Sunday, November 30, 2008

Crank County Daredevils


Wake up world, listen to these guys and smash beer cans against your head. Or at least go out and buy their cd, these guys kill it. Got to hang out with them again out in Asheville, NC last weekend and they never fail to live up to a good time. Great folks and great music, catch'em when you can as they are the epitome of punk n' roll.

http://www.myspace.com/crankcountydaredevils

Expensive Carburetor Rebuild



Finally got around to pulling the carbs completely apart and found out just how many new parts I needed to buy. Yes, a couple of hundred dollars later in completely new carb parts I am still shitting my pants. Everything was shot due to the bike sitting for such a long time. All the needles, bushings, seals, springs and fittings were shot. At least I won't have too much trouble shooting to do when it comes to fire it up, well besides tuning 4 carbs in unison. Going to clean all the parts I can and paint them up black to match the heads. The rest of the engine will be polished out aluminum and should create a sweet color scheme matching the other tins.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

El Mirage - 2008







What a great weekend overall. First trip back to California after moving down here to North Carolina and we rocked out at El Mirage for a great weekend of racing. Hooked up with my pal Dawes and we drove out to the desert to camp for the weekend and work the pits with the guys from a San Diego based racing team the Bean Bandits. Julio Hernandez or you can refer to him by his shop Lefty's Speed Shop built two great cars that run in the land speed races. One of the cars was having issues and his new one, the belly tanker was doing some shakedown runs to get ready for next season and the finished build. All in all, the whole crowd was cool as hell and I made a slew of new friends. Looking forward to seeing those cats next season at Sturgis and then on Bonneville. Check out Jake's truck above, she was running good and they are looking to break 106 mph record with a production truck and stock flathead motor.

http://www.scta-bni.org/

http://www.aeclassic.com/bean_bandits/index.html

Monday, November 10, 2008

Making struts for the rear fender



Been trying so many different ideas in my head to figure out an appropriate setup for some cool fender struts. I had thought about welding some side panels onto the fender but realized it might warp a bit too much with the thin steel. Also I don't have an english wheel or an over abundance of sheet metal tools so I was forced to find a simpler solution.

What I came up with are a pair of struts made of mild steel. I bent a piece of steel rod around the rear tire and got a good radius to match the wheel. I then cut the rod to the length needed in the band saw and welded on some round stock I also cut off to make tabs from. They should work out great once drilled and tapped. The look is minimal and should be a great addition to the overall look of the build.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Albrecht Dürer



Dürer is without a doubt one of my favorites from the high Renaissance period and his illustrations are some of the best ever created. His dark imagery fits the period perfectly and over 500 years later the work is still relative. Seeing his work up close is even more mind blowing. The devil is in the details and he must have made a solid bond with the big guy from the deep south as his work is still captivating after half a millenia. Of course my favorite is the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

Read more on this great mind:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer


Poster and DVD package for David Perry's Hot Rod Pin-Ups


recently finished the design for the poster and packaging of David Perry's film Hot Rod Pin-Ups.

myspace.com/gearheadrecords

New Shirt in progress


still working out some details but almost there...

Band of the Week - Holy Rollin' Hellfires

if you dig rockabilly and punk check these guys out. Billy, the singer guitarist is also the bassist in the sleaze metal Crank County Daredevils. Good tunes for sure. And if you are by chance in Asheville, NC stop by Billy's restaurant and say hello. Its called the Yacht Club.

http://www.myspace.com/holyrollinhellfiresLink

Gotta get one of these for random fun

nuff said


but after this election, maybe things will change with a new mindset. Good bye Bush administration and the Cheney Monster.

Western New Mexico on my way to Texas

Thursday, November 6, 2008

truly beautiful primary setup


Sweet Chevy

Monday, November 3, 2008

New shirt designs about to hit the press



As some of you may know, the whole impetus of Rusty Knuckles was to create a merch company in which ideas could be released away from the restraint of client demands. So much of my time and energy goes to my clients. This is great and a hard fought victory, but at the end of the day I want to produce graphics that I can release whenever I enjoy. Whether they end up on t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, patches or stickers, that will be determined by me and those who might want to purchase them. These are just a few of the ideas that I am cooking on now.

Cutting down a trailer fender






In my pursuit of making the honda 650 cooler, I needed to create a custom rear fender. With lots o' measurements I figured that some labor and a $30 blank fender from Northern Tool could do the trick. I opted on a 32" inch long fender by 9" wide. With the longer fender I would be able to cut off the section I did't need and still allow for the correct radius and arc to get the style I am after.

Not having a plasma cutter I also had to devise a no budget jig to cut a straight line on a radius. I made a quick little jig out of scrap wood and it worked out great with my 4.5" grinder and cut off wheel. Once I got the fender cut and sized to the dimensions needed I tig welded the two sections together and pounded out a few areas on the anvil to give it a bit more curve. After I smooth out the fender a bit more on the top with some grinding and sanding, I need to add a few curved side panels. They will act as my fend struts and fill in some the negative space between the tire and the back of the top panel of the fender. Then the fender will be mounted to the swing arm. Not sure how I am going to mount the fender just yet. Weighing a few options and seeing how the final fender will look at first.