the Project coordinated from Afghanistan

[navyflyer72]

Many of you know me from the last 10 or so years that I have been building my 1967 Camaro, formerly called Project Flyin' Blind, which has been in the very capable hands of Frank Serafine and crew at Prodigy Customs for awhile now, mainly because my dreams sometimes out pace my wallet. Well, there are some changes afoot now.

Last month my brother was killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania, after returning from Afghanistan to bury him and then returning to Afghanistan, but not before my whole family was hit (5 days after the funeral) by a drunk driver who ran a red light, we sustained injuries, but none life threatening, a few weeks later I convinced the docs that I was ok to return to duty in Afghanistan. It was then that I decided that I needed to do something. I decided that as a result of his tragic and preventable death I should change my 1967 RS project direction, and I have also decided to incorporate my 2010 Camaro SS in this (now) two car project. My ideas are big, but my direction is focused. I have engaged the U.S. Navy (my employer), and several celebrity friends of my brother who died to put together a Nation wide tour of all the major military installations, a few dozen of the larger Car shows and track events to include SEMA and the Power Tour, and many military hospitals where wounded veterans are being treated. My idea is to use my brother's death (a Navy Veteran of OIF) to both teach a lesson and to help raise money for his charity (The Wounded Warrior Project).

I have a friend who is helping to create a build website, which I hope to get linked to Pro-touring.com as well as a Facebook and Twitter page where you can follow our updates. This is an interesting endeavor, as I am still in Afghanistan and the vast majority of these projects will occur while I am over here. I will basically be doing everything in my off duty time to ensure that this actually happens when I return at the end of this coming Winter.

If anyone would like to volunteer to assist with this project, please feel free to message me, I am looking for artists, people who have worked on large scale National projects before, people with promotions backgrounds and people who just think that this is a worthy project and cause.

My 3 brothers and 1 sister in the military are also going to be involved, even though my brother who is a U.S. Marine is also deployed out here with me right now. All of my brothers and sisters are hoping to travel with this project on the show tour next year for at least a portion, as well we hope to have several celebrities who know my brother and Ryan who died in the crash as well, so that they can participate in the show at the bases to talk about the effects of drinking and driving on those who are left behind. We want to show that while Zac and Ryan died as a result of mixing alcohol and driving that there are safe ways to enjoy both their automotive passion and their social drinking, just that they don't mix well.

So if you wish to help out with this, please message me, or email me directly at [email protected]

Thanks and please be safe out there. oh and if you have any ideas for a project name, please send them, I want the design to be focused on performance, wounded warrior, patriotic, and tribute to my brother Zac Hartwell and his friend Ryan Dunn in hopes that I can get the message across to at least one kid, that drinking and driving doesn't mix.

Regards,
George Hartwell

[Off Duty]

If you can turn tragedy into triumph, then that's the way to go.
If this somehow saves one young (or old) driver's life, then it's worth it.
Good luck with your project.

[monteboy84]

Man, so sorry for your loss sir, that whole accident and story made my stomach turn when I first saw it in the news. God bless you for turning tragedy into something positive.

I don't think I have a whole lot to offer on the build, but if you set up a donation account I'd be happy to contribute what I can.

-matt

[zombiekiller]

Man- ( deep breath). I crossed paths with Ryan on a few occasions and he was a really great guy. My wife had one of her songs on the original jackass movie soundtrack.

I was very saddened to hear the news about what went on with him. My Condolences to you and yours for the loss of both Ryan and your brother.

I'd like to think that just about any company would be happy to sponsor and assist with the project and statement/purpose that you are shooting for.

It sounds like a great project.

If i had anything to offer, I certainly would.

If you end up doing any sort of Fund Raiser or charity event associated with the project, let me know and either I will send a guitar, or I'll have the company that endorses my Wife's band send one to hopefully generate some funding for either your families travel costs associated with the tour, or a whole lot of shop rags and beer for whomever is doing the building.

thank you for your service sir, stay safe and god speed.

- Dave

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/07/pouroneout-1.jpg

[navyflyer72]

Matt and Dave and Gordon, thanks for your thoughts, condolences and wishes. I agree that it would be great to turn this into a positive. Both Zac and Ryan were special people, to say funny would be an understatement. There will be a donation tab on the tribute build website and once we get touring I may just take you up on the guitar offer Dave. I am working with the Navy to cover the travel costs and maybe even put me on specific orders in conjunction with the Naval Safety Center to take care of a lot of the associated expenses of touring around the country.
Here is a picture of Zac, Ben, Brandon and Myself from when Zac was still in the Navy. I have been trying to upload a few more pictures, but my upload speed over here is horrible and I am not having much luck using the attachment manager.

[zombiekiller]

Matt and Dave and Gordon, thanks for your thoughts, condolences and wishes. I agree that it would be great to turn this into a positive. Both Zac and Ryan were special people, to say funny would be an understatement. There will be a donation tab on the tribute build website and once we get touring I may just take you up on the guitar offer Dave. I am working with the Navy to cover the travel costs and maybe even put me on specific orders in conjunction with the Naval Safety Center to take care of a lot of the associated expenses of touring around the country.
Here is a picture of Zac, Ben, Brandon and Myself from when Zac was still in the Navy. I have been trying to upload a few more pictures, but my upload speed over here is horrible and I am not having much luck using the attachment manager.

Definitely keep my offer in mind. It doesn't have an expiration date. :-)

I can probably get a signature or two from a few of my Wife's friends on a guitar to up the value in the eyes of bidders.

My only stipulation will be that my wife and I get an invite to any event near us that you all plan to attend. I sincerely hope that the Navy supports your vision and message and you get the opportunity to get this done!

[go-fish]

Email sent. I believe I know Ben and Brandon. If they are indeed the Hartwell brothers from PA who were stationed with me in the South.

[sr73bu]

E-mail sent...

-Sean R

[RicerwannaB]

Sorry about your loss, Im a multiple time OIF veteran and have been EAS'd for over a year now, And im still losing buddies in Afghanistan, and to suicide / Alcohol related incidents on a weekly basis. Im looking forward to watching this build car and pevolve, I would definetely like to see this ay my respects.

[navyflyer72]

Dave,

Absolutely. I'll have you and your wife out to the tour as a VIP when we come through your neck of the woods!

-George


Definitely keep my offer in mind. It doesn't have an expiration date. :-)

I can probably get a signature or two from a few of my Wife's friends on a guitar to up the value in the eyes of bidders.

My only stipulation will be that my wife and I get an invite to any event near us that you all plan to attend. I sincerely hope that the Navy supports your vision and message and you get the opportunity to get this done!

[navyflyer72]

Johnny,

You are exactly correct, those are my brothers, I emailed you back. Thanks for the email!

R, George


Email sent. I believe I know Ben and Brandon. If they are indeed the Hartwell brothers from PA who were stationed with me in the South.

[navyflyer72]

Sean,

Thanks for the email, reply sent!

R, George


E-mail sent...

-Sean R

[navyflyer72]

Right there with you brother, hope this build lives up to my dreams and everyone's expectations. For our fallen friends and loved ones.

R, George


Sorry about your loss, Im a multiple time OIF veteran and have been EAS'd for over a year now, And im still losing buddies in Afghanistan, and to suicide / Alcohol related incidents on a weekly basis. Im looking forward to watching this build car and pevolve, I would definetely like to see this ay my respects.

[bonecrrusher]

I am sorry for your loss - if one of your tours swings thru North Carolina - let me know.

There are some good sized bases in this state.

[navyflyer72]

Bonecrusher, I'm positive we'll hit Ft. Bragg/Pope AFB and Camp Lejeune also, maybe more.

Once the website is up and running it will have a map with locations, events and tour info.

Look forward to meeting you when we come through N.C.
(I used to spend my summers in Tryon, N.C. with my grandparents if you know where that is. Pretty small town.)



I am sorry for your loss - if one of your tours swings thru North Carolina - let me know.

There are some good sized bases in this state.

[dslwizard]

I have had some tough roads of the paste few years but not like you. Please keep the faith and take comfort in the fact that you are doing this from more than half way around the world. Some don't have the skills or patience to do Hot Rodding. That means building, driving working on and enjoying the classics. Rock On!

Stay safe, Come home soon. Your family needs you.

Mike

[navyflyer72]

Mike, Thx. I appreciate your sentiments. It is difficult, but I have to say that whenever it gets tough, I think of my brother. He had a rough life and he never stopped and just gave up. So I use that to keep me going over here and stay motivated when I am tired after a long day and I have to log into our super slow dial up connection and hope that I can send one email before it drops my connection.

I definitely appreciate all the assistance I have gotten from people back stateside. I hope that as this project picks up steam I can tap these folks for more enjoyable parts of the project, rather than relying on them to do the mundane stuff.

Thanks again and I hope to have some great pics up as soon as we launch the website.

Cheers,
George


I have had some tough roads of the paste few years but not like you. Please keep the faith and take comfort in the fact that you are doing this from more than half way around the world. Some don't have the skills or patience to do Hot Rodding. That means building, driving working on and enjoying the classics. Rock On!

Stay safe, Come home soon. Your family needs you.

Mike

[ndians68]

well, im just a kid so i wont be much help, but if there is anyting you would like to try with like school stuff and getting the another program about drinking and driving and stuff, just pm me, i might be able to help you in some ways, and i must say, thank you, and all of your family, and everyone you are over there with for serving, now, make it home safe so we can watch see all of this in the show circut

[navyflyer72]

You'd be surprised what 'just a kid" can accomplish. Never sell yourself short just because of your age. You gave me a great idea with regards to a school project, I'm already reaching out to MADD and SADD to see how I might be able to help their organisations. So you never know, a few high school stops may be planned for the tour. Thanks for the offer to assist too, I'll have to see if we get near your school if we can make it a stop?


well, im just a kid so i wont be much help, but if there is anyting you would like to try with like school stuff and getting the another program about drinking and driving and stuff, just pm me, i might be able to help you in some ways, and i must say, thank you, and all of your family, and everyone you are over there with for serving, now, make it home safe so we can watch see all of this in the show circut

[ndians68]

well, our school is really small, but, maybe do a whole community thing, you could do it during the summer, and then maybe talk to Bowler and see if it could be with there show? then you could even come out and autocross with us.
i'm sure if you want to do something at our school they would go for it, our administration seems to be all about school programs, especially if they will help keep people safe, if you want you can pm me and we can talk about this more
and i try not to sell myself short, sadly people usually automatically sell me short cause im just a kid, but i would like to be able and help with this if possible

[navyflyer72]

The work continues, I have a team developing out of the many offers of assistance (which I greatly appreciate guys) in that team are a bunch of very talented folks. One of whom, from this website, has come up with a few phenomenal logo's, I provided some feedback and am waiting to see what he comes up with, this is pretty much one of the final steps before launching the build website and Facebook page, I may even go the Twitter route, but the whole unfamiliarity breeds contempt thing is holding me back. Maybe tonight I will do some twitter research and see if I can handle it (haha).

I've been contacted by a number of military publications (Stars & Stripes, All Hands, etc) for interviews and articles, as soon as these come out I will scan and post these.

It looks like, despite the 8000 miles distance, that this project is moving along nicely. I will keep everyone posted as we move forward every step of the way.

Cheers,
George

[navyflyer72]

Just about settled on the logo which will be followed rapidly with the offocial launching of the build website and facebook page. Many thanks this far to Rachel (Zac's widow), Angie (Ryan's widow), Sean (Logo artist), Chris V. (coordination and connections guru), Cam (Coordination Guru), Doug (Artist), Bard (Artist), Jen (Writer extraordinaire), Kelly (Media Guru), and of course I have to say thanks to my wife Stacey for putting up with my car obsession. Soon everyone will start to see the transformation of my two Camaro's into the stunning tribute Camaro's that will tour the country next year.

I hope to get you all as excited about this project as I am. I am really looking forward to visiting the military hospitals and giving the wounded warriors rides in these Camaro's.

On a more somber note I have lost more friends out here this week. The CH-47 that was shot down in Wardak Province killed 38 US Special Operations Forces, of which almost 10 were Afghan SOF working side by side with our guys. Please keep all of their families in your thoughts and prayers. This marks the largest loss of SOF forces in our history. We lost 19 SOF operators during the operation and during the rescue attempt of Operation REDWING here in Afghanistan a few years back, this ecplises that loss by a tragically large number.

These losses only serve to solidify my resolve to complete this project and complete this tour, for my brother, for Ryan, and for each and every serviceman and woman who have lost the lives or limbs in these wars.

Thanks again for everyone's support of this endeavor. Frank, I'll be in touch shortly, please don't hate me, but we are going to have some work to do. I'll see you in November when I am in Florida on R&R also, I want a tour of the new facility!

With Deepest Sympathy for our Fallen,
George

[zombiekiller]

Just about settled on the logo which will be followed rapidly with the offocial launching of the build website and facebook page. Many thanks this far to Rachel (Zac's widow), Angie (Ryan's widow), Sean (Logo artist), Cam (Coordination Guru), Doug (Artist), Bard (Artist), Jen (Writer extraordinaire), Kelly (Media Guru), and of course I have to say thanks to my wife Stacey for putting up with my car obsession. Soon everyone will start to see the transformation of my two Camaro's into the stunning tribute Camaro's that will tour the country next year.

I hope to get you all as excited about this project as I am. I am really looking forward to visiting the military hospitals and giving the wounded warriors rides in these Camaro's.

On a more somber note I have lost more friends out here this week. The CH-47 that was shot down in Wardak Province killed 38 US Special Operations Forces, of which almost 10 were Afghan SOF working side by side with our guys. Please keep all of their families in your thoughts and prayers. This marks the largest loss of SOF forces in our history. We lost 19 SOF operators during the operation and during the rescue attempt of Operation REDWING here in Afghanistan a few years back, this ecplises that loss by a tragically large number.

These losses only serve to solidify my resolve to complete this project and complete this tour, for my brother, for Ryan, and for each and every serviceman and woman who have lost the lives or limbs in these wars.

Thanks again for everyone's support of this endeavor. Frank, I'll be in touch shortly, please don't hate me, but we are going to have some work to do. I'll see you in November when I am in Florida on R&R also, I want a tour of the new facility!

With Deepest Sympathy for our Fallen,
George


if the project is called " Flyin blind" , you may want to reach out to Nick Curran, he did a song a few years ago called flyin' blind and it's pretty cool. He may be a little hard to get ahold of right now, as he's fighting cancer for the second time, but he's good people. My wife did a duet with him a few years ago and he was a real stand up guy. I'm sure he'd be thrilled if you used it on your website or something.

[navyflyer72]

Thanks Dave, I will give that a try, I sure hope he is battling back tough. My wife is a cancer survivor so I feel for him and his plight. That would be great to get his musid on the website.

Regards,
George

[WVhotrod]

I am from West Virginia and don't know of any big military bases around me. We do have some veteran hospitals though. Also, my old high school does have organizations come in about drunk driving and my trade school/technical school had the national guard bring the OCC chopper. We have a national guard base close but not sure if its a large one or not. If you would like any help on a stop on the tour in WV let me know. My mom works for the school board and a close friend just retired from the military and was over in Afghanistan and Iraq an could get in contact with the right people to get it going. Just PM me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your service and everyone over there with you. Please stay safe and come home to your family.

Thanks,
Brandon

[navyflyer72]

Thanks Brandon, I'll send you a PM for more info on your location!

[navyflyer72]

Many Updates: Sean completed the Website Banner Logo (located in small size at the bottom center of my signature) The website is moving along and should be unveiled here shortly! Thanks Sean, you are a godsend with your amazing artistic ability and I am VERY pleased with the way that this turned out!

Sean has now moved on to developing some sketches for shirts, hats, etc to promote the tour and based off of some of his art that I have already seen, I know that this will turn out amazing as well!

Depending on the newspapers and magazines that you read, you're likely to start seeing this project turning up in several publications, right now they will likely remain local or Department of Defense related, (Stars and Stripes, All Hands, Navy Times...) but I suspect this will grow into national publications as our tour solidifies and our promotions get more coverage.

I had a unique opportunity yesterday when a USO tour arrived in Afghanistan with three Astronauts (Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Gene Cernan) and David Hartman, how does this relate to this build you ask? Well after meeting the astronauts I got to talking with David Hartman (he was the original host of the Good Morning America Show) and after describing the project to him and my endeavors to get publicity for our project and our cause, he took my email and wants to get me in touch with some Executives he knows in TV. So I am hoping for big news on that front as soon as their USO tour wraps up.

Also, Kris Horton has signed on to do the renderings of these two builds! As many of you know Kris is well known in the pro-touring circles as well as the toy car industry. If you didn't know Kris was brought on at Mattel to design a pro-touring/muscle car line of toy matchbox cars! Very cool. Anyway, to see his amazing work, check him out at http://krishorton.com

Also, the Facebook page is up, I will be posting updates there also and hopefully I will be able to link to here also. We will see, I luckily have some tech savvy friends who will be helping me set these all up. The logo which is also going to be the build website banner you can see below (courtesy of Sean) He really nailed the banner logo. Fantastic work!

If you want to friend the Facebook page, just search for Zac Hartwell Tribute Camaros Project.

Thanks again to everyone who is helping with this!

Regards,
George

[navyflyer72]

I have more updates. Sean has finished the logo and moved on to the artistic renderings of both Camaros. We have also gotten our first official sponsor to be revealed when we launch the build website this month! Also, now that our Facebook page is up (search for Zac Hartwell Tribute Camaros) I am posting updates there as well. You will see if you read the notes on the Facebook page that I have managed to link up with David Hartman (the original host of the Good Morning America show) and he has been giving me advice and linking me up with some high powered TV executive PR folks who he knows personally. So I am looking forward to getting some TV exposure for these projects as that will highlight our cause, help raise awareness to what we are doing and it will also help our sponsors, since their parts will likely get on National TV. I will be sure to post as much about these potential appearances as I am allowed to.

I'm sure that once Sean comes back from vacation, refreshed, we will get to see the completed artistic renderings of both my '67 RS and the 2010 SS.

More soon!

Regards,
George

[navyflyer72]

So I have been out and about recently, doing things I probably shouldn't be doing, but when has that stopped me from doing anything??? I hasn't. So I was thinking, it is great to have a design for these two Camaros, parts and modifications lined up, but I should have a goal for each one. A realistic goal based on what I really think I can accomplish with these two amazing cars.

First I thought what If I take the LS3 engine/trans combo from the 2010 and transplant it into the '67 and put a Supercharger on it with a solid tune, I should easily (ok, maybe not as easy as I make it sound) get 675 RWHP/635 TQ. I'd like to be able to attain these stats: a 55/45 front to rear weight ratio, pull .9G on a skid pad and and between a 10.5-11.5 sec 1/4 time.

The 2010 I am aiming for (depending on engine/trans combo) somewhere in the neighborhood of 750RWHP/690 TQ, .95G on skidpad, as close to 50/50 on the F/R weight and a sub 11 sec 1/4 mile time.

Now to get deeper into the research of specific parts required to complete the transformations and attain these goals. Wish me luck, keep in mind, I have horrible internet connectivity (remember dial-up?) and most of the time I am away for where I can access a computer anyway. So any and all information you all provide, will help focus my research. Specifically I need info on transplanting the LS3 from my 2010 Camaro SS into my '67 RS with a DS&E front sub (but I bought the one for the 383 Stroker motor that Frank has...), what electronics, fuel system requirements, and really need info on drivetrain upgrades to handle the increased HP/TQ. Also, need some recommendations on some decent (but almost hidden) 6-8 point cages (links to posts are fine, they will help limit the amount of time I have to search). These are show cars, but they will see both the road and track pretty regularly during the tour so they have to perform as well as look good!

Thanks, now back to trying to read up on what you all have done, one post at a time (it takes about 4 minutes for a post to open and load... this is painful).

I have a bunch of photos to upload, but the attachment manager doesn't seem to work so good on a dial-up connection. So if you want to see all the pictures, check out my posts on either the Facebook page (search Zac Hartwell Tribute Camaros and send me a friend request) or check out my posts on Camaro5.com, I should be posting shortly on my Lateral-G.net account also, haven't tried there yet, but will very shortly.

Cheers,
George

Cheers,
George

[navyflyer72]

Just a quick note that after Spymasters observations (which really helped, Thanks spymaster) and talking with Sean I thought about the design and I have to say, I've been struck by an idea that will take this project to a whole different level.

I am more excited now than ever before, wait until you see what I have in mind! This will take this tribute project where it should have been, but there was something missing and I think I have figured it out.

More soon!!!
____________

[sr73bu]

George,

Its been great working with you!... Especially talking cars all morning at work... even though you are all the way in Afghanistan... it definitely helps the morning go by a little faster....haha

I can't wait to post the renderings, this will surely be a special project(s)...

Expect some renderings by the end of the week... pending the details of the design change made this afternoon... haha j/k, we'll make it happen.... stay safe out there... talk to you soon

-Sean

[navyflyer72]

I am halfway back from the furthest reaches of Helmand Province Afghanistan, the deadliest Taliban stronghold, and despite being out where we didn't get showers for 5 days and hot food was a pipe dream, I still found a way to move the project forward. Even got to spend almost a full day with my Marine Corps Corporal brother, granted I made him patrol back from an Observation Post to the Patrol Base to hang out, I think we both got some motivation from seeing each other out on the very front lines of the war. Amidst mortar rounds and machine gun fire we played a game of catch with a football in the small center area of the PB in honor of the recently started College and NFL football season.

As soon as I get back to Kabul I will post the pictures I took, and an exciting update to the project!

Hope everyone is safe out there and enjoying football season!

Sean, Especially looking forward to your artwork!

Cheers,
George Hartwell

[zipsimons]

Wow... quite an amazing story here. I started reading this thread and found myself truly moved! I was involved in an accident Jan 1996 that resulted in the death of my girlfriend. Alcohol was involved as well. I served a 5 year prison sentence and just finished the 10 years probation that followed. Since my release I have done numerous speeches at high schools and for juvenile probationers. My mission as well is to possibly change one persons path. I've used building cars and writing music to deal with the past and move forward to a positive future. I would love to help with your cause anyway possible. I have a song in particular that I would donate if I could find a way to record it.. It's called dying and leaving and basically is focused on dealing with the loss of ones close to you. My angle is that you have to feel the pain and recognize your feelings. Over time you will heal and in the end we will all be together in some way.. I am truly sorry for your loss and am in full support of what you are doing.

Thank you
Tim

[navyflyer72]

Tim,

Thanks for your support, I can not imagine what your pain must be like, but I will bet that it is reflected in you music. I will PM you when I get back to Kabul this Sunday. I hope that maybe through joining our cause you can continue your mental healing. Since our message is all about the second and third order effects of drinking and driving your experience falls smack in the middle of those. I'll be in touch.

Regards,
George

[go-fish]

George, I know how much your family loves the Eagles. I've watched a few games with one of your brothers. You guys are crazy about the Eagles so I know you and your Marine were very glad to be able to toss the pigskin around.

[navyflyer72]

Johnny, thanks you are correct, check out the below picture of Ted and I tossng the football.

So I am Back from visiting the real warfighters in Helmand Province, spend about 12 hours with my youngest brother Ted at a Patrol Base in likely the nastiest place for Taliban, the Patrol Base and outlying Observation Posts (one of which my brother was manning) were attacked at least 6 times that day. These Marines spend 210 days straight manning these. I was amazed by their positive attitudes and demeanor, they motivated the heck out of me. Add to that the professional manner with which they work, while living in dirt, it was nothing short of amazing.

Big news coming up for the project, standby!

The below pics are me flying out to see Ted in a Brit helo (great fun to fly with), me sitting in the door of said Brit helo over a likely Taliban compound, Ted and I, Ted and I playing football while their heavy mortars fire on Taliban attackers about 100-200 meters away., the last picture is of me taking a break from football to smoke a cigar (they wanted me to, it was peer pressure) with some seriously tough Marines, the nearest Marine was shot through his upper right thigh, got patched up and came right back out! The scar was awesome!

[sr73bu]

OK guys... Here are the designs so far for the project.... which is definitely being coordinated from Afghanistan...haha...George and I must go back and forth all day with ideas and changes.... but overall he is a great guy to work with and a true hot rodder. This stuff is pretty much my day job so i don't usually do renderings or logos at home,,, but this has been a blast to work on.... its great to work with someone who has similar tastes and is just as passionate about cars and anything worth working hard at as me! All of the designs have been tweaked over the past month to what we have today.... check these out!

The Final Logo:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/Zac_Ryan_FINAL_LOGO_9_22_11SML2-1.jpg

The Cars:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/2010_REND_SR_FINAL_SML-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/67_REND_SR_FINAL_SML-1.jpg

The Badges: (still a work in progress, but we should have everything tweeked soon... basically George had the idea of combining art elements from the Family Crests of both his family and Ryan Dunn's family...)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/HD_Crest_Badge_A1-1.jpg

I'm sure George will chime in with more details soon!

George,

Thanks again for the honor and opportunity to be part of this... can't wait to see those renderings come to life!.... talk to you tomorrow.. haha

-Sean

[go-fish]

Hey George,
You should have your brother that I was stationed with "down south" talk to the civilian guy, Johnny HazMat, at work, he's in N9. He has some digi layovers from Aerovo or Aerovoe (or whatever the spray paint company is).
There are kits they sell the military that comes with all the colors of AOR1, AOR2, desert Marpat, and woodland Marpat. The beauty of the kit is that it comes with the different stencils for all the little "digi" squares.
I saw that you are using that pattern in the Camaro stripes. Your paint guy would probably thank you a million times if he could get the SKU for those layovers.

[go-fish]

Here you go

http://www.aervoe.com/paints_coatings/Military-Digital-Camo-Stencil.html

[sr73bu]

Here you go

http://www.aervoe.com/paints_coatings/Military-Digital-Camo-Stencil.html

Thats a great tip Johnny... I was wondering how the painter was going to tackle the digital-camo when I was doing the renderings....

BTW: I haven't forgot about your Cuda logo... I've been very busy with this project, but I will get around to it soon....

-Sean

[navyflyer72]

Here you go

http://www.aervoe.com/paints_coatings/Military-Digital-Camo-Stencil.html

Johnny C,

This will really help, I had no idea these were even out there! You are right, whoever ends up doing the paint will thank you a million times over for letting us know that this was available! I will tell Ted to talk with the POC you recommended also, wish I had known I had a fellow hotrodder down there, we could have killed some of the down time talking about the project! Ted is also a huge car fanatic (it runs in the family pretty deeply too), his first car he built himself, it was a '65 Impala with a SBC, Irmine white with medium blue interior and chrome sidepipes). I want to get Ted more involved in the project when he returns from this 7 months deployment in less than a month, he needs to get back into hot rodding, but the USMC doesn't pay so well and he just got married, so I'm looking for him to take point on my '67, he really is a GREAT kid brother and he has a really understanding and great wife (like me) also.

Also, you and I need to talk about your music! I'm home for a bit in November, let's coordinate to get in touch then and discuss this in depth. Sound good?

Sean,

It's been an absolute pleasure to get to chat with you almost every day:1st:. I am VERY fortunate to have found a person as generous with their time and talents as you, and the fact that I am at a location over here that has decent internet most of the time so we can talk cars to pass the time! Your artistic vision has really helped these projects take life, and hopefully we can get your works onto some project merchandise very soon! I have been getting requests already from friends who have seen these, they want hats and t-shirts made asap. So I am reaching out to a number of places to see about making that a reality.

Everyone,

I can tell you all that right now there are a number of very exciting project updates right around the corner, Sean knows most of them, but the specifics are being worked out. I hope that by the time we launch the official build website (which will of course be linked here) I will have these announcements ready for public airing.

The custom project badging will be located on the center of the grill, on the rear of the sides of the cowl hood, on the wheel center caps, on the steering wheel horn button ('67), on the gas caps and on the shifter knobs, it will also be hidden throughout in a number of other places in a subdued manner. Can anyone guess where those might be???

Thanks again to everyone behind the scenes working on this, I am glad that Sean finally gets to hear what others (besides me) think of these amazing designs. I hope that as they materialize in real life, and the ghosted images in the black paint take form, that we can accurately capture the essence of this projects purpose.

Like I've said before, if I can get this across to just one person and they realize the power they have to change someone else's life, than this project will be totally worthwhile.

I look forward to posting some new info soon!

Thanks again to everyone for the support

Warmest Regards from Kabul,
George

[navyflyer72]

Leaving Kabul, heading up North for almost a month, hopefully I will have internet access to keep everyone appraised on our progress. More soon I hope, but this time I'll be reporting from the Northern Border region of Afghanistan. I'll post pics if there's anything worth seeing, but I highly doubt anyone up there has a PT machine. haha

[navyflyer72]

I am back, and in one piece. Spent almost a month bouncing around the mountains of Northern Afghanistan hunting down former Hezb-i-Islami insurgents, and even found a few. The mission was interesting, but being out of internet comms stinks. It is good to be back in Kabul to check out what has been going on here on C5! Lots of interesting ZL1 info that I missed. Almost makes me want to buy one, if it weren't for the fact that my wife would either kill me, leave me or castrate me. Not sure which one would be worse.

Anyway, as I dig out of my email inbox I will leave you all with a few pictures of my recent trip, enjoy, oh and if you want to see the article in the New York Times about some of these guys, check it out here:

Updated link to article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/magazine/bad-guys-vs-worse-guys-in-afghanistan.html?scp=1&sq=bad%20guys%20vs%20worse%20guys&st=cse