Tag Archives: cruiser

Working on Projects in the Barn

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
14 Nov

Time does not stand still and I now have all sorts of work to do but glad that I still get many emails, Phone Calls and of course texts, asking about builds, parts, service or idea’s etc, I love what I do and even though I really have had not had the time to build cabinets and work benches , I have enough to get by and get a few projects sorted out.

A lot to do and still get some what organized in the Barn, I will move my Model A Roadster out and start to get myself in work mode as quite a few things I have to do in here and its sure nice after 22 years doing this, I am still popular with the Public all across the globe.

You may remember The Red Devil I created about 2006, it got in a wreck when we were out riding about 13 years ago, and now it is time to fully rebuild this Old Caff Machine that has done many miles over the years and to resurrect this to a Tarmac eating two wheeled Monster will be a challenge but I am up for it.

This will be a frame off build and will be taking the old girl completely apart and will remove the paint from the frame and powder coat a Gloss Black, but keep the rims RED as its a great offset for this bike and nobody was really doing it when I did this back in the day.  I’m keep the tank but need to repair it as it has some damage from the crash, there must of been 100 Yards of Oil on the road when she slid on her left side when a Pick Up truck slammed into it on a off ramp from the freeway right in front of me.  Poor lad had a bad leg for a long time but now, years later, he is looking forward to a revamped Red Devil Motorcycle.

But I am looking forward to turning a few wrenches and creating some unique rides, the RED Devil will take some time But I have the Super Sport to finish next and then once I am happy with that, I shall offer it up for sale.

The Milwaukie Special will get a Full RED and White Paint job and will be quite the head turner, with great 4 into 2 exhausts and a fully rebuilt motor, this will scoot along quite happily, anywhere around the USA, as its had tons of work done, from the painted frame to the hand drilled rotors, this is quite a work of art that I really enjoyed creating.

All sorts of motorcycles in the shop now and of course the Mint 550 Supersport is always a lovely sight for sore eyes, as well as the 883 Sportster I am building too that will eventually buzz around here on the twisting roads that we are lucky to have we we live.

A Lot of 750 Bikes too in the stable with more to come, I hope to be creating a few cool rides and then offer them up for sale, I love building Motorcycles and am quite happy when I get to use my creative juices and try and build something interesting.

It will be a busy year here at the workshop and looking forward to building these and making some interesting inline four Custom bikes for people to really have fun with.

This old Girl is an old Drag bike that was built in the mid 1970’s, but may be transplanting it into the RED Devil if the Mill is OK as have no idea if she will run, but this is no ordinary engine, this is a RC COBRA Engine, with extended Cam towers and an RC Engineering Exhaust, along with an ARD Magneto and a set of smooth Bore Mikunis.  So before I get too crazy in stripping this old bike, I will need to get her going, this is a long term build but I hope I can get her to run again.

 

New beginnings for 2022, Looking forward to it.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
10 Jan

The New Year is here, still a crazy world out there and I am not taking any risks to get ill again, I got all my shots, I then caught Covid and then at Christmas got a cold almost as bad as the New Omicron, what a shit start to the year for sure, but- I have got the cold just about beat, still coughing like a badly tuned motor, but I am on the road once more.

For over 20 years I have rented a building for what I do, we all throw away good money on rent and the Landlord is the only person that makes anything out of that, but- this year is all different, about 7 months ago we put in plans for a barn to be built on the 1 acre we have here in La Habra heights. We had to jump through the many hoops and have many inspections, but at last we are now making some great progress.

Once the Concrete slab was laid and left to cure for a whole month, we started to get the Barn ready to go together on Wednesday, the sun was out and the rain storm we had for a week before had gone, this is a really excited time for Carpys Garage and wanted to share some of the build with you.

A great Company that makes steel Barns for many years was the choice that we went for, robust and affordable, a steel skeleton is constructed and bolted with high grade bolts to the Concrete floor, this is a sturdy set up and am glad that we went this route.

I have no idea how I am going to decorate as yet, that all takes time and of course money, but the main thing is to get the workshop put together and then see what I can do to make it my own and have fun creating what I do from the comfort of home. And not a drive to work either.

 

This will indeed be the perfect place for inspiration and dont have to worry about parking, or the street sweeper etc or the Land lord coming by to increase their rent, this is a bitchin set up and super stoked to be doing this.

It is the perfect size for me and although will take a little time to dial in, it will be such a relief to jump out of bed and stroll up the yard to the Barn and begin to make parts or create builds to offer the Customers all over the globe.

I wanted a Red Old style Color Barn as the area we are in has many Ranches etc. And we thought this color will fit right in, hope to find an old Cart Wheel later to add to the side and of course old industrial Lights to mount outside, along with a Cow or Bull skull with Horns.

Lots t do but making great headway and will be a fun project as we go along, some might not understand the importance of your own workshop, but those who do, will really get how stoked I am to be in this situation.

 

Eventually I shall decide on a cool Barn door, as I don’t want just a regular roll up, they are noisy too, so I am looking into a few styles with Jennifer to see what would look good on the front.

It is also a nice wide opening, so I can get my bikes and Hot Rod in there with no issues, the run off is super good if we do get any more of the wet stuff.

Just wanted to share the news with all you lot, I know that a lot of you will be stoked for me and I look forward to making brand new parts here from the countryside of ideas.

Its Bulldog approved now and she will enjoy hanging out again in the garage as she was in many of my shops and loved hanging around in the workshop all day.

So, thanks for reading my little Blog and I will show more of when I have got other stuff finished in the Barn, but good things are happening and many thanks for sticking by me.

 

Thought I would show the New Little CB350RS HONDA that’s out and about, very Nostalgic looking, what do you think?

Viva Las Vegas 18 part 4

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
18 Apr

Here is a Video that I got via my mate Tom Ingram, thought that you may like to watch it today? And a few more I added for Saturday to have a relaxing weekend for you.

Next up is some more ob VLV18 other people have posted, Skip past the 2:00 minute mark to watch some cool bands playing.

Highlights from Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18 with the Tatyana Girls

What is Rockabilly? Find out @ 2015 Viva Las Vegas Car Show!

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend 18 at The Orleans Hotel & Casino – Presented by Tom Ingram

Madeline Sinclaire- Viva Las Vegas 18 Burlesque Competition 1st Runner Up

MOONEYES OPEN DAY EXTRAVAGANZA

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
13 Jul

 

 

Well, was it that time of year already?

I looked at the calendar and there was the date em-blazed, today is Moons show !!!!

 

So, after catching up on a few orders at the shop, we closed the doors and jumped into the Scooby Do wagon and headed up the 5 freeway.

Soon as we parked, you could see that there was plenty of eye candy at this great Iconic building.

Then, the first person I saw was Dean Moon Junior, and wanted to chew the fat a little bit as I hadn’t seen him in a few years.

 

So then, as we walked around in the belting hot Sun, we saw all sorts of cool rides that were just chill-in for the great event that’s an annual gathering for die hard Hot Rodders and sickle nutters.

Today is a great day to wander around and look at everything, there was more than you could hope for.

 

I love all rides but as I have owned a number of Hot rods over the years, my passion always draws to this style of yesteryear and good memories come flooding back to my worn out noggin. I love this style and always will I think.

 

But too many to write about, so I took some snaps as we walked around with Dakota, digging the rides, the sights and sounds of the Flatheads and the Hemi’s whilst you can hear music playing and burgers fryin.

Some neat rides that came in and drove out, sharing some of the days hot weather on camera for some of you to look at and see what you think.

People seemed to all be having a good time and I was meeting some friends I have not seen for ions.

For instance, Me and Skratch pretty much started the same time doing our Own thing and glad to see he is doing so well these days , it was nice to chill and chew the fat for a while , as it has been about 13 years when I first met him in the O.C.

We hung out for quite some time, just having a look at other peoples rides etc and boy was there some cool set ups there this year.

 

I loved this Roadster, it just screamed at me to come and look, this really is a Nostalgic ride and you cannot beat the sound of a tuned Flatty.

If you are into the 1940’s and early 50’s Hot rod scene, well, this is where it all kicked off in 1948 and there were many like this bombing about these very roads, it must of been quite a site that’s for sure.

I am pleased that we took the journey up to see Moon’s as you are bound to always see something new or just pulled out of a garage and today was a good day for that.

This AV-8 something I really do love, I built a 28 Roadster when I first moved here and a similar Ford Blue too  but I didn’t have the cool Quick change rear end this guy has in his 31 A-Bone Roadster.

 

Plenty of Customs there this year too!!!!! I haven’t seen this coupe for about 7 years, so great to see it still around.

 

Check out the suede rides and the classic custom paint jobs these rides have had done.

I mean, how much sanding and masking alone is in this roof job?  This must of taken forever to get right and if I had a hat on, I would tip it your way mate.

Plenty of cool rides lines up on the left and right side of the BLVD and everybody seemed to be having a blast.

This is a good and fun annual event that if you get time to attend, you will be glad that you did.

1960’s rides are just the essence of fins and chrome and this was no exception today.

They say Mad dogs and Englishmen come out in the mid-day sun, well today the American guys out did me.

But, I loved the Hot Rods and Customs that were just parked up and down the main drag on Norwalk BLVD.

So am glad that I took a few snaps, as I know you will enjoy some of the snaps of the day?  It must of been close to 90 degrees today.

Hot Rods, Cruizers, Gassers and Motorcycles were all there for this event, so a little for everyone. from Choppers to good old Café Racers.

 

Just some of the great old time machinery that is still used today at the Moon shop, churning out parts galore for people like us to bolt onto their favorite ride.

I would love to own just one of the mills or lathes from this place, so much great History at this building and am stoked to be part of todays activities.

 I’d take the sling shot frame home and hang it in the shop at anytime.

Then a quick tour around the workshops of moon’s just to have a peek at all the cool machinery they have. And also a few projects that look like they may make an appearance in later months?

 

Then we had some Japanese sign writer hand painting the moon logo on the fender of this guys GASSER 55 ride. I do lettering but this guy was super fast.

This thunderous Gasser was a total head turner today and when he fired up, you could smell the Av-Gas, it was awesome.

 

These are just insane for their time and to see these fly down the tarmac is just exciting to watch as they are as aerodynamic as a house brick.  331 cubes of Screaming power !!!!

Just tons of neat stuff to check out, I loved the Gassers that were here this time, just something about these machines that turn my crank.

Some real Nostalgic rides adorned the Moon shop and plenty for everyone to see.

 

 

 A little something for everyone, I must of been to this shop 100 times and never tire of it.

 

 

 

 

 

Other cool stuff still all about the place were more Hot Rods and motorcycles, something that I will Never tire of.

Got a spare one hundred and twenty five grand kicking about for a popcorn maker?

 

 A little warm under the bubble top and wonder once inside that your eyes bulge like looking into the back of a spoon?

 

 

 Always great to walk around the Moon shop and see many of the cool old parts laying about , just as it was in the early days of Racing in Southern California.

 

 If you could bottle the atmosphere from this place, Id take a 6 pack right now !!!

 

Now- there is a nice display case and shelf I would love at my shop.

 

 

 

Try and come down next year as the weather is always great for this show and you will really enjoy yourselves.

 

We had a superb day today, saw many friends and just generally cruised about taking in everything at a relaxed pace, the day was something I am sure Shige will be happy about.