Gearhead Magick

Warning! The following takes a highly mechanical point of view.

It appears to me that in W4/ToHW we will be turned loose to become the hotrodders of the Universe. We`re being invited to pull our personal magickal vehicles into the ceremonial equivalent of "Monster Garage". What rolls out the door at the end of the show is entirely up to us and limited only by our skills,imagination and the laws of the Universe.

Some of us are going to go for looks,all chrome and flashy paint job. Some will want to work on handling and modifications that will allow you to whip your magick into the turns and accelerate thru the switchbacks and hairpins like they were empty eight lane highways.Others will be all about horsepower and want to streak down that drag strip getting across the finish line with the lowest elapsed time. There may even be a fringe element present who what to wring every bit of mileage they can from each and every drop of energy they pump into their vehicle. All valid and useful approaches in their own highly focused way.
As the year winds down many of us will be glad we went to the show, saw all the cool stuff and were amazed by what others can do. We may even be slightly disappointed as we turn the key and fire up our Volkswagen and head home. Sure,it`s not a custom chopper or a Ferrari but it gets us to the mall and back and doesn`t cost an arm and a leg to feed or maintain.

I will warn you that I am a wicked gearhead ( NE talk for a deeply committed hotrodder). I want to understand how the heart of things work. I`ll tear something completely apart down to the last nut and bolt and then look for things to eliminate. I feel lighter is faster, I`m the chopper guy. Why travel on 4 wheels when the sun is shining and 2 will do? I will be asking if something is absolutely necessary and why. I will be distilling things down to their essence and then looking for ways to combine things. I`ll question every aspect and detail. If it doesn`t make it go faster, handle better, stop quicker it`ll get pitched in the scrap pile and be fair game for someone else`s use.
There will be a lot of cutting welding and grinding in my corner. There will be loud pipes,burning rubber and late nite test runs. In the end what I ride will probably not please everyone but I`ll be proud of it because it`s unique, mine, and the craftsmanship will be at least as good or better than most.
One thing it won`t be is flashy. Detailed,stripped down, tight and efficient is how I prefer things.It`ll be the kind of raw,primal, slightly sinister machine you`d expect a shaman to ride. I don`t want to spend a lot of time waxing and polishing, I want to get on it and go. It`ll also be a kick start machine,no big battery,extra wiring or electric starter here.
I`ll still be using my rusty, dented old pickup truck to travel back and forth to buy parts and material during the build. I also know that being a perpetual tinkerer somewhere down the road I`ll probably become bored with what I`ve built and trade it for something better or tear it down so I can start again.
I`ve found that if you want to do this sort of thing it`s best to have access to a reliable truck so you can chase parts, can still travel to town in bad weather and most importantly,if your flashy creation breaks down and leaves you on the side of the road one of your buddies can always find the keys under the seat,come get you and help load your broke down machine so you can drag it home and fix it.