Recently, I was fortunate enough to be able to go up to the Pomona Fairplex for the annual Grand National Roadster Show.  It was amazing!  Masses of people were milling about (I heard there were 40,000 folks there, grand total), and there were, of course, loads of cool cars, roadsters, trucks, and motorcycles to look at.

The main focus of the competition is, of course, the roadster, and there were so many awesome projects that caught my eye, but I just wanted to share a few of the highlights of my trip with you.

This was, hands down, my favorite roadster – actually, it’s a truck-roadster combination, but it had that “track look” that I love. . . Check out the craftsmanship on this car — the attention to detail was impeccable!

The place was like motorcycle heaven – it made me want to get back on my bike right then and there… or maybe one of theirs – much shinier and way more tricked out than my current ride. I loved this Triumph 650 Bonneville named “Brown Sugar” It took me back to one of my racing mentors Gary Scott who rode his Triumph TT and flat track bike @ Ascot Park in Gardena CA. I can still hear that bike screamin down the track!

I saw this blown HEMI and immediately thought that this would be the perfect engine to install in my Toyota Prius! Talk about uncontrolled acceleration — most folks on the road have no clue what real horse power is. I might wanna get the brakes checked out before I install that bullet though…

And, if I got such a bitchin’ engine, I would probably be tempted to speed like a maniac on my way to the shop, so while we’re installing that engine, I think I might have to go find one of the pinstripers that were there at the show to paint this on my car for me.

And who could forget the food?  As if the automotive eye candy wasn’t awesome enough, there was Pink’s Hot Dogs!  It’s a genuine Hollywood institution, so I had to break down and get one of their hotdogs – the server recommended the “Martha Stewart” – I said what’s in it — she said it’s a kosher hotdog, strip of bacon, sauerkraut, sour cream, relish in a kaiser bun.

Something tells me the bacon might just cancel out the “kosherness” of the hotdog, but hey, it’s a Martha Stewart — so it’s a good thing, right? I loved it! So next time you’re rolling down Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, stop in and get a Pinks hot dog, or better yet plan on coming to next years GNRS– see you there!

At Cal State Fullerton, engineering students are getting ready to race, but first, they’ll need get their welding engines fired up!

CSUF students build a race car chassis
By DAMON LOWNEY
Daily Titan Online Editor
Published: February 08, 2010

One inch steel tubes were welded together over winter break to form a race car chassis as Cal State Fullerton engineering students toil to build a race car to compete in the annual Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) competition.

By May, the Yamaha R6 powered senior project, built to FSAE’s race car specifications, will be ready to race.

The steel tubular space-frame chassis was finished on Jan. 26, according to CSUF FSAE team director Fred Hogarth.

“During break I saw footage of other teams chassis completed … They finished by mid-January. We finished by late January.” He said he believes CSUF’s car is about even in the build phase with cars from other university FSAE teams.

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Terex Simplicity’s recent profitable months have turned out to mean good news as well for the welding students at neighboring schools.

Donation of equipment welds together knowledge for students

By SEAN ELY, Argus-Press Staff Writer
Monday, February 1, 2010 10:17 AM EST

Terex Simplicity’s recent sales increases prompted the company to purchase new welding equipment to further improve their business.

That couldn’t have been better news for both Byron and Ovid-Elsie high schools.

“We had a number of pieces of welding equipment on reserve as backups, so we decided to find a home for them,” said Keith Shivnen, Terex general manager. “We reached out to the local schools to boost and supplement their classes.”

The high schools’ industrial arts and welding programs received the massive MIG and stick Lincoln welding machines, valued at about $500 apiece with Terex maintenance supervisor Neil Marshall coordinating pick up and delivery. Ovid-Elsie received eight machines while Byron requested two.

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Contribute to the economy — buy more motorcycles!!!

Harley Sees Loss, Sales Slump
Kelsey Swanekamp, 01.22.10, 10:30 AM EST

The motorcycle giant was hit hard by the economy, but expects to bounce back by cutting costs.

Difficult roads lie ahead for Harley-Davidson, which reported a wider than expected loss for the fourth quarter on Friday.

Falling motorcycle sales and restructuring costs brought the company to a $147.2 million loss for the quarter. Including discontinued operations, Harley-Davidson ( HOG – news – people ) lost $218.7 million. As the difficult economy kept wallets closed and credit short, sales in the U.S. dropped by 27.9%.

The company recently announced that it would introduce a dozen of its motorcycles to the Indian market. International sales dropped by only 10.3% during the fourth quarter, far less than sales in the U.S.

The motorcycle giant plans to reorganize its York, Pa. manufacturing plant to focus on motorcycle assembly, metal fabrication and paint, having reached a seven-year labor agreement in December. It also consolidated three vehicle test facilities into a single site in Arizona. The company expects that the restructuring will streamline operations and provide essential cost savings on the manufacturing end of the business.

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Eight Caledonia Area High School students are revving up their welding engines to compete in a national motorcycle building contest — the 2010 Donnie Smith Chopper Class Challenge, taking place at the end of this month!

Project puts Caledonia students in the limelight
By Charlie Warner
Argus News Editor

While it’s not quite Orange County Choppers or the hit TV reality show American Chopper starring Paul Teutul, Sr. and his two sons Paul, Jr. and Mike, a group of motorcycle builders from Caledonia are basking in the limelight just the same.

Eight students of Caledonia Area High School industrial education instructor Scott Martin hit the big time last week when it was announced the Caledonia Chopper Club has been selected as one of just five school groups in the United States to compete in a national motorcycle building contest.

The eight students include Ricky Pitts, Rebecca Sabo, Ben Schoh, Bill Ranzenberger, Elliot Breeser, Brandon and Lyndon Becker and Albert Kilger.

The contest is called the 2010 Donnie Smith Chopper Class Challenge. Judging for the motorcycle-building challenge will take place March 27 and 28 at the St. Paul River Centre, St. Paul, Minn.

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It was a fun night for me at the monthly American Welding Society — San Diego Section meeting. This night’s topic? Induction heating with a system unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Gone are the days of waiting hours and hours for your length of pipe to warm up to the right temperature –

Miller has just released the new ProHeat 35 Induction Heating System, which works by inducing heat electromagnetically, rather than via a conductor, thus saving the operator incredible amounts of time and energy.

Simply wrap the induction coils around whatever piece of metal you’re working on, and in just a few minutes, you’re ready to go!

This picture was taken looking inside the length of pipe that was being heated up by the ProHeat 35 — you can’t see it here, but that tube was glowing red hot on the inside!

And even better, when I tried touching the coils wrapped around it?
Cold as ice! This product is simply amazing!

But perhaps the best part about this whole new system is that you don’t even have to buy it! Red-D-Arc will rent out one of their machines to you for as long as you need!

It seems that after months and months for waiting for an upswing in the economy, metal fabricators, at least, are looking to get their first big break this new year!

Metal fabricators growing optimistic
By Rick Barrett of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Jan. 19, 2010

Metal fabrication companies are increasingly optimistic about an uptick in orders this year, according to a new survey from a national trade group with Wisconsin membership.

The same survey, from the Precision Metalforming Association, also indicates that workers are being recalled from layoff. The number of companies with workers on reduced schedules or layoff dipped to 52% in January, the lowest level since November 2008.

Metal-forming companies are a key part of Wisconsin’s manufacturing base, often shaping, bending and making parts for large equipment manufacturers such as Bucyrus International, of South Milwaukee, and Oshkosh Corp.

Metal-forming has been hammered by the recession. Yet companies report that business conditions are improving, said Bill Gaskin, president of the Cleveland-based Precision Metalforming Association.

“January’s numbers for orders, with 52% of survey respondents expecting increases, is the most positive report in years. Most metal-forming companies have reduced their costs dramatically and are beginning to return to profitability,” Gaskin said.

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I never thought I’d see the day. Let me repeat that – NEVER.

But the day has indeed arrived, from whence forward, a newbie welder will be able to practice welding, not the old-fashioned way, with torch and electrode, but via virtual reality.

You can thank Lincoln Electric for this new advancement in welding technology — they are the producers of the new VRTEX 360 which enables the wearer to weld via a virtual welding gun and a helmet that is equipped with monitors on the inside.

You can “virtually” weld in a welding booth, on a construction site — even on a base in the desert!

And, it has to be said, this is the greenest welding machine on the market, and it will enable students to learn faster than ever before.

Who knows — this newest welding “video game” could become so popular that instructors will have to pry the virtual torch right out of their students’ unwilling hands.

One can only hope.

What are you doing this Sunday?  Planning on going to church?

How about Metal Church, with your favorite preacher, Jesse James?!?

I got this forwarded to me in an email and immediately knew that we had to post this here on Joe Welder!

Ron Patrick’s Street-Legal Jet Powered Volkswagen Beetle

This is my street-legal jet car on full afterburner.

The car has two engines: the production gasoline engine in the front driving the front wheels and the jet engine in the back.

The idea is that you drive around legally on the gasoline engine and when you want to have some fun, you spin up the jet and get on the burner (you can start the jet while driving along on the gasoline engine).

The car was built because I wanted the wildest street-legal ride possible.

With this project, I was able to use some stuff I learned while getting my fancy engineering degree (I have a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University) to design a street-legal jet car without the distraction of how other people have done it in the past – because no one has.

I don’t know how fast the car will go and probably never will. The car was built to thrill me, not kill me. That doesn’t stop me from the occasional blast on the highway though.

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