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MAGAZINE

March 2000

HOP UP 2000 - The Annual

GET YER HOP UP 2000 HERE!!!!!YOU GOT A JOB. YOU GOT A HOT ROD.. YOU GOT $12.95. So click on the little goodie for the order form, use it, and we'll ship one of em to you, shipping included in the continental U.S.

Everybody else add $5. Yes, especially if you're in BFE.

It's the 130 page cool-ass report on traditional rods, customs and Hop Up Guys coast to lovin' coast. That's nationwide, ain't it?

The Order Form (click here).

HOP UP 2000 LOOKS LIKE THIS

WHAT'S UP

RATTLE CAN NATS

The date for Rattle Can Nats III is not set, but applications are coming in. Hop Up Guy Mike McClure submits his entry for the 00 event, below.

WE THINK MIKE COULD MAKE IT HAPPEN!

HIS REAL ENTRY IS THE REASON FOR THE PARTY IN THE FIRST PLACE.

PROJECTS

The old black pick up truck quit running. It had demonstrated symptoms of running out of gas.... but........it had all been put together according to code. Followed all the rules. Boiled out the gas tank . Had it resealed. New fuel lines. Ran a filter. Checked and changed the filter. We're talkin' new stuff here, guys. Rebuilt the carburetor. Took it apart. Back together. Didn't short-change anything. The sumbitch still ran out of gas.We tried to fix everything except the newly resealed gas tank. "I refuse to believe that that guy (who's out of business now) used old-fashioned sealant (we used to call it slushing compound) that won't stand up to this Communist gas we got these days."

Boy was I wrong. Nothing for the record book there, huh? The truck didn't make it back from the hillclimb, Mildness had to tow the racecar, and we hop-scotched that damn truck 35 miles in traffic for so long we didn't care if we EVER were a car guy again. Three whiskeys, red meat and a ceegar got us back, although Mild Mitch wondered..

So, after cooling our heels and futzin' with other stuff for about 3 months, we started to take the thing apart and have the tank redone. By an expert(?). We'll see. It's not back from the radiator shop yet. Since we had put the tank in the last time, L.A. Ray had built a bitchin trailer hitch. Now we know how to take THAT off. And the muffler guy had welded in the tailpipes so we had to cut them off to get the tank out. Maybe he'll redo them next time so the axle housing doesn't crash into the pipes on the big ones. We cut them off with a die-grinder that shot sparks all over the area where the gas had spilled when draining the tank, and fumes were emanating from the fill pipe and sender hole. No fire hazard there, right? It was touch and go, but we had a job to do. We need this thing ambulatory so it can be useful again, and so we can get it outa the way to work on the next one on our long, long list.

But, don't worry. That have to do it over' routine is only the norm here in River City, right?

All of your projects are perfect the first time. Aren't they?

They're NOT? Oh..............we're not alone?

Now I can pull this stake out of my heart.

HOP UP CARS GO FROM BASIC..................

...............TO NOT SO BASIC!

ALLEN, KERT, AND INGE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO HOP UP 2000!!!

BRIAN CAMPBELL'S COUPE

GOIN' RACIN'

BOARD TRACK MILLER

This board track Miller is supposed to be made of not too much' old stuff. There is enough there to legitimize it, they say, and who's to say it wasn't repaired the same way it might have been repaired after a crash back in those days? It's way cool with us. This is among the automotive art(ifacts) that take my breath away. That's not a cliché......when coming upon something this beautiful, something this meaningful in the big picture, the image comes through our aging, myopic eyes and the cognitive resources between graying temples hook up.........and a shallowness develops in my chest, and I breathe differently. That's apparently where the expression came from. When we are enriched this way by someone else's investment and care, it feels good and whole and worthwhile. Cars can be an emotional thing sometimes. Art.Yeah, boys. It's art.

MORE.......

In another form of racing, Bellman and Bellson are on point.......the parts are laid out, being tacked together and the midnight oil is burning. Visions of glory pepper their thoughts as they prepare their new lakes roadster for the 00 season. Gotta make tech by May, they say. Now, they're not inexperienced at racing efforts- motorcycles and the rest - but recent trips to the lakes and Bonneville made them want to throw in as participants. We think their time line is kinda condensed but Hey!. That's racin'. We are going to ask Brent if we can do a garage visit sometime soon. We won't say where the garage is but we'll show it to you...........if we tell you where it is, you see, some dirty-legged fraud-rodder might come pilfer some stuff. Oh, yeah......did we tell you about the dogs?