Category: News

“News” pretty much explains it.

Summer Show Schedule

For the past umpteen years, we’ve been attending two shows with our display: the Syracuse Nationals (in Syracuse), and the NSRA Street Rod Nationals Plus in Louisville. This year, we’ll also attend those two shows. If you stop by our usual booth location though, you will notice something different. No, Paul didn’t dye his hair. Guess again. Nope- we didn’t get one of those tractor trailers with the “not for hire” sticker on the window. The only thing that’s changed is whose display is in that spot- it’s not ours! After a lot of discussion, we’ve decided to relinquish our vendor spots and attend the shows in the ’32 as participants.

Maintaining the display will take away a lot of production and shipping time (we are, after all, in the hot rod chassis parts business), and Paul and Dorothy are getting to the point that they no longer want to stand in the same place for a few days. Since his name is on the door, if he wants to walk, let the man walk. I benefit as well, since my wife and children will probably come to Louisville with me to hang out and participate. We’ll get to roam and check out cars together!

All three of us enjoy talking with everyone who stops in to the booth, so that’s definitely a down side. Even though we won’t have a display, we’ll still enjoy talking with people around the fairgrounds. I’ll be updating our Facebook page from the show as well.

I realize I didn’t need to explain all that, but I wanted to convey the point that business is going well and this is a decision which we didn’t make lightly. For a family business, deciding how you spend your time is key. We want to keep our business sharply focused on getting high quality parts out the door quickly, and this is one way we feel we’re deliberately maintaining that focus.

I’m interested to hear your feedback.

Bracket Compar-O: Why Welder Series?

We’ve spent a good deal of energy focusing on quality parts… quality steel, quality laser cuts, quality machining, and especially quality welding. When we see parts installed at a show, we can pretty much always tell if they’re Welder Series parts based on the weld and edge quality. That said, when a customer came in with a set of four bar brackets that he thought were ours, it didn’t take too much inspection to determine that they didn’t come from our shop.

I wanted to point out some of the features that a Welder Series bracket has versus this similar (but different) bracket.

Hole is generally circular but not round, edges are bumpy.
Edges aren’t perpendicular to sides of plate, not smooth.
Hole isn’t round (stop-start point for the plasma cutter).
Barely noticeable stop-start mark (laser cut), high edge quality, defined tig bead.
Hole is round and circular.

SW Ontario Shop Crawl: Saturday, March 31

If you’re local or want to come and visit some high end shops in the Southwestern Ontario area, come out Saturday March 31. We’re kicking off at Schwartz Welding in Bloomingdale at 9:30, then going to a number of other local builders. Click on the link for a map.

It’ll be a full morning!

Why Do We Do It? A Winter Car Show Comparison

Let’s make a few comparisons here…

You abandon a perfectly fine bed too early in the morning, drink one too many cups of instant coffee on your way out the door, scrape your windshield and sit in a cold car, staring blankly at the windshield as the circle of vision slowly grows enough to navigate your way out the driveway. You make it to the show to idle in line with everyone else who left their warm beds behind, only now you wish you were at home so you could use the bathroom. The parking lot guy directs you to the far corner of the frozen lot, where you forget your wallet as soon as you step into the lobby. Wallet reclaimed, you can now start checking out some cars.

You wake up to the sound of a percolator purring away from down the hall. Do I even have a percolator? No matter, it’s purring and you’re going to have fresh coffee. After your second cup, you strut to the bathroom just because you can. You’re home. Snow is falling outside, and you ponder that sentence… keywords: snow, outside. You faintly see your neighbor huddled in his car, staring at the windshield, and you wonder what on God’s white Michigan he’s doing outside. You briefly consider dressing, but on a Saturday, you don’t want to give anyone the impression that you are here to do anything that requires clothing. Today is a day for comfort. Today, you will sit. Today, you will look at car show pictures on the Internet.

It’s a little bit crazy how many pictures there are to browse. www.hotrodhotline.com alone has a few dozen million. I think. You can see pictures from a show in Arizona, then jump over to Cobo Hall, then go to the washroom, then check out some cars in Eastern Canada. Granted, there are a few things missing from the online experience… namely smell, touch, taste, and feeling. It’s getting better though- there are lots of car show videos available online too. If you can’t make it in person, make it not in person. That’s what I always say. That’s what the Internet is for, isn’t it?

Tachmen Car Club Leaves in Style

After 47 years of a productive existence in the “anything automotive” world, the Tachmen Car Club of Georgetown Ontario has decided to cease operations, but not before donating a handsome sum of money to the local hospital foundation.

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Ready to weld vs. welded parts

How Much Can I Save?

You're looking to save a few dollars on your build, just like everyone else. Here's a quick comparison of some popular kits, showing what you can save when you weld them together yourself instead of buying it pre-welded from us.

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Canadian Street Rodding Hall Of Fame To Induct Gary Weldon

The Canadian Street Rodding Hall of Fame will induct legendary hot rodder and Bonneville veteran Gary Weldon of Millgrove, Ontario on October 22, 2011 at their annual Gala.

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