A (40-lb.) chip off the NEW block…

23 04 2009

Like a Hollywood starlet, the mighty Camaro is mill dieting… think of it as a “crash diet”, but on a CNC machine. The goal is 2700-lbs, and by golly, we’re not leaving anything to chance.

Project “Sick Seconds” is racing toward its debut at the SEMA Show (see it live in the Gear Vendors booth!), and a big part of the assembly process has been removing things… namely any pesky poundage. As a testimony to the serious approach being taken in this respect, imagine looking at the engine block and thinking “yeah, we can lose a few pounds there, too”, and then milling 40 lbs. from the brand new piece? Denny and the rest of the gang at Pro Rides had this thought, and that’s just what the gang at LSM Systems Engineering did, chiseling with fine precision at the outside of the block, working toward the valley tray:

A mechanical work of art!

A mechanical work of art!

As KMP Performance and Machine (the engine builder) said, “It’s almost too nice to use!”, and I think you’ll agree with the photos here!

Weight loss in action.

Weight loss in action.

You can read more in the June 2009 Popular Hot Rodding Magazine, and be on the lookout for this monster on the show floor, the track… and even the street! The Camaro will be running 1,200 miles between tracks as part of Drag Week, so you’ll have plenty of time to check it out in full race set-up, as well as street guise, wearing a set of absolutely killer Bilet Specialties wheels (16×16-inch beadlocks on the strip, and massive 20-inch rollers for street use) on Mickey Thompson rubber! More updates coming soon over on Studio PCK





Art imitating…well, what might be art…

3 04 2009

In an age when everything is either “inspired by” or “derived from”, or “created in partnership” via some “creative commons licensing agreement”, it gets to a point where we have to celebrate the nearly mundane when it finally produces an original thought. (consider U2 ripping the Escape Club, who ripped Elvis Costello and so on…) This, as you can imagine, pisses me off. Hell, if you know me, kittens can piss me off, so this isn’t really much of a stretch.

Anyway… While discussing the van culture of the ’70’s recently, I stumbled across a video for an old movie “The Van” (not to be confused with the mode of transport your creepy neighbor who works at the chloroform plant is always hauling candy and rags in)… and instantly recognized a similarity between 1974 and the present day (beyond bad acting, terrible haircuts and really shitty cinematography).

This clip:

Is eerily close to any reveal on “Pimp My Ride”…. (pardon the video– not much out there to choose from) :

Odd…certainly. Creepy as all hell… why yes it is.

Considering the two, I think I’ll take vannin’. Less chance of having to listen to rap music and deal with some douchebag with a fauxhawk… and my Converse All-Stars will still be in style. Keep on vannin’, or whatever.

…that said, I got nothin’ else. Enjoy the mind-blowing-ness that is modern entertainment versus van movies.