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3/21/01
The last update ended yesterday with garage work. Today was more of the same. We created a new storage area outside the garage and put the plethora of electrical cords, air hoses, and some other items on a series of railings and hooks under the west eave. What a concept!! So a significant pile of STUFF has found a PLACE. Yippee! Tomorrow we’ll work on getting the remaining junk off the floor, tossing some items already outside to the street (couch, refrigerator, etc.). Slimeball didn’t make it……oh, how shocking…..and no phone call. The reupholstering idiot, Frank, had really damaged the five pieces we had just repaired and refinished, so John has a least another half day on that work.
The trailer electrical pigtail for land line power needs an extension to make it to the existing plug, which is now accessible! We’ll roll the trailer out tomorrow, wash it, blow out the considerable dust inside, perhaps get that extension made up, and continue moving stuff. The Gremlin has a left exhaust manifold leak. What a joy this will be. I’ll have to remove the steering column section (no biggie actually) to get at the manifold. I had never seen silicone sealant on exhaust before, but this has it. The boys at Huth Muffler say they do it as standard practice, using the gold-colored stuff. I also need to trace which cylinder has the miss, pump some air in the rear shocks. And anchor the radiator properly. It would also be nice if I dimpled the rear of the right rocker cover where it touches the heater motor on the firewall. There are a few little rattles to get out, one around the battery, another in the dash, likely related to the touching rocker cover. Of course a set of chromed low-boy cover would work, too. While I had the windows looked at, I’m told there really is nothing that can be done to remove the slop in the regulators. I’m sure disassembly and some serious looking could reveal a custom solution. It’s low on the priority list right now. I also need to rework the rear window (hatch) latch, as I put some bigger rubber back there, and it does not close down enough to catch the lock. Got a major compliment from a real aficionado today. The Gremlin paint is bright now, as it should be.
In an amazing co-incidence, the Greg Markham, son of the founder and an executive at Maaco Auto painting, walked by today, and just had to see the FC operation. He is apparently all but retired, spends time doing community work, and loves hot rods. We’ll see if he makes it back. Wouldn’t I LOVE to have them sponsor the car with a paint job!
Tomorrow should see the pulleys arrive at Grainger for the hoist system on the camper shell. This will be another milestone of organizational achievement. I’m also going to hunt down some stainless steel lags, as the others just snap off with regularity.
3/22/01
The following is thanks to Mike O’Brien, who did the original chassis on the FC, and who did the first stage of the 1994 rebuild, as well as provide the Tbird body:
A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done. The monsignor replied, "When I am worried
about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip."
So next Sunday he took the monsignor's advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. He proceeded to talk up a storm.
Upon his return to his office after mass, he found the following note on the door:
1. Sip the Vodka, don't gulp.
2. There are 10 commandments, not 12.
3. There are 12 disciples, not 10.
4. Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.
5. Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.
6. We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J.C.
7. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred
to as daddy, junior and the spook.
8. David slew Goliath, he did not kick the shit out
of him.
9. When David was hit by a rock and knocked off his
donkey, don't say he was stoned off his ass.
10. We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T."
11. When Jesus broke the bread at the Last Supper he
said, "Take this and eat it for it is my body." He
did not say "Eat me".
12. The Virgin Mary is not called "Mary with the Cherry".
13. The recommended grace before a meal is not:
Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for the grub, yeah God.
14. Next Sunday there will be a taffy pulling contest
at St.Peter's, not a peter pulling contest at St.Taffy's.
3/23/01
Republicans announced today that they are changing their emblem from an elephant to a condom because it more clearly reflects their party's political stance.
A condom stands up to inflation, halts production, discourages cooperation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives one a sense of security while screwing others.
Spent the day building the opening for Randy’s cabinet and mounting his doors, and figuring out some electrical. It is again a pleasure to give back a tiny fraction of the time he has so kindly given to my operation.
-The Sex Life of a Man
When the Creator was making the world and all its inhabitants,
He called man aside. I'm bestowing upon you," the Creator said, "twenty years of active sex life."
Man was dismayed. "Only twenty years?" he protested. "Great One, that isn't enough. Can't you add a few more years?"
But the Creator shook his head. It was twenty years or nothing, so the man glumly sat down.
The monkey was called forth. He was offered twenty years of active sex life too. But, the monkey suggested humbly that ten years would be quite enough, since he seldom lived longer than that anyway.
Immediately the man leaped up. "Can I have your extra ten years?", he cried excitedly. "Of course," said the monkey graciously.
The lion was then called forth and the Creator made the same offer
He shook his mane. "Mighty One," he roared, "I'm a monogamous animal: therefore, ten years will be enough for me."
Again, the man stood up. "Can I have the lion's share also?" he asked eagerly. Both the lion and the Creator agreed, and the man sat down elated.
The donkey was then called up, but when the Creator offered him twenty years, he balked. "Sire," he brayed, "I want to reserve some time for eating sweet clover. Ten years is ample time for me."
The Creator nodded, then turned and looked at man. "I suppose you want his ten years as well?" Man smirked and nodded. "So be it," said the Creator and turned away.
And that is how it came to pass that man has twenty years of active sex life, ten years of monkeying around, ten years of lion about it, and ten years of making an ass of himself.
3/24/01
Dave Smith is certainly monkeying with me. I would relish being able to go on him.
I would most definitely like to kick his ass from here to China, but sadly I’ll have to settle for just working within the system to pursue him for payment. This is still a very long road ahead, after waiting since Dec 98!!!!. It reminds me of one of the first jobs I did. I spent 250 hours building a commercial 10-room suite, and 800 hours pursuing the woman for a year to get paid.
Happily, I just landed three jobs. These are not large projects, but they will provide SOME cash flow (any is better than none), and yet more opportunity to learn how to be profitable. The garage is magnificently cleaned up thanks to Ed Anctil’s efforts. The only major thing out of place is the furniture, not yet picked up by the new upholsterer, who also didn’t show the other day for his appointment. I failed to check with Grainger on the pulleys, which I will do Monday. Took the Gremlin to cruise night with the Rodfathers at a new location, to many happy comments. And today I found the missing marker light at Hamrick’s stashed in the original carton which housed the grille and other parts. I now need to track down the source of the missing cylinder.
To reiterate the obvious, we ain’t making the CIFCA opener next month. We are, however, in a much better position now to continue on in a nicer work space. I think I’ll just take the starters back to Monty and have him convert the solenoids back to 12 volts. This will allow for no hassle on the starter switch circuit, and the trans brake wiring. There is virtually no need for the solenoid itself to see 24 volts, only the starter motor. More learning, more changes, more improvement.
3/28/01
Got the pulleys and cable from Grainger. So we’re ready to set the winching mechanism for the dually shell. The new arrangement of the garage has really lent itself to more production stuff. John and I knocked out a HUGE number of wood pieces (600) the other day. The elbow room around the car is…well…wonderful.
We’ve started again on more organizing, and the place really looks transformed. The shell will mark a large accomplishment in getting stuff into places. The area under the shell is for the drill press, buffer, tool box, etc. Should I need to gold up the saw table, that gives us even more work room. Right now I’ve stashed a set of tires for the Super Coupe, and some misc wood under there. I COULD put the wire welder under there, it’s just the tall argon bottle must stick up outside.
4/1/01
Mikey is on his way over today. We’re going to set the starter in the car and give it a try. Just turn it over, no start, unless of course we set the headers on, and put some fuel in it. We might lower the body, connect the light bar and Parker Pumper plugs, and check them out, too. The main focus today is setting the winch pulleys for the dually shell. This will require opening drywall and adding some blocking. I hate having to do it, but you gotta do watcha gotta do. Millie kindly blew the garage out the other day with our leaf blower. It’s most helpful to keep it clean. Incidentally, the job we did cutting and drilling all those wood pieces is going well, and should be done in another day (translate, get the rest of the money).
Spoke with Butch Schrier a few times, and I’ll be dropping by to see him soon. He had back surgery, and is not supposed to drive yet.
4/3/01
Tiny is going to assist with the shell pulleys later tomorrow. And he’ll pull the other Gremlin head. I’ll use the opportunity to waterblast the engine compartment and frame rails, and touch up the paint again with the gray speckle stone paint. I’m also going to seal off the heater with some nifty plugs, and get rid of the heater hoses altogether.
I can also use this open engine compartment time to paint the block, clean the exhaust manifolds and spray them with high temp paint (VHT enamel), and put some disconnect flanges on the exhaust pipes when they get reconnected. Someone sometime will be doing some of this again (hopefully not I), so I might as well make it easy. I’m also going to put the old angled rocker covers back on, to see if that removes some rattling in the dash. Randy said he’d seen some of the new 502 covers for about $15-$50. It is rumored they have a different bolt pattern, but so what? I can just redrill them easily. Meanwhile, since I don’t have a pair, I’ll reuse the old ones. I think I’m going to invest in some rocker cover bolt stands, to make lifting and resetting them easier. Also, a set of rocker clips to stop the oil squirting during adjustment.
The 600 picket job is done, just waiting on the dough. While struggling for money, I do have 4 jobs going, although small. Oddly, these small jobs have become more profitable, although cash flow-wise it’s still less money coming in than a very large job. But we take it as it comes, and having the work is good. I’ll just consider the 4 as one larger job. Yeah, that’s it.
A few people have strolled through lately, and are in just short of awe at the garage/operation. I see only the unfinished, they don’t know about that, they just see just what IS done, which is admittedly impressive. Now if I could combine all this with solvency, well…..that would be awesome.
4/7/01
Ed and I got the other pulley set up, and he made a very clever gathering bar (4 cables into one). Ed is a very clever guy, and I’m glad to have him on the team. Van Nuys Awning is making up some nylon straps to go under the shell, to which we will attach the cables using carabiners. Now, I just have to mount the manual winch at the end of the workbench and that system is essentially complete, save for the straps coming on Monday. Randy dropped by and commented on just how close the car is to running. Oh yes, maddeningly close. The garage is proving itself again today, as it is raining, and the operation is warm and toasty and dry in its edifice. Once the shell is up, I can organize that workshop area, and move forward and getting the remaining misc junk filed away.
I still have the desire to further polish the garage with additional cabinets, some clever pull out shelves/steps for convenience to set tools on (and act as a step for getting to high stuff). These shelves obviously will have to be quite substantial. We can do that.
Ed is still planning on creating a bar code system for our tools. Co-incidentally, I got a flyer in the mail touting exactly such a system for sale. I’ll go with Ed on this one. As I’ve noted many times before, most of the effort on the race car is NOT on the car, but on the operation supporting the car. The Garage Mahal has evolved into something impressive on its own, a MAJOR undertaking, but ultimately worth it.
Another item taking away from time on the FC is the computer situation. I have had nothing but crashing for the last 6 months. It is equivalent to buying a car and having it break down every few blocks, requiring major repairs and towing. I sincerely hope this last round of reformatting, etc. will prove to be the FINAL go-round with this crap. Utterly frustrating. I have a race car for Pete’s sakes, I ALREADY have frustration enough!!
Watched some ESPN Nitro from Vegas, and you know what? I NEVER have had problems with tire shake. Wonder if that’s because of two reasons: 1-I have WAY too much power, and 2-I haven’t been on the track in almost 5 years.
I really enjoy Cruz Pedregon’s comments. Very insightful, and shows his competitive nature, too.
4/8/01
Watched ALL day Nitro from Vegas. Wow!! 324 mph on 90%-incredible!! Bernstein runs ALL 4.5’s the whole weekend, and wins. Wow!!! Loved seeing the FC’s. I’m more inspired than ever to finish, and do some nice detailing in the process.
Gonna get the shell straps tomorrow, hang the puppy, and do some organizing, AND shoot some more digital pix for the website.
4/10/01
Well, Ed and I finished the shell pulley system yesterday, save for one additional standoff pulley coming. The shell is up, the system functions perfectly, and that space is now liberated. We spent some time discussing future plans for the garage, systems to store wood, where to make an additional bench, etc. Today should see the Gremlin heads done. Gonna sandblast the exhaust manifold to rid them of grease and oil, and provide a fresh base for some VHT paint. Recharged the digital camera, now just trying to find how to erase all the pix in there. Done, fresh memory card ready to capture more operational wonderments.
4/10/01
Picked up the Gremlin heads. All fresh, clean, ready to seal in the big power. Struggling with the steering linkage to get the left exhaust manifold out for sandblasting.
4/11/01
Struggle doesn’t begin to describe the feelings I got after having Ed take some parts to the very local Ajax for sandblasting. These pricks warped (RUINED) a Turbo 400 case about 6 years ago for me, which put me into Powerglides after that. I paid them for their “work” at that time. Since then, I have been a personna non grata to Ken (it wasn’t about money, obviously it was a question of my unhappy about their goof), the major jerkoff manager there. I had Ed take the Gremlin exhaust manifolds, a shovel, a wheelbarrow, and the intake manifold there to be cleaned up by sandblasting. They required a CASH deposit of $132 for work that would cost $50 anywhere else, AND at a shop rate of $66/hr!!! I was SO incensed for a couple of hours…..wow!! What unmitigated assholes!!!!! Randy and I have 2 frames to powder coat along with many other parts, and they are NOT going there. Any welding I have to do, not there. Any further sandblasting will go down the road to Pyramid Powder Coating and Sandblasting, home of friendly, courteous people. Ken is just one of the majorly rude buttholes I have ever encountered….do you get my drift?
Got the final pulley from Grainger’s today, so we’ll set that in the morning, then turn our attention to the original body winch, which is looking like it’s pulling out its bottom bolt!!! Ouch!! This would be a MAJOR disaster. We’ll make a steel plate, anchor that to the framing, and in turn anchor the winch to the plate.
The Gremlin exhaust will get black or gray VHT crinkle coated, and possibly blanchard ground if I can find the guy in North Hollywood who does that.
The Imac 500 is back at the shop, hopefully getting cured permanently this time. Try as I might, I have been unable to get connected back to the net on any computer here, using either DSL or 56K modem. SO frustrating.
On the bright side, we are VERY busy biz-wise. This is a good thing, and will greatly assist turning these newsletters into actual racing forums and ending the nearly eternal “about to….”. But you’ll miss all the intrigue and detail then, won’t you?
4/17/01
Randy’s deep experience paid off again the other day, when he dropped by and casually mentioned how important it is to seal the head bolts which pass through the water jackets. All my big block wrenching in the last 7 years has been on the race motors and head studs, with NO water. Thanks again RL.
Got the Gremlin exhaust back on in flat black VHT. What a bitch!!! Mucho tight fit.
I cut the head pipes to make removing the manifolds easier, now I am waiting for Joe at Hurricane Towing to arrive to truck the Gremlin over to Huth Muffler for reconnection. That and a return spring which has mysterioulsy walked off (found it on 6/9 under the hood of the Condor—go figure), and we’re back in action. The Gremlin idles so easily now. Can’t wait to see what kind of power it makes. Discovered it does not have a timing mark, so I’ll just set it by the old “advance it until it won’t start” method.
Got the Imac 500 back-no internet access. CRAP!! Even on the dial up, which they claimed at Manco to have enabled. Haven’t been able to connect with the mobile Mac tech, Randy Greenwald, to finish off the de-bugging here.
Meanwhile, the Garage does look good, still in need of some final polishing, lterally, Got some cobwebs growing in the skylights.
4/18/01
Well, the computer is back functioning, after a LOT of work and expense. My darling wife sent me an email across the office to prove everything is functioning.
This is another George Carlin original take on life:
The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is
tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of
it? A Death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch and you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities. You become a little baby, you go into the womb, spend your last nine months floating...and you finish off as an
orgasm.
--- George Carlin
4/19/01
The Gremlin is about to be picked up today with new exhaust. I had the tailpipes extended to the rear of the car, to avoid the drumming under the rear end, and the heating up of everything there as well. Should be dramatically quieter.
The engine compartment is also quite improved with more gray zolotone, and the engine itself is now a Ford gray, with black VHT exhaust. The existing Walker turbo mufflers are by no means quiet, but should be quite docile by comparison to the previous setup. I will do some detailing to the chassis components (paint, etc) to give it a yet more quality look, and get it back on the Cruise circuit at Bob’s, etc.
Now that the dually shell has been floated, I can get BB back here to continue on the FC.
Thankfully we’re VERY busy with biz, but the bad news is that’s leaving little time for the race car work. It WILL, however, bring in a few $ to make progress possible.
4/23/01
Did a little clean up on the Gremlin, repainting the engine compartment, and detailing the engine, headers, etc. Co-incidentally, I just got an invite to the 3rd annual millennium car show on Van Nuys Blvd Oct 7th. I’m intending to show both the Gremlin (if I still own it by them) and the FC.
Randy seems interested as well, I guess more as a carrot to motivate him. He does have a Nova to display if the FC is still incomplete. He and I met up today, and again he helped on the Gremlin. We pulled the carb apart, and the innards seem just fine. Put it back together and it sounds better, at least in the driveway.
Got a few stainless steel allen cap screws (at Allen Bolt of course) in #8 and #10 sizes (with nylocks) to fill in some bolt trays, and I’ll be cleaning up the garage in prep for getting BB and Mikey back here to continue with some FC work.
Collected a check on one job (thank GOD), so a few bills can get paid, and I may be able to take a precious few bucks for myself.
4/25/01
On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist,
came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher
Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you
have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know
that getting on stage is no small achievement
for him. He was stricken with polio as a child,
and so he has braces on both legs and walks
with the aid of two crutches.
To see him walk across the stage one step at
a time, painfully and slowly, is an unforgettable
sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until
he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly,
puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps
on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the
other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks
up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the
conductor and proceeds to play.
By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They
sit quietly while he makes his way across the
stage to his chair. They remain reverently
silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs.
They wait until he is ready to play.
But this time, something went wrong. Just as he
finished the first few bars, one of the strings on
his violin broke. You could hear it snap -it went
off like gunfire across the room. There was no
mistaking what that sound meant. There was no
mistaking what he had to do.
People who were there that night thought to
themselves: "We figured that he would have to get
up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches
and limp his way off stage - to either find another
violin or else find another string for this one."
But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed
his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin
again. The orchestra began, and he played from where
he had left off. And he played with such passion and
such power and such purity as they had never heard
before. Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible
to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I
know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak
Perlman refused to know that.
You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing
the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he
was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them
that they had never made before.
When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the
room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an
extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner
of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming
and cheering, doing everything we could to show how
much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his
bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in
a quiet, pensive, reverent tone, "You know, sometimes it
is the artist's task to find out how much music you can
still make with what you have left."
What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever
since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the [way]
of life - not just for artists but for all of us.
So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing,
bewildering world in which we live is to make music,
at first with all that we have, and then, when that is
no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.
5/7/01
Nothing done on the FC, but the Gremlin is back, is WAY quieter, VERY driveable, and is getting shown at many cruises, including last weekend’s 200+ car-count show at the San Antonio Boys Town field, where the Gremlin grabbed FIRST place in its G-class (70-79). How about that???
So I can tuck that plaque on the radiator at next week’s Bob’s Big Boy cruise, if it hasn’t sold by then. Had an interested fellow, got the fingers crossed.
We are VERY busy with 6 jobs going. Remember the koan (diametrically opposed and exclusive possibilities) about too much work and not enough work? Well, this is the better of the two problems.
5/11/01
This morning sees a couple of interesting things:
I’m taking two slimeballs to court on an ORAP, an oral examination of judgment debtor. These two guys used to work for me, and owe me about a grand combined.
The other is that I parked my Tbird in the garage for the first time in a LONG while. As the upholstery boys showed up and took the 4 pieces of furniture (WITH the material), I now have a parking space.
Mikey and BB will be coming back in the scene a week from this Sunday to recommence on the FC completion. I will be making a list of to-do’s in the meantime.
Randy has been making some aggravating but measurable progress on his car, having some troubles with some fiberglass work. His car is mere inches away from getting painted (I’m SO jealous). I’ve had Bob Huth do some brazing on the headers in prep for sending them off to be performance coated (sorta like polished aluminum, and will last). Bob’s filling in some dings, etc. I’ll grind and sand on them and pack them up with Randy’s headers when he’s ready.
Progress is glacial, but that’s cool….
5/16/01
The low back is WAY out (ouch!!!), so I’m in a bad way right now. Work is VERY busy, so I’m paying attention to those important aspects that provide the cash flow. I’ve given Mikey a list of to-do’s, and I’m going to spend a little time reviewing them myself to set up for next week and hopefully (I’m going to do a word count someday on how many times that word has been used in these 7 years of updates) some action on the FC. The Gremlin goes in another show, looking for a nice home and exercise. The “interested” Gremlin fellow left an amputated message with no phone # and hasn’t called back. Too bad. I’ve e-mailed some digital pix to another site, HotRod.com, and may advertise there. The two slimeballs produced no progress. JK basically lied about everything and portrayed himself as employed (driving a new leased Ford 150, though), and LL never showed. I had a bench warrant issued for Louie, and I’ll be taking other steps on JK and his refusal to pay. Nothing forthcoming from idiot Dave Smith and his never-yet-paid Condor dues. So, we move along and take it today upon today.
Randy has made some progress, and his poised to send his body off for paint, with just one or two little items of fiberglass work to tune up.
We are adding some pix to the web site, as Dr. Derek was here today. He will return later in the week with some web-updating program for me, and start the tutorial on how I can do this myself (in my abundant spare time, of course).
My birthday is coming up, and the usual lack of response to the invitations has not gone as in years before. It’s WAY nicer to be able to just e-mail stuff, instead of printing, addressing, dumping lots of money into useless postage, etc. I have invited 90 or so, with about 60 confirmed, but that usually translates into about 1/2 actually showing. The core group of fun people will show, and that works out just great. Much more interesting, more intimate, and who needs more than 30 people anyway??
The networked three Macs are doing well since the MAJOR rebuilding of nearly everything. What a concept: things that work!
The CIFCA season is happening, and it appears it will be a VERY competitive one again. We will probably not get many runs in this year, based on the first 5 months. I expect to see SOME passes by summer’s end, MAYBE a one race attendance. I gotta get the car painted to race. Nick is swamped with “paying” jobs, so it is certainly some distance away. And, I have to get the body final-prepped (blocking, etc.) I certainly will not do the adequate job he’ll need for painting, so there will undoubtedly be some additional paint prep tune up needed once it finally gets to his shop. For now, I’ll do some bondo work, spray a guide coat on it, and see if BB and Mikey and I can make some progress. I’m tempted to shoot it myself, or have John do it with me. Pete Mauriello will not make the trip up here, so I won’t even bother there. I’ve got to do some water-trapping on my compressor line to bring it up to snuff for paint, and that, too, will be on the “list.”
5/27/01
Found a guy in West Covina who has a set of black, finned top, cast aluminum 502 covers. These take an O-ring rather than a standard gasket, although they can be modified to use a regular gasket. He wants $75, but has no O-rings.
I'll need to check on the price of the O-ring to see if it's killer or not. It’s NOT, and Randy strongly suggests I wait for another swap meet to find some way cheaper.
Mikey and I have removed the trees from the body, done some welding, lengthened that one 1/3” too short rear deck support, and been grinding like hell to clean up the welds. The trees are in the back of the truck, and will go to pyramid Wednesday morning for black coating. I'm doing some garage clean up, reorganizing, and a little sanding on some body repairs. My goal is to get the underside of the body sweet, the top ready for paint, and the trees done.
Nick will shoot the body if I can just get it prepped and shove it in his face.
Still looking for zolotone for the underside.
I may have shot myself in the foot taking out the trees, as moving the body without them will be tough. But I may just gut it out and figure something so I don't have to put the trees back in a few times, or just put 'em in and enjoy the fact they come out easily. I drilled out all the eyelets and brackets to make it easy for bolting. I'd like to dip the bolts for a cleaner look. Does PAW have the stuff?
Gonna pick up the headers tomorrow, so as to get them here for final polishing prior to sending them out for performance coating. I MAY add a buffer flange to make dismounting them simpler. I’m sure Sanderson could supply such an item easily. I may consider spraying it here, and just doing the blocking ourselves. Nick will probably beg me not to do so, likely exclaiming, “Hey, just bring it here…” We’ll see soon enough.
Work is demanding, finding people to execute it is tougher.
Spoke some more with Vortech’s Rob Anderson, and I am more convinced than ever that a Vortech will be the way to go for serious power on the Condor (naw, haven’t given up on that yet). The nice part is Rob can engineer it to work (now isn’t that a refreshing concept?). I suppose a twin T-trim pack on the FC might be intriguing, in place of the 1471. Just thinking…..
6/3/01
Three months ago, at the start of this update, I noted only the furniture was really the out of place item(s) in the garage. Well, that chapter is closed, and the stuff has been successfully reupholstered, and is back in the house. Of course, the old stuff is out there now, but will leave today with Mikey for their place. As is the case with about $80,000 of outstanding judgments I hold, the judgment on the $1500 wasted on the first upholsterer is yet uncollected, and likely will never be recovered (pun intended).
Mikey will be here in a few minutes, and we’re going to go on the outside of the body, adding a little bondo here and there as needed, and sanding our fool little hearts out.
Got the powder coated trees back, and of course on snafu HAD to happen. I neglected to remind them NOT to coat the rear body pivot bearings and rod. So EVERYTHING got coated. They’ll be fine, just a little lube in there should do.
The Gremlin still has some starting problems, this time the battery showed no good, so I’ve got another 1000-amp monster in the back. It was from the Condor, and I’m not sure it’s still good. We’ll see. Well, it appears to be NG. I’ll check tomorrow at Valley Battery with Brad the Battery Man.
Worked some body stuff on the FC, dialing in some small defects here and there, in the wheel wells, header cutouts, and the nose. Found a pesky little ridge that turns out to be a recurring crack. Ditto for a spot on the left hood right over a body tree support. May have to do some glass work on the backside, float some resin on the front, and do more work there. I’ll check with Nick about that. He’s due to call me back anytime. Otherwise, the body looks pretty ready to me for final paint prep. I think Nick will shoot at least one more primer/filler coat, with one more blocking prior to real paint. Still gotta find the right zolotone underside paint. I may just go for a quart at Modern Paint tomorrow (or D’Angelo’s) and see what it looks like.
Had a fun time today with some clients who came to see some paint colors and cabinets here. They LOVED the Gremlin, so I took them for an E-ticket ride, and they LOVED that, too! The little ground pounder set them back in the seat big time.
6/10/01
The birthday party was a fine event with 47 guests (the typical 40% turnout), and three more people had e-ticket rides in the Gremlin.
Saw some nice zolotone on a car at a car show today, and will look as noted above tomorrow for it. Derek the webmaster delivered a PC computer for web update use, so I will have to learn that now. It was cheaper to buy a computer LOADED with programs than find programs for the Mac. WAY cheaper.
This update marks the first one I have done, so if you’re reading this, it worked!!
Derek the giant (he’s 6’-6” and in great shape) will be here tomorrow (different from Derek the web guy), to continue helping me on stuff around here, plus readying the car for Nick to come and spray the first coat of blocking primer. I picked up 2 gallons with additives yesterday from Nick for a mere $240!!!! Gads, $120 a gallon for primer……….We may need to get another spray gun to make it go on right, but that remains to be tested.
I’ll do the grinding out of two areas that are cracking, one at the very front of the hood, the other in the left center of the hood area, and re-bondo them after glassing. I have one other cracking area along the hood scoop to hood junction which I’ll check on. I am really pressing to get this thing primered so we can do our hopefully (add that to the count) blocking and get this to Nick for Prowler Yellow paint. It is uncertain whether it will be single stage or clear coat. Clear will allow for later repairs, and will require more meticulous prep work.
As you likely know, the CoolBoard has been discontinued effective June 29th, and we’re probably going to be on Aimoo.com or something like that. As no one has put anything on the chatboard, I may just kill it. If you’re reading this, please drop a note on it or the guestbook.
So, once we get some primer, then we can start rubbing and get some action. Bob Huth has failed to come through on brazing the headers (and missed my party), and I’ll need to press him to get them done. Everyone means well, and I most certainly appreciate any work (paid or not), but as the director of the project I must get my boot in people’s hind sides to make it happen from time to time.
That’s it for this one. Time to have fun uploading this missive into the website.
Stay tuned……..
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