Today I...

[Casey]

Thanks everyone, means a lot.  Which I'd like to think it'll be easier from here, at least for now anyway.

A vehicle actually painted in a month as promised?  Well if that doesn't give everyone hope that anything is possible I don't know what will.

[737driver]

Thanks everyone, means a lot.  Which I'd like to think it'll be easier from here, at least for now anyway.

A vehicle actually painted in a month as promised?  Well if that doesn't give everyone hope that anything is possible I don't know what will.

I couldn't believe it either. It was really clean too, no paint shop mess all over it either! I was really impressed by the work and professionalism. Even the estimate was within $500 of original. I am definitely gonna use this painter again!

Jim

[737driver]

Box- Good on ya. Live your life the way you want and no one can ever fault you for that (and if they do, it really makes no difference)..

Jim

[roadking77]

I like the paint scheme on the jeep, Jim! Was this the same shop that did your lemans or did you luck out and find another shop that does work in a timely fashion?

[gm muscle]

Welcome back, Box!

[gm muscle]

Jim,
The Jeep looks fantastic. So you're installing the big Firebird decal on the hood or was it an oversight on the part of the shop?! 

[737driver]

I like the paint scheme on the jeep, Jim! Was this the same shop that did your lemans or did you luck out and find another shop that does work in a timely fashion?

I used another painter based on the recommendation of a friend. I was real happy it turned out to be a good experience. He was in Pahrump Nevada which is just over an hour away from Las Vegas. I plan on using him again on the next car as well.

Jim

[Casey]

Box- Good on ya. Live your life the way you want and no one can ever fault you for that (and if they do, it really makes no difference)..

Jim

Thanks, I'm finally starting to do that.  Having support wherever it comes from does really help.

Welcome back, Box!

Thanks!

[roadking77]

…….spent what seemed like all day waxing the t/a. I used a 2 step process, first was a cleaner that applied and removed like a wax, then the second step was wax. So I went around the whole car twice. I used to enjoy cleaning cars but at this point I like driving them a whole lot better. Then we took it out for a short drive. Show season starts next Saturday hoping to meet up with Dano for the day. And a cruise night on Friday if the weather permits.

[Casey]

That's why once my brother finally fixes the Firebird(long story) and I sell it for another Miata I'll enjoy cleaning cars more again.   Cleaning a Miata is as easy as it gets with cars.

[gm muscle]

That's why once my brother finally fixes the Firebird(long story) and I sell it

Now you peaked my curiosity. What happened?

[Casey]

Ugh, shortly after I last logged on here my brother decided to take the Ford LeTurD through the garage door and into the front of the Firebird.  So now there's a broken support tab on the nosecone and it's all gouged and scratched up, there's a gouge in the hood and in the passenger fender too.  All in all it fared well for having a 4,000 pound hunk of 70's garbage ram into it, I think most of the damage was from the garage door collapsing and being pushed against it.  He had put on an aftermarket intake and carburetor on the LeTurD and couldn't get it to idle right and the brakes were acting up too, so instead of listening to me and just limping it around to the back of the house he decides to move it back up the inclined driveway and park it in front of the garage instead.  I even mentioned getting it out of my way so I could take the Firebird out.  Did he listen?  NOOOOO!!!  So now selling it has been put on hold since October waiting for it to get warm enough so he can fix it, and now that it is he mentions just taking it to Maserati to have the paint and body guy do it instead.  Well if that were the case, why didn't you just decide on that MONTHS AGO...  I've been trying to be as nice and patient about it as possible as it was an accident, but my patience has run out and I'm about to be a bitch.

[Casey]

Well once brother fixes the Firebird I've definitely decided on getting a NB2 Miata in one of the various shades of blue or that one year only teal. I tossed around the idea of a 3.0 Z3 but for what a remotely decent one costs it'd take all the proceeds of selling the Firebird and then that's not wise for a car you don't know the history of much less a German one. Plus it's yet another compromise for power given its weight and E30 trailing arm rear suspension, and the BMW I6 is ok on sound. Then I thought about the MR2 and MR2 Spyder, but then they're harder to work on and would need LSD added though I suppose if a not fire engine red hardtop SW was found I'd put up with such. Really that's about it. I like smaller and lighter cars and I've reached a point where I rather not have power in something I like and can drive versus something I barely use the power in and don't care for driving much aside from the exhaust note, but none of that matters when you can't even drive it. That and I know how well the NB2 rides stock and I know I like it overall as a car already, so there's that too. Oh yeah, there's also the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky but don't think could find a GXP/Redline within budget otherwise that'd be a stronger contender.

[FormTA]

Am looking more and more like a body shop. I painted the nose of my T/A on Saturday.





Then today I received my replacement rear bumper for my RAM and I started to repair its front bumper. Pictures to come.

My wife didn't like the angle of our basketball pole so she moved it with my truck. I may have accidentally got out of my truck while it was still in gear and it drove itself into a pole while I was building my barn this past winter. (This is just hypothetical  )

[Casey]

Hey you should come fix the Firebird for me, probably could get here and fix it faster than how things are going so far...  Odds are it's even the same shade of black since it goes back to at least the 50's that GM has been using the same shade of black.

I'll even pay you in pizza, I don't think we have Marco's around here but we can figure it out.

[FormTA]

Pizza night is Friday here. We have 7 pizza places near by, 7! How many pizza places does one area need?

[ryeguy2006a]

Box, great to hear you are on the right track and doing better. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been thinking of you lately.

Bummer about the Firebird, but that's pretty cool you're looking at a Miata. Definitely need to post up some pictures.

[roadking77]

Nose piece looks great!
We have 4 pizza joints in our small town, and 2 more within a few miles!  I was doing work near a  small town (Frackville, pa) that had multiple pizza joints. Town was booming a century ago with coal, but is mostly run down now. About the only thing there were pizza places and a couple of bars. It was almost comical.

[Casey]

It's crazy how well established fast food places are, even in small towns...  We have Papa John's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Little Caesar's not to mention TWO Jack's(southern chain), Taco Bell, McDonald's, Hardee's, and a host of privately owned places I can't be bothered with remembering.  I guess America has its reputation with food for a reason...

Box, great to hear you are on the right track and doing better. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has been thinking of you lately.

Bummer about the Firebird, but that's pretty cool you're looking at a Miata. Definitely need to post up some pictures.

Thanks!  I promise not to off and disappear again barring any unforeseeable circumstances.

Yeah tell me about it, I'm going to light a fire under him this weekend if the weather is nice...  Well I really liked the NB2 Shinsen my brother had gotten, so it's the safe choice and the aftermarket is nearly endless with them.  Whenever I can actually get one I'll definitely post pictures and anything I do with it here in the "Today I..." thread.  Since apparently I'm never allowed to leave a forum after joining it for some reason, I guess I'm just too likable.   That's ok even getting to where I have the money and ready to buy, finding a LS(highest option package aside from special editions) with the 5/6-speed in blue or teal should be fun, that or the '03 SE with the 6-speed as there were only some 1,550 of those minus however many automatics.  Being I'm tired of the car buying and selling game this will be exactly what I'm wanting, and I've always wanted a car where I loved the paint.  Sadly not very many cars come in purple, so blue and teal being my other favourites are a close second.

[FormTA]

Picked this up.



$900 with an ownership paper trail.

I needed another ATV because every time I take the one back to my other barn (1/4 mile away) one of the kids ends up taking it and leaves me stuck. A young girl owned it, hence the pink paint here and there. It needs a little bit of work but seems to run and shift well.

I also picked up some paint for my 2012 RAM 1500. I am replacing the rear bumper and repairing the front one. PPG DBC is $800 ! quart, that is without the reducer and clear coat materials.  I ended up with BASF R-M Diamont for $250 and the variance matched better. So more work this weekend.... 

[Casey]

Do ATV's not have keyed ignition like motorcycles?  Suppose not since they couldn't take it if you had the key on you.  Should've just played the angry parent card, ground them if they do it again. 

[FormTA]

They do have keys. I probably should have thought of that...

[Casey]

Oh well, at least now they have no reason to take yours so not a total loss.

[FormTA]

I hate having to look for a key to the toys though.  But ya this one also uses clutch instead of the auto clutch so none of the kids can even ride it... Yet... I built a 100MPH Yamaha banshee when I was a kid. Darn thing had a 12" longer swing arm to keep the front wheels on the ground.  I haven't had a decent quad for 15 years. I'm excited

[Casey]

If it weren't for the fibro I've thought about some kind of bike just to have for going around here, there're a few kids around here that do such with an ATV.  Though for what that'd cost that's money I'd rather put towards a car anyway.

[FormTA]

Saw this at the Hobby Lobby.

[ryeguy2006a]

Today, I went out to start my truck after installing my new Dynomax Ultraflo X muffler, and found this! I didn't notice it last night, but I guess this would explain why the truck seemed to get louder on my 10 min. test drive last night!







Glad I bought it through Summit, because they were super good about returning and already processed my return order. Kudos to them.

[FormTA]

That's crazy! I thought you hit a fluffy dog at first. 

Did it sound better than it did with the other loud one (for the short test drive).

[roadking77]

I was gonna say a blonde.... LOL, I hear you guys talking about hobby lobby, closest one that I know of is about 3 hrs away! I had a nice mom n pop hobby shop that had a great selection of models but last time I went by they were shuttered.

[Casey]

I like how you got the decal into the picture.   Oh well, I guess those kinds of things happen from time to time but at least it was easy enough to get resolved.

[GTABill]

Saw this at the Hobby Lobby.

I saw that at our local Hobby Lobby too.  I wanted to pick it up but I have a smaller 91 Formula model I haven't even opened it up lol.

[FormTA]

Tore the front bumper off my truck because it had all sorts of damage to it. I sanded and filled and sanded and sanded.... The bumper cover filler is so much harder to sand than conventional filler.







I sprayed sealer and two coats of color.



Then three good coats of clear so I can sand out the garbage (you can see my shop is not the cleanest)..





The color matches perfectly which is pretty exciting for me. I still have to paint the new rear bumper and now the tailgate.... I backed into a tree with the gate down this morning... I just want my truck to look good again.... More work...

[Casey]

Looks good, are you using a gun or rattle cans?  Sigh... this just makes me mad that my brother hasn't fixed the Firebird already...

[FormTA]

I have many guns but I really like the Devilbise Tekna Pro lite I'm using now. I use a 1.5 tip which many will say is too big but I grew up spraying conventional guns so I like to move fast. Muscle memory from the old guns. It may look like there's a lot of junk in it but most of that is reflections.  It really did turn out nice.  I'm  really pleased as it has a better finish than the factory paint.  On the other hand, it may stand out now...

Here's another.



My bench is organized like my brain...

[Casey]

Hmm... at least it's the bumper though so it should be less noticeable than if it were a fender or door.  That's ok we all know it's really the manufacturers' fault for stopping the use of metal bumpers on trucks, then again most get used as over-sized Corollas anyway so I guess they know their market...  The Honda Ridgeline is as much truck as most people need, and it has a trunk in the bed!

[FormTA]

then again most get used as over-sized Corollas

ha, ha. I have always thought that too. I really use my truck as a truck.  Plow snow,  haul stuff and pull heavy trailers. Heck, I have 5 trailers.  There is not many days it's not hooked to one and I have a desk job so it's not like I make money with it. My dad keeps telling me to stop worrying about it's appearance,  it's  a truck....

[nas t eh]

Ridgelines are good vehicles, but if you restore old cars, repair the vehicles you drive, camp, boat or repair houses you prefer and often need a real truck. I daily drive mine and yes 1/2 the time it’s overkill, but the rest of the time it’s solving a problem.

[FormTA]

It's a Dodge RAM. It rides great, pulls great and is very comfortable.  First Dodge I have ever owned. I've had it for over 5 years now. I'll probably replace it in two years but trucks are so expensive. It's tough to pay that much when mine is doing fine... I'm trying to make it look nice again.  But once it starts rusting, it's gone.

[roadking77]

Looks nice. I really need to paint the steel bumper on my f150. My son hit a deer a few years ago and put a slight bend in it. Then it started to rust and now it has several rust pockets. I bought the paint just haven't got around to it yet. The darn thing was sitting in the shop for months getting the trans replaced I should have taken it apart and painted it at that time.

[737driver]

Today (actually yesterday) We got a lot of work done on the Jeep. Jeeps are really easy to work on. The Jeep came back from the paint shop recently and We managed to get nearly all the exterior items put back on. Also started putting the FatMat on the inside. We spent pretty much all day yesterday and most of Friday working on it and its almost ready to have the carpet and seats put back in. We plan to re upholster the seats and clean and re dye the interior plastic trim. We had all the metal trim and bumper powder coated and they really make it look great. Next week my LeMans comes back from the upholstery shop with a new top so we have to get this one done quick!

Jim