FlatCaddy.com

Wanted to give a nod to a friend and all around good guy Buddy, who is building a Flathead Cadillac powered monster to shatter some records at B-ville this August. Beyond being a great guy to work with, Buddy has put himself out there on more than one occasion when there was a charity to be supported or a person in need. There's not that many people these days willing to step up to the plate so quickly, and I applaud him for being one of them.

I did some t-shirt designs for the crew a few months back and more recently, he's released a limited run of signed/numbered FlatCad Blueprint illustrations, both of which are available along with a killer source of hard to find go-fast goods for caddy flatheads on the website. If you are into Flathead Cads, or just enjoy a well designed site, it's definitely worth checkin out. 

www.FlatCaddy.com 

Rough studies: 31 Sedan

Some color studies that I just did for Billy, whose building this channeled, unchopped 31 sedan:

Here's where he's at with it currently:

Chris's Trucks Part 1

Chris' 65 Chevy. Next up will be his fathers 51. :)

Junkyard Hunting in S.E. Michigan.

Got a lead a while back on a 35 dodge coupe sitting in a barn so naturally, I had to check it out. What I found was an old timey junk yard behind a machine welding shop with a really cool, albeit odd selection of stuff. The owner of the property was really cool, and let me and my buddy look around for as long as we wanted. The 35 Dodge turned out ot be a 36 Plymouth, which was still cool even though i'm partial to 35s, but it was way more of an undertaking than I can take on right now. (Though that does't mean I won't eventually cave and try and grab it.)  Here's some pictures of some of the more unique stuff that's rotting into the ground out there.

One that got away...kind of

You know the stories you always hear where some schmuck 's neighbors uncles best friends sister's old boyfriend built a hot rod in the 50's or 60's, stored it away in a garage for the next 40 years, eventually passed on, and left to car to the uninterested family? I heard one such tale, working in the school shop when I was getting my undergrad at CCS in Detroit. The shop manager came in one day and said, "Chris, you like old hot rods, right? My wife's father had a 32 ford roadster that's been sitting in the garage for decades. He passed away, and they are getting rid of the house, so they wanna get rid of the car. It' doesn't run, but it's got a hemi. and they don't want much from it"  Every hot rod geeks dream right?

Well it turned out to actually be a 29 Model A coupe-cut down to a roadster of sorts. Most of the modifications were home made, including the headers, and most of the structure. The car looked pretty much like it does in the last photos taken of it some time in the early 70's. Deflated that it wasn't a deuce, and moreover that even though it was a period car, it was more cut up than i would have liked as a starting point, and i would never be able to leave some of the more bogus aspects of the build alone, i decided to pass on it, though i know they sold it pretty quickly after.

I'm sure with enough time and money, neither of which i have an excess of, the car would have been sweet, but i guess you cant save em all.

Texas Mile Model A

Designed for my buddy Larry to hopefully whoop some ass at this years TX mile high speed competition:

Future Grease Monkey :)

When I was a kid, my Dad got me a job pulling parts for his buddy Gerry at his salvage yard in northern New Jersey. Granted, to a non-gearhead it seems like a dirty, nasty, sweaty mess of a summer job, but to a 15 year old who had an infatuation with cars, it was the coolest job ever! I gained a healthy understanding of how things work under the hood, and learned a vocabulary colorful enough to make a sailor cringe. I even learned how to drive a stick shift from the bosses son Mike, who was 8 at the time (seriously). 

Anyway, i wanted to give a shout to one of the next generation of wrench turners. His name's Luke, and he's Gerry's grandson. Being a young kid doesn't stop him from gettin down though. He'll get his hands dirty with the best of us.

To get him into the spirit of what his Grandad is into, i rendered up this Chevy that will be his ride when he's old enough to cruise it!

Got me a new gaurd dog!

Meet Garbanzo.  He's obviously super vicious!  :)