Jeff Myers’ Stude Pickup and Voodoo Jim’s Corncob Coupe
Dick Warsocki’s Chevy
Some of Shane Z’s pinstriped wares for sale
Nice rear ends
Kolman’s Buick in motion
The lovely Brenna behind the wheel of my buddy Mike’s FED
Gimlet in the cage of the FED
After being inducted to the KKOA Hall of Fame, Keith Dean is back at work Sunday morning in the rain working on the chop.” alt=”After being inducted to the KKOA Hall of Fame, Keith Dean is back at work Sunday morning in the rain working on the chop.
I need to get the full story on this car, as I remember it, it’s been under construction for years, originally was chopped in CA in the 50’s or 60’s? I’ll find out and report back.
PJ’s clean long roof
Love it.
and this one
Joe McGregor’s Caddy
Edsel Ranchero, complete with Edsel dash
Denny’s Sedan
Chad’s Buick (2012 777 Award winner)
Mickey (StrayKatKustoms) Merc
Krobe’s Chevy
Pinstriping Legend Ron Myers pulling lines
Chad Ward doing the same.
Another shot of the Wench
Larry Wolfe’s 1965 Pontiac Catalina, orginally customized by Dave Stuckey in the 60’s and recently returned to Wichita. I hear it will go under a rebuild to put it back in the form that it last left Stuckey’s shop in.
One of Dave Stuckey’s builds from the late 60’s. It’s been on the east coast for decades until Larry Wolfe brought it home recently. I hope to be shooting a feature on this ride soon.
It’s already here… The 2013 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular is finally here. Yes, I may be a bit over excited about it but lets look at why. 1600+ cars, an emphasis on traditional kustoms and hot rods, the drags, legendary builders, on site custom jobs being done by legends, my booth (okay so maybe that’s a 2nd tier item), it’s going to be a fantastic weekend.
The show technically starts today, this post from a couple of days ago will give you a rough schedule and some of the important locations on google maps to help you find your way there. So yesterday a bunch of the vendors showed up and claimed our spots in the park. A few early comers to the show were already there and hanging out, here’s a few photos of their rides.
Sonny’s 59 Chevrolet
This kustom 51 Merc was at a 1961 magazine feature.
June and July are the slow times for me, just a couple of shows to hit and lots of weekends that I’m not on the road, it drives me crazy to sit at home that much. Mid August is when the schedule ramps back up and runs nearly without a weekend off until around Thanksgiving.
For me in 2013 it starts back up at the H.A.M.B. Drags held in Asbury, MO at the MO-KAN Dragway on Aug. 17th. We usually show up to the hotel in Joplin on the 15th, head to Springfield, MO to a swap meet on the 16th and then it’s all day long at the drags on the 17th.
The next weekend has been the Blacktop Nationals in Wichita for the past 3 years. Last year I arrived to Wichita in a torrential downpour. Something that I did not think my camera would enjoy so I effectively skipped the show last year. But the previous two I was there and here’s some of what I saw. This year the event goes down on Aug. 24th.
Following that is Aug. 31 and the Labor Day weekend goodness that is the Greaserama in the KC area (Tracy, MO to be exact). I’ve been attending the Greaserama since before my car could make the drive somewhere around 2007 or so, I’ve always had a good time and I’ve always wished it wasn’t over when it was.
That’s it for what’s coming up in August on the Royboy Schedule. If you will be at any of these events or on my way to or from them and you want a custom photo shoot of your vehicle, book a shoot with me then to save $ since I can combine the travel, shoot me an email for more details.
So if you’ve been following along with my stuff at all lately you know that this weekend is the 2013 KKOA Leadsled Spectacular in Salina, KS. Since Salina is basically my hometown, I figured I’d give everyone a bit of a list of some notable places in town. Click on the links to go to the location on google maps, if you are viewing this on your phone you should be able to then navigate to the location. First off, registration for the show is now at the Ramada Inn on West Crawford.
Thursday
Officially the show starts on Thursday, many early comers are at the park and hanging out on Thursday before the official festivities begin. Come out and enjoy the Open House at Bright Built Hot Rods that evening.
After the Open House head back to Oakdale Park to line up to take part in the Cruise on Santa Fe Ave from 7:30p to 8:30pm. If you just want to hang out and watch the cars instead of cruising just find yourself a place along Santa Fe between Walnut St. and Ash St.
Officially that’s it for Thursday.
Friday!
Again head back to Oakdale Park for the show opening up at 9 am (officially, but many show up well before that, I usually hit the park at 8am). We hang out all day at the show until it’s time to head up to the Run What Ya Brung Drags held right next to Dean Evans Stadium on Markley Road. At 1pm on the stage in the park is the Pinup Contest. The drags officially start at 5, but I will try to leave the park for the drags around 4pm.
The drags are a blast. Last year there were some logistical issues with the layout, I hope that the city’s committee has it figured out this time. Its about an 1/8″ mile course, with flag men (or women) on each end of the track and it’s all about fun. Yes there are some true drag cars that come out, and to be honest I don’t agree with most of them being there but that’s a different discussion for a different day. If you want to make a pass or 12 in your ride, this is your chance to do it. If you just want to watch some fun drag racing action, come out and enjoy yourself.
Friday evening at 9:30pm at the Ramada Inn is the KKOA Tonite Show where the 2 2013 KKOA Hall of Fame Inductees are announced.
Also Friday evening at Calvins Customs on Santa Fe is a party open to all KKOA participants, to get your car into the party you must have the show registration displayed in your windshield and to get into the shop where there is typically free beer (to those 21 and over) and some good eats, you need to be wearing your show wrist band.
Saturday
Back to Oakdale Park for the biggest day of the show. The car counts and the crowds will be the biggest on Saturday. For those with kids coming along don’t forget that there is a really bitchin’ water park just east of Oakdale Park, this is a big show but sometimes you need something for the kids to do outside of the show, I understand. Also for the ladies, downtown Salina has a bunch of antique and unique shopping opportunities just a couple of blocks from the park.
Again at 1pm the Pinup Contest goes down, come and cheer on your favorite lovely lady.
All day Friday-Sunday an all star crew lead by Bill Hines will be chopping a top live in the park, its something to see for sure.
There is usually another major car mod going on in the park at the same time, the last couple of years it’s been a section job, stop by both spots and watch the cars get the kustom treatment all weekend long.
Saturday night at the historic Stiefel Theatre is the “One Night With Elvis” show. You can buy concert tickets at the registration booth or the T-Shirt booth.
Sunday
Sunday is usually a fraction of the cars that were at the show on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a day to attend. Some of the best of the best kustoms around are all in the park on Sunday of the Leadsled Spectacular. Come hang out with kustom legends, see the awards ceremony and squeeze every last minute you can out of the KKOA weekend in Salina.
Good places to eat and drink in Salina.
Salina has a bunch of great places to eat.
BBQ:
Hickory Hut, routinely voted as one of the best in town.
Hog Wild Pit BBQ, technically a chain but a small one and VERY good for chain bbq.
(20 miles away in my hometown of Gypsum) Big D’s BBQ, this is some really good BBQ in a small town atmosphere that cannot be touched in the larger city. If you don’t mind a bit of a drive they are only open from 5-9pm on Saturday
Pizza:
There are 2 local pizza places fairly near to the show that both have great pie
Scheme (they do not accept plastic, so bring cash or a checkbook) you may want to make reservations, they do get busy.
And one a little farther from the show but still good stuff. Big Cheese Pizza
Burgers:
There’s a small KS chain called Spangles that has a great 50’s pop culture atmosphere and pretty good food for a fast food joint, two of them in town. One on South 9th St. and one on West Crawford.
One of 2 Salina institutions is Bogey’s, one of my personal favorites, if you want a great shake and a burger this is the place to go.
The other Salina institution for burgers in the Cozy Inn. You’ve probably heard about them, at some point in the weekend you need to go buy a sack (6 small sliders) they are pretty darn good, even if they stink so bad 🙂
Mexican:
I have 2 recommendations here, I can’t decide which is my favorite.
Cotijas, fairly new to town, and lots of authentic and some TexMex style, delicious every time I go
Lenore’s, been in town a long time and one of my favorite places to eat in Salina.
There are all of the normal chain restruants in Salina too but come on if you wanted to eat at a chain joint you can go to any city in the country right?
Bars:
My all time favorite bar is the Paramount Bar just a block from Calvins Customs, the P has been in business since 1946 and it’s my favorite place to kick back and enjoy a drink, tell the girls that Travis sent ya and make sure you tip them well 🙂 enjoy the patio out back with the forecasted cool weather.
Another 2 blocks south is 111 Ultra Lounge, a nice little joint to enjoy some lively libations.
There’s also O’Malley’s in the Ramada Inn where a few of you are staying, decent bar, I don’t care for their food offerings but after a few you can’t tell that its not the best food ever
Out of the way a bit from where the show and hotels are is Speakeasy, nice bar with a patio and some decent food.
On the way to some of the south of town hotels is the Blind Pig, some basic bar food is available as well, and a nice patio.
I’m sure I’ve missed something. Please comment below if I have and I’ll try to find something for you. I’m damn proud at how the show has grown since coming to Salina and I hope to get more and more traditional kustom and hot rod folk to attend every year. Stop by the Royboy Productions booth and say hi, buy something if you want to, book a shoot if you can, above all safe travels and I’ll see you at the show.
I’ve been attending this show off and on for a lot of years. It’s typically hot, starting at 4 in the afternoon, and as soon as the heat breaks the crowds come out in force making it hard to capture any decent images. The participants are a varied group of all styles of cars and bikes.
Heading to Wichita tomorrow Saturday July 13th for the 2013 Automobilia Moonlight Car Show here’s a slideshow from the last trip I made to the show.
If you are at the show and want some photos of your car look for a big guy in a red hat with a big ‘ol camera. You can’t miss me.
Sunday it’s off to Winfield and Mulvane for some photo shoots for the Marauders, book a shoot for your club today by using the contact form. Club shoots are a great way to get photos for a club calendar, or just create some great images to promote the club or print and hang on the wall.
I can’t believe the year is half over already, it seems like just a few weeks ago I was picking my car up from Jeff Myers’ Premier Body & Paint in Arkansas City, KS and headed home with my new old school paint.
Of course on that very trip home the generator finally gave up the ghost. I’d been nursing it for awhile and it was just time to finally do the upgrade, read all about the nightmare that turned into here.
The first event of the year was about 2 weeks after I picked up the car from Jeff, and I was going to be showing the Galaxie for the first time at an indoor show. The legendary Starbird show in Wichita, now the Starbird-Devlin show, but still pretty damn cool for someone that has been going to that show for 30 years. The show was a lot of fun, parking my car with some of the legendary Fundamentals cars was a huge honor. See the show coverage here Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4
The show was just too much fun.
February 2013
February is always a bit busier than January around here. Kansas City hosts the World of Wheels Autorama, Darryl Starbird does his show in Tulsa, and The Chill goes down in Park City, KS.
Going to KC always means seeing my buddies of Los Punk Rods. They are always working on something interesting. KC WOW Show Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
March is always a bit slow in the area here. This year I went down to The Chill in Denton, TX, it was worth the trip and I plan on going again and again. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Then a couple of weeks later it was time to head back to Texas for the Goodguys Spring Lonestar Nationals Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
April 2013
The first trip of April is typically the Lonestar Roundup in Austin, TX. This was the first time the Galaxie went and it was awesome! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Art Shots
A couple of weeks later we gathered for the HAMBBQ
The next day I took advantage of a chance to go hang in the pits for the #20 Matt Kenseth car for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Then it was off to Mulvane, KS to Chaotic Customs for their Open House. Chaotic has been responsible for helping me sort out some of the mechanical issues that were out of my mechanic knowledge or out of my time frame. Thanks! Part 1, Part 2
May 2013
The first Friday in May is always Stray Kat 500 time in Dewey, OK. It rained, it sleeted, it may have snowed a touch but it was still perfect. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6
Then the Galaxie and I headed off to Springfield, MO for the Queen City Riot Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Father’s Day weekend is always the time to take Dad to the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure’s Father’s Day Show Part 1, Part 2
Big Brothers Big Sisters held a small 100 car show at the JC Penny’s parking lot in Salina, KS
Winfield Garage Car Show was a lot of fun, hanging out with some great friends at a nice event, we need to make this a 200 car show next year! Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Thanks for going along with me for the ride so far, there’s still a ton of events left to go for this year so get yourself out to one and say hi. If you want some custom photos of your car, give me a yell using the contact link above.
A couple of years ago I just happened across a show on my way home from another event. That show was the Marysville AutoFest. At that show I see this super low, bagged black Edsel that was under construction, fast forward to the next year’s show and it’s all done and awesome. The owner and I become friends and he tells me that he couldn’t have finished the car without Auto Shop, Inc. in Beatrice, NE.
A few months ago the owner of that Edsel, my buddy Bill, tells me that I should come up to Beatrice, NE for the customer appreciation party at Auto Shop, where a lot of the custom body mods on his Edsel were done. Sounds like a good excuse to hop in the Galaxie and go for a drive to me…
Auto Shop has all manner of projects going on, from muscle cars to old school restorations on 20’s vehicles on up.
So for anyone in the area needing quality work done, give Auto Shop, in Beatrice NE a call at 402-223-4546, what I saw on this shop visit was great craftmanship and a whole bunch of satisfied customers, two things that tell me a lot about a shop.
Each year I try to make this show, but last year was the first one where I was happy with my photos from it. The show attracts all manner of rides from the region and a huge amount of people. Getting there early for photos was the only way to go.
I’m a sucker for Caddys
All the way from WI I believe for this 60 El Camino, we crossed paths again at Iron Invasion later in the year as well.
This wasn’t the first or the last time seeing this great little hot rod pickup last year. I really dig it.
A row of alligators.
This 49 Ford Coupe was new to me.
John Sinfellow’s gasser is just too kool of a barn find.
I should have come back and shot this again in the dark.
Those are some of my favorites from the show from 2012. The 2013 show goes down in Downtown Wichita on July 13th.
That’s it for the 2013 Winfield Garage Car Show from my point of view. You need to attend next year, its’ a great little show with a whole bunch of great people at it, only $15 to enter your car and I had a fantastic time.
I shot this entire show so that I could do HDR and play with other aspects of the image, it takes a lot longer to prepare the photos but you’ll see in this post how much more flexibility it gives me when editing.
Here’s an example of a normal shot from a car show.
Here’s with a slight bit of manipulation
HDR shots
Steve’s Tiki Taxi
Kevin’s 64 Galaxie
Jeff Myers’ Kustom Stude Pickup
Voodoo Jim’s Corn Cobb Coupe
Mickey’s 60 Chevy
Butch’s 56 Gasser
Jack’s 51 Ford
Should I shoot this truck for a feature?
Part 3 tomorrow! What photo was your favorite? Comment below!
The morning started early rolling out of my home town before 7am.
I didn’t have time to snap any photos of the crew that I rolled into the show with, but there were some beauties in our row of hot rods & kustoms as we headed towards the show.
Original Image
HDR version with lens correction
It’s for sale…
That’s it for the first post, more to come tomorrow,
As far as I know this was a first time event. Over 100 rides showed up to this free car show held in the South parking lot of Salina’s Central Mall next to JC Pennys. The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Salina put the show on and with the exception of needing a bit more room for the photos to look good, but that’s me being picky :).
Chad Kolman’s stunning 47 Buick at the 2012 Leadsled Spectacular, this ride won the coveted 777 Award last year.
Coming up at this year’s KKOA Leadsled Spectacular, the Royboy Award. Okay so the name might change, but the long and short of it is that I’m giving away an award at the KKOA this year. My idea is to find someone at the show that is younger than I am (38) and has brought a finished or under construction traditional style kustom, hot rod or gasser. No rat rods, no big billet wheels, no digital gauges. I will allow airbags, and other modern items as long as they don’t take away from the general vintage appearance.
I am working to gather up some sponsors to offer a prize pack as well as the award that my friends at the Sign House are helping me create. The goal is to give the winner a prize pack full of offers to save money in finishing their ride or building a new car. A 15% discount for any RJay’s Speed Shop built item (or 10% off items they sell but do not create) is the first prize that’s been offered up. Because you can’t have your ride looking good and yourself looking bad our friends at Devilles Barbershop in Wichita, KS have offered up a prize at well. I’m in contact with a couple of other companies to offer more discounts for paint work, body work, and hopefully a lot more.
If you have a company that would like to do a small part to help grow the industry by helping a younger car owner then send me a message to find out how to become a part of the prize pack!
In the week since the last post about my 51 I’ve driven the 63 Galaxie 13 hours round trip to Springfield, MO for the Queen City Riot and I’ve done a small amount of work on the 51. To see more about the Queen City Riot show coverage see the gallery here or the blog posts Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
All that I got done on the 51 this week was installing a new fuel pump and verifying that it was in fact working. Installing the pump shouldn’t have taken nearly as long as I took, but it’s on now. Just a hint, if the engine is still in the car, it’s easier to take off the pump and the housing that it’s attached to than to remove the pump from that housing, unless you have a special 1/2″ shorty wrench or super thin walled sockets. So after some cursing, some head scratching and using an old Cragar S/S wheel with tire as a platform to stand on, I got the pumps swapped out.
Next step was to get the pump plumbed. Dammit. On both the inlet and outlet the new pump had larger connectors than the existing lines that the car had. A trip to Salina (20 miles each way) and 3 different stores (the 2 auto parts stores didn’t have them) and I came up with a set of new hose barbs and some new hoses. I replaced the existing rubber lines with the new hoses, primed the carb, hooked up the battery and turned the key.
She sputtered for a second or two, ran out of the gas in the carb and died. The fuel bowl was still empty on the fued pump too. So I cranked it a few times to see if the pump was able to draw any fuel up from the tank. Bone dry. After a few more attempts the battery was dieing and I was tired anyways so I called it a night. The plan for the next day would be to charge the battery, and see if the fuel pump could pull gas out of a water bottle directly next to it.
The next day I ran out to my Dad’s to borrow a gas can, the 5 mile trip was better than the 20 miles to town, and to pick up my battery charger that he’d bought for me years ago. Since I’ve recently decided to actually start working on my cars in my garage it would be good to have it home. I hooked up the battery charger and went into the house for some lunch. Upon my return I filled the water bottle with gas and stuck the fuel pump feed hose into it and tried the ignition again. Again the car only sputtered for a few seconds but I could see the fuel pump was pulling gas out of the bottle. Yay! that means that the pushrod between the cam and fuel pump might work.
Next up will be to see if I can get the car to run on that bottle of gas in the engine compartment. If so, then I need to replace the soft line at the fuel tank and try to use the air compressor to blow air through the hard line to make sure it’s not clogged shut. After that I’ll reconnect my new soft fuel lines at the tank and lightly use the compressor to put air into the tank to try to force the fuel up the line towards the pump. If the engine is capable of running and that line is full of fuel, we might be able to get her to move under her own power.
The tank is visibly newer than the straps that hold it into the car but I still will snake a camera down the filler pipe to see what the inside of the tank looks like. If need be I have a tank sealer kit waiting standby.
So, that’s where it stands for now, I hope to report next week that she is moving under her own power, see you at a show,
Jeff Myers’ Stude Pickup and Voodoo Jim’s Corncob Coupe
