December 1st, 2008
In order to keep the Home Page cleaned up and not seventeen miles long, I'm putting all but the last three posts here. They are in chronological order, last post on top. So sit back, grab a cold one and get caught up.
December 22, 2009
So it took longer than I said, but here are some photos. These were taken on 11-22-09. I'll be getting a new shed in the back yard in early spring, so that will alleviate the garage of ALL the yard stuff and all the parts from the Biscayne once I start dismantling it, leaving me room to move as I go. I'm also looking to get more cabinets for storage.
This past Saturday, 12-5 09, I had a contractor come by and measure for two new garages doors. I'm getting, (at the wife's request!!!) two new insulated garage doors. When he got done, we discussed styles and such. I decided on the standard 1 3/8" white door. I requested the order be made with a row of insulated windows too. So I paid my deposit and he said he'd call me later this week with an install date.
He called today, (the 8th) to let me know there was a problem with the order. The 1 3/8" doors were on a 3-4 week lead time. Since he knew I was itching to get the doors in, he swung a deal with his supplier who just happen to have two 2" white doors with the glass that got miss-ordered! So he's installing those two 2" doors at no additional cost - MERRY X-MAS to me!!! It's like a $300 difference. As for the upgrade in the insulation of the two doors, the thinner doors are an R6.5 and the 2" doors are an R9.5; so it's a double win for me!.
Yesterday, 12-15-09, two guys showed up and inside of 2 1/2 hours, they had the old doors out and the new doors in. Unfortunately, the supplier goofed and sent the wrong window panel - I should have four panes, not the two long ones. They'll be back in a week or so to swap them out. Either way, I've already noticed a difference; there are no gaps big enough to run my hand through ;-) The new windows will get some mirror tint applied from the inside for some amount of security. Until then, I have cardboard over them.
So yesterday, 12-22-09, Scott and Brian show up with the correct panels. Inside of about 45 minutes, they had the oddball panels out and the correct ones in. These guy rule!
Here is the garage after those new, correct panels were installed.
This brings me to my shameless plug of the year. If you live in the greater Dayton, OH area and need a new garage door, or teo like me, CALL SCOTT!!! He and his minions will take care of you better than most and at and unbelievable price too.
Dayton Reliable Garage Door Service
57 South Cherrywood Avenue
Dayton, OH 45403-2231
(937) 235-9445
Thanks.
December 18, 2009
I've noticed that the older I get, the more things that I don't want to change do. Living arrangements is on that list. And as small as some things seem to appear, they are in actuallity huge. This past week we lost one of our cats. I really ought to say kids. We have a half dozen or so cats and a couple dogs and if you know me, you prolly know that my wife and I think of these guys as our kids. They mean the world to us and we'll stop at pretty much anything to keep them happy. Unfortunately, doing this can cause some amount of risk. Several of our cats insist on being indoor/outdoor cats. Herein lies a problem. Once they're out side, they're on their own and at the mrecy of the world.
This past week this point got driven home. I left for work on Thursday morning and didn't get three turns from the house before I found one of out beloved cats lieing on the shoulder of the road. This is about the worst way to start a day. I stopped, picked up the cat, placed him in the back of my car and returned home to deal with this and let Jen know. Jen is a VERY sensitive person. She took this news waaaaay better than I expected.
So with a very heavy heart, we said goodbye to Skitso, AKA Stinky. So long buddy. We knew you well and are better people for that time spent together.
I've done some serious work in the garage lately. And as a result of this, I've had some friends asking for an update. I'll soon post some photos of what been going on. I just think that Skitso needs a proper memorial time. Check back next week for the garage update, with photos - Thanks.
October 26, 2009
Saturday I picked up the last two really hard to find parts for the Biscayne. I found a core support and a good trunk lid. Dig this; I met this guy at a local swap meet who was there with a big spread of '65-'66 b-body parts. When I asked him if he had anything else at home that he didn't bring. He said yeah and gave me his business card and I noticed his last name was the same as my daughter-in-law's maiden name. I asked him if he was from Maria Stein as the phone number on the card showed a 419 area code, he said yes and asked why. I told him that my daughter-in-law was from up that way. He asked what her name was and I told him. He just smiled and said that she was his brother's daughter!!!
Turns out that he's building a '66 Impala 'vert, (has another for parts) and owns another '66 Impala sport coupe as well as a '61 Impala SS that he restored about 12 years ago. I'll get some photos next time I go up there; it was kinda crappy weather Saturday and I didn't even ask him to pull any of them out into the day light. I'm seriously jealous. And of course, he gave me 'the family price'!!!
So now I'm done buying parts until I start re-assembling. My wife was glad to hear that!!!
October 17, 2009
...apparently WILL be staying in Vegas this time. Last time I posted, I started out with what I thought was gonna be a really great thing; a chance to go to the greatest automotive event on Earth. And for many, it will be; just not for me. Unfortunately, things changed on the finacial front and the trip to Vegas was cancelled as is the spot in SEMA. Yeah, I'm upset. Yeah, part of me wishes I could go. But for the most part, and with all things considered, it's all for the best. So instead, during the first week of November, I'll be staying at home, hopefully while working in my newly insulated garage.
August, 25, 2009
While searching craigslist for a parts car, I stumbled upon an ad for a 1966 Chevy Biscayne. This would actually be a pretty good candidate as many of what I needed for the Impala can come off a Biscayne. Things like the front windshield, the upper cowl and some other parts. Last Tuesday, Jen and I went to look at this Biscayne. It wasn't long after I got to the seller's house, I decided that it would be far smarter of me to buy the Biscayne and rebuild it. It was in FAR better shape than the Impala. This would put me money ahead from the beginning. Since I'm not trying to build a car to turn and profit from, I felt that it wouldn't be a bad thing to NOT restore the Impala.
After we got home Tuesday night, Jen and I briefly discussed the cars. She was indifferent. She just wants a nice car. So on Thursday, I called the seller Jack, and told him that I not only wanted the Biscayne, I'd plan on coming over to pick it up on Saturday. Being the supreme procrastinator, I waited until Friday around 6PM to secure a mode of transport. At first, I was just going to borrow one of a couple friend's trailer. Not a good idea as both of the trailers in mind were down for the count for different reasons. At this point, I was gonna hire out a flat-bed to haul it home. Again, not a good idea. The price of hauling from where the car was to where I wanted it was considered 'geographically undesirable' as several of the companies I called claimed it was too far and they wanted to charge a small country's national debt. When I called one last person, he suggested I rent a trailer. DUH! I've done this several times in the past from the same place, Vandalia Rental. So I called the rental place Saturday morning and arranged a rental for a 4 hour time block for a mere $54.
I called Jack and let him know that I needed to hit the bank and then the rental place to grab a trailer and I'd be right over. When Jack heard that I was going to rent a trailer, he offered up the use of his trailer to save me some money. What a guy!
So now the Impala Page is soon to be retired and the introduction of the Biscayne Page is here. The Biscayne Page will host the updates and such form the build. So far the plan is a frame-off rebuild. I've decided that with the amount of rust repair to the floor, this is the only way to do it. That and I like shiny paint on my chassis.
As for the style of build, I'm thinking traditional 'sleeper'; ultra clean and simple plain Jane exterior and a larger than life big block under the hood. I'll prolly keep the factory color, Mist Blue Metallic and paint the rims to match. In which case the interior will also remain blue, with the typical sparse Biscayne trim; including the bench seat. It will be plain, yet functional 'looking' with more than enough hidden attitude.
July 28, 2009
Last weekend I got the body off the chassis with the help of some friends and moved into the garage. Since then, I've gotten the rear suspension torn down and will be moving to the front end next weekend.
This past Saturday, I got the time to dismantle the rear suspension. That was fun. It turns out that the Impala, being a much larger car than the coupe, uses larger fasteners for the suspension; go figure. Well, I don't have a very big selection of those larger wrenches so to save some time and frustration; I just cut the bolts off with a cut-off wheel. I'll replace them with new bolts and nuts, no biggie. This is how the chassis sits today.
Another thing that I discovered while tearing into this chassis. The transmission cross member will need to be replaced. I knew there were a couple thin spots, but not like what I found. There seemed to be a lot more rusted then I thought. I was standing in the garage tipping it back and forth for several minutes and with each tip, more crap came out. Here is the underside for the crossmember. And here is all the crap that was INSIDE the crossmember!Since I can't seem to find anyone who sells NOS type crossmembers. I'm prolly gonna end up making my own taking my lead from these guys. These look really beefy.
I'm sure as the days go by, I'll find more and that should be enough of a teaser for you to check back.
July 22, 2009
So for once, I was actually able to pull off something when I planned to do it. This past Saturday, I began my new adventure into the world of full sized Chevys. Me and six of my friends and neighbors got together in my backyard and lifted the body of my Impala's chassis. The chassis was then rolled from the backyard, around to the side gate, into the front yard, then up the driveway and into the garage. And it's a tight fit! That Impala chassis is WAY bigger than my '34 Ford's chassis. I knew it was, but once in the garage, it's really obvious just how much bigger.
Present for this fiasco were Jen, (she drove the Trooper to pull the chassis out from under the body) my son Josh, (and his wife and kids for moral support), friends Noel and his gal Stacy, neighbors Dylan, Joe, his son Scott and Joe's brother Jay. Since Stacy is handy with a camera, she was charged with documenting this momentous event. She took a bunch of photos of the circus and below are a small sampling. Once I get the rest, I'll post the relevant and funny ones.
It was really funny doing this. You see, I failed to realize that once you lift that big heavy body off the chassis, that you're alleviating the springs of what, about 1000-1200 lbs. So naturally, it tends to let the springs decompress about 8 inches. So now the poor bastards at the back of the car have to lift it that much higher!!! None of us were expecting that, seriously.
Once the chassis was out from under the body, I was amazed just how light it was. That thing actually rolled easier then the '34 chassis. To get it around the house, I was pulling it and two others, (Noel and Josh) were steering it. Dylan was out back to push if needed, but I don't think he really needed to.
So like I said, the journey begins. Wish me luck. I suspect that I'll be going through a fair amount of PB Blaster and/or WD40 as all the chassis and suspension fasteners are pretty rusted.
July 14, 2009
I say this for several reasons. First and foremost, my wonderful new server was off line for several weeks due to a glitch with my also new wireless router. I also have had plenty of time to think about other things; mostly because of the server down time.
I only recently got the router issues mostly cured. It turns out that the router decided to presumably reset itself. This left me with having to put all new setting into it as it wouldn't let me use the old settings. Therein lays the problem. There was one little setting that I needed to change on the server itself and it took me over a week to find it. But I found it and viola, we're back.
The big thing that I've been contemplating has to do with my hobby, my car(s). For the last year and a half or more, I've been driving the coupe and outwardly real happy about it. Deep down inside though, I've had a couple things really irritating me. First and foremost was the ride quality, or lack of. If framer Dan were to be riding along with me on any given day, he'd prolly be pretty happy with the ride. That's because the ride quality of the coupe is just slightly better than a hay wagon. And this would make Farmer Dan smile. It doesn't have that same effect on me. It turns out that the way it rides is about as good as it's gonna get. Another thing that picked at my brain is that it's a two seater. Yeah, that one I was well aware of when I got it. I just didn't realize the impact of only being able to haul along one other person. Now that I'm a grandpa and apparently one of the grandkids has already taken a liking to the whole hot rod thing. So now when I go somewhere, I'd like to be able to take Jenn in comfort and maybe drag along the grandkid(s) if we choose. With that said, I seriously thought of selling the coupe (GASP!). Yep, I said it. I even called my brother in Iowa and tossed the idea at him. Then, to further my decision choice, I called Stevo and got his input. To my surprise, they both heard me out and understood my side. They both supported the decision. So then I threw the idea at Jenn, the ever-present voice of reason in our house. She warned me not to sell it as I'd only live to regret it. She agreed with my reasoning, just not the result of the train of thought. During one of my earlier phone calls, I actually said that I thought I was simply burned out on the coupe. Face it; I've been working on the same car for five years. I've only been able to drive it for just short of two years. So here's where the day turned brighter.
Jenn looked at me and told me to pack up the coupe on one side of the garage for a couple years and start working on the Impala that I got for FREE last fall. This car will take a serious amount of time and a more serious amount of money; unless I do all the work myself. And that's the part I like! So, I'm now back to square one with a project car. And if I REALLY want to, I can always dig out the coupe and shake off the cobwebs and set off some neighborhood car alarms.
So now I'm back on the hunt. I feel a new sense of good now that I have this new project. And I still have the coupe. Jenn was probably right; at some point I'd regret selling it. Much like the coupe, I'm going into this with a very clear vision of what needs to be done and how I want the car to look AND perform when done. This is the only way to do it. It really helps keep focus.
April 16, 2009
When I first started building my coupe, I knew from the outset that I wanted a manual transmission. At that time, I had a couple Turbo 350 transmissions in the garage. I did some horse-trading and ended up with a 700r automatic. While this is a good transmission, it's no manual. And I had to have that clutch. My ever-so-generous brother offered to trade me my 700r for a Saginaw three speed manual. Hell yeah!!! I now have my clutch!
After having the Saginaw in the car and running for about eight months, I foolishly thought I could deal with changing out the speedometer gears so that my speedometer would work properly. It did work up until this time, just not 'right'. I did a fair amount of internet research and found that from what I was told I could change the gears simply by sliding off the rear tail housing, swap the gears out and replace the tail housing. WRONG! It's not near that simple. It turns out that the side cover needs to be removed, some parts need to be removed and then the tail housing slid off. That's not how I did it. And the end result is a good used Saginaw transmission laying in a tub with the tail housing slid halfway off and apparently some clips now not where they need to be.
This blunder left me in the position of needing a new transmission. I was lucky and found one through a great friend, Stevo. And cheap too - like $75 cheap. And it was a T-5 5-speed out of an S-10 truck. After an odd, one year only clutch and several tedious modifications, the T-5 was installed. I ran this little gem for another eight months before I started looking for a new transmission. The reason for searching for a replacement for the T-5 is far more entertaining. I can sum it up in four words; I BLOWED IT UP! Yep. The little T-5 out of the '86 four cylinder S-10 had enough. Although, I'm sure it had a lot to do with the short throw shifter that I had just installed.
Here's where the plot thickens; Since I had just installed the said shifter, I thought that it only appropriate that I test it, like ant smart engineer would. So, I took the coupe out for a spin around the block. During my shifter test run, I turned a corner, got the coupe straightened out and laid into the throttle while in first gear. I got in hard enough to get both slicks smokin; I was pretty happy, for a second. I then grabbed the shifter, nailed second gear and that lasted about 1/10 of a second. For when I nailed second, I thrashed something, big time. It sounded like every bit of metal under the car was in rapture. At first I wasn't sure what I killed. I limped the car the last 1/2 mile to my house and had my neighbor help me push it UP my driveway. Man, I HATE steep driveways.
Anyway, during that last little bit of the trip, coasting for most of it because every time I'd let the clutch out, the rapture serenade would begin again just after the coupe started rolling under power; I determined that the T5 was toast. So, now I have this oh-so-great shifter, but can't use it.
So, now I'm again in the market for a manual transmission. Man, this is getting old. So now let's make a long story epic. I made a couple call to friends to ask them to keep an eye out for another one.
The first person to respond was Dan, a friend from Michigan. He offered to run down the road and see if his local parts guy had anything. A day or so later he called, proudly proclaiming that he had my new T-5. He called a fellow HAMBer to confirm the T-5 that he was looking at was what I wanted and it appeared it was Dan and I discussed what he was looking at, the price and a decision was made. Dan bought the T-5 and said that he'd bring it to Dayton; as he was headed down here picking up stuff for like four different guys AND his own kids. I would pick it up and square up with him then. Things were definitely looking up.
On that day, my lovely wife and I met up with Dan. After lunch, we went out, moved the T-5 to my car, helped move an obnoxiously big and heavy motor/trans from another guy's trailer to Dan's truck, paid him and left. Late that night, on a whim, I went to the garage to check out my new purchase. I noticed something odd; the bolt pattern at the bell housing-to-trans case was odd. I compared the T-5 to the old Saginaw that is still laying in my garage. To my horror, it didn't match, what?! It turns out that the bolt pattern was what looks like a Ford pattern. After several internet searches and PMs, this was confirmed.
Sunday afternoon I called Dan and his response was the same, what?! He said he'd contact his parts guy where he got the T-5 and get back with me. Sure enough, Monday morning I got a call from Dan and he said that his parts guy said the same thing, what?! He didn't know about these couple years that the T-5 offered in S10s were a Ford bolt pattern. He even offered to refund my money or exchange the T-5 as he was expecting a Camaro in to the yard in a couple days. I told Dan to take him up on his offer and hold out for the Camaro. If that falls through, I'll take the refund and keep looking.
In the mean time, I had to get my now unusable T-5 back to Dan in Michigan. Well, to my surprise, he had this worked out. It seems that he knew guy who was headed down here in a day or so and had me call him. Mike was coming down to my immediate area for a big auction. Talk about dumb luck! Since my new work schedule didn't allow me to meet him anywhere, we made arrangements for me to leave the T-5 at HulaZombie's new joint where Mike could pick it up. And that's what Mike did. Thanks to Bill, (aka HulaZombie) and Mike, my old T-5 was now back in Dan's hands within four days.
Sadly, after waiting a couple more days, it turns out that the Camaro that was expected at the parts yard turned out to be an auto trans, bummer. So Dan sent me my money back.
Here it was, two weeks later and I was sure I was destined to seek out my own T-5 and on Tuesday I get an e-mail from Dan. He sends me a link to a Detroit craigslist ad for a guy who was selling a Camaro V8 T-5!!! I called the guy, twice in two days and got no call back. Therefore, by Saturday, I figured it was done. I was wrong. Saturday afternoon the guy from Detroit calls me and tells me all about the T-5 he has. I heard enough to know that I want it. During the conversation, I asked him about the mileage and he admitted to not knowing. I also asked him about a shifter and again, he admitted that he might not have it. These two facts must have gotten the better of him, because he dropped the price on the spot by $100! I told him I'd have Dan call him either Saturday or Sunday. Sunday comes and the guy with the T-5 must really be wanting it gone, because he called me asking when my friend, (Dan) was going to call. Not wanting to miss this, I called Dan; he calls the seller, sets up a day and time for the pick-up and calls me back to let me know what's going on. Dan is to pick it up on Tuesday.
So now were back to how we're going to get a transmission to Dayton, AGAIN! Once again, Dan comes through. He's got a coworker who has a meeting to attend in Moraine and he's willing to bring the T-5 down to HulaZombie's joint!!! Un-effin-believable!!! So the T-5 will be here sometime Friday. I had just started a new job that has me working from 7:30-11:30am, daily. I'm thinking this is perfect. Then I realize that I had a satellite guy scheduled at my house at noon on Friday. So now the trans has to wait until Saturday; and even then, my increasingly lovely wife was going to pick it up as I had to work all day today. When I got home last night, I was SOOOOO happy to hear my wife said that I had a transmission in HER trunk that needed to be moved.
Do yourself a favor and visit HulaZombie's joint every time you come to the Dayton area - Daddy Katz, 3250 Kettering Blvd, Dayton, Ohio 45439 - 937-296-0347 - You won't be sorry!!! .
Anyway, the new trans started it's introduction to the coupe last weekend. Last Sunday I got the transmission actually hanging off the bell housing. This weekend I still have to make some corrections to the floor as the new trans sits a little higher than the old one. I also need to modify the transmission mount to make allowances for the odd angle of the mounting surface as well as fab a new shifter. After all this, I should be out irritating the neighbors and setting off car alarms all down my street again. As I should be. Life is good.
February 22, 2009
Not long ago, I launched a new version of the ViolentLee.com site. When I did this, I mentioned some changes that would be coming. One change that I didn't mention is one that you can't see and probably won't even notice. My extraordinary wife granted me the permission to make a major purchase. This purchase is one that will benefit me in several ways. One will benefit you. I was lucky enough to purchase a brand new server. Yep. A real server. Not just a PC with Server 2003 loaded, but a real, purpose built server, complete with a nice little Dell nameplate on the front. This server is now in place and fully functioning. Carrying my site and helping me learn all things Server 2003 related.
So from here on out, this site is running with the somewhat bigger dogs. And that feels pretty good.
February 11, 2009
ViolentLee.com has just been completely rebuilt, restored and upgraded. There are a ton of obvious changes and some that you may not notice straight away. If you've been following the site, you're aware of the Archives Page and that part will remain for the same reason it was started.
For the longest time, I've wanted a more contemporary website look. However, when I first started out, I was convinced that I should keep it simple. Sadly, simple when applied to websites also means limitations. And limitations suck. I've always been a secret fan of the song 'Don't Fence Me In'. So, I've decided to make some major changes with the site. Obviously the first change is rather clear. From here, things should only get better. Eventually, I'll be adding php scripting for things like comments from the masses to be added. Won't that be fun? So be patient and I'll let everyone know when those new things are put in place and how to use them. Oh, and at the bottom of this page is an event listing. These are some of the events that I'd like to try to get to this year. I say 'like tomake it to. Funding will determine which events I actually make it to.
January 16, 2009
So, late last summer I got a new digital camera and I fianlly figured out how to convert the video files that it produces to a format the I can upload to youtube. Below are three, (in succession) videos of the two mutts 'rasslin.
December 20th, 2008
So this past August we lost our bestest friend in the world, Sean. Not long after that we decided that we wanted a dog again. And I mean bad. So I started a search for an Old English Sheep dog, (OES). I've always loved Cockers and OES dogs. Since our last dog was a Cocker and there's no way one could begin to replace a dog like him, we decided to look for an OES. Not long after I begain looking, I found TWO! Go here to meet the newest addition(S) to the household.
And here's one more thing that I could never begin to stress enough; When you look for your next dog, look at your local animal shelters FIRST! When you do, ask them if they have any connection with any kind of correctional center training program. Chances are they do and this is an 'everyone wins' thing. You win becuase you'll get a dog that is trained for a fraction of the cost of that kind of intense training and the inmates win because they get a viable rehab exercise. And that means society as a whole wins because the inmates are working towards turning themselves around. So tell me, how could any of this not be good?
December 11th, 2008
Everyone has a certain way of living. From the most basic like a simple roof over your head, (or in some cases a nice new cardboard box), to a huge house that you prolly don't even go into some of the rooms for days on end; from a crappy car that barely gets you from point A to point B to a sweet ride.
Well, in order for me and my beloved to maintain our meager station in life; I decided to take a second part-time job. I say a second job because I already work one part-time job at the college I attend. However, with this being the Christmas season, the school is partially shut down during the whole month of December. That means that my already short workdays have been cut in about half. So I got in touch with my neighbor and he hooked me up with a gig working for the nation's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. So from Friday through Monday, working from 4PM to 1AM, I unload trucks and help stock shelves. Not a glamorous job, but the bills will remain being paid on time. Moreover, that's all that really matters, right?
So, during the next three to four weeks, I'll be busting my ass for a little over minimum wage during the weekends as well as working at my pseudo cushy job at the college for substantially more. Just to maintain. Wish me luck.
December 1st, 2008
There seems to be a new trend developing here. Instead of updating my blog on a weekly basis, I seem to have slipped into updating it bimonthly. I really gotta work on this. That's not a New Year's Resolution. I hate those things too. The only one I was ever able to manage to hit was the year I swore not to make but one; to not do it ever again.
A couple BIG things have happened since my last post. One can let out of the bag and one I can't... not yet anyway.
The one that I can let out is the new acquisition for the automotive stable. I'm now the owner of a 1966 Chevy Impala. Click here to see more. But be forewarned, it ain't pretty; not yet.
As for the other big thing, it's actually TWO big things. But the timing must be ever so perfect and it ain't there yet. Hang in there. In about two and a half weeks and the stars will be perfectly aligned and I can talk about this one.
October 19th, 2008
I hate to to this, but I gotta. I'm opening with some bad news. We lost our best friend a little while back. Our buddy of ten years went to the giant backyard in the sky on August 22. So long Sean, seems like we hardly knew ye...
As I said in one of my first posts, part of the issues with maitaining a blog is my need to post to keep my devoted follows entertained enough to actually follow me. For the last several weeks, there really hasn't been anything of note to cover. Yeah, I drove my coupe to the weekly cruise-in down in Beavercreek twice and I went to our local drive-in resturant's, Wot-A-Dog, weekly gathering twice. So now you have some of those photos to look at. I really need to start taking more photos.
I also used on of the past weekends to do something that I'd been wanting to do for a long time. A couple years ago, I got a sandblast cabinet from my brother in Iowa. Whoever designed this cabinet didn't design it with the casual user in mind. It was designed for an industrial setting where there is dedicated electris and a dust collection system. I say this because it has a short power cord and the outlet for the dust collection is in the rear of the cabinet. Neither one is very conveinient for frequent connection and disconnections, like I do. I don't use the cabinet very often, but it seems that when I do, it occurs in spurts of several times a week and then not for several weeks.
So here's what I finally did. Not long after getting the cabinet, it found it's home along the back wall of my garage, next to my rolling toolbox. At first, this was a great place for it. Until I went to use it the first and then second time. Having to run an extension cord, oh and make sure its one with a double outlet, one for the cabinet and one for the ShopVac and then pull the cabinet aout from the wall to connect the ShopVac's hose. Doing this once isn't a big deal, but try doing this like four times insdie of a weekend. It sucks. So, I pulled some power from the wall behind the cabinet and dropped and AC outlet on the cabinet side about 48" off the floor. I also took some PVC tubing to bring the dust outlet to a more user-friendly location. Simple things, but this will make using the blast cabinet much easier.
One other thing that I did since my last post was really fun and educational to some degree. A local Brithish car club sponsored an event called the 2008 Covered Bridge Tour. Over the course of about 55 miles worth of rural Ohio driving, we saw eight of Ohio's covered bridges, four of those are still in use so we got to drive through them. That was pretty cool. Click here to see all the photos.
August 7th, 2008
For the better part of four years, I have been preparing for one day. Well, as far as the coupe goes anyway. Four years ago, I had an idea of how I wanted the coupe to look and feel. Moreover, for the most part I have stuck with that idea. Sure, I have strayed a little here and there, but for the most part, I've stayed to the initial idea.
This past weekend, I got to see the biggest part of this come to fruition. I finally got to drive my little hot rod to Louisville, KY and go to the NSRA Nationals, driving in with my own car. Now, to anyone who hasn't done this it might seem a bit mundane, even silly to make such a big deal out of it. However, I'm sure there are some out there who not only know this feeling but have gone through it recently or who plan on being in my shoes very soon themselves. It's for them that I type this.
Thankfully, the drive down to Louisville was really uneventful. sorta. I stopped twice to tighten up a couple things that had vibrated loose; one being a grille bracket and the other a radiator support rod. Oddly, both issues were with the radiator. I think I see a trend developing here. As for the drive time for the trip down, I did pretty good. It took a little over three hours total. For almost the entire time on I71 in Kentucky, I was running close to 70 mph. This was the longest I'd driven the coupe at that speed and it preformed admirably. Once in Louisville, I met up with my sis who lives in town and my brother John who comes in from Iowa for the event every year. We met, ate lunch and then proceeded to head off to the show. Once at the fairgrounds, I took the opportunity to take a cheesy photo of my coming through the gate. That's right, my first trip through the gate in my own car. Shut up, you would have done it too.
From there on, the weekend shaped up to what I had hoped for, except that it was way too hot and way too humid. To help out on this aspect, we spent a fair amount of time inside the building going through the vendor's areas. There were a couple vendors that I wanted to stop by to get new catalogs and others that just had cool stuff. Then there were a couple vendors that I wanted to stop by for other reasons. One of these was SoCal Speed Shop. I had to stop by and see Jim Aust. Jim is the guy who owns and runs the So Cal Speed Shop in LA and is what we call 'good people'. Simply put.
Saturday afternoon proved to be a bit more then I had expected though. On the way out of the fairgrounds, John and I decided that we'd run over past the swap meet area so our niece could get a look at a couple cars that were in there earlier in the day. John and Jillian drove ahead of me and headed towards the swap meet area, I had just shifted into second gear and was just starting to let the clutch out when something snapped and my left foot went to the floor. Apparently, I had broken something in the clutch mechanicals. I coasted over to the side of the road where John had parked and jumped out to survey the situation. Yup, I broke the little bracket that I had made only a year or so earlier. This bracket connects the clutch slave cylinder's shaft to the clutch fork. Without this bracket, the clutch doesn't move, period.
Once the real problem was identified, I told John that all we needed to do was make a new bracket. He said that's a little easier said than done. When I asked him why, he responded that we needed a piece of metal, cut to size and holes drilled in it. I said that I had my drill and bits. He was shocked that I had a drill. After learning this, John raced out to the local Ace hardware store and came back with a 24" long piece of 1" x 1/8" band steel and a hacksaw.. I drilled two holes, he cut the steel to length and together we bent it. I then installed the newly fabbed bracket and had to make one clutch adjustment and I was back on the road. All in less than two hours. Oh, and during this time, there must have been ten to twelve guys stop by to see if they could help; including our good friend Jim Aust and his uncle Greg. Is was amazing to see the outpouring of goodwill.
For more photos, go to here.
July 26th, 2008
Back on the eleventh, I posted an entry where I said that I was going to be driving the coupe as much as I could as a preparation of sorts for the trip to Louisville for the Nats. So far this plan has gone really well. I've driven it quite a bit and in the process, I've spotted some hidden issues that seemed to take this as an opportunity to reveal them selves. For instance; the headlights that I bought at the LA Roadster's Show two years ago were assembled with mini carriage bolts and cheap locking nuts. Each lamp has four sets of these screws and nuts. Well, as a result of the vibration of the coupe, two nuts on each lamp had been shaken loose and the screws had fallen out. Thus leaving only the two remaining screws holding the lamps in place. Thankfully, I noticed this as early as I did or I might be buying new headlights, at the current price of $325 for the pair ~ ouch. I only paid $215 for them in '06. Most of the other issues were of a similar nature; loose bolts/nuts. I'm finding that this coupe is much like a Harley in that each time I park it, I need to go on a hunt to find things that have shaken loose. Joy.
But back to the driving part; Last weekend a friend named Squiggy, (yes, Squiggy) told me about a cruise-in down in Miamisburg, OH that was supposed to be pretty good. So I got in touch with Stevo and we decided to go down there together, but driving our own cars. I went to Stevo's house to meet up with him and we discussed the finer points of automotive cooling systems. It seems that his sedan had developed a small but apparent leak. After debating the lifespan of his motor with said leak, we decided it was best for him just to ride with me. And in the end, you'll see how this paid off.
So we get down near Miamisburg and we seem to be seeing a lot of bikes. I mean a LOT of bikes. And no hot rods or even muscle cars. After a couple minutes of this, I was starting to freak out because at first, I felt like I just wasted all that time and gas driving to Miamisburg. Then I remembered I was driving the coupe and no matter where I was driving it, for whatever reason, it was not a waste. After all, I was driving '34 Ford for God's sake! So as we rounded the corner to bring us out onto the main drag, we spot a banner strung across the road reading something about the monthly summer cruise-in, on every FOURTH Saturday of each month. This was the THIRD Saturday! So Stevo says to me that there is a cruise-in at Germantown that's also suppose to be pretty good. Hell, at this point we're only four or five miles from Germantown, what the Hell. I'm still driving a '34 Ford, right?
About halfway to Germantown, we pass a couple early sixties cars. This kinda put our minds at ease a little. And sure enough, as we pull towards the center of town, we see streets barricaded, hot rods and muscle cars. Sure signs of a cruise-in of some kind. So we find a spot to park and commence to wandering the streets of downtown Germantown.
Like I said, we saw the run of muscle cars, but Stevo and I are more into the traditional hot rods and period cars that look like they've been pulled straight from the pages of a 'little book' here are some of what I mean;
For more, go to this page to see all the photos that I took of the Germantown cruise-in and this page for recent photos from the weekly cruise-in near The Greene in Beavercreek, OH.
July 18th, 2008
I'm a firm believer in karma. You know, what goes around, comes around. And this past weekend is a prime example of how karma works and for me, in a grand way. Let me explain. As mentioned in my last post, I was planning on taking the coupe for a road trip to Columbus next weekend. In all actuality, I wanted to go this past weekend. This past weekend was one of the hot rod industry's largest shows and one of two national events that I really wanted to attend. However, due to the cost of entry, being so high, ($65 for a non-member, non-preregistered car) I had resigned to the fact that I wasn't going. And I had accepted that fact.
This past Saturday night, my wife and I were driving home from the mall and during the trip; we were into a pretty interesting conversation, so much so that I took the wrong exit off the interstate. In my defense, my normal ramp at that mile marker had been under construction and they've been moving the entrance several times in the past couple months. So I decided to take that ramp and jump on south bound SR 4 to the next cross road and then turn around and double back. No biggie. Not even one mile onto SR 4 we notice a hot rod over on the northbound right hand shoulder with the hood up. So I go down another half mile or so and turn around. On the way back north, we stop to see if there was anything we could do to help a fellow rodder out.
It seems that the guy who was driving a pretty nice '37 Chevy coupe project car heard an odd noise and just decided to stop to try to ID the noise. So I kinda nosed around under the hood with him for a couple minutes while we looked for the cause. While we never did find what we were convinced was the noise he heard, we did find a couple other very minor issues. Nothing that would prevent him from finishing his trip home, as he was only about 15 miles out.
Here's where I'm convinced the karma kicked in. When my wife and I got home, we unloaded the car and started to settle in for the night; it was around 9PM and we're getting old, so it was getting late. Not five minutes after getting in, I get a call from a friend and fellow rodder. This great guy heard that I not only wanted to go to the Good Guys show, but that I had written it off due to the cost. He said that he had passes for me and a friend AND the coupe if I wanted them. Hmmmm. Let me thing about this for... HELL YEAH I'LL TAKE THEM!!! I called my buddy Dave and he responded as quickly as I did to my invite for him to accompany me.
Sunday morning at 9:30, Dave and I left the comfy confines of the garage and headed out to Columbus, OH. Just a little over an hour we arrived at the Ohio State Fairgrounds and the hot rodding bliss began. Once inside the grounds, I found a relatively quiet spot to park for a quick photo for posterity sake. While walking through the sea of hot rods, we found Stevo. Once we found out where he had parked, I moved the coupe closer to his and hung out with him for a while. We chatted a bit, ate lunch, chased off some guy who was SITTING IN MY COUPE!!! and generally had a good time. Stevo had to leave early to meet a contractor back at the house at which point Dave and I then proceeded to wander the grounds to check out the other attendees. After several hours of looking around, we too decided to head out. In the end, we drove a little over 118 miles with NO issues with the coupe. This, my friends is a substantial accomplishment for a newly built hot rod. I also took the opportunity to check the fuel mileage and found that the little coupe is pulling a very respectable 18.5 mpg for the day.
So there you have it. I got to drive my coupe to it's first big show and I DROVE THROUGH THE GATE! Ok, for some, actually most, this may not seem like a big deal. But to me it's huge. I've gone to many larger events and especially since bringing the coupe home I've waited for this. It's huge. And to make this day even better for me, several days later a fellow rodder sends me a couple photos (first and second) that he took of my car. Imagine this; someone else thought my car was cool enough to take a photo of! How cool is that? Yeah, we all kinda strive for it, but this was the first time. It too is huge.
July 11th, 2008
The first weekend of August in Louisville, KY of each year brings what many guys like me, gear heads, hot rodders and the like feel is almost the Holiest of holidays; The National Street Rod Association's Street Rod Nationals. Or as 'we' like to call it, The Nats. I've been to this event six out of the last eight years. Ok, so I missed some, life happens. But not this year. This year is THE year. This year I'm driving through the gate... NOT walking through. This year I'm driving the coupe down the 170 or so miles to Louisville and I'll officially be part of the masses.
I'm working on getting on getting the car ready for said trip. Most of what I'm doing is really tough. I'm driving it everywhere I can! I'm taking it to the grocery, to a tutoring session and the hardest part; to as many of the local little shows and cruise-ins as I can. The reason for this is simple; I'm try to work out as many of the bugs as I can. After all, if this thing breaks in a big way, I'd rather it be 10 miles from home, not 110 miles. So, from now until August 1st, I'll be turning some serious miles. As a nearly final and big test, I'm going to take it to Columbus next weekend. This will get me on the interstate for an hour or so. I'll rest the car for a short time and then turn around and come home. This little trip should replicate two thirds of the drive to Louisville. Thus leaving me pretty confident that the coupe should make that last third of the drive in good shape. And if it doesn't, help in Louisville is only a phone call away...
If you look close... OK maybe you don't have to look so close, But either way, you'll notice Stevo's Model A sedan. Stevo is what you might call 'the usuall suspect'. Meaning that we tend to travel together. Let's face the truth; it's always more fun to have friends around, even if you're just driving around, especially in a hot rod...
July 4th, 2008
So here I am again. And I find myself in quite a pickle. You see, part of maintaining a blog, is trying to come up with cute and creative ways to keep you the 'net surfer entertained enough to not only read what's in front of you now, but hopefully get you to come back on a regular basis. And that will cause yet another issue with me, a procrastinator. If I do a good enough job in writing a witty blog, you'll read it and come back for more. Herein lies my real problem; this now means that I must continually post blog entries on a far more regular basis and for you, preferably rather frequently.
So I'll do my best to do both; make my posts entertainingly fulfilling and as often as possible. You as the casual blog-browser should know that I do suffer from a pretty crappy memory and I also have a pretty busy home life that includes work, school and various other life distractions. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not. My distractions are of the ilk that should make maintaining this blog far less work and more entertaining for me as well.
Now on to what I really set out to type about today. For as long as I've owned my little coupe it's been many shades of grey, brown, steel and bondo. A couple weeks ago, in preparation for an upcoming show, I shot the main body shell and doors in a basic grey primer, (as depicted in the photos above). I did this so I could shake that minor circus car vibe that the multi-color coupe seemed to send out. I was also hoping that it would help the car break a little more away from that oh-so annoying rat-rod moniker. From what I've been able to gather from simply watching the crowds who gather around cars of my type, they tend to call those cars with a multi-colored paint scheme or showing bare steel, exposed rust or bondo and/or mostly brown primer as the dreaded rat-rod. Now that my car is of one color and not bare steel, exposed rust or bondo or brown primer, it hasn't been called a rat-rod, yet. Yeah, it's bound to happen but not near as often, I hope.
Incidentally, the show that I was prepping the car for was a mere 140+ miles away. When that weekend rolled around, it brought a pretty ugly storm front with it. Yep. I rained most all weekend long. So much so that I decided not to chance the risk of damage to me or the coupe by driving it way down there and back. You can tell by the photos above and others on the site that the car lacks some things that some, namely me consider important items for driving in rain and generally wet weather. Those include a complete roof, wipers, windows and treaded rear tires.
So me and my buddy Stevo were able to find a small local show to drive our hot rods to and enjoy a little quality time with our respective respective cars. After that little show, we headed up north to visit with a friend of Stevo's co-pilot Don. It seems that Don has a friend who races bikes. Motorcycles. Flat track motorcycles. Harley flat track motorcycles. Needless to say that in the next installment, I'll be posting some pix of a couple or the coolest bikes I've ever seen. Seriously. I'm not a huge bike guy but these were really cool. And the guy who rides them is the textbook gentleman. So stay tuned.
June 17, 2008
ViolentLee is free; unleashed on the otherwised unsuspecting populous. Ok, it's really just my new daily blog. Why would I even consider starting a blog, you ask? Well, how better for an up-and-coming IT geek to inform those who care about his life-altering events. Seriously. This is really the best way for me to let everyone know how things are going, show off my newly gained talents and exercise said talents. I'll now am hosting my own server that all this techno-goodness will radiate from. I've secured the domain name ViolentLee and that will serve as the point of origin for all of my future educational endeavors, including a new e-mail server too. But you already knew that as you're reading from that domain right now!
If you'd like to recieve a subcription, (this is nothing more than an e-mail that I send out) to better help you keep up with all things Lee-related, send an e-mail to Me. Again, this e-mail address will change in the future and I'll let everyone know when it does.
So sit back, click around a while and have fun with it; I am :)
Oh, and another thing; I believe in nice big photos. So if you're a dial-up user, may God have mercy on your soul; because I won't.