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October 11, 2010
Custom Gauge Pods and Plastic Restoration, Part 2
By David Belau
dartslantsix
I left off last time with a conundrum. There was a piece missing off my windshield pillar trim–how could I fix that? I have to give credit to my wife–she came up with a way to mold a new piece. Plaster of paris to the rescue!
Continue reading after the jump!
Continue reading "Custom Gauge Pods and Plastic Restoration, Part 2" »
June 25, 2010
Father and Son Duo Rebuild a Burnt Cobra
powerTV Media
Most of us have, at one time or another, considered undertaking a project that was likely beyond our abilities. Maybe it was a muscle car too far gone with rust, but its rarity and completeness convinced us to give it a shot. Or perhaps we tried to build the ultimate man-cave, and instead wound up with a shed for the kids’ pool toys. But gearheads are a dedicated bunch, and for every half-baked idea and half-finished project, there is a car that defies the odds and is resurrected by those with the gusto to do so.
Tim Roi at SCT put us on to a project on the Greater Toronto Area Mustang Club that even we would have dismissed as a total loss. But Jeremy Clutterbuck and his father Larry saw this John X Cobra kit car, which was involved in a fire, and they saw a potential project they could do on the cheap.
Jeremy and his father have always been car guys, but tended to fall in the “cut a check and have someone else do the work” category. “I have a Mustang convertible, and I’ve paid to have bodywork and suspension components put on it. But I never did any of the work myself, so I never really formed an attachment to it,” he said. Jeremy wanted to do a project with his father that they could do together, themselves. Carpenters by trade, they figured that if they could build a house (and a four car garage for the Mustang and their Corvette).
For the full story, check it out on StangTV.com.
Continue reading "Father and Son Duo Rebuild a Burnt Cobra" »
Pictures: Jeremy Clutterbuck
May 24, 2010
Corvettes of Auburn: My New Favorite Garage
Bick66
An unfortunate hit-&-run fender-bender a few days ago left me in search of a body shop that I could trust with my C6 Corvette. Like most automotive enthusiasts, I cringe at the mere thought of anyone else driving my cars, let alone some flunky at a corporate garage. I’d heard rumors of their excellent workmanship so I decided to check out Corvettes of Auburn about 20 miles south of Seattle. It didn’t take long for me to decide that this is the only shop where I feel completely comfortable leaving one of my most prized possessions. I was impressed with the knowledgeable crew, friendly service, and expansive facility that made up this incredible shop. Continue reading after the jump and check out more pictures including the damage to my car’s front right corner.
Continue reading "Corvettes of Auburn: My New Favorite Garage" »
January 6, 2010
Plastic Headlight Restoration
By David Belau
dartslantsix
When it started getting dark this winter, I noticed the headlights on my wife’s Neon weren’t shining very brightly. New headlights were simply not in the budget, so I looked into polishing the lenses. The picture below is what I started with. If you have a first-gen Neon, this looks familiar.
Continue reading after the jump!
December 4, 2009
Engine Bay Needs Love
Atomicalex
Here’s a shot of Tip’s engine bay. Pretty nasty, huh? You can still see the grass that was growing up around and under the car. Fortunately, I neither wanted nor needed another 1.7l engine, as this one’s headless. The engine side of the wiring harness looks pretty cut up, too, so I’ll be using the one from Jinjur when the time comes. The transmission is reportedly good, so I’m returning it to the previous owner. The bell housing on this unit is too small to work with the larger clutch I’ll need once I get the G60 built.
December 3, 2009
Sound Deadening Removal
Atomicalex
When the brown Rabbit arrived, one of the first things I did was pull the interior. Two reasons: it was trashed, and it smelled bad. The source of the smell was a bottle of Power Service Diesel anti-gel additive that had overturned under the driver’s seat. The law of unintended consequences applied in my favor – it had soaked into the asphalt-based sound deadening material (that weighs about 20 pounds!) and softened it sufficiently that I was able to scrape it off. I had a friend record the event as it seemed too good to be true. I’ll be experimenting with the other side of the car to see how to replicate this excellent mess and will report back when I figure it out. Meanwhile, check the video.
September 23, 2009
Interior Restoration Made So Cheap And Easy, Even A Journalist Can Do It!
By Sam Barer
Sound Classics
With the low-buck Maaco paint job done on the Sound Classics 1979 Chevy K10 project truck, it is time to turn our attention to finishing it all off with an interior upgrade. Let’s face it, the ripped-up Saddle Tan interior just isn’t going to cut it on a shiny black and silver 4X4.
In keeping with the guidelines set forth before the exterior restoration, the challenge remains to do this on the cheap-as-a-Trenton, NJ-hooker. Since there’s no budget for a professional upholsterer and I’ve never done any serious interior work in any of the previous Sound Classics projects, nobody is expecting a miracle.
Continue reading after the jump!
Continue reading "Interior Restoration Made So Cheap And Easy, Even A Journalist Can Do It!" »
May 4, 2009
What Did You Do This Weekend?
Bick66
On Saturday, the badass 383 stroker motor that Jen and I have spent the past few months building was finally completed. It met its new home in the freshly rebuilt front end of my ’66 Impala convertible. I then spent the rest of the weekend making countless trips to five different parts stores to complete all the plumbing and linkages necessary to get the convertible back on the road before I miss too many more sunny days.
How about you? What did you do this weekend?
March 25, 2009
Brakes: Power or Manual?
Bick66
I’ve been knee deep in the front-end restoration of my ’66 Impala convertible for a few months now and I recently found myself faced with a surprisingly difficult question: power or manual brakes? Getting rid of those old stab-n-steer front drums and single-chamber master cylinder was obvious, but after making the decision to do a full front disc brake conversion I found that car enthusiasts seem to be quite opinionated on the issue of power vs. manual brakes. Some of the sources I tapped claimed the power booster only created more potential for malfunction, and in the event of a stall, the car would be more difficult to bring to a grinding halt than it would be if it just had manual in the first place. Still, others swore that power is the only way to go, for reasons ranging from pedal effort to stopping power. The only opinion everyone seemed to share was that I’d be crazy to not to agree with them. In the end I decided to go with the power brake booster. How about you–what’s your preference and why?
Check out pictures of my new stock-spinal power disc brake conversion kit after the jump.
March 14, 2009
Where Do You Stop?
Bick66
Many of us automotive hobbyists find ourselves asking this question only after we’ve got a restoration project well underway. Recently I decided to start the somewhat simple project of cleaning up the engine compartment of my 1966 convertible Impala. The car’s exterior was redone back in 2006 following a wreck, and the time had come to make what’s under the hood match the rest of the car. The transplant small-block 350 and Turbo 350 transmission had no major issues, and the car fired right up every time, but like a lot of old cars it leaked a little bit of everything and the engine compartment lacked visual appeal. The project started off fairly simple–pull the motor, thoroughly clean everything, replace the gaskets, paint it and put it back together. I’ve since then ended up tearing the car down to nothing but frame rails from the firewall forward. All new suspension, a power disc brake conversion, and a burly 383 stroker build are just the beginning the list of unplanned developments since the project began.
How about you–have you ever had a project where you’ve had to ask yourself, when you’re already knee-deep, “where do I stop?” And how did you decide?
