It got cold around here didn’t it? One day it was in the 80s and muggy, next cold, wet and windy. Well, the only thing more fickle than politicians around here is the weather.

As it does get colder, hot machines will be hard to come by. I will have to visit old friends and get updates on what they do. If the money holds out I hope to do some work on my 1984 Honda Gold Wing. That could be fun. We did replace the back tire and what a project that turned into.

The bike was jacked way up and the drive shaft had to come out. I wasn’t there for the removal just the install. I guess things were rusted up. The owner’s manual tells you to remove the saddlebags, but I think jacking it up was the way to go.

That hideous mud flap had to go too. It looked like someone made it with a hole saw and razor knife. Eww.

But on the Project 49 front, I will be at the Anderson-Lee Library in Silver Creek, NY on October 19th at 6pm for a book signing and may read a part of the next book that is already in the works. I will have a limited amount of copies on hand for purchase.

Hope to see you there and in here, even if we are snow bound. Maybe I will have to get excited about snowmobiles, even if I really don’t like cold and avoid snow sports like a plague.

This is something that made my day. While traveling on the thruway, I ran into John with his own copy of 49. I really hope that this is the first of many. I wrote the book not only for myself, but for people to enjoy.

Of course I signed it.

Disclaimer: In no way does the New York State Thruway Authority endorse the book.

If anybody says there are no hot bikes around WNY I beg to differ. It may be cold for a large part of the year but we embrace an automotive culture. Once the weather pops above 50 the machines come out of hiding. Gotta love summer, even as it draws to a close.

One intense machine is Louie Delmonte’s 2009 Demon frame custom. He let me sit on it. I really didn’t want to. I live in fear that my clumsy butt will scratch it. He even said I could ride it. Still working on that. Part of me says no, Merdock says…yeah yeah yeah!

Engine is a 2009 150 HP Super Sidewinder. Displacement is 124 CI, with a Baker transmission. The Vance & Hines exhaust is super short, and super loud. Standing next to the ends will blow around loose paints, and cause more hearing problems than a Megadeth concert.

Massive rear meat is a 300/35 VR18 Dunlop Cobra that is stopped by Martian Brothers disc brakes. With the skull theme to the bike (which is awesome by the way) the rear fender has a point to it. See if you can figure it out, I’ll wait.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Yup.

The seat is alligator skin and skulls even appear on the handle bar caps.

Delmonte’s only problem with the bike was too small of a battery. Because of the engine’s high compression, a 310 cold cranking amps battery is required and it just kills smaller batteries. Now that the problem is solved, his favorite time on the bike was the 2017 Roar on the Shore in Erie, PA. Not only was the ride a good time, the bike drew a lot of attention.

I will let you know if I ride that monster.

Rich (Dick) Covelli of Eden, N.Y. pulled in with this monster. I saw the Seneca name tag on the back fender and thought at first it could be an add on because I was on the Seneca Indian Reservation.

Nope. I was wrong. Those tags were factory.

I never seen a beauty like this before, a 1960 Dodge Dart Seneca. Covelli had the car for five years now. It came without the original 6 cylinder engine and 3 speed on the column transmission.

He filled the empty hole with a 1968 Super Bee 383 and a 727 tranny. The rear axle was stuffed with 8 3/4 posi and the stock brakes were converted to disk.

He also added duel exhaust and completely rebuilt the suspension with parts for a 1968. I asked if parts were hard to find. He said 60 parts, yes. 68 parts no.

What attracted him to the car was the lines. The license plate holder was innovative, as hot rod shops were sinking them in on custom jobs at the time. He agreed with my statement that the car had a big ass.

This is for sale for $11,500. If interested contact Covelli at (716) 361-1204. If the car doesn’t sell, he plans to paint it Plum Crazy (purple).

I can’t wait to see it in purple.

To quote owner Bob Salerno, “Its a street rod; a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” And it is. This 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan has a 350 Chevy engine with a 350 Turbo tranny, and they don’t know what the rear axle is, but it looks rigged up. It even has a grill and headlights from a mid-eighties truck in it.

My first question was about the headlights. When bought the car a few months ago at   first he didn’t like it but it grew on him. He does enjoy driving it and says the car gets a lot of looks.

I believe it.

At times when at the local show I run into a car that makes me say, “Oh that thing is hideous! I want to know more about it.” Joe Hodkin of Forestville has such a car.

This 1973 Ford Maverick has the original 302 engine and although it doesn’t work, original A/C. Hodkin said that not many of these came with a 302.

He has had the car for three years. He bought it from another Forestville resident and the car originally came from Florida.

When he got it the windshield leaked because the head liner was cut off with a knife and the water had nowhere to go. The original windshield was saved because of the original yellow tint, but the seals have been replaced. He sanded the body himself but had it painted. It came out a little lighter than original and can be seen from the underside of the deck lid.

Hodkin enjoys taking the car to shows and appreciates the four door car for what they are. “A lot of people come to see (four doors) because it is what they had (back then), ” he said. “Not everybody can afford a Mustang.”

On a side note, Hodkin oil paints on the side. he mostly does portraits. Once he painted a dog for a lady, and she was so happy that she made him a blanket!

Now this is from my golden age, as I am in my 40s. This 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme has a big block Chevy in it out of an old work truck. It could use some work but is really nice.

Also on hand was this 2005 Hyundai Tiburon. Defiantly a mixer for all the classic iron laying around.