Today is the start of the Grand National Roadster Show in Pomona, California.  This weekend, Jim Watson, aka Joe Welder, will be joining more than 40,000 other hot rod aficionados for a weekend of cars, cars, and more cars!

But Jim has a bit more on his mind — he just learned that one Glen Dennee has bought his Uncle Ben’s old racing car and is working on restoring it!
He’ll get a chance to meet up with Glen during the show and and discuss how best to go about restoring Farmer Ben’s V8 60  Midget!

The Grand National Roadster Show
January 29 – 31, 2010

GNRS Supports Haiti Relief

Come to the 2010 Kragen O’Reilly Grand National Roadster Show this weekend and support the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund! We are donating proceeds from the sales of GNRS programs to this fund, and as this year’s theme is “Mardi Gras,” we’ll be having a good time handing out Mardi Gras beads to showgoers in exchange for small donations. Make a difference – come on out and join 40,000 other hot rodders for Haiti!

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October 24th was the perfect SoCal Fall night at the Pomona Fairplex for the 2009 finale of the AMA Pro and Gen Romero’s West Coast Flat Track Series.

I was excited to be back at the races again watching the bikes line up on the front straight-away for the rider introductions in front of an overflow crowd.

The pits were jammed with bikes in a variety of classes from the AMA Grand National Pro, including 2009 Champion Jared Mees on the #21 XR 750 Harley-Davidson,  West Coast Experts, Amateurs, and Vintage.

I walked the pits and visited with some old friends and met some new ones too.

I love flat track racing because the bikes are custom built for one thing — speed, whereas in motocross racing, you buy a factory-built bike and  slightly modify the engine and suspension before you are ready to ride.

Flat track bikes are purpose-built from the ground up with hand-made TIG welded chromoly frames, custom-built exhaust pipes, CNC machined wheels, and hand-laid fiberglass tanks and rear fenders.

Each bike is made with the rider’s personal wants and needs in mind,  from the handle bars down to the tires.  A perfect example is Jimmy Wood’s #37 BMW powered machine.

This is a beautiful motorcycle and it looks even better in person!  Made me think about breaking out my old skid shoe!

One of the coolest bikes I saw there was a Grand National Replica street bike.  I had a similar flat track styled bike that I put together — it was based on a Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster, but I ended up selling it to one of our reps…

Take a look and let me know what you think!

– Jim Watson, aka Joe Welder –

You’ve already heard us talk about the upcoming FABTECH International and AWS Welding Show this November, but just in case you needed a little push to attend, we’ve got some more tantalizing information for you all.

First off is the general information – FABTECH’s main website with the who, what, where, when, why, and a magical little button that you push to attend.

FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show including METALFORM

The FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show now including METALFORM hits McCormick Place in Chicago, Nov. 15 – 18, 2009. The MEGA event anticipates hosting over 1,000 exhibitors, drawing an expected 35,000 attendees and featuring thousands of live equipment demonstrations throughout pavilions dedicated to metal forming, fabricating, tube and pipe, stamping, lasers, thermal spray and welding.

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Secondly, Miller is going to be there (booth #34701 – write it down) and they will be showing some fabulous new products, so don’t forget your cameras.

Miller to Unveil Latest Welding, Safety and Fume Extraction Products at the 2009 FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show

Visit booth #34071 to see:

AlumaFeed™ Aluminum Fabrication System
FILTAIR™ MWX-D Mobile Fume Extractor
Miller’s Arc Armor™ PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirator)
PipeWorx™ Welding System
Trailblazer® 302 Air Pak™

Live arc demonstrations

APPLETON, Wis., August 13, 2009—Miller Electric Mfg. Co. will present its latest arc welding, welding safety and fume extraction products as well as live arc demonstrations in booth #34071 at the 2009 FABTECH International & AWS Welding show, November 15 to 18 at McCormick Place in Chicago. New products include the AlumaFeed™ Aluminum Fabrication System, FILTAIR™ MWX-D Mobile Fume Extractor, Miller’s Arc Armor™ PAPR, PipeWorx™ Welding System and Trailblazer® 302 Air Pak™. Additional products will be announced as show date nears.

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Lastly, this is the first year that FABTECH International and AWS are partnering with METALFORM, resulting in more exhibits, more attendees (hopefully), and by and by large, a better show.

FABTECH INTERNATIONAL & AWS WELDING SHOW ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH METALFORM

First combined trade show will take place November 15-18, 2009, at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

DEARBORN, Mich. – April 2, 2008 – Four industry-leading trade show organizers have formed an alliance to better serve the needs of trade show exhibitors and manufacturers in North America from the fields of fabricating, tube & pipe, welding and cutting, metalforming, and related processes.  The show alliance between the three organizers of the FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show [the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association International (FMA) and the American Welding Society (AWS)] and the organizer of METALFORM [the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA)] will result in a combined annual exhibition.

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