(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!

10-21-2007 - Herbie Golf Cart

We worked on a Herbie golf-cart for my nephew Austin. Turned out pretty good, I think.

Just a little update...

A few weeks back Flash and I lowered his Beetle. Looks pretty good, but the visual impact wasn't as great because his low-profile tires still show a lot of gap between the tire and the fender. Flash seems happy with the handling of the car, and I'm sure once he has new tires the stance will be awesome.

On other fronts the old '70 Chevy pickup is now on the road. I installed a new stereo (AM/FM/TV/MP3/DVD/etc... player) and some new Pioneer speakers so that the drive wouldn't be so boring. The truck seems to drive well, but it needs front shocks - maybe this weekend I'll install those.

The Super Beetle project is still languishing. I've removed all of the glass, removed the rear fenders and I'm waiting for one of my friends to come and help me clean up and weld some troublesome rust spots on the car.

9-22-2007 - Blondie gets down to earth

Flash and I installed drop springs on Blondie this weekend. She's now about 1.5 inches lower and I love it. The rides a bit harsh on the rebound, so I may need to change struts at some point for comfort. Next weekend we'll try to lower Flash's Beetle.

My 911 before the conversion

I was stumbling around the 'net and discovered some history about my 911. Here are a couple of pictures before it was reconstructed into the V8 monstrosity it is today.

09-03-2007 - Super Beetle work

This weekend I started working on the Super Beetle again. I installed electronic ignition - no more points, along with an new coil. I also have new plug wires, but haven't finished installing them. I installed new heater hoses. Flash and I did an oil change, installed a new screen and oil drain plate. Then just for grins I removed all of the fixed window glass (everything except the door windows). So, it's moved along a little this weekend. I hope to get the interior cleaned out and some rust fixed soon.

What's going on...

So many projects, so little time (and motivation). It's been a while since I've updated the car-blog, so here goes: First, my '72 Chevy pickup is at the shop getting a new 305 motor installed and power brakes. My brother, Flash, has really been great helping me get this old beast together. It's just a farm truck, but it drives good and hopefully it will run and stop even better.

Second, After last weekend's trip to the Eureka Springs VW Show I have been much more motivated to get the old Super Beetle back on the road. I want to remove the glass and interior, then fix the rust spots (removing the interior first to keep from starting a fire). I'm not sure if I want to go for a VolksRod look or a Herbie replica. It's a Super Beetle so it's gonna be wrong either way I go.

08-07-2005 - Blondie's bad day

Here is a picture of Blondie's bad day - when a van backed into her while in a parking lot. She's much better now, but without context the make-over shots don't seem to have any impact. The guy driving the van was a super nice guy, who made a mistake. He came over when the cops arrived to file a report. I can't imagine many people would have the character to own up for an expensive mistake such as that.

It took nearly two years, but she's finally back to her old self. I hope she doesn't have any more incidents like this in the future.

7-11-2007 - Porsche update

Well, it's been far too long since I've updated on the Porsche. I haven't been idle, but I haven't really spent time or money working on the 911 as of late. I did purchase new carpet and window hardware for the car. The passenger side window now works great! I also purchased a new stereo (AM/FM/CD/DVD/MP3, etc, etc...) only to find that the face-plate is too large for the dash. So, that will have to go into the Beetle or the pickup. Ah well, those are the breaks.

Other changes planned are to change oil pans, so that oil pickup is constant during acceleration - no more fluctuating oil pressure! Also, new gaskets for the intake and valve covers to minimize the oil leaks,. Air conditioning and sealing up the air flow around the radiator to keep the fuel and interior as cool as possible.

Blondie gets a make-over - part 4

This weekend I finally cleaned and reassembled the interior, shampooed the carpet, installed the new lights and washed Blondie. So, for the most part she's done - at least for now. :)

Blondie gets a make-over - part 3

Blondie is back on the road. Last night Steve buffed the paint and it looks great. A couple of small imperfections, but more than good enough for a daily driver. The door trim was painted last night and will probably be applied today. I also cleaned the trunk and installed the new Phatbox - it's great to have tunes again.

Next week I hope to give the whole car a good cleaning and waxing to make it look new again. Also, I hope to install the new headlights, once the headlight protectors arrive.

Blondie gets a make-over - part 2

Blondie's transformation continues. This time Steve masked and painted the car. The car turned out very well, even without a paint booth. It will need some sanding and buffing to make it look really good, but it's already much better than it was. He also has the trim to repair and paint, but most of that should be done tonight. Then the reassembly process can begin - I can hardly wait to see how she looks with fresh paint and a new set of R32 headlights (Thanks Mike!).

Blondie gets a make-over - part 1

Blondie finally gets a well deserved make-over. Steve Perryman has been working to get Blondie back in tip-top shape. Here is a picture after she had her dent hammered out, body filler applied and a coat or two of sandable primer. Tonight he plans to wet-sand and prepare the car for paint. If everything goes well, then she should see paint on Friday.

03-18-2006 - Quick zip through the woods...

Today my brother, Flash, and I went for a little cruise over the lake and through the woods. Flash was driving his 914, and I took the 911 - it was great to get them out and stretch their legs a bit. Won't be long until we'll have lots of opportunities to take drives, but for now good weather is still a luxury that we take every chance to avail ourselves of...

I worked on the passenger side window regulator after ordering parts from DC Automotive. The parts didn't exactly fit, so I'm going to have to call them and see if I can get the right parts.

Oh no, more winter!

Yesterday, I took the Porsche out and had a great time with the car. Unfortunately the Porsche saw it's own shadow, we tried but we couldn't outrun it, and now there will be six more weeks of winter.

Nice day for a drive!

The weather in the Ozarks has been extremely nice this week, but that's about to end. Rain is forecast for the next few days, and so today was my best bet to drive the car for a while (it's been several months since I've had the chance to drive it!). Now that I'm sure that the car will clear the driveway entrance here at work I'm much more likely to drive the car on nice days.