Will Swap For Old Ute/Truck

If all goes well i'll have this registered early next week.

Just gotta fix a misfire at idle, check the brakes, buff the paint to get rid of the colour sanding marks, wheel alignment and roadworthy. All the rest is just little shit i'll do when its running.

I'll be happy to drive the fucker and not have it hanging over my head so i can start my other projects....Yeee-haa!
P.S. will trade minus engine for pre 69 ute or truck.

Radicool

I scored this sweet little steering column drop for my impending hotrod build from me best mate, who if i could describe the man in two words it would be 'Shabby Sheik'

PROFESSIONal

Life lessons of a blue collar worker.
If you follow the Fuel magazine blog you might have seen this already, but i thought the video was suited on here.

When Good Times Go Bad

I found this photo on a Japanese blog so i'm not sure the details but it looks like the chap might have a headache.

Poddo#3

Just got sent photos of some tank progress. Cutting, shutting, grinding and welding like a mad man.

P.S. is that stand as dodgey as it looks?

Third Times a Charm

I'm guessing after the down pour saturday the car show was cancelled.

Seemless Photoshop

The Goodna car show that was rained out twice this year is on again this sunday at the Goodna RSL. Trust me its going to be awesome!
Theres going to be so many rad cars, a street parade led by Peter Brock and special international guest Oprah will be stopping by on her whirl wind tour of Ipswich.
I wouldn't have believed it either until i saw the flyer!!

Mezzy Two Step And The Stunned Mullets

Probably the best band you've never heard!!!!
Thank god i hadn't lost this photo, i thought i had, but this is definitely one of my most treasured memories.
Boy we were drunk. Check the look on the face of the dude on the left, he couldn't comprehend the fury of the impromptu piano accordion session going down, and the dude on the right looks pissed. How we never got thrown out is beyond me. Happy Days.

Graham Ford

I worked in a dealership as a mechanic for years and have no real interest in going back, but i would definitely have a change of heart to work here.

All Good

Still alive, thanks for all the messages and well wishes.
Pretty lame for me really it was only minor surgery and a night in hospital, and truth be told for the amount of ass ache i had to go through with workers comp, slow doctors and bosses saying i should just wear it, i would have rathered the accident never happened.
Never the less i'll have a fully blocked nose until i get the splints out thursday and time off work until friday, so plenty of time to do nothing for a change.

Surgery

Avenge my death whilst riding one of these. Just got told today that i'm to have surgery tomorrow to fix my nose from a work accident that happened at the beginning of the year. Finally i'll be able to breath properly again.
Anyways if i don't wake up you know what to do.

29

A siren rang across the mine,
but for those few men it was the end of the line.
Now 29 miners are at heavens gate,
with coal silt faces asking is it to late?
Then god replies with half a grin,
fuck no boys you can come on in.
They place their lights on heavens floor,
a job well done, to be remembered for ever more.

What a fucking sad end, to go to work and never come home. Rest in peace.

Style Awards

As we all know the Gold Coast is the style capital of the world, and the car shows are no different. Many of next seasons trends will be yesterdays news around these parts. Here's just a taste.
Best Motorised Toilet a.k.a. Wet Skid
Its pretty hard when you have a fully tricked out ride not to want to compliment it with an identically painted toilet. Imagine the skid marks you'll leave when you light the rear up. And that's even before you get it started. If your going to be throwing money down the toilet it may as well be on a motorised one. Best Mannequin a.k.a. Hans Yublick

I've said it before, if you haven't got a dummy display in your car theres no hope of going home with a trophy. You'll just be laughed at. I'm predicting an explosion of dummies onto the car scene next year and by the then the Gold Coast guys would have moved on to something cooler, like dildo shifters or something. Extra points must go for his jacket matching the Hyundai Excel seat trim also. Nothing to me says hotrod more than dummies and Hyundai Excels. Best Plush Toy a.k.a. Mans Best Trend

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that dogs die in hot cars, along with this guys chances of coming runner up. That's right homeboy first place all the way. It must have been close to. I can imagine the scenario on the way to the car show. "Hey Kev did you pack the toy dog?" "Oh fuck Troy! we gotta go back and get him! how will anyone ever take us seriously."

Gold Coast Hotrod Show

You can't buy good taste by throwing money at a car but some people try. Whilst i appreciate the time and effort that goes into a faultless show car, for my taste it looks like the more money spent on billet wheels, polished turbos and television screens the more fucked up a car gets.
These are some of the ones i liked.
Pinstriping by Scotty. Chopped Oldsmobile. The 36' and flat black 28' are both from Toowoomba hotrod shop.

That was pretty much it.

Stoke

Hey lets all get together and go to the museum and look at skateboard photos whilst we listen to wankers crap on about how hardcore they are or were back in the day and how that 'kook' over there probably never skated because "Look at his shoes theres not even an ollie mark on them."
No shit i actually heard that once at a shitty fag skater art exhibition i wish i'd never attended. No doubt when i heard them say they were going home to smoke a pipe i'm certain they meant each others cocks.
I recon i'll go next year and save myself the ass ache of running into said smokers.

Off Chops

My girlfriend snapped his picture whilst enjoying a steak dinner at a pub with another girl friend of hers. Its a samurai chopping an ecstasy pill. Yeah a fuckin' ecstasy pill!
Apparently the gentleman was eager to show two tattooed girls his sweet ink. One word.....RULER!

Broken

Broken control arm mount. Looks like an easy fix from the photo, make a gusset weld the fucker on and goodnight Irene.
But it's not the crack in the photo i'm worried about. Problem is gussets don't weld real well to rust flakes. And sadly rust flakes have very little structural ability.

Wet

A short lived but well respected title.

Making Friends

Fuel

I good little blog for a Melbourne based hotrod mag.
http://www.fuelzine.com/news/

Workers Unite

Sorry blogs been lacking lately.
Been pulling big hours at work, working saturdays and a second job saturday nights. Needless to say i'm truly rooted with only one days rest. Looks like much of the same until christmas too.

Read This Book

Happily i got told about this book, and was glad i took the advice. I try to read as much as possible but finding something to read is always hard.
Whats it about you say? Well it's sort of hard to pin down exactly. Theres about 10 messages on why people, white collar people in particular, feel disconnected with there jobs.
Whilst the book never aims at glorifying the blue collar worker, it goes a long way into deciphering why people no longer choose a trade for a job. Instead choosing the much promoted myth that university holds unlimited possibilities for people, and that a white collar approach to a persons future is seen as a successful path for life.
It poses the question that maybe a blue collar approach to life can be more intellectually demanding and can cultivate certain ethical values, and ideas of individual responsibility.
Its not an easy read, in fact I'm reading it for a second time and it's all only now making sense. The kind of book you have to dwell on for a while.
I give it 4 throttle revs out of 5.

Poddo#2

Front end shortened so the bike sits flat, and the poor job done on the hardtail is now finally sorted.

I won't mention the "Kustom" bike shop/person who originally built the hardtail for him, but needless to say he talked the talk but from what i saw couldn't weld the weld. In my workshop the boys would say- "The guy wouldn't make a fabricators arsehole."

Dunno, maybe the guy was just having a bad week and rushed it and didn't notice all the porous welds..... Anyways he's gone to America now to "live the dream" so theres no point making comments without the guy being around to defend himself.

Traffic Boner

I hate Traffic Boners

One Year

I was thinking today that i must have been doing this shitty little blog for at least a year now, and blow me drunk yesterday was the birthday.
I think its safe to say now, i really have no idea what this blog is really supposed to be about, nor do i have any clear idea of where its headed, if at all anywhere.
When i started i had the idea that the blog would be based around updates on my Valiant build up, mates cars/bikes/skateboarding and whatever car shows and swap meet finds i stumble across.
The blog was only really meant for me and no one else. Sort of like an online scrap book. I however told a mate who told a mate who....you get the idea, and then i picked up some followers along the line, and i don't know why, not even I'd want to read this thing. But I'm happy people do.
In the end looking back over the last year the blog seems lost. The Valiant updates aren't there because people really don't want to see all the boring stuff that goes into building a car, (lets face it, its just a work hack) and its not like i live in town/country that's hot rod and custom car mad and i can go out taking photos every weekend.
I don't skate as much as i want to, and i try not to write my working class bullshit as much as i would like because my ideas are only half thought out and the arguments have holes all through them, and you just come off sounding like someone who thinks there better than others and that's never my intention.
I'm at a cross roads. Do i stop, do i stumble on for another year, or do i find a direction?
If you have an idea, let me know.

My High Horse

There was a time in history when a mans working skill was valued in high regard. A time when the sweat on ones brow and the finished product made by ones own hand had a distinct connection to its creator.
A time when learning a trade was seen as heroic, and not as a resort for ones failure of not being able to 'hack' a university degree.
Real wages for skilled labour began to dwindle when these same small craftsmen had to compete with factories producing an often substandard product in the name of affordability. The working men slowly began to shut there workshop doors and take on mundane jobs on an assembly line producing one part of a puzzle without having a strong physical connection to the finished product.
Tradesmen were diminished, there importance trampled on and there skills lessened to a point where any man can now do a 4 year (often less nowadays) apprenticeship and call himself qualified in his chosen field.
Skills that a man would craft over a lifetimes devotion to a trade were now accessible to anyone who could push a button on a machine and soon a white collar approach to life was seen as a most successful pursuit to happiness.
Money and power was everything and the ability to point fingers went a long way to destroying a mans true soul.
The pursuit of big money and power made many men lazy and effeminate. The world was flipped up side down. The man at the bottom was devalued and the man at the top making his invisible deals was seen as heroic and worthy of worship.
How does a man who sits at a desk get a sense of what it is to be a man? Where is the virility found in a faceless bureaucracy? What becomes of an individual inside a corporation?
The battle over this is all futile however. Society demands a cheaper product wrapped in the guise of quality, and cost cutting over craftsmanship and pride.
I don't know where I'm going with this, the story has no end. Its probably all just a bunch of high horse rhetoric.
In a way i guess if theres any point to be made, its that no matter how strong the pull or prestige of a white collar life i believe each man has a subconscious desire to produce something, and know the real brow sweat that went into making something with there hands. Save yourself from a midlife crisis, don't waste your money on a new Porsche just make something worthwhile and be quietly proud.
Now watch this and tell me you don't understand.

David A Smith - Sign Artist from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

The Poor Mans Charger

I've decided the Valiant is just the poor mans Charger.
Been making good progress with the Valiant lately, and long over due for an update.
The paints all sorted and wet sanded ready for buffing. Interiors mostly in, all the side glass is back in and all the locks and handles working. Door rubbers sorted, bumpers on with grille and headlights.
Lot of little shit to do including front and rear screens, battery cables and minor engine stuff - gauges/electrics, tyres and paint rims before i wanna tackle the suspension and brakes, but at least i can sit in it and feel I'm finally getting somewhere when the nights work is done. Look at me mum......Brrrm....Brrrm.....

Rain

All Chrysler day today. Well it was until it rained.
I still managed to get shot of this sweet Chrysler Sigma, leaving the rained out swap meet.
The other night when i was lying in my bed attempting to sleep with all the sick shit that goes through my head when my eyes close, I was thinking about cars that just fade away into a slow death in which no one cares cause they just plain sucked. Cars like Mitsubishi Magna's and Chrysler Sigma's.
When was the last time you ever saw a Sigma? Five year ago? For me that was until today when i saw this, and then did a google search out of curiosity and found that there's actually people out there trying to modify and save these things. Why? Custom 80's sigma with Mustang Badges. I'm lost for words.

The Pink Ramp

In 96' my brother and a few friends of his built this ramp next to a Pauls milk factory on the concrete grounds of an old knocked down factory.
Originally the ramp was in the backyard of a guys rented house, and lasted until his first house inspection and was moved here.
At first the ramp had a masonite surface, which lasted a few weeks until the boys bought some plywood from a hardware store. Up until now the ramp was built with supplies 'borrowed' from work sites after hours.
They bought some cheap wood primer to stop moisture in the attractive colour of pink and thus, the ramp was locally known as the 'Pink Ramp.'
I remember skating this ramp with my brother most afternoons after he'd knock off work, mostly under the guide of car headlights and stereos blasting.
Old ramp dudes would step straight out of the 80's and turn up for a session. It was all rather bazaar for the time, fat boards, big wheels and knee pads.
The ramp took a beating, and being built with mostly scrap wood it wore out fast.
The ramp must have lasted from memory about 4 months until the owners of the land gave us good notice to move it or have it destroyed. Plans were for one of the guys not responsible for the original build to take it, and then we though about cutting it down into a mini ramp for another guys house, but in the end the ramp was just to fucked to do anything with and the time ran out.
Good memories of some real good times.

Goodna Car Show

Called off due to bad weather yesterday, even though this morning was sweet.
Come back on the 10th October and we can do it all again.

Is It Good

Nah!
I know what your thinking. How rad is Goodna!
Car show Sunday at Goodna RSL. Special W.C.Z award for best Tarago.
I have no explanation for the picture, it was just equally as lame as the flyer.

Its In The Mail

Saturday Skate

We probably did more sitting round talking shit than skating.
Photos by me ol' mate Chris.

Town Hall

Built on swampy land during the great depression, was Brisbane's tallest building for some years, now dwarfed by high rise offices.
A man actually died during its construction when he drowned in a pool of water being drained to make the foundations, whilst another man, again during its construction, fell to his death down the elevator shaft.
Thought to be suicide, it was reported as a slip and fall so the man could be buried on consecrated soil as suicide was akin to murder.
On a side note i work with a man who's father was used as a subject for one of the statues carved into the front fasard. Local boxing character "Toter Chapman" given his nickname as it's said he could go Toe-to-Toe with anyone game enough to loose.
Believe it or not i was (still am) actually a tour guide. I just don't work the city anymore.

Slim Pickings

The best thing at the show was my dry hamburger. I think the weather turned people away.

Beenleigh

This Sunday.

Trailor Queen

Don't you love it when people crack out the welder and get in way over there head. You could pay $9,000 and buy yourself a one way ticket into fixing this guys problems.
Pretty solid and everything fixable. Good buy for half the money.

Seemless Photoshop

Hi my names Thomas. Please don't call me Tom or Tommy i don't like it.
Mt favourite band is the Abba cover band 'Bjorn again' I think they are much better than the original Abba band.
Sometimes when i'm not leaking fuel and being a thorn in the side of my owner i like to close my venturi and dream of singing 'dancing queen' in front of thousands of screaming fans yelling my name, "Thomas! Thomas! Thomas!"
Lately i have been feeling sad because the starter motor George and i have made a deal to fuck up when ever our owner wants us to work, but unfortunately he violated my needle and seat in a most unholy way, and even asaulted my float to stop my drizzle. I hate him, George hates him and i think you should hate him to!
I even heard him say Sting was a way better singer than Bjorn, and that 'The Police' was a much better band than Abba ever was!!! Fuck that guy!!

The Meaning Of Life

There is only two things that make my life worth living, and that's F1-11 fly overs and the first time you start a freshly rebuilt motor.
Everything else is just one big let down and pales in comparison. Even when my first son was born all i could think about is how much better this would be if flames where shooting out and the floor was shaking!! Instead all i got was this little pink thing with arms not even capable of something as good as a sonic boom. What a downer.
Anyways i finally got the Valiant motor started after three weeks of rooting around due to a stuffed starter motor.
It was all smooth sailing except for a leaking carby which was pissing out fuel. First from the float level set wrong and the accelerator pump shaft at the same time pissing fuel onto the exhaust, then from the throttle bush?? I think. Not sure if i've fixed it yet the last two leaks seem to come and go. For now it seems o.k. i'll give it another crack later.

Rosco

Forget charity, donate to Rosco