Semi-newbie, pinstriper, and all around car/truck guy !

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Hey everyone. I've been lurking here for a little while now, and figured I would go ahead and post an intro and show off my truck a little.

My name is Aaron, or CRASH as a lot of people know me. I'm a pinstriper/sign painter, fabricator, and all around old car/truck nut. I live in Allen, Tx currently.

I bought this '66 back in May and have been working on it quite feverishly since then. It had a rebuilt 283 with 3 on the tree in it, so that was a plus. Very little rust, and most of the body work was already done, so even more of a plus !

My dad and I have put quite a few custom touches on the truck, as you can see. We did a 5 speed swap using a Camaro/S-10 T-5 hybrid, and shortened the driveshaft at the shop. I've spent A LOT of time cleaning up and painting lots of stuff on the truck to clean it up.

I had a '55 Buick Century station wagon that I traded for the complete Old Air a/c system and new Coker G78 wide whites. A buddy of mine owns a powder coating shop, so I did some trade out pinstriping work for the powder coating on the wheels. Another buddy of mine owns an upholstery shop and I did some trade out fabrication/pinstriping for the leather seat cover. It will be getting new carpet put in it in the next couple weeks as well.

The dash had a hole cut out where the radio went that looked like someone attempted to use a chain saw to hack it out. So, we cut that out and welded a new piece of sheet metal in its place. I'm going to just run an amplifier under the seat and hook my iPhone to it instead of running a head unit.

I bought a new chrome grille, head light bezels, and front bumper from Classic Parts of America. Also bought new aluminum park light and tail light bezels. All have worked out pretty well.

We've had to completely re-wire the tail lights and park lights under the hood because a previous owner couldn't track down a ground issue so he had a bunch of unnecessary wires run. Also put in a new turn signal switch, and bought a new ignition switch for it yesterday that I need to put in.

Here's some pictures. I'm sure I haven't listed a ton of stuff, but I don't want to bore you guys to death.

What I started with.





Transformation.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

More transformation. T-5 hybrid swap.


Had to move the speedo gear back because the hole is in a different place in the tail shaft housing on the S-10 tail shaft housing.



Had to shorten the drive shaft 7 1/2" for the difference in length from the 3 speed to the 5 speed.




Fixing minor rust.


Had to redo the upper radiator mount since I used this aluminum radiator.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Still have some more pictures. Stainless upper and lower radiator hoses. Since the radiator didn't have a petcock in it, I just put it in the under side of the lower hose. It has just enough clearance.




Also notice the fabricated fan shroud.



Made some fresh air block off plates for inside the cab since I put the a/c in. Might as well throw some stripes on them, right ?!



Went ahead and cleaned up the stock wheel, painted it, and put some stripes on it. Notice the ivory stripes on the horn button in the bowtie and two lines.


Custom leather seat cover by Ronnie Cathey at Custom Trim in Sherman, Tx. I can't tell you how excited I am about this seat ! It's awesome !! The shifter took a little cutting a welding to get it further forward so it wouldn't hit the seat in the 2-4-Reverse shift patterns.

[gmtec93c1500]

nice work man...cool tuck!!.... how'd you do that Finnish on the aluminum

[lolife99]

Cool truck!

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Dash all welded up and painted. Took this before I put the ash tray back in. The instrument cluster will get cleaned up and painted next.



Re-doing the brakes as of right now. Took this picture before I pulled the old M/C off to put the new dual reservoir M/C on it.


The pan was under it because the temp gauge in the instrument cluster wasn't working, despite a new sending unit, so I drained some of the coolant to put a cheapo mechanical water temp gauge on it for the time being until I can chase down the wiring problem, or make a custom gauge cluster and just put all new gauges in it. The hood has been adjusted since this picture too. LOL !



-Aaron

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Originally Posted by gmtec93c1500

nice work man...cool tuck!!.... how'd you do that Finish on the aluminum

Thanks ! I just used the heater box as a template and cut out a piece of aluminum. Then put it in the Bridgeport mill (my dad has been a machinist/tool & die maker for 30+ years) and used a rubberized abrasive stick called Cratex. You just start out making the first circle, then move down 1/2" (because the stick is 1" diameter) and pull it down again, overlapping each circle. When you get to the end, you have to go back down to the end that you started at, space down 1/2" and over 1/4" to get them overlapping. Then repeat, over and over and over ! LOL ! It's time consuming, but it really looks cool when you get done. My dad has engine turned almost everything you can think of on his '32 Essex-Terraplane coupe. Here's some examples !








Annnnnnnnnnd the money shot !

Originally Posted by lolife99

Cool truck!

Thanks !!

-Aaron

[jimmydean]

Looks like the dash of a 70's Trans Am. I dig it.

I know the Extreme Powdercoating truck has some of that done to it.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Here's some of my pinstriping work.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Filled the holes on this rear fender for a friend, then re-painted it and re-striped it.





Star motorcycle. All hand painted.





'53 Mercury custom.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

More of the '53 Merc.

[thirdstreettito]

Nice truck! And other stuff!

[gmtec93c1500]

that artwork is sick man!! how long u been at it?

[Crash'd Artwerks]

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Originally Posted by thirdstreettito

Nice truck! And other stuff!

Thanks !

Originally Posted by gmtec93c1500

that artwork is sick man!! how long u been at it?

Thanks man ! I've been striping about 7-8 years now. I never can remember exactly how long it's been ! LOL !

-Aaron

[Crash'd Artwerks]

I guess this will be enough. I've probably already taken up too much bandwidth.






This is a buddy of mine's. His last name is Fain, and uh, he has a '48 Ford. LOL !







-Aaron

[jimmydean]

Dude, seriously sick work! The skate decks are just bad ass.

[ChiefRocka]

Good work on the truck .....

Radiator lines look good ... thats the way I like to do them myself, hardline as much as possible.

My pops Z069 recieved some of that treatment...

Awesome brush work man !

[gearheads78]

Ah hell there goes the neighborhood.

Whats up dude? The truck is looking good man.

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

Dude, seriously sick work! The skate decks are just bad ass.

Thanks ! I did those decks for a guy that wanted to surprise his little boy with them for wall hangers to go in his bedroom. He said he was super excited when he got them !

Originally Posted by ChiefRocka

Good work on the truck .....

Radiator lines look good ... thats the way I like to do them myself, hardline as much as possible.

My pops Z069 recieved some of that treatment...

Awesome brush work man !

Thanks ! We couldn't find a hose that worked and looked good with the way we built the fan shroud, so we just made the stainless one and it came out great.

Thanks for the compliments on my striping too !

Originally Posted by gearheads78

Ah hell there goes the neighborhood.

Whats up dude? The truck is looking good man.

Haha, what's up buddy ?! I've been meaning to post an intro over here for a while and just haven't got a chance. Since I got done with some work I had early today I figured I kick back in the a/c and get on here and say Hi ! Thanks man, it's coming along real nice. I can't wait to freakin' drive it !!

-Aaron
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[sinnersahuayo]

How long have you been pinstriper. I just start about 1 week ago. For me its hard to keep my hand from shaking. Any tips

[wc63]

yeah. that striping is flippin sweet. how do you like the t5 with the s10 tailshaft. i was thinking of doing this but hear that they are kind of weak. i hear the camaro t5 can handle more hp. how does your t5 handle the v8?

[1Bad62Pro/Street]

The next "Big Daddy" Ed Roth!

[chad64chevy]

really nice progress on the truck, and that pinstripping is bada$$! I really like the tiki, texas aint that far lol!!

[Crash'd Artwerks]

Originally Posted by sinnersahuayo

How long have you been pinstriper. I just start about 1 week ago. For me its hard to keep my hand from shaking. Any tips

I've been doing it for around 7 or 8 years.

It may not make a bit of difference, but I like to think that the fact that I've never had even a sip of alcohol or a puff on a cigarette or done any kind of drugs helps.

It also helps when I use my left hand to brace my right hand (I'm right handed so it would be the opposite if you are a lefty) and use my right pinky to support my hand as well.

Control your breathing. Take long deep, slow breaths and that will help calm you down. When I very first started I got a little shaky when striping in public, but I like to talk with the people that are standing around and joke with them. That helps lighten the mood and settle me down. Oh, and don't drink a Monster or Red Bull right before you stripe either ! LOL !

It's just going to come down to PRACTICE. I can't tell you how many people I've talked to over the years that comment on how steady my hand is, etc and then they'll say, "Yeah, I tried that once and I wasn't any good so I just quit." Well, yeah. You can't be a master at anything on the first try. Just keep at it. If you need any help just let me know. I could make a video and show you how i hold the brush, brace my hand, etc. and put it on YouTube if that would help you. Only thing is, everyone does it differently. You just have to find what is comfortable to you and what suits you best.

-Aaron
Posted via Mobile Device
Posted via Mobile Device