Week 9

Not much news this week. Had some chores to take care of and so I decided to stay around the house most of the weekend. I did venture down to the garage Sunday to drop off some stuff for storage and wound up tinkering for a few hours, removing things from the intake manifold as I prepare to tear the engine down.

Slow. Steady. Progress.

Here's a photo I took on the way back home Sunday afternoon, just down the road from our farm. This should give you a pretty good clue as to why I live here.



Peace!

Week 8

Bosch RZ10 = $65
Cutoff Wheels and 30 day warranty = No Charge
Safety goggles from Ace = $8
Watching that last bumper bolt fall to the ground = Priceless

And this Blue Moon Belgian White tastes extra good tonight!

Hey!

Just a quick shout out to the family, if any of you are out there - lurking. Spying! I can hear you breathing. Yeah, you know who you are. ;-)

Week 7

I think I'm going to need more tools!

Seriously. Removing 50 year old bumper bolts with a socket set just ain't gonna cut it. Cut it. Yeah. That' s what I'm talking about. Need a set of torches and some better Vice Grips. Yup.

I can just imagine restoration veterans (you know who you are) taking a look at this blog and chuckling to themselves as they read about my exploits. But damn it, I'm having fun and isn't that what's it's all about? And let's face it, tearing down a vintage car like this is a real journey - into a different time. When cars where made by hand and every part, every last nut and bolt was made right here in America and assembled by hard working union men and women. Yeah. You know what I'm sayin'

Except for the nasty Japanese steel Chrysler started using in these cars. But that's another story for another time.

Well... her engine is still stuck. Guess I'm not trying hard enough. Today I removed the valve covers and gave everything a nice bath with Blaster. Got the crank case blow down tube off. It's in perfect shape. No dents or bent parts and most of it is still shiny metal. Should clean up nicely. As well, the valve covers and valve train are exceptionally clean. I guess, after 50 odd years I was expecting a layer of caked on oil gunk but as you can see for yourself, it's as clean as you could wish for and I can't help but wonder if someone's been into this motor before me.

Week 6

Internet access @ home is down so I gotta do this quick so I don't get busted (don't ask).

Got a boatload of parts in last week, almost all the stuff still missing off Elizabeth, that was offered to me by a gentleman from up north. What I got was the much sought after hood lip stainless (a really nice one too), her radiator, both horns, 'a 58 lower grille and the passenger side lower fender stainless. I've already snagged my elbows and upsweeps (another great deal there) so I think I've now got all my exterior trim. Still a few things left to get (like a heater core) but otherwise, I'm set. Took it all down to the garage Saturday where I unpacked and inspected everything and put it all away till I need it. And that was about the extent of what I got accomplished last weekend. By 10AM it was already 90degrees. Even hotter inside that large metal box I call my garage. Things are looking better for this weekend tho.

---edit 4:00pm---

Here are a couple photos that show the lower stainless trim strip attached and where it's missing, on the passenger side. You can see where the hood lip stainless is missing as well.

Week 5

Had sh!t to do here at home so that's where I stayed. Gas is $4 a gallon now so staying home every other weekend makes sense right now. Not that I expect it'll get any better.

But I really can't b!tch and moan too much... 'cause today I find out that the man is dead. And that hurts. Rest easy sir. And keep on playing so we can find you when it's our turn.





Time for some music, sweet and low...