Auto Transport

Now that I have an old cabover Ford truck sitting in the barn, I can't seem to stop thinking about what I could do with it...  I have enough projects to last me quite a while, but I always had a vivid imagination..  All of this thinking got me going on all of these kool car carriers from the past....  Some of the best looking transporters came from the GM Motorama.....  But those are WAAAAAAY out of my price range..

I would love to know where this trailer is....

Pick 1 trailer for yourself.....

Happy Birthday Rana!!!

     Happy Birthday to my awesome and beautiful wife, Rana!!!!  I really am the luckiest guy in the world!!!!

On Vacation....

Helping dad drive the boat.  He had to many....






I will need one of these in another 50 years too.

5 o'clock shadow

Well it is time for a well deserved vacation...  I am on leave for about 3 weeks and I am going to try and make the very best of it.....  I have a ton of work to get done at the shop.  The wife, myself, and the in-laws will be hitting Las Vegas later in the week.  I would like to maybe get my boat wet, at some point.  With gas prices at 4 dollars plus a gallon, it may get wet, just not started.  That pretty much defeats the purpose, but that big block Chevrolet is pretty thirsty....  Something tells me, I will work harder on vacation.  We shall see......

Same gear......

My last posted touched on some of my roots on two wheels.  I always looked forward to going to my grandparents for a visit.  Who wouldn't???  You always had different toys to play with.  Both sets of my grandparents lived in Monrovia, so our visits hit two different places.  I got to keep a bicycle at one grandparents, so I could ride my bike in the neighborhood.  My other grandparents, I covered in a previous post.  He had motorcycles.  I always looked forward to getting to sit on grandpa's bike while he worked on it in the driveway.  We would even go for a ride, as well.  When I was about 8 years old, Grandpa Mohr bought a Kawasaki KV75 for me to ride.  It stayed at his house, so I didn't get to ride it regularly.  I remember that I could ride it up and down the street and that was it.  He taught me to make a tight u-turn without putting my foot down.  They had a long driveway, and he would have me go down the driveway and turn around without my feet hitting the ground.  God forbid, I rode on the grass.  I did that once and lost my privileges for the rest of the day. 

(Note:  The pictures shown here might be offensive to young parents in todays world.  I had a great childhood, but some photos may show a lack of parental judgement, as far as todays standards go.    Kids my age weren't sheltered from everything in the world that could hurt them.  Sometimes a lesson is better learned from a skinned knee.... 

Yea ladies, the socks match the shirt....

I was told to hold on to the handle bars by the horn button

Hey buddy, can you check the tire pressure???

It is too late to call child protection.  This was over 30 years ago, and I think there is a statue of limitations.

At the lake with mom and dad....

Now I can ride it whenever I want...

After Grandpa passed away, we brought the bike up here to get it running...

I sure would have liked to have kept it, but it wasn't in the cards..  It was sold to a collector that shipped it to Japan...
I sure hope it is still around.

Changing gears.....

I am more of a car type guy, by nature.  Although, I have a huge appreciation for motorcycles, as well.  My paternal grandfather was an all around mechanical guy.  As a youngster, Grandpa was a motorcycle guy.  He seemed to favor the American bikes, but there were a couple foreign bikes, as well.  He rode out to California from Michigan in the 40's on a Harley.  He and his brother were into hill climb racing.  He had a Harley till the day he died.  That is a bike I wish I could have kept in the family....  But, that was not to be...  I was introduced to bikes at an early age, but I will save that for another day...

F.C Mohr with his very first Harley.  It was brought home in pieces, in the trunk of that 25 Chevy in the background. 

Grandma and Grandpa Mohr out for a ride..



Just rode to work at American Chain and Cable Company .  He rode this bike out to California from Michigan in 1942





Rough group of guys....



Heading to work 1970
Sharp eyes might recognize that 56 Chevy in the background.
Still have that one.

A few W.T.F. East Coast Kustoms.....



Kind of a waste of a Merc



They were doing alright till they put the huge motor in...

Pan Pacific Auditorium 1963

My dad took these pictures at a car show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in 1963.  Sadly, the Pan Pacific is long gone due to a couple of fires in the 80's.There were so many awesome things that happened in that place, imagine if the doors could talk...  I just found these not too long ago, and thought they were pretty neat......  Note I originally noted this as a show in Michigan, but was mistaken....

Thats my dad down there....

What the hell am I really doing???

In the last couple of years, I have really enjoyed looking back on all of the great things I have experienced.  That is why I tend to post alot of old pictures from shows I have been to.  A few folks have sent me emails wondering what I am currently working on.  One of the things I am horrible at, is documenting my own junk.  It seems that when I am working at the shop, a camera is the furthest thing from my brain.  I already don't work fast enough, as it seems the easiest task seems to take me 5 times longer than it should.  If I compound that with taking pictures every step of the way, I am even further behind.  Not to mention, I really don't find my talents all that great.  I would love to be like those builders on tv that just knock this stuff out, just the way I want, the first time around.  But, alas, I am trying to document more of what I am doing.  Don't get me wrong, I am far from a professional, and don't even play one on TV....  The pictures above are a hint, of what I am trying to do on my 53 Ford...

About 15 years ago, I busted my ass to find really nice fenders..



And now I have to cut into them.....



Horrible picture, but it fits pretty good..  I must have measured and mocked up for an hour to make sure I didn't screw up my cherry fenders. A little more welding on the pie cuts and I am in business



Here is the basic idea.  The upper grille trim needs to be cut still, along with the center.  I also still need to build the new inner side of the piece that was cut out....



A&W during West Coast Kustoms Paso Robles Shows.....