(04-21-2009) Deconstruction continues

I wire brushed part of the floor pan, and uncovered some nice hidden treasures. A line of holes along the edge on the driver's side.

Also, I did a test paint on one of the wheels to see how they're going to look. Not sure I like the black...

(04-18-2009) Spring is here...

This weekend I ripped out the interior from the Beetle. Chiseled out the old tar-based sound dampening material and found a few rust holes in the driver's side floor board. I also finished polishing up the wheels and they just need paint. Hope to paint the wheel centers and POR-15 the floor boards this week.

On the 1932 Chevy front: Flash rebuilt the carb and the fuel pump. The fuel tank was still in great shape, so we have a fully functional fuel system now. I need to pick up some gear oil and some carburetor springs today to finish up the known issues.

(04-15-2009) The next step...

Last night I worked on polishing another wheel. It looks fair, but a heard of people came over to see the 1932 Chevy and I didn't get much work done.

Flash rebuilt the fuel pump and it works great now. Need to finish the engine repairs (carb rebuild, cooling system, oil change), but it's getting closer. Also, talked to Jerry this morning about a '37 donor truck for some wheels and tires.

(04-14-2009) Parts arrived.

Bob at MarxParts.com wasted no time getting the parts in the mail. Sometime this week we'll get to putting the parts on the old truck and see what happens.

(04-11-2009) Wheels, 1931 Truck, Vinyl Cutter and other stuff.

Saturday was a busy day. I stripped the paint off the wheels for the Beetle. Flash worked a little on the old '31 truck, and Bob at MarxParts.com gave me some more good information (Thanks Bob!!). Also, got a line on a '37 Chevy truck for parts, so we'll see if that pans out.

Witt and his friend, Joe (sorry if I got the name wrong), came by to check out the '31 Chevy and hear it run. They also enjoyed looking over the 911 with the Chevy 350 in it. That was a lot of fun.

The new vinyl cutter arrived on Friday and so I spent Saturday getting it set up and testing it out. Pretty cool little machine, now if I can just knuckle down and learn the software.

Other than that, I spent the day mowing the lawn and just trying to catch up around the house.

(04-09-2009) More work on the wheels.

Spent a little time finishing the rim of one of the wheels for the Beetle. In the picture you can see an example of before and after. Didn't have much time to devote last night, but it looks a little better. I think it's passable for the Beetle.

I also got all of the information I need from the old '31 truck to order fuel system parts. Bob at marxparts called me this morning and helped get the order together. Great place to find your vintage Chevy replacement parts. If things go well, this may be enough parts to get the engine up and running completely. Bob informed me that the engine block was a 1930 (January 10th, 1930 if the casting numbers are correct). Bob is a wealth of knowledge on these old engines. He really amazed me with knowledge of each year's changes to the engines.

(04-09-2009) Progress?

So, last night I started working on the rear wheels for the Beetle project. They're smoothing out and looking a little better. I placed the wheel on the car, and ran the car as a makeshift lathe to smooth and polish the wheels.

On the 1930 pickup things are progressing. Found a place that has lots of parts for these old trucks, but I found that the truck isn't a 1930, but it's a 1931 or 32 model. It was built in Kansas City, Mo. and came from the factory with dual wheels - but that's about all you can gather from the VIN tag. As soon as we figure out the exact year, we can order a rebuild kit for the carburetor and fuel pump, as well as all of the rubber needed to cool the engine.

(04-08-2009) 1930 progress...

Flash has been working on the 1930 Chevy truck. Yesterday he unlocked the transmission and today he pumped up the oil pump to make sure it works correctly. I ordered some parts (key switch, resistor to save the coil from the 12v battery and a valve cover gasket, oh and a service manual).

Still lots to do: fuel system (tank, pump, filter, carburetor), cooling system (radiator, fan-belt, water pump), clutch (probably stuck from the years of sitting), tires, brakes and some wood work to save the cab.

(04-04-2009) The 1930 Chevy LIVES!!

Flash and I worked for on the 1930 Chevy truck today, and it now will start and run. We slowly went through everything: freeing the motor, checking the starter, checking the valves, checking the coil/plugs/wires/points and finally by pouring gas directly into the carb and firing the engine. But, all of the original equipment was used (coil, points, spark plugs, plug wires, etc.) and it runs! The starter works great! The engine runs great! This video is of the very first firing of the engine.

(04-03-2009) Who's the April fool?

I'm the fool... A new addition to the projects - a 1930 Chevy 1.5 ton truck. Rat rod? Street rod? Original? I don't know which direction to go right now...

It's been sitting in a barn for 50 years and is all original. No real rust, except for surface rust.

(03-23-2009) Do these wheels make my ass look fat?

Finally was able to test fit the wheels with the fenders on. The back wheels stick out almost 7 inches past the rear fenders and the fronts stick out about 4.5 inches too far. Not sure what I'm going to do. Cut the fenders? Go fenderless? Run the fenders as is and go for the fat-tire look? Just have to do some playing and figure out what works the best... The best solution would be to make some fenders that fit the wheels, but...

(03-22-2009) What's going on...

This weekend we had a movie day in the shop on Saturday. Lots of great food (Thanks Shanon for being so great!!!), some interesting movies and a great time with friends.

Sunday, I spent most of the time cleaning up and mowing the yard. On the good side, I did get a media center PC up and running in the living room and Jayme's Ms. Pac-Man machine is working again. On the bad side, my wheel adapters didn't work out of the box, but I think they will work with a little massaging. Also, I stripped the paint and gunk off one of the wheels for the Beetle and started sanding it and polishing it.

Earlier in the week, Jody, Shanon and myself went to Eureka Springs so that I could work on video games and pinball machines. Fixed a couple of issues and dropped off an NBA Jam machine that had been in the shop all winter. I picked up a Ms. Pac-Man machine while I was down there that would reset itself after just a few seconds of play, but it appears that it just needed a little cleaning of one of the switches to fix this issue. Thanks to Jody for helping me out and letting me use his truck to haul everything.

(3-15-2009) Beating and banging on the Beetle

Did a little envisioning of what the wheels might look like on the car. The back wheels are 10 inches wide, but the wheels don't have any tires, so the front wheels were used in the picture and just rolled in place to give the illusion of the wheels on the car.

Did some more grinding on the welds and sanding the filler. The rear sections are shaping up and getting close to being ready for primer and paint. Not sure if I can use the rear fenders or not with these new wheels.

It was a good day working around the house and on the car while Shanon, my babygirl, and my son, the Goose, were playing basketball and Wii Fit. Every day should be this good. Good times like this never last long enough.

(03-14-2009) It's warming up!!!

Spring is just a week away. The showers are starting to fall, the trees are budding out and temps are on the rise! That means soon I'll have no excuse not to finish the body work on the Beetle.

Shannon came over yesterday and finished installing the heater in the shop. He did a great job, and it will be great if we have movie day out in the shop on a cold winters day - like next weekend for example. :) I owe Shannon some beer for helping me out.

(03-03-2009) It's been far too long...

Nothing much has happened for the past month. It's been too cold, icy and snowy to spend much time out in the shop right now, but the weather is getting warmer and my thoughts are turning to getting the Beetle back on the road.

Flash just called to let me know that he had done a bit more welding and patching on the Beetle and that I should get my butt in gear and finish it up. Good motivation!

On February 13th, Flash and I did go look at a 1929 Chevy as a rat-rod project. It was a bit too much of a project for me, but the guy who owned it was very cool. We could have spent all day talking to him, and in fact, we almost did.

(01-10-2009) More patching to the Beetle

Flash did some more welding and patching on the car. This side was bad with rust, but it's much better now. The body filler is going to be a lot tougher on this side. And we still have to weld and fill all of the holes along the the car where the trim pieces went before. I started doing some filling on it yesterday (1-11-2009) but I didn't get too far in the filling process, so nothing to show, yet.

(01-09-2009 - 01-10-2009) Beetle work continues...

Friday evening and Saturday morning we finished sealing up the vent and smoothing it out a bit. Looks okay, but not perfect. I may try to smooth out the rest of the issues with some fill primer.

(01-05-2009) Not so fast...

I though we were done patching on the driver's side of the Beetle, but then I found that I wanted to patch another spot. Flash did the patching, and I sanded and smoothed the patch a little. Pictures are coming when I get it done. It's too cold to work on it right now.

(01-03-2009) Finishing up the driver's side on the Beetle

Today I worked on the patched quarter of the Beetle. Added some body filler and sanded it down smooth. It's not perfect (to be honest, it's not even close), but it's not bad for my first try at body work. Can't wait to start on the passenger side.

(01-02-2009) Work on the Beetle

Flash helped me with the Beetle by welding in some patches that we cut out of an old hood from *Vincent. So the driver's side patching is done, just need to get it filled and primed. Any progress is a good thing! I'm so happy to finally be moving forward on this project. It's hard to see in this picture the progress that was made, but where those shiny pieces of metal are were big holes that were rusted out before.

*Vincent was an old VW Golf that I drove for years. Even after a major impact with a deer, I drove him for years and years. Great car!!

(12-25-2008) Merry Christmas, Dumbass!

Well, I gave myself one great Christmas present by backing into the shop with my 911 (see the picture) on Christmas day. The rest of Christmas with my baby was great, but messing up my car made me sick... :( I have found a guy who may work on it, and I hope he does because his work looks great.

(11-08-2008) Porsche Palooza 2008

Here are a few pictures from this year's Porsche Palooza in Eureka Springs, AR. It was a great time. We met lots of great people and saw some amazing cars. Thanks to everyone who worked at the event and made it such a great time for Porsche enthusiasts. Oh, and thanks to Jody for letting me borrow his awesome camera.

(11-04-2008) New speakers and door panels

The past few evenings I have been working on installing speakers and new door panels into the 911. The passenger side door is done, and I started working on the driver's side door. I think it's going to look very good when it's done. Once the door panels are complete, I will have to mount the crossovers and tweeters somewhere inside the car... Jody came over to give me a hand, but was so disheartened by the election results that he went home. I still lots of work to do before this weekend and the Porsche Palooza show in Eureka Springs.

(08-11-2008) - Nothing to see here...

Not much to report from the shop for the past few weeks. Just the normal goings on in the shop: movie watching and working on various equipment. We watched all three of the extended Lord of the Rings movie this past weekend, what a marathon. Current projects have been working on the old riding mower (seems I work on it more than I use it) and I have started refurbishing an old Raven pinball machine.

(07-19-2008 - 07-20-2008) Working in the shop

Busy weekend. Saturday, Flash and I put up some more lights in the shop, organized the stuff in the shop, worked on the charging issue with the 911 and lots of other little things like mowing the lawn and putting the smoker / grille together. We worked all day, and the shop looks a lot better.

Sunday was Formula 1 race day. Flash, Jason and I watched the race and had a great time - what a crazy race. I did manage to do a little work in the shop on Sunday: mounted the grinder on the bench, bug bombed the shop and created a new battery for the Roomba.

(07-16-2008) - Gah! Summer...

The drive in the 911 was great yesterday, but... On the way home I stopped to work on a computer and when I got ready to leave the car wouldn't start. I suspect that the alternator belt is loose, but I didn't really check it out. Jody gave me a hand getting it started and put her to bed in the shop.

Jody and Shannon hung around for a while in the shop and we watched a movie. It was a good time.

I was thinking it would be good to put a serpentine pulley system on the 911. Also, I'm not happy with the mounting of the alternator. So lots of work to do. Maybe when I get the air conditioner compressor I can rework all of these items at the same time.

(07-16-2008) - Ah, summer...

First of all, the sound issue with the NARC machine was fixed last night, so now the game is 100%. I even recalibrated the monitor settings and it looks like new again.

Decided it was a good day to take the 911 out for a drive. Even had a car acting like remora fish (you know, those little fishes that swim close to sharks) and the driver was smiling and waving. Great fun!

07-15-2008 - The NARC machine lives!!

Today, I got the NARC machine up and running. Replaced the system board to fix the video glitches and it now works great, except now the sound doesn't work. I'll replace the sound board and see if I can fix that, but either way it's playable now and that's the main thing. One of these days I need to start working on converting a Playchoice 10 over to a MAME machine, but that will likely be a winter project.

07-10-2008 - A/C in the shop!

Shannon has been working on my air conditioning system this week and last night he finished it up. All of the vents have been run, the AC is cold. It's great!! I can't thank Shannon enough, and I dread the "favors" he asks of me in return.

The Last Thing the 'Possum Saw...

07-06-2008 - In and around the shop this past weekend...

This was a fairly productive weekend. Several brain cells were killed in the name of keeping cool, thirst quenched and enhancing mood.

Shannon dropped by yesterday, as did Jody and Ed, and helped get the HVAC set up. There is a bit to go, but it's in the right location now. Maybe this week I can get the power run so that Shannon can do the rest of the work. Fingers crossed.

Flash came by and brush hogged behind my shop and we burned the brush. It looks great, even if I have to fight a black snake for the territory. Not sure what I'm going to do back there, but it's great to have it cleaned off so that when I do decide...

Jason and I went washed and went cruising in the 911 on the 4th of July. Drank far too many whiskey sours and enjoyed the fireworks at my brothers house.

Jason and Jody also helped me cut up and install my new workbench in the shop. Looks good, even though I can't really see it through all the clutter now.

So, nothing big, but lots of little things got some attention in and around the shop.

07-03-2008 - Still nothing happening...

Nothing much is going on in the shop lately. Spent some time yesterday with Jason rebuilding my push mower - this will be push mower Mark III, and I think it will be a much better solution. We'll see in a few days when the lawn needs to be mowed.

I still need to finish up the door panels on the 911, but the door pockets still haven't been covered and they may be so far gone that they aren't salvageable. Waiting to hear back from my upholsterer friend.

The shop is in dire need of a complete cleaning, so maybe that will be my next goal.

Shannon keeps after me to get the air conditioning installed, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Maybe one of these days we can get around to that as well.

Jody and I did manage to take two arcade machines to Eureka Springs and install them at Jayme's arcade - Second Life. I worked on several of the machines while I was there trying to make them better to use and easier for them to have free-play options. I brought home an NBA Jam machine for repair and it's now ready to return. Thanks Jayme for the cool shirts and letting us play in your awesome arcade, and thanks Jody for helping me out when I really needed it.

6-1-2008: Nothing much to tell

Not much in the way of updates. Jody has his truck on the road, and as far as we can tell it all seems good. I took the door pockets for the 911 to a friend to have them reupholstered. As soon as they return I will get to work on finishing up the doors on the 911. Things are busy right now, so I don't have much time to have fun in the shop.

(05-10-2008) New speakers, and work on the white lump Mk II.

First, on Saturday I dropped by Wilson TV and Appliance and talked with David Wilson. David is a hell of a nice guy, with a Porsche 911 and a 914. He gave me some advice on speakers for my car and made me a great deal. I hope we can get together with David sometime and go for a cruise or just talk cars. Thanks David!! I appreciate all your help and the deal you gave me.

Next, Jody and I worked on his truck. We didn't get as far as I wished, and we destroyed tools in the process. Several beers gave their lives in the effort to bring this truck back to life, and for that we will be eternally grateful. We've lost the harmonic balancer bolt, so that stopped our progress, but we're close to being ready to put the engine back in the beast.

(05-06-2008) The Great White Lump, Mk II

No, not the same white lump, this time it's a different white lump, but it has the same problem: blown motor. This is my friend Jody's pickup, and after a thermostat stuck and a severe overheat it needs a new engine. The new motor should arrive on Friday of this week, so maybe this weekend we can have it back on the road.

In other news, the door panels for the 911 arrived today and they look great! Still looking for speakers and other hardware to complete the doors. Looking forward to that project.

(04-30-2008) New door panels

I just bought some new door panels for the 911. They should arrive in about a week. I plan to buy some new door speakers in the next few days as well, then redo the doors so that everything is like it should be. New speakers, new door panels, install the door pockets, lube the window regulators and fix any issues with them, wire up the rear view mirrors to work - the whole thing.

4-19-2008 - 4-20-2008 - Cruising!!

Did a little bit of cruising this weekend. Saturday I took a little trip with Jody down some back-roads. Sunday, I drove it on a business trip (of sorts). Both trips were great fun! Can't wait to clean up the car and hit the road this summer.

4-13-2008 - On the road again

Blondie is back on the road again. The coil pack for cylinder #3 arrived on Friday. Flash installed it on Saturday, then gave her an oil change on Sunday. She runs great and is back to her old self. She had been kicking error codes for a while, but now the "check engine" light has gone away, without having to boot up the computer and clear her codes. Glad to have her back, and thanks Flash for doing all of the work (and cutting up my Beetle! - but that's another story).

04/04/2008 - The White Lump Saves the Day!!

So, the Great White Lump has saved my bacon. My GTI laid down last week with a coil pack failure (I hope it's just a coil pack failure...). So, the White Lump is my daily driver right now, and I have to say it's really a good car. There is a bit of vibration trough the wheel and pedals, but other than that the car drives good and seems very stable. I'm actually impressed considering the life it's led up to this point. I need to get the wheels aligned this week (hopefully today), so maybe that will help it be even more stable and road worthy.

(03-02-2008) The White Lump - interior

Saturday (3/1/2008), Flash worked on pulling out the interior and cleaning it. He moved along quite a ways. Sunday (3/2/2008), I borrowed a carpet cleaner from Jason and cleaned the carpets. Then we installed a fresh set of leather seats into the car. The car is now drivable and has a nice clean interior. I need to tint the replaced window to match the rest of the car, but I didn't have the time yesterday. I tried to buy touch-up paint, but wasn't able to find the paint code for this car. We're down to detailing the car, getting a new set of tires and installing a new windshield. A few more dollars need to be spent, but I think it's going to be a very nice car.

(2-16-2008) - The Great White Lump Lives!!!

How do you like the look of the old motor? Terrible to think what this car has been through.

Part 1: On Friday the 15th, Flash finished installing the motor. We started it up and it sounded great, but after warming up the valve train began to make terrible noise and the engine started missing. We feared that the engine had jumped time and that the valves had crashed into the pistons. We checked the timing (no problem) and finally closed the shop and talked it out, over a drink.

Part 2: Flash came back on Saturday, fired up the engine, and it all sounded great, again. Until it was warm, then the same valve train noise came back. Flash removed the oil filter and the engine blew oil everywhere (my shop is a huge mess!). Turns out the oil line was air-locked and was keeping the oil from pumping up the hydraulic lifters. So, anyway, the lump now lives and we can start working on cleaning it up and making it into a nice driver.

The lump is no longer just a lump. It's a living, breathing machine again. I suspect that it will soon be cleaned up and have Herbie stickers applied to it.

2-10-2008 - The Great White Lump - continued

The new motor has arrived for the great white lump, the old motor is out and we're getting parts together to put the new motor in the car. Had to buy a new clutch, pressure plate, oil dip stick and funnel, timing belt and tensioner, water pump and various other little bits. If things go well we could have the motor in the car in a few days - weather permitting (It's too darn cold in the shop!).

(1-18-2008) - The Great White Lump - part 2

Plans now are to pull the motor, pick up a salvage motor in Illinois and drive it. Next week we should go pick up the motor. Looking forward to getting it on the road.

(1-15-2008) - The Great White Lump

The current project in the shop is Flash's new toy. Something that I'm calling the Great White Lump - until it becomes a real car. It's a 1998 Beetle with a thrashed motor, broken glass and a smell that is either pee or puke, or maybe both. He's started pulling it apart to reconstruct it into a running car. The engine block has a fist sized hole in the side of it, and the plans are to try and braise the block (non-compression area) and get it back on the road as a driver. Only time will tell if this works out.

01-08-2008 - What's new?

What's new? Nothing much. It's been cold here in the Ozarks except for last weekend. Saturday and Sunday I was able to get the 930 out and run around a bit. Picked up Jason Morris and did a little cruising. Fun, but I'll be glad when spring is here. I'm ready for warm weather and cold beer.

(11-17-2007) New window regulator in the 911

After a long time I finally have a new window regulator in the passenger side door. It's been far too long in coming, but I'm glad that it's done. Flash and Morris gave me a helping hand, and the project went fairly smooth, now I just need to buy some beer to repay the boys.

(11-10-2007) Porsche Palooza 2007 in Eureka Springs

On Saturday Ryan, Bob, Jason, Flash and myself invaded the 2007 Porsche Palooza event in Eureka Springs. Here are a few pictures of the event. This was a fun event, and after a little ice-breaking, we had a really good time. Looking forward to next year's event!