Ten pounds of crap in a two pound bag

 How do you put new thirty one inch tires on a truck that is not currently road legal . . . ?

You run them to and from the tire shop . . .

anyway you can . . . four in the back of the Golf. . .

. . . . and the spare on the front seat . . . yea I got a few funny looks along the way .

As the the Honda van is temporarily DOA , the old T-100 that has been parked since 2017 when I rebuilt the infernal combusted engine is going back on the road . But the old tires were near twenty years old and though they still had good tread , they were dry rotted and did not hold air for more than a day at a time .

Don't much care for the knobby sidewall pattern on these new ones , but choices are limited when you try to keep the price of four new tires under five hundred dollars . That there is about one third the value of the truck . As the front brake calipers are old and dragging , new ones have been ordered from Fleabay and will get replaced when I muster the courage to tackle that project . I fear that I might have to remake some of the brake lines as they will likely snap off when I try to replace the calipers .

Ran my DIY bumper through the planer to clean it up and gave it a coat of paint .

Chipmunks got evicted from the air-box too . 

 

First Southern Maine Antique Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet

 It was a double event weekend . After Saturday's car event in Fryeburg , on Sunday we made our way to the Hiram fair grounds for an antique motorcycle event .

Turns out the event was organized among others by Joe Kendall and Ron Lockwood , fellow Volvo Club of Maine guys . As expected , there were some "sights to behold" . The good , the bad , and the ugly . How do I put this politely ?  . . .  the full breadth of  "specimens" was on display . And believe me there is some disturbing stuff lurking in the backwoods of Maine associated with the motorbike world . Truly frightening sights , so its best to make a concentrated effort to focus on the purely mechanical .

A 1910 Excelsior

. . . with a whooping 3 & 1/2 HP

And a Harley of similar vintage

And a Harley Davidson Topper . . . go figure I never knew they had made such a thing .

A pair of restored Harleys from the 1930s

A 1973? BMW R-75-5 toaster is more my style .

Ron Lockwood's impeccable Norton Commando 750 .

And a 1972 Norton  .

A 1970? Honda CL360

A 1960s Honda Dream

Mike Evringham's impeccably restored 1965 Honda CB77 , this gem was better than new .

As well as his equally immaculate refurbished 1968? Yamaha .

One fellow had a bunch of Minibikes among them a 1972 80cc Rupp , one of the last ever made.

Meanwhile at the other end of the fairgrounds . . .

  

. . .  the local boys were making some noise of their own in the sand pit . . .

 

So we had to check that out too .

For those of you on an Iphone the video does not show embedded in the page so go to this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKxOzJyYQ-E

 

funny buggies

 

and sand rails

 

All good fun

And if you have toys you need a toy hauler of course .

Bit Steamy Today

 Peak for the day 104 degrees F and about 90% humidity

 And for the metrically handicapped

35th Annual Rod & Kustom Kruisers Rod Run in Fryeburg

 Saturday we made the forty mile run up to the Fryeburg fair grounds in the old Volvo.

  A relaxed affair with a bunch of custom rods camping out for a few days at the fair grounds.

My favorite of the show .

I really could not identify what it was

The running gear and engine are from a late model Chevrolet pickup .

It has a electric-hydraulic operated dump bed too .

The lines and proportions were all wrong for anything I was familiar with .

Until I queried the builder and he pointed at the badge I had previously dismissed . The cab, hood and fenders are from a Buffalo fire truck . A custom coach builder that built fire trucks similar to American-LeFrance . All the panels are hand made on an English wheel and no two are exactly alike .

 Right next door was this guy up form Massachusetts with his 1915 Ford T rod

I'd never quite appreciated the high windows on the early Ts . Makes it all look a bit like a funeral car .

He was towing this little teardrop camper rig

The thing even had an small house air-conditioner built into the roof .

We had  parked among the trucks , that's us on the right margin of the photo

There were all manner of custom jobs

Even a T-bird rat rig with a blow up doll as a passenger .

A Home made camper rig on a Chevy flat bed

And an old Ford towing a tiny home trailer made up to look like a railroad car

I think we were the only non-hot-rod there . Spent a couple hours looking at the cars and chatting with the builders and were back home by three pm .

This one for Mr Filthiecus

 All tarted up just like he likes them . . .

Seen recently at the local Cabelas . . .
 

Meanwhile at the Filthiecus School of Fine Marksmanship . . . for wayward retards. . . .

Hodgman's Frozen custard Cruise-in

 Last Sunday we managed to make the first car event of the year up at Hodgman's Frozen Custard in New Gloucester .

A red PV544 . . . No Quasimodo did not get a new paint job , but after seeing this one I am sorely tempted . This one now in the inevitably temporary custody of one of dad's old friends the legendary Knucklebuster Allen Wheeler out of Leeds Maine and the organizer of this event .

 Sadly only three Volvos were present , two of Allan's and ours . Oh well ! At least one small creature found our Volvo of interest .

 Others got far more attention

Fun !

Check out that air intake . . . an old Gerry can

Seats were non-existent . . . you ride on the floor-boards . Note the air gauges to control the suspension airbags .

 Another interesting rat-rod

As I forgot to bring the camera all you get is a few cell-phone shots . It was a nice day and best of all not a wretched face diaper in sight .