Customs I finished my Mysterion clone and have a book contract!

[Q OTE="clunker, post: 11837505, member: 142481"]You're not kidding. Nice work! Grinling Gibbons would be proud....[/QUOTE]

Maybe. Did his high school have a panther mascot?

 

Ha! Not sure there was "high school" in 1664, but maybe he was "eaten" by a panther......
(recognized as the best woodcarver in history!)

Your Mysterion is amazing too, you are a craftsman, ser.

 

Actually I have it on good authority that is why he took up carving. This is a snapshot at one of his football games. Had trouble with live mascot, he had to carve a wooden one.

 

Ouch! I would definitely have stayed with the chess club and clavichord lessons....

 

Right? But you can't get girls being on the chess team. Have to set priorities.

 

How odd is it that we both build Rothamabilia AND carve carousel horses. Nice work on both by the way...

 

That is a beautiful horse. Your observation is probably because Roth was an artist, not a car customizer. Stop and think about it; other than his Honda, pickup, '55 Chevy 'gasser', all of which were pretty pedestrian modified cars, Ed never made a custom car by industry standards. He didn't build the Tweedy Pie T-bucket, he just pin-striped it and bolted on a few chrome goodies. All his famous creations were fiberglass or wood sculptures.

 

This was a fun time in the project. Fabrication was complete and the car ready to tear all the way down and begin finishing parts and reassembling. The scariest part at this stage was contemplating the $$$$$$$$$$$ I was going to have to spend on chrome!!

 

Great news! I visited Barnes and Nobel's listing for my book and I am in the top 250,000 in sales! Incidentally, that photo of me on their site isn't one of my better ones.

 

You should be very proud of both of your accomplishments here.The build is stellar,and your ability to chronicle the events is top notch.Living the dream,building the dream.

 

Thanx. I believe if you have a passion for something like I have held for 50 years for this car, you can't help being a success in fulfilling that passion.

 

Got this one yet??

 

Yep. That was one shot in a mulit-picture photo shoot with those girls. There are several including this one, one with the blonde squatting down and polishing the front axle, and the most famous color one that got published. You can see the polishing cloth in the blonde's hand in the photo you posted. She appears to have bees in her hair in that shot, probably had to go to the emergency ward so didn't make the color shot.

 

Outstanding sir.Congrats.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Wow! Impressive work. I just ordered the book; can't wait to read it.


Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Hope you enjoy it. After reading it, leave a review on Amazon. Publisher says those are effective.

 

Hot off the press! I just received my first royalty check. Report shows the book sold 89 copies in the first 6 months (I bought 10 of those) which puts it solidly into the top 250,000 best-seller category. Guess I can quit my day job now.

 

This is always a great milestone on any project.

 

Wow! So cool! Great job.

 

I finally got a trailer! Bid on it at an industrial vehicle auction and won it at less than half the price of a new one. Has a few minor issues but not bad and perfect for hauling the Mysterion around. Has one little tear in the aluminum body sheet metal (4th photo down, upper rear corner of body), no biggie, a hammer and dolly work, a little epoxy and 'glas from the inside with Bondo on the outside and won't even know it is there. One of the garage door cables is off the pulley. Have to add electric brake controller to my pickup. I plan on painting it as shown in the last photo below.

80" x 16' trailer. I have 3' clearance front to back and rear tires clear the trailer wheel tubs by 1" per side. it has 4 tie-down rings in the floor at the 4 corners. I bought a Harbor Freight power winch to help load the car in the trailer. Standard 7-pin trailer plug has a spot for a 10ga power lead to feed the winch motor.

Incidentally, if you don't know how trailer electric brakes work, look it up on the internet. Really nifty technology. All my trailer needed in that category was a good cleaning and re-greasing the hubs. All the parts are in good shape including the magnets and shoes.

 

A good friend owns an RV/Trailer service place. I've helped him here and there. He also races and tows the cars in an enclosed trailer (I'm part of the crew).

I'd suggest the following
tekonsha trailer brake -simply the best out there...

Have a box of stuff for the trailer inside. Spare roll of wire, bulbs, duct tape, extra lug nuts, bailing wire, you know. If you have it handy, you won't need it. If you don't have it...

At least 2 spare wheel/tires for the trailer, plus a nice big bottle jack. You really don't want to use a cheap aluminum floor jack on the side of the freeway to lift the loaded trailer. Having a battery powered impact is really nice too, even if you have to break the lugs loose and final torque by hand.

Since it sounds like the trailer is going to be Mysterion exclusive, set up the wheel chocks and tie downs for it. This will make it safer and easier to load and unload.

Also look into air bags they use for dragsters. These go between the frame rails and the floor to cushion the bouncing and flexing that happens going down the road. The stories seem to suggest this is the failure point of the original car. EXAMPLE http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/chassis-stabilizer/chassis-stabilizer

and finally, some sort of anti-theft system, including lo-jack or similar, and GOOD door locks and tongue lock. Also look into lock and chain around and through the wheels, and/or a boot. Too many stories about someone loosing the whole rig in just a few minutes, especially if there is advertising on the outside.

 

I am a firm believer in bladders under the chassis. You can't see or believe how much chassis flex goes on in a trailer going down the road. A friend has an ISCA show car, never been driven only pushed on and off the two car stacker rig he tows and the chassis cracked and had to tear half the car down to repair it. He now has four bladders 2 for each car

 

And flashlights! Both head strap and hand held. Problems happen in the dark! Oh, and fire extinguishers! And a basic tool set. Now you know what all that under counter space is for besides the cooler!

 

great tips guys. This is my first foray into trailering and I am not looking forward to it. Yes, trailering was the death of the Mysterion so I need to take precautions.

 

You aren't making me want to pull the blasted thing!!!!!

 

PLEASE get some sort of security system. I get tired of seeing threads on stolen trailers.

 

As I said, if you have something, you will not need it. This list will make your towing trouble-free!

If you left it at home, you will need it in that section of highway with no shoulder that gets no bars on the cell, at night, when windy, cold and the semis come often enough that you don't dare walk down the left side.

 

Nothing wrong with using a trailer if you take the necessary precautions. You just need the mindset you had when you started the whole project in the first place. The trailer will need to be an extension of the incredible work you did on the car itself. Just take your time and set everything up right and it will make for safe journeys. I'm sure a lot of people would love to be able to see it in person and that can only happen if you get it out there.

 

Classic example; my wife and I physically built our 2-story house in the foothills of California's central valley. I had a couple packs of asphalt shingles left over I was saving for repairs someday. Got tired of kicking the bundles around the shop so I decided to build a dog house, use the shingles on the roof. THE VERY NEXT EVNING we had a 100mph wind storm that blew 2 bundles worth of shingles off our house. Murphy LIVES!!

And my son is a CHP patrolman. I know all about not approaching on the road-side.

 

Paint scheme will look Kool!
Although the 'Chapel of Memories' is another option.

Heading over to LA in August, would love to see the car, any tour dates planned?