God bless old school guys...Like Hasse at Roger's Custom

We praised him before. But he's worth to be acknowledged. Here's why. During a normal Friday afternoon car part shopping spree, Hasse at Rogers Custom in Gothenburg Sweden informed me, between the lines, about his ability to tailor make exhaust system.

Here's the conversation that followed.

Hasse:

- Yes, I'll make the piping based on a good drawing or just try to replicate the old system if you bring it in one piece. I can make it based on car model too.

 Me:

- Is that so? How about making one for my 1949 Oldsmobile 88 fastback.

Hasse bent his back 30 degree and picked up a very old and worn catalog. Flipped down his reading glasses and browsed until he found Oldsmobile. No luck. Nothing older than 1960 could be found in said publication. 

But there was determination in Hasses face. It was obvious that there was a plan B. 

- I think we need to look in the old catalogs, he said with a grin.

Hasse dispersed. Minutes felt like hours. But suddenly, around the corner he came. Holding what I would define as a ancient car part catalog. And it was. It had exhaust system references to mid -40 ties.

There it was, on a yellowed page stained by time was the 1949 Oldsmobile exhaust system part number formula. And yes, Hasse had the exhaust system description needed.

   

Hasse, a tube bend description and a tube bender. All you need to get the exhaust system you need.

 

...oh I forgot. A bend-graph from Huth is needed as well.

 

Hasse made the tube and it was ready for pick up one day later. Carina demonstrate the importance of driving a car with a reasonable sized trunk, like an Olds -38 Business Coupe. Magnus is showing that he has time to spend on tube transport.   

 Summary: To be able to buy tailor made part for a -49 and have it delivered the next day, is simply amazing.

We're taking shelter but we're not dead yet!

Make no mistakes. We had plans. We were heading for Bilsport Performance & Custom Show in Sweden. Ready to talk to gearheads about turbos and superchargers while having a good time. But the virus pulled the plug and cancelled the event.   
We booked flights to the City of Angles in US of A. Our ambition was to wake up the 449 Amazon softly under the California sun and make it great again. To make our mean green machine ready for Bonneville 2020. But again, the virus stepped up and stood in our way.

Preparation at times when all were good, Before hell broke loose

(Spring 2019, at Eric's Place)

But we’ll not give up. We'll fight our pandemic enemy and help ourselves while helping others.

So...here's the deal;  
We'll work in garage isolation with our private projects, feeling good and making progress but at the same time being somewhat loney. 

Our message to all of you racers out there...
Contact us if you have turbo or/supercharger questions. You'll get the answers and advices, while we'll get in contact with the speed/racing community that can provide solace to our souls.

Summary:

We're ready when you're ready.
Keep up your boost pressure!
Times will get better.

That's all.

 
 

We practise what we preach.Live from Salt Slush Funday

Salt Slush are not sloppy Swedes. We're in quarantine. Our garage quarantine is somewhat solid. We're either test drive around the block, work inside with safe social distance or having a fika outside in the sun. With the few but usual suspects.

Our strategy; avoid germs but keep the mental health of your gearhead solid too. Take a trip to your workshop/garage and build whatever you need to build. Or just start up your ride and take it for a spin. It will build up your immune system too.   

Here's our take on all of the above.

Magnus, has spent a time in garage quarantine.

The result: Engine & Transmission swap complete.

The grinding noise in the backgorund Anders CNC machine, while producing sheet metal tools for Ragnar need...that noise has noting to do with Magnus Engine swap. Yet.

On his way to perfection, he has faced difficulites. Which he solved.

Anders supercharged (Magnuson) El Camino and mine Olds -38 Coupe... 

...as well as Ragnars supercharged Lotus...

...and our supercharged (Magnuson) Corvette C6. They are all out there, in the sun to boost happiness and health.

Follow our advice. Get focused. Have fun. Stay healthy.

Do it while you can!

Obstacles. Stoppers. Law, tax and death. And other assorted intriguing issues. Bad things that makes you slow. Thing that makes you loose your track. You know them all since before. Since years. Painful but familiar. When adding a Pandemic and a new global financial situation to all of the above, suddenly the sun isn't warm anymore. 

But how to handle an upcoming storm?  Should we all build a shelter and passively pray for better days? 

Advice will follow. But first a disclaimer. If you don't have any projects that awaits your attention and no wild dreams, this guidance is not for you. If time is valuable to you, stop reading.

Coming back to the headline. When I grow up, as a small kid in Sweden, there was this bumper sticker saying; 

- Do it today, it could be forbidden tomorrow.

That sentence was engraved in my mind forever. It initiated thinking and directed me to a certain way of living. Which has been good. So far.

The Salt Slush advice: Don't wait for Corona to defeat you. Keep to yourself, your closest friends and loved ones but take the opportunity to build up the race car from the parts that's been piling up for a period of time. Prepare your custom, hot rod or classic for the shining sun that eventually will be there. For most of us...

Besides, it's better to walk upright with head held high to whatever destiny rather than to loose dreams, themes and schemes in a downward spiral. 

Living as preaching. Magnus makes an engine swap in isolation.

Same thing. From another angle and another light.

The old Olds had to wake up one month too early.

In addition, we had to make an quarantine exception for Carina's surprisingly fast square body C20. Reason; Delivery capacity is needed since some customers follow the guidance of this headline.

Questions? Well, if they're about turbos and superchargers, the need for speed or living life while life can be lived, we might be there to support and advice.

Garage quarantine. A way to...keep us all alive!

Let's not kid ourselves. There's poison in the air.

People are dying and various experts are pointing in all possible directions. Take our unqualified advice in these times of uncertainty and...


1. pick up the phone and call your boss. Tell him or her that you’re in a tight spot and in need of immediate isolation while keeping a substantial salary. Which is true. Here's why; No crowd, no Coronavirus. Paycheck provides aftermarket prosperity. A way to save jobs. If goverments are involved, look at it as tax return if it makes you feel better. 


2. flip up any laptop of your liking and order performance products as if there was no tomorrow  (which could be the case). Show that you’re a responsible citizen ready keep your dreams alive and business going. 


3.  accept garage quarantine and enjoy contemplation (ref. yoga, peace of mind etc.) while not getting sick and simultaneously serving the society. 

On top of the above your project will be ready when it's all over.

Magnus, a good citizen who' s always prepared to support the aftermarket business.

Carina, ready to provide turbos and superchargers to racers and car guys in garage quarantine!

Take shelter from the virus storm in a garage close to you!

Friday 13th & Coronavirus...

As I woke up this Thursday. At 06.30 am the wind was howling. Windows were buckling accordingly. The national public radio was blasting. About the Coronavirus torture. A stiff journalist spread the words of President Trump. Those words bugged my soggy morning mind that tumbled between dream and reality. No more contagious companions from the Europe were allowed in the US of A for 30 days. That was his words.  Words that were like bullets in a landspeed racing heart.  No Bonneville Speed Week preparation. 

 How I felt that specific morning.

Eventually I woke up. Pushed the curtain aside. The sky was still blue. The oil price was low. We have germ free turbos on our shelves ready for a garage quarantine period and a flow of superchargers from Magnuson that will you get out of bed. At this point in time I felt alive and ready to fight any kind of pandemic without vaccine or medcine. 

Only using brute force. 

Semi Sloppy Sunday

Salt Slush Sunday. We're not working. We're at ease. We're just socializing and playing with our toys. You know. That Sunday feeling. We will of course pick up the phone and talk about turbos and superchargers on the seventh day, but apart from that we're off. Detached but determined. 

This time of year we're inside. In the welcoming place that we call our second home. Our workshop. Here's a glance.

The beaten up 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 needs a lot of TLC. We're there to provide. 

Anders LS + Magnuson equipped El Camino were in need of interior and instruments. They are now in place. Hence rpm and boost pressure can be studied during burn outs.

Magnus is building a Dan Price Model A engine for a hot rod friend. 

It's soon ready to provide power after no end of bother.

Petter, The Professor, is only thinking about camshafts and headers nowadays and worries constantly about the uneven idle that comes with a hot cam.

Ragnar, our friend, next shop neighbor and sheet metal geek, delivered a piece of art yesterday... 

...I'm talking about the Transmission cover for the Rocket 88. Ragnar stated that said cover was " good practice" since it was rather complicated to repair (half of it had basically return to nature)

I've manufactured and welded the rest of the floor. Result: Inner compartment floor complete. Which lead to new opportunities...

...meaning that Cina, now can spend her soft Sunday working on the Olds electrical system. Before she started she was happy.

Then she prepared mentally for a life under the dashboard. Silent contemplation. 

Inside hoodie.

Since the seat bench is on the stormy sea, there's space and comfort in the compartment. 

Not top level comfort, but still, a place to endure.

Meanwhile in another part of the workshop, Kalles Vespa is waiting for The Spot Welder from Hell. The Fuse killer. King of Darkness. Not an appropriate work for a day of worship, like a Sunday.