Quick little side-line job. . .

A customer came in and asked if Hodgey could fit this LED rear light and number plate assembly to the rear guard of his Harley.  . .

 Ok said the big fella and he started by filling all the unused holes in the guard. . .

 Template drawn up and outline cut out. . .

New housing welded in and ready to be ground.

Brake light assembly fitted and finished up. This was no quick job but you can see the many steps through the pics and as usual the workmanship is spot on. . .

Daily Report. . .

Not much to show today as it's been flat out on all the fiddly bits. Andrew has been working flatter out than flat out on finishing the alterations and fitment to the car of Ziggy's bonnet, nah not the one you put on your head stupid, the one that looks remarkably like a bloody big Orca's nose and goes on the front of his '39 Studebaker.
As I said, not many pics because Ziggy's buckin bonnet was all over the place. Yes I said buckin, and the ground and pound that Hodgey was putting into that huge monolith of metal required me to down camera and help hold that Brumby down. It's on here folks and take no prisoners!
Dave's been flat out finishing seat-belt weld-in points on Corey's EH wagon and has also seen a covert visit from Dylan who quietly reminded all in the shed that he is really picking up on the welding skills and performed a perfect rust repair in the most difficult of areas. We'll let you click on Corey's EH link to see the before and after pics. . .
Me? I've already had my afternoon nap and now I'm ready for the night shift. No rest here folks. . .

'39 Studebaker. . .

 When Ziggy commissioned the billet stainless steel grill for the Studebaker he was hoping for a real show stopper and centrepiece for his Rod.
Well he certainly got that and when Andrew compared the old 'lines' of the original bonnet he didn't really like what he saw. He didn't really know what was askew but knew he had to do something to get the two to blend in together. . .

And, as you do when faced with this kind of dilemma, you break out the angle grinder with cut-off blade fitted and start cutting. Andrew scalloped out the old bulbous leading edges and extended the nose a couple of centimeters to create the 'eyebrow effect' that you see here and it totally transforms the whole look of the front end. . . Ziggy?, well he couldn't be happier!

Click on over. . .

Not much to report on this blog site but if you click on the link at the top of the page to "Coreys EH Conversion" you will see where all the activity has been this week. . .

Birthdays. . .

Well as if we could keep this one quiet, believe it or not, but these two in-breds were born on the same day, centuries apart, but the same date.
We're not quite sure as to whether it's father and son, Steptoe and Son or Laurel and Hardy,but you can be sure wherever this pair are performing there's a circus act to follow. . .
Happy Birthday Guys.

Visitor. . .

A visitor to the shed today in the form of a '34 Roadster but done up in '40s period styling. A cracker of a car. . .

This car is no show pony and is in fact the owner's daily driver. She's got more miles on the clock than most of us have had hot breakfasts. . .

1100 Yamaha. . .

 Indicators are the final addition to this Bobber and it's now time for this bird to fly the coup. . .

How cool do these rear indicators look? They also match the brake light profile perfectly. . .

HJ. . .

Dylan, The Penetrator, is still ticking away in the back-ground and when we can get him away from the girls in the carpark, he continues to do outstanding work. This is the front cowling of the HJ and is being blocked in for appearances and closing off the front of the firewall to rainwater that sits in corners and causes massive rusting problems in the 'H' series of early Holdens. . .

No Rest. . .

 You would think that after yesterday's successful outing that the boys might slacken off a little today, but nah, straight back in the deep end. This time it's a serious off road tourer that needs new mounts fabricated and installed for a monstrous shocker set-up that he plans on using to hell and back. . .

These Koni's are usually found only on the Dakar style desert racers and therefore the standard suspension mounts will not be sufficent. The Awsomenator soon had these sorted out and the big rig is back on the road. . .

Road Trip. . .Costa's Rod and Bike Run. . .

 Costa's Rod Show every year out of Bacchus Marsh. A great show that is never advertised but always well supported.
On go the bikes, including Lord Johnny's trike, would you believe that we had sooo many inquiries about the big fella's trike on the day, that it is now under consideration for kit form?
Woo-bloody-hoo, you good thing Johnny. . .

 Next on are the cars and as can be seen in this pic is Nigel from South Australia. Many of you will know Nigel from being the owner of that incredible 'Firebird' that keeps popping up and winning silver ware all over Oz. Well Nigel is also the owner of the 'Gasser' that Hodgey has 'recently' completed and this is the first time the two have met. Nigel's on the phone to his other love, Brooke, telling her to make room in the bed coz they're gonna have company from now on!

 Hodgey's litle display corner all set up and running with a constant turnover of onlookers and prospective clients. . .

Unusual but very charismatic sign says it all. . .

Road Trip. . .Costa's Rod and Bike Run.

Carrying on with the display and this is more of Andrew's custom work, this time his lovely "In Black" chopper. Think I saw a For Sale sign on this one. . .

Our Limo for the day. Andrew and I arrived in time for the Ball but were not considered as Princes in this ride, we might have been the mice? Anyhow we're off to the dentist first thing monday followed by the chiropractor. Yep, I deffinately saw a For Sale sign on this one. . .

Geez, I wish I could buy this one and the driver. . . hehehe. Beautiful car and beautiful Lady. . .

AND boys, the sign says it all. . ."Not Daddy's, Not Hubby's and Not His."
Quite a lot can be said about 'boy legs' too!
Woohoo. . .

HJ. . .

 Dylan has done a sterling job to replace the outer sill on the LHS, compared to the swiss cheese that was there it is certainly better to look at. He also sprayed all the internal surfaces with a galvanising spray to prevent any future rust. . .

Now for the hard part, windscreen surrounds and scuttle plates. Mostly water damage in the windscreen channels and easily fixed, the scuttle panels are really good too. . .

Johnny's Trike. . .

 Rear view of the big 9inch that's gonna be propelling Johnny around the dog tracks like a madman. Those two discs are being used in the best possible way after being incorrectly supplied by the local wrecking yard. . .

Dave has fitted up the brakes from an XD Ford and hand made the brake lines in the process. Things have slowed down a bit waiting on the rest of the (correct) brake components. . .

Small side job. . .

 A bloke walked in off the street and dropped this manifold and a 650 Holley 4barrel on the bench and asked Hodgey to mak'em work. His idea of fun is to stick a bloody great 4barrel onto his two barrelled carby-fed Nissan.

 Andrew has tacked together an adapter that will be high enough to create the necessary suction and large enough to get the air/fuel mixture working before entering the original manifold.

A final weld and grind, then a lick of paint and then this thing should be ready for the paddocks.

HJ. . .

Bottom half of firewall and underneath the front end is now cleaned and sprayed in body deadener and the top half of the firewall is sitting in poly-fill waiting to be sanded. Very low temps in Ballarat at the moment is far from ideal when it comes to drying product. . .

Change the plugs 'D'. . .

Ingenuity or stupidity? Aparently this is the new way to change spark plugs when it is spitting with rain. . .

HJ. . .

Thanks Trev, you can't believe the work ethics of this bloke. He's turned up this morning and rubbed back the front firewall and bogged it and rubbed it and now it's in 'poly-fill' overnight ready for his return tomorrow. Today's work is usually a three day event for most panel beaters.
Take into account that during the 'drying' periods Trev helped out with some impromptu panel beating lessons for those that were interested.
Thanks Trev. . .

1100 Yamaha. . .

 New 4inch risers have arrived and have been fitted. . .they look like a Billy Goat's horns.
Tough as. . .

This is still the best view of the new 'Bobber' look and produces that tough wide-shouldered look. Really smoking hot result. . .

Johnny's Trike. . .

Watch this space folks, rumour has it that there is going to be a concerted non-stop push this week to get Johhny's sicckle running on the road by this weekend. Yep all stops out and motor running, and ready to ride before paint and panel.
But Johnny don't need no sissy paint work, this trike will be tied up in the rain just so it gets good an rusty so it looks bad-arse.  .  .

1100 Yamaha. . .

 The exhaust pipes have been shortened considerably and the baffles modified and now the big 1100 sounds incredibly like a street fighting Hog. . .

This pic looking over the new Boggers shoulders and it's like looking over the shoulder of a big Mastiff with the stance to match the attitude. This ride looks like a mad-arsed bull on the road.
Just waiting on a set of 4inch risers for the bars and then 'job complete'. . .

1100 Yamaha. . .

 Dylan working with a dremel to tidy up a couple of 'seen' welds on the rear frame. . .

Bike is nearly finished and now it's time for the exhaust to be modified. . .

Get well Johnny. . .

Yes folks, as mentioned previously in this blog, the big fella is unwell. It has to be a serious bug that sidelines Johnny and we wish him all the best. Get well Johnny, we miss you. . .

HJ. . .

Dylan's been working hard on the rust repairs on the HJ and I must admit, she's lookin good. Dylan must be feeling like a monkey, because one minute he's swinging the hammer on the HJ and then he has to swing over and carry out serious swing-arm mods on the Yammi 1100 featured elsewhere. He would have been a good unit during the 'swingin sixties'. . .

Yamaha 1100. . .

 Yammi 1100, this is the big Hog lookalike but this owner after riding it for a while has changed his preference for the classic 'Bobber' style and it's in for Hodgey to carry out the necessary mods. Unfortunately the boys have already removed the rear bars and mudguard assembly and we won't be able to supply the classic before and after pics. . .

First up the Bobber look has to have the tail shortened and lowered. . .lots. New short mud guard in place and handmade bracketry is already in the vise. Pipes will be shortened and hopefully the owner will order the wrapped look to go with the style. . .

Arthur's new ride. . .

 Arthur turned up just in time while we had the camera out. Here's his new ride, a beautiful Oldsmobile in clockwork orange. . .

 Supurb interior to match the exterior paint and panel. She's a big bitch, but bloody cool. . .

And here's the two new kids sitting out in the sun swapping a few yarns. . .

Big Jim's siccle. . .

Big Jim's baby hasn't seen the sunshine for a while, so here she is, back and better than before.

Happy Birthday Big Boy. . .

What can I say?
He certainly doesn't look a day under 47. . .
Happy birthday Andrew. . .


And YES, he did eat the whole bloody cake on his own, wouldn't share it with anyone!

'38 Studebaker. . .

 Ziggy's Studie sitting pretty waiting for the next instalment. . .side engine covers.

 After careful measuring and cutting and stretching and pulling, one driver's side engine cover.

 Now the serious work of fitting the cover into the little nooks and crannies around the radiator and bonnet hinges. By the look on Johnny's face it is very serious work indeed. All respect to Johnny folks, he's carrying a flu that would normally kill a horse and he is still the first in the gate of a morning. Go Johnny, you good thing!

After the boys have fitted it up, the new panel looks like it belongs there. . .