Danny and Chris . . .

 Side plates for the tub measured up and tacked into place. . .

 Rear beaver panel rolled up and mounted in place. The rear tail lights have also been positioned/mounted. Number plate cut-out takes a shit-load of work and a tiny bit of talent to get looking right. Number plate borrowed from one of the Hodge-man's collection. . .

Driver's side nearing completion and looking the goods, luckily Chris makes a bloody good chocolate cake because the boys have pulled all stops out on this job. . .

 Apparently these rims were designed by some lumberjack by the name Foose, just look like rims to me, maybe he should stick to his day job?

Now this is why people come searching for the guys with the talent. Hand made extensions to the rear of the tray look shit hot; 90% shit and 10% hot! Nah, just pulling Dylan's leg, he has really put his mind to the job at hand and turned out some superb work here. Danny showed him a couple of pics and this is the result. Good onya 'D', one day you'll make some one a great wife!!!

Pay attention . . .

I'm sick and tired of punters ringin me up and asking who the bloody hell is Trevor. Just for all you who don't know, this be him and for those that do know, he also hides behind the nom de plume, Dennis the Mennis, as per all I.D., shots used in this blog, the photos are deliberately blurred to protect the innocent and the guilty from prosecution. . . .

Visitor . . .

 '49 Single Spinner came to town just to see if the Magician/Mad man, same thing in this case, could fit some 10" rims underneath the back and supply an Engineer's report with it? No worries!

Talk about havin' junk in ya trunk? There's enough shit in here to start your own op shop!
BTW, this thing ain't a bad looking ride, very cool!

SURPRISE, SURPRISE. . .We have an idiot amongst us. . .

Scuttlebutt informs for that one of our hardest workers jumped onto a train today and headed for The Exhibition Buildings to spend a day amongst our finest muscle cars at The Gasolene Expo. After a very eated exchange with the ticket seller at the front door out idiot was sent packing and told that if he want's to view the finest muscle cars on display at The Gasolene Expo, then he'd better return next weekend! To make matters worse, it was going to cost our idiot $35 to get in the front door to taste some of the nicest boutique beers in the land. Only problem was, the $35 only got him in the door, from then on, he had to buy beer tickets. . .poor old idiot? With nothing better t do, our idiot boarded the first train and returned to Ballarat.
Now, due to privacy laws, our idiot has to remain nameless. . .

Danny and Chris. . .

 There's a lot that can happen in a short time when the boys start on the big jobs. Working on small jobs like installing wiring and light assemblies all take time but look like there is no result, but when it's time for the big jobs it's just time to stand back and take it all in. . .

This truck was coming along nicely but now it looks like it's nearly ready to roll off the assembly line, well not quite. There's some real talent at work here. . .

Front end shows off the big nose and those really 'blingy' Chip Foose rollers. . .

Once again you can see where the 'Under-dash Chipmunk' has been plying his trade. Dave had to custom make the braking system from spare parts and the fabricate the floor surrounds after fitting the steering column. Handy little fella to have around is our Dave. . .

The Zig. . .

 The Zig, nope not The Stig. We've got The Zig and he's all smiles with the way that his Studie is progressing now that it's back in the capable hands of the Hodgey Crew. If you're wondering where his legs are, poor bugger had to use them to pay for the polishing job done on his grille. . .

 Hodgey keeps Dave close at hand for all the little fiddly jobs that need to be done under the dash. Here you can see that Davey has installed the VL wiper system and the under-dash Vintage Air, heating/air-conditioning unit. If you can't see it hidden away in there you probably need glasses because it's a bloody good photo taken under extremely difficult conditions. . .

BA-LING, have a look at the shine on that one of a kind billet grille assembly. No wonder it cost Zig two legs and a shit load of hard earned. . .

Has Bruno Mars taken a New Direction. . .

 Wow, look who turned up for an impromptu lesson in engineering today. He told us that his name was Bruno Mars, but he looks surprisingly like one of the crew from One Direction? Either way, he demanded that all pics were kept out of focus to protect his identity from all the school girls who walk past Hodgey's workshop every day. . .

Ziggy's Studebaker . . .

 We has the Enzed boys in yesterday spending quite a bit of time running all the air-conditioning and power steering hoses. There was a bit of a hold-up with one of the threads being an unusual 'bastard' type that caused considerable stress before the right connection was eventually found. Not an unusual occurance when you try to get new parts for 50year old cars.

Dave doing the hard yards and getting the radiator back into place. Now the Enzed boys have been fuckingaround under the hood it has required a 'small' amount of engineering to get the radiator back into place. . .

XF650 Honda/Bobber

 Couple of up to date pics of the work being carried out on this dirt bike conversion into a time honored Bobber classic. Different set of handle bars and the custom battery mount make a huge improvement over the older mods. . .

Good angle to see the work carried out by Dylan with the widening of the rear guard. Quite a few hours went into the deconstruction and subsequent reconstruction of the old into the new. These are the sort of mods that take plenty of time and keep the clock ticking, unfortunately.

Danny and Chris . . .

 Dylan working hard on the re-shaping of the end sections of the side running boards of the big uterus. . .

The end section of the swaging has to be cut out anf nice smooth sections welded in and then the two sections hve to be ground so that they blend in together. Certainly no easy task and very time consuming. It's usually good looking jobs like these where the un-educated ask "How much? What took so long?" But those in 'the know' have a look at the quality of the blending job and immediately realise that there is plenty of time and money involved in the finished article. . .

VW Rat Rod . . .

This one has been in storage for ages and the owner has finally said that it's about time to get the moth-balls out and get some work underway. The roof has already been chopped and the Volksy motor and gearbox are sitting pretty in the tray, she's gonna be an unusual unit but if the Volkswagon motor is true to form, this thing should go like shit off a shovel. . .

Ziggy's Studebaker . . .

Dave has been working so hard on Ziggy's Studie and the results are starting to show. Unfortunately for Dave, when he mounted the triple pulley assembly onto the harmonic balancer, the pulleys on the air-conditioning unit didn't line up so he had to custom make a 6mm spacer to get things lined up and running properly. The old girl is really starting to look as mean as cat poo. . .

'32 Roadster . . .

 You gotta love it when old rods like this drop in for a visit while they're being taken for a cruise on the lovely sunny Autumn days. . .

 Paintwork is superb and the red paint contrasts beautifully with the gloss blacker than black duco. . .

 Sooo cool with the triple carbs running along the inlet valley. . .

As I said, the red contrasts so well with the black duco and the upholstery is simple in design but beautifully executed. Cool looking guage cluster hiding behind the billet whhel too. . .

Soft-tail custom . . .

 This Harley has been in and out a few times and it's finally in for its full rebuild. The frame is going to be sitting really low, new forks and a super wide rear end. . .

Have a look at the arse end of this bike, Hodgey has had to widen the rear end to house the 260mm wide rim and super wide tyre. Certainly won't need to lay this thing over over on its stand, the bloody wheel is that wide that it should stand up on its own. . .

Ziggy's Studebaker . . .

 As you can see, Ziggy's Studie is now well and truly on its way to getting back on the road. I must admit, when i first saw the color chosen for the rims I was, "Are you kidding?" But have a look at them now that they re on the car, they look fantastic. What you don't know is that the color of the rims is the same clor chosen for the upholstery. . .

 Rear on view from the LHS quarter. This car is now sitting nice and low and looks THE goods. .

Billet grill is out getting adecent polish job from well known company in WHEELS, located in Howitt st Ballarat. See Rod or Paul for all your tyre and polishing needs. . .all work is guaranteed and the service is second to none!

Thought for the day . . .

If you want to be a leader, then first you must learn to follow. . .

My fellow Bloggers, allow me to take a knee and beg forgiveness for the lack of any suitable updates for today. Alas, I vacated the workshop of The Lord Hodges sans camera and now I have no fucking pictures for your perusal. Although if you happen to own a certain '34 Pick-up then the news is good because Dave has been toiling away reconfiguring your exhaust headers so that they clear the steering shaft and now you will be able to guide your trusty steed through the forests of Rottingham. Good news also for a Squire that goes by the nom de plume, Ziggy. Lord Hodgey has spent the day playing cut and paste and has come up with a set of templates that loosely resemble the windows of your gallant steed 'Studie' and he has delivered said templates to the glazier for the windows, to keep the weather at bay . . .
Hopefully pictures will follow tomorrow . . .

Holden HJ GTS. . .

 Fresh back from the painters (Adroit Panels), this original GTS sat around for a while waiting for a new owner to come along and spread some lovin. . .

Classic arse end of the 'H' series Holdens, what's not to like. As I said this is an original GTS with the original 308 and auto, it don't come much better than that. Paint job is top notch too and credit for that must go to Anthony at Adroits. . .

XF650 Honda/Bobber . . .

 Dylan has been plodding along with this Bobber project and slowly but surely it is coming along nicely. He has managed to widen the rear guard and now the hand-made brackets have been installed and things look as if the were originally set up this way. . .

In close you can see the bottom mount of the rear guard and all these pieces have been hand made and there areno drawings to follow, just the mind's eye guiding his hand. This bike has, from the start, been a complete experiment with now clear direction or thoughts from the owners, just a casual "See what you can come up with." Considering that this was one of Honda's most popular off-road dirt bikes, the idea behind coverting it to a Bobber was a field of dreams as big as the MCG. Possibilities were endless. . .

Ziggy's Studebaker. . .

Zigg's Studie is finally back from the panel beaters/painters and it's certainly looking better than when it left our shed sooo long ago. It's now back for its final fitout and then it will be time for some cruizing. Wheels/rims arrived yesterday and they have been sent straight to the painters for a custom coloration to match the cars new skin. This is going to be one hell of a cruizer. . .

'34 Pick-up . . .

 Motor is bck in and ready for sme other work to be carried out. . .

 As you can see in this pic, the front end has been re-mounted and the steering assembly is now hooked up and ready to rumble. As is usual with these types of custom builds, Hodgey had to do a lot of measuring and carefully chose the correct parts for the steering system and then had to hand make all the ancillary parts to hook it all up together and get it working perfectly. . .

Good old Dave has been given the easy job of hand moulding the new transmission tunnel and the new box section in the firewall. Job's done and it's time to put all the sound deadening back in place and start the internal fitment. . .

XF650 Honda/Bobber . . .

 Dylan has been hard at it again, this time splitting and widening of the rear guard to cover the larger rear tyre found on the XF650. . .

The new seat after being handmade is now in place and suits the style of the Bobber perfectly.

Swiv's Cyccle . . .

 Trev, AKA Dennis the Menace, has done another superb job of repairing the rear mud guard and laying down a sensational paint job. The paint is that good hat the tank is now up for a repaint to match the quality of the rear guard. .

How's this for a photographer's assistant? Poor little Ava is as crook as the proverbial dog and yet she still runs around after poppy and carries his bags while he's taking pics. . .

Danny and Chris . . .

 As I said last night, Dave has been busy with this mad, monster of a rig and his latest inclusion is the braking system, or parts thereof. Cabin space see's that the under dash mounting brackets are in place and the big brake pedl has been happily swung in place. . .

Out front and you can see the modern upgrade to a Ford BA power booster and master cylinder. With the power train upgrade that this beast is receiving, serious braking is a must. . .

Danny and Chris . . .

Old Dave has been squirreling parts away for this build with a fever and his latest 'find' has been this BA Ford power assisted brake booster and master cylinder that just so happens to fit into the existing under-dash brake pedal mountings perfectly. By the time that you read this, Dave will have it all mounted up and moved further on into the build. Your trustworthy scribe has been not so trustworthy and spent the day looking after his sick little grand daughter. For a full update, tune in tomorrow and I promise more updates than you can point a stick at . . . and if you think that I'm bullshitting you, I have already got my sticks ready!

HJ Prem . . .

Unreal, this is my new pedestal mount for the B&M ratchet shifter and again another piece of craftmanship from my new bestie, Dylan. With no console and the pedestal mount being powdercoated black, it will blend in with the black carpet leaving the shifter looking as if it is literally floating within the cabin. . .sooo cool!
Top left hand corner of the pic you can some of the Ice ignition system handily hidden up under the dash. . .Thanks Michael for a great system!