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!

MORE INFORMATION ->

It was a blissful (and action-packed) week for me and my family as we vacationed on the beautiful island of Maui.

Even though it was a vacation, I couldn’t resist taking some time to get to know some of the people in the welding industry who live and work right here on this island!

The first stop on our tour was the South Maui Choppers.  They had some cool Arlen Ness choppers available for rent, but they were a bit too bright and shiny for my taste.

After that we cruised on over to Cycle City to look at some of the new Harley-Davidsons.  My wife decided that I should get the new Deluxe Model -  scarlet red and black with silver trim.

The next day I decided to go check out the Maui Motor Speedway.  They had MX races on Saturday night and practice on Wednesday.

I was hoping someone would have a rental available for some track time (I have been eying the new 2010 YZ25), but unfortunately, they didn’t have one available.

Our last stop of the week was at South Maui Bicycles.  I wanted to get the low-down on the new Gary Fisher Rumblefish 29er mountain bike.

I was surprised to learn from the owners that there is not much mountain biking on Maui – it seems that the majority of the land is private property! They do rent out the bikes, but you have to ride them on the road.

You can’t really call that “mountain” biking, now can you?

To top it off, this is the unbelievable view that we got to wake up to every morning – the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, with, if you can believe it –  the world famous Molokini crater right there in the background.

And although we all had a fantastic time soakin’ up the sun and the aloha spirit,  it was just as awesome to get back into the swing of things and see how smooth things are running here at Arc-Zone!

Lots to be thankful for as we start the holiday season.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful thanksgiving…

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 –

Lincoln Electric to Feature TV Personality Chip Foose and New Fuller “Fueller” Bike at SEMA Booth

Star of TLC’s Overhaulin’ Chip Foose to Sign Autographs at Lincoln Booth #23613

What : Renowned auto designer, Chip Foose will sign autographs at Lincoln Electric’s 2009SEMA booth #23616. Lincoln’s booth will also feature the new Fuller “Fueller” Bike from Bryan Fuller.

Foose stars in TLC hit shows Overhaulin’ and Rides. He also designs cars and wheels for several automotive companies and other clients, including NASCAR racing great Jeff Gordon. Bryan Fuller is an avid welder, fabricator and the host of Two Guys Garage.

When: Friday, November 6, 2009

Time: 10 a.m. – noon

Where: SEMA, Lincoln Electric’s 2009 Booth # 23613 in Las Vegas, Nevada

The Lincoln Electric Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, fume extraction equipment and plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. The company holds a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. For more information, visit www.lincolnelectric.com.

The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world (PLEASE NOTE: THE SEMA SHOW IS NOT OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC). It draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center. As part of the AAIW, the SEMA Show attracts more than 100,000 industry leaders from over 100 countries for unlimited profit opportunities in the automotive, truck and SUV, and RV markets. SEMA Show 2008 drew over 50,000 domestic and international buyers through two million square feet of exhibits. The displays are segmented into 12 sections, and a New Products Showcase featured nearly 2,000 newly introduced parts, tools and components. In addition, the SEMA Show provides attendees with educational seminars, product demonstrations, special events, networking opportunities and more…

SEMA Show Exhibit Hours
Tuesday, November 3, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 4, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, November 5, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Friday, November 6, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

I’m not talking about the monster but rather the truck. Big Foot is regarded as the first monster truck ever made and still remains the most popular monster truck today. Big Foot is proof of how some of the most successful ideas emerge from the ability to see opportunities early and run with them.

During a trip to the West Coast, Bob Chandler, the builder of the original Big Foot, noticed a 4×4 frenzy which he predicted would head Midwest towards his hometown, Missouri. Based on this insight, he started his own business which would eventually lead to the development of the monster truck.

The anatomy of a monster truck

By Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal®

It drives right over nearly every obstacle in its path and splits nearly every eardrum in its vicinity. It’s supercharged, oversized, and extraordinary. It stands more than 10 feet tall, develops more than 1,500 horsepower, and can leap over a 727 jet airliner in a single bound.

It can be only one thing: a BIGFOOT® monster truck. And it contains an unbelievable amount of tube.

Just a Hobby

It all started innocently. Bob Chandler was a construction contractor by day, a 4×4 enthusiast by night, and a lead-foot all the time. His notoriously heavy foot led to a nickname-Bigfoot -and a continuous need for repairs on his truck.

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Taylor Jones/Spike

Jesse James is an American television personality and CEO of West Coast Choppers, a manufacturer of custom-made motorcycles.This Summer,the daredevil is at it again with his new show Jesse James Is A Dead Man. In this adrenaline-pumped show, viewers are pushed to the edge of their seats while Jesse performs dangerous challenges using everything from cars, motorcycles and trucks to planes, weapons and mega-machines. The showed premiered Sunday, May 31 on Spike TV.

Joseph Hudak,with TV Guide magazine, interviewed the star last week. You can read the interview here.Enjoy!

Recently I headed up the road to the Tulare Fairgrounds for the World-of-Outlaws Sprint Car Race!

Tulare is located in the Central Valley of California, “the nation’s bread basket”. They call it that because of all the agribusiness. And I have some history in Tulare, my family farmed in the valley for generations — they had several big ranches and dairy barns, that’s where I learned to love the dirt.

I know it sounds strange, but growing up I always looked forward to going to dirt race tracks with my family. I began amateur motorcycle racing and that passion for competition ultimately lead me to build my own cars and form a Sprint Car Team. I still love the dirt and I ride my mountain bike at least 3-days a week in the local mountains.

I took Matt with me — he’s Arc-Zone’s Director of Video and Graphics. We brought all the gear to video the action. I wanted to share some of the things I love about motor racing and show how it relates to the welding/metal fabrication market.

At the track we met up with “Hollywood” Mike Sweeney my friend and former driver in the CRA Sprint Car Series (I talked about him on a previous post). We also met long time friend World of Outlaw driver Jac Haudenschild a superstar in the dirt racing world. Picture below: That’s me with Jac– Driver of the City Wide Insulation # R19 Owens-Corning Outlaw Sprint Car in front of his transporter (nice toolbox!)

We talked about the new cars and old friends. Jac told me he is putting a winged Sprint Car team together for his son Sheldon and he has been fabricating some of the parts needed to get him on the road.

Jac mentioned our mutual friend and former driver– now TV personality (and part time welder) Brad Doty (also a Hall of Famer) was having trouble finding the right remote amp control for his Lincoln TIG machine. Jac suggested I contact Brad and get him dialed in… That will be another post!

And if you like fast cars look for the video of our trip– we’ll have that ready soon…

Our very own Joe Welder can boast one very unique claim to fame.  He grew up down the street from Eddie Lawson!  They raced motorcycles together in AMA district 37 when they were little!  (Okay, perhaps not so little…)

And now, they still remain connected, although in a different way: they help to keep each other in business.

In dirt-track racing (how Eddie got started in his career), you need something called a “hot shoe”.  No, they’re not hot.  And no, they’re not really shoes.  They are actually the antithesis of their name – they keep your shoes from getting hot.

On a dirt racetrack, as the rider leans the bike into the turns, he has to stick out his left foot to keep balance and direct the bike through the corner.  And, as you can imagine, direct contact with hard-packed dirt going over a hundred miles an hour might hurt your foot just a little bit.

That’s where the hot shoes come in.  Hot shoes are metal casings that are formed around the bottom of your riding boot.  They are perfectly shaped so that they don’t fall off or let dirt in when you use them to turn that corner at speed.

Iron Cobbler Hot Shoes is a company out of Salinas, Ca that custom makes hot shoes for riders in AMA district 36.  They use the best tungsten carbide hardfacing available to make them and let me tell you, this material is not for the faint of heart.  It’s the same stuff used for mining equipment.  If it can dig into rocks, it can certainly protect your feet from a little wear and tear.

So where do Joe Welder and Arc-Zone.com come into this?  Well, in order to create great hot shoes, you need the proper welding equipment by your side.  And what better place to find it at than Arc-Zone.com?  If you’re interested in welding hot shoes, check out our TIG section, especially the Tungsten Grinders…

Good welding. In Nascar, and all forms of racing, it’s essential, especially if you want to walk out of a crash with your limbs intact. At Kevin Harvink Inc. (KHI) the Team Fabricators make sure of that by using MIG and TIG welding techniques to reinforce the cars’ roll cages, wheel spindles, and sheet metal bodies to make sure that the drivers (and cars) don’t take too much of a beating in a collision.

WELDING ESSENTIALS FOR RACING
Beefed up spindles, roll cages & precision bodywork

Punishment. At 200 mph, it’s the best way to describe the beating that multiple left-handed turns can put on a car or truck. Then there’s the competition to keep a close eye on as drivers aggressively fight for the lead. Team Fabricators with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) know a thing or two about punishment as they teardown, and rebuild the trucks and cars that Harvick races in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series. The speed and g-forces placed on these cars and trucks is tremendous – but they’re nothing when compared to the energy the vehicles must absorb if they collide with the wall or take a 180 mph (unintentional) shot from another racer. In these cases, NASCAR drivers place their safety, even their lives, on their vehicles’ integrated safety measures and also on the structural toughness of their cars and trucks. Since no metal-to-metal bond is stronger than fusion, MIG and TIG welding techniques are essential among NASCAR team fabricators.
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EDITORS NOTE: Joe Welder highly recommends these TIG torches if you’re in the business of welding race cars and related parts.  Check out Arc-Zone.com’s selection of WP-125 Micro TIG torches and WP-225 and WP-150 Modular TIG torch packages.

If you’re into automotive fabrication and want to improve your skills, then take a look into Lincoln’s Motorsports Welding School, which hosted an Advanced Motorsports Welding seminar this past December.  In attendance were some of the best team fabricators in the racing industry, representing NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA (National Hot Rod Association), USAC (United States Auto Club), World of Outlaws and several others.  Lincoln’s comprehensive welding knowledge benefits the industry by helping teams, sanctions and manufacturers make their cars more competitive and safer to drive.

Welding schools like Lincoln’s did not exist in 1979, when Arc-Zone.com owner and founder Jim Watson was a member of the World of Outlaws Sprint Race Car Team.  Though based in Los Angeles, California, the team raced in 22 states and Canada. Jim was the Chief Mechanic for the team, which competed under the name James Gang #15. The car was a kit car that Jim assembled and it was accompanied by a transport trailer that Jim and the team also built.

The James Gang #15 Team pioneered the large custom transporter; until the completion and arrival of the team’s transporter, competitors used small open trailers.  The transporter that Jim and his team constructed was completely enclosed, contained a fully functional workshop, and contained all the necessary spare parts required to run the entire 80 race series.  The transporter that Jim and his team built was truly years ahead of its time and the application of welding was instrumental in its construction, as well as the construction of the team’s sprint car. (more…)