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How to Build a Custom Dash for a Barracuda My buddy Scott Hallner's a hard working man! He found a 1967 Barracuda that I think alot of people would have passed on. It had what's known as some, "rust issues". OK, the car was rusty BAD! Check this out: Scott did a pretty amazing job replacing body panels and a host of other body work & paint, then he got to work on updating nearly everything in the car to install a pretty nasty Dodge small block. See all of his work in his MyRideisMe.com Garage. Along the way, he turned his attention to dash. He'd already installed a Vintage Air system, so to finish it off, he made a completely custom dash. Here's the finished product, then you can see how he did it below. Making a Custom Dash and Gauge Cluster 1) The plastic cluster and trim were trashed so I started w/sheetmetal. A local HVAC shop bent my piece for free. A piece of cardboard was used to mock up the layout. 2) Making the gauge pods: Scott used exhaust scraps that were 3.5 and 3" in diameter. 3.5"...

Grand National Roadster Show - 2013 AMBR Winner Results are in! More info to follow as I track down owner John Mumford and the team of builders at Roy Brizio Street Rods. For now, please enjoy these pictures! As always, for any picture, click to see the full-size image. 2013 America's Most Beautiful Roadster The Kelly Brown Track 'T' 1927 Ford Roadster According to the show card: Kelly Brown "1978 NHRA Top Fuel World Champion" - For his determination and vision. Special Thanks to: Steve Davis Team Brizio Pete Chapouris Pete Eastwood Kent Fuller Also from the show card: Special Features: V8-60 Ardun Heads Halibrand Culver City Quickchange rearend 4 wheel kinmont disc brakes 1937 Ford tube axle Schroeder Steering I showed you the story: 7 of the best Roadsters contending for 2013 AMBR Award then, here's the rest of the contenders: 5 other roadster trying to win Did the judges pick the right one? Your comments are welcome. Download a long group of photos of this...

Hot Rods and Custom Cars at 2013 GNRS in Pomona, CA If you're looking for the "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" Pictures Click here. Welcome to 2013! If you're reading this before January 28th, 2013, you still have time to make the show! The Grand National Roadster show is worth seeing every year, but certainly at least once!! Just in case, MyRideisMe.com has you covered with pictures of every great car. (Almost... ok, not even close, but we try) With the Pomona Fairplex convention halls packed with hot rods, custom cars, lowriders, muscle cars, and look below... lots of surprises... it's no wonder we don't shoot everything. Leave us a comment for what you like so we'll know what to shoot more of next time. And don't forget to click any picture to see it full size on your screen. D'Agostino's "Sophie 1940 Cadillac Custom It's so good you need another look! George Poteet's Rad Rides Built Talladega Chyrsler 300 Custom Rock and Roll Hot Rod 1932 Hot Rod 3 Window Coupe 2.3L Pinto Powered 1929 Ford Roadster Pickup Just NASTY Blown 1933 Ford Coupe The Throttle Kings Representing in...

Hot Rods & Customs Long Exposure Photography It's never supposed to rain in Southern California! But it did and everyone attending the 2013 Grand National Roadster Show made the best of it. When the rain let up, I took full advantage shooting this vibrant 1950 GMC pickup owned by Eric Conner of El Cajon, CA. Ya dig? I couldn't stop at just one... but I noticed on nearly the last couple pictures I wanted to take that my lens had water drops all over it. Luckily for this pic, you can't really see it cause it's hiding in the grille. There looks to be a dent below the headlight, but that's not a dent, it's just a water drop! (click to see the water droplets!) I had so much fun with it, I decided to do a few more... (minus the rain this time) Paul Medina's 1947 Ford Business Coupe - Throttle Kings 1956 Ford Victoria (The blurs you see are people walking by. The shutter was open for 13 seconds) My Man Kopis' 1929 Ford Cabriolet Traditional Hot Rod - Throttle Kings 1955 Cadillac series 62 owned by Steve (last...

The Air up there: 2013 America's Most Beautiful Roadsters   Vote for your favorite below by leaving a comment...   There are a few advantages to being tall. If you can put up with bumping your head hard enough to see stars once in a while, you get shots like these without carrying a step ladder. So... even though I shared the Best 7 AMBR Contenders already, here's another look from up high.   For all pictures, click to see the full-size image. Can't wait?  Click here to see pictures of 2013 AMBR winning roadster America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Bad in Black 1932 Hot Rod! America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - 200+ MPH Bad & Beautiful America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Australian Hot Rod America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - The Kid's Cruiser America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Indy Racer's Dream 1932 Hot Rod America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Cooper Elegance America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Track Nose Champion America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender - Possessed Pickup Which one's most beautiful and which is your favorite? Are you answers different? Feel free to vote for...

America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contenders for 2013 Vote for your favorite below... The Grand National Roadster Show is the best west coast hot rod and custom car show. Anyone want to argue that? I showed you the 7 Roadsters that could win the 2013 AMBR Award but there are 5 other roadster in the show... they're all shown here. I'm not saying these hot rod roadsters aren't all amazing, I'm only saying, they're not likely to win based on my experience and the way I understand the rules. (I don't think the owners would argue... Am I wrong?) Enjoy the pictures and for any picture, click on it to see the full-size image. America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender #8 This is a RACE CAR! The Bonneville Salt Flats have never looked so good than when this 200+ mph beauty rockets down the road! Make no mistake, this roadster is beautiful! Built by the true craftsmen at Rad Rides by Troy, you won't find a nicer race car anywhere (OK, except maybe for Blowfish) but still, this isn't enough to win the AMBR Award. Owned by Mark and Dennis Mariani...

Winning "America's Most Beautiful Roadster" for 2013 Vote for your favorite below... So much has been said here at MyRideisMe.com about the Grand National Roadster Show. In the fewest words, it's the best of the west kicking off 2013. As we've said before... (and I haven't heard any arguments.) This year's America's Most Beautiful Roadster contenders, "AMBR Cars" (pronounced like "amber") total 12 in all. I've got shots of all 12, but without throwing stones and certainly without criticizing, let's be honest: Five of the contenders can't win. If you've been to GNRS before and seen what wins... you can narrow it to 7 and really, I think there's only 4. (We couldn't be happier they changed the AMBR judging rules 2 years ago) So let's get started! Here's the four-with-a-chance plus the three long shots for America's Most Beautiful Roadster: For all pictures, click to see the full-size image. America's Most Beautiful Roadster Contender #1 This was the winner! Click here to open additional pictures. Out of the shoot, here's the 1927 Ford Roadster owned by John Mumford of Woodside, CA. Roy Brizio Street Rods is listed as putting...

2012 Norcal Car Show "Year in Review" Words & pictures by: Nick Koljian (About Nick) (click on any picture to see it full size... you really should!) Part I As 2012 passes by in the side mirror, 2013 is jumping up on us like a dog in heat. And with the passing of 2012 we saw some pretty amazing shows. Some big, some small, but all good. For 2013, I'm looking forward to bigger and better shows for Northern California. I'm looking forward to shows I've been to year-in and year-out and, of course, some of the newer shows that are making a name for themselves in the car show season. The bay area never ceases to amaze me with its bold paint, fine lines and outstanding collection of customs and classic rides. So let’s throw it in reverse and take a look back 2012. February 2012 The Sacramento Autorama Baseball has it's opening day, here in Northern California our car show season starts with the Sacramento Autorama at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento, CA. This show is a circus of custom rides beyond anyone's imagination. Inside, you...

Mike Ryan and his Freightliner Drifting! 10,000 lbs and over 3000 ft-lbs of torque. This was one of the highlights of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational. Follow along as Mike get's her sideways at Spring Mountain Ranch. (Click to see any picture full size) If you listen closely, you can hear Chad Reynolds from Bangshift.com quietly whimpering in the passenger seat as they use every bit of the track drifting out of this turn. I had to share this one too: The aftermath of one of the smokiest burnouts ever. Laying on the ground, now in powder form is the handmade Michelin X-1 tires abused regularly by Mike and his Freightliner. Overkill with a side of crazy. I love it. Last thing... Here's a video of Mike Ryan warming up for a Formula Drift event with drift champion Samuel Hubinette. Worth a watch as Mike works the bugs out and gives a Make-a-wish child the ride of his life. [youtube]http://youtu.be/Iw0e6aBfNiI[/youtube] How can you not like and share this? See all of the 2012 Optima Invitational Stories & Pictures...

Top 25 and Can Tow the Other Cars! (Click to see any picture full size) I give you a bitch'n five-pack of race inspired (ok, they're pretty much full on race cars except for the Blazer) of 70s Chevy C10 trucks! As I said, the Optima Invitational was a diverse event, filled with the coolest and fastest cars from SEMA, and not just late model Camaros and Mustangs. I've seen some great looking C10's bagged and laying frame in Arizona, but I haven't seen any that could hold their own at the local SCCA autocross! In a social media experiment (or maybe I just don't have much info) I'll try and get the owners to fill-in the details on their trucks. I've got some Facebook or email contacts, so wish me luck! -UPDATE! Got info from Rob MacGregor and Curt Hill. Pictured up top and right here is Phil Gerber's 1970 Chevrolet C10: Phil yank'n and bank'n on the autocross Phil drove to a #12 finish and was the "Top Truck" in the competition. Congratulations on some skilled driving and a great looking truck! Next, pictured above and with his...

1966 Mustang Fastback - Pro-Touring on a Budget   One of the hightlights of the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (aka OUSCI) was meeting Ron Schwarz, the owner of this extremely well done - homebuilt - 1966 Ford Mustang fastback. Sporting all the pro-touring trim, MyRideisMe.com featured this car long ago as part of a how-to story: Build A Pro-touring Mustang for $5000   The key point was, as you can imagine, "Do it yourself".   With a few stickers, new wheels and a new, budget blowing LS motor, Ron's Schwarz's Mustang now cracks the wallet closer to $15,000, but I'd guess is still many thousands on-the-cheap compared to the other competitors at the Optima Invitational. Unbelievably, Ron finished 33rd in the Design challenge. I don't know what those cats are looking for, but this was a ground up car featuring only what's needed to go fast. Other than that, Ron finished just outside the top 20 on the Hot Lap Challenge and the Speed Stop Challenge, but did bring home a top 20 in the Autocross.   At least he can say he tied with the Lamborghini!  ...

More than just Camaros and Mustangs at the OUSCI (Click to see any picture full size) If you're in the corporate world, you've heard about diversity. You've probably had some training on it so you can be more sensitive or some other nonsense like that.  The way I see it, different strokes for different folks and that's never been more true than in the rides we choose. Am I right? At the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (damn that's a long name!) the race car diversity was on overload! Shown above, all racing in the same event: 3rd place finishing 2003 Mitsubishi Evo (yellow one barely visible), 1967 Pontiac, 2013 GTR, , a 2012 Audi RS5, 2012 Fiat Abarth, 1986 Porsche Carrera, and some others you'll see in another photo. Right up front and a great example of diversity is the Pontiac. How often do you see this motor at an SCCA race? This blown 1967 Pontiac Firebird owned by Mike Ardito made hot laps on the track, did the autocross, the road race... and I think held it's own in the performance and design competition! Todd Faust's 1966 Mustang leads the...