Saturday, December 23, 2023

excellent amount of dress up on this Willys Jeep for a parade


Christmas tree harvesting


coincidentally when photographing this diner, a sweet Barracuda was pulling out





a 'kid' and his 'car' in Portland, Maine c. 1950


it's pretty cool how much stuff shows up on the internet, like guys who have been reunited with their 1960s and 70s soap box derby winning cars


Above, Myron Neff won the Logansport Soap Box Derby in 1957, at age 14, and went to Akron for the finals, but the shipping company lost his car after that, and then it recently was discovered by Mike and Frank on American Pickers, and Myron bought it from the current owner


Jack Littleton captured the second Corning Soap Box Derby in 1966, Frank Hamm on the right, was the race director. 

A planned 1972 competition was washed out by the Tropical Storm Agnes flood, and that, combined with the loss of Chevrolet as a national sponsor, contributed to the demise of the Corning race.

soap box derby cars

 





E. M. Rogers, taking the controls of a scout car duing his visit to Rough Close Camp. 27th August 1966, during the commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of the Wolf Cub section of the Coventry Boy Scouts


about a 100 years ago, these games would have been likely to be Christmas presents, wrapped and under the tree












Tire racing in Scarborough, Maine, 1920



I tried finding more photos or interesting info on this obsolete county fair contest, but didn't find a thing online

Sept 1891 news, The Wheel and Cycling Trade Review, Volume 8


Bus versus Maine winter snow in Portland, Maine, c. 1957


Flying Yankee departing Portland, Maine 1939


The Banksy stop sign with three military drones on - was unveiled on Friday. But within an hour it was stolen as witnesses took photos.


The Miami, Florida-based micro-mobility company known for allowing rambunctious, helmetless e-scooterists to fly down city streets declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy

1977 Yamaha XT500 whose owner died soon after buying it, only has 900 miles on it, and was then carefully stored away for 45 years, only recently being put up for sale on eBay last month


The XT500’s legendary status was solidified when it secured victories in the early years of the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally. In 1979, ridden by Cyril Neveu, the XT500 clinched its first victory. The following year, both Cyril Neveu and German rider Herbert Schek rode XT500s to finish first and second respectively, showcasing the bike’s endurance capabilities.

It was bought at the estate sale, and listed on Ebay for 13,500

Cummins Inc. has been fined with a $1.675 billion penalty in a settlement for installing defeat devices on the engines of about 960,000 2013 to 2019 RAM 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks,

The Department said Cummins allegedly installed so-called "defeat devices" to bypass or disable emissions controls such as emission sensors and onboard computers.

"The company has seen no evidence that anyone acted in bad faith and does not admit wrongdoing," Cummins said in a statement.

thank you to Andrew P and family, and Tom M for sending me Christmas cards and tips!








I'm not surprised that there are time lapse videos of fundamental mechanics fixing collision damaged trucks in India... it's amazing to watch the blacksmith style repairs to vehicles


these guys sure could benefit from a big mag drill, socket wrenches, and welding helmets

So, 1st, disassembly to the very frame C channels, and removing everything from those







without a magdrill, or a shop with an overhead hoist, and drill press, they worked up a two hand drill and some ingenuity to create a "where ever it's needed" drill press from a 2x4 and chain



and the frame straightening for the squared off welding... impressive simple hand made big clamp, 


and this square steel box for using with a 10 or 20 ton press... wow