OLD SCHOOL FILM MAKING

My lifelong pursuit of the "old ways" has finally brought me back to home movies. I had a super 8 camera and projector as a kid. It was a hobby that I loved.  The rekindling of this passion was brought on by the purchase of a 50" HDTV. This TV has ruined all my favorite shows and movies. HD sucks! My new favorite show was The Walking Dead but since we got the new TV, the show is unwatchable to me. The look of the show went from a high quality "movie film look" to a "local cable access soap opera look". HD takes all the magic out of TV and movies. Anyway, the above photo is the beginning of my rebellion against this century and all its bullshit technology. That big 16mm projector in the center was built in the 40s and is a true work of art. It still works! No one on the planet can make such beauty anymore. I paid $10 at a yard sale for it. I ordered some 8mm black and white film and I can wait to start shooting some movies. Stay tuned.

Took The Beast out for a ride today!

I took the Beast out for a road test today. It felt good to be riding once again. I'm going to run a couple of tankfuls of gas with some "Seafoam" carb cleaner in it before I admit to myself that I need to pull the carb off. Runs pretty good but doesn't seem perfect to me.

Vulcan Update

While searching for a reason for a blown main fuse I found a connector on the clutch "kill switch" with a jumper wire jammed into it. I pulled the jumper out to try figure out the reasoning behind it. When I turned on the ignition switch, the neutral light stayed on throughout the gears and it wouldn't start. I took the switch off of the handle and ohmed out the terminals. I don't know exactly what is being switched but I got no continuity between any of the terminals, even with the switch depressed. So, not wanting to buy a new switch unless I had to, I took it apart and cleaned up all the little copper contacts. I put it back together and ohmed the terminals again and it was working. I put it back on the bike and everything seems to be working swell. She starts right up and the neutral light goes out once in gear. The blown fuse was from the way I Frankensteined the indicator lights, mashing them into the speedo console. The wires were getting cut.

George "The Animal" Steele Action Figure

Tearing through my third box of mud cover action figures, the man finally asked "Can I help you?" I told him of my quest. "You got any George Steele?" He said he wasn't sure but you never know. So I kept digging. My family had long since left me at this freaks stand. What kind of weirdo serial killer sells mud covered old wrestling figures? I mean....he has thousands! Anyway, I bought an amazing Andre The Giant off of him last summer and a Gimly dwarf in the fall. So I dumped the last box out on the table and at the bottom of the pile I spot that huge hairy back that we all know and love. I pick him up and mistakenly hold him in the face of a person who doesn't even work there and yell "HOW MUCH!" I get pointed in the right direction and pay the man 3 bucks. Life is good!

Ray Harryhausen : Rest In Peace

One of my all time favorite heroes, Ray Harryhausen, past away today.  I wanted to be just like this great artist when I was a kid. Only difference was he had the balls to pursue his dream. What an amazing and talented genius, an inspiration to countless film makers. This man will truly live forever in the hearts and minds of so many.  God speed Mr Harryhausen.

Almost there

After solving an electrical short problem in the indicator lights and fixing a stubborn coolant leak in one of the tubes coming from the carburetor, I think I'm ready to take it for a spin.

Vulcan: "Indicator Lights"

The ignition switch on the speedometer housing has these indicator lights. They were were broken on my bike and a matching new switch is $175. So, that's not happening for a while. I found the stock indicator lights on E-Bay(the switch on the bike now is an aftermarket one). My idea was to combine the two switches into one super amazing switch from the heavens. I had to grind down the outer lights with a dremmel tool and epoxy them to the outside of the existing switch, then epoxy(JB Weld) the rubber boots  for each light onto the back of the switch. You can see the 3 rubber boots on the lower part of the switch on the right. Of course I blew the main fuse as soon as I mounted them, it took me quite a while to figure that out. I didn't know the main 30 amp fuse was in another spot. A positive side note to that is I found a jumper wire jammed in the switch on the clutch handle that probably doesn't belong there.

Kawasaki Vulcan Project: Getting Closer

I ordered a new voltage regulator off of E-Bay. So I should get that in a few days. Oh, and I bought a super 8 movie camera last week! Just because. Also I need to trek over to my brother-in laws house to try and locate the indicator light.

Kawasaki Vulcan

So, the other day, I put the new stator and the used gear shift linkage on the beast.  Major pain in the ass getting the cover back on. The cover is impossible to get on unless the engine mounts are un-bolted and the engine itself is maneuvered around until just the right position is found. Anyway that's done. I put the floor board, kick stand and the stand switch back on as well. Today I changed the oil and oil filter. I also discovered another part I need.  The whatever it's called that has the tiny lights on the speedo is missing the bulb assembly, so I need to get that. E-Bay has it for $35.  I also should replace the voltage regulator, seeing how the plug was fried. That should be it...unless the driveshaft is toast from the engine being off the mounts. I'm trying to ignore that possibility.

Progress

So I got the replacement gear shift in the mail yesterday. I was hoping it would have the washers that went with it. No such luck, so I ordered two washers and two new circlips from a Kawasaki dealer in Concord. Also today I replaced the rotted out connectors on the wiring harness. So things are moving right along. Side note...I just poured myself a glass of whisky... and I've been thinking about building a boat. It's been on my bucket list for a while.....more of a small ship....a viking kind of ship with dragon  heads...to be taken out on the ocean. I wish I was kidding.

The Celestial

New Stator

I have the new stator bolted to the back side of the generator cover but I'm waiting on a new gear shifter that needs to be installed at the same time. More importantly I need to figure out what goes in the hole just above the cover. It's at about the 12 o'clock position and just outside the cover. There's one on the bottom too.

Disney's Hitchhiking Ghosts

I've been wanting to try this paint out all winter! Finally today it reached almost 50, so I could paint these outside. I like it!

Deadwood Al...Almost Finished

I'm almost finished with my Al Swearengen sculpt. I need some flatter paint for the suit. I'm almost never satisfied with any of these....but I had some good times with this one, drinking whisky at the kitchen island.

Al Swearengen Sculpture

Started to paint Al!