Week 35

Seventy plus degrees out today. Not too shabby for December 27th and a perfect day to be down at the garage. The pictures tell the tale.

Next week I'll work on the other side. :)

2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8

Here's a video to go with Steve's Friday night "Late Night Ramblings" post featuring the car that had that awesome motor in it.



click here



And while you're at it, go visit the Dodge Challenger page over on YouTube too.

Week 34

Still working on getting her doors removed. Getting the door hardware off, intact has turned out to be a bit of a challenge. Slow going but getting there. Expect to make better progress this weekend. Will post some photos.

Made up a short music video with some of the photos I've got of Elizabeth that were taken in Georgia earlier this year before I picked her up. Merry Christinemas. And a Happy New Year.

Late Night Ramblings

I decided to take a break from learning Ruby on Rails to share an interesting story at the request of Dave. I had mentioned to him that my grandfather (Larry Griffith) got a hold of a new 6.1L Hemi, but there is an interesting story behind the engine. The engine is a test engine from Chrysler that has 30,000 + miles on it. The car that it was tested in was the 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 with the 6 speed gearbox behind it. He received the engine to do testing for the Super Stock Challenger. I am working on getting pictures to share with all.

Bailing Out The U.S. Auto Industry

Something to remember:

The baddest low riders are made from American cars.

The coolest hot rods are made from American cars.

The wildest rat rods are made from American cars.

The fastest race cars and dragsters? American made.

And I'd like to see the Japanese or Germans build anything as close to cool as those big finned cars of the fifties.

No, the US auto industry isn't perfect and yes they could definitely use some improvement. But they're OURS!

SUPPORT THE AMERICAN AUTO WORKER and the UAW. They build our dreams!

Old School Meets New School

Who says Green has to be fugly. Pretty wild stuff and a great marriage of technologies!

Lincvolt

...or, why is Neil Young still around after all these years? ;)

Week 32

Tire skates came in this week. I was impressed with the overall quality and construction. Real heavy duty, unlike the Chinese copies out there. The set I got is rated at 6000 pounds and cost $175 plus shipping. I highly recommend them. They're manufactured by a small outfit based in Johnson City, Tennessee. That means Made In The USA. Check them out.

Accessible Systems

Drivers floor pan and access panel came this week too. I got these from RCAR Fabrications and I can't recommend them enough. Nicely formed and he uses good quality sheetmetal too. I'll be getting the rest my pans from them for sure.

RCAR Fabrications

Got some other bits, like NOS bumper brackets (that hold the bumper ends to the fenders) and a nice set of new front and rear window trim clips.

Still working on getting the hardware removed from the doors and if it warms up this weekend I'll be back down there and hopefully finish up that part of it and get a door or two off as well.

Week 31

Have you recovered from the weekend yet?

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, or at least got what they wanted out of it. And if you were unfortunate enough to have been forced out of the house to shop this weekend, I feel for you... or not. My better half had to work so I got to stay home. *heh*

I did manage to get to the garage a couple of times over the holiday weekend, mainly to organize my parts storage. I did tinker around on the car for a while but nothing to write home about. Tire skates and her driver's floor pan should be in this week. Got access to a neighbors engine lift when I need it so as soon as I spring for a stand I'll be pulling Elizabeth's motor and tranny.

A new automotive machine shop just opened up down the road. I think that's a sign.