My panel truck

As for my panel truck, Curly, I ended up having to move it into storage out in Fairview, Id until my garage is at least closer to finished. There were some extenuating circumstances that forced that move and even though I am not happy about it, it had to be done. So, look for an update when the truck makes it exodus from storage in the next month or so! (I am paid up until the third of January so hopefully before that!)

-Panelrodder

House Updates 4

In the midst of all of the construction on the outside of the house, we had an opportunity to re-do the tile in the kitchen, since I did such a crappy job originally! Here are some photos of the kitchen floor. The guy that did it, Jason Kerr from www.kerrtile.com, also did my fireplace but I didn't snag a photo of that yet! The tiles are 18" travertine stone on 45 degree angles. They look AWESOME and we are soooo happy with the final outcome of the project!

House Updates 3

Here is another pic of the gravel as the truck was getting set to dump the mud!

Here is the floor, 4" thick, under heat blankets for curing!

After a good power wash and before sealing

A hot tub pad on the west side of the garage! Ummm... hot tub!

And some walls going up! The building is further along that this right now with trusses up and the roof totally sheeted and tar paper down. The roofing should be going down hopefully tomorrow!

House Updates 2

Here is the new front porch as the guy was rolling up his heat blankets and finishing up the job.


And after he was long gone! We are soooo happy with it!


The next project... actually going on at the same time as the porch, was a garage. This first picture is of the old shed that was on the property right were the garage is going. So this pic is a before pic!


Here is after the foundation walls were finished, the backfill done, and the gravel out.

House Updates 1

We have had a large amount of work going on at our place this fall/early winter. Here are some photos of what we are doing!


First off, we had the nasty old front porch ripped off, thanks to my cousin Jeff Larsen and a large Cat tractor!


Next we had some footing and foundations pored


Here are the walls being built

A few more new pics

Here are a couple more shots of the truck as it stand right now with the sun shining on it!


This is the truck again from outside of the garage door but this time in the bright evening sun!



And again.


The interior with nice lighting



Interior again.



This is the custom gas filler. Flush mount motorcycle gas tank filler. looks killer and works oh so well!

The pics as promises

Here are the pics as promised. I didn't get photos with the work I have done since this, only a couple days worth though.


This picture is of the truck as much of it as I could get with the garage door closed, it was night and the light sucks with the door open.

Here I opened the door and turned on the newly installed head lights, mainly for kicks since that was the big accomplishment for the night


Same shot later in the night, these are not necessarily in chronological order!


These are the Dolphin brand 5" gauges that I bought for the truck. It is a brand made by EZ Wiring and held up to their parent company's name as far as installation was concerned. They are quite nice looking and now coming in a "Dolphin Free" version without the logo on them... I do wish they had that version when I bought these!


And a final shot of the truck very much later at night, right before I left around 10:30pm, with the lights on and the grill and grill shell loosely installed.

As of these photos, the front end is fully bolted in and tightened down, the passenger seat is installed, it seems I cannibalized the bolts for the driver side for use on other portions of the truck so it won't be in for a little bit! I also will be ordering some 39 Ford passenger car tail lights, two sets with one for the rear and one set for the front, from Southern Rods and Customs. I have never purchased from there but they seems to be a reputable company! I hope to have these and get them installed before this coming weekend, since the show I am hoping to make takes place then! I big task between now and this weekend is to get the bumpers assembled and on, the driver's side door latch installed, the driver's side seat installed, the front and rear sets of '39 Ford lights installed and working and then I should be good to go! Just for kicks, I would like to get the original taillight/license plate holder installed and bold on my custom license plate frame that says "Built with Tools... NOT with chopsticks!" I had it made almost five years ago and would like to actually bolt the thing on for the first time!

I should also post about my bike, it is under construction.... a bit extreme of a term I guess. The service man called and said I broke the "jack" shaft. I will need a little instruction I guess because I don't know what that is. He said that the part was a little hard to get but that another week should be all is needed, that was last tuesday the 28th of August and I hope to have it back the day after Labor Day. The service will include a new rear tire and a general tune up including air filter service, valve service, and carb service. I am very anxious to get it back and get riding again!

Other than a note about my wife and her wondrous post, should make sure to read it just below this one, which is great and should clue you into my life a little!!! :) (I love you honey!)

-Panelrodder

Don't you put that evil on me!

So, Jake needs to know, he's in big trouble for not mentioning me, his most beautiful and amazing wife, on this blog. Who knows what this kid is thinking?
So, YES, Jake is married and in love and we are living happily ever after. And I am attaching a picture of me pooping in Europe. And FYI, Jake won't tell you this, but he has soft hands.

broken bike and spent time

I have been working really hard for the last few months on my pet project, one of about 7 years, which is a 1953 GMC panel truck. I am hot rodding the thing with additions like a mustang II front end, a 75 Nova rear, updated leaf springs to hold the rear, boxed frame, shaved body (handles and emblems), 350 Deluxe HO crate motor, TH350, 2000 PT Cruiser buckets up front and removable folding rear seat in back, motorcycle flush gas filler/cap, and some other fun stuff. The progress was stalled pretty bad a few years ago when a harsh winter, the truck was stored in a non-insulated shed, caused the block to crack on my brand new engine. A few years later, over nine hundred dollars poorer, one rebuild later, and a lot more knowledgeable, I find myself finally making some real progress! The show that I am fighting to make it to is one that for the last three years I have made a goal to be at and all three years, with the exception of this one, I have let the goal fall to the wayside. This year is different, in that I made the goal a huge priority and my wife has been really great to support that... it is nice to have her beside me in all of my endeavors. The show takes place in Brigham City, Utah and coincided with the city's "Peach Days" celebration. My aunt and uncle have been part of the club that hosts the show for years and my uncle has even been the president of the club on a number of occasions. I have helped in the past with the show and used a lot of aspects of the "Peach Days Picnic," as it is called, in the designing and hosting of my show in Preston, Idaho. It will be really nice to have my own truck in a show I have been going to for so many years! There will be pictures to come!

From the title of this post, I guess I should add that my bike is broken. I was riding home from work the middle/end of last week and as I approached a stop sign with the clutch pulled in suddenly the bike reacted as though I had just dumped the clutch even though my hand firmly held the clutch pull. Interestingly enough, I was less that 50 feet from the front door of the local Yamaha dealer and was able to simply push it right into their service bay! I guess it wanted to be serviced! I got a ride home and they kept the bike with the directions to fix the problem, replace the rear tire, which was well into the wear bars, and give the thing and general tune-up including an oil change. I hope to have the bike back by the middle to end of this coming week as my weekly mileage will make a huge jump with the fall college semester starting tomorrow, Monday the 27th of August.


Well, those are really the only two things to add to the blog since it is mainly for the bike and the panel truck build log. I am going to get some good photos of the truck this week and get them loaded while the semester is new and most of my classes shouldn't start real hard stuff until next week! Oh, by the way, the Peach Days Picnic is on the 8th of September in Brigham City so if anyone but family reads this thing and is in the area, make sure to stop by since it is a top notch show!

-Panelrodder

Moe Post #2

Next are some pictures of Moe as I found him at the home of Jonathan in Meridian, Idaho.

New Use for the Blog - Moe Post #1

The blog will now be switched over from use for the Switzerland Trip to a personal blog of various things... usually just whatever. I will start this new portion of the blog with introducing my new motorcycle... Moe.


The bike is a 1979 Yamaha XS650. I bought the bike off of a guy, Jonathan, in Boise for two grand. The bike has been stretched, in the swing arm, a few inches and as well as some other custom work. Jonathan didn't know a lot about the bike since he bough it from the guy that actually did the custom work on it. He did say that he would try and get me the guy's name and contact info so I could ask him my questions. Other than the swing arm being lengthened, the bike has a custom solo seat, custom spike accents, and a custom bobbed rear fender. Jonathan did have a box of original parts that came with it which include the original chrome, or stainless steel, fender both front and rear and I am toying with putting the both back on since I like the bright work!

Here are some pictures of the bike from the ad on Craigslist.com







The bike is named Moe. I have loved the Three Stooges since before I can remember and since my 1953 GMC panel truck is named Curly, it felt that this bike was deserving of the title "Moe." I will try and get some custom plates for him as well!

Ok, this day we went into a town called Solothurn. Here there are two amazing examples of Baroque architecture by way of a cathedral and a Jesuit church building. After visiting these two buildings we visited the old armory which is now a museum. You should be able to tell which photos go with with places! The last place we went was another art museum, there is just a picture of the outside of that building since we can't take pics inside.