Eben wanted to display his art work at a recent show in Burlington so decided to hammer out another Rhino. This time it took only a fraction of the time because the form in which it is hammered out on was sculpted and ready to go. To make the display at the show more dramatic, his wife painted the form orange to have hanging next to the completed copper sculpture.

In many areas on the finished piece, the copper has been stretched so much that it is thin as tissue paper, delicate enough to poke your finger through.

Rhino Mold painted in oil orange

Rhinocerous in 1/1 scale

OSCA, 2 Ferraris and Lagonda

We had some cool cars at the shop on Labor day so we lined them up and shot them. I am so happy with my new Canon Camera that is designed to take abuse but I am not happy with the photos I took on this day because they are blurry for some reason. It seems like when the sun is out in full force the camera cannot handle the bright light. Of course, there was likely to be a grease smudge on the lens!

The cars photographed are a 1956 OSCA MT-4, 1956 Ferrari 750 Monza, the 1950 Ferrari 212, and a 1934 Lagonda Rapide that was leaving for the Colorado Grand later in the day. The OSCA is going to be worked on for the 2010 Mille Miglia and the Monza is getting the camshaft replaced due to severe wear to the lobes.

After sending off all the various parts for re-finishing, the front suspension to the Lusso is finished. Karl replaced the bushings and pins and the pivots operate smoothly without a hint of play. The black parts are powder-coated and the arms are nickel plated. I located enough of the button style grease fittings to complete the job once it is on the car.

Even thought the pins and bushings were tight, it is amazing how worn down they were. The outer links had the original phenolic bushings which disintegrated upon removal and the pins were rusted and pitted beyond re-use. The big inner pins were excellent but the bushings were worn severely so now, everything is as new and ready for assembly to the car.

Rebuilt front suspension for Ferrari 250

Here are the before and after photos that show how nice things can look when they are detailed properly

Original and cruddy front suspension

We ended up buying that 1936 Ford Convertible that I described earlier but instantly sold it to a man in PA. Unfortunately the previous owner lost the key so Dennis came in to pick the lock, here you can see him using a shove knife to push the tumblers up and turn the cylinder. We got the lock picked but the lock pin that stops the steering shaft is totally rusted stuck in the housing and will need to be seriously worked to get out.  I think that I will weld a bolt to the pin and use a slide hammer to break it free.

The car has some rust but overall it is straight as an arrow and the hard to replace things such as the grille and headlight trims and lenses are perfect. Hopefully it gets restored to original specification and not turned into a Street Rod.

Ford V-8 85 Convertible

Picking the lock on the Ford

The burning man Art Car works! My part of the development, the diesel engine, hydraulic pumps, motors and hoses actually made the thing self propelled and the carousel clockwork is smooth and silent. It would have been fun if it was noisy and scary but it moves with precision and ease!

The machine is in Nevada right now, hopefully it can be re-assembled after the breakdown to transport it 3000 miles.

Burning man complete

Hydraulic/Diesel