The Coolest Long Distance Race

Check out the map above of the Amsterdam Beijing Race. 10,000 miles in Classic Cars!

From the website:

Although cars play a principal part, this is certainly not the only thing that the event is about. “Competition, culture, camaraderie and adventure are central”, Vermeer says. “The rally leads to countries and regions where it seems as if time has stood still. The route follows parts of the classic Silk route and crosses areas with breathtaking panoramas: from narrow mountain roads in East Turkey to the vast and sandy Gobi desert in China. En route we will pass impressive structures and locations, among which the Chinese Wall and the Yellow River. Classic cars add an extra dimension to this. However, it is going to be above all a rally that will tax everything and everyone who participates in it to the limit. Unique, exciting and memorable, those are the keywords for this event.”

The site goes on to say that the newest car is from the Bicentennial Year of 1976 and the oldest car is from '34. Dig the Monte Carlo Mustang above.

"I'm Moving On" The Evil

I received a comp in the mail yesterday. There are a number of garage killers on it, but the standout is definitely "I'm Moving On" by The Evil from Florida. It has everything that defines killer garage punk, urgent vocals, stomping tempo, tough guitar buzz and even the requisite Back From The Grave style scream. This particular track was never released back in 1966.

Here is the story from JeffMiami, the source of the track:

"The Evil acetate came from a band member. The first time I heard it, I nearly passed out. It's that amazing. It was used on the Evil/Montells comp on Corduroy, but in "cleaned up sound". That same master was passed along to Norton. This is its first appearance direct from the vinyl demo, with no enhancement.

In 1966, Evil won the Dade County Youth Fair Battle of the Bands, and as a result they won time at Bobby Dukoff Studios (the same place where the Nightcrawlers album was cut). The band had very little time, so they pretty much did four songs in one take. Much of "I'm Movin' On" was worked out on the spot.

The four songs were "I'm Movin' On", "I Know I'll Die" (heard on "Jeff's Moody Monsters"), "From A Curbstone", and "Always Runnin' Around". None of the songs came out at the time. A few months later, the band (with a few new members) went into Criteria Studios and recorded "Whatcha Gonna Do About It". Unlike the one-take Dukoff sessions, the band spent many hours working on "WGDAI, and didn't get to record a B-side. No problem. "Always Runnin' Around" was placed on the flip, even though it featured a different rhythm guitarist, bass player, and drummer.

The band broke up and no one thought much about the acetates. A couple of decades later, when I was researching my book, one of the band members found "I'm Movin' On" b/w "I Know I'll Die", and graciously gave it to me. As for how I felt when I first heard it... disbelief! Nothing could be that great, could it? Both sides!"

I have been cranking this in the car as well as on the reference system. It is the best garage track I've heard yet this month.

Amber Gambler-33 Chevy Coupe

I mentioned this awesome car in passing in my Gasser post a while back, but finally got around to posting some pics. This '33 is running a Nailhead, possibly one of my fave engines, next to a SBF 289 cu. The engine looks especially cool jammed into the firewall. The iron cross on the moon tank in front of the grill shell did nothing to hurt the looks either, in my book.

The '70s brown vinyl on the running boards and in the roof, was kind of hard to look at though. I guess the '70s were all about the earth tones.

The lettering on the door says 1974 AHRA C/MP Class Winner. I don't recall the exact et this car ran, but I think it was a high 10 second car. These old cars are so much cooler than carbon fiber, hemi destroying modern NHRA machines. I can't get enough.

Captain Beefheart

Here are some Captain Beefheart related vids on YouTube.
If you need a break from the normalcy of your day, these videos should do the trick.

Thanks to Coop, I came across these. Coop found that the house in Woodland Hills where Trout Mask Replica was rehearsed is now up for sale, only $850K.

Fixies are illegal in Portland

This post from boingboing seems really surreal, espcially in Portland OR.
I thought that Portland was one of the more bike friendly cities...

Oil Safari in Today's Chicago Tribune

This multi media, presentation, (requires free registration) tells the story, The Safari, if you will of a barrel of oil across the world to a Marathon gas station in Elgin, IL.
The technology for this video is pretty cool, even if the topic is scary.

Check out Jay's New Ride

Iowahawk gives the dish on the Blastolene special, another crazy vehicle that The Leno A Tor recently acquired.

It seems that Jay Leno is all over custom cars now. I seem to remember that he used to not be into customized or hot rodded cars.

That flew out the window with the Toronado that they built for him last year.

Urban Assault Vehicle Redux

It is the hottest day all summer. Instead of staying cooped up in the HQ, I was determined to have some fun outdoors after the difficult lawn cutting experience this am, where the Lawn Boy died and I had to borrow another sickly mower to get the job done.

First I got out the Mustang and went to some fruitless house sales. Not one record was even for sale!

Then my delivery from Nashbar came, and I had a new project. Last week, I splurged and got a set of clipless pedals for the Raleigh, since they were $19.95. Nice!

From Nashbar, I ordered a set of Zefal mountain bike mudguards as they were only $16.99.

Putting the pedals on was as simple as getting my pedal wrench out of the toolbox and removing the extant pedals and then putting a bit of grease from my grease gun on the spindles of the new ones and twisting them on the shiny, chromed, cottered cranks.

The mudguards were a bit of a project however. It required that I mock everything up before I starting cutting up the mudguards and their hardware, because in the past, I have had to cut bait on a project and return items as no amount of "modification" will sometimes allow a fit.

The front fender basically fit after I jammed it between the fork legs. The lower legs of the mudguard supports appeared to be too long however. I moved on to the rears to see if I could make the mountain bike fenders fit on the Raleigh Sports.

The rears were a much closer perfect fit. I used all of the enclosed hardware. The only mod I made was where I attached the front of the mudguard to the bottom bracket area with a zip tie instead of a series of bolts, washers, brackets and nuts. I am sure that the hardware would be much more of a situtation where it would rattle loose and cause havoc, (like the stock mudguards on the recent LATE Ride.)

After I ascertained that the mudguards would indeed work on my bike, I started tightening everything down. The fronts still looked weird. I opted to get some powerful hedge trimmers, that I call "The Toecutter," to lop a 1/2 inch or so off of each of the lower support legs. That seemed to do the trick.

As for my grocery getter cart, I recently scored a Burley Delite trailer at a house sale for $35. I found the platform for the trailer in the garbage in front of a mansion. The board was roughly the correct size to fit on the top of the Burley after the sides were folded down. I cut the 1/4 inch plywood board down to size. I then proceeded to drill 16 holes around the edge to fasten the deck to the trailer frame.

I found a can of primer in the garage, so I hand sanded and filed the board to remove any bad splinters, I then applied 2 coats of primer to seal the deck. I then found a can of shiny black spray paint and added 2 coats to the top of the deck.

Then I got some 14 inch zipties from the hardware store for $2 to put throgh the holes and secure to the trailer frame. I just attached the four corners to see if I liked how it worked.

I just took a test ride. The vehicle seems pretty tight. Although the board added a few pounds, while the mudguards took a pound or so off. I have a feeling it is a matter of time until I cut all of the nylon sides and bottom off the Burley to save some weight.

Why do Gassers Rule?

Gassers Rule! As per the continued coverage in mainstream magazines like Hot Rod, as well as more fringe car mags like The Rodder's Journal, it is obvious that people are getting into 60's styled straight axles (and otherwise old timey) drag racing set ups.

For once I feel fortunate to live in the Midwest as it is the home of the Mid West Gasser Association.

Over the past weekend at Great Lakes Dragaway, there was a Mopar event, but more importantly there was a huge appearance by the MGA. There was only one Willys in attendance (for Sale!), but there were plenty of other cool gassers- '33 Chevy Coupe, '46 Ford Coupe, a Vette and a couple of Chevy IIs.

Track of the day Del Vetts "Last Time Around"

If the above pic can tell you anymore than the fact that I need to get a scanner...
Anyway, along with the recent Dynaco preamp addition, I have scored some nice discs to ripple the plaster around CDHQ.

The Del Vetts "Last time Around" Dunwich 125 has it all. Chicago 1966 teen punk angst, complete with plainative vocal, loads of fuzz. It has a guitar break that makes my loudspeakers quake.

I think that I am going to hook up my AR 2 AX speakers to the system, so I can go louder!

Another new edition

The Dyanaco PAS 3 from the early 60s is now a part of my reference system.

This tube preamp was known as the giant killer back then when it was sold as a kit. The guy that I bought it from had some Sylvania nos 7025 tubes, so he installed them. The phonograph stage on this pre amp is known to beat a lot of more expensive units.
So far, I am pretty impressed soundwise. It looks like a 40+ year old unit, though.

Here is how I have it set up: Rega Planar 3 turntable with a stock tone arm and an Audio Technica cartridge, and AMC cd 8b player, running to the Dynaco, then I bridged the pre amp in my AMC 3050b integrated solid state amplifier. This is all put out to a pair of Monitor Audio silver series loudspeakers.

The next obvious upgrade is to get some real interconnects for the cd player and the pre amp sound path.

I listened to a mint stereo copy of Donovans Greatest Hits on the old set up and compared it with the new set up. The phono stage in the mighty Dyna certainly made a big difference. the sounds were ultimately more clear and the fuzz break on "Season of The Witch" was without compare.

I think I will go find some of my old Miles LPs.

One Donovan Leitch

During my weekly local garage sale foray, amongst the golf ashtrays, toys in various states of decay, used kitchen items that should be pitched instead of sold, I came across an original gatefold Stereo copy of Donovan's Greatest Hits (in mint condition) for a buck.

I cannot seem to find the budget '80s reissue LP that I got years back, as it must heve either gotten lost in one of my moves, or liberated by a houseguest at some point.

My interest in Mr. Leitch did not come through his song, "Mellow Yellow," but rather via his best track "Season of The Witch." I remember hearing "Season" after my high school prom as I launched my 1981 Mazda over an especially perilous RR Xing. I got at least 2 inches under all four doughnuts as Donovan yelped, "It must be the Season of The Witch." Truly memorable.

The lp contains other songs that I like like "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man." The compilers neglected to include the other great member of his canon, "Atlantis." Gentle Reader may remember the use of this song on the soundtrack to "Goodfellas," when Henry "Rat" Hill is driving in fear of black helicopters. "All Hail Atlantis." Hippy and yes Dippy, but somehow, I have always liked that song.

Wikipedia (linked above) gives the full dope on Donovan. I found the tale of his late '66 drug bust to be interesting as it seemed to be part of the process that the press used in sharing info with the Bobbies that led to the famous bust of Keef Richard later in 1967.

New chariot for pooch

Since this past week has been an unofficial Bike Week here at Cratedigger HQ, I have been spending as much time as possible using human powered vehicles.

Following my penchant for garage saleing, this morning, I came across this Burley trailer that you see pictured at the right.

I had to hoist the pooch into the Chariot, but after we got up to cruising speed-- 5-8MPH, it was all smiles from my four legged friend.

It looks like, I finally have a car replacement, as I can easily put groceries and other goodies in the cart as well. I noticed that petrol is around US$3.25 per gallon today. I will make a point to drive even less now.

One Less Car!!!

Little Boy Blues

I was out beating the throttle on the '66 Mustang this morning, when I decided to pop an old cassette into the player.

I was on a more "open" road that has a posted 50MPH limit and there were few other cars around.

The song that started playing at the stop sign was "You Don't Love Me," by 1966 stalwarts, The Little Boy Blues. What a killer garage track. Tuff is the operative word here, and as I mentioned more than a few years back, Jimmy Page definitely learned something from the guitar break in this track.

As I clunked the top loader into 4th, and jammed the gas pedal, the song kicked into the guitar break. I took the turn fast. The car thanked me on this sweeper for the new black walls that I bought earlier this year. A nice smooth turn a bit above the posted limit.

On the way back to HQ, some Mom-looking person tried to stop light drag me in an Acura. She didn't beat me, and wouldn't any other day while I am blasting the garage behind the controls of an old Ford.

Get out there and feel some horsepower while cranking some tunes from 1966!

The Tale of The '49 Cadillac

This past Saturday, I rode shotgun with Mr. Burge from Iowa Hawk, to help with some vintage motor and transmission harvesting.

The story goes a little like this. A 1949 Cadillac Club Coupe appeared in Sycamore, IL for the astonishing price of $120. Now granted, this car was heavily rusted and had been sitting since 1959, so you have to view this as "you get what you pay for." But still it seems like a smokin' deal.

Most importantly, 1949 was the first year of a mass produced overhead valve V-8. So while Henry Ford would be turning out variants of his Flathead V-8, which was originally offered in 1932, for another 4 years, Cadillac was already entering the future of overhead valve technology with their 331 powerplant.

A Cadillac 331 sure could provide motivation for a little '30s Ford... Perhaps that was the motivation for Iowa Hawk's purchase of the Caddy. This model even has a four speed auto tranny...

So back to our story, I stopped by the Burge Compound for some early morning coffee and of course I carried a stash of some recent garage music finds. (We needed a soundtrack for the hour plus drive to Sycamore.) We headed out and had an unventful journey during the midst of a holiday weekend, punctuated by the tough and/or moody sounds of 1966.

When we arrived at Marty's and Sons, the Caddy was displayed in all its glory in the lot as in the digital image above. The first step was to hoist the car with a hydraulic jack off the ground so that we could get some jack stands under the front axle. Then the hood, fenders, and the remains needed to be liberated with the "blue wrench." In one of the pics above you can see Andy's hand as he skillfully cuts at the Cadillac carcass to remove parts in the way for a clean engine and trans removal.

After that, it was under the car to remove the drive shaft and the exhaust. Since this is Iowa Hawk's car, I gladly let him fight that battle. Soon, Dave, another hot rod enthusiast, showed up and started pitching in. He is a fan of the blue wrench and helped cut away the motor mounts and the exhaust manifold. Notice the flames engulfing the passenger side motor mount in the pic above.

Once that was cut, Iowa Hawk severed the drive shaft with the blue wrench under the car and then it was a three way tug of war and creative use of levers to extracate the power plant from the 57 year old car.

This was the first time that I was around to "help" or witness directly the removal of a car engine, this will certainly not be the last time. This was a blast of a day.

Track of the day- Outcasts "Set Me Free"

I have heard this before, but due to a quiz posted on the garagepunk forums, I got to hear this in a blistering form.

The leader of this track with cymbal crashes, jangle guitar and organ really builds into the vocal.

The bass underneath produces some nice rumble on the speakers as well. Seems that the bassist is running up and down the neck.

"Tonight I am going to have to say goodbye... Set Me Free"

The drum outro provides an excellent coda.

The flip "You'd Be Surprised" is more of a jangler, also worth seeking out.

I am excited to make some tube upgrades to the reference system to hear tracks like this one in even greater fidelity.

Many thanks to bosshoss for sharing this masterpiece.

More garage sale tunes

Over the weekend, I scored some more music. While none of it can be remotely classified as garage, I feel that it is all good music.

At one sale I scored The Temptations Greatest Hits v.2 for $.50 on a mint cd. I mainly bought it for "Ball of Confusion," my all time fave Tempts track. I found that I liked other more out there tracks as well, such as "Psychedelic Shack" and "Cloud Nine." Pretty tough, over-produced soul into funk with a message. I would recommend it for your next outdoor party.

At another sale I scored a mint lp of the Tempts Greatet Hits v.1 from 1966. I personally prefer the later stuff to classics contained on this lp like "My Girl" and "Since I Lost My Baby." Having a testimonial from the Cos on the back cover wins points with me though.

At the same sale I scored mint copies of the following, Marvin Gaye "Live at the London Palladium," Marvin Gaye "I Want You," and Waylon Jennings"Ol Waylon."

The grand total for the 4 mint lps was $1!!!

Even though I am not a huge Marvin G fan, the lps seemed worth getting. I have not dug deep into the Waylon lp, but I did listen to "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself." I guess this is why he is considered Outlaw Country.

Latest implement find

No, it not a bike, a vintage car or some other cool old conveyance.

I scored a Scott manual mower over the weekend. I have been looking for one for a number of years.

My budget and my common sense has limited me budget-wise to $10 for a purchase. I bargained the former owner down to $8 for this beauty.

Look at the patina. The section in the center is a mowing height adjustment knob.

I used my can of WD-40 and lubed all of the obvious areas, and gave it a test on my front lawn. It seemed to work pretty good.

It is pretty cool. It doesn't make any noise, as it is a "Silent Scott" model. I believe it to be built in the early to mid '60s. The mower is made of heavy gauge steel and really holds its' line down the lawn due to its mass.

I think that I am going to sharpen the blades with my old yell0w sharpener from WalMart. We will see how that works.

Wha Happen?

Wha Happen?, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

For whatever reason, I think this captures the essence of a wonderful 94 degree afternoon in southern Wisconsin in mid June.

Gimme Drag Racing!

can you believe they go 9 sec in the 1/4 mile?

can you believe they go 9 sec in the 1/4 mile?, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

What the hell? They go into the 10s, but that is mighty fast for a snowmobile, I think.

These sleds are loud and quick. They sound like strangled ducks when they make their passes. The riders drive em like they stole em.

Notice the little dual wheels on the skis and the chain for "safety." I am not sure what mods they do to the belts.

These riders make drag bikers look normal.

Coupe with ugly paint job

This coupe had a gross paint job. I can't deal with this style. It was pretty quick. It also had a tiny For Sale sign on one of the rear windows, "$...,000,000. Clever.

37 Willys?

I believe that Plum Crazy is a 37 Willys... Whatever it is, it is cool even if it is made of glass. Dude can turn some wicked smoky burnouts. Look at the headers snaking out onto the running boards... Notice the modern funny car style roof vent. Post burn out, the vent in addition to the open door, is used to cool the air in the cockpit.

Gary's 69 Barracuda

Gary's 69 Barracuda, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

I met this old guy named Gary at Great Lakes Dragaway on Saturday. He could see that I had some genuine interest in his ride as well as in drag racing in general.

The name of his ride is My Last Buck.

He walked me around his '69. He said that he is running a Dana 60 for the rear end and that he and his wife put in the tranny. He even let me open the door. One of his sons painted it, without the doors on it, so the shade is a bit off. I told him that it was a hot rod that gets raced. I think that he liked that.

I was hoping to get to sit in it. Maybe next time.

He lets his kids take it down the strip when they aren't pullin 9s on snowmobiles!

People like Gary make me want to move it to the next level-- from spectator to Racer.

Some recent digging

Turned up the following 45s: Albert King "Born Under a Bad Sign" Stax 217, Small Faces "Itchycoo Park" Immediate 501 and Edwin Starr "Agent Double O Soul" Ric-Tic 103.

Other stuff that I have been listening to in the garage area includes both the 3 cdr set from Lance Records and the cdr comp "Music For Abnormal People." Both were garnered via trades. Viva la revolution musique de l'internet!

The Cratedigger HQ has been pumping out the tunes recently. I have been trying to conserve some energy as I have my first bike ride tomorrow which will be at least 30 miles.

Might as well shake it in the meantime.

The winner in my eyes...

mod lammy, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

This was my choice for the winner of best scoot at the Design Within Reach Scooter Show. It was held in concert with Mod Chicago 2006. This Lambretta is definitely a mod scoot.

I didn't hang around long enough to see which scooter won the judging.

mod lammy pov shot

mod lammy pov shot, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

From the recent Design within Reach, Scooter Show and Opening, comes this rad POV shot of a TV (I believe, not so hot with my 'Bretta spotting). Check out the stadium mirrors.

Rad Brookville Deuce grille shell

PICT0191, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

Could this be the coolest repro grille shell?
Methinks so.
On close inspection, the viewer will notice that the Poncho logo has been sunk into the bullnose region of said shell.
Andy showed me how a plastic Pontiac logo (from an old T/A???) fits right into the little recess. Cool blue primer, too.
Tres cool.

Jaguar detail

PICT0184, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

Andy is adding a cool detail to Iowahawk's 31 Coupe. For a gas filler, he found an old Jaguar cap. This car is going to be smooth.

Hot Wheel!!!

PICT0188, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

At last week's pilgrimage to Sycamore IL's, finest hot rod shop, Marty's and Sons, I found this severely channeled A Coupe. The Halibrand mag wheel with the cheater slick caught my eye. Hot Wheel, Baby!

gasser

gasser, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

Its a gasser gasser gasser world, baby!

f150 burning out

f150 burning out, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

This FOMOCO tank was quick. I believe that it was a 10 sec ride. Coolness.

dyno don getting ready to stage

dyno don getting ready to stage, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

This pass didn't turn out so great before the rain came down on the sandwich session, and necessitated a hasty retreat to IL in the 66 Stang. What a sweet ride. It even has two buckets!

willys gasser

willys gasser, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

My favorite gasser, the mighty Willys coupe. There were at least three at Great Lakes Dragaway from the Midwest Gasser Association.

smokin!

smokin!, originally uploaded by tinsoldier.

Check out this Yenko Nova SS doing the smoky burnout.

A friend of a friend just bought this...

My buddy says that this is the nicest 60s style survivor that he has ever seen. Viva 1966!!!

WheelStand?

This is what I am talking about. I need to see this:

Byron Dragstrip- Rockford IL area

I want to make it to Byron Dragstrip soon. They have Outlaw racing there, where the object is to do wheelstands.

Look at this Willys pic:

BioDiesel

With gas prices where they are, Bio Diesel seems to make more sense each day. Maybe I could finally get that pick em truck that I have been dreaming about.

Here is a cool link to Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems. When I first heard of Bio Diesel, I thought that it was a joke.

The most recent Patagonia catalog had a surfer/traveler dude in that is using a full size Dodge pick up powered by Bio Diesel.

Apparently it burns clean as well. I would love to drive and have the emissions smell like french fries or Chinese food. restaurants and their used cooking grease are prime sources for fuel with these systems.

Very interesting.

'41 Willys Gasser

This '41 Willys below captures the look and feel pretty well of a 60s Gasser.

Check out the recent Rodders Journal for more Gasser Fun- especially the feature on the John Mazimanian Willys Coupes.

Dad and I had a great time last year at the Vintage Drags at Great Lakes Dragaway- There was at least 6 old Willys burning out and taking names!

Gassers- another type of car that I dig

Check out the '41 Willys to the left... After reading the article in the latest Hot Rod magazine- about 8 times, I might add- I realized how much I dig these 60s straight line killers.

I prefer the '41 Willys when it is sporting a straight axle with the nose in the air- to shift the weight bias to the rear- enhancing traction in the process.

I built a little metal Willys model over the winter... it didn't really capture the Willys Gasser look.