I’ve been incredibly busy, mostly with starting a new business for my son and I, but some stuff has been completed at the shop. Some on the Texas Thug, some on the Screamin’ Woody, and some an some of the other vehicles I have. This will be the extremely condensed version, as even that will be a little long.
Vitamin C Sold
Yup, I sold the Vitamin C. It gave me 10 years of loyal service but it was time for another caretaker. I sold it to a 70-year-old drag racer in Tulsa by the name of Dave Lewis. He’s in the process of stripping it down and will freshen it up in the same Vitamin C theme.
I mentioned that I started a new business with my son. We sell, install and repair Blinds, Shades and Shutters. It is now running and my eldest son is now handling the day to day operations.
The Texas Thug has a new rear ProGlass window installed to replace the one that skated across the finish line at 140 mph in Indy last year.
The underside has been cleaned, the every nut and bolt has had a wrench put on it, and the valves run. Everything was looked over and appears well. The oil still needs to be changed and the car a good polishing. I had wanted to redo the inside of the trunk – but that might have to wait.
Not a whole lot of work has been done on the Screamin’ Woody. The block has been machined, but the crank had a crack – so I’m shopping for a new rotating.
I just bought a 4’X8′ piece of 1/8″ Lexan; stainless steel #10 buttonhead/hex drive machine screws and nuts; and some weatherstripping – so the windows are next on the list.
Years ago, I bought a Tube Chassis Barracuda and restored it. It’s spend about ten years in a bubble – until taken out last week.
Everything was gone through, filled with new fluids, carb rebuilt and a new battery installed. The car was started, tune and I took it for a shakedown drive. It’s now for sale, as I’m going with the Japanese Kondo philosophy of it doesn’t bring Joy – get rid of it,
The Demon that was Dallas’ first race car wasn’t so lucky. It’s ten years in a bubble cause a pin hole in number 6 cylinder. It took me half a day to tear down the motor and get the piston out.
It’s one of those deals where the sum of the parts are worth more than rebuilding the motor for it. I’ve already sold the heads, intake and rocker assembly. The car was been detailed and I’ll be listing for sale.
Next up, my 64 Imperial Convertible.
I’ve had a full size Chrysler convertible since the 70s. First a 67 Newport, then a 64 300, then a 65 300, and then I bought this from the original owner in her 90s about 18 years ago. I stopped driving it about 10 years ago. So in the last couple of months all of the brakes, brake lines and master cylinder was replaced. Gas gauge sender replaced. The carb was rebuilt. The power window switches disassembled and reassembled. The convertible pump system rebuilt. A brand new complete factory exhaust system installed. Brand new tires. Odometer rebuilt. The AC system rebuilt. The paint was power buffed. The leather conditioned. All off the dash chrome meticulously polished. Right now I’m waiting for the power steering pump to return from the rebuilder. Then the only thing left is redying the carpet when it gets a little warmer. I’ve really loved getting reacquainted with this car again. It’s a blast to drive.
In 1964, I remember the Mustang, Barracuda and Marlin fastbacks coming out. I loved all three of them. When the 67 Marlin was released on the fullsize Ambassador, it looked so much better than the smaller 65-66 versions on the compact Rouge chassis. There were very few made and all of my life I’d only seen a picture of one, and never one in the wild. About 20 years ago, I started my quest to find one in good original condition. About ten years ago, I ran into a man with a large car collection who had this car from Florida in it. He was dying of cancer and selling his collection off, and I bought this car. It had electrical issues, so I had in the back of my warehouse and planned to restore it to Red/Black with black Interior some day. That day never came, so the car was pulled out, the electrical completely redone, the ignition replaced with a Pertonix, the carb rebuilt, new battery, and new tires. The car runs like a Champ, but I’ve decided to keep it original and find a new caretaker for it. I’ll not drive it enough with my busy life.
The Leaning Tower of Power and 3-on-tree that was in my 60 Plymouth Post car was pulled in favor of a bad ass 383 that was recently rebuilt for it. When I drove this car home from Arkansas, I had it over 100 with that engine and skinny ass 25-year-old tires. I’m looking to put a 4/5/6-speed that has overdrive. That car is a keeper.
I’ve done a lot work on that car, which is a topic for another day. The point for this post was that I Cleaned the engine up and hit it with some Slant 6 blue. I’ll wrap and store it for a future project.
Finally, two of my Magnums had a lot of work done on them. I’ll be keeping the big block XE that is now exactly how I’ve wanted it for years. I just bought some new wheels for it. I’ll take it next week to get tires swapped over. I love the look of the Keystone Klassics on the car, but the Uni-lug design keeps having the nuts loosen up.
The rare 79 GT with E58 Cop motor has been completely gone through, detailed and I’ll be selling.
The shop has actually been busier than that, but I hit the important stuff and that catches me up.