Wednesday, November 28, 2012

When the green flag drops, the bulls**t stops

Im really on a speedway bender at the moment. Gotta get my fill NOW, because in 2014, the lease on Western Springs speedway is up. And due to one whining whore-bag and a couple of other idiots who live close by and don't like the sound of methanol guzzling V8's, the lease almost certainly won't be renewed. For f**ks sake, FOOLS, speedway's been running there since 1929 – why the Hell did you shift into the area???
Last saturday night saw Americano's Donny Shatz, Jonathan Allard, Peter Murphy, and Ricky Logan come on down to Hobbit-Town to crap all over the Kiwi sprintcar drivers. Freakin' radical. Thanks heaps for coming down and entertaining us, chaps. In the feature race, the Yankees kicked some serious arse and took out first, second, third, and fourth place. Race fans – the noise was spine-chilling, and the cars so crazy fast that my eyeballs could hardly keep up. As the sprintcars screamed around the track like they were fueled by crack, the massive wings created a loose-knit tornado that whipped up the hallowed earth of The Springs and dumped it all over the appreciative spectators. The dust, dirt and fumes blocked out the sky as if God's Warriors were about to show up and smite us all. I could sense the cars, the noise, the dirt and wind whipping my face, the rapidly fading illumination of the pathetic lights – and nothing else.
SH*T it was ace! 

PLEASE – DON'T TAKE OUR SPEEDWAY AWAY!!!

P.S. Apologies about no action shots – my camera is poked ; )

Mr Howard – NZ



Monday, November 26, 2012

Holiday slacking

San Felipe EDR 1!
Somewhere in Mexico with Zack and Spartan George.

34 VLD

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Vintage Midgets

Checked out the racing at Western Springs Speedway here in Auckland last night. Speedway has been happening at that track since 1929! I've been going since 1969 or 70. 
My dad sponsored the yellow midget pictured here for decades. At the time, it was state of the art equipment. Now, it looks prehistoric. The owner/driver, Ted Tracey, won the NZ National Championship at least 6 times during his career and also went to the USA to race a few times.
Dad used to paint loads of midgets and sprintcars. I loved watching him mask them up and lay down the paint schemes. We used to have drivers like Mel Kenyon, Sleepy Tripp, AJ Foyt, Stan Fox, Rich Vogler drop into his shop and come to our house while they were here on tour.
As a kid, it was truly mind-blowing to have those legends so close at hand. I was in awe of them all.

Mr Howard – NZ



Saturday, November 17, 2012

Ponsonby Road Trumpets

Cruising through the city the other week looking for trouble, when I came across these couple of groovy home-built Triumph rigids.
Natch, I had to pull over, introduce myself, and get a few shots!

Mr Howard – NZ



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Miller Time

Visited my good friends of damn near 30 years today – Steve and Ange Miller. They're the ace, and their pad just freakin' rules! There's craploads of vintage Henry stuff everywhere – the vast majority of it thoughtfully protected under cover. 
Hell, someone present these two Ford nutters with an award for their unwavering dedication 
to rescuing Blue Oval heritage in NZ, fer chrissakes! Whatever – Hank'd be proud of ya anyway, guys.
Enough blah-blahing. Check it out, kid-spitters ; )

Mr Howard – NZ


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Sit back and smell the roses

What to do when work's driving you mad and you feel like strangling your clients or any living being who gets anywhere near you? Piece of piss – set up an 'out of office auto-reply' on your email and hit the road!
Four days of no people, no noise, no phones, no computers, grouse weather and a beach all to ourselves at the bottom of the garden. Little Bay, Coromandel – blissfully good for the soul : )

Mr Howard – NZ







Sunday, November 4, 2012

On any Sunday

I picked this bike up a few years ago and it was a blast.. Spent a few weekends in the dirt with it before letting it go.. If I remember right, it went to Europe somewhere along with a T100C I had at the time.. I wish I could keep them all..


Saturday, November 3, 2012

OK, a winter summary from Denmark on the different projects.

My '53 ridgid Triumph gets a new rear wheel, with Brembo disc/caliper, to match the front.
Oil tank is being resituated, and rubber mounted.
Crank will have the splines fixed, and dynamically balanced to 71%.
New(or, 1978 10-bolt) head will be installed.
EFI from a Honda Transalp will be installed, controlled by the czech made Ignijet ECU, which also will take care of the ignition.
USD fork needs a new right inner leg, as it keeps messing up the seal.

Honda NX 650 Dominator gets lowered by app. 3", so my GF can ride it.
Tank from Honda Bol D'or and panels will be put on, as well as another headlight, and seatbank.
Just got a Bol D'or tank off german Ebay for like $15...excited to see just how rusty the thing is...

Local club's ZX10 kwak with longer swingarm and turbo/intercooler needs to be dynoed in, fuel-wise, and prepped for racing for the 2013 season.

Our(GF's and mine) 1934 Ford V8 cab project rests in the shop for now, as we lack the funds for it.
Got the frame on a jig in the shop, as well as a Jag rear end, and an Opel Commodore IFS, and a 350 SB Chevy truck block with rotating assembly.
Plan is to install those axles, and box the frame and the OEM crossmember.
Eaton blower(from Mercedes V8), as well as EFI will go on to that engine.
Max. torque is aimed at 4000rpms, rather than high HP output.
TKO-600 5-speed manual tranny.
Airide, just for the adjustalke ride-heigth.
All Henry-steel body and grille, fenders and running boards, all steel parts in the car are from 1934, w/o exception.

So, I guess the work has been cut out....

Regards, Arndt Baslund, Denmark.