Okay! I had a lot going on and have not been able to post. I had the bike to finish a trip to Born Free 4 (Awsome!) and Disneyland (Also awesome!) along with a stop over in Vegas for the 4th. That along with all our house projects and so much more. I met some really cool people at Born Free and we had a great time. The bike was not finished when we left but managed to get the tank leak stopped and the first ride was around the dirt lot at BF! I can not even tell you how happy I was to finally ride this bike. Once there I parked out back and had a ton of people urge me to take it to the show side. I finally caved and she would not start! I rolled her over and got a great spot. Surprisingly the bike attracted huge crowds. I was feet away from Atomic Trent and his bike was really cool. I introduced myself and my daughter at the line for corn dogs, they were out and we were bummed! He was a cool guy, it was a pleasure to meet him. Mike from OldStf Cycles introduced himself and we went over to see his Flatty that he had just finished. That bike is so sweet!

I posted a video of my first ride once I was home and have to apologize in advance for the quality, it is my first video! You will get an idea of the bike though without any finishes on it and after some pretty good rains and surface rust! I will try to post a couple of pictures soon.


                             I was not able to register the bike yet so the ride of shame! : (

                                           My family at lunch in Vegas, Jenae is the best!

Okay Checking things off the list. I have been feverishly working on my daughters room to get it finished so my girl and her Mom can decorate it. I am ready for final sand a little drywall mud touch up. I am doing it the hard way with a smooth finish but I figure she will write on the walls and it will be much easier to clean this way. I have received a few cool things in the mail. A couple of repousse tool and some suspension stuff for the Corvairs. One of my new products will be adjustable strut rods for the Corvair and they are really sweet. The repousse tools are so I can practice up on engraving and adding character to my parts. I am also making a makers mark so when you get one of my limited parts you will know it was hand made by me. I will get some pictures of the bike and some other stuff I am working on. I can check Jenae's room off the list in a couple of days and then take a construction brake for a short while.

It is really important to get this house in order, but man is it hard not having the time to work on other stuff. Sometimes When I am laying in bed at night I just want to get up and get the fire going in the shop and get at it. I burnt myself out earlier this year pushing way too hard so I will keep it to 16 hours a day or less!!!

Rocker nuts almost gone!

I have three sets of the brass rocker nuts left. I might keep an extra set to engrave. I am thinking of a new design for the next batch.

Positive thinking and motivation.

Some people think that this positive thinking thing is a bunch of B.S. I have a different opinion. When I heard that all you have to do is think about something and believe it is coming to you it made me think. I did notice that the people that I looked up to and did the things I wanted to be doing were always positive that they would reach their goal. I wanted to test this out a bit as I was in a bad point in my life..... again. Instead of dreading the bills coming in the mail I thought about and wished for checks coming in the mail. A miracle did not happen, I did not get rich! An interesting thing did happen though checks started coming in the mail! $99.00 rebate that I wasn't expecting. I got about 15 checks in the next few months and none large or life changing, but I had not received a check in the mail for years before that.

The thing I figured was the worst thing that could happen to me is that I would believe good things were going to happen. It is better than being stuck dreading the day and wondering what next. I have always been a pretty motivated guy but I also felt sometimes I could do more so I started making little notes to remind myself there is only now. If you think about it what I am doing right now writing this is all that I can get done. If I was sitting watching television same thing. What I do is put little reminders and try to get actual things accomplished. I do not ever say well maybe I will get this or that finished I always say that it will be done.

My bike project is one of the longest well it is the longest project I have done and it is close to being finished. I never gave myself a way out. There was never a maybe, or it is too hard, I don't have the skills, none of that! When I started the bike I was (could have been) at one of the lowest places in my life. My wife had just left me, I started getting bills ( she had not paid them for months). To put it into perspective it cost about $4,000 minimal to pay my bills at that time, so I was in a shit storm! I got the mortgage and it was over $5,000 to catch it up. What did I do? I went to Tulsa to pick up a bike! When I got back I had a payment from one of my jobs, paid my guys and proceeded to figure things out. I paid everything current but my wife put a stipulation in the divorce that I would have to get the house in my name or sell it and split the profits. She had ruined my credit. They would not let me put it in my name so I lost it. My credit is still ruined but I decided from that point on, that being the second time I had lost everything to an ex., that I would never use credit again. Everything I have including house cars, all of it would be paid for by saving and using real money! That is a whole other story. When I got back with the bike I had a plan in my head. I was going to do twisted metal and an air ride seat. I was going to make or modify everything to have a totally hand built bike. I went to a local surplus metal place and found some hex tubing that I thought would be great for what I wanted. I called around to every blacksmith and ornamental iron place I could find and always got the same answer "it can't be done" . Finally a small place in Erie about an hour away said that they could do it. They called me about two weeks later stating "it cant be done" I went to my friend Shane's house and explained what I wanted and he how they said it was impossible so he and I figured we would give it a try. The next day we had enough done for two bikes! I have had help and I am getting help now on it my situation changed with this house and I don't have a place to work on it now but I refuse to let it sit so I have a fellow builder working on it and I know it is in good hands.

This house. This house is another example. I was talking to a friend that was down on his luck and he was constantly bitching about everything. I explained that you get what you give, if you put out negativity bad things come from it. He is like, "Oh sure you just wish for gold and it falls out of the sky" I explained that it is not that easy that you have to work. You have to get out there and meet people and get things done. I explained how I do not leave myself a way out when I say I will do something I don't hmnnn and haw, I say It will be and it ends up working out. I told him watch by next summer I will have a house that is 100% paid for, I will have my bike finished and my car finished. We have the house and the bike is close. It takes a lot of hard work and help and things falling into place. I want to tell you I am basically unemployed never had an opportunity guy. If you seen me on the street you might imagine I was homeless. I am the youngest of ten kids so we were always poor. My parents could not leave an inheritance they were broke. My dad left me with a strong work ethic, my mom with a you can do what you set out to do attitude. That, and many fond memories and lessons is what they left for me. I never went to the dentist until I was 20 years old and had finally gotten my own insurance, it was too late. I spent my maximum for over ten years trying to get my teeth fixed but I ended up losing a lot of them. so when you meet me I will have a toothless grin. This too will change soon. It is on my list. That is another important thing, make a list. Long and short term goals also go to it regularly and check things off and add new things. You can also finish one and start another. I will leave today with my lists. This a condensed version. I read somewhere that you should write it on white paper with a blue pen so that is what I do. I am not sure of the significance of it. There is much more I want to share including how free I feel not owing for anything. Please stop using credit as soon as you can and get away from that burden.  It is like a spiders web.

MY list

Short term.

Get the bike finished                               Get the garage set up to work in (electricity)

Jenae's room finished                                Pay back my sister

Get new shirts and parts ready                      Finish the car

Long term.

Get the house totally self sufficient  (Solar wind power etc.)

Get the house finished inside and out

Build additional garage

Do the other bike projects that are already planned  Light Bike and Metallurgy.

Hot rod project

V8 Corvair and Shop truck

A bit closer on the anvil

Cast iron Stand legs

I finished pulling the street lamp bases yesterday and spent about an hour trying to get the old posts out. They are really rusted in there so that will be my next little project. I will try to get them apart and cleaned up. Then I plan on making a top of some kind for either a bike lift or a lathe stand.

Slideshow!

The beginnings of the build

When removing the front bumper I noticed there was previous damage to the lower front. This is pretty common but I always thought it would look better without the license plate flat area  there so that is where I started. I also removed the trunk key and trim.

Having that finished I decided to split the bumpers. I am thinking now that I may just use a slightly modified 69 Camaro lower valance. If I do that the lights etc. will be easier install. I will have to cut what I have done to do that but I think it will be worth it.

Next in line after the bike.

I really don't have a car for myself that is drivable at this time. I do have a truck but it's not really my style I just needed a utility vehicle for getting materials and dump runs etc. The plan was to have my car done last summer but this house purchase changed everything. After the bike is finished this 1965 Corvair Corsa Convertible will be next in line.

 I had purchased a pair of cars both Corsas one was a Turbo coupe, I really wanted to build that one but I also had a 140 Convertible. I like to keep my projects (somewhat) in check. I was also living in a rented place so not the storage I have now. I decided to roll the dice. I listed them both on Craigslist and the one that sold would provide the funding to start the other one. I ended up with the red one on the bottom. The good things about it are the power top and pretty solid car. The only really bad parts were the trunk floor, due too a varmint infestation. the lower drivers rear also had some cancer from the battery acid.  Me being a self inflicted poor man had found some great deals on parts as I knew I would be building another Corvair. I purchased a complete interior kit for $100 what a steal! There was also a disc brake front end that I found very cheap as well, $300 I think. I will probably end up using that on the Crown car now and keep the drums on the Convertible. I also had a Yenko Stinger carbon fiber deck lid that I had purchased a few years back, now that was a pricey item. I think nearly $600 after shipping. It is a good thing that my wheeling and dealing generally makes most of my parts virtually free! What I am going to do in the next couple of days is get you all up to speed on this car. That way you will know how it arrived at the point it is now. In the future when I finish the car. You will already know the work that it took to get it there. This car was originally Gold with a black top and interior. I was going to go back to original with it but after it threw a few surprises at me I decided I could go custom with it! It will be a medium dark silver with semi flat black accents, top and a light blue interior.

Scavenging for stuff

Here is an old light post base that I found while taking my girl and our dog out for a walk. What a pain to remove but it will make a cool tool stand, there is another one as well, Maybe I will use them for my bike stand?

I had walked by this for a year before I needed an air cleaner for my bike. I asked my neighbor if I could buy it and $25 later I had the start to a unique air cleaner!

 

My Crown Corvair

Sorry to skip around so much but I wanted to say a little about my crown Corvair. Crown Mfg Co. Started by Ted Trevor made kits to install V8 engines behind the front seat of a Corvair so you basically have a 2600 pound 300+ horsepower mid engine car. Mine has the complete kit but I plan on setting it up differently and improving on the original builders work. I basically traded it for a welder that I paid $500 for so I could not pass it up. This will be the last in line project. My bike is to be finished next then my Corvair Corsa convertible.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Crown from the day I went to look at it.

The car is really in pretty good shape, no rust through, and it is an original air conditioned car so that will be nice with that engine sitting behind the seats. It is a 69 307 with a set of 67 Corvette heads. The plans include filling in the body panels cut out by the previous owner and moving some plumbing also adding some stiffer suspension and roll bar etc. You will see it her at a later date!

The other projects

From here until I finish talking about my projects I am going in reverse order of importance. So my Crown Corvair would be next.

   First a little history. Corvairs have been long misunderstood. People think they are unsafe, that Ralph Nader killed the Corvair, and all sorts of things. Truth be told Ralph probably kept the Corvair in production a couple extra years! Chevrolet did not want the people to think that he was right so they kept production going. The Mustang was killing the sales of Chevrolet Corvairs and they were slated to stop production. After Nader's book came out they thought it would be better to keep them going. Corvairs are one of my favorite classic cars. They are very innovative for the time and the 65-69 body style is one of my all time favorites. Camaros take a lot of styling from the Corvair. They were the first production turbocharged car, they were also air cooled rear engine rear wheel drive cars. Can you imagine how they "freaked out the squares" when they came out? Opening the trunk at the front to put groceries in. That still gets people!

    Corvair performance Most people look to Corvette Camaro etc. for a Chevrolet performance car...those cars are very limited. I will take a Corvair any day! The power to weight ratio in a Corvair rivals the best of the muscle cars. When you have that along with the best fully independent suspension, available quick steering and shifting. A corvair could keep up with most high dollar muscle and leave them in the rear view once it was time to turn!  Don Yenko one of the biggest names in the Camaro and Nova etc. world started first with the Corvair. He saw the potential in these cars as racers and set out to prove that in the SCCA. He became aware of the changes for the 65 models and wanted to do with the Corvairs what Shelby was doing with the Mustang.
To be continued......

A bit about what is going on.

I have realized that I don't have time for this everyday and I know that eventually I will. Please keep an eye on this and I will try to keep a better update of what is going on. I have four major projects right now. #1 is my house. I have the American dream, a nice house on an acre (almost) in the city of Colorado Springs. We scraped and saved and lived below our means for 5 years. My girlfriend is mostly responsible. I did work hard and also had to be very convincing and always steered towards the positives. When there were three of us and our Siberian Husky living in a less than 400 square foot house it  took a lot of positivity! It ended up that we found this place in June and with the help of my sister barely made the purchase.We could have done a lot of different things but I have come to hate banks and credit in general so I wanted to find a place that we could pay cash for. This place is really a dream come true but also a ton of work. All my other projects have to take a back seat. I have hit it pretty hard but come to a point sometimes where I could really use a hand! Like hanging drywall on the ceilings! Those times slow the process. There is also prioritizing, I have to work on exterior stuff as weather permits etc. My garage is last in line right now. The former owner or vandals that were out scrapping took all electrical, the windows and the siding from it! It really puts a damper on my contributing to our income. I take a little comfort in the fact that I am saving us more by doing the work than I probably would be making. I also have a three year old to watch, and that makes everyday special and challenging. There is a long way to go with the house and garage but I still work on the other things a little everyday. I will get to the other projects and some other updates as soon as I can, until then.........

Corvette valve cover oil tank w/ Toxic Choppers cast cap

This is my current work wear logo, It was designed by Buddha Graphics. As with all of my items these were a very limited design. The next batch will have both logos, I am also doing some Sportster shirts coming up and some other stuff.

 This original logo was designed by 1-Shot Slinger (Devin Brown) There were only 42 of the original logo shirt ever produced. I will never run them again.

Future points covers

Bronze paper weight reversible This will go to Kevin in the UK

Self explanatory. This will go on my bike and will spin.

Singer sewing machine part. This will get some brass accents and be for sale. $60

I thought I better post a picture before I finish this.

My plan is to get more hand work into all of my parts. I need to tool up for that so I will make a few and buy some as well. Anvils are very costly and I had this so I will make a small anvil. About 70 lbs now.

Since I put  metal twisting fir the video of the day I figured I would post a picture of that as well. I use a totally different method to twist than him but the results are similar.

Buy, sell, trade 65-69 Corvair Cars parts etc.