MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

I wish every one a wonderful Christmas, and hopefully a great new year !Ive only been a little bad so I'm looking for Santa tonight .Im a little gimpy right now ,got a bum shoulder /collarbone so i have not been able to do any more work, just trying to heal up !Any way be safe and hug the ones ya love !

New art panel

Been working on a aluminum panel as a gift for Lucky Hanks ,Lucky is a source of inspiration for me he is so knowledgeable about building cool cars and fixing stuff the right way .The panel was cleaned really good then a grinder was used to rough up the surface in no particular way . I then shot several coats of clear urethane paint on it and then sanded it smooth. My design starts with transfer paper smoothed out on the edges drawn out then cut out with razor blades. Now the fun , spraying some candy color over the panel and when it drys I"ll pull off the transfer tape to reveal the design .the ground metal effect reflects light in different directions even under the candy paint which is transparent Then I'll apply the gold leaf lettering and the pinstripe and finally a bit of clear and shes done until i buff it out .Thanks Lucky ;Merry Christmas !

Ronnies Hot Rods

Got to check out some of the cool rides built by Ronnie's Hot Rods , they are located in Senatobia Miss.and the quality of his cars are great ! Ronnie was a featured builder at the NSRA show in Louisville KY. this year,something Ronnie explained to me was a huge honor for him as well as his shop .Hope soon to go tour his shop and see the projects in progress !Check out his web site ...http://www.ronnieshotrods.com/imageview.aspx?id=22and he is on facebook also !

Fitzgerlalds car show

WE had a good time at this show put on by several car clubs and sponsored in part by Comp Cams and Ronnie's Hot Rods .The show was a good one for Mike and Sindy as they received a top 50 award and Ronnie's Hot Rods top pick award, which was a huge honor because Ronnie builds fine hot rods!I was impressed with his "stuff",and they had several cars on display .The first night we ate at the Fitz buffet and got to see, Uncle Kracker play there also ,good show !Saturday the weather was much nicer,warmer and more cars showed up.We'll go again I'm sure !

The ole 55

Got a chance to help Kinny and Mark work on a 55 Chevy ,a tree had fallen on the roof and broke the window out !Mark is now the owner of this 55 he acquired it from Kinny ,I'm sure there is plenty of work to go around. A new 300 hp. 350small block and 3 speed trans had been recently installed by Mark, I'm sure it will be a neat car,a simple little cruiser , Mark already has a bad lil 55 4 speed with a 355 cu. in. small block , and a few other projects also in the works more pics soon !

Thats cool !

Hey all , I'd like to congratulate Albert Kruger and Mike Helton for both being winners in two different car shows recently. Alberts win came at the Centerville Tn. Auto show, his Jeep powered by a small block Chevy won the 4 x 4 division .we had a lot of fun building this project with Curtis , Albert's son !
Sindy , Mikes wife took their Nova to the Comp Cams sponsored show at the casinos in Tunica . They won best in show and the Mayors award ,the top two awards ! Not too shabby guys

Crusin the coast

Well we had a great time ,the weather was awesome,the beer was cold ,our women were great!The whole premise of the cruise lead us to several areas around the coast .At each of these stops when we arrived there was a car show, bands ,food and fun . We danced a little,cruised a bunch ate great seafood and relaxed a bunch !The crowds on Friday night were a bit wild , they line both sides of highway 90 coaxing the drivers of cars to burn rubber , and there was plenty of that !

Cruisin the Coast

We are heading to "Crusin the coast", in Biloxi Ms. Oct.3rd.-10th . This is the 14th annual crusin and will be my first trip to this show . Ive heard its a blast and cant wait for a little down time and some good sea food too. The Helton clan and Jill and I are going to cruise in the mighty Nova all over the coast , Mike has a real nice enclosed trailer to haul the beast in and our pop up tent to hang out on the beach !Ill take some photos of Mike and I in speedos !! ha ha It could happen with enough beer and some bubba teeth!

Edgar Winter

hey all as many of you know I'm a huge Edgar fan and as life leads you in strange ways , I got a chance to meet him this Saturday at the airport in Memphis ! The band was traveling thru Mempho on the way to Phoenix Az.They were very nice and excited about playing the show in a theater that was in the round .Edgar was cool and laid back dressed in black that contrasted strikingly with white his hair. Jock Copeland and I met him and later we both could not figure out why we did not take any photos !! But i did get the autograph !just like a little school girl!

Delta Crusin @ Sams Town Casino

We had a great time at the Delta Crusin, held in the parking lot of Sam's Town casino in Tunica Miss., The weather was hot and so were the cars .This was Mike and Sindys debut with their 69 Nova and it went well, the car was a hit with Southern Crusin magazine asking to take photos to put in an issue, and some mention of using the car for their annual calender! That's great for a first time out !900 cars were in attendance and its a well run show with plenty of activities for all ages .I'd like to thank the Memphis Street Rodders Association for a great time ! Plan to attend next year !

The end is near

Well the end is near ...no I'm not some nut toting a sign on the street announcing the end of the world ! ha ha !I'm talking about the Nova. It's all details and the buff out now .detail, details ,details!the beast will soon hit the streets . Been kidding Mike and Sindy they need to go ahead and buy a new set of rear tires because all Sindy wants to know is how fast it will go !,and when can she hit the nitrous button !SO we started driving it and tuning on her its sweet and sounds nasty too !

NSRA in Louisville

Hey yall got a few pics from the NSRA ,the weather was nice and the cars were cool !Met some nice people and walked all over the place for a day and a half and still did not see it all !Just wish it was closer to home ,drove for seven hours to get there .

Total Cost Involved parts

I've owned a 66 Mustang convertible body for some years now and its time to get busy with that thing. This week I received a truck load of parts from Total Cost Involved. This includes a Mustang 2 front end set up with coil over springs 2 inch dropped spindles,and sway bars. The rear end set up is coil over also and sub frame connectors with a three link. Soon I plan to take the original suspension out and put it on the rotisserie for sand blasting and assembly.

Spent gasses Leave the Nova

Mike and I are finally getting around to putting the exhaust under the beast!He opted for a three inch tube and Flowmaster mufflers, the parts came from Jegs. It is a really a nice set up that fits good too !It want be long now till the bruiser will be cruising at a show near you !You ought to see how hard Mike is working me I think he's ready to ride !!, me too !

Goodguys Nashville show

Jill took me to the Goodguys show in Nashville I was surprised that they were able to get it all cleaned up so fast after the floods. The show was really nice ,and at the gate they were collecting for the flood victims plus the Goodguys Organization were going to match the total !, what a great gesture .We spent the whole day wandering around checking the rides and watching the g-course racing that was cool some of those guy could really get around twisty turns fast with lots of tire squealing going on .So many of the cars were really so high end and sooo bad assed !Ok so now back to the real world .

Hot BBQ team

I got a chance to help out the CMP BBQ team they are a new team with a nice trailer.The spare tire needed a cover ,so I welded one up and smoothed it out and painted some true fire on it with their logo in gold leaf and a bit of pin stripe ! Charlie Peri ,the "P"in CMP was happy with it , he says it will set them apart from other teams and catch your eye. I'm glad he's happy ,it turned out well maybe I'll get some BBQ out of the deal!Randy GIbson printed their tee shirts up off of a design i was able to come up with and he did a great job on them .Randy does such cool custom work even on some small orders,he's easy to work with .