bike time 137 - green grizzly

The kids have been taking swimming lessons at the local YMCA.
It's been fun to watch them progress from landlubbers to mer-kids.
But that isn't what this post is about!

1986-1988 bianchi grizzly MTB

While I was waiting for Macey to finish up in the locker room,
this ancient mountain bike was ripe for picture taking.
Good thing cause I had already memorized the swim class window literature.

bianchi grizzly

I immediately recognized the celeste green frame as a Bianchi.
The color camouflaging the Japanese production lugwork,
which screamed a late 80's build.

green tange steel

Even better the owner was still running the old U-brake,
that silver thing underneath the bottom racket area.
I remember having one of those in an old Scott Boulder MTB.
Definitely wasn't made for mud!

lugged

I admired the steel frame long enough
to wonder how different these japanese made lugged bikes really were.
Besides some changes in angles and tube lengths,
there seems to be a standard in which these rigid frames were made.
Tange or the rebadged Ritchey tubing was common,
and those lugs looked awfully familiar to Bridgestones.

Was there a specific area in Japan that specialized in frame manufacture?
Or maybe a handful of sister factories that all competed for the same thing.
Whatever it is what a great time to be a bike rebrander.
Drop in to the manufacturing district with a wad of cash or credit,
throw down some frame dimensions, color choices/graphics,
 and choose shimano vs suntour...
A couple months later you're line of perfect MTB's awaits!

bianchi grizzly

Not to knock this era in the slightest,
you know I dig these old hardtails.
There are small design changes among certain brands.
Check out that lugged front fork on this Bianchi.
Something to set it apart from the others.
How many of these deco shocks survived?
I swapped my rigid fork for a RockShox JUDY XC back then,
and loved every minute of it.
Who needs dual suspension!?

thumbies!

This owner had hot rodded his into the perfect commuter bike.
A road bike stem, single gear front crank, and Fat Frank tires,
together with a bulletproof Deore group,
made a simple and light go anywhere bomber.

deore 6-speed

I took enough pictures to be considered a stalker,

but the guy never showed up.

Macey likes to warm up in the hot shower,

so I had some time to sit on the bench out there.

Each guy that left,

I'd think maybe...nope... that's not the lucky owner.

vintage bianchi grizzly

The main idea here,

if you're in need for a solid city or cross-country mountain bike,

pass on charging up your credit card with a new fangled piece of trendy junk.

A local craigslist search will turn up all kinds of cool vintage rides,

and the parts needed to finish them up right - (or ebay).

You can still support your local bike shop,

by having them assemble and tune to your liking.

The best part is having a stand-out ride that will last another 20 years.

macey - 2013

TP

ten years

This weekend was a major anniversary for the old roadster pickup.
A little over ten years ago Chief had taken it's first breath as a hot rod,
after a 2 year transformation.
The first car show was Paso Robles 2003,
a great drive worthy of it's own future post.

chief at jack murphy stadium

We haven't been to the show now that it's moved to Santa Maria,
but for the past week I thought it would be a fun 10 year anniversary.
After a half-hearted try it was easier to not go,
but enough was done over the long weekend to make up for whatever was missed.

SD auto swap 2013

Jaxon and I did rally out to a little car swap/show held at the stadium,
making sure we were late enough to miss any of the good stuff.

paradise road & perich brothers
junichi shimodaira & travis perich

While strolling through the swap,
we met up with one of the regulars of the old Paso days,
JS from Paradise Road from Japan.
It was one of those moments when you see someone,
and you know who they are but need a double take,
as they aren't supposed to be there.

If you've watched that second "good ole days" video on the left,
you'll see both of us in a similar picture from 2007.
Fun to talk too and cool to see someone I'd miss up in Paso Maria.

SBF points distributor

The swap stalls were picked over and that was fine with me.
The only thing I was looking for was a basic ford points distributor.
I was surprised there were none around...
Until the 3rd to last stall in the last row we checked.
There sat the $20 jewel,
complete even with spark plug wires.
This dizzy may be the piece needed to snap me back into the green 40 project.

1936 ford 5-window coupe

After slogging through the swap area,
We did a quick pass through the car show.
All I had to see was this bitchin '36 ford coupe.
It was simply perfect.
An aged blue repaint with enough scars to know this was the real deal.
I loved it,
okay let's at least say I really liked it .

1936 ford 5-window coupe

On the way out we saw Paradise Road again,
and got a quick snapshot...

chief, paradise road & perich brothers

We headed back with a good 8 mile run on the freeway.
Not anywhere near the 800 mile round trip to Santa Maria,
but enough to get the flathead warmed up.

Me and Jaxon

On the way back Jaxon found out why most hot rodders have shorter hair.
He's on the verge of cutting it he said after school let's out!

Good times...

TP

time

What a relief that daylight savings time has finally arrived.
The days of darkness at 6pm have finally passed.

I've been slacking on our car projects,

life and making ends meet has become a priority.

In celebration of the change I made sure to throw some time in,

and wow what a slacker of a day.

u-joint modification

Way too much time was spent just studying what was going on,
like someone else had started the project and I am here to finish it.
Fortunately there wasn't too much stuff stashed in, on or around.
How many times have I said the death to a project is when it becomes a shelf!

After absorbing enough information,
the realization was that there were tons of little time consuming projects.
Nothing huge and grandiose that would show a ton of progress with little work.

40 piece tap and die set - montgomery ward

Is one of my problems finding something to post on this blog?
Usually this thing gets me more motivated.
Anyway while I was modifying this u-joint,
the old tap and die set was pulled out.
The perfect photo-op.

40 piece tap and die set - lithograph box

This box was a hand-me-down from my grandfather (papa),
and I've used it for at least 20 years now.
It has a bitchin lithograph box - made in Japan.

tap & die set - montgomery ward - 84-5575

This falls into the category of Papa's Hammer -

the one that has had the handle and head replaced a couple times,

but is still Papa's Hammer.

Most likely every tap in here is not the original tungsten steel special,

swapped one by one with better HSS or chromoly replacements.

Same with the handle,

 the cheesy montgomery ward version died long ago.

I will say the dies are all complete and have been used countless times.

The best thing is the box is a great way to organize,

although there is another shoebox (kid size!) full of handles and taps too.

Most importantly,
it's one of those feel good things that brings back important memories.

weld-on u-joint modification

My goal was to modify this weld-on u-joint for a temporary set screw,
so I could simulate the steering without actually welding.
It will also be good backup after.

1940 ford project

A good chunk of time was spent cutting down the steering column,
and centering the drag link for equal steering.
Finally.
By then my hands were too greasy for blurry cellphone pictures.
With the extended daytime hours I've got to make sure I'm out here more often!

TP

honey bear

If I was a samurai warrior,
this is definitely the helmet I would choose to guide me into battle.
Nothing is more frightening than a guy with a rabbit on his head.
Of course to wear this one I'd have to be about 2 feet tall.

crouching rabbit samurai helmet-kabuto

Out of curiosity,
I found out these are called Kabuto,
and there are many different versions of them throughout the ages.
If I were around back then,
I'd be the guy making these not wearing them.

Another addition to the "pure feline awesomeness" finds,
this orange cat was on the same guys table.

orange flowery cat

To be honest I'm not a cat person.
I'm allergic to them,
and really if they are doing their job of killing mice and rats,
I don't want to be touching one anyway.

A boy cat was sneaking into our garage at night,
and dammit if the thing was pissing in the 40.
It was the rankest smelling odor that lingers way too long.

Anyway I have noticed that there are alot of cat related figurines out there,
so here's to all you cat lovers.

This was our score of the day.
It had rained all night,
so the swap meet was about a third of the size.
Usually a good sign as there's fewer buyers too.

swap meet scores!

Keeping with the Richard Petty theme of the week,
the '64 plymouth model and the '36 ford model were $8!
Both were still in the original bags!
The little Tonka roadster rounded it to a ten-spot,
all conveniently from the same seller.

The honey is my attempt at a healthier diet.
I've come to realize I'm a sugar addict.
I'll have teaspoons of brown sugar in oatmeal,
than another teaspoon in some hot tea,
multiple cups throughout the day.

I've tried to ween myself off a bit,
but it's not easy.
After giving up coffee - (almost 2 years already!)
It's my one last vice.
How do you think I get the energy to scribble on here!

TP

new years resolution

Everyone has great new years resolutions,
lose weight, work out, clean up clutter.
Yawn...

mooneyes yokohama 2013 or bust

Mine is a little more fun.
I'm gonna try to get these 2 hot rods to
Mooneyes Yokohama 2013!

Hey it's worth a try!

TP

aloha from japan!

I'm not a big hawaiiana collector,
but these were cool and a nice price - free!

aloha hawaii

At first I thought it was a neat little round box,
with alot of fine detail.

wood box

However inside was a 10 piece treasure trove of coasters.
Just what we needed!

aloha hawaii coaster set

While I was admiring the fine whittling,
something caught my eye.
MADE IN JAPAN!

made in japan

Nothing screams vintage like the "made in japan" stamp,
especially on tourist trinkets from Hawaii.
I guess anyway!

vintage aloha hawaii coasters

Must be a timeline of china-taiwan-japan-hawaii?

Funny how that works.

TP

mooneyes 2012 wrap up

One of the things I have been missing about not going to car shows,
is seeing friends that are hard to reach otherwise,
or even meeting new (to me) people that just want to talk hot rod.

stool time at mooneyes 2012 xmas party

There were so many people at the mooneyes show,
and so many guys wearing the flannel and dickies uniform,
that recognizing people in the crowd gets blurry.
Fortunately I brought the stool,
and spent some time just hanging out by Chief talking to people.

Having a respectable hot rod is the best way to break the ice,
and we were lucky to have 2 of them.

Different people gravitate towards certain cars,
and it's always fun to shoot the shit and know what people think.
Some guys/girls have similar projects,
maybe with totally different styles but something catches their eye.
I met a good amount of people just BSing.

hot rodders - chris bradford & travis perich

A couple chance meetings really sweetened the trip for me.
One of them was an old friend Chris from up in Ventura.
I've known him for many years,
but after the move down to SD it was hard to keep in touch.
At the old shop,
this was one of the guys that I'd see at least once a week if not more,
he'd stop by with his dune buggy, hot rod, or harley.
When Macey was a baby he'd actually hold her if I got busy,
actually he helped with all the kids!
We took our roadster pickups to the last antique nationals in palmdale.
Anyway after almost 5 years there was easily a half hour of old time conversation.
He filled me in on some of the going's on up there.

One of the super sad subjects was another friend of ours,
Dan (Danny) Gray had died about 4 years earlier.
He was also a retired firefighter (like chris) a hot rodder and really a Harley guy.
I had breakfast with him only a couple months before he passed away,
and had always wondered how he was doing.
Big bummer to hear that news.
Crazy to think that I had known him for almost 20 years.
Really both these guys grounded me more than I know.
Both of them saw the evolution of me from a single guy to a family guy,
and were interested in all the projects or hobbies I went through.

Bummer I don't have a picture of Dan or his toys to post up here.
He had 2 sportsters and a knucklehead and he rode every day.
For years he ran his main sportster with no alternator,
and he'd do an almost daily pass around Lake Casitas,
always home before dark cause no headlight!

In a perfect way he died of a heart attack,
at a rest stop during a ride.
They found his body next to his motorcycle!
RIP DAN!
Great to see you Chris!

roadster pickup sandwich
zap and me

Another guy I haven't seen in forever was Zap Teshima.

Zap is the definition of a photographer,

while I am the definition of a picture taker!

This is the guy behind many great photographs (and videos)
and is one of the eyes that brought the hot rod scene to Japan.

zap teshima and travis perich - 2012

Just so you know,

it is very rare to see him in a picture,

he's usually behind the camera.

Here's all the pics our drunk neighbor took!

where's sloppy?

It was great to catch up and know that he and his family are doing well.
Mooneyes was fortunate to have him take pictures of their show,
so here's to hoping they recognize Chief and Sloppy's RPU!

Yokohama 2013!

I should have made a big ole sign in front of our pickups!

cannonball indian #80

After the show I couldn't resist a quick pass by Chabott Engineering.

team chabott engineering

There is always something cool going on in their place,
and fortunately for us Ayu is keeping the masses informed.
shinya kimura @ chabott engineering
(She's another one rarely seen in front of the camera!)

chabott engineering

My organization skills could take a lesson from this shot!
Watching their shop morph through the years has been interesting,
it's like the ocean bringing the treasures up with the tide,
and taking some away.

Chief, Ayu, Shinya, Travis

This was the first time I've driven the hot rod to their shop.
Shinya donated a cool toolbox and a lucky puppy for the trip home.
Thanks guys!!

new good luck pup

The cinderella effect was beginning,
and it was time to get back on the road.
Kid duty!
I estimated it a little too close at a mile a minute,
and the traffic ruined my ETA but made it by 7pm.
No problem!

Here's the numbers.

$60 total in 89 octane gas - 15 gallons.

286+ yahoo map miles = 19 MPG.

Not too bad for a hot rod.

I've still got more gas then when I started.

The south traffic really messed up the gearing,

as there were many non-overdrive miles.

gassing up

Old Chief got me home safe and sound.
Actually the sound part is still up in the air.
I used those little foam ear plugs and a beanie,
and after driving 4-5 hours with my head between 2 pipes,
my whole body was buzzing.
It felt great!

TP

mooneyes 2012 xmas lot (vii)

Last time I wrote we were at the Vons parking lot...
perich brothers (and sister): pre-mooneyes marathon (viii)
Sloppy and I jumped onto the freeway shanker style,
and headed up to the Irwindale Speedway.
I was expecting to see a caravan of hot rods and customs driving up,
but there was only one street rodded 40 sedan the whole way.
We weren't even that late it was still before 7am.
Well we got to the exit and there were a TON of cars.
We didn't preregister,
so had to find our way to the commoner entrance.

mooneyes xmas 2012

We finagled our way to the front of the line,
one of the benefits of having no fan and a steamy radiator.
Then parked in the suburbia lot away from cockfight central.

29 ford roadster pickups
sophorn "sloppy" sin (low) & travis perich (high)

Sloppy's car is bitchin.
It's one of the earlier RPU's with the tire higher then the bed.
Pat Lash and him really solidified the nor-cal lower then low look.

lowrider

We took a walk and I had no idea the show was this big.
Last Mooneyes show I went to was at the police department parking lot,
which was years ago.
This show had over a thousand cars.
In a cool way there was no real focus on one certain type.
Lowriders, customs, hot rods, vw's, vans, dragsters, muscle cars, bikes, trucks...
they all had a showing.

kinda lowrider

It's tough to choose which pictures to post up here.
Other people take better shots than I do...

The Hot Rod Disorder™: Mooneyes X-Mas Party 2012

Event Coverage Mooneyes 2012 Pictures - THE H.A.M.B.

Mooneyes Xmas Party 2012 - Main Forum

Here's some pics of stuff that I don't get to see all the time.

not a chopper

I'd ride this bike.

bitchin vw type 2 bus

This bus was so clean.
There was another '71 camper that looked new,
but dang it no picture.

1968-74 ford econoline van

I've got a thing for the early ford vans.

Such a cool style.

I grew up with one of these so its imprinted in my brain!

Someday...

shiny engine

Gotta love show cars too.

I think this is from Paradise Road in Japan.

Must have frequent flyer miles going back and forth!

sleeper chevy drag truck

This truck smoked down the 1/8 mile drag.
I think it may have a 6-cylinder not sure.
Liked the sleeper look.

tough 1951 chevy

There were so many 50's chevy's I lost count.
This one was probably the fastest.

slingshot

The dragstrip brought some historic race cars...

twin chevy dragster

And some newer creations of the old style.
Love to see that someone can build something like this,
and have the huevos to straddle it down the strip.

pit bike

This was a cool pit bike.
Lots going on in such a simple machine.

kawasaki 750 - trouble

This was another interesting bike.
You'll probably never see me on something like this.
Not anytime soon anyway!

1929 ford roadster

Here's a couple roadsters.
The problem with me and hot rods is I can pick them apart.
Way too critical.

1932 ford roadster

This 32 had some trick parts.
I'll do a separate post on it sometime when I'm on a dry spell.

There's the first part of the day.
More to come!

TP