ProjectMotorhead.com - Transportation Specialists

Truck Show Photos: Texas Heat Wave Was Hot, And Not The Show We Remember, But We’ve Still Got Photos To Share

August 1, 2021 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Charles Wickam and I were all excited to be heading down to the Williamson County Expo Center in Taylor Texas for the Texas Heat Wave Show, even though we had heard that the last couple years had not been super kind to the show. Texas Heat Wave has been around forever and was one of the premier custom truck shows when I was starting out in the mini truck scene and was one of those shows that Courtney, Finnegan and Alexander would hit and cover in the pages of the magazine all the time and that I dreamt about going to. So when I moved to Texas in December of 1997 I was stoked as hell to be taking my lifted, bagged, shaved, flamed, and billet-equipped 1992 Chevy pickup to the show the next summer. And oh did I! And it was awesome!

Everywhere you looked were bagged, body dropped, lifted, shaved, and all-around custom trucks of every size and description. From mellow street cruisers and daily drivers to the most insane show trucks, they were all there and cruising the grounds. This show was definitely what it was originally started to be back in 1989 when two clubs started this show to be like a West Coast truck show. That means three days, camping and partying and cruising, like Resolutions, numerous events on the River in California and Arizona, and more. And the folks in Texas nailed it with Texas Heat Wave. Unfortunately, the growth and fame also caused some issues as the event outgrew venues in the Austin area and found resistance from some local law enforcement. This was the case when I went in 1998, but it was still an epic show.

Fast forward over the next few years and other venues and the show was still great even with some location challenges. I moved back to California in 2007 and didn’t do much in the custom truck show scene as I was focused on racing, but when I came back here to Texas last year I was hoping to hit Heat Wave up again, which leads me to this weekend.

It was hot, which is no surprise for Heat Wave, as it is always held in late July or August which is the hottest time of the year here in Texas. So Wickam and I trudged our fat asses around the show, losing a few pounds in water at least, and a whole stack of cash out of our wallets to get in, and checked out most everything that was on-site, and the turnout was certainly not overwhelming. I’m sure COVID is still impacting things, but there was a lot of open space at this show, which has not been the case in other custom truck shows this year, and the venue didn’t seem to be utilized very well. Despite having lots of nice open grassy areas there was a huge amount of the show on gravel which made for a very dusty mess that just wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as it could have been. And for us, the variety of trucks just wasn’t there that we’d seen at other events this year, which was again a little disappointing.

I love trucks, and respect stuff even if it isn’t my cup of tea, but the bro dozers felt like the largest group of trucks at this event this year and we heard it from several other show goers walking around. Again, kudos to those guys for building some cool rides, but we also wanted to see more lowered and custom trucks. And there were some, which we have photos of to share, but we were hoping for a lot more. The tattoo expo part of the show was small but cool and the stereo display and sales area was hopping too. In fact we spoke to a few manufacturers about projects we have to plan for and got some great information and saw some cool new stuff. We’re hoping for big things from Texas Heat Wave in 2022, so we aren’t giving up on it, and hope that all of you truck enthusiasts out there will come on down and make Heat Wave great again as well!

CHECK OUT OUR FIRST GALLERY OF PHOTOS BELOW AND CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO MAKE IT LARGE SO YOU CAN CLICK THROUGH THEM ALL QUICK AND EASY

Tags: BangShift Galleries, CAR SHOWS, Gallery, Truck / Tractor Events, XL Event Coverage, XL Gallery, XL Spotlight

Here’s Our BANGshift Pick Spirit Award Winner From C10 Nationals: He Won A Free Entry To C10’s In The Park!

May 18, 2021 in Uncategorized | Permalink

May 18, 2021Chad ReynoldsCAR SHOWS, Event Coverage, XL Gallery, XL Spotlight, XL Street Truck Feature, XL Truck Feature

Here’s Our BANGshift Pick Spirit Award Winner From C10 Nationals: He Won A Free Entry To C10’s In The Park!

(Words and Photos by Charles Wickam) With half of BANGshift officially in Texas now, and attending more events, I personally wanted to give the presence a little boost in the public’s eyes. I had purchased two entries to C10s in the Park but realizing my C10 wont be done in time I decided to pass my entry on to an individual who exemplifies the BANGshift spirit. The truck of my choosing would be a truck that myself, Chad or Brian would want in the driveway, a truck you could hop into and go to the corner store for milk or go to the local dragstrip and make some quarter mile passes. It wasn’t necessarily going to be the best looking, fastest, or the coolest, but it checks all the boxes in what we all like.

Roy Jones from Colorado has that truck. His 1970 C10 was bought brand new by his dad, who used it daily until Roy was old enough to drive, and then Roy drove it all through high school and started to make it his own. Roy kept the original paint, and has had pinstriping added all over it, then clear coated it to seal in all that goodness. It has been lowered on 30 spoke wire wheels that have been painted beige to match the pinstriping, and the color combo works perfectly together. Under the hood there’s a stout 427 big block Chevy engine mated to a 4 speed for BANGshifting gears when he gets the urge to lay into it.

Roy was asking me about the show C10s in the Park when I met him here at the C10 Nationals, and said he wished he could go but the entry was cut off at 500 trucks. Getting an entry for C10s in the Park is like trying to get front row seats for the big music concert, not an easy task. So with me holding two entries, one each for Chad and myself, I wanted to pass mine on to Roy. I asked him if he would stay for awards, and with that my plan was set into motion. I spoke with Chris who is one of the co-promoters of the show and asked if I could give away the show entry and he was all for it.

At the beginning of the awards I was called to the stage to give the audience a short description of what BANGshift is about and about giving out the award. With that I called Roy to the stage and he gave a description of his truck along with a brief history on it. Roy was blown away and beyond excited about the award and we look forward to hanging out with him and his wife at C10s in the Park this coming September 18th. If you’re into C10 trucks, this is one of the best one day truck shows you could attend. Now here’s where it gets fun. (don’t tell Brian or Chad this) But I will be giving away a entry to the C10 Nationals to a truck that again exemplifies the BANGShift spirit, so those of you who are there showing at C10s in the Park, you could be going home with a paid show entry for the 2022 C10 Nationals!

Check out the photos of Roy’s cool C10 below, and if you missed our photo gallery from the event, click on the link below.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR C10 Nationals PHOTO GALLERIES

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Event Photos: The C10 Nationals At Texas Motor Speedway Were Huge And Our Photos Start Right Here!

Tags: CAR SHOWS, Event Coverage, XL Gallery, XL Spotlight, XL Street Truck Feature, XL Truck Feature

$1,000 Build: The $1,000 F100 Is Running And Getting Close To Being A Real Hot Rod!

May 9, 2021 in Uncategorized | Permalink

May 09, 2021Chad ReynoldsFORD, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Spotlight, XL Tech Stories, XL Videos

$1,000 Build: The $1,000 F100 Is Running And Getting Close To Being A Real Hot Rod!

Okay folks, it’s tire smoking time! The $1,000 build is going together splendidly and is really starting to look like something you’d want to cruise around town. I love it. And anytime you do burnouts, after taking off the junk tires and bolting on new ones, you need a pat on the head. This is good stuff here.

This is a no bull real deal $1,000 build that is cool, will be fun to drive, and can be done by you at home. Yes the real budget is $1,000 and yes selling stuff off the donor vehicle to get budget back is allowed, and to be even more real about the budget the tools being used are even being kept on a list so you know how much money those cost as well!

So here’s the deal. Take one Lincoln Town Car, aka a Crown Vic with more chrome and stuff, and cut the body off of it. Then take an F100 body that looks considerably better than it really is and put the two together. All the while making sure to sell off anything and everything you don’t need from the donor so that you can use that for other parts and pieces to complete the truck. So you understand the math, we’ll make up an example. Lets say you were doing this at home and found a Town Car for $1,200. You buy it, sell the seats, fenders, mirrors, trim, bumpers, and air bags for a total of $575 and now your total investment in the donor car is only $625. See?

Okay, so now lets get back to the videos. This is part 14 and 15 of the build right here, so if you missed any of the others then use the link below to go see them all in order. It is worth it for sure.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OTHER VIDEO INSTALLMENTS IN THE PROJECT IF YOU MISSED ANY SO FAR

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Edd China Is Working On An Orange, Yes And ORANGE, And It Is Awesome!

Tags: Ford, TECH, Tech Stories, Videos, XL Spotlight, XL Tech Stories, XL Videos

You Should Look At These Fire Systems For Your Trailer, With A Number Of Recent Trailer Fires, Everyone Should Be Thinking About It.

January 19, 2021 in Uncategorized | Permalink

I’m a big proponent of a fire system in any race car or fast street car, but with recent trailer fires making the news throughout the racing community, I think it’s time for everyone with an enclosed trailer to start taking fire danger, and automatic fire protection, more seriously. There are many different makers of fire systems for race cars, but the basics are super simple. Bottles of fire retardant are connected to tubing that runs through the vehicle to nozzles in strategic locations. In the event of a fire, either manual or automatic activation sends the retardant through the tubing and out the nozzles. Nozzles are usually placed so that they are aimed at important areas like the driver, or areas that would most likely be the source of the fire and fuel. Trailer systems are very similar, but contain more retardant and have nozzles placed throughout the trailer.

Like with my car systems, I prefer a system that has both manual AND automatic activation, and this system from FireAde has both. Their special Thermal Blocks automatically activate when the temperature at the block reaches 199 degrees. We are big fans of these Thermal Blocks because in the event that the driver is unable to activate the system during a run, the system will do its job on its own. The same goes for trailer systems. You might be driving down the road and have no idea it has caught fire inside. Or you may have it parked at the house or shop and by the time anyone knows it is on fire, it is too late. The other added benefit to FireAde is that should the system be activated it puts out the fire but does not make a mess. There is no cleanup, no powder to ruin things, no harmful chemicals.

But there are also a few passive, but automatic fire suppression products available as well. Items like the Elide Fire Fireball, seen below as well. These are designed to be placed in the compartment you are trying to protect. If a fire happens, the ball will melt and release the fire retardant and put the fire out. They are $120 on Amazon, for a 6 inch ball with bracket, which will protect 60 sq ft. So that’s approximately 7 feet of trailer length. So, a 24 foot enclosed trailer would need 4 of them hanging on the walls. If I was going this route, I wouldn’t go with less than 6, but that’s because I’d rather be safe than sorry. Keep in mind, that while this option is cheaper the retardant is a powder that will need to be cleaned up and may be harmful to some stuff. But at least it won’t have burned to the ground.

There are other marine systems, which would work in the trailers, that are available, but most I found seem to be very expensive. For my money, these two options seem to be the best and most user friendly.

One other option, that I think would be good to have along with either of the systems below, is a smoke detector system from Advanced Wireless Technology. This system will give you a warning before the fire can spread, but in my opinion they should be used with Fire Suppression as well.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE Advance Wireless Technology Smoke Detector.

At $1,899 the FireAde Fire Suppression system below is a DEAL and will cover a typical 34 foot or smaller enclosed trailer. Have something bigger? Don’t worry, they can put together a custom system for your trailer.

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Tags: 1320 New Drag Race Products, 1320 Spotlight, Apex New Products, Apex Spotlight, New Products, spotlight, XL New Truck Products, XL Spotlight

The Southern Rock Racing Series Finals Are Full Of Rollovers And Crazy High Flying Action Right Here

November 22, 2020 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Nov 22, 2020Chad ReynoldsXL Spotlight, XL Videos

The Southern Rock Racing Series Finals Are Full Of Rollovers And Crazy High Flying Action Right Here

If you haven’t seen Rock Racing before, then strap into your chair because it’s about to get crazy. This year the Southern Rock Racing Series visited Oklahoma’s Mid America Outdoors off-road park to throw down for their season finals. What I love about this course is the fact that on run one they are forced to take rock bouncers to a whole new level of fast on a course that starts out much more like Ultra 4 trucks see than a tradition rock bouncer course. Of course they soon find themselves climbing a hill that featured rocks and lots of dry loose dirt which makes it really fun to watch. Oh and did I mention that a bunch of rollovers happened at this one? Yeah, they aren’t messing around and find run two an even bigger challenge for those interested in staying mostly on four wheels.

We’ve seen rock racing rollovers, but some of these are pretty gnarly and some happen so quick that they must be incredibly violent inside the rig. Watch the video and if you like what you see, then let us know. This is some serious action that features high rpm and big power being put to the test on what might be one of the toughest courses we’ve seen in a while. This one is fun to watch.

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Big Tire, Small Tire, No Time, Drag Radials, And So Much More From Street Car Super Nationals 16 In Las Vegas The 44th Man Cup Motorcycle Drag Racing FuelTech World Finals Presented By Wiseco LIVE!

Tags: XL Spotlight, XL Videos

Here’s Every Bonneville Speed Week Photo Gallery We’ve Got From 2020! Check Them All Out Here!

August 15, 2020 in Uncategorized | Permalink

Aug 15, 2020Chad Reynolds1320 Spotlight, Apex Spotlight, BangShift Galleries, Event Coverage, Gallery, LAND SPEED RACES, Land Speed Races, XL Gallery, XL Spotlight

Bonneville Speed Week 2020 is in the books, with George Poteet and the Speed Demon team once again taking home the Hot Rod Trophy, which is impressive as hell considering the challenging conditions at Bonneville National Speedway this year. With this year’s strange climate of COVID and everything else, the number of cars and fans at Speed Week was definitely down, but that might have been a blessing for some as the number of cars going down the race track each day meant it probably stayed in better shape than it would have otherwise. And even though Speed Demon is full of the latest and greatest technology, including very effective traction control, you can’t go down a marginal track as fast as a good one. Period. Traction control doesn’t make you fast, it just helps refine the power a little in the tougher spots.

Don’t for a second think that all our coverage was of Speed Demon though, we’ve got jillions of photos of hot rods, customs, race cars, and more on the salt, and it doesn’t matter what you like you are going to find it in one of these cool photo galleries.