Where is it written that you have to put your classic vehicle away just because the leaves have fallen and there’s snow in the forecast? Bucking the trend of garage-bound classics is a new wave of vintage vehicles that offer year-round enjoyment. Whether it’s conquering rugged terrains or cruising through […]
I somehow ended up with this ’29 Model A Roadster carcass I want to build a little replica-racer out of. It was cheap, the bones were there and I figured I could build it up when I found some non-existent free time. I’m a little stubborn and although I could buy an entire new steel replica body, or all of the panels new to make this car all solid again, I’d rather build the panels I need from scratch and bring a close to 90-year old car back from the dead for very little money out of my pocket. I decided I wanted to start in the front of the body and work my way back. The side cowl panels are almost ALWAYS rotted out on the bottom of these cars and after I looked at the remains of the originals I decided I could easily tackle making new panels for only a few bucks in sheet metal.
Nothing can make a car look better than a nice set of wheels and tires. Wide whitewall tires are the kings of cool when it comes to old cars and they really make your ride standout. But nothing can be a bigger bummer than when they get stained from a dirt, grease, or road grime. I’ve heard numerous methods for cleaning whitewalls but I’ve learned a few tips that will easily make your whitewalls shine again.
After you’ve been building and modifying cars for a while there’s some things that you become pretty particular about. It could be just how you like something to look or function, or just an extra step you take to save yourself headaches in the future. One of mine is an exhaust system that’s leak-free and sounds good. I’ve had bad luck over the years of header unions leaking over time. It seems either they crack at the welds or they just fit poorly and leave much to be desired when fitting the rest of the exhaust.
Recently the trend for fully customized motorcycle helmets has picked up again and we’ve even begun to see custom helmet “shows” where artists, owners, and painters can show off their helmet. We decided to brew up our own custom helmet using a vintage helmet and show the process along the way. Mike L. is our resident paint tech guy and he did the work to transform this helmet.
Flake, Pearl, Candy, Lace, and all things flashy are what full blown Kustom Paintjobs are all about. If you want to flex your painting skills and standout with your paint job you’ll need to learn the process of custom taping, spaying candy, flake, and pearl. We decided to let Eastwood Tech Mike L. paint a skateboard to show you the basic steps to achieving a wild paint job like the pros do.
Here at Eastwood we’re always working on new products, but we always make sure we’re testing products we’ve offered for quality. Recently JR decided to powder coat a vintage mini bike to show off some of our Hot Coat Powder and test the outcome of our metallic powders.
For most here at Eastwood The fall AACA Hershey swap meet has become a tradition to visit each year. The reality with Hershey is that if you can’t take off of work and come mid-week, you’re going to miss the REAL good deals. Heck, some of the best deals are scored by fellow vendors on setup day it seems! I decided to swing by on the first official day of the swap meet and see what this year had in store.
Antique cars had some pretty simple jacks that aren’t hard to figure out how they work. The problem is that the jack is usually a WRECK on anything older and especially an antique. I’ve found over the years that if the part or accessory (in this case an old jack) is still solid structurally, it can often times be saved and reconditioned or restored and put back into service.
