Recently I have been cutting sponsored in-game highlights for Tennessee home games. It’s very fast paced and sometimes nerve-racking, but fun to do. It’s a new experience for me. I’m used to taking my time on an edit to make sure everything is just how I want it. That isn’t the case when cutting these highlight videos….you’ve just got to slap some shots together and send it on. Here are a few examples from the last few games.
I had a really busy day today. Last night I was up until 3am working on pulling the front axle. I got most of the suspension off, but couldn’t manage to get the spring pins off the back of the leaf springs. I got up this morning and checked to see if all the PB Blaster I sprayed on helped. It didn’t. So on the plan B. I went to the store and bought a propane torch. That didn’t work either. I tried burning out the bushings, but those things don’t want to budge. So plan C was put into effect and I cut the springs off. The spring pins are still there, but at least I have a small victory. I spent the next hour trying to get the steering linkage off of the axle. Everything seems to be gummed up and rusted together. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be. I finally got the axle out and started cleaning on it with a wire wheel and brush. I drained the differential and ended up having to stop to go work the men’s basketball game vs. Mississippi State. I thought I would work some more tonight, but didn’t get home from the game until after 9 and I have no energy left in me. Tomorrow I plan on pulling the rear…right after I do some cleaning and try to free up some more space in the garage.
Today I spent a few hours tonight pulling out parts and cleaning the engine on the Land Cruiser. I drove it to the car wash to blast off what I could. That is the longest I have driven it and everything seems to be ok. My neighbor John came over tonight to have a look and noticed the rear leaf spring on the drivers side was broken. Oh well..guess I will just have to order my lift sooner than expected.
Since the water pump is broken, I went ahead and pulled the radiator, coolant hoses, grill, and thermostat. I pulled the battery as well and the tray was a rusty disaster. When I picked it up and it literally bent in half. Hopefully I will get my pump and some other parts I ordered in this week. There is grease and dirt everywhere. It’s going to take some time to get everything cleaned up. I can’t really tell where any leaks are coming from, because there is probably 10 years of grime in there. I have decided I will probably change the oil pan gasket. It seems to be the only thing that might be leaking bad.
The best part of my day? Picking up a 1984 Land Cruiser FJ60 from North Carolina. The worst part? Watching my truck’s gas gauge needle drop like a rock on the tow back home.
I have been looking for an FJ80 for a few weeks now and finally decided I wanted a 60. Not as luxurious and a bit more work to get it into shape, but I love the look and the thing is a tank. I restored a ’78 FJ40 while I was in college and now I’ve got the bug to do another restoration.
I picked it up from a guy 5.5 hours away in Mebane, NC and trailered it back to Knoxville. When I got home I had to see what was under all that dirt so I gave it a wash. It’s got a little rust, but not too bad. It should be manageable. The worst of it is just below the tailgate. The engine runs well. The water pump is broken so I ordered a new one today and will hopefully have it in by the weekend.
My plan is to go through the engine and drive train. Next will be a 3″ lift and 33×10.5 tires. Then bodywork, bumpers, and a paint job. The timeframe will depend on how much money I can find laying around.
Bob Kesling has been involved in OUTLIVE since it began in 2009. He heard the message, and, after quietly battling T-cell lymphoma for more than a year, he’s ready to share his story in the hopes of helping others.
This was one of those rush jobs that didn’t turn out too bad. It was very last minute and I was given less than a day to turn it around. There are some tweaks I want to make, but sometimes you just have to live with what you’ve got.
The making of my first atlas stone. This is one of many to come so I thought I would put this video together on how it was done. Hopefully this will help others make their own and give me some feedback on how to improve future stones.
If you are sitting around at work or need to kill some time I highly recommend watching Life Cycles. It’s not your typical mountain bike film. It’s the story of a mountain bike’s life cycle from creation to destruction. The cinematography in the film will blow you away. The shots are incredible…especially the follow cam sequences in the woods. It’s available for download on iTunes for 10 bucks. I can guarantee you will want to watch it more than once. My wife won’t sit down and watch an entire mountain bike film, but she was glued to this one the entire length. Here is the trailer.
The “official” Life Cycles teaser starring… Graham Agassiz, Mike Hopkins, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Riley McIntosh, Evan Schwartz, Brandon Semenuk and Thomas Vanderham.
Music: “Ghosted” by Data Romance http://cargocollective.com/dataromance/606523/Music-Ghosted-Single
Pre-order the film at http://www.lifecyclesfilm.com
Here’s a behind the scenes look at a shoot we did for the 2010-11 Tennessee basketball team. We shot everything on 16mm film and a few shots were picked up with a Canon 7D. Everything is used for the video board intros, features, and various other videos we produce throughout the season. We also had the players dress in their street clothing for still images we use in graphics on the video board and coaches shows. Link Hudson directed while Steve Anderson rolled on his Bolex. I was grabbing shots here and there with my 7D and shooting some behind the scenes.
