Tech: Upgrade Your Audio

Okay folks, this is a complete experiment. This is a repost of an article that I did for the Galaxie Club of America Gazette a few years back. If you want more tech articles like this comment below or c ontact me here to let me know!

Upgrade Your Audio

A few years ago I decided to replace the horribly installed speakers in the rear deck of my Galaxie. The person who’d put them in had used pennies for washers among other sins of installation plus the speakers weren’t all that good. It was time to install some new ones and get rid of the ugly aftermarket speaker grills that were perched on the rear deck. Now I must say this, I am no pro installer, you’ll notice that when you see how straight my cuts are…

As you can see in Picture 1, a previous owner had decided to cut out the factory rear deck wood and vinyl to install a pair of 6×9 speakers. I have to say I HATE to see speaker grills in the rear deck area of a car, 9 times out of 10 they are ugly and out of place. The older (maybe factory) center 6×9 grill is pretty ugly as well, so let’s fix that! The goal for this part of the install was to see if I could put these speakers in without leaving any permanent changes to the car.

In Picture 2 you can see the factory rear deck metal, I have removed the rear seat bottom and back so that I could remove the upholstery that covers the rear deck. I won’t go into detail on how to get the panel out since each model of car is different. Lucky for me, Ford left 4 large openings plus the center 6×9 mount. Since stereo sound works best in the car when you have the most separation between left and right speakers, I am going to install the rear speakers in the far outside openings.

Picture 3 & 4 shows a tool that I have had for years…. And I have no idea what it’s called. It’s an adjustable curve that you can pick up at Hobby Lobby. I use it to copy complex shapes in the car. Here you can see it wrapped around the inside of one of the openings in the rear deck of the Galaxie. Simply fit the curve to the shape you desire to copy, then lay it on a piece of 1/8th masonite and trace the shape. This tool comes in very handy when making cardboard templates for patch panels when doing body work as well.

My idea to build the mounts was to use the small ledge in each opening to my advantage. I built a 1/8th masonite plate that fit into the indented part of the metal, then put another masonite plate under the rear deck and used small bolts to cinch the two pieces together tightly to hold them in place in the rear deck. The speakers will be mounted into the bottom panels. Picture 5 shows the rough shape of the panels with holes for the speaker in each panel. I have also drilled holes for the bolts in the panels at this point. The panel in front is the one that goes on top of the rear deck metal, the square-ish one behind goes below the metal and gets the speaker mounted to it. Next I painted them black so that the wood would not show through the final upholstery. I also used speed nuts to attach the speakers to the bottom panel so that I could remove the speakers from the panel without having to unbolt the panels from the rear deck.

Picture 6 shows the rough fitting. Everything is assembled and loose in the rear deck for adjustment. It should be noted at this point that if you have holes in the upholstery panel over any of the center 3 openings that you should cover the openings so that the sound waves that come from the rear side of the speakers do not come through into the passenger compartment. The rear side of the speaker produces a sound wave that will partially cancel out the sound from the front side so this is very important. I will be building a subwoofer setup that will fill these openings so it is not an issue in my case. Since the subwoofer setup will not be ready until down the road I covered the backside of the speakers with foam baskets to keep the back wave contained.

Picture 7 shows the finished project. The beginning idea of getting rid of the ugly holes and speaker grill and ending up with a clean looking rear deck has been accomplished.

The speakers sound much better and have been providing years of enjoyment now.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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November 1, 2013November 1, 2013

2014 Calendar For Charity Progress Report!

In 3 weeks (and 2 days) we’ve sold 76 Calendars, awesome!
The printing bill has been paid, more supplies have been paid for and delivered, total outlay is about $1033.41. So far we have taken in about $785 in calendar sales + shipping.
I have used that money plus $248 of my own to cover the printing costs and I will cover the shipping costs out of my own pocket until enough calendars are sold to pay that back. With 8 weeks left in the year we have to average 22 calendars a week and so far we’ve averaged 23 a week. This is where sales usually drop off a bit. Please share the links to the calendars to friends that have bought them in the past or you think would enjoy them, that extra sharing does really help get the word out.

Now the story gets interesting. As I sat down Wednesday evening Oct. 30th to start to assemble the freshly printed calendars I found that they had been printed incorrectly. In order to bind the calendars at the top the pages have to be printed so that the front and the back of the pages have the same orientation of top to bottom. These did not! 250 copies of wasted paper! As of the writing of this post (4am Central time) I have not heard back from the print shop but I left messages at 7pm on 2 voice mail accounts and 1 email. ***Update at 8:30am: The print shop is reprinting them all to be correct and hopefully I’ll be punching and binding 250 copies this weekend. *** Rest assured they will get printed and they will go out as promised.

The Hot Rods, Kustoms and Stray Kat Kustoms Editions are tied for best sellers so far with 22 sold each but I expect the Stray Kat Edition to take a commanding lead this weekend. If you want one you’d better reserve your copy now by ordering today. There will be NO reprints, it’s not cost-effective unless we’re doing a large batch.

2014 Calendar For Charity: Kustoms Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Hot Rods Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Greaserama Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Stray Kat Kustoms Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Trucks Edition $10

Thanks folks for pushing this blog to 18,995 views since Aug. 15, 2013!!! October was the biggest month to date as well! Thanks so much for following my adventures look for feature articles, artist features and more to come!

See you at a show.

Royboy

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Thanks to RJay’s Speed Shop, the first official sponsor of royboyproductions.com The owner of RJay’s is a friend & will treat you right!

October 31, 2013October 31, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House Part 5

Final installment of photos from the Hot Rod Garage Open House. You can find their facebook page here. I made a few passes through the event as there were a bunch of folks coming and going so there are some photos here that are repeats of vehicles from slightly different perspectives. Click on any photo to go to the entire photo gallery. When you see one you’d like to have as a print, just click the photo, then in the gallery click “add to cart.”

Hot Rod Hooligans

Bill’s 34

Brandon’s Model A, look for a full feature here on this car soon.

Built in 56, I love these historical rods!

Jason’s Falcon is going to be one bad machine!

This Caddy is wicked wicked fast on a road course.

See you at a show.

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 30, 2013October 31, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House Part 4

The cacklefest was a nice addition to an Open House, I was inside using the facilities when one of the cars fired up a wall away from me, it was impressive how much of the stuff in the room was rattling from that car sitting 8ft away. The shop has a bunch of high end projects on hand, it was really impressive to see them both the finished rides and the under construction ones.

An 88 year old racer drives this Vette, and judging from the look on his face when he was loading it on the trailer and decided to burp it for the crowd, he enjoys it.

Ben Dragdaddy and Mickey of Stray Kat Kustoms

My buddy Nostalgia Sid was on hand in his unique Ford pickup with car sheet metal up front.

There’s a whole lotta bull going down here.

See you at a show.

Royboy

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October 29, 2013October 31, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House Part 3

The day went by quickly, as soon as I arrived I ran into Aaron from Fast AL’s Upholstery and as the morning went on more and more friends showed up. It’s always good to hang with your friends and ogle beautiful rides.

Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

See you at a show.

Royboy

Use the Subscribe box at the top right corner of the page to receive the latest posts via email each day

Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 28, 2013October 31, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House Part 2

Thanks again to the Smiths for the invite down to check out the shop. I get to go to a lot of Open House events and this one was a blast.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 27, 2013October 31, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House

Sorry for the delay sometimes modern technology doesn’t work correctly.

For a couple of years I’d heard how I needed to get myself to the Hot Rod Garage Open House at their facility in Sand Springs, OK a suburb of Tulsa. This year I was at Fast AL’s Upholstery’s Open House in September and I was introduced to HRG co-owner Jason Smith. He repeated the sentiment that I did need to make my way down to their Open House. Well, I couldn’t say no to that so I made arrangements to make the trip to OK yet again for 2013.

Friday after the day job I loaded up in the daily driver and headed for Bartlesville, OK for a few hours in a hotel room before finishing the trip down to Sand Springs. I wasn’t sure what the day would hold for me. I knew to expect to see some incredible machines, I mean, that’s what Hot Rod Garage does, they build incredible vehicles. See this Caddy as an example. And I had also caught word that they would have some front engine dragsters on hand for a cacklefest, now there’s no way I could miss that!

Today I will share some cell phone photos and short videos, tomorrow after I get home I’ll post some photos from the DSLR.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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October 26, 2013October 25, 2013

Calendar Printing Day!

Well folks, the day is finally here, tomorrow the 2014 Calendar for Charity go to the printer! 56 of the 250 have sold so far since going on sale October 9th. We have not raised enough to cover printing costs yet so I will dip into my savings to cover the printing and shipping costs. I’ll really be pushing the calendars hard to get the rest sold and get the costs covered, I’d appreciate any help any of you could give me!

Each edition of the Calendar is only $10 and there is a $5 shipping fee that covers the packaging, shipping, etc. So get more than one and save!

Click on any of these Calendar front pages and go to the web page that they are sold on.

Thanks to everyone that has purchased calendars so far! I truly appreciate all of you supporting this project year after year.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 25, 2013November 11, 2013

Jonnie King Special Halloween Feature!

This week, I told Travis that I’d prepared something very special for this time of the Season for everyone visiting here on his ground-breaking, super-cool Website…and here it is:

FROM THE HALL OF FAME LEGENDS ARCHIVES :
A SPECIAL HALLOWEEN FEATURE :

GEORGE BARRIS & THE MUNSTERS CARS ON T.V. !

FROM 1964-1966 one of the hottest shows on TV was THE MUNSTERS ! But did you ever see the “HOT ROD HERMAN” Episode ? Well, I accidentally happened on to it the day I was set to Interview GEORGE BARRIS !

GEORGE GIVES THE REAL STORY on The Munster Koach and The Drag-U-La Car…which he actually drove in this Classic Episode ! (PS: Grandpa Munster makes a cameo appearance especially for our listeners; and, listen for George doing a “wheelie” !!)

PLUS, you’ll find Links to the “ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL” that I’ve prepared for you which includes my “HALLOWEEN FILM RARITIES FOR 2013” , AND , BELA LUGOSI introducing “THE MONSTER MASH MEETS THE HAUNTED HOUSE” ! Simply Click-On-Here and be prepared for a frightfully funtastic experience !

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL, and I hope you get more Treats than Tricks !

Jonnie

PS: Be sure to pass this Link on to your fiends, er, friends ! “

October 24, 2013October 24, 2013

Photo Editing

Photo editing is a major part of my process. Over the years I’ve learned things that I like and don’t like composition wise and I’ve learned to take better photos but the editing is always an important part of my workflow. I shoot in RAW for the greatest flexibility in editing, both now and in the future. The file sizes are huge and on my old computer were pretty taxing, the newer Mac Mini I built is much faster. I thought I’d give you a basic example of what comes out of the camera vs. the basic edits that I do and then a bit wilder edit. For a few years I’ve used Apple’s Aperture software as both a photo library and to do basic editing, but for more advanced edits I’ll routinely fly photos out into Photoshop, Perfect Effects, or Snapseed to get the look I am going after.

Basic Camera Shot

This shot is an outtake from a shoot of Doug Reed’s 49 Olds “Toad” that I was lucky enough to shoot for Car Kulture Deluxe magazine.

Basic Editing

Some basic editing done here. I have certain presets that I use for different lens usage. They richen the colors , sometimes deepen the contrast, add a basic vignette (sometimes), and on this image I edited out some things that annoyed me, a lonely rock here or there, the end of some railroad rails that stuck into the bottom of the image, just small things to clean up.

Deeper Editing

Usually this is an artistic process that is different for each photo.

Some other examples

If you have any photos that you’d like to have edited, send me a message here to ask me how.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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October 23, 2013October 23, 2013

Adding a layer of kool to the Mid Decembrrrr Run!

Back on the 11th of October I told you all about the 2013 Mid Decembrrrr Run. Well I’ve added something to it! At the end of the run while we’re all sitting at the Paramount bar enjoying some food and drinks we’ll be screening the new Atomic Hot Rods film “This Is Long Beach.”

Over the last few years I’ve collected all of the Atomic Hot Rod films, and I really like them all. The “Road to Bonneville“, “Devil At Your Feet“, “A Sweet Sickness“, “White Knuckle” are all permanently in my movie setup at home and they are watched regularly, I’m sure “This Is Long Beach” will be the same. Here are some clips from the film, you can order yours here. If you’re interested I can order 10 or so and have them for sale at the end of the run.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 22, 2013October 21, 2013

1 Month Warning: Hot Rod Revolution

Lots of photos in this one! I posted about the 2013 Hot Rod Revolution when I heard the new date of November 23rd. Here’s another reminder for ya! If you have a 48 and older hot rod that’s traditionally styled (pre-63 style) this is one of the best shows in the country for you to hit. I’m planning on heading down for a 21 hour round trip even though I don’t have any cars that fit the criteria, this show impressed me that much the first two times I went. Go to the HRR website for more info.

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0030 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0040 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0056 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0066 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0070 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0090 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0099 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0114 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0126 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0138 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0152 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0162 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0160 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0220 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0252 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0263 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0284 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0286 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0319 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0377 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0382 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

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2011 Hot Rod Revolution 0450 — Like this photo? Put some gas in my tank by buying a print of it!

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013

1 Month Warning: Hobo Happening – Douglass, KS

November 23, 2013 in Douglass, KS is the next Hobo Happening. I was able to attend a couple of years ago and I hear that the show has grown in the years since. I’m headed to Austin that weekend this year but that doesn’t meant that you shouldn’t make it to Douglass for this last of the year show!

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 20, 2013October 21, 2013

Shop Visit: Fast AL’s Upholstery 10-13-13

On the way home from Lamar, MO last weekend I took a detour to go visit my buddy Aaron at Fast AL’s Upholstery in Dewey, OK. Aaron recently had his Open House which marked his 1st year anniversary going full time from his shop. Aaron has had a constant stream of kool rides through the shop in that time and he has them lined up for the foreseeable future due to his reasonable prices and excellent work.

Here are some photos of an incredible 32 that Fast AL’s has in shop right now.

Aaron explaining the seat to Mickey

Sneak peek of the car. I hope to shoot more of it soon so not too much for now.

The start of the trunk panels

Next to the 32 is a 30 A on 32 rails that Aaron is working on for himself.

Headliner is in, lots of other work going on here too.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 19, 2013October 16, 2013

Guest Blog: TwoTall Okie Goes to the Atomic Rod and Custom Show

Oct. 12, 2013 was a busy day, in addition to the Ol Geezers Car Show in Lamar, MO that I went to, and the Iron Invasion that Dan’s Hot Rod Photo went to, there was also the Atomic Rod And Custom Show put on by the Agitators Car Club. My buddy TwoTall Okie (Travis Miller) went to the show and snapped a few photos to share with everyone here.

October 18, 2013October 18, 2013

Jonnie King interviews John D’Agostino

A special “HI” to everyone here checkin’ out Travis’ cool Website ! Take your time, enjoy the Site, and also, take a few minutes to listen to this special one-on-one Interview I did with my old friend JOHN D’AGOSTINO…you will enjoy this for sure:

JOHN D’AGOSTINO TRAVELS THE WORLD spreading the word of kustoms…with a “K” ! But, I wanted to know how that all began for John, and in this late-night Interview at the 33rd Annual KKOA Lead Sled Spectacular in Salina, he didn’t disappoint me!

PLUS, 2013 was a banner year for John as BOTH his debut cars “Sophia”, his ’40 Cad, and, ’51 Lincoln “Ruby”, took Major Awards in, what must be, John’s BIGGEST year for wins ever !

LISTEN TO THIS “World Traveler For Kustoms”, JOHN D’AGOSTINO, and find out how it all this traveling started, AND, his reaction to how these spectacular kustoms did on the show circuit in 2013 !!
SIMPLY CLICK-ON-HERE , LISTEN & LEARN !! JK

October 18, 2013October 6, 2014

Guest Blog: Dan’s Hot Rod Photo goes to the 2013 Iron Invasion

Go Here to see the 2014 Coverage.

Guest Blog!
My buddy Dan Podobinski is a photographer based out of Indiana, he attends a lot of the same type of shows that I do. Since I can’t be everywhere at once, Dan was nice enough to share some of his images from the 2013 Iron Invasion with all of you through the blog here. Okay class now all together say “Thank You Dan!” You may have seen some of his work recently in Car Kulture Deluxe Magazine, or on the HAMB. You need to go follow his page on Facebook here and buy some prints of his great photographs! And now on with the show!
______________________________________________________________________________

The McHenry County Fairgrounds in Woodstock, Illinois once again played host to The Iron invasion. After a very successful debut in 2012, show creator John Wells returned for a second edition in 2013 and did not disappoint.

Despite the threat of rain on Saturday, the much warmer than last year temperatures brought out the traditional hot rods, customs and motorcycles in droves. Friday afternoon and evening treated early arrivals to a party like atmosphere including live music, great art vendors and a twilight display by some of the flame thrower equipped rides.

Saturday brought even more cars in and with one new building on the premises there was more room for indoor “feature cars.” Though a brief period of rain in the late morning did put a bit of a damper on the do-it-yourself stunt show that was planned, Saturday turned out to be a great day. The sunshine even made an appearance after the rain had passed.

Take a look at the photos and plan to attend this show next year. With a ton of great cars and bikes, numerous art vendors, a swap meet plus live bands and the pinup show there is no shortage of activities to occupy your time. If those reasons are not enough to convince you to attend, go to www.HelpingHannahsHeart.com to see the work that the gate proceeds from the show help to do. Now, make your plans to attend the 2014 edition of The Iron Invasion!!!

October 17, 2013October 16, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Ol Geezers Car Show Part 4

Saturday was not all about the show, in the evening a bunch of us gathered at a local diner for dinner and stories, the stories continued back at the host hotel and even to a late evening Dairy Queen run because Mickey was not to be denied this delicacy not found in Oklahoma. We partied pretty hard, getting kicked out of the DQ at 10pm, then back to the host hotel for some more kustom fellowship before calling it a night.

Sunday started with some coupons for free biscuits and gravy at the diner then we watched the cars roll in and hung out in the waning hours of the show before packing up and hitting the road back to our respective lairs. I took the opportunity to head with Mickey over to Dewey to Fast AL’s Upholstery to see what was Aaron up to. More on that in a couple of days.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Like it? Click on it, buy a copy and put some gas in the Royboy gas tank!

A kool row of cars, except for the hoods being open on a few of the cars.

A great looking 59 Thunderbird from Colorado.

Even the spectators rolled in style.

One of the many Mercs at the show.

The kids were treated to train rides all day Saturday.

Walker’s 59 Chevy

Don explaining his kool ride and yes he really did drive down from outside Chicago to be here.

Aaaand my ride again.

Mickey sharing his heart and some memories of the late Ralph Schindel

Awards

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 16, 2013October 16, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Ol Geezers Car Show Part 3

Although the show was smaller than many I attend I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time talking to some folks that I don’t get to see often enough or when we do we’re in such big crowds that we don’t have time to talk. Lamar presented plenty of time to talk.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Bill Moore’s Merc.

You don’t see this body style often.

AJ Foyt on the side panel, I don’t know if it’s an actual Foyt car or a replica but it’s kool as hell regardless.

Bill Moore just before he caught me taking his pic.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

See you at a show,

Royboy

Use the Subscribe box at the top right corner of the page to receive the latest posts via email each day

Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 15, 2013October 15, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Ol Geezers Car Show Part 2

Friday night I arrived at the Super 8 hotel expecting something on par with my last Super 8 experience, in which I left a pre-paid room because it skeeved me out so badly. I found this was not the case, a great hotel that looks to be just a couple of years old, very clean, friendly staff and they even hooked us all up with some hot dogs, chili and nachos for free for a Friday evening B.S. session.

I spent most of the evening with friends old and new talking kustoms and car shows, I was told stories of the way things used to be and I longed to be there. Saturday morning I woke at 5am to a thunderstorm rolling through, I rolled over and promptly went back to sleep. Around 8am I woke up, enjoyed the free biscuits and gravy and then headed for the car wash and the show. $10 entry fee at the gate and I was into one of the smallest yet koolest shows that I have seen. Great atmostphere, kool rides, and some great people, it was a good day.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

This Merc is one of many that I’ve seen lately that originally was a 4 door.

Mundy’s 58 Pontiac Wagon

Mike Patterson’s Merc

Great looking Merc, not as popular a body style as the 49-51 but still cool.

There were some nice hot rods there too.

Dick’s Chevy is just so simple and I dig the hell out of it.

Jack Walker’s 59 Chevy

Krobe brought “Blue” over from Stray Kat-Land

Nice car. The dog thing… I can do without, at least it wasn’t a crybaby leaning on a bumper… I would have punted that.

Another Merc body style that you don’t see as often but still can be damn kool.

Good looking Shoebox.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast, once they’re gone they’re gone!

October 14, 2013October 15, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Ol Geezers Car Show Part 1

A few months ago I received an invitation in the mail to a show with a funny name, the Ol Geezers Car Show in Lamar, MO. I hadn’t heard of the show before, hell I hadn’t heard of Lamar, MO before and the show was on the same date as the 2nd Iron Invasion and I already had a room booked for that show so I set the post card aside and made a note to promote the show but I was going to Iron Invasion.

Then came the KKOA Leadsled Spectacular weekend. talking to some friends that said they were going to the show with the funny name in the town I’d never heard of got me to thinking. 1st I am good friends with John Wells promoter of Iron Invasion, and I said I would be there… but so would a handful of other photographers. A couple of which would be trying to sell photos to the same magazines as I would be. 2nd, Iron Invasion is a good 11 hour drive from my home, Lamar is 4.5. Iron Invasion was a good time last year, but this was a new show to me, and some very respected kustom guys were going to Lamar. I made a gut call and changed my plans.

I’m glad I did. Now, I do wish I could have been at Iron Invasion, I HATE that I missed it, but I got to spend some invaluable time with a couple of folks this weekend that really was amazing. Sitting and talking kustoms, car shows, shenanigans and more I realized that these little moments in the host hotel parking lots are the ones that mean something. I made new friends this weekend with people that have combined 100+ years of kustom car building and driving. These are good folks to have amongst your friends, they’ve made the mistakes you’re about to make and may help you survive when you make the same mistakes that they have.

Enough of the touchy feely stuff, here’s some photos!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

There were so many kool rides at the Ol Geezer show that Wyatt Earp came back to his one time home of Lamar, MO to see them.

Yet another shot of my car.

My buddy Don TooTall Wallin made the 11 1/2 hour trip down to Lamar to hang out with some kustom folks. Don’s car has been shot for a magazine feature by our mutual friend and occasional guest blogger here Dan Podobinski of Dan’s Hot Rod Photo. This car burned to the ground on the side of a road 6 years ago, it’s been a long journey back to life but I think you’ll agree it was a success.

The show had a nice selection of kustoms, cruisers, hot rods, a couple of muscle cars, trucks and handful of classic rides.

That’s it for part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

See you at a show,

Royboy

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Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast!

October 12, 2013October 10, 2013

Jonnie King remembers Norm Grabowski

“Hi to all ! One of the Hall Of Fame’s longest-running members, NORM GRABOWSKI, passed away just a year ago…October 12, 2012, so, in honor of Norm, I pulled out one of his earliest stories from my Archives.

Norm was known as the “Father of the T-Bucket” and he was a friend to all he met, I always called him the “Don Rickles” of the R&C Industry because he had a GREAT sense of humour !
TRULY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST GUYS in the Rod & Custom Industry was the one-and-only NORM GRABOWSKI !

This time, Norm talks about how he got into cars to begin with, and gave me the scoop on the early beginnings of, what would become, the Legendary “Kookie Car”!

(Good Question: Where did the ’52 Cadillac engine in Norm’s T-Bucket come from ? Listen closely and you’ll find out !)

Simply Click-On Here to listen to one of the HOF’s most humorous story teller’s: NORM GRABOWSKI !

Have a great weekend…and while you’re here, be sure to check-out some of the super-cool photos that Travis has shot over the last few weeks ! His work is amazing !!

Jonnie

October 11, 2013October 11, 2013

2 Month Warning: 4th Annual Mid Decembrrrr Run

A few years ago I was inspired to start a fun run event since my friends like to drive their cars more than just show them. Looking through the calendar I found a big gap between the Hobo Happening in Douglass, KS mid November and the Starbird-Devlin show in Wichita, KS in January, December was wide open. In Kansas December can be a real pain, then again it can be downright nice.

A date was picked, invitations were sent out via email and the H.A.M.B. and Stray Kat Kustoms came up with the perfect name, the Mid Decembrrrr Run! 10-12 cars showed up for various parts of that first run in 2010. We gathered in my home town of Gypsum, KS and headed out in the windy 13 degree F weather for McPherson College in McPherson, KS to tour their auto restoration course facilities. That was well worth the stop, very very high end skills being taught there in Mac.

Then it was off on some backroads to visit the Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette, KS. Best $5 I ever spent! You need to check this place out!

Then we loaded up for a long haul west to Kanopolis lake and back around on old Highway 40 to Salina for a shop visit at Calvin’s Customs. Calvin is always open for us for the Mid Decembrrrr Run and it’s much appreciated.

My friends at the Paramount hosted a chili and hot dog dinner before we went to the Stiefel Theatre to watch that year’s KKOA DVD by Vintage Torque.

It was a lot of fun to watch the DVD on the big screen! Neal was the champ of the day, driving his Canopy Express 2.5 hours from Ottawa, KS to Gypsum, driving around with us all day, staying all the way through the movie then driving home IN THE SNOW! Road warrior that one.
The next year it was 56 degrees, the 3rd year it was in the 40’s so it’s not always cold!

We’re doing it again this year, but this year will be a short run, in 2012 we really went on a long drive so I wanted this one to be short. We’ll start in Gypsum, KS again and drive some back roads over to Abilene, KS to the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, if the shutdown is over by then and they are back open. This should provide a nice place for us to hang out for a couple of hours and mingle with other car folk and see some interesting history at the same time. After that a leisurely drive down old 40 Highway to Salina where I’m sure we’ll hit Calvin’s Customs to see what he’s been up to and then to the Paramount where I hope to be screening a film. That part is still up in the air.

Yes you are welcome to drive your late model car if it’s better suited to the weather, this event is about driving some kool roads in the area, seeing some interesting sights and most importantly about spending time with the rod/kustom family.

Join us on December 14th in Gypsum, KS at 10am for the run and stay with us all day long. Click here to join the Facebook event and keep up to date on all of the news of the event, I will remind everyone via the blog again about a month out.

See you at a show,

Royboy

October 10, 2013October 10, 2013

Event Coverage: 2013 Chisholm Trail Days

After a quick run out to Russell, KS to check out the Flatland Car Show earlier in the day I headed 90 miles east to Abilene, KS to see friends and family at the Chisholm Trail Days event. This is a small event as far as the car show goes, I didn’t have time to cover the Antique Tractor show but it looked well packed with restored tractors of yesteryear.

See you at a show,

Royboy

Use the Subscribe box on the right to receive the latest posts via email each day—————————–>

Don’t forget to get your 2014 Calendar for Charity order in ASAP! They’re already going fast!

October 9, 2013October 9, 2013

2014 Calendar for Charity Presale!

The 2014 Calendar For Charity is available for pre-order now! There are 5 editions available, 50 copies of each, that’s all that will ever be made.

Pre-order ends Oct. 31. The calendars will be printed the first week of November and will be shipped the 2nd week.

Over $1000 was raised for charity last year, help top that number this year! Hot Rods, Trucks, & Kustoms editions will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. Stray Kat Kustoms edition will benefit the Red Cross. The Greaserama Edition beneficiary has not been decided as of this posting.
Click the thumbnail photo to go to the store page to order yours!

Note: There may be some design changes along the way but this is basically what the calendars will look like.

Tell your friends, get one for the car guy or gal in your life, make sure you don’t delay because when they are gone, they are gone.

See you at a show,

Royboy

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2014 Calendar For Charity Progress Report!

2014 Calendar For Charity: Kustoms Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Hot Rods Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Greaserama Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Stray Kat Kustoms Edition $10

2014 Calendar For Charity: Trucks Edition $10

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Event Coverage: 2013 Hot Rod Garage Open House Part 3

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Click on any of these Calendar front pages and go to the web page that they are sold on.

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Basic Camera Shot

Basic Editing

Deeper Editing

Some other examples

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