Hail Floris!

It's the big man caught in a little man's body: the great Floris Velthuis!

Floris has already shot many great bikes all over Europe and now he has done his first car; my Dodge "Green Machine". Last saturday we spent the day at two locations, shooting pics form every angle, inside and out.

 Here he is, always lying down on the job.

We tried to copy some pics from a photoshoot of this same van in Vans & Trucks magazine of october 1984.

 Here is one shot from 1984:

And 2010:

You can see the interior has had a major makeover at some point. Even the model was changed. A good thing too, the old one was getting a bit wrinkly after 26 years!

Sometimes though, it's not so nice to have a photographer following you around all day! Woops, caught in the act...

More later this week when I get the CD with all the pics from FLoris.

Still Summer Sale!

Added some new itmes to the SALE section on my website. Visit it here.
Among the highlights is this great toy from the DDR (former east Germany). It's a space vehicle, cable operated, moves in all directions and shoots a rocket. If I'd had this as a kid I would have played with it till it fell apart.

The thing is in good used condition, complete with box.
See a video of it in action in my backyard:

Paint that Fucking Sportster

Yesterday I taped off the gold parts on the tins of this sportster and shot some matt clear.
Today I pulled the tape to find this:

I think it turned out really nice. The matt is a real coarse, greasy-looking finish. Kinda reminds me of an old steam locomotive. That's almost period perfect with the technology of this ironhead bike.

Tomorrow I'll fit it to the bike. Stay tuned for piccies of that!

Not good!

Yesterday (yes, friday the 13th) I was cruisin along, minding my own business while suddenly: SNAP, BANG, SHAKE, VIBRATE!!!

What the? Van is shaking all over the place, weird sounds coming out from underneath. After a quick inspection by the roadside, couldn't see much. So I limped to my workshop to have a better look.

Well there's yer problem! One of the bearings of the universal joint on my driveshaft has left the building.

Will have to fix that after the weekend, when I get the parts. Shame because today I was supposed to be at a photoshoot of the Green Machine with world renowned photographer Floris Velthuis. Hoover Dam! We'll have to postpone that...

I have an idea why the van spat out that bearing. It's just too low. The driveshaft isn't made to operate at the extreme angles it is forced into when it's this low. And it causes other problems, as well. Like the rear tires hitiing the wheel arches in corners and when I hit bumps.

This is the front suspension. You can just see the rubber bumpstop (is that what it's called?) that is supposed to stop the suspension arm hitting the chassis at the end of the suspension travel.

Unfortunately, when the van is on it's wheels, it's already resting on that rubber block. Hitting bumps means pounding the rubber block to bits. I fitted a new one a few weeks ago and this is now almost destroyed. It is supposed to be pyramid shaped but now it's split and bent way outta shape.

Project for the winter: fit new front and rear springs and raise the ride height at least 5cms in front and about ten in the back.

Gold leaf & clear.

Hotrod Hayride 2010 part four: Return to the Showgrounds

Meanwhile, back at the showgrounds....

Someone was revving his Jag engined dragster...

See a video of that here:
Another very cool 'flaked methanol injected nostalgia dragster, originally built in 1969. Crazy Chris started it up after dark and the pretty flames and noise were quite spectacular.

He has a killer combo going with his spaced out support vehicle! See some history about this great racing team here.

Gassers!

More racers, really like the log. It's better than bad, it's good!

After all the racing action, it's time to tell you about the greatest non car related attraction at the show: The Trench Experience!

It's Eddie's World War I museum & education center. Run by the great Eddie.

Eddie serves free Douwe Egberts coffee, which attracted us to his abode again and again. He also plays WW1 music, movies and sells antique books and militaria.
Because of Eddie's unrelenting hospitality and good coffee, we decided to take our food to his place and have breakfast there.

Cheers Eddie! See you next year!

Back outside, we took in some more rods.

A clean station wagon.

And yes, motorcycles, too.

Nice XS650 rolling project for sale:

Pretty boardtracker:

Not entirely period pre '65 but one of my favourites:

And my favourite rod there. This one is made by Mark Brazier-Jones, apparantly a well known artist. He built a great original with huge wheels and I read somewhere he drove it to China, hero!

On such a long journey you might get bored so there is in-car-entertainment, oldschool style!

The end is near and I'll leave you with a few night-shots. Crappy pics but I'm trying to get the atmos across. You know.

Hotrod Hayride and Executioners CC get a big thumbs up from Kustombart!

See you there, next year!

Hotrod Hayride 2010 part three: The Oval track

After seeing all the good stuff on the meeting grounds and campsite, on saturday morning we were off to the racetrack. It was a 45 minute drive over rough roads. My van is american and it doesn't like bumps or curves.

It rides on the bump-stops at the front and those rubber blocks can only absorb a certain amount of suspension travel, resulting in suspension arms hitting the chassis with a loud metallic sound at frequent intervals. That and the fact that the rear springs have sagged to the point that a turn to the right or small bump or hole will cause the fat rubber to come in contact with the left rear wheel arch didn't make it an enjoyable ride.

Once there, it was worth it though.
We arrived in time to see the Vintage F1 stockcars go round.

Some of these cars were raced in the 50s, some are reproduced. Some drivers are vintage too, in their 70s and still racing. The guy in the pink car was one. He started at the back of the pack every time but finished first every time.

Some hotrods were raced as well.

This strange shape was a heavily modified Ford coupe. Widened, with rear deck shortened and nose stretched, I liked its strangeness.

Motorcycles came out to play. Unfortunately, the quickest had a flat tyre and the second had engine problems.

This guy came all the way from Switzerland to race his stock car. Nice car, too.

The pits were on the dust in the parking lot. Which most of these guys must be used to.

Old car, knackered metal.

Tuning car with precision tools.

At the parking, we ogled some more beauties.

Sometimes the right wheels and stance are enough: 70s Vauxhall coupe.

Nice.

Pro street, street legal. The police never find it as funny as you do.

Imagine driving that to the shops. "Excuse me, could you pull your child's scarf out of my blower, please?"

Real custom pickup. Needs minor bodywork and a decent paintjob and we have a winner!

It's not a real pretty example but you don't see many of these early Dodges anywhere in Europe. We need to bring the Vans to the Street, man! Right on!

'Till next time, be like the Fonz.