#trans design inspired by fin fin

[adobe-outdesign]

in honor of international women’s day, could you review some royal neopets (since all women are queens?)

(Royal has a lot going on with it, as there's not only the usual customized vs UC designs, but also the royal boy vs royal girl designs on top of that. For purposes of this review I picked out royals where both genders look great, but let me know if you guys would be interested in seeing a royal girl/royal boy-specific review.)

Royal is one of the more complicated Neopets colours, having special art and poses pre-customization and having a gender split on top of that. Normally I'm not big on gender splits as a whole for being overly cis, but I'll forgive it in this case because it is actually possible to get a female royal boy pet and vice versa through lab ray shenanigans. Customization also allows for clothes to be swapped around at will.

One thing that I always found strange about royal as a colour is that it oftentimes doesn't really match up with anything lore-wise. For example, Blumaroos come from Roo Island, and their leader, King Roo, is vaguely dressed like a jester because Roo Island is the happy-go-lucky fun land. Makes sense! But then the royal Blumaroo colour is... space themed, for some reason?

It's not that the colour literally needs to match up with actual Neopian leaders all the time, of course; it's just that sometimes the choices made feel random and ill-fitting for the species.

Another instance of this is in the royal pets that are based off a specific country/region. I do like the diversity in not having all pets share that Meridell-esq European look, but sometimes it does make me raise my eyebrow. Like, where in Neopia is "Mongolia", exactly?

And in terms of customization, royal pets generally got hit pretty hard. Previously, royal pets were bipedal, and many of them had subtle anatomically changes to give that them royal look. It's not even that royal pets just got converted in general, but many of the conversions seem very poorly done—such as the poor Aisha above, which inexplicably lost an entire set of ears. Like I said, I like the ability to trans our Neopets easier, but that's about the only benefit.

Favorite Species:

Skeith: One common problem with royal pets tends to be that the royal girl and royal boy look completely different, with one of them (usually the male) looking significantly better. Thankfully, the royal Skeith do not have this problem, with both male and female sharing a white base with a subtle accent color and similar-but-distinct sets of clothing. The Alice in Wonderland inspiration is also very fun, and feels supper fitting for the species. Great stuff.

Kyrii: I already went over these designs in my Kyrii review so I'll keep this short, but the UC/styled royal Kyrii are just fantastic designs all around. The squarer head shapes than normal give them a very elegant look, and the designs make full use of the Kyrii's distinctive long manes (not to mention the old BD poses, which were just delightful). The only drawback is that the converted versions are particularly bad, to the point where I'm not even bothering to show them here to save space.

Peophin: Something about underwater royals just tend to hit, and the Peophin is no exception. The species already has their distinct head ornamentation, but the royals take it a step further by adding extra jewels and extending it over the ears and head fins, then accenting it with even more additional jewelry. I also really like the robes, which feel surprisingly natural for their body shape. Beautiful all around.

BONUS: Remember how I was saying that a lot of royal designs feel random and ill-fitting for their species? The royal Koi avoids this completely by basing the royal boy design off of King Kelpbeard, the ruler of Maraqua. Once again, both designs here are well balanced and go well with each other, and I like the degree of underwater elements—coral crowns, seaweed accents, and pearl necklaces.

(Side note: a very honorable shoutout goes to the royal Mynci and Flotsam, which didn't quite make the cut but are still excellent designs.)

Least Favorite Species:

Moehog: Most royal pets are at least interesting, but I can't say that about the poor royal Moehog, which is mostly forgettable; just the standard clothing that you'd expect from royals. The royal boy is slightly better, at least sporting a nice dark blue base, but the royal girl has a very "cheap" design, like it's wearing a Halloween costume instead of actual royalty. The royal Moehog never got a UC option, but they did have pre-customization designs that were slightly better–but only slightly.

[chatonyant]

I binged a ton of orca documentaries and ended up shaking this lady out of nowhere

(ideas/ramblings under cut)

I was looking up Orcus after a documentary mentioned that orca are named after him. Funny thing is that the scientific name is "Orcinus orca" and orcinus means "of the kingdom of the dead" according to wiki, which means both parts of the scientific name is related to Orcus.

Orcus himself is a Roman/Etruscan god of the underworld and broken oaths, and wiki says that originally he came from Etruscan religion and the Romans sometimes mixed him up with the gods of the underworld (Hades, Pluto, the broken oaths part came from the Greek daemon Horkos who is (sometimes?) the son of Eris).

Originally when I was thinking of this new oc I was considering doing a redesign of an old oc I had named Erebus, who was this ghost oc? I had some lore for him but I... can't remember too much of it except he suffered a lot? But as I was thinking further about designs it ended up very much different lMAO

I'm going to try and kind of add some details of Erebus into Orcus to kinda connect them some more.

Orca are matrilineal and I was considering this oc to be some sort of god or at least a leading, powerful figure of sorts so considering Erebus was a boy... with the power of "i fucking said so" Orcus is a trans lady :)

I was considering ways to add orca elements into her design and I was also thinking she hasn't medically transitioned. Orcas aren't too sexually dimorphic other than size and the shape of their dorsal fin, so I made Orcus's hair like a curved dorsal fin like female orcas :D

Orca are big and a bit chonky so i made her a big and a bit chonky too! it was so fun to draw, i used a pic of a wrestler as a reference on how to draw a big and muscular body in a way that isn't stereotypically ripped and chiseled.

Clothing wise I,,, couldn't get any spark of inspiration so I ended up going pretty simple with the clothes and predictably giving her a split side skirt dsffguohsdgug influence from drawing hanbok

Lotsa jewelry! because she deserves it

The lack of pupil does come from Erebus (and I'm gonna give her scars, also from erebus) (actually I'm considering reworking Erebus in a way that Erebus grows up and becomes Orcus haha)

Story wise, I'm considering that Orcus isn't a part of a "pod" for one reason or another, so despite the fact that she's sociable and friendly (albeit in an intimidating way), she's also pretty alone and lonely

Taking into consideration of the mythological Orcus, she might be some protector of an underworld who abides by personal rules of honesty. Maybe like Cerberus she's the guard to the entrance of the underworld and makes people play games in order to earn their entrance into the underworld. idk yet its still a work in progress

so she's friendly, loud, excitable, reckless, head-strong, honest, stubborn, sociable, lonely.

I also ended up throwing her into the multiverse story I have, so she's friends with Ki now, who pops in once in while to spar and chat

Ki: hiya Orcus: :D Ki: let's spar Orcus: >>:D

I gave orcus a fan as a weapon but i have no idea what kind of power she wie- wait no

so erebus had control over shadows so I'm thinking Orcus's power appears as dark, inky water. So similar power of shadows that manifests itself in a more watery way– thinking of the whale-people from lout of the count's family if that makes sense to anyone (being able to summon weapons made of water and manipulating the water to be like constructs to use in battle, whether that be a foothold or just straight up armor)(honestly yes orcus is also inspired off of Witiria, she's so cool)

[csmeaner]

@ the Xero anon: didn’t they literally just donate like 500+ dollars to trans charity right before that sale. Also no idea why u are so butthurt over like “stealing from Disney” or whatever, damn I guess they’re really taking food out of the multibillion dollar companies mouth lmfao stay mad no one has ever taken inspo from a piece of media b4 ig

man i hope you're an intentional troll and don't think what you said was hot shit

no one gives a fuck if disney gets ip thefted that was never fucking brought up even once, it's being brought up that copying a design from a popular franchise for money is a lazy move because it requires no actual thought on the designer's part. just slap traits on and voila sell for 300$ each!!!! and not to be a drag but disney's very big on protecting its ip and will crack down on people so it's not even a fucking moral standpoint it's a fucking legal one that's why most species have it in their fucking rules in the first place

and you can't even say it's inspiration if they fucking even copied the style of the title with the wave below the words, being fucking mer-themed, having the same colors and traits of the two protagonists to the fucking fin shapes to the goddamn eye colors

donating to charity does not suddenly make this other thing right either it doesn't fucking even out in the karma meter like we're counting fucking points nor does it even touch the fact those lazy ass designs were sold for 300 fucking dollars and myo slots start at 50 FUCKING DOLLARS but go off fucker you sure made your point i guess fucking puta

[belfryprepz]

Things I Personally Want to See in a Live Action Monster High/Monster High Reboot (some of these would obviously only apply to the live action)

Curly hair Howleen

Black characters played by black actors

Characters with non-human skin/eye colors having non-human skin/eye colors dammit stop giving me humanized bullshit this one is for the bad bitches with purple eyes or blue skin

Costumes must be on point. Wings, ears, fangs, gills, tails, fins, gears, etc.

But also fashion is soooo important in universe. If you're not going to put them in their classic outfits at least make sure they're not boring and are in character. None of these Riverdale gen z core e-girl sad boi outfits. They wouldn't be accurate and they're just lazy and uncreative.

Bring back the original outfits and the whole wearing the same outfit every day thing. If they adapt any of the doll lines or movies I wanna see those outfits too

I want it set in the early 2000s/10s. That show was just ~so 2000s~ I love it. Keep it that way 😤 capitalize on the nostalgia cowards

More importantly keep the good messages. Love, acceptance, tolerance? Talking about subjects like bullying, racism, police brutality, interracial relationships, sexism. They have the opportunity to do some of these better than before

Ofc I want to see lesbian Clawdeen. But I also want to see other queer characters. Lesbians and gay men. Characters that are casually trans or nonbinary. Or aro or ace. Or bi or pan in opposite gender relationships. In no relationships at all. it doesn't have to be integral to their characters and they shouldn't have to be in a same gender relationship for it to be brought up.

I don't really ship Clawd and Draculaura but I hope if they do keep it they make that relationship healthier 😬

Keep the cool design of the Monster High school with all its quirks!! Pls don't just sub it for some basic ugly high school

Rework the origins and design for some characters like hoodoo voodude and jinafire long. The characters, but more importantly, the cultures that inspired them deserve to be represented as more than insensitive stereotypes

Actual Monster High style settings and classes. The coffin bean, home ick, the catacombs, etc.

They should keep the puns

[nothingunrealistic]

naturally was going "hmm what kind of fins (fish) would young taylor in the bathtub wish for. how would we know what they think would be the best fish tail to have" & then was just thinking of Younger Taylor Hcs just in general. got any you'd wanna share, or like, any faves from what's been provided either as unofficial ideas or via those glimpses of info in the show's text. Fave can be in a "truly enjoy this" way & or simply more of a "truly Thinking About This An Extra Lot" sense lol. They

Boy Do I… first, a listing of everything we Know from canon about their childhood / early life / family:

taylor grew up in “a place like” connerty’s small apartment where “the heat pipes bang practically all night” in the winter [2x11]

taylor’s mom would deem the apartment they rented for her & douglas too expensive, and if she & douglas were shopping for furniture, they’d argue about how much things cost [4x07]

taylor never thought they’d be thinking about living a life where they book private jets [2x09]

the masons’ home is hundreds of miles from any body of water (as shown here) and douglas had to fly to nyc to see taylor [4x03]

douglas figures taylor’s mom won’t miss him getting in her way back home [4x03]

taylor has a sister; when she gets married, in michigan, taylor is part of the wedding party [2x09]

at a young age, taylor was always measuring information around them, and sweet / affectionate, especially toward douglas [4x03]

taylor’s favorite cereal as a kid was frosted flakes [4x09]

taylor was never really douglas’s “little girl” like he claims [4x03]

the first time douglas brought taylor to his lab, it meant a lot to them, and the next day they gave him designs to remake it [4x06]

douglas taught taylor: “don’t just have an idea, build the model that proves it” [4x07]

according to douglas, taylor gets the “unyielding compulsion to get it right” from him, and their relationship was best when they “kept things mathematical” [4x03]

douglas wishes he could have built real wealth / success and given it all to taylor [4x03]

wendy mentions to taylor that douglas has “exploited your need for his approval,” and taylor agrees that douglas only cares about his own advancement rather than being a father first [4x07]

douglas dislikes the military / the government [4x06]

taylor is surprised by douglas quoting a pop song [4x07]

when taylor was younger, the bathtub was the only place they could go to be alone and think, and they’d press their legs against the sides hard enough to make them go numb [3x11]

taylor started playing online poker at age 12 under the screen name ZackCody892 and played up to 16 tables at a time (and for thousands of hours) [2x03]

douglas was fired from his job at an aerospace firm when taylor was in 7th grade. this firing damaged their relationship with him and “affected the home life.” for years, taylor thought douglas had been fired so that the firm could steal his invention, and only found out the truth from his personnel file [2x11, 4x05, 4x06]

taylor has had 927 hours of therapy prior to their session with dr. gus, and that number hasn’t changed at their first session with wendy [2x03, 2x08]

douglas, in bringing taylor food and coffee, claims they rarely take the time to look after themself [4x04]

taylor used to lie to themself and others but is now past that, and knows “how hard it is to have things inside you that you can’t communicate” and “what it’s like to face public scrutiny over who you are” [2x08, 3x02, 4x04]

when taylor reminds douglas about their pronouns, he says “this talk again?”, implying it’s a discussion they’ve had before [4x03]

taylor once got into a bar fight with a high school classmate (it’s unclear whether they were still in high school at the time) after seeing y tu mamá también in a theater [5x07]

taylor was active in occupy wall street in college [2x10]

taylor played poker in college against classmates, grad students, & professors, but their opponents kicked them out for winning too much; additionally, the competitive aspect made them sick (described as “malaise” or “vertigo-like symptoms”) [2x03, 4x12]

taylor planned to go to chicago for grad school and study with eugene fama [2x02]

mafee picked taylor as his intern because they were the only applicant who wasn’t boring / didn’t care about the same bullshit that everyone from wharton or harvard did [5x04]

douglas initiated the visit to taylor, claiming it was because he’d missed them, after not being ready to see them even though taylor’s mother wanted to visit countless times [4x03, 4x07]

taylor is trying to be “everything to their father” in funding his company, and neither of them will be able to come back from taylor being forced to betray him [4x06, 4x07]

wow that’s a long list. and now, my own thoughts and extrapolations:

taylor grew up somewhere in the west / midwest with their parents and sister, who’s a few years older than them, in a house small enough that they had to share a bedroom with her. hence, needing to hide out in the bathtub to get any space & time alone.

from very early on, taylor was douglas’s favorite child and he was their favorite parent — douglas saw taylor’s intelligence & insight (and saw himself in them) and chose to put time & effort into teaching / guiding / molding them, hoping they’d one day follow in his footsteps / support his ambitions, and taylor liked that attention & recognition. (douglas’s attitude toward taylor’s sister is essentially “well she’s here too i guess.”)

douglas taught taylor enough about aerospace engineering & mathematics for them to understand the value of his lattice fin concept, and to generally have a better grasp of engineering concepts than your average (even very well-read) business major / financier. (remember how rebecca knew a robot’s “proprietary” power source was a combustion engine because her father was a mechanic? same deal here. see also: the “smash electronics apart to find the microchips inside and figure out who makes them” strategy; taylor comparing losing grigor’s money to building a turbo engine and having the nitrous tank blow up in their face.) this manifested in both directly teaching them in his lab and in playing games like the silverware-stacking game we see in 4x03, or like douglas throwing out math problems for taylor to solve on the spot, or the two of them solving math problems together.

douglas also imparted his taste in music (which does not include anything new / popular) to taylor, though their taste as an adult (or even as, like, a teenager) isn’t identical to his. this is how they discovered rush in the first place and why they have such strong opinions about The Best Rush Albums. (if douglas had such a ranking, it’d be closer to axe’s than to taylor’s.)

listening to rush helped make taylor a libertarian 😔 that’s just life when you’re a neil peart stan, which of course they are. they admire his lyrics + his drumming talent + his absolute poker face in performances.

douglas also taught taylor to play blackjack, which inspired them to go and learn poker on their own and start playing online. they tried to keep it a secret, but it's hard to be secretive about spending hours a day playing online poker on the family computer. (this is 2006 or so, after all.)

taylor figured out that they were Not A Girl (or at least had thoughts of “hm i don’t enjoy being addressed / perceived as A Girl”) fairly young but didn’t acquire a concrete vocabulary for / specific understanding of that for some time. (if douglas is calling they/them pronouns “that woke stuff” in 2019, he sure wasn’t saying anything clear or favorable about trans people in 2009 or 1999. ditto for online poker sites.)

douglas’s firing exacerbated every negative aspect of the mason family dynamic. he doubled down on pushing taylor toward his field, urging them to succeed where he’d failed, and warning them against letting anyone Steal Their Value. money got tighter, taylor’s parents argued more, and any activities taylor was in (like, say, swimming at the ymca) that required payment got cut; they may have figured out how to make money (illegally!) from online poker at this point. the combined stress of financial instability, being torn between pursuing their own ambitions and fulfilling douglas’s expectations for them, and increasing Gendered Expectations in general — plus the whole “playing online poker for hours a day” thing — probably put taylor in therapy within a few months, if they weren’t in therapy already. (how did their parents pay for it? i don’t know either.)

stealing this from that interview asia & brian & david did in 2017: if taylor had not already taught themself to think and speak directly & incisively and look people in the eye when they talk, et cetera, it started here, whether in therapy or on their own time.

taylor went to college in new york city. douglas did not want them to do this, for a number of reasons, and would have preferred they stick closer to home (and study something other than finance), but doing so would have made them miserable.

by the time they finished high school (circa 2012), taylor had properly heard of trans people and figured that they were somehow One Of Them, but not until college did they hear of people being nonbinary and go “ohhhh yeah that’s me.” (they’d also gotten a Short Haircut in high school, but didn’t go full buzzcut until college. unsurprisingly, they got some shit in high school for being Visibly gnc.)

for some period of time while figuring out their gender situation, taylor went by the name neil as a nod to neil peart. (it’s fun to imagine that they still have a faceless twitter / tumblr account where they go by neil. doubles as a way to prevent anyone connecting it to their real life.)

taylor came out to their family while in college. their mom and sister had fairly similar reactions of “well i don’t Get this exactly, but i love you and want to support you and i’m sure you know what you're talking about better than i do and you did clearly hate it every time i urged you to conform to Standards Of Womanhood so sure i can call you Them and my [child / sibling] :)” given some time to think about it. douglas… well. if he’s starting from a place of “i don’t get this,” he’ll end up at “so it must be wrong and stupid, because i’m always right,” especially if This = his favorite child being different in some significant way from who / what he thought they were. obviously he doesn’t react well or supportively, and the strain in his relationship with taylor tips over into full-blown estrangement. bad times for everyone.

if taylor’s bar fight happened when they were old enough to legally enter a bar, it happened after coming out to their family (also after the live poker fiasco), and before making plans for grad school / internships. most likely it was on a summer break they were spending back in their hometown. (another fun thought: taylor seeing the video of axe punching a guy, just weeks after they punched a guy, and going “well maybe i should work for him.”)

if douglas was at taylor’s sister’s wedding (and maybe he wasn’t!), it was awkward for everyone when he and taylor crossed paths again. barest of pleasantries, passive-aggressive comments, et cetera. naturally, it took a few more years — and douglas realizing that taylor, now being fairly wealthy and successful, could probably fund his dream project if they didn’t hate him — for him to decide to visit them.

[softrobotcritics]

Mantis Shrimp Robot: the references

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/33/e2026833118

Many small organisms produce ultrafast movements by storing elastic energy and mediating its storage and rapid release through a latching mechanism. The mantis shrimp in particular imparts extreme accelerations on rotating appendages to strike their prey. Biologists have hypothesized, but not tested, that there exists a geometric latching mechanism which mediates the actuation of the appendage. Inspired by the anatomy of the mantis shrimp striking appendage, we develop a centimeter-scale robot which emulates the linkage dynamics in the mantis shrimp and study how the underlying geometric latch is able to control rapid striking motions. Our physical and analytical models could also be extended to other behaviors such as throwing or jumping in which high power over short duration is required.

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[mouseblob]

Boxer Buddies Review

Hello! Today i am doing a review on a discrete, cloth packer made by Boxer Buddies! The company is owned by a super chill, friendly, trans-guy, Cal. He was inspired to start the company when he noticed there wasn’t many discrete packers available. He also aimed for them to be at a reasonable price. This affordable product is perfect for trans-guys who maybe don’t live in a supportive household, aren’t out yet or don’t like the look of traditional packers.

The packers are discrete by appearing as a fish plush toy until you put them to use. They come in many designs such as peacock, cosmic { the one i will be reviewing today} , shark attack and a few more awesome patterns. 

This is the package it comes in. It is fairly discrete as well, since the B in front of Buddies could be ‘’ Beanie’’ selling the idea of a plush toy more. 

This is the actual packer. As you can see it looks very unsuspicious when laying down, but when held up by the ‘ fin’ looks like the shape of a traditional packer. 

It is a clip on packer, meaning you take the safety pin and clip it to the band of your underwear. This is how it looks when you pin it on.

And how the packer looks in boxers.

I was pleasantly surprised with this packer. I liked the clip on feature, it made it feel more secure in my boxers. The designs are really unique and comforting in a way. Its not as heavy or big as my Mr.limpy packer which i really appreciate. The price after shipping is $7.84 ( i believe it is a bit more if shipping international) that is the cheapest packer I've ever seen that works really well.

Overall in my opinion its a great product and i really do suggest you check it out! ( links below)

Boxer Buddies website- https://boxerbuddies.squarespace.com/

Boxer buddies instagram- https://instagram.com/boxerbuddies_packers?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1m2zgr10ya72f

Thank you!

[fastmusclecar123]

New Post has been published on http://fastmusclecar.com/best-muscle-cars/the-worst-muscle-car-mods/

The Worst Muscle car Mods

By Dave Ashton

Performing mods on a muscle car is as old as the breed itself. It’s not just about the mechanical upgrades to make things faster and more reliable, but also the aesthetic. Usually this means tweaking design elements, so the body is more streamlined and uniform. However, some attempts at this procedure can go as wrong as a Hollywood star who’s had too much plastic surgery.

The other analogy could be those kids in school who just simply could not draw or create artwork. We either have it or we don’t. These are usually the type who with the best intentions, want to improve the look of a vehicle, but the process goes drastically wrong. A blast of inspiration, thousands of dollars later and months down the road results in an aberration, rather than a bespoke masterpiece.

Hopefully, some of these examples will give you inspiration as what not to do and the realization that the original car designers got in most cases the original designs pretty much spot on. Just to be upfront, you may need extensively shaded eyewear or a barf bag before viewing the following items.

The Proboscis Monkey Muscle Car

We featured this rather creative design in an article some time ago, which had uncanny similarities to a Proboscis Monkey. Underneath somewhere is a Pontiac Trans Am Firebird, which has clearly had a good amount of pennies spent on it in the past and was originally for sale for €14,500.

Each to their own when it comes to car taste, but some designs have a unanimous thumbs down. At the least, the pearlessence red paint job looks good quality, even if it does now remind me of a Baboon’s ass in heat.

I’m Exhausted….

The Mercury Grand Marquis maybe crow barred into the muscle car category, but this example shows the extremes of large exhausts. In reality, it may not even be the exhaust system. It could be an improvised rainmaking machine or one of those confetti cannons you see at concert.

Big exhausts equal a cool exhaust note, but there is a cut-off point. The cut-off point on this car should be right at the headers, which would at least make it driveable without sounding like two whales in conversation.

Abstract Car Designs

I simply have no idea what this car is, was meant to be or is trying to emulate. It strikes me as an abstract splat, with some fins, but just like those weird looking fish you see at the bottom of the ocean, it must have its purpose. Maybe it’s an art piece with an untold message or exactly as the designer intended. Whatever the reasonings, my brain simply doesn’t compute.

The Unicorn Mustang

Unicorns are lucky, right? So, why not turn a vintage Mustang into one and drag a trailer behind it. This is exactly the thought process with this Mustang, having a huge silver horn on the hood, silver and purple birds wing slapped onto the rear quarters and a psychedelic horsey color scheme.

If you look closely, the Unicon’s head on the front fender is meant to blend in with the huge horn on the hood. But, this would mean in real life the unicorn would have a horn that slanted off at 45 degrees. Better luck next time.

A GTO Too Far

When we first started this website, this was one of the first images we came across of a muscle car mod. At first it seems cool to have stacked up superchargers, but this thing is about as practical as a chocolate fireguard. It’s just the simple fact of having a tower of metal blocking your view, unbalancing the car and wanting to constantly rip itself free from the engine block.

If you’re going to go to the lengths and expense of stacking up superchargers like this, strap on some mini guns, huge rear wing and make it as outlandish as the supercharged stack. The shame here is that without the superchargers, this could be a great looking car. In this example, at least the changes can be easily reversed.

The Camaro Limo No-No

While other lists of this type highlight oversized donk cars, cars trying to be trucks, loud paint jobs and botched body kits. This example is to show that you should never turn a regular car into a limo.

Even when visually a car makes you slightly nauseous, if it can at least drive, it has some worth. When a car is always in danger of snapping in half at a moments notice, it’s time and expense down the drain. This Camaro was probably a good runner once in its life. Now it’s a disappointing mess that no one will buy, unless you want to turn it into a small, static motor home or lengthy garden shed. This Camaro is a whole heap of wrong and could of had the money and time spent on a few upgrades to make it a good everyday runner. Shame on you.

[entropea-me]

Lettre publique de coming out

Ceci est la lettre que j’ai publié sur tous mes réseaux sociaux le mercredi 6 septembre 2017.

Elle est, à mon sens, beaucoup mieux écrite et que la lettre écrite en février pour mon compte Twitter @_entropea.

Vous avez le droit de vous en inspirer librement pour vos CO personnels.

Hello, message très important sur un sujet personnel, merci de lire au moins le début ;)

Je n'attends pas de vous un soutien actif, mais savoir que vous êtes là et que vous m'accepterez sans condition m'emplie d'une immense fierté.

Je vous en remercie par avance.

Depuis 8 ans à présent, j'ai un bruit sourd dans l'oreille qui ne me lâche pas un seul jour. Parfois, ce bourdonnement prend toute la place. À d'autre moments, parce que je me concentre sur d'autres choses, j'arrive à le reléguer au second plan, et je ne l'entends plus jusqu'à ce qu'il trouve une manière cynique de se faire entendre à nouveau.

Il s'agit d'une féroce, indestructible force, un torrent puissant qui m'amène vers une seule évidence :

Je suis une femme.

Et je vais vivre à présent en tant que femme à plein temps.

Voilà ! :)

Il s’agit de quelque chose avec lequel j’ai navigué à peu près toute ma vie mais en mi-2016 juste après mon stage de fin d'études, j’ai enfin réussi à surmonter mes peurs et avoir le courage de vivre ma vie en tant que moi-même, et de commencer une transition de genre. Pour cette raison, je passe la meilleure année de ma vie à ce jour.

Que cela implique-t-il pour vous et dans nos relations ? - Je vous prierais de m’appeler à présent par le prénom que j’ai choisi : Agathe. - Utiliser des pronoms appropriés, me concernant. En tant que femme, mes pronoms sont elle/sa. - Continuer à me traiter avec le même respect et qu’avant, que notre relation soit familiale, amicale ou professionnelle.

J’ai bien conscience que ces changements peuvent prendre du temps. En tan Je comprendrai parfaitement si il y a des erreurs durant les premiers temps. Si cela arrive, ne vous étonnez pas si je vous corrige ; ce temps d’adaptation, nécessaire, se fera je l’espère avec beaucoup de bienveillance de tous les côtés. Sachez malgré tout que me faire appeler “monsieur” ou par mon nom de naissance reste très douloureux.

Une transition de genre est un processus qui prend du temps, parfois plusieurs années (ainsi que de l’argent et du travail administratif). J’y suis investie depuis un an à présent : le changement ne se fait pas en une nuit. Les progrès prennent du temps, et même s'ils sont déjà visibles, je vais continuer de changer dans les prochains mois. Beaucoup de personnes trans attendent beaucoup plus longtemps avant de faire leur transition sociale, mais je me sens suffisamment à l'aise à présent, et je n’ai pas envie de prétendre plus longtemps d’être quelqu’un d’autre.

Mon boulot et Facebook étaient d’ailleurs les seuls endroits où je n’étais pas encore “out”. Ce n’est plus cas !

Donc ça y est, j’ai décidé que c’était le bon moment pour moi !

Je comprends que cela peut être quelque chose de nouveau et inconnu pour certaines personnes. Google peut vous aider à comprendre quelques concepts, mais attention, il y a également beaucoup de bêtises écrites sur l'identité de genre. Je pense notamment à des films sortis ces dernières années, caricaturaux et fantasmés. Je vous les déconseille.

En revanche, voici de bons points de départs :

- La très simple FAQ de Wikihow avec quelques règles de base sur la manière de traiter avec respect les personnes trans. C’est la base et beaucoup de choses vont vous sembler logique mais c’est toujours bien d’y faire un tour : http://www.wikihow.com/Respect-a-Transgender-Person

- Pour aller plus loin, quelques pistes d’une asso LGBT américaine pour les “alliés” des personnes trans. à lire pour être préparé.e si vous croisez d’autres personnes trans dans votre vie. https://www.glaad.org/transgender/allies

- Le document du Défenseur Des Droits à propos de la place et des problématiques liées aux personnes LGBT (lesbiennes, gays, bi, trans) en entreprise. Cela mélange des informations sur les personnes homosexuelles et trans, mais c'est une bonne introduction et il y a quelques conseils, surtout dans la dernière partie. https://www.fonction-publique.gouv.fr/…/guide-DDD-lgbt-2017…

Si vous avez des questions que vous souhaitez aborder avec moi, ça sera avec plaisir, tant que c'est fait avec respect et bienveillance.

La transidentité est un concept très personnel, et toutes les personnes trans le vivent de manière différente, je ne peux donc parler que de mon expérience propre. Cependant, je peux vous conseiller quelques oeuvres à découvrir qui résonnent avec moi en tant que femme trans, faites par des personnes trans ou à propos de personnages trans :

- Sense8, une série Netflix réalisée par deux soeurs trans, à l’origine également la saga Matrix, qui contient un personnage trans très charismatique. - Tomboy, un film français à propos d’un enfant qui explore son genre - Her Story, une série Youtube réalisée et jouée par des personnes trans - Orange Is The New Black, qui contient une actrice trans en personnage secondaire, dans un contexte carcéral, et qui expose de bonnes problématiques la concernant.

Je voudrais terminer ce long message en remerciant : - Ma famille que j'aime, en particulier ma mère et ma sœur qui ont joué un grand rôle dans ma prise de confiance en moi. - Bérenger, pour son accueil et support immédiat, mon premier soutien. - Mon chéri, Léonard, mon rayon de soleil, mon porte-avion. Je t’aime. - Mes collègues de bureau et mon boss qui ont été super bienveillants et accueillants.

Je souhaite que les choses se passent facilement et que ma transition devienne un non-sujet très rapidement. J’aimerais également vous assurer que je reste la même personne, je kiffe toujours autant lancer des projets, le design, Harry Potter, Muse, le féminisme (ça doit prendre du sens pour certains), etc.

Voilà, vous savez tout ! J’attends avec impatience nos prochaines rencontres, que nous puissions en discuter et que vous ayez l’occasion de voir mon “moi authentique” ;)

Vous pouvez me contacter au besoin sur Facebook ou par mail !

En vous souhaitant à toutes et tous une belle journée,

Votre amie, collègue ou ex-collègue, celle que vous avez toujours connue, en plus authentique, Agathe

[ladystylestores]

Boeing’s 737 Max is Being Readied for a Comeback. What Travelers Need to Know

This week, Boeing completed test flights of its troubled 737 Max airplane to demonstrate that it can fly safely with new flight control software. The Max was grounded in March 2019 after a pair of fatal crashes — in Indonesia and Ethiopia — that killed 346 people.

Even as the company began testing the planes for recertification, a federal inspector general’s report said that Boeing had kept information from federal regulators about the flawed computer system that brought down the two jets during the plane’s initial approval process.

The Max is the most recent model of Boeing’s 737, a type of aircraft with many variants over the decades. More than 10,000 737s have been built. The Max was released in 2017 in four lengths to accommodate up to 230 seats. The Max has larger, more fuel-efficient engines than the older models.

If the Federal Aviation Administration is convinced that Boeing has corrected the problems that led to the crashes, the planes will return to service, but no timeline has been announced.

The agency said in a statement that it “will lift the grounding order only after we are satisfied that the aircraft meets certification standards.”

Boeing’s chief executive, David Calhoun, flew on the plane in February. The head of the F.A.A. and longtime Delta pilot, Stephen M. Dickson, told a Senate committee that he would fly the Max himself and must be satisfied that he would put his family aboard before he would lift the grounding order.

Industry experts said that it could still take several months before the agency and its counterparts in Europe, Canada and Brazil give the green light to certify the Max — possibly as late as 2021. All told, this likely means that the Max won’t return to service until this fall at the earliest.

Here’s what travelers who might be contemplating flying again around that time need to know.

What happens when the F.A.A. certifies the aircraft?

The airlines need to ready the planes and their pilots, and the F.A.A. needs to approve a new training regime for pilots.

The grounded planes are parked at airplane storage facilities around the United States. They undergo periodic maintenance even while grounded. When the F.A.A. provides its approval, an airline’s maintenance teams and pilots will fly the aircraft (with no passengers on board) to airline maintenance facilities, said R. Eric Jones, an associate professor of Aviation Maintenance Sciences at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an experienced airline maintenance lead. There, the aircraft will undergo extensive evaluations and maintenance of systems, including hydraulics and avionics, and of the wings and landing gear. “Assuming no anomalies are found, it could take as little as two weeks to a month to return a parked Max to operational service,” Professor Jones said.

Boeing has recommended to the F.A.A. that pilots undergo training on flight simulators combined with computer-based training “before returning the MAX safely to service.” This training could be similar to the intense annual checks every airline pilot undergoes regardless of what aircraft they fly. It could take several days per pilot on a tablet, coupled with simulation of the new flight control system on a full-motion flight simulator. The details of the training have not been announced. Many pilots who fly the Max have trained on flight simulators every three months since the plane was grounded to maintain their knowledge of how it flies.

What airlines fly the Max?

Since it was introduced, Boeing has delivered 370 Max aircraft to 47 customers worldwide.

Southwest Airlines was the largest U.S. operator of the Max, with 34 in its fleet. American Airlines has 24 and United Airlines has 14. Delta Air Lines is the sole major U.S. carrier not to have ordered the jet to date. While the Max represents a small percentage of the fleets of these carriers, hundreds more were on order before the crashes.

Internationally, dozens of airlines are slated to take delivery of the Max over the coming years. In North America, Air Canada, WestJet and Aeroméxico fly the aircraft and have orders for more. Ryanair, the European low-cost carrier, will eventually fly more than 100 Max aircraft.

What routes does the Max normally fly?

The Max is the latest generation of Boeing’s 737, which was designed to fly medium-range flights like New York to Austin or San Francisco to Chicago. None fly trans-Atlantic.

With Covid-19 slowing airline travel, what’s the hurry?

The Max is about 17 percent more fuel-efficient than its older Boeing 737 siblings. The fuel savings are huge for cash-strapped airlines. Airlines want to deploy the jets as soon as they can, even during this period of depressed travel demand.

How can I tell when I’m booking whether the plane will be a Max?

When you book your ticket online, airlines display the type of aircraft slated to fly the route. You might have to click a link to reveal this information. For example, American Airlines previously listed the Max on its website booking page as the “7M8” aircraft, which stands for Boeing 737 MAX 8. (There are 7, 8, 9 and 10 numbered variants, depending on the seating capacity). Southwest has a webpage that lets you identify what plane you are scheduled to fly on. However, the plane that is scheduled to fly a route can change for myriad reasons, ranging from run-of-the-mill maintenance issues to poor weather causing network delays.

Has any other commercial aircraft been successfully rehabilitated?

Aviation authorities grounded the Boeing 787 Dreamliner for four months in 2013 because of smoking lithium-ion batteries in two separate incidents. For a time, passengers were skittish about flying the then-new aircraft. That moment has long passed; the Dreamliner is key to many airlines’ international routes. But the Dreamliner had not been involved in fatal crashes.

How can I tell if I’m flying on a Max?

If you’re waiting at the gate and see your plane, look for large and pointy fins extending above and below the wingtips called winglets. Winglets come in all manner of similar designs, but the Max’s stand out.

Will airlines allow me to rebook or get a refund if I don’t want to fly on the Max?

Rebook? Yes. Refund? No. U.S. carriers have not yet announced policies related to the return of service of the Max. However, in a statement this week to The New York Times, a United Airlines spokeswoman said that the company “will be transparent — and communicate in advance — with our customers who are booked to fly on a Max aircraft, will rebook those who do not want to fly on a Max at no charge.” Expect other airlines to follow United’s lead.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places list.

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[itsworn]

Traditional Deuce Coupe powered by Olds Rocket V-8

As hot rodders we’re driven to create vehicles that personify style and performance while maintaining a classic vibe showcasing not only hard work, but also the design elements of the original car. Regardless of whether your build choices center around traditional, contemporary, or somewhere in between, one thing for sure is that throughout the decades there have been plenty of inspirational cars built. Many of these cars will maintain their creative elements throughout their lifespan while others will be sold off, torn down, and rebuilt again and again as styles change.

For Rick Start of Grand Rapids, Michigan, growing up with an older brother who was deep into early Corvettes gave him plenty of influence to get involved in the automotive world. It was common for Rick to come home from school on a regular basis to find his brother, Doug, and his pals, who also drove Corvettes, parked in the family driveway wrenching on their cars.

Regular visits to Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan, during his early teens further fueled the desire for horsepower, especially when coupled with stories his brother would tell of the intense nitro racing he’d see at US131 Dragway.

They say there’s always a turning point that sends you down the performance path and for Rick it was the summers he spent with good friend Dave VanDam and his family at their cottage near the state park in nearby Holland in the mid ’70s. During this time the nights were filled with cruising “the loop” as it was known throughout the park in either a hopped-up 1970 Chevelle or 1955 Chevy with Dave’s older brothers, Rick and Ron, doing as many burnouts as possible while avoiding the park rangers. As the years passed Rick never forgot the adrenalin rush he experienced during his teens, leading him to eventually own a number of cool rides, including a 1960 Corvette and 1955 Chevy.

Having always been fascinated with early hot rods, especially 1932 Fords, he decided it was time to start a quest to find one with only one requirement, that the body be original Ford steel. After canvassing an endless stream of For Sale ads, he finally located a suitable car. It was an original ’70s-era Deuce featuring a black body, classic flames, cool chop, and an updated modern chassis. The car presented itself well and was a good driver, so Rick made a deal and trailered it back to his home shop. After driving and studying it for a while, Rick felt that it was due for a full rebuild.

Having seen a number of the wicked traditional hot rods and customs rolling out of Gas Axe Garage in Allendale, Michigan, Rick made an appointment to meet with shop owner Mike Boerema to discuss the future of the coupe. The pair shared many of the same ideas for its rebirth in a true ’50s style complete with an era-correct vintage driveline. Soon after, the coupe was dropped off for the team to get started. Without wasting any time it was fully disassembled to evaluate what would be kept for the project.

Since the existing chassis was too modern, it was jettisoned in favor of an original set of ’rails. For a rock-solid base a set of gennie 1932 Ford framerails were boxed up front and treated to Model A front and rear crossmembers, as well as a custom-fabricated center K-member. Out back a vintage Halibrand “Culver City” quick-change rear packs 3.55:1 gears and is hung in place by a 1941 Ford wishbone combined with an original Model A rear spring with reversed eyes and chrome Monroe tube shocks. Up front is all traditional, with an original Deuce big-beam axle that’s been dropped 3 inches, coupled to 1946 Ford spindles with 1937 Ford split ’bones matched to an original Model A spring with reversed eyes and chrome Monroe tube shocks. To slow the hustle a Mustang dual master pushes fluid through stainless lines to 1939 Ford drums out back and classic finned aluminum Buick drums up front. For anchoring it to the street, nothing says cool better than a set of original 16-inch Ford steelies wrapped with Coker/Firestone big ’n’ little wide whites.

If you’re going to make a statement in your hop-up nothing speaks louder than a vintage mill nailed between your ’rails. To handle the job a 1956 Olds V-8 was summoned to make plenty of power. The block was massaged to 329 ci by D&T Performance of Grand Rapids and the engine was assembled by Gas Axe, filling the base with a refreshed factory crank linked to stock rods wearing new 10:1 pistons while an Isky cam sets a heavy beat. A set of warmed-over factory heads generate plenty of seamless power while an Edelbrock four-pot intake breathes deep through a quartet of Stromberg 97-series carbs capped with vintage frog mouth air scoops. If the Devil’s in the details there’s plenty to see, including a cloth wiring harness, Edelbrock fuel log, custom coil cover, Echlin voltage regulator, and tasty factory valve covers. A Mallory dual-point ignition lights the fire while spent gases roar through custom Gas Axe–fabbed headers to a 2-1/2-inch exhaust. The goods move rearward through a 1939 Ford trans packed with Lincoln Zephyr gears rebuilt by Gas Axe, matched to an adapter from Wilcap with final drive via torque tube.

You never know what you’re going to find when you take on the task of stripping a steel body that was minted well over 80 years ago. Once the body was down to bare metal, thankfully, there weren’t too many surprises to be found. There was already a perfectly balanced 4-inch chop in place that had been executed perfectly at some point during the car’s life. The Gas Axe team set forth to update the body by removing the mini-tubs out back, repairing the subrails and installing new inner fenders, installing a working cowl vent and removing the welded-in firewall and replacing it with an original stock bolt-in unit. They also installed a working tilt windshield, set all the gaps, and metal-finished everything to perfection. From there the body and chassis were sent to Those Guys Custom Paint and Fabrication of Wyoming, Michigan, to prepare it for gloss. Rick selected a dramatic PPG custom-blended deep burgundy pearl for plenty of allure that was laid down by Joe Boerema, bringing the project to life. Other cool bits include 1937 Ford taillights and BLC 682-J Series headlights.

When it came time to designing the interior Mike had plenty of tricks up his sleeve. To infuse just the right amount of style he started by modifying the factory dash to include a 1956 Oldsmobile instrument cluster, refreshed by Gas Axe. A 1961 Oldsmobile steering wheel perched on a custom chrome column carves the course though a 1940 Ford steering box while shifts move through custom swan-neck shifter topped with a billiard ball knob. Adding plenty of class, Top Stitch Upholstery of Jenison stitched up a winning combination of oxblood and crème leather covering the stock-style bench seat with rolls ’n’ pleats as well as a installing a pair of signature Olds 88 Rocket emblems to the doors, wrapping it all up with burgundy German square-weave carpeting. This is one Deuce that looks like it rolled straight off the pages of a little book personifying the Gas Axe Garage look while giving Rick the ride of his dreams. To us that’s just plain bitchin.

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New Post has been published on http://fastmusclecar.com/best-muscle-cars/the-worst-muscle-car-mods/

The Worst Muscle car Mods

By Dave Ashton

Performing mods on a muscle car is as old as the breed itself. It’s not just about the mechanical upgrades to make things faster and more reliable, but also the aesthetic. Usually this means tweaking design elements, so the body is more streamlined and uniform. However, some attempts at this procedure can go as wrong as a Hollywood star who’s had too much plastic surgery.

The other analogy could be those kids in school who just simply could not draw or create artwork. We either have it or we don’t. These are usually the type who with the best intentions, want to improve the look of a vehicle, but the process goes drastically wrong. A blast of inspiration, thousands of dollars later and months down the road results in an aberration, rather than a bespoke masterpiece.

Hopefully, some of these examples will give you inspiration as what not to do and the realization that the original car designers got in most cases the original designs pretty much spot on. Just to be upfront, you may need extensively shaded eyewear or a barf bag before viewing the following items.

The Proboscis Monkey Muscle Car

We featured this rather creative design in an article some time ago, which had uncanny similarities to a Proboscis Monkey. Underneath somewhere is a Pontiac Trans Am Firebird, which has clearly had a good amount of pennies spent on it in the past and was originally for sale for €14,500.

Each to their own when it comes to car taste, but some designs have a unanimous thumbs down. At the least, the pearlessence red paint job looks good quality, even if it does now remind me of a Baboon’s ass in heat.

I’m Exhausted….

The Mercury Grand Marquis maybe crow barred into the muscle car category, but this example shows the extremes of large exhausts. In reality, it may not even be the exhaust system. It could be an improvised rainmaking machine or one of those confetti cannons you see at concert.

Big exhausts equal a cool exhaust note, but there is a cut-off point. The cut-off point on this car should be right at the headers, which would at least make it driveable without sounding like two whales in conversation.

Abstract Car Designs

I simply have no idea what this car is, was meant to be or is trying to emulate. It strikes me as an abstract splat, with some fins, but just like those weird looking fish you see at the bottom of the ocean, it must have its purpose. Maybe it’s an art piece with an untold message or exactly as the designer intended. Whatever the reasonings, my brain simply doesn’t compute.

The Unicorn Mustang

Unicorns are lucky, right? So, why not turn a vintage Mustang into one and drag a trailer behind it. This is exactly the thought process with this Mustang, having a huge silver horn on the hood, silver and purple birds wing slapped onto the rear quarters and a psychedelic horsey color scheme.

If you look closely, the Unicon’s head on the front fender is meant to blend in with the huge horn on the hood. But, this would mean in real life the unicorn would have a horn that slanted off at 45 degrees. Better luck next time.

A GTO Too Far

When we first started this website, this was one of the first images we came across of a muscle car mod. At first it seems cool to have stacked up superchargers, but this thing is about as practical as a chocolate fireguard. It’s just the simple fact of having a tower of metal blocking your view, unbalancing the car and wanting to constantly rip itself free from the engine block.

If you’re going to go to the lengths and expense of stacking up superchargers like this, strap on some mini guns, huge rear wing and make it as outlandish as the supercharged stack. The shame here is that without the superchargers, this could be a great looking car. In this example, at least the changes can be easily reversed.

The Camaro Limo No-No

While other lists of this type highlight oversized donk cars, cars trying to be trucks, loud paint jobs and botched body kits. This example is to show that you should never turn a regular car into a limo.

Even when visually a car makes you slightly nauseous, if it can at least drive, it has some worth. When a car is always in danger of snapping in half at a moments notice, it’s time and expense down the drain. This Camaro was probably a good runner once in its life. Now it’s a disappointing mess that no one will buy, unless you want to turn it into a small, static motor home or lengthy garden shed. This Camaro is a whole heap of wrong and could of had the money and time spent on a few upgrades to make it a good everyday runner. Shame on you.

[itsworn]

Brilliant in Blue Deuce Roadster Is Packed with Traditional Vibe

Vision; it’s what drives hot rodders to create something from scratch, often starting with a blank canvas. The imaginative part of the equation often rises from a pile of parts, many times assembled by canvassing an endless string of swap meets to locate just the right combination of bits to bring something to life. Regardless of whether you have designs on building a traditional-styled car, one with contemporary flair, of something in between, one thing for sure is that something or someone inspired you to do so.

Many times once a project gets started it gains momentum and continues onto completion, however on occasion there are times when they sometimes get stalled, needing someone else to bring them to completion. For Bill Towers of Milford, Delaware, hot rodding runs deep in his blood—ever since being introduced to hop-ups over 50 years ago by his dad. As early as 1958 his memories revolve around regular family trips to Georgetown Speedway to watch stock car racing at its finest while also building scale kit models of his hero’s rides at the kitchen table. By the age of 16 he began a racing career spanning 20 years where he raced everything from stock cars to Sprint Cars at numerous tracks. The other side of the coin was a deep fascination of traditional hot rods that ruled the local streets as he was growing up.

It was this attraction that eventually led him down a path to start the search for a 1932 Ford roadster project. The car would have to have plenty of traditional vibe and classic style already infused into the build. Many times all you have to do is let friends know what you are looking for if you are in the right circle. For Bill, it didn’t take long till he received a phone call telling him about an extraordinary car that had just been offered up for sale. A trip to West Springfield, Massachusetts brought him face to face with a postwar-styled Deuce roadster project that was being built by the late Gary Philbrick. The car embodied many of the values Bill was looking for and it was a full roller loaded with a vintage driveline and fresh body from Brookville Roadster. He immediately felt a connection with the car, so a deal was made with the family and the project was shipped home to be completed.

In creating the car, Gary had invested quite a lot of time dialing in many of the fine details that would all be retained as it moved onto completion. Starting with the chassis, Gary had Fred Rosner of Gill, Massachusetts, build the spine, starting with a fresh set of ASC ’rails to which he added an original Deuce center crossmember as well as Model A front and rear members. It was boxed for additional strength and treated to a vintage Halibrand Engineering Culver City V-8 quick-change rear packed with 3.78:1 gears and suspended in place by 1940 Ford ’bones combined with a Model A spring and Monroe tube shocks. To add tradition up front a Super Bell 4-inch dropped axle was deftly matched to 1940 Ford spindles linked to a stock Deuce wishbone that soaks up the bumps through a Posies leaf spring and Monroe tube shocks. For plenty of stopping power a dual master pushes juice through steel lines to 1946 Ford binders at each corner capped with 1958 Buick finned aluminum drums. To link it all to the street nothing looks better than a set of gennie 16-inch Ford steelies wrapped in Coker/Firestone wide whites sporting Mercury caps ’n’ rings.

A main focal point of any classic hot rod is in its mill so it was an easy decision for Gary to want to set a Hemi between the ’rails. To handle this he went right to Barry Kuhnel of West Springfield to build a fire-breathing V-8 packed with a speed shop full of go-fast goods. Starting with a 1956 Chrysler 331ci V-8, it was machined to perfection and packed with a stock crank and rods linked to Keith Black pistons while an Isky stick sets the beat. The stock heads were warmed-over yielding plenty of seamless power while up top an Offenhauser log intake gets fed through a squadron of Rochester 2GC carbs wearing crowns from Stelling & Hellings. It all sparks to life through a Vertex magneto with spent gases dumping through custom headers and exhaust by Bad Donkee Hot Rods, of Hanover, Pennsylvania. Power moves through a classic 1939 Ford trans refreshed by Kuhnel to a torque tube and onto the rearend.

There’s nothing like starting with fresh steel so Gary added a newly struck Deuce roadster body from Brookville Roadster, accented by a 2-inch chopped windshield, vintage BLC headlights, and cool 1936 Chrysler Airflow taillights to the mix. To bring the primed shell completion Bill had the team at Bad Donkee Hot Rods work the body to perfection, setting all the gaps and getting it ready for plenty of glamour. Staying true to the car’s original vision, Bill had Richard and Brandon Glymph of Maryland lay down a decadent coating of Axalta Peacock Blue gloss to complete the vibe. Paul Quinn added just the right amount of brush strokes for the final bit of custom details to the body.

To give the interior just the right bit of allure, Gary visited the L.A. Roadsters Show swap meet years ago and located a pristine 1932 Ford dash packed with an original Auburn gauge cluster and tachometer to monitor the car’s vitals. A Ford Crestliner steering wheel plots the course while an original Ford shifter pulls gears. To complete the interior in grand style the car was sent off to Sholley’s Trim Shop in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, to stitch up a winning combination of traditional-pleated white vinyl with accenting door and kick panels and medium blue loop-style carpeting. The Bad Donkee team then finalized everything with a custom wiring harness and detailing.

Bill tells us that his finest moment with the car was being able to show it to Gary’s mom so she could see his design elements and vision reach completion. The roadster is accumulating plenty of miles now, and to us that’s just plain cool.

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[itsworn]

Low-Slung 1958 Chevy Yeoman Wagon Redefines Cool

Sometimes in business, deals are made to simply get the job done whereas at other times a deal can yield something rather unique once all the dust settles. It’s kind of like let’s see what it will take to make a plan work with a surprise pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Nearly 30-years ago, businessman Raymond Currie had been working on a plan to help out a partner when as a part of the deal an old station wagon was offered in partial payment. Having always been a fan of old cars he accepted the wagon as a part of the agreement while not having any immediate plans for it. The car was rolled into the barn on the family property and forgotten about, becoming a halfway house for mice and a storage vault for untold treasures.

For his son Paul Currie of Brentwood, New Hampshire, the wagon held plenty of automotive dreams as he would regularly see its dust-covered shape through the dimly lit windows longing to be brought back to life whenever he visited. Having grown up in the Boston suburb Revere, Massachusetts, Paul spent plenty of early years hanging out at Revere Beach overwhelmed by the constant flow of hopped-up muscles cars and hot rods regularly making the scene. It wasn’t long till he earned the keys to his first ride, a jet black 1969 Camaro and he wasted no time in getting a regular late night spot at Kelly’s Roast Beef on the strip. Many cars followed as did an appreciation for vintage steel, especially Chevrolet.

Even though he had already owned a number of cool cars, Paul always thought about the wagon and how cool it would be to take it on as a project with his dad. Unfortunately his dad passed before they had the opportunity and the wagon remained under wraps. One afternoon while having some maintenance work done on the barn, the workers inquired about it. Turns out the wagon happened to be a very rare 1958 Chevrolet Yeoman two-door, mostly complete including all of its trim, interior and driveline. They persuaded Paul to let them clean it up and get it running again for him. This was a nudge that Paul needed to finally start on the project and pull the car out of the barn for the first time in 30-years. The trio of Henry Pineau, Matt Belanger and Jay Lee wasted no time in laying the initial groundwork on the hauler. At the same time Paul gained plenty of inspiration right from the pages of STREET RODDDER where he saw a feature on Paul White’s decadent 1949 Oldsmobile 88 drop-top custom built by the team at Back Bay Customs in Portland, Maine. It was the magic he saw within the big Olds that prompted him to arrange a meeting with Paul and team leader Adam Clayman at BBC. After viewing the Yeoman and discussing the project they all shared the same ideals for bringing the car back with a fresh attitude while also embracing many of the original design’s finer points. A deal was made and the wagon was dropped at the shop to begin its rebirth.

Wanting the car to have a dramatic low stance the BBC team got started by freshening up the factory X-frame by blasting it and treating it to a fresh coating of chassis black. Out back the original rearend spins 3.36:1 gears and is suspended in place by a StrongArm CoolRide upper wishbone with RideTech lower control arms, CoolRide ‘bags, single-adjustable shocks and matching MuscleBar antiroll bar. To nail the nose to the pavement, up front the factory IFS was updated with RideTech upper and lower StrongArm’s matched to ShockWave ‘bags and matching antiroll bar with the system completed using their AirPod control unit. To bring plenty of stopping power to the table an SSBC power dual master pushes juice through stainless lines to 14-inch Baer drilled and vented discs and four-piston calipers mounted at each corner. To bring it all to the street with plenty of class a set of 17-inch Foose Model F-209 Shockwave wheels capped with Bridgestone Potenza low-profile radials gets the job done.

Seeing that Paul was planning to put down plenty of miles on the wagon, the original tired stock engine was pulled and updated with a fresh Chevrolet Performance 350ci HP Deluxe crate V-8. Starting with a newly-minted four-bolt main cast iron block it was filled with plenty of factory performance starting with a nodular iron crank linked to powdered metal connecting rods wearing cast aluminum pistons urged by a hydraulic flat tappet cam to set the beat. Up top a set of iron cylinder heads with 76cc chambers generate seamless power while an Edelbrock Performer intake topped with an MSD Atomic EFI adds plenty of punch. A Mallory Unilite ignition lights the fire while Hedman headers link to a BBC 2-½-inch stainless exhaust and Magnaflow mufflers. Added details include a Vintage Air Front Runner Drive System; Edelbrock finned aluminum valve covers, custom hard lines. The crowning touch is a very exclusive one-off designed and hand-formed air cleaner by BBC. A TCI Automotive Street Fighter 700-R4 trans moves the goods to a custom driveshaft by Williams Brothers of Portland.

Thankfully the wagon had been spared the ravages of New England winters for three decades but it didn’t excuse it from the telltale signs of old age being that the sheetmetal was well over 50-years old. Adam and his team first tended to all of the problem areas to prepare the body for the next step. This included fabricating outer rockers, door bottoms, floor sections, reworking the rear quarters and lift gate glass channels as well as creating custom rear floors to accommodate the updated suspension dynamics. From there the team metal finished the body, set all the gaps and prepared it for paint. Seeing that his dad’s favorite color was green it was the perfect way to pay homage to him by having his lovely wife Alese and son Raymond-Grant work with Adam to have just the right hue blended. An Axalta Extreme Green was created accented by Pearl Effect White and the team laid down the vivid vibe bringing the project to life. To add plenty of dazzle, Pauls chrome refreshed the bumpers to newfound brilliance while the stainless trim was massaged back to life by Stan Stevens.

To add the final bit of allure to the wagon the interior needed to have the same amount of detail as the exterior. The team at BBC started by first restoring the factory dash, giving it a subtle look with a top coat of soft-touch clear coat along with refreshed factory dials from Instrument Services Inc. A Budnik Beveled Sport wheel perched atop an ididit tilt column carves the course while cool breezes from Vintage Air fill the cabin and tunes by American Autosound urged by Alpine, JBL and Focal pump up the beat. Adam laid out the American Autowire Highway 22 harness to bring everything together. For plenty of comfort a comfy combination of medium brown leather and fawn Alcantara was stitched in a classic pattern for the seats and side panels by Larry Cyr at ARS Interiors of Oxford who also installed the headliner and complimenting brown wool carpeting. This is one rare wagon that has been brought back to life perfectly for cruising the highways and byways of New England and we’re sure that Paul and his family will put down plenty of family miles.

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[itsworn]

Bruce Leven’s Gran Turismo–Winning 1951 Ford Coupe

It Took 60 Years to Do it, But Bruce Leven Now Has the Sports Rod He Wanted as a Kid

The notion that ordinary cars can become extraordinary is the basis for HOT ROD magazine and its readers. The model of the manufacturer as the creator went straight on its ear. The consumers—like you and me—are the ones calling the shots. Cars and their parts merely become our building blocks, spawning a feeding frenzy of would-be enthusiasts with a mantra: “One day I’m gonna.”

Bruce Leven can identify. “I wanted to build this car since I was 16,” he says. “I’m 78 now. I just fell in love with it.”

The car Bruce fell in love with 60 years ago is Ron Dunn’s 1950 Ford club coupe. That was the seed for this one, but to understand this car you have to understand that one.

Ron Dunn and his shoebox as Eric Rickman saw it in June 1957. Ron got the car as a gift from his parents. He drove almost directly from the dealership to the shop. The similarities are unmistakable, right down to the big wheel openings and the perimeter grille and roll pan.

Ron’s “Monte Carlo” (what he called it) owed a great deal of its fame to Dean Batchelor. Dean was as comfortable in a Ford as he was in a Ferrari. Case in point, when his stint ended at Hop Up—a decidedly hot roddy/custom car magazine—he slid right into the seat at Road & Track, which was very sporty. Years later he wrote a bunch of books about Ferraris and hot rods.

Back then he was also good friends with Valley Custom’s Neil Emory. Neil’s son, Gary, recalls, “Dean would pick up Dad, and they’d go to lunch talking about whatever car Dean was testing at the time.” And the sports cars he brought were different to the core, which influenced Ron’s car.

Europe taxed on displacement, so cars there had smaller engines. Smaller engines meant smaller bodies, which required higher roof lines to fit occupants. Neil and Clay approximated those proportions by removing a 5-inch band from the perimeter of the body of Ron’s coupe—think of it as chopping the body rather than the top. (Neither the idea nor the process was original; Edsel Ford had his people do the same thing to a Zephyr to make the original Continental—its name and shape inspired by the cars Edsel saw on “The Continent,” aka Europe). A 1957 revision made Ron’s more like a sports car, with a mesh grille, roll pans, and delicate nerf bars front and rear. The Monte Carlo name was no stretch; this was a European-inspired car.

Lincoln’s 368 was the second-biggest engine made in 1956, making it appropriate for a period-influenced sports car. It’s also physically massive, requiring a custom pan and belt driven oil pump to fit in the slimmed-down shoebox. Dan Brewer at Shaver Racing Engines coaxed more than a horse-per-cube from it, a respectable ratio for the age the car represents.

Ron’s car wasn’t fast with a stock flathead six engine that appealed mostly to grandfathers and fleet operators at best. But particularly after the 1957 rehash, the car had the spirit of being a hot rod, as some people believed the movement was progressing.

Bruce’s car isn’t a clone. Part of the “one day I’m gonna” mandate says you’ll bring to bear your own experiences and interests. And Bruce’s experiences and interests are wholeheartedly in sports cars—starting with a Porsche RSR in the 1970s, a purchase that led to IMSA, Trans-Am, and even IndyCar racing.

Stock dashes get a bit bulky in a sectioned car, not to mention the shape kind of limits options, so Lindsey Butler and Justin Messer built this one entirely from scratch. Touching upon his sports-car roots, Bruce chose a Nardi wheel.

He chose Wicked Fabrication in Auburn, Washington, to execute the project on his recently found 1951 club coupe.

Sectioning is the defining element of the car, but since this is an homage more than a clone, the team took a different approach. Guided by Bruce and Craig, Adam Hart and Josh “Pappy” Green sliced the body in two, slid the upper half into the bottom, and crept up to the ideal amount (which works out to a band 2-1/2 inches wide removed at the back to about 5-1/2 inches out of the front

Some modifications sometimes invite more work. “All of a sudden, the top looked like it had a big bulge in it,” Bruce recalls. So Lindsey Butler and Pappy thinned the crown 1-1/2 inches, a process called pancaking. This opened the door for another modification that fits the sports-car theme. Trimming the skin made it too narrow to fit the top, so it was cut down the middle and then the sides welded in place, which left a gap down the middle of the top. They filled that gap with a skin from a shoebox sedan with a longer roof, so now the rear section followed a more gradual curve and floated off the back of the roof. “That was an opportunity,” Bruce says. “The ’58 Impala had a fake vent in the roof because sports cars like the Mercedes Gullwing had a real one.

Craig built up an inner lip in one side of a 1951 grille surround with plastic body filler to create a new grille shape. After scanning, he tuned it in CAD and mirrored it to create the rest of the grille, which was machined from 6061 aluminum. The hood straps pay homage to European racecar construction.

After rust repairs and sectioning, all that remained of the front fenders were their tops. The chin and tail each got a pan, and Craig made up a grille border like the revised Monte Carlo. He reshaped a 1951 grille surround slightly, had it scanned and mirrored to make a perimeter, and then Dick St. John machined it from aluminum. “Bruce wanted to take some of the peak out of the hood,” Craig explains. By the time they would have finished, they could have made a new hood from aluminum more easily, which is what they did.

Early in the transformation the car got a new Art Morrison chassis located just around the corner from Wicked. One of Bruce’s mandates was independent rear suspension. “When we were racing, there was a guy who ran a Jaguar sedan with an IRS setup and a quick-change centersection,” he recalls. “That really stuck with me.”

Designing any suspension from scratch is no walk in the park, but as luck would have it, the guy who cast the reproduction NOVI IndyCar wheels—Ray Franklin at Vintage Engineering—happened to know how to set up IRS. “We used Thunderbird uprights, but built the rest of the suspension from scratch,” Craig says. With the wheels in place and the car at its final stance, the Wicked crew set about making the wheel openings round, but with a hint of a flare.

The fuel tank is basically a shell for an ATL bladder. The small box on the left houses the battery, and the kit on the right has a bag of tools and knock-off mallet. The Wicked crew made the strap hardware and Miller made the straps.

“I didn’t want it to just look like a sports car,” Bruce admits. “I wanted it to have enough power to back it up.” He chose a highly unlikely powerplant: a Lincoln 368ci Y-block, a term coined by Ford referring to its fully skirted V8 engines of the 1950s. Dan Brewer at Shaver Racing Engines built the engine. It has the goods: polished and nitrided crank, Carillo H-beam connecting rods (that measure a whopping 7.063 inches!), and JE pistons, oversized 0.03 inch for 373 ci of displacement. The 368 heads have large valves, so Dan replaced them with stainless Manleys. By virtue of a 75cc chamber, the compression remains low at just shy of 9:1.

This engine wasn’t easy to fit, either. “It’s 3 inches taller than a big-block Chevy,” Craig says. “And, oh boy, is it heavy!” The shallower engine compartment meant mounting the engine low requiring a custom pan, which Dan Olson built. What’s more, the oil pump interfered with the crossmember (FoMoCo Y-blocks are side-oilers). “So we did an external pump belt-driven like a dry-sump pump, although single stage,” Dan clarifies.

The top end wasn’t any easier. The stock Lincoln manifolds mount the carburetor below the ports—a no-go performance-wise. “In the ’50s Mercury went to Daytona for speed runs,” Bruce says. In a nutshell, famed race-car builder Bill Stroppe lopped the windshield frame off a 1957 convertible and hired famed Sprint Car builder Eddie Kuzma to craft a canopy of sorts. He then built a thumper of an engine, hiring Hilborn to build an injector among other things. “Hilborn made four sets of those injectors,” Bruce says. “I found a guy with a Lincoln injection who wanted to trade it for a welding machine! So I bought that thing.”

Dan sent the injector back to Hilborn for new shafts and a general rebuild. He also converted it to use a FAST ECU, but rather than weld bungs for the injectors, he made a system to hide it all, making tall blocks that mount between the injector manifold and the heads, carving them out for ports, then machining pockets adjacent to these ports. “The injectors mount inside those finned blocks so you can’t see them,” he says.

The relatively low compression and smallish ports dictated modest cam specs (224 degrees duration at 0.05- and 0.448-inch lift). Despite this mild tune, the engine made a respectable 389 lb-ft of torque at 2,800 rpm and 375 hp just shy of 5,000 rpm—not exactly a barnburner, but up to the popular horsepower-per-cube performance mandate when this engine was new.

With the individual components complete, the car went to Byers Custom and Restoration. Alan Donald, Howie Davis, Jered Lobbin, and owner Jon Byers prepped the body. The colors come from a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, likely Modegrau (exterior) and Aschblau (interior). “We couldn’t use the old color codes because they don’t translate to modern paints,” Jon says. “But it just so happens that the codes cross-reference real closely to two modern Porsche colors.” Those are Grauschwarz (exterior) and possibly Graphite Blue, and Jon applied both in PPG DBC.

Adam Hart formed the simple, sports-car-inspired bucket seats. Tony Miller from Stitches Custom Auto Upholstery in Poulsbo, Washington, trimmed them in a combination of antiqued leather. The 2-inch latch-and-link hasps harken to military-surplus harnesses, yet accommodate passenger-car webbing.

Tony Miller and Tom Bidle at Stitches Custom Upholstery in Poulsbo, Washington, tag-teamed the cockpit. They used a combination of Denim Blue and Tracker Brown distressed leathers for the seats, and an Irish Cream distressed leather for the headliner. They also made the hood straps. The floor wears tan German square-weave carpet.

Bruce Leven’s sectioned shoebox does a number of things more than looking good. For one, it fulfills the sports-car promise that Ron Dunn’s car made so many years ago. For another, it bridges a generational gap; Sony’s Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the company’s flagship driving game Gran Turismo, dubbed it Best of Show at SEMA’s 2016 event in Las Vegas. The award includes induction into the game’s future editions, where it will be exposed to future generations.

Most important in a global sense, it makes good on this premise that we build upon the work of others. At the very least, it gives us hope that someone, somewhere, still looks at cars like this and thinks, “One day I’m gonna.”

Hilborn produced injectors for Bill Stroppe’s 1957 Mercury “Mermaid” Daytona program. One of Bruce’s friends found this one, a lucky proposition, as Hilborn made only four and he needed one to clear the lower hood line. Hilborn rebuilt this one and Dan Brewer set it up to run electronically with a FAST ECU.

Rather than spoil the vintage vibe by exposing the injectors, Dan machined risers that house them—they have pockets adjacent to the ports. And because the factory Lincoln rocker covers are a thing of beauty, he machined them to match.

Josh “Pappy” Green made the inner fender panels and Adam Hart fabricated these inserts. The louvers don’t match any existing dies—Adam cut and hammered them manually. Hand-bucked rivets hold the insert in place.

The engine spins an alternator, Saginaw power-steering pump, and an oil pump, three things not available then or now for the Lincoln Y-block, so the Wicked crew made one-off brackets. The expansion tank likely came from a Ford FE and corresponds with a crossover tube, a necessary component because the Hilborn injector lacks the feature.

Extensive body reshaping meant making the core support and associated structures from scratch. Pappy built it in the likeness of race-car construction using flared-hole dies to add lightness.

Classic Instruments fashioned a set of gauges in the likeness of vintage Jaeger pieces. Dick St. John machined the housings and Lindsey Butler made the brackets.

Ian Dunn wired the car with period-style, cloth-covered wire from American Autowire, but instead of fuses he used circuit breakers. Again, Dick St. John and Lindsey Butler made the housing and bracket.

Even with an S-10 tail stock, the Borg-Warner T5 puts the shifter far forward for a sports car. Adam knew there was a better way to move it back, and he came up with this pantograph mechanism that puts the shifter within reach.

The pedal assembly started as Wilwood, but all that remains are the pedal arms and cylinders. The Wicked crew fabricated a new bracket and a repeater-arm setup that fits the tight confines between the engine and chassis.

In the weight-saving spirit of race-car construction, Bruce specified thin plastic windows and insisted on eliminating the regulators. That meant an alternate means of securing the windows in the up position, which Adam obliged with cabinet latches.

More than saving weight, eliminating the windows also meant opening the door in the way that most grand-touring cars were entered in the 1950s. Also in touring-car style, the pull strap doubles as the latch release. The door top extends the dash shape.

The exterior door buttons also evoke the image of 1950s sports cars. Ian Dunn built these around Mazda mechanisms then machined the main ring, and shaped a piece for the little finger pull, welding the two together.

Most Americans won’t recognize semaphores, but they were the default turn signals on European cars into the 1960s, making them perfect for this car’s theme. These particular ones came from a Volkswagen Beetle.

Kirk Brown, aka Crafty B Nostalgic Speed, makes fuel fillers. Adam recessed the body for it. Note the polished trim piece around the perimeter.

The roof vent was a creative and appropriate way to solve a problem. Pancaking the skin left a big gap down the middle. They used a sedan roof skin that’s longer and has a less-pronounced crown.

Bruce says he liked the idea of the 1951 trim spear, but not its bulk, so Jeffrey Gibson machined a thinner spear and bezel. Adam recessed it into the body.

The wheels resemble the ones Halibrand cast for Novi’s Indy car in the 1950s. These 15×5-1/2 and 15x7s are the first that Ray Franklin at Vintage Engineering cast in their likeness. They’re authentic down to the magnesium alloy and Dow 7 coating.

Ray Franklin consulted on the independent rear suspension. It runs a Speedway Engineering centersection with Porsche 930 CV joints, gun-drilled axles, and late-model Thunderbird uprights.

The fuel tank is basically a shell for an ATL bladder. The small box on the left houses the battery, and the kit on the right has a bag of tools and knock-off mallet. The Wicked crew made the strap hardware and Miller made the straps.

The FAST system Dan Brewer set up with the Hilborn gear relies on the distributor for the engine-speed signal. A real magneto won’t work, so he used one of Joe Hunt’s mag-look distributors. Oddly enough, the one from Ford’s Y-block fits.

Back in old grand-touring days it was common to swap plugs mid-race, and teams often made plug holders for the engine compartment. Few were as trick as this one carved from aluminum.

The hood would’ve required so many individual custom panels that the work justified making a new one from scratch in aluminum.

Dies don’t exist to do these louvers, so just as he did for the inner-fender panels, Adam formed these manually.

Mounting switches overhead keeps them out of the way yet close enough to reach. Lindsey Butler made the surround and Ian Dunn made the switch plate itself.

Adam fabricated the pop-out window frames. He also fabricated the latches, patterning them from the ones Volkswagen used on the Beetle.

The post Bruce Leven’s Gran Turismo–Winning 1951 Ford Coupe appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

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