THOUGHT I'D TAKE YOU THROUGH A BIT OF A CLOSE UP TOUR OF SOME OF THE BITS DESTINED FOR 'PROJECT SHOVELLER' . . . . IF IT WASN'T STILL WINTER AND THEY'RE ABOUT TO BE PUT TO USE, I'D SLEEP WITH THESE . . . . JOSH FRAZITTA'S 'THROWBACK' FINNED ROCKER COVERS . . . . SIMPLY OUTSTANDING QUALITY AND A TESTAMENT TO JOSH'S PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE.

When I saw Irish Rich's write-up on these divine pieces from the ultra talented Josh Frazitta my mind began to swim, they looked the absolute duck's nuts, only bigger and finned and meant for shovelheads not the feathery bit between the legs of a drake, and I knew I had to have them . . . . I have had a love affair with cast alloy performance parts for years, ever since dad put a finned rocker cover on the LC GTR back in the seventies . . . . when I got my first set of Midtracks in the mail in 1977 that only intensified and moreso when the 169 Indy's arrived some two years later, I remember holding them and kinda rolling them around in my hands, the tiny surface irregularities, the dull sheen instead of a hard, antiseptic shine of chrome or high polish alloy . . . . think Halibrand and American Racing wheels, the wonderful Minilite and all the go fast goodies from the late fifties and early sixties cast from high magnesium content alloys, there is a tactile quality about them quite apart from the straight up visual allure . . . . Throwback's rocker covers are in the same league.

I waited a while until Josh had them all machined and ready to go and when they arrived in the mail, dang, if they weren't even better in the flesh than I imagined they could be, beautiful is a massive understatement, the detail and attention to it, is fully mindboggling, perfectly machined faces, bolt holes and seats, no daggy flash hanging off anywhere and the aesthetic appeal of classic era performance parts, amazingly presented stuff, real quality has an appearance you just can't fake . . . . these things have it in spades.

And just like all the bits and pieces that have come before these eyecatching, sand cast, retro styled, hand made, immaculately finished components, they have that same character, a 'patina' that only this level of quality and production technique possess, individual, massaged with love and care by the human hand, not just popped out of some endless, automated, sterile assembly line . . . . there's real commitment and passion in this shit, you can feel it, you do sense it and, moreover . . . . they look great and will also do a proper job of helping dissipate heat away from the top end . . . . the shovel's gonna thank me for this, sure as hell.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, my sincere thanks and gratitude to Josh Frazzita for top shelf service and having the balls, persistence and unwavering commitment to quality to get these babies out there, well done mate, an extraordinary result you should be rightly chuffed about . . . . I'll run them with real pride.