty crack on one side where the rear wishbone mounted. The rear axle is now an 8 inch with a 4.11 gear. I installed shocks front and back too. There’s alot of pictures of the front and rear suspension in my garage. I built the head from 1/2 of a small block Chevy kit that I split with a dude on Ebay. The red paint lasted about 30 minutes. Still, no interior.

Step 3: How she is now: Well, as Bonnie gets closer to being a “finished” car, the less interested I am in her. I still like this car, but I find myself thinking of building/working on my 63 Falcon wagon and 61 Rambler American wagon more. Maybe I’m getting old?

In the latest incarnation, I went to 16 inch steelies with Firestone bias ply tires. The ones in the back are TALL! It has a little more rake to it then I’d like, but nobody else thinks so. I made a new header a while back, but that’s changed since step 2. There’s more pinstriping on her now and I’ve added the custom MyRideisMe.com piston logo to the door. My buddy Joel from 1320 Designs hand painted it for me. We’re still planning to “antique” it a little. Last but not least, the interior’s in it. More on that later.

What do you think? Which one’s your favorite? Have I made steps forward or back? It’s all a matter of taste, but that’s what makes My Ride is Me, right?

Please join MyRideisMe.com and get your own Custom Garage Space (that one’s mine!) to put pictures of your car, project or whatever you’re driving!

Homebuilt Woodie too Sweet to be a Rat

Story submitted by MyRideisMe.com member: Woodbutcher

This project started out as a 32 chevy woody pedal carI built for my daughter, she put it in two local shows and won 2 1st’s. Took it to goodguys KC and won “Best Bitch’n” pedal car. So why not build me one? Mine started as 2 1/2 ton dual wheel flatbed truck. I bought the cowl for $85.00 took a pile of parts in the shop, and came up with a plan. I took the pile of part’s and a concept to Matt Schroeder of Newton KS.
He built a all custom 100 inch chassis with 20″ kick up in rear, front axle over frame 10 bolt posi with stock trailing arms and direct port air bags in rear. I got the chassis back and my work began. I ran all brake lines installed 305 with vintage offenhauser intake /edelbrock 600 carb, chrome Sanderson shorty headers. (Matt also fabed a full exhaust with tail pipes) and it doesn’t need any more then that. It’s all backed by a flip-o-matic turbo 350 trans.

After I had the drive train put in 70% of the work buy me the other 30% buy friends who stopped by to see what was going on with wiring done by my buddy Jim Allen. Then I started the body, started with the floor 3/4 maple plywood, and had Matt make a steel tunnel for me I did all install cut to fit with copper strapping. Then I started with the rear quarters first one took about 3 hours, then the roof after that, the doors and the hatch. In total I have about 40 hours in the boby build. (Can you tell I’m a custom trim carpenter and furniture maker?)

Then came the sanding and finish of the wood. That took the longest. I had my 3year old daughter Mercedes and wife Julie (8 month’s pregnant) sanding. Stile and rails are spanish cedar and panels curly birdseye maple and dash has over a 150 pieces of wood in it. Finish is a two part mix by me with spar urethane satin. I hope this is a good base to work with. If anymore wants info please ask. This car was all built in home garages and cheap for what it is. Let’s just say it’s about 3.5k less then 10.

Next on the agenda is to tie up loose ends on my other hot rods and get my wife’s 67 corvair painted. I would like to do a 38 Ford cab over on a 66 Old’s Toro chassis and and do a box truck back done in wood on the inside to work out of and showcase my work. Scott Fisk did a rendering on my car and I’m using it as a guide for my next pedal car for my son Mason (9 months) It’s called “hopped up on goof balls”. Doug DoRr also did a painting of the car. Dennis McPhail just gave me a wood painted shift knob for it and Doug Carr (wooden carr) sent me an email saying I was, “ahead of the pack” on this one. He has never seen a rat rod woody. Gene Winfield stopped me at KKOA to take a picture. It sure is an honor to have those guys give me their two cents, even somthing as simple as a picture.

In closing the thing I love the most about this car is It’s like a set of boobs… you take it out in public someone is going to touch it. I don’t mind! it is a hands on type, touch- e-feel-e kinda car. Get in take a seat, try it on for size but I’ll keep the keys! rod on, Jeff

TJ Photography did the model shoot set up by Trent Sherrill of Sherrill Hotrods Assoc.

Please join MyRideisMe.com and get your own Custom Garage Space (that one’s mine!) to put pictures of your car, project or whatever you’re driving!

Throttle Kings – Hospitality and Hot Rods

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 great time, sipping beers and eating what? Oysters and fried octopus? I tried one of those little suckers too. Chewy.

I got the idea to grab a picture of each Throttle King member with their car. For these guys, their rides do tell a story about their personalities. My Ride is Me. With every member nicer then the next, they each told me how they help each other out with their rides and if they’re not working, they traveling together to one of the MANY shows and cruises in the greater Los Angeles area.

It didn’t take long to notice I needed almost every letter in the alphabet to get their names! Bustamante and Kopis Georgakopoulos (Greek if you’re wondering), give you the idea. That’s Kopis’s 51 Pontiac Chieftain.

Besides the cocktails and friendship, I also shot some pictures of Don Simm’s wife Doreen. That was my first chance to try pinup photography.

Doreen is a natural, now if I was a talented photographer… you can read that blog… Click HERE.

I hope to see everyone next year, or maybe at the Primer Nationals in Ventura.

Until then, here’s the Throttle Kings and their cars.

Thanks for everything!

See you next year.

• Victor Bustamante’s 30 Ford Coupe (Visit his garage)
• Kopis Georgakopoulos’ 51 Pontiac Chieftain (Visit his garage)
• Don Simms’ 29 Ford Roadster (Visit his garage)
• Jim Ramirez’s 36 Ford Pickup
• Paul Medina’s 47 Ford Business Coupe
• Pete Rodriguez’s 50 Ford 2 door sedan

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How to be a pinup model – 2 secrets revealed!

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 Kings are some of the coolest kats you’ll meet at the LA Roadster Show, but that’s a different story (that WILL be told later).

For secret #2, Don supplied the hot rod too. The guys nearly got it all! When you making a garage at MyRideisMe.com Don?

Enough of that, dig the pics. Not bad for the crappy camera I had to use. (It’s always best when your digital SLR takes a crap at one of the best shows going.)

Thank you Doreen for being my first.

To see all of the pinup pics, go to the pinup photo gallery.

These pics work great as a desktop image, so click on them and save it. Make sure you tell a friend where you found it!

And let’s tell Doreen what a great job she did!

Check out all the Pinups here MyRideisMe.com Pinups Models & Hot Rods

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