The way of the west…..

Hello Blog World!!

This little video popped up today on the wonderful world of FaceBook and I took a few minutes to watch and let it soak in…. It’s very timely as I just spent the entire morning playing hooky from work and picked the bones of one of the last remaining machine shops in the quaint little town of Healdsburg.  Here’s a few pics of the mechanized GEM that lurks within our town.

Colchester.... Very Nice...

Chips and Chains.....

Ready to make chips.....

We've got our work cut out....

Now, I will say that the shop has been out of service for quite some time but the whole place in its entirety is smack dab in the middle of town ready and waiting to produce machinery, and or repair things on a as needed basis! But there’s nobody around to do the work. Or is it that there is just not as much work anymore in our society of trash and replace with new?? Well who knows… But what I do know is this video is worth watching and it really hits home. Maybe it time to hang my shingle out a bit more and open my shop to more business? Healdsburg, do you need a machine shop again?

Enjoy…..

—-> VIDEO <—-

Robert M.

The Fuel Car…. Chipping away!!!

Hey Folks!

Well things are happening up here in the land of all things fun!  Just thought it was time to push out a little more news on the Dragster front.  I have been hustling around looking for parts and trying to fabricate little pieces here and there.  And as always I have been making updates to the build thread on the HAMB.  Please take a moment to sift thru and see some nifty stuff!

—> “The Build Thread” <—

Light the next pair!

Robert M.

Chops is putting the speed tune on......

A little work on the ’32…

Long time since posting…  Sorry for that!!!

With so many things going on right now it’s hard to stay focused on one project… Wait, Maybe that’s a good thing?? Well for me it is… I tend to bounce around on things until I hit critical Mass and then it turns into the all out assault on getting to the finish line if you will. So this past few months I managed to get the body dialed in and mounted for good onto the chassis.  The classic deal with most reproduction items is that they are close…  But….  Not quite there…  For example the body mounting holes on the American Stamping Frame Rails are just not quite on the line.  The body from Brookville is Spot On but in the end we had a touch of a work to do in order to get things lined up!  Out comes the grinder!  Slotted everything and just started working around to each hole until it was perfect. I didn’t like how the body was lining up with the rise in the frame towards the back so I just drilled out the spot welds for the subrails on both side and let the frame relax a bit. I placed a  little 1/8″ shim under each body bolt and WHAMO!!  Perfect alignment and doors that close like no other….  Way Bitchin!!!!  Next thing is welding up all the body seams and adding some bracing to the picture in order to really lock this thing in place.

"Body Hole Alignment Issues"

"Subrail spot welds drilled out"

"Perfect Fit!!!!"

From the Bustling Metropolis of Orange CA.

Blasting onto the Blog-o-Sphere with his Bitchin Fabrication work is Jimmy White and Da Boys from Circle City Hot Rods. Killer Cars and Killer Dudes…. Check out that latest stuff cook’n in his kitchen and see what they’re up too.

“The Spot”

The Fuel Car, Continued….

It’s happening….  Just lots of behind the scene’s stuff right now that is burning up time and advancing the cause.  However I thought it might be time to toss another little GEM up for your review?  1966 PDA Meet at Lions…  Winners Circle…  Heros??  Well to me I say yes..

A Big Thanks to Don Gillespie for this Breathtaking Image.....

Machine Tool Restoration….

Machine tools….  How exciting can this be???  Well there are tons of these things lying around and there is only a dedicated few folks that like to drag them out of the mud and give’um a new life.  Reluctantly I’m one of them….  I had had it with my JET lathe….  I bought it new and fought it until the day it was gone.  I mean, what a piece of shit!  Never would repeat like it should and was always a challenge.  I was able to get good parts out of it but it always put up a fight.  So I called a friend and asked for help, I couldn’t take it any longer…  I had to have something new!!  Along comes a Craigslist ad and then along comes these machines….  Why did I buy both?  Well it was kinda like a package deal ya know??  I went for the lathe but after giving the low ball offer it was tossed back in my face with basically a “take this as well for the same price…..”  Hmm….  Well OK…  I guess I’ll make it work.. Knowing that I had a great milling machine already I knew I didn’t need another, but, this one was so much more and when it was restored we would have a winner!  Right…  When It’s restored….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we begin…. Tearing shit apart and wiping everything down. Can a machine really be this dirty?? Who the Fuck let this thing get to this point? Well…. Sad but true… This was a shop that was focused on making money… Not making clean machines. So we are just about at the point of turning this PIG around and getting it on the road back to recovery. How the folks that do this for a living make any money I will never know… This has been a HUGE task and I will certainly be happy once it’s finished!

But there is hope… After all this scraping and scrubbing, 3 gallons of Lacquer Thinner Later and at least 300 shop towels we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Paint is not so important in these machines.. Only for looks ya know. But the shit that matters is still in fine shape. And after a little RED scotch brite pad and WD-40 we start to see what’s still there and ready for active duty. Perfect ways and factory scrape marks! Score… We knew it was there! Just had to find it…

More News Soon…

The Fuel Car…….

Hey Gang….

Well it’s about time to start a new project thread. So here’s the deal! It’s been about 6 years since my racing days ended and I kinda started getting the bug again. But this time it’s going to be different. I know that building another Race Car and going out to really compete is out of the question with my Wife and Financially it just doesn’t work. But I MUST have another Dragster…. I miss the days of walking out into the garage and staring at my ’68 Shoemaker Car…. Time for another one but what route to take??? I called up a long time racing friend to discuss the general idea and told him that towing down for the Cackle Fest deal would be a hoot! He agreed and said “Pick one and go for it!!”

Easy….

The Beebe Bros, Vinson, & Sixt Car….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the story begins…

I have had the July 1966 Issue of Drag Racing Magazine since I was a little boy and have always wanted this car… My Favorite of all time!!! The original car is now 100ft below the surface of the Earth in Australia so we’re going to need to start fresh. I will try to post as much as possible along the way and keep y’all in the loop. It won’t be as fast paced as my Shop Truck Project but it shouldn’t take too much time!

Follow Along Right Here!

Fire the next pair!

Robert

Every Shop needs a Shop-Truck…

True…  Ya gotta have a solid RIG to fetch parts and gather up the goods!!  Well here’s mine….  And if ya like more detail you can click here and see how it was built:

“The Build Thread”

Me and My Rig....

Hello world!

Welcome to my new Blog…  Hopefully I can get this straight and share the adventures of what goes on inside my little shop!  Race Cars, Live Steam Trains, Etc…  Always something going on with me and I want to allow folks to follow along.