Correction. . .

This fine specimen of metalcraft is a '38 Studebaker and not a '39 as previously listed.
Either way it looks a helluva lot better for being in Hodgey's shed. . .

K1 750-4 Cafe Racer

Good old Awsomenator, this time he's cutting new threads for oil feed lines from an old Triumph oil tank. This tank was chosen for its chrome finish and round ends which ticks all the required squares from the owner. . .

Johnny's Trike. . .

Dylan working hard at keeping Johnny happy and on a Monday?
He's got the plasma cutter out to make some neat cuts into the bottom metalwork of the big Harley tank. It's being made up into two seperate tanks with a common feeder. . .

Interesting Interloper. . .

Who's this, or more importantly why did they park this in the driveway?
For all the answers, you are going to have to watch this space carefully. . .



I did happen to notice that it is still carrying current Californian rego! Wow, it must have swum bloody fast to get here so quickly!

'39 Studebaker. . .

 Seems like Ziggy's Studie is getting plenty of air time here lately. Front end work is finished, for the moment, and now it's back on its four feet. . .
More importantly, the blue HJ is back on the hoist. . .yaay!

Hand made side step rails for the Studie, funnily enough neither side was a match?

'39 Studebaker. . .

Front end is now starting to take shape, very few panels lined up, but now Dave has things looking a lot better and with a LOT of custom fabrication, the lights are now pointing straight ahead and the grill had to have a custom band made across the bottom to join the guards up.
This rod is now coming off the hoist and on to the floor for some serious panel work. . .

Plymouth. . .

 Arthur has been approached and agreed to come out of semi-retirement to do the panel and prep work on the Plymouth. That's right, it's the same Arthur from world famous rockabilly King Promotions. Go you good thing. . .

 As can be seen, Arthur's been layin some love down the rear quarter section where the old door has been removed and the roof chop welded in. Those of you with a sharp eye might notice the 'earth' strap connected to the quarter panel? This is because when Arther gets to hand sanding the panels, he goes so hard that he creates a shit-storm of static electricity and the 'earth' strap directs the current away from him. . .

Dylan grinding back some new steel patch panels before Arthur gets involved with his 'modelling clay'. . .

K1 750-4 Cafe Racer. . .

Lots 'n lots of little jobs being finished off at the moment and Dylan is seen refitting the exhaust pipes to this project before its wheeled out the door. . .

'57 Chev. . .

Dylan carefully welding up the excess holes that find their way into the inner guards over the years. The guards will be ground up, sand-blasted and then painted in flat black before being remounted onto chassis. . .

Plymouth. . .

Hodgey has been carefully making up the front quarter windows out of the old frames. As you can see from the pic, the side window is now fairly large and the regulators are going to have to be moved owards the rear to rebalance the winding motion. . .

A Meeting of the Minds. . .

Plotting someones downfall of just generally fixing the world's problems? Who would know what this scurrilous pair are up too?
Bruno and Johnny, beautiful minds and beautiful bodies. You guys rock!

K1 750-4 Cafe Racer. . .

This one has been in the shed for a while and has featured in the pages before. It was a 'mint' red Honda K1  750-4 and it has now been modified into a Cafe Racer. Dylan has pulled it down for its final lick with the spray gun before being re-built and returned to its owner. . .

Johnny's Trike. . .

 Seems that Johnny was seriously aggrieved by Friday' pics that showed more of Andrew than his Trike, so I've been 'encouraged' to even out the ledger.
So here it is folks Johnny's Trike with his newly fitted exhaust system in place. . .

Andrew had to work hard to get the two front outlets under and around the front of the motor to join up with the two rear outlets that were routed under and around the rear of the motor. Once the pipes are finished off with titanium wrap they will look killer along side the matt black paint job that Johnny is looking at. . .

Studebaker. . .

 Meanwhile down at the back of the shed, the Awsomenator keeps plugging away with the big money jobs. . .
I think it's in the wrong spot Dave. . .

 Cutting a great hole in the rear quarter panel takes a lot of nerve from the Old Silver Fox. . .
Might look better where I suggested Dave?

 Too late now, Ford Proton fuel filler and hatch in place and looking like it belongs there, even if it is upside down Dave?

Look at the gaps, perfect all round and the lines run true with the body, another High Five for the Awsomenator!

I still reckon it would've looked a little bit better if you had of just listened to my plan Dave. . .

Johnny's Trike. . .

You can see from these two pics what a pain in the arse it is for the big fella to hand make all the inlet and exhaust fittings. Spaces that he can't even fit his big mitts into have to have pipes woven through and joined up to make these things work. . .

Some people don't understand how much time it takes to get some jobs done, but when you have to hand fit and weld over twenty right angle bends into this particular jigsaw puzzle, time is what it's gonna take to get it finished. . .

It takes patience for a return on your investment!

HJ . . .

 Haven't seen any progress on this one for a while, this is due to the subframe and other parts being prepped and painted by Trev. The subframe has been filled and sanded then painted in a high gloss black. . .

 I'm hoping that these photos do the supurb finish of the paintwork full justice? Looking into the paint, it actually looks like liquid black, the finish is amazing. . .Thanks Trev!

Top control arms also given the gloss black treatment and the finish is the same, , ,this engine bay is going to look sick!

Plymouth . . .

 Andrew has welded a steel rod into the top of the 'old' rear door sill and successfully sealed the gap and now the rear of the car looks like it has always been a coupe. Very small surface area, but a very long gap had to be filled, the result is a quality finish. . .

 The big man working on the same job but this time on the driver's side. . .

Boot in place for a quick photo and the results speak for themselves. Whoever does the final prep and painting of this car would want to do a bloody good job to fully showcase the exceptional metalwork that has been carried out on this car during its transformation from clunky old four door into a low slung two door coupe that will certainly turn heads wherever it goes. . .
Incredible metalcraft shown off by an incredible talent. . .

New Job Started. . .'57 Chev 4 door. . .

 New job started on a '57 Chev 4door sedan and she's a big heavy bastard of a thing, geez they're bloody heavy. No wonder they need stonkin great big blocks to get their arses up and running! The subframe has been sand blasted and etch primed. After sitting aside for a little while this job is now full steam ahead with the subframe on stands and the motor and gearbox are in and the big diff is also bolted up. . .

Next morning the body is dropped into place on a full set of new body rubbers and bolted into place. Hard to see from this angle but the firewall is painted in a high gloss premium black. At this stage the owner is thinking of leaving the body unpainted and just throwing some clear over the old rusty exterior!

Plymouth. . .

 A careful look at this pic and you will see the old joins and channels that were the joins in the original build of the vehicle. The deep grooves were later filled by tradesmen with molten lead.

 This pic also shows the original joins of approx., 4-5 panels of metal around the rear window and quarter panel/boot area. again these joins are over filled with lead and then flat filed back to a smooth finish. . .

 Dylan has cut out a template and then made up and welded in the new panel that sits under, and supports the bottom of the rear window frame. . .
BTW, that's Sikaflex silicon sealer along the bottom join and not seriously bad welding as the poor quality picture indicates! The photographer will blame the poor light and that's probably true too, coz I'm the photographer. . .hehehe.

A quick blow-over of 'rattle-can' beige and the new rear windscreen looks as if it has been sitting in place for the 60 or so years that the Plymouth has been on the road. . .

Spoiler alert. . .

Far be it that this scribe be the one to repeat a malicious rumor, BUT, and this is a huge BUT, rumor has it that Johnny, yep that mountain of a man who spends all his time scaring the shit out of Lolipop Ladies at school crossings, is taking cash on the side! Unbelievable but true, there are even photos in circulation depicting this monolith of a man taking part in unauthorised photo shoots! I have seen the photos and there is no chance that Johnny, the man that I looked up to for so long, has been an innocent bystander, he is actively seen standing very stiff and straight, looking wide-eyed and straight at the over sized silicon products that are being endorsed by this photo shoot.

                                            PICTURES TO FOLLOW. . . .

'31 A modified Tudor. . .

 Rear compartment is nearing completion, just nee some serious mounting points for baby's capsules/seats and then it will be ready. Remember that there is also a 4inch roof chop that has to be completed as well. . .

Dylan has started to dismantle the front end and Hodgey had to carry out some serious welding repairs to the shock towers and front bracing that was incomplete and dangerous. . .

About bloody time. . .

 Well Friday couldn't come quick enough for poor old Johnny. After being ripped off with no work on his trike for the last two Fridays, it was finally time to get the beast ( the trike that is, not Johnny) back up onto the rack and getting some work done. . .come to think of it we could probably put Johnny up on the rack and give him a bit of a clean up?
Dave's started work on the cooling system with the front plate and first of the radiator hoses under way. . .

Water cooling system hoses are hand made steel and weaves its way rearwards to this Davies Craig electric water pump and then on to the rear mount radiator and then down the other side and back to the front of the head. Metal fabricated box is to hold te battery for the trike's power system. While maintaining a small overall size it has to hold some cranking power as it's a car motor that it's gotta start, not some piss-ant Harley clunker. . .

Plymouth. . .

New metal work around rear windscreen flows nicely into the boot and rear quarters. Being such an old car there is plenty of lead around all the old joins and seals. All this lead has to be removed so that the new metal can be welded into place, a time consuming job at the best of times. . .

'31 Model A modified Tudor. . .

New tubs are in place and flooring sections are being boxed in. Coilover shock can just be seen pocking its head up in the corner, soon to disappear along with that crazily large boxed section of rear sub-frame. . .

Plymouth. . .

The old rear windsreen frame has been lifted up to the new roof line and raised at the bottom so that it 'flows' a nice even line into the boot. . .

Door sections are all welded in and the rear windscreen in place, this rod is certainly looking ready for cruising. . .

'31 Model A modified Tudor. . .

Dylan spent most of the day on lowering the motor just on 3inches. Quite a big drop considering the amount of metal that had to be removed or reconfigured. . .

Hodgey has started in the back and working between this and the chop job on the Plymouth.
Here you can see that he has mounted a 6mm half tube above the uni mount as a scatter shield for protection of the child in case a uni ever lets go. The exhaust system including two huge mufflers has been removed and Hodgey is about to make up and install a couple of huge tubs that will also tidy up the interior and make the back space a safer cocoon for the child's seat. . .

Plymouth. . .

You can see from this pic where the old rear windscreen sat before the chop. The roofline has been moved forward 6inches as well as the 4inch lowering. . .

Far from finished but you get the idea as to how things are going to look. Now that it is a two-door the front quarter window is absolutely necessary otherwise the glass pane would be waay too big and even heavier. . .

Looking through the windscreen she's definately got that chopped look about her. . .

'31 A Modified Tudor. . .

 This job has been hanging around in the shed for a while and with the final go-ahead Hodgey has started ripping in to it. The 'Family Way' catches up with us all at some stage and what used to be a boy's toy now has to be dressed up and made a helluva lot safer with the inclusion of a baby capsule in the back. . . oh and the casual 4inch roof chop. Hope this kid hasn't got a long neck, there's not much room in the back. . .

The list of repairs and modifications is just about endless but with a firm picture in their minds and the promise that the rod will stay in the family forever, it's only a matter of time before the big fella hands the keys back?
Doors and guards are off and rear floor section is already out, floor has to be lowered and suspension raised up in under those huge tubs that are already in place.
Rumor has it that the twin Webbers might get the arse and some sort of stealthy huffer replacing them?