The weather here is on an up swing. I was in a tee shirt when the wife and I went to dinner tonight. It was in the 20's. Like I said we are fist pumping on temps about 15 or so. I have gotten used to it being zero or below on the way to work. I have my truck on jack stands in front of the garage and my bro's Audi next to it. They both had four feet on them but the car got a flat over the winter and the tilt is toward the truck. So most the snow has melted on the side facing the sun but the four feet slide off in between the two. I cant get in there to work on anything. Four feet still in front of the garage door too. I had a foot thick ice dam this year that has me worried now. I have to walk under it!

Val if you look at the tail lights on our cars. The reverse lens gets the worst spider web cracks that wont buff out. They go most the way through. in fact all three are bad but it shows on the clear most. I have turned away from a few sets because of this. I have two decent sets. I have to agree with Tim in saying the black outs for them look like crap so Night Shades is the only way to go. I have a back up so I swap out if I get ticketed. I do like the front black outs but the ones on the back just dont look right. While the fronts help blend the contours of the nose the rears look like sunglasses for your butt.

Glad your getting your parts together Tim. I got a set of covers for the window cranks so I can put the power window set up in and have it look totally original. They are in almost perfect shape too, save for one with 1/2" crack in the lens part. Still trying to save for the clutch and flywheel to bolt this new trans in and I'm on to priming and painting.

 

Appreciate it Damon, I can honestly say that I have almost completely wiped out my parts list this winter. Really looking forward to the weather breaking here, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I know there's going to be a bunch of little things that I'll still need to get in order to get the Camaro running but that's obvious. One of the things I still need to figure out/decide on is what to use for a distribution block for the wiring to the starter/bulkhead/ignition box etc. Think I've got one decided on but need to figure out where it's going to go as well as where the ign. box will get mounted. Don't really want stuff mounted on the inner fenders. I want to get something similar for grounds both on the firewall side and inside for switches and gauges. That stuff is cheap though so I just need to figure out what to get and order them. Heading downstate tomorrow again to help my buddy out assembling some crazy light fixtures for another "house" he's finishing and help change some wheel hubs for an old girlfriend to make some more money for parts. Here's a pic of that "house" we'll be finishing next week, I took it the last time I was down there. It's funny, the built in coffee maker cost more than most of the appliances in my house combined! Think they said almost 4k for it, but sure would be nice to have that bad boy! I love coffee.

 

Yes, Novus is great, but it wont buff out cracks!
What might work on the cracks is Super Glue Plastic Fusion. It's very thin, so it flows into the cracks and basically fuses them together. Then they can be buffed and polished to a new finish afterwards. If I had one that was going to be replaced anyway, I'd give it a try with nothing to lose.

 

Is that the ghetto? OMG! That house is like so crappy. They must be on like well fair or something? OMG! We should have a canned goods drive for those poor people, ya know?

I take it the coffee maker isn't a Mr. Coffee or a Bunn. But really. That is a nice crib. BUT, why does it have the same basic architecture as both neighbors? Now if I were in there we would be putting lights in the good ole pole barn. Thats right the finest pole barn money could buy. LOL I can see it now. The HOA would be mailing me letters by the truck load. My engine AND chassis dynos would be running 24/7 because I would be hopped up on $4000 coffee. It wouldn't be my house without a half torn down parts car new to the garage either. Ha! They couldn't handle me in that neighborhood. I would also have to put in a turn around for the UPS semi that comes every other day. Oh yeah, I'd need a loading dock as well. Addition for the pole barn!

You have a list? I tried several times to plan it out. Do this, this and this. But it seams that I keep having to wait on perfection. Like the Lizard Skin. I have the interior done. Then I read and read, cause thats all I do really these days. And now I find a way to stiffen the car by welding a second set of inner rockers to the inside. Its supposed to make the car REALLY feel solid. But that requires grinding back the Lizard Skin to weld, which I already have to do to close the four speed hole. Ether way I need another $350 worth or product to finish. I want to do the underside as well. But I could skip all that and just drive the darn thing. I have enough parts to make a nice driver. But the car in my head is light years past that. I want super car performance and new car comfort. Too much to ask?

Did I ever show you that bulkhead I used in the truck? It was a 150A breaker and made a great power block. I ran 8g power (car audio wire) from the alternator to the starter and then the same 8g to the breaker. No chance of over loading that. As for grounds is they can be short going directly to the body or chassis. That way you dont have to run so much wire. That factory does it this way too.

 

The super glue fusion might've worked (good idea btw) but it wouldn't have been an easy task on this set. Epoxy had crossed my mind while I was looking at them and then I had visions of getting so tired of messing with them at the half way point that I probably would have wished I either never bought them or just bought a new set. I didn't need them so it wasn't a tough decision.


LOL! Damon, same basic architecture because they are probably his/hers guest houses. In all honesty, I believe the one to the left is owned by the same person. It's the same builder and a lot of them have VERY similar layouts inside. It's up to the owner to pick all the guts and that's when they become different. Believe it or not, there's plenty of space inside some of those garages for full on machine/dyno shops too. You're still thinking in "our" mindset though with the parts cars. I wouldn't be messing around with no stinkin' parts cars if I had that kinda loot. It's fun (and a bit depressing) to think of the possibilities when I'm down there inside those cribs. There are a few "car guys" in that sub, meaning they have some sweet hot rods/classics/exotics etc. but don't perform any of the work on them of course. I'm sure there's gotta be at least one gear head in the bunch. I'll try to remember to get a pic of one going up right now that has some SERIOUS garage space. Guys gotta have some kind of collection to need that kind of space.


My list was only the "get this thing running and drivable" list. It wasn't an all encompassing list. My background is planning and it helped make sure I wasn't throwing money at stuff that wasn't needed, yet, albeit excluding certain air filtering systems. I'll do the same thing when I get started on the body work too. Like you were mentioning, it's easy to get sent in another direction with new/different ideas that would keep me from getting rolling. I knew my budget wouldn't allow me to do a lot of the things I'd like to so I try to keep that in mind as being able to have fun with my kids is more important than supremacy. I've quickly learned that new products/technology gets rolled out every year and if I chase that stuff I'll never get to have any fun. That's where opinions come in though and I try to stay away from that stuff as much as possible.


I think you sent a pic of the breaker before. I've got 4 gauge to the alternator (if you remember the 2 year ordeal trying to figure out why it wouldn't charge and I tried everything) and I could do something like that with a breaker. I was just thinking one of the round-ish blocks. I get what you're saying about short grounds and I'm all about that also. I want to use a ground block in the area where I've got switches going for fan override, ignition box etc and I'm going to mount the trans temp gauge. I would rather not zip a bunch of new holes for grounds or have to search for good places is all. When I get to that point I'll decide if one is needed or not. Trying to keep things neat with the wiring. You know me, always tryin' to get things done way before I get to the point of needing to.

 

I've gotten to the point in life that I always make a list when I start a car, or start the next phase in a car build. I sometimes scratch stuff off because I've changed direction, or add stuff when I decide the project needs it, but I still try to keep a list hanging up to work from. For me it just helps me stay focused, and not forget things, or lose track of where the project is at, or where it's going.

 

The list I do have starts with realigning the subframe. AGAIN! I have had it in and out enough times that's it not a huge task. But then there is phase two. That goes something like paint firewall but I'm waiting for paint and weather. Then pull the the motor from the truck. Lots of snow in the way right now. Still cold too. It might get back in the 40s this week woohoo!

 

We're back into a cold snap; highs around 50 this week, instead of mid 60's last week!

 

There would be Harleys everywhere with weather close to 50*. We have had snow on the ground for over 100 days straight this season. First time in my life that has happened. Usually we get a storm here and there but geez...

With the banks receding there is a bumpers every 75' or so on the highway. It was funny on the ride home from work I looked at my BIL and said we should take a day off and collect all the metal. I bet someone could make a grand on my ride home.

 

It's funny that you said that about the bumper-littered highways Damon. It's the same way in the Detroit area also. The day before you posted that comment about taking a day off and collecting them, I had told my buddy that we should take a day and pick up some of the more intact bumpers/covers and throw them on craigslist! Not sure what would possess people to leave these items that were once affixed to their vehicle laying on the roadside. If I had the space, there was a fully intact truck cap laying on 75. Probably coulda made $300 on that one. Apparently AUDI does not like to attach their front bumper covers very well either, I watched one get yanked off by simply sliding in the snow one day a few weeks back. The owner left it there so I grabbed it when I was down this week. I put it on CL and just ordered lower fender patch panels with the money I made from selling it! Ironically, someone else had lost their bumper cover the same way this winter and I saved them a "ton of money!" I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't the same persons cover that I was selling back to them?! LOL! I should head over your way Damon, we can rent a Uhaul and make a day of it? Money to be made I tell ya!


New (replacement) seat arrived today safe and sound. Glad that's over and it only took a month to get. The next warm-ish day I think I'll go pull the seats out of the Camaro and get started on the track swap. Can't wait to get these new seats in there.