rest in peace

I got word yesterday that an icon of the VW world passed away, Jerry Jess, he has been a fixture in the westcoast scene longer than I have been alive, and I am an old fart. He always had a smile, and a kind word, he will be missed.

Rest in peace my friend

Sweeping the floors in my mind

"The broom in my hand is an extension of me."

Sounds stupid but it is a valid statement, sweeping the floors is a good way for me to center myself. It gives me time to think about what I want to get done and what has to be done, today. Tomorrow is not here yet. In my last career I was in real-estate , rentals, both com and res, New construction , and development . Mostly running companies day to day . Before that I was building, remodeling, and TI, before that , the trades, I think as those decades as as all one career.

One the First tools that you are handed is a broom, and it must be mastered before you are ever allowed to strap on a tool belt. Yes there is a right and wrong way to sweep. If you can sweep a work zone and then sweep it again and get a pile that is less than 1/10 the volume of you first sweep then you are doing it right.

Anyway..... I learned through out the decades that by sweeping the you can see alot of the finer details of the job and find small errors that can magnify later on done the road if they are not addressed , think of it as quality control on a macro level. While sweeping I would find myself collecting my thought and getting mentally set for the day. One of my friends is retired army. He now works in the defense business, on the civilian side with the troops as his clients. One of the things that he does when ever he come to the shop to work, we have an unpaid intern program here at the shop, is sweep. I have never asked him to do this, he just does it. When I asked him about it he told me "I need to sweep the floors in my mind" I simply nodded and walked away, understanding completely

one more

Breaks are now bleed of all there old fluid, and another new master cyc is installed

Mr Mark is on his way back down here for one more set of tuning.

and since I was asked all pics of all builds are on the projects page at

www.airkooledkustoms.com

one more milestone

One of our long time restos is nearly complete, a 75/76 vw transporter, Nice ride, We have had our share of issues with this resto. Some time projects will fight every step of the way, and this one has. But one more step is completed. M Harney aka Dr. Dell has made a few trips down from his shop in Nashville to help out with this build, from re-casing the motor, ( new block for a already new motor, with a crack in the case. to building the carbs, to tuning. Today he did the drive test, where he hooks a AFM to the tail pipe and drive the bus around watching the air/fuel mix, and stopping a few times to make small adjustments till he is happy with what he is feeling and what he is seeing on his meter.

As far as stopping..... new master cyc is on its way up from the parts house in huntsville.

the rest of the slogan

burnt,

from all the hot metal that I know is hot

scarred,

all the old cuts and involuntary blood offerings these car seem to require

bloodied hands,

see above

Its a Zen thing,

means to me, that all the above is ok,

The tools in my hand become extensions of myself, and the parts that are being worked

the same.

Don't fight it, let it flow.

It's a Zen thing

Burnt, scarred,bloodied greasy hands, ......its a zen thing

that statement is more that just a tag line. It is a way of life...

For those that don't understand the concept of zen, it is so simply

harmony .

Look at the water,” he instructed. “It does not slam into the rocks and stop out of frustration, but instead flows around them and continues down the stream. Become like the water and you will understand harmony.” Soon, the student learned to move and flow like the stream

bugs in the garden

Show with the euro brits this last weekend, had a blast they always throw a good time, 

No issues on the way or at the show, but coming home the shift rod coupler worked lose , causing 3ed gear only all the way home. shill had a blast.

 Next sat we with be at Huntsville Botanical Garden   .the  event planer reads

June Buggin' in the Garden - VW Antique Car Show

Saturday, June 13, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Cruise on into the Garden for the hottest beetles around. Antique air-cooled Volkswagens will be swarming into the Garden for a show-n-shine sponsored by the North Alabama Volkswagen Club. Pick up a judging form in the Linda J. Smith Visitor Center and vote on your favorite Beetle for the Peoples Choice Award. The cars will be parked in the very back of the Garden.
Show is included in Garden admission. Anyone owning a 1980 and older Volkswagen who would like to participate may submit a registration form or call Special Events Coordinator Kay Curry at 430-3572 ext. 241 for further information. 

If you are in town, come by and see us . 

She live again......

the Single cab lives and drives yea, now for some fine tuning