Trav's Toy

Let me start off by apologizing for the lack of posts lately. I've recently come into some more work and have been pretty busy. I definitely need to catch up with things. Travis bought a sweet project. It's an old toyota pickup with Chevy running gear.

Alex and i took those stupid stickers off the headlights, no worries. Of course the Half Assed team does love Sunoco. Shout out to Pines Market where Bean and I both work (part time for me).

There was some junk 283 or something like that V8 in the truck when trav bought it. There are plans to possibly get that engine built up but for now, guess what is in line? A 350, duh

The body was pretty rusted. But nothing stops Kevin and Travis. New rockers were ordered and the interior got some custom love.

-custom interior

And here's the engine...

-get stoked

-artsy

The idea is to at least get the truck finished for Trucks Gone Wild towards the end of the summer. Hill and hole might be a sick venue for this light, and well powered truck. Bean has contributed some parts including a rear end and some blocks. It already says bean on the windshield so obviously he needs in on this ride. Here's a few more random shots of the truck and some footage.

-buddy sleeps where he likes

Ignore the rattling, trav said something about the torque converter and it's not an issue. We just needed to know it runs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aloq6AkPKX0

Stay tuned

A Solid First Appearance.

This is a picture of our convoy when we hit the White Elephant in Strong, Saturday morning. The drive down might have been half the fun for Bean(in his 08' tc) and me (in my 00' 2.5rs). We ripped passes by Kev and the family in the truck and maybe took some turns a little fast. For some odd reason whenever we drive with each other it's like filming for Fast and Furious.

The weather wasn't the best, but i guess rain only helps at a mud run. I was pretty a little to excited to be honest, having never been to a mud run. After the drivers meeting they got the truck running with no problems. It actually started better than a lot of the other trucks, impressively. 

The first few classes didn't produce anything too exciting. The start got pretty damn soupy from other trucks being pulled out. They had to scrape excess mud off several times because some couldn't even make it up the start ramp. Obviously our truck had no issues there. 

The camera that we rigged up on the roof was going to work. I turned the camera on too soon though. it recorded for five minutes before Kev ran. In those few minutes the batteries went pretty much dead. Very disappointing. Next time we will rig something different to get some good shots. Tomorrow I'll upload a video clip i got for the sidelines when the internet is cooperatiing.

The Season Begins!

Everyone come down to Strong to see the Half Assed team in action. Kev's mud truck has got the big rubber on and it should be a blast. Event's start around 11. Stay tuned to the blog for lots of pictures and video that should be up very soon!

Kevins S10

Let me start off by saying that this thing is all sorts of nasty. It sat out back all winter but came right back to life this spring. She's not quite stock as you will see from pictures and video. The radiator and gas tank have been moved to the back so that they are easier to get at. The tires on it are just for moving it around. it will have 37" rubber day of the event i believe. The engine is pretty much a stock 350 with upright headers. They are not only bad-ass looking but add a touch more power and won't suck mud in if the engine back fires. Corey explained that happens to lots of trucks with exhausts that are near the ground/mud. This coming weekend is the first mud run and we should have plenty of video and pictures from that. Also Trav recently bought a toyota with chevy running gear as a mud project so it will have it's own post soon.

Above is a picture from the hood of the tuff truck. Expect a post or two about this rig later on. For now just enjoy the hood.

The audio is poor. The stock microphone on my camera freaked out when they revved that rig up. In the future we'll have better equipment for all the sound effects around the Half Ass Garage. Pretty sure anyone can still appreciate this footage though.

Bean's Rig finally runs and The Limo is ready

Beans original engine was okay but when the top end was re-done the bottom couldn't really take it. So he swapped it for the other 350 he had out back. When the dropped it in the soon realized it was more than it looked. It's bored 30 over and has a pretty nasty sounding cam. The truck really moves now and once the transfer case is figured out we'll be rippin' it off road. He got some other tires for it today too. Some real mud paddles.

Kev's old work truck now has a transmission and is ready to go. She sounds nasty with the long pipes and gutted cat, as you can see in the video. Also i added a shot of how we do tires at the Half-Assed garage. Kev is a wild man.

The Parts are in...

It was rainy and overall horrible weather today but regardless, when the parts came in the sun shown in the garage. Those parts where unwrapped and lubed up in no time. The truck was already stripped down. some might call the following photos and video "Chevy Pornography"

-parts on parts

-group truck work

-Kev goin' in deep

-we're comedians

Tune in tomorrow for more video, hopefully of the rig running.

Add Corey to the list of Half-Assed Mechanics

I knew Corey was one of the mechanics but wasn't sure enough about his role to add his name. Bean informed me this morning that his name most definitely needs to be mentioned. He's just like Kevin, he could draw the blueprint to a chevy engine in the mud on a tailgate. All these guys might be part of the Half-Assed crew but they get some serious stuff done. I mean, check out Corey's ride:

It's 1-ton with a 350 and some sweet, sweet stacks up the back. This photo doesn't quite do it justice, there'll be another whenever it's all cleaned up.

Bean's Truck

So, she's naked. Bean over the past year has been pursuing his perfect truck. So far he's been through a few different rigs. Rust and horrible gas mileage have led to the purchase of this ride. It's a '95 shortbox. That means it was fuel injected when it was stock. The previous owners stripped the computer and put in an eighties monte engine, a 350 v8 to be exact. The older more bad-ass style with a 5-speed conversion too. It was on the road for a short time but wasn't running just right. A look under the bonnet revealed that some of her valves weren't even moving. Some of the nubs on the cam shaft were entirely worn down.

I think these are called lifters. as you can see a lot of them spooned out badly. The joke by Corey was he had a gas saver cam, or maybe a hybrid v8. Either way, a new cam and other parts are in the mail and possibly tomorrow the reconstruction can begin. Kevin can do the job with his eyes shut, so hopefully with his eyes open he'll be able to slap the thing back together in no time. Expect many videos of us driving like morons in this hot rod as soon as it's done. Also we should have some more pictures of the rides up.

Welcome to the blog of Half-Assed Racing and Garage.

These guys have been around for a while, when i first noticed their operation this spring i decided they needed some recognition. They don't have time to run a camera or do web posts amongst all their engine revving and wrench turning. My name is Dylan and i'll be handling the media end of things. These are the rest of the roles as i understand them so far. They all do mechanic work so let's just leave that assumed
Bean (john)- assistant mechanic and helps runs events. Also in charge of some comedic relief.
Kevin- THE mechanic and is also a driver for tough truck and mud running events. This is a man who lives a breathes V8 engines
Travis, or Trav- Driver for mud
Eric- Safety Comissioner
Liz- mother of the Half-Ass team.

So far there are a few things i have noticed that go without question. They run Chevy/GMC trucks. Nothing else. Also a day cannot go by without there being a few safety meetings. If you're not safe things will go badly.

-kevin working on the Half-Assed Hauler

Posts will start flowing as soon as the mud runs start. the first being in Strong, ME on May 14th. For now i have some pictures and video of the rides