Chaotic Customs shows us how Metal Flake's done! The internet can be a great source of info, and if you're lucky, you'll find some good friends generous enough to help make a giant metal flake FAIL a big win. I got this email:   Hi, my name is Chris Carlson and I own Chaotic Customs. I saw your metal flake fail on Royboy Productions FB page and thought I'd give you my two cents. Painters have a few tricks up their sleeves to make it look easy. I've attached pictures of the 1965 Thunderbird we're building for the girls here at Chaotic. The roof is flaked, panel painted and laced. Hope this helps you out!   Shooting metal flake and getting the flake to sparkle and dance does take practice. However, I’m willing to let you in on a few tried and true custom painting tricks!   First off, spray a base color that has coarse metallic in the paint.     For the flake, you need two guns, this makes it so much easier for the layering process! Unless you are using Monster Flake, you can use a...

Your 1955-1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air Never Looked Better!   It may be official now... Auto Meter's making just about every custom gauge set except what I need for my 1963 Falcon Wagon! Now with the 1955-56 Chevy Bel-Air custom gauge set ready to ship, what else would set off your custom Chevy better? Get the gauge panel then pick the perfect gauges to fit your ride. MORE in the official press release below... read on!   From Auto Meter: Introducing Auto Meter Nostalgia Series Five Gauge Mount for 55 - 56 Chevrolet Bel-Air   July 2, 2013, Sycamore, IL - The dashboard design of the 1955 - 1956 Chevrolet Bel-Air is regarded by many enthusiasts as one of the most beautiful and iconic interior stylings ever produced. However, the nearly 60 year old original instruments found in those cars are hardly up to today's standards of technology, response and accuracy.   Whether you're working on a resto-mod or a full blown hot rod issues of installation and compatibility where newer performance engines and transmissions are concerned are likely to cause you some headaches. Historically the unique arc-shaped opening of the...

OPTIMA Faceoff at Road America Awards - A Hot Rod Wins! Optima Faceoff at Road America Awards Four OPTIMA Invitational Entries Among Largest Group of Participants in Faceoff History, 1964 Chevy Corvette, 2013 Nissan GTR, 1963 Pontiac Tempest and 1981 Pontiac Trans Am earned entries to the 2013 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational   June 25, 2013 (MILWAUKEE) – The OPTIMA® Faceoff at Road America, presented by Royal Purple and K&N Filters, returned to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this past weekend with more than 70 participants. The event, which will be showcased on television later this fall, kicked-off on Friday, June 21 at Johnson Controls Headquarters with a car show and charitable OPTIMA Build-A-Bike event benefiting Milwaukee area Boys & Girls Clubs and Neighborhood House of Milwaukee. The Faceoff at Road America is a Regional Qualifier event leading up to OPTIMA’s Ultimate Street Car Invitational, to be held in Pahrump, NV, after the SEMA show in early November.   The driving and fun began Saturday as all of the Faceoff participants drove more than 60 miles through Wisconsin’s scenic Kettle Moraine State Park to the Road America facility in the Detroit...

The Random Best of - Ahhh... you were sick of engine pics Well, I've done "Best of" for engines at the LA Roadster Show the last couple years. You didn't want that again did ya? Well here are those stories, just in case: 2011 Best engine and 2010 Best Engines   Otherwise, here are a few random, "Best of's" from the 2013 LA Roadster Show.                               Until next year! If you've got some "best of" shots I missed, let me know. I'd love to see them. Email to...

Chevrolet Advance Design Series - Custom Hauler Another sweet ride for sale at the LA Roadster Show. (click to see pictures full size)   If you haven't been around MyRideisMe.com much, I'll let you know, I usually don't feature cars for sale. I mean, if it's "My Ride is Me" then why you selling it? Also, I don't typically get into bikes. Like to look at them, love the way they sound... just not my bag. But... this old Chevy truck spoke to me!   As part of the universal "ACME Services" this truck does it all. From Used Tires to Bail Bonds to Speed Equipment. I'm sorta guessing that this is a 1953 Chevy truck by the "Est 1953" on the door. The Chevrolet "Advance Design" series as they were called from 1947 until 1955 had some pretty small changes year to year. Did I get it right? Wing  or vent windows in the door didnt' appear until 1951 and push-button door handles (like this truck has) didn't appear until 1952. 1953 showed a change to the hood lettering for 3100, 3600 and so on based on load...

Gasser Rambler - Four Door Baddess! Feast your eyes on this beauty spotted at the LA Roadster Show.   Yea, I thought I was the only one crazy enough to dream about a 4-door wagon built as a gasser. While I dreamed about it, this person (be happy to publish your name if I knew it) actually built it, then had it for sale in the swap area. Pure madness! I love it!! (Dig the super long ladder bars showing here!)     From the other side. You see the only (small) flaw in the as-found patina of this Rambler Ambassador "Super". I'll say! (Can someone verify the year for me?) I dig the way the flaked helmet is reflecting on the front wheel. Dream yourself behind the wheel... on the track or rolling through your neighborhood with neighbors shaking their heads and kids running for cover!   So I said I dreamed it and my buddy Joel drew it for me! This bad boy's still sitting on the side of my house waiting for it's turn. My friends will tell you, don't hold your breath! One day, some incarnation...

More Favorite Flake Roof Photography   (Click on any photo to see it full size)   The LA Roadster Show's about as good as it gets for finding customs and hot rods. Nobody argues that SOCAL was where it all started. Among all the cool rides Brian (from problemchildkustoms.com) and I saw at the 2013 event, we collected just a few of our favorite "Flaked Roof" examples to continue on what's been a popular story: Metal Flake Roof Dazzling Photos. So here goes... Which one's your favorite?           Turns out this is Eric Conner's custom 1950 Chevy Deluxe. I shot Eric's old truck at night and was really happy with how it turned out: Night Shots - Long Exposure (no, I'm not stalking him... The Fellas Socal are doing it right! Bo Swan's a Fellas too.)               I guess I'll close with this shot. This all black sedan had a crazy rainbow flaked roof. I shot the palm trees, then turned the photo around 180 so the trees weren't growing out of the sky. Kinda like this one, so I...

My Friend Made it Look Easy! Custom Metal Flake Looking for help with: How to setup a Harbor Freight paint gun for shooting flake. Please email me.   At car shows, especially the good ones in California, you'll see some stellar custom metal flake paint... like the shot below from the NorCal Knockout, the custom paint of all types is well represented.   See some amazing examples in this story: Custom Metal Flake Paint   After observing, and of course digging the look and appreciating the skill, I wanted to try it for myself. Then, my buddy Joel helped me customize a severely worn out plastic trim piece for my 1963 Falcon Wagon. Here's that piece:     I watched Joel do it, looked easy. Soooo... I tried it myself. Step 1: Base coat of gold     Step 2: FAIL!   So let's hear it... what'd I do wrong? Anyone willing to show me how it's done in a good story with a few pictures, please get in touch: Email pikesan   I'm especially looking for stories about how to set-up a gun for spraying flake, and something like,...

Spectator Tickets Available for: 2013 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational Sixth Annual OPTIMA® Invitational Promises to be Another Thrilling Automotive Event   More info about the rides racing at the OUSCI   Today OPTIMA® Batteries released a limited number of spectator tickets for its sixth annual OPTIMA® Ultimate Street Car Invitational presented by K&N Filters and Royal Purple. Spectator tickets to the Pahrump, Nevada event, which sold out in 2012, are available for purchase online. Spectators are invited to watch the action-packed event where participants – both up-and-comers and industry favorites – from around the world compete for the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car title. Fans are advised to act quickly because the 2012 event sold out of spectator tickets.   Last year, the OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car Invitational brought in massive crowds with a sold out event, more thrilling moments and record times, ultimately crowning Mark Stielow and his custom 1967 Chevrolet Camaro as the 2012 OPTIMA Ultimate Street Car.   "We’re looking forward to another exciting year of this growing event as we continue to layer on different challenges and elements for a new experience for fans and...

Hot Rod Art: Hand Painted and Lettered Old Truck Doors   As soon as we stepped into the swap meet at the 2013 LA Roadster Show, we found Gary Crisp and his custom painted doors.   In a time where patina is IN and faking patina is about a common as the real stuff, Gary’s work is tough to beat! Who knows what condition the doors were in when he got them, let’s figure they were rough… but the end product is outstanding! The lettering and art, even up close, look to be good’n old.   Gary’s a custom painter by trade. Mostly hot rods and bikes from what he told me, but now he’s just having fun painting doors. As you can see, he’s fairly successful at it with a few of the doors already marked as “sold” and I heard an order for one happening as I waited to say hi.   Get your own custom doors by reaching Gary by email. He’s a little old school when it comes to computers, so give him a few days to respond. Thanks Gary!...

Courtney Force beats John Force in New England   There's nothing better than doing what you love - drag racing - and getting to do it with your family. Courtney Force and her dad John Force have it made! On Courtney's birthday weekend, she got the win, but it was revenge for their last final round win when John took the win on Father's Day. That's fair I guess! John Force Racing press release follows...   Photos courtesy of Gary Nastase Photography COURTNEY FORCE WINS INAUGURAL NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS   EPPING, NH ---- In a rematch of their Father’s Day first round battle in Bristol last weekend Courtney Force came out on the winning side today taking out father and 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force in the final round of the Inaugural Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals. The second year driver won for the second time this season and third time in her career outpacing her teammate 4.301 seconds to 4.361 seconds in front of a capacity crowd at New England Dragway.   “I told him I was definitely going to try to get revenge, but last time...

Never Calibrate your Speedometer Again   I found the perfect solution to finding out how fast I'm going in my roadster without hooking a speedo-cable into the transmission. I mean, I wish I could, but the speedo input is right next to the frame. I'd have to do some major surgery to make it work. No worries with the GPS setup... and it'll be more accurate, even if I change tire size some time in the future... read on! From Auto Meter: Monitor speed accurately, on or off road with satellite signal technology from Auto Meter! New GPS Rally-Nav speedometers are engineered to interpret data from an included high speed  antenna assembly providing lightning quick response and eliminating the need to ever calibrate the instrument for gearing and tire size changes. In fact there's no reason to interact with the transmission or driven wheels at all, resulting in a simplified installation. Built in the USA utilizing race proven, rugged and precise digital stepper motor drives for smooth pointer readings and heightened resistance to shock and vibration. Rally-Nav red LED digital display includes standards like odometer and trip, in addition...