Casey Family Build Thread (coupe)

[MRSQSL]

I'll update tomorrow but I just turned on my iPad and saw the nice comments. Awwwwwww, thanks guys!

[MRSQSL]

Week 25:

Have you ever stepped back at the end of an exhausting day with muscles aching to admire your hard work, satisfaction oozing from your pores? Didn't really feel that so much this weekend. When we all stepped back, we discovered the only thing that looked different was a little plate for the shifter. How could three people have spent an entire day working and have so little to show? Part of the problem is that it was really only two people hard at work. I was more of the tool fetcher and cleaner upper.

I'm not sure how Mike managed it, but he convinced SoCal Mike (here on out known as OM for "other Mike") to come over and help. I kinda figured after the last time OM would have had enough. I guess he's telling the truth when he says working on the car is relaxing for him. It has the exact opposite effect on me at this point. Anyway, OM arrived Saturday morning and was oodles of help. The original plan (which never actually happens) was to work on the rear x bars. The monkey wrench in that plan came when Mike got an email from the person we are borrowing the engine hoist from saying he needed it back for a bit. No problem. Absolutely. That meant, though, that we would need to put in the engine and trans and pull it again while we still had the equipment to do so. This is not a tiny feat. Engines are heavy!!!!!! On top of that, the chassis has to come down off of the rolling stand we have it on to jack stands while the engine is installed. For anyone putting a 347 in with the body on (not nose), you will have to go old school. The leveler will hit the body in the firewall area and you will never get the correct tilt or depth. OM realized we could rest the balancer portion on a steel bar resting across the 4" tubes while we unhooked the leveler. The chain was then attached only to the heads. That allowed enough space to complete the install. My Mike said it's old school and how he used to do it when he was a kid because he couldn't afford a leveler back then. I remember those days. Anywhoodles, we got the engine in which then allowed us ("us" is used very loosely throughout as I really wasn't able to contribute much) to plasma cut, grind, etc until a plate had been fabbed up for the shifter to mount to. I know. Didn't we already do that? Yes. Yes we did. Martin, however, had to remove it while he was doing his handy work (Martin is the dash guy and I should mention he also stopped by unexpectedly Saturday and spent a couple hours hanging out with us - very pleasant surprise). The slightly humorous part of that story is that just about the time we tack welded in the new plate, Martin pulled up carrying the old one which we had accidentally left at his shop. D'oh!!!!!!

I love where the shifter is going to be mounted. I didn't get to sit and try it out, but my high tech eyeballs like it.

After the mounting, it was time to reverse the process and undo everything. Packed the shifter away, unbolted the engine mounts, pulled out the engine, etc. Very little progress, but it had to be done and thank goodness both Mikes were here to help. If they got mad enough and left me to fend for myself, I'd be laying on the floor in the garage, pinned under who knows what sobbing. I don't know if my Mike will admit it, but I would think he must be soooooooo much happier working in the garage when there is another man to help. When Mike pulled out the engine hoist, OM knew exactly what to do. I was still looking at the engine on the stand and the transmission on the ground and the hoist on the floor. What's the first step? Thank you Mikes!!

Next step is to return the hoist and then get to work on the cross bars. We discussed the idea of making them removable which I really, really liked. But then Mike and I got to talking about how to actually do it and I started getting cold feet. Mike had some good points which I can't even start to remember now.

On a personal note, Aly is now officially a soccer ref. She took an intensive one day training course Saturday and passed. The season begins in a few weeks. I can't wait to see her first game. How do you root for a ref? Also, I decided it was time to give up on running for a bit because the heat was making an excellent excuse and I wasn't ever actually leaving the house to do it. I started P90X yesterday and now I can barely move. OUCH!!!!! Every muscle hurts. Didn't realize I had muscles on the sides of my stomach. I do. Oh and I think we are going to try to take Scoopy to a car show at Dos Lagos next month. It is a two day event with all sorts of semi famous car people like the West Coast Customs guy. Martin will be there too with a booth if you want to meet him and check out his work. Hopefully some of the other Factory Five guys will bring their cars out too. Sounds like it could be fun and it's super close to us. Yay lazy us!!!! Hee, hee.

[SoCalMike]

Frank, Sounds like a plan. As soon as we both have five minutes I'll swing buy for that beer and we can definately talk shop. Brain needs the break.

Mike

[QSL]

pics!

[QSL]

We made more progress today then i expected!

[rj35pj]

That is some serious tubing! It makes it look like you mean business. I mounted a spare tire in the back of ours and my wife wanted to know where we would put the groceries? You will have to reach around your bars to get your groceries in. :)

[WIS89]

Great progress y'all!

I am still loving that dash! You both have an awesome vision and creativity.

You are building a beautiful beast!! Good luck the rest of the way.

Regards,

Steve

[QSL]

thanks guys, we hope to button her up next weekend so we can take her to powder coat!

[QSL]

Not Julie... the car.

[68GT500MAN]

Has Julie decided on a color for the frame powder coating? The pressure to make a decision is growing.
Doug

[QSL]

At the moment, she is looking at this... however, it could change...

[MRSQSL]

Week 26:

I am still leaning towards a charcoal/anthracite color for the frame with black panels. This may change once the car is actually at the powder coaters, but we'll see. I would really like to get some input from Jeff Miller on colors since I need to figure out what to do with the dash and I would hate to make a frame/panel decision that clashes or restricts a future awesome color selection. I suppose I should try calling or sending him a message. He's good, but I don't think he's good enough to hear my mental pleas for help.

We didn't do anything on the car Saturday. Instead, we returned the borrowed engine hoist to Scott and played with an adorable "sausage with legs" dog he is currently pet sitting. It is a bulldog that is fatter than fat and may possibly be the most adorable dog I've ever seen (don't tell my three dogs I said that).

Sunday was Coupey day. I knew from the first time I saw the open house coupe with the x in the back, that I wanted to do the same to my car. There were times when it seemed it wasn't going to work out and I was sad, but I could accept that some modifications just weren't possible. When Mike tack welded in the first X bar this weekend, I literally teared up. I don't think he saw as I tried to hide it. Apparently I wanted those bars more than I realized. I absolutely love my new "X". It has been my favorite mod (other than the dash). Side impact bars are nice. Front round tubing looks great. The back X is perfect!!!!!!!

How hard could it be to make an X? Much, much harder than I would've ever guessed. Thank goodness Mike is brilliant and was able to come up with a notching plan that worked on the first try or we would've had tons of scrap tubing and nothing to show for it. Even the notching was a pain as it was done on the drill press, but the tool wasn't made for long tubes or 45 degree(ish) angles. It took a lot of thinking and staring and moving before cutting. Once that was done, how do you decide where the bars meet up and how to keep the "X" from looking deformed? Lots of math and lots of measuring and lots of eyeballing later, we have an X.

I was introduced to a new tool this weekend. I have seen others use it, but was too intimidated to get near it myself. Mike gave me no choice. He had me mark 62" on a section of tube and then told me to cut it. Ummmmmm...how? Chop saw. Nooooooo!!!!!! Chop saws are loud and could easily chop off limbs. Plus, I had already moved the thing once and found it to be obscenely heavy. I'd like to know what makes a welder heavy and a chop saw heavy. I have not exercised enough to lift either easily, so I'd like to demand that tool companies lighten them up for future purchases I may need to make. It's all about me, me, me. Anyway, I got down on the ground and Mike showed me how to line up my mark with the saw and how to mush the tube up against the little metal thingymadoodle and scrunch down on the turny piece. He suggested that I press down on the saw handle thing, but don't push down with consistent pressure. Instead, I should press down and then let up a little and press down and let up, etc. I took this a little too literally and he said (the next time I had to use the saw) not to bounce it up and down so much. Oh, oops. Okay. (Speaking of bouncing up and down too much, did anyone see Miley Cyrus perform on the VMAs? Aly just made me watch it. Makes me sad.) Anyway, I cut the tubing and was very proud of myself for not cutting anything more than the tubing.

I realize with this new gorgeous "X", I'm not really going to have the grocery storage the car was originally designed for. We discussed making hidden lower compartments, but the braces don't really work well for that either and I am set on having my battery hidden in the trunk or rear fender doohickey, but not in the front of the car (which seems to annoy Mike). I don't want to see the battery. I just don't. I'm the woman, therefore I'm right. Hee, hee. I figure I can either tie the grocery bags onto the bars or maybe not take Coupey grocery shopping. Mike pointed out later that the car has racing features in the front and in the middle, so it needed the one in the back as well. I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah. All I know is that I'm happier than I ever thought I would be over some lengths of tubing. I LOVE my new X. I'm not sure how to hide a tool bag, but it'll be worth it in the end.

I think we may possibly have a three day weekend coming up. Wooohooooooo!!!!!!! Lots of car time. I think we are just waiting to finish up the bumper thing in the rear and a couple brackets before calling the frame complete enough for powder coat. I'm so excited. After it returns home, we can kick butt on suspension and get it down on it's four little feet where it belongs. I'm hoping when we return the stand to Scott, he is dog sitting again. LOVE that dog!!!!!!!!

[frankeeski]

I could have gone without the Miley Cyrus reference, I now need to take a shower to wash all that filth off. Julie, you mean to tell me that the whole time my chop saw was at your place that you never had a chance to use it? Now at least I know who to blame for the blade being so worn down when I got it back, Mike. :p
You and the family are making great progress even though you believe differently. Keep it up, you'll be moving quicker soon when it come to assembly versus fabrication.

[xlr8or]

Julie that four paw sausage is here pretty regularly.
We got our new dog Sunday afternoon. 7 month old German Shepherd from a local rescue. He is adapting very well to a comfy bed and air conditioning. Big upgrade from a 6 by 12 pen with a dirt floor.

I sold my coupe today. I'm a little jealous of yours though. When I built mine not many had gone too far outside the box and yours is looking to set a new standard.

[MRSQSL]

No, Frank. I never used your saw. Eeeeeeeep!!!! It's loud and choppy. Although if I had to choose between cutting metal or sanding metal, I'd go for Mr. Choppy Saw every single time.

Nooooooooo! I mean I wanted you to sell your coupe since that's what you wanted but I didn't actually want you to sell it!! Get it back! I took my first ride in it. It had better be going to a good home. I think you should give me sausage dog to make up for all my anguish over this.

Congrats on the new doggie. I'm glad you were able to find one. Sounds like he will be spoiled rotten. Yay!

[SoCalMike]

Mike and Julie, X brace looks great. You guys did an awesome job getting that fabbed up. Can't wait to see it all done. Going to the river this weekend but maybe after we return. Keep up the great work, its paying off.
Mike

[QSL]

thanks... just so everyone else knows, we were actually thinking of doing it removable. The problem ended up being that you would see the joints and we thought that they may not look that great and mess with the mojo. Its still a neat idea, but we had to scrap it.

[xlr8or]

Julie I don't think my daughter would appreciate it if gave her dog away.

New pooch is doing great. Very smart and it taking to training very quickly.

21076

[QSL]

Handsome!!

[MRSQSL]

Oooooooh!!! I love your new dog. He's perfect! I can't wait to meet him (yes, I'm apparently inviting myself over).

Is there any chance you could post or email me a picture of sausage dog? I was telling the kids and they'd really like to see her.

[xlr8or]

PM Sent.

[MRSQSL]

Thank you! I showed Steve both pictures (sausage and new dog). Although he thinks both are really cute, he lit up when he saw your new dog. He wants him.

[MRSQSL]

Week 27:

I'll give a quick update and then I have a story. We didn't actually DO anything on the car, but we have a good reason (no, not excuse...REASON). Jeff Miller came over Saturday morning to do two things: 1) Make sure the body was fitting correctly before we went any further. 2) (more importantly) Help me decide on a color scheme. It appears the body is applied appropriately, however, he pointed out that the doors are going to be a challenge because of the side impact bars. We explained how we'll have to cut the door frame bottom bar and then move it up and weld it back in. He looked like he thought we were insane and suggested we fully cut and install the doors before powder coat. He's right and I was standing there mentally calculating how much longer before the darn coating would be applied. Patience grasshopper. Anyway, we chatted some more and then Jeff made us an offer we couldn't refuse. He said he would come back next weekend with his trailer and we could load the car up and take it to his place. We can cut the doors and stuff there and then he'll help with the fitting to make sure it is right where it should be and that we won't get it all prettied up with colored goodness only to have to pull out a grinder and make some adjustments. Da Bat rocks!!!!!! So, there was really no reason for us to work on the car over the weekend (except that we still have to add the bumper thing and weld on a few brackets), but we also have full time jobs and wanted to relax some. That didn't work out so well since we ended up moving furniture around and other similar fun assorted tasks. I DID do the bulk of the work on the car. I unscrewed two screws holding two panels together. I AM AWESOME!!!!!! (it only took me 10 minutes to find the right tool for the job - Mike had moved it into the house...grrrr)

Story time!!!!!!! As I said before, Jeff came over Saturday morning. He can tell a story like nobody else. I was enthralled. Before I knew it, the clock was claiming 4pm. No food had passed my lips that day, so I was a hungry little munchkin. We asked Jeff if he had plans and were thrilled he would be willing to go out to dinner with us (although I suspect he may never again). We met over at a "creepy" Italian restaurant which we'd only tried once or twice before. Jeff continued to regale us with tales of his life. I swear he has done everything. He has had jobs I didn't even know existed. Absolutely fascinating. He's also very open. I felt like there wasn't anything he wouldn't discuss and perhaps I overstepped my bounds when I asked "Does getting hit in the man parts hurt as much as Mike and Steve claim?" Silence. He looked at me for a minute, so I felt I needed to explain. "They say it is excruciating and leads to nausea and can be several days of pain. Mike tells me it is way worse than childbirth. I'm not saying he's lying, just wondering if he's exaggerating." Jeff continued to stare. Just at the point when I started to feel like I'd made a major error in judgment (wouldn't be the first time and surely not the last), he said "I had a Hot Wheels track...". At this point, I knew the story was going to be good. I put down my drink so I wouldn't shoot iced tea across the table, leaned forward and waited. Jeff actually had several stories. We were laughing. I thought Alyssa was going to pass out with laughter. Steve was nodding in agreement and giggling uncontrollably. I laughed so hard, my sides were throbbing. All of a sudden, I look up and the waitress is standing at the table near Jeff holding food that doesn't belong to us and I realize she has been listening in. Apparently everyone in our section of the restaurant was eavesdropping. The waitress commented that she wanted in on the conversation too. She had to deliver the food, though, so she wandered off. I began asking follow up questions because this is sort of unbelievable to me. I know it hurts, but really? That badly???? I wanted to be sure that if I got attacked, I could get away by a well aimed swat, punch, kick, etc and that the person would not simply get more upset and come after me (like on TV and in the movies). Jeff seemed pretty certain they wouldn't have enough oxygen to rise off the ground as I guess it sort of knocks the wind out of you. I had more questions and leaned in to hear the answers. Suddenly Steve was leaning way over too. I knew he was interested, but didn't think he was THAT interested. He's been hit before and knows the pain. I turned to look and discovered the waitress had not only reappeared, but now she was sitting in the same chair with Steve and had an arm around him so she could lean towards Jeff to hear more of his answers. She apparently had some follow up questions as well. It was perhaps the most amusing conversation I've had in years. There is no reason for me to doubt anything he, Mike or Steve said, but as a woman it's very hard to believe anything could cause that amount of pain (even a gentle tap). Anyway, after dinner the kids said they had a blast and are looking forward to any future meals with Jeff.

[David Hodgkins]

That last post made me curl up into the fetal position. The word "tap" actually gave me a physical reaction. - Sssshhhfink!

:)

[QSL]

And people ask why we don't attend more breakfast / lunch / dinner events... :(

[David Hodgkins]

Mike, maybe something got lost in translation. I LOVE Julie's posts! It's just that even reading about getting tapped "there" make 'em "retreat"! It's all good man!

:)

[xlr8or]

The one and only time I hit a girl was when she came out of nowhere and buried a knee into the boys..(apparently she didn't like what I said about her friend) I thought I was going to die. As I was curling up and about to fall over I caught a breath and backhanded her across the chops and knocked her on her ***. I then promptly fell down on the ground in a fetal position and stayed there for almost 20 minutes.

Julie, it hurt for days. They aren't over stating it.

[MRSQSL]

Am I a terrible person if I laugh hysterically at your pain?

David, I think Mike knew what you were saying. He was more likely trying to explain that I shouldn't be allowed in public. You never know what might come out of my mouth and we've been married long enough to know he should keep me away from people (or at least people he'd like to be friends with).

[frankeeski]

I refer to it as a "near death" experience. Julie, please, no more about our Junk.

[QSL]

correct, Julie should not be allowed to talk to my friends in the future... LOL.

[MRSQSL]

But I'm fascinated. I don't understand how it could be THAT painful. REALLY?????? The waitress suggested maybe size played a part, but I guess it hurts no matter what. I don't think you guys are lying and I absolutely love the stories (sorry for chuckling at your pain). It's just really, really hard to wrap my mind around. I suspect a lot of women feel the way I do. How could it hurt so much and why would you have those on the outside of your body if they are so incredibly sensitive?

[QSL]

yes, the larger it is, the more it hurts. Hence my days of pain. :cool:

[68GT500MAN]

Mike, I will still hang out with you and Julie anytime.
Doug

[j.miller]

Right in the middle of dinner Julie says "Balls" ...Who does that???....da Bat

[NukeMMC]

If you think a "tap" hurts, the shot prior to the vasectomy is MUCH worse.

[David Hodgkins]

AAAAHHHHHHHH! Make it stop! Make it STOP!!

[QSL]

If you think a "tap" hurts, the shot prior to the vasectomy is MUCH worse.

That whole process put me down for a week... :(

[QSL]

Right in the middle of dinner Julie says "Balls" ...Who does that???....da Bat

Jeff, bet you have never been grilled like that before just to get a painting job eh? Wait till she tries to grind you down on price. :)

[frankeeski]

correct, Julie should not be allowed to talk to my friends in the future... LOL.

Who said we are all "Your" friends? Julie is much more colorful. LOL:p

[QSL]

wow Frank, love you too. :)

[QSL]

Julie and Jeff busting *** all saturday. The sweat was pouring and the knuckles were bleeding!

[xlr8or]

If you think a "tap" hurts, the shot prior to the vasectomy is MUCH worse.

Another not so funny to me story for Julie. The morning after the vasectomy I was sleeping on the couch with a bag of formerly frozen corn and my 2 1/2 year old comes out and sees me there so she runs ocross the room and jumps on my stomach. Launched her across the room and scared the crap out of her.

[SoCalMike]

Julie, What you don't realize is that most of us guys are already cruched over just by you talking about inflicting pain to the boys. Why and say WHY would you be so mean to us. What did we ever do to you?

[MRSQSL]

Sounds like you need to invent some sort of padded underwear or something to help protect from excruciating pain.

I was talking to another woman about this subject and she didn't believe it was all that painful either. She devised a plan where she would go home and tap her husband and see if he fell to the floor. I begged her not to and warned it could be the end of her marriage. She hasn't done it...yet. The funny thing is that she told me even if he dropped to the ground, she still wouldn't believe it. Why oh why would you do it????? Poor guy. For the record, I am not evil. I would NEVER do that. BUT it made me curious how many other woman out there doubt the severity of the pain. Thanks to all your comments I am now a believer and I promise to never kick, jab, tap etc unless I'm truly in fear for my life and I won't believe what I see on TV and in movies when the men jump back up and continue with the chase.

[David Hodgkins]

Sounds like you need to invent some sort of padded underwear or something to help protect from excruciating pain.

It's called a cup. Now it ain't no Dixie cup, and it 'aint no coffee mug. And you certainly won't wanna be drinkin' nuthin' out of it!

Forward to the 3:15 mark, or watch the whole thing!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BerJdS2VJhA

Caution; mild cursing.

Still one of the funniest skits of all time, IMO!

;)

[aks801]

Probably the most deviated-from build thread I have ever seen!

[NukeMMC]

Probably the most deviated-from build thread I have ever seen!

I do believe we are being categorized as a bunch of deviants!?!

Thank you! I represent that remark!

[QSL]

just simply means we are a community (family) and not just a simple car thread :)

[xlr8or]

We're all a bunch of nuts anyway.

[Pedalmasher]

We're all a bunch of nuts anyway.

Awwww, Don't get her started about "nuts" again!!

[SoCalMike]

Now David, That is some funny S*** right there!
And no, she's not gonna go there again. Please not there again, the pain, the agony, whimper, whimper.

[QSL]

man, i miss rodney....

great video too!

[QSL]

spent yesterday in the batcave workshop. It was a full day but we sorted out a few big issues and now coupey is ready to have his body removed so we can tidy up the last few things that need to be done!!! Jeff Rocks! Not that it needs to be said here, but not only is he a great resource to have so close by, but he is just a great guy. We had a real fun time "hanging" out with him yesterday. Thanks Jeff!

[QSL]

last pics and i am sure the peanut gallery (julie) will chime in later. :)

[Hankl]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21311&d=1378653982

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21307&d=1378653977

This was the way the SIB was designed to work. With the requirements handed down from Karen, Tom, Jake, and Andrew,
the SIBs were not to interfere with the door if at all possible.

Congrats to the "Da Bat" for taking our modifications and going to another level in artful execution of the idea!!

Hank :cool:

[WIS89]

Great work y'all.

Now I am not going to comment on the previous side bar conversation that was happening, as it just causes me too much pain just thinking about it. Too many times, and too many fetal positions trying to recover than I wish to recount.

You all are doing a great job on Coupey, and you have made a number of really awesome elements, but I still think the best modification is that awesome dash! Thanks for keeping us in the loop of your great work, the previous dialog notwithstanding!

Keep up the great work, and maybe Da Bat will update us during his work as well!

Regards,

Steve

[QSL]

Thanks guys, Jeff also brought the car back saturday night. It was a REALLY long day for him. So we have it here and we are ready to finish it up for powder coat. Thats when the REAL progress begins!!

[QSL]

Hank, I didnt understand your post completely. We did have to modify the doors. We actually cut off the lower bar in the door frame and relocated it up a bar width. We had planned on doing this because from talking to others that had NOT done this, they had some issues during the body fitment stage. Thats really why we decided to do body fitment now so any modifications would be done pre powder coat. We are very pleased with this whole setup and with Jeffs finishing touches, it should really look like it belongs!

[Hankl]

On my and Karens Coupe we didn't have to cut any of the door frames, it could of been because we caught the difference between the two latch mounting points early on. Since the beginning of the Coupes,
the passenger side has been different from the drivers side, in both the door striker location, passenger seat area width, and the body attachment horizontal bar. I'm happy to see that "Da Bat" had a fix for your Coupe, right off the Bat (A little play on words!).
The difference had been mentioned in the Blog for Karens build, but it may not be emphasized enough for everyone to catch. HTH.

Hank :cool:

[QSL]

Oh, Yea, i see. No we did see the 1" drop on the passenger and saw the mention of it on Karens blog. Before we welded on the upper bar, I could see there might be a small issue in adjustment so i called Rick Anderson to see what info he could give me on fitment. Rick said that the final fitment on Karens coupe was rough because the clearance on the door frames was too small. Mine were just barely clearing the side bars too. Rick said that he told someone else that did the mod to just cut the lower bar out of the door frame and raise it. So we carried on with the thought that we would always be modifiying the door frame which looked like a very easy mod to do anyway. When we showed it to Jeff, he confirmed that even if it does clear and its just by a little, thats not good enough. So we cut her up and slimmed her down! Went pretty easy and we only spent about 45 minutes on each door cutting them and welding them back together.

[68GT500MAN]

That door mod looks great and matches the look of the rounded dash and center console. I like the photo of Jeff entering the FWY and seeing Julie in the rear view mirror.
Doug

[MRSQSL]

Week 28:

"Jeff makes it look easy." I'm not sure how many times I said that to Mike over the weekend, but I'd wager at least a half dozen. I know what he did was difficult. I'm positive it was, but Jeff looks so confident even when you know things aren't going as planned. Jeff arrived at our place around 8 Saturday morning. Coupey was loaded up and we followed in the Jeep. When the traffic got a little thicker, Jeff was forced to change lanes once or twice (darn Hyundai driver) and to us (because the stand made the car sit so high), it looked like someone had taken a race car onto the freeway and was weaving in and out of traffic. Mike made the appropriate race car noises. When it was my turn, I made Coupey sounds which were along the lines of "weeeeeeeee". The car was getting to go really fast outdoors. Of course that's what it sounds like. Duh!

At Jeff's shop, the dogs greeted us. I LOVE his dogs. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Jeff paid his animals to keep me distracted so I couldn't interfere with the progress he and Mike were making. It was my job to sit on the floor and pet the creatures. Occasionally I was also supposed to hold Jeff's phone and let him know if it rang. That was tough because he has two dogs that will paw you if you stop petting and yet I still needed another hand to hold the phone. Eventually I was allowed to hold the camera and even a couple tools. I loosened and tightened the nuts for the door hinges while Jeff and Mike made slight adjustments. Then I got to hold down a piece of fiberglass while Mike cut it. I ended up with white dust all over my hands. It was like Christmas snow only I found out later it's itchy. Scratch, scratch. Using the drill with the self tapping screws was the most fun. I like how that little rubber-like piece flattens out and smooshes against the door. Anyway, Mike and Jeff did the hard stuff and they seemed to work well together. I'm not sure how Jeff stayed on his feet the entire day. I kept sitting down with the dogs (cooler on the floor) and I spied Mike sitting on a milk crate every so often. Somehow Jeff remained upright the entire day. I guess he really is Batman.

I have to admit that I made a boo boo. It was my job to do inventory and also my job to make sure we took all the correct pieces and parts with us. Somehow I failed to notice that we only had one door latch. The driver's side was all hooked in with striker and all, but the passenger side is hardware-less. Now that I'm typing this, I realize I still haven't checked to see where the other one is. Hmmmmmm...maybe a project for this evening.

We had known there was a chance we'd have to modify the door frames, but were hopeful it wouldn't be necessary. With the door frames installed (without doors), Jeff saw that the clearance was minimal and declared it would be best to go ahead with the mods. Fortunately, he had a chop saw, plasma cutter and welder. It really didn't take them long. The bulk of the work was in the minor adjustments needed when hanging the doors. Sand a little here and a hair over there, etc. Painters tape is your friend during this process. I was hugely impressed with how well the doors ended up fitting, especially since this was still rough draft. The final fitting should clear out the rest of the tiny issues.

When Jeff had been here the previous week, he realized that cutting the doors to make room for the bars was going to leave an open area that we didn't want. He invented and created a fiberglass piece to install in those areas. I have a little trouble visualizing the final product, but from what my brain tells me, it's going to be perfect. Mike is very excited as well, so this leads me to believe I'm going to love it. We didn't want a hole in the door (at least not an extra one), so this fiberglass piece will bridge the gap and we should be able to upholster or whatever over and you'll never know the door was cut (at least that's my understanding).

In the end, it took about 8 (HOT) hours or so to get Coupey all spiffy with fitting doors and then to remove them again, load the car back onto the trailer and have Jeff drive it home. He really went out of his way on this project (once again). Oh and Mike remembered the other thing you have to paint for us Jeff/Jack. The little 1/4 scale Coupe!!!! It's only three extra meatballs, right? No big deal. Hee, hee.

Here's my honest opinion. If you are building a Factory Five and want to do all the work yourself, go for it. If you are on the fence, DON'T DO IT!!!!!!! By the time you buy all the stuff, do all the work, go to the doctor for the medications it will take to heal your back, spend HOURS researching online, build a paint booth with the correct fans, replace all the items you've broken by throwing them against the wall in frustration, repaint the car a couple times and then finally get it all back together, you could've had a Miller Custom paint job way faster and with a lot less stress. Jeff will do an amazing job (no he's not paying me to say any of this).

[BFFofMRSQSL]

I'm behind on my reading - Jules, I was cracking up at your Italian restaurant tale. Hee heee!!

[Rodster]

Mike and Julie (and Jeff!)

Excellent craftsmanship!

I noticed the "trough" section on the door - that is going to look like it belongs there. Well, it does belong there so nevermind. I think I meant to say that it blends well with the rest of the door.

I am so jealous of your dash. Now I have to think about what to do on mine. . . .

-wayne

[MRSQSL]

Hey Wayne. Good to see you working on your coupe again.

[MRSQSL]

Week 29:

Happy Birthday Mike!!!! (not today - last Saturday)

The most important thing we did on Coupey this week was actually done entirely by me. I located the missing door latch. It apparently had been on the backorder list and then was shipped to us. That box had been placed in the "car pantry" and I found it yesterday!!!!!! I returned it to the box where it's mate currently resides. Beyond that, we didn't accomplish much. I had taken stuff out of boxes in order to be ready for Jeff's last week and we still hadn't put those parts away. I discovered last week that I could get the boxes of inventory off of each other thanks to that handy dandy thing we call gravity. Reversing the process was more difficult. In fact, one might venture to say it was impossible for me. Mike had to pick them up by himself until he realized we could team lift and then he only had to do 90% of the work. That other 10% wore me out and I crashed on the newly rediscovered sofa (covered in Coupey boxes previously). We had some visitors come by to grab an RC body, but the husband knew we were building a coupe and really wanted to see it. I think Factory Five has a potential new customer in the next year or two. Do we get commission on that? :)

I will admit that we are pitiful, but you have to remember that it has been over 100 degrees every weekend for the last month or two. A human can only handle so much heat and only for so long. We are motivated to work on the car, but not thrilled about going outside to do it. If we could somehow find a way to push the car into the kitchen or living room, it'd probably be done by now. I doubt we'll have time to work on it next weekend either and Mike is going out of town AGAIN a couple days this week. I'm incredibly sick of his business trips. I want to stay in a hotel and eat out and have people clean up after me too!!!! I know, it's not all fun and games and he probably hates it more than I do. Anyway, those are my excuses for the week.

Alyssa is a senior in high school this year and now that she drives, she had to pay for a parking spot at the school. The school allows the seniors to paint their spots, so Aly and one of her friends spent most of Saturday painting. Mike, Steve and I went along to supervise, but it was too hot and we left after an hour or so (Steve was forced to stay longer because he rode over with Aly and Mike and I took Scoopy). I don't have a picture of her spot, but it's blue with a big winged heart and there are clouds and music notes and dots. Basically, it is very teenage girly. How does this relate to Factory Five? Well, we pulled in and got lots of looks with Scoopy's snazzy paint job and vrooming engine. We weren't able to park near Aly, so we pulled into the closest space. It wasn't until we were removing ourselves from the vehicle, that Mike discovered someone had spilled a bunch of pink paint on the asphalt and two of Scoopy's feet slopped through it spewing paint onto the bottom edges of the body. Fortunately, we carry a rag with us and Mike was able to get the paint off of everything but the tire tread. He actually ended up painting that black Sunday morning (the pink clashed pretty badly). He tired to convince me we just needed to fry the tires for a bit to solve the problem, but I wasn't falling for that. I don't trust anything that comes out of his mouth when there is a smile attached.

We will be heading off to the Coronado Speed Festival next Sunday, so hopefully we'll see some of you there.

[j.miller]

AH HA!!!!! trying to jack the "Hello Kitty" theme....why do I even talk to people!

[MRSQSL]

Week 30:

My decals arrived!!!!! The best part is that I didn't even know they were coming. If Mike told me he bought them, I wasn't listening. It isn't that I don't care, it's that he chooses to tell me important things while I have one hand making lunches for the next day, one hand making dinner and my mind on work, exercise or some chore that has to be done. He needs to wait until I'm lounging in front of the TV (during a commercial or boring part). Anyway, a package arrived and it was full of nifty decals for Coupey. The number was wrong and I scowled evil-like at Mike, but he explained you have to order the set using a specific original car and the number doesn't really matter since we can add that later. I guess that's true. Okay, forgiveness complete.

We couldn't work on the car Saturday because we were in San Diego. A friend of ours just sent his daughter off to Point Loma Nazarene University and had nothing but good things to say about the school. Since Aly is a senior and is about to tackle all the college applications, decisions, financial aid, etc, I asked if it would be possible for us to take her to the school and maybe his daughter could show her around. It is a beautiful university right on the ocean. I'm not certain what all is involved with the "Nazarene" faith, but we can look into that. The school is small so it is more of a "community". The most striking thing (this will probably seem odd to those of you in other states) was walking around and having these teens look you in the eye and smile. Some even made friendly comments as we passed. What's with all this smiling and eye contact???? At first it was a little creepy, but then I began to really enjoy it. After we left, I was walking around San Diego smiling wildly at everyone before realizing we were back in normal civilization and people were beginning to think I was mentally unstable. I toned it down to an uncomfortable grin thereafter.

Sunday morning we left the hotel and drove over the Coronado Bridge to experience Fleet Week and the Coronado Speed Festival. For those that don't know, this is vintage auto racing which is hosted by the Navy base who brought out lots of military vehicles so we could ogle and touch and sit in them. The helicopters and planes actually had large caliber weapons still attached (unloaded). I was okay with that, but when I got close to a wing and discovered a missile/bomb attached, my level of concern rose and I had to restrain myself to keep from fleeing. Mike reminded me it wasn't "charged", but my imagination brain pieces had a field day in the "scare Julie with terrifying images" department. The level of respect I have for military personnel escalated another notch seeing all the equipment and trying to visualize how difficult it must be to fly one of those contraptions (planes/helicopters). Anyway, we didn't actually get to see a lot of the racing. When we arrived, it was Mazda Miatas on the track which we thought odd since the website had said nothing about anything newer than the 70's or maybe 80's. I can't name any of the vehicles that raced after the Miatas, but some were adorable and somewhat Cobra-esque. It was a real joy to watch. Where else will you see cars of that age whipping around on a track? I wished we could've stayed longer, but the kids were tired and the dogs had been left home alone so we felt it necessary to leave on the early side. Prior to departure, Mike drove a BMW since they had a driving experience thing going on. Aly and I opted not to ride along, but Steve was whipped around ferociously as a passenger. We also took the time to walk through the car show portion which is where many of our fellow FF forum mates were hanging out. I'm not sure how many Cobras attended, but it had to have been at least a dozen (not all Factory Fives). My favorite was the coupe. I LOVE that coupe. It was at HB too. In fact, I believe it won an award at HB. I asked Mike to take a pic of me in front of it, so he should post that this evening or maybe tomorrow morning. I sooooooo wanted to be there with my Coupey. Sigh. One day.

Overall it was a fun weekend, but no progress on the car yet again. I know we can't work on it this Saturday, but I'm hoping maybe we can spend a little time fabricating on Sunday. The weather has finally begun to cool down so it should be much more enjoyable to spend time in the garage. I think the high today was only 94. Ahhhhhhhh...so much better than 100+ temps.

[68GT500MAN]

Point Loma is a beautiful place to go to school.
Doug

[Pedalmasher]

Number decals? Really? Did we forget that we knew someone that did vinyl graphics? :confused:

[MRSQSL]

The number decals are wrong. They say 98 (I think). That's not my chosen number. When the time comes, we will either buy them from "someone we know that did vinyl graphics" or Mike can make them on the vinyl cutter thing he has at work. Those other decals were race specific to that car and were the ones we wanted to use. I assumed it was easier to buy those premade than to try to find all the right logos and things and have them done. Numbers are a different story.

[Pedalmasher]

:p

dv

[Rodster]

What is wrong with 98? It could mean - 98 degrees in the garage as we built it..... Or is the number really 89?

[MRSQSL]

Haa, haaaa!!! 98 in the garage. That would be a lie though. I'd need it to be closer to 104.

You have a point. It could be 89 rather than 98. Might even be 68 or 86. I wasn't paying much attention since I was trying to look at the number and send an evil glare towards Mike simultaneously. One would think I'd have that mastered this far into our marriage.

[frankeeski]

I was trying to send an evil glare towards Mike. One would think I'd have that mastered this far into our marriage.

Trust me, you've got it down. I've seen it. :mad:

[QSL]

Since I am the picture monkey apparently, here they are... :cool:

[MRSQSL]

I prefer "picture mule", but whatever. You didn't include the decal picture. I'm evil glaring you right now even though you can't see.

[xlr8or]

Looks like Fernando's coupe.

[frankeeski]

Looks like Fernando's coupe.

X2, Fernando's for sure.

[MRSQSL]

Week 31:

Been super busy at work so far this week. Keep running out of time. So, here's the update. Nothing happened. The end. That's what Mike wants me to say, but I'm sure I can muster up a little more info than that. We went camping. It's something we try to do at least once a month, so the trip for September was a local place that we really enjoy. It has large spaces with hookups which is a nice treat. Don't get me wrong, dry camping is fun, but I get spoiled by being able to watch TV or charge the electronics or (my favorite) use the microwave instead of the stove. Cleanup is so much easier when you nuke the food. Anyway, Steve took a stab at fishing. He didn't catch anything (Mike claims he did, but I was there and I didn't see any fish nor did my tummy eat any). The guys next to us caught a catfish, but that's not what we were hunting. It was a relaxing weekend with beautiful weather. I really want to work on Coupey this coming weekend and so far (knock on wood), I don't see any reason not to. Aly has to take the SAT exam Saturday morning, so I think we should get up and do some physical work (on the car) while she slaves away mentally. Hopefully we'll have lots of progress and pictures to share next week.

[QSL]

Got some pics this week and actually got some work done. Commentary from the peanut gallery to follow.

[QSL]

last batch

[68GT500MAN]

Mike, with you laying perpendicular and not in the garage how is Julie going to get her build done?
Doug

[QSL]

No. That's in the garage!! That's the lounge area. It counts as work lol

[bil1024]

Union break!

[SoCalMike]

Work, Work, Work... I'm seeing progress, many pieces to every puzzle. Sometimes you just have to recharge the batteries.

[SoCalMike]

What a lounge area, recliner, big flat screen TV, and surrounded by quarter scale race cars. Oh and a cobra and daytona within reach. Some people just live the good life.

[MRSQSL]

Week 32:

Mike did all the work. I'm hoping I never have to say that sentence again. It's just that this was a one man (woman) job and I wasn't needed. I did the usual supervising and criticizing. I occasionally moved something or handed a tool to Mike, but that's it.

Four things were completed. 1) Front tow hook bracket created and welded. 2) The area where we cut out a bar so the trans would fit was repaired. 3) The heater/AC vents were welded in. 4) Mike's nap. Also, I'd like to mention (for the record) the picture of the beer tower was taken early on. There are later pictures with a larger tower.

I think we still need to do the rear tow hook thingy and the bumper. Some of the bars are not welded on all sides, so those will need to be done as well.

I wish I had something more entertaining to say, but when I don't do any of the work, very few mishaps occur. I will say that we were only able to work on the car Saturday because we were off playing with Scoopy Sunday. I may update the Scoopy thread today or tomorrow.

Now that I think about it, one mistake was made. While Mike washed Scoops, Aly and I cleaned up the garage. Huge mistake. Now Mike knows we can move some of the heavier equipment and even the entire car (including nose) without his help, encouragement or supervision. What were we thinking??????

[MRSQSL]

Week 33:

Okay, so you're getting sick of "we didn't do anything". This weekend should be the last one of those. It wasn't that we were lazy. Frank was going to come over Saturday afternoon and also the dash fabricator was going to join us as well. We'd take the body off and get working on the bumper and then the car would've been ready for powder coat. Slight problem. We were running late Saturday. See, Mike hates his commute. We don't live far from the office, but with traffic it can take hours and hours. The other morning, a big rig caught on fire and it took him 3 hours to get there. Today was a more normal morning and it took about an hour and 15 minutes. Keep in mind he is only driving 36.1 miles (according to Google maps). We have been looking to possibly move closer. Instead of working on the car like good girls and boys, we were driving around looking at houses and we had to wait until 1:00 for an open house. I won't bore you with details, but we found the perfect house on a horrible lot and we found a ton of horrible houses on imperfect lots. It looks like we won't be moving this year and maybe not ever. This means it's finally time to do some upgrades on the house. I want granite. I've wanted granite since...well, as far back as I can remember. I figure we can work on the car AND the house at the same time. I'm sure Mike will have plenty of energy to do both. I'm not worried at all. Oh yeah, I'm building the car. I forgot. Okay, well Mike can invite someone over to help us take the body off this weekend so we can finish the fab work and finally, finally send it to powder coat. Then he can go inside and do all the house work while I take the kids and go in the garage and build a Coupey. I'm just as sick of telling you nothing happened as you are of reading it. We are GOING to do work if I have to weld things myself. There WILL be pictures next week. Now I can't promise those pictures will be of the car or me laying unconscious under a tool in the garage or maybe me running around on fire. Stay tuned.

[QSL]

Lucky for you I have these pictures I forgot to post weeks ago! YAY, progress!!! LOL.

[loeffler1]

What's with the dead body in the second pic??

[QSL]

Lol. It's our son relaxing reading the forum!

[MRSQSL]

Man, I'm always telling Mike to move the dead bodies BEFORE he takes pictures. Guess if you want things done right you have to do them yourself.

[68GT500MAN]

Haloween is coming soon, are you practicing?

[MRSQSL]

Haloween is coming soon, are you practicing?

Yes, yes that's it. Halloween. Practicing. (installs halo and innocent angel face)

[SoCalMike]

Hey guys, We are in Havasu this weekend for the Run To The Sun car show but can come down and help next week end if you still need it to get chassis ready for powder coat.

[MRSQSL]

Hey guys, We are in Havasu this weekend for the Run To The Sun car show but can come down and help next week end if you still need it to get chassis ready for powder coat.

Nope. That's unacceptable. You have to cancel all your plans and drop everything to be here this weekend. :) Hope you have a great time. Take some pictures (I've never been to Havasu).

[QSL]

Its so hard to get good free help in this community. I just don't get it.... LOL

[Rodster]

Pizza and beer, beer and pizza?

[JJ'snakepit]

Hi Mike an Julie.... I had a bunch of reading to do but caught up on your build thread. Yes Julie it hurts that bad... You know what I mean. That really got me laughing though, then I had to watched the You Tube Dave posted... Comedy for sure. Your car's looking amazing. It will definitely be a show stopper.. You will probably finish your coupe before I finish my roadster.. Keep up the good work.... JJ

[QSL]

weekend pics!

[QSL]

Last few, julie to comment tomorrow...

[MRSQSL]

Week 34:

I told you so!!!!!! Okay, that wasn't nice.

Saturday morning we went to go finally select our granite slabs for the kitchen. Out of the three they had in stock, two were damaged and the third wasn't one that we really liked. Sad face. Looks like we'll be going shopping again next weekend (not so sad face). Anyway, after the useless excursion, we returned home. Martin (dash guy) came by and we had a nice visit with him. Once he left, we moved everything around and got ready to work. We had barely done anything when Scott (Xlr8tor) arrived. He had some great ideas for Coupey and it's always nice visiting with him. I was hoping he was going to be driving his freshly Overhauled truck, but apparently they have yet to return it to him. I don't think I could be very patient. Plus, I'd have a hard time watching the show. I mean, when all those guys were standing around looking and touching and preparing to dismantle, I got very protective and this was not MY vehicle and it was on TV. I don't think I'd be a good candidate for Overhaulin'. Anyway as Scott pointed out things we should consider, all I heard was "more stuff to do before powder coat...noooooooo!!!!!" He didn't actually say those words, but my brain screamed them over and over and over again. In the end, we accomplished very little actual work on Saturday. Mike and Scott took the body off. With the side impact bars, this required some grinding of the body. Jeff may need to paint Coupey completely assembled. I think the only other thing Mike did was make and weld on a bracket for the rear tow hook. He wasn't feeling well (neck/back problems again), so lots of bad words echoed around the garage during the process.

Sunday morning we went back out into the garage and again moved everything around. Not only was Mike having neck and back pain, but now his head hurt and his stomach was upset. In fact, I left him alone for a few minutes and when I returned I found him on the side yard with his head in a planter. He didn't actually upchuck, but he sure came close. I made him smell some vodka. Okay, that sounds strange. If you feel nauseous, smell alcohol and it takes the nausea away. I couldn't find the rubbing alcohol, so vodka had to do. After a few whiffs, his color started to return and then we coated his stomach internally with pepto bismol. He was almost normal after.

I won't go into excruciating detail, but we made a bracket in front for the power steering pump (I think) to mount to. I get zero credit for that. It was Scott's idea and Mike's handiwork. Mike also finished welding up all the little things that were still awaiting the welder. While he did that, I removed the dash and the steering components. He had told me before he passed out for a nap in the lounge area that I would need to take the wire brush and go around to smooth the weld splatter before powder coat. Okay. Sounds easy. I grabbed the brush and thwacked it back and forth with all my might. Nothing changed. Seriously, the dirt moved, but nothing else looked any different at all. I scrubbed and mooshed, but no change. I decided the best course of action was to plop on the sofa next to him and wait for his eyes to open. I really wanted to go in the house and try to finish the really incredibly difficult 5,000 piece puzzle I'm supposed to have done before Thanksgiving so we can use the table for what it was designed for. Unfortunately, that would mean leaving him snoring in the garage and any thief worth his salt would run in and rob us blind. No, I made the ultimate sacrifice and stared at the walls while I waited. He woke up when the kids came home and agreed the brush was doing nothing. He pulled out some sort of flappy grindy contraption. I was horrified when he handed it to me and told me how to use it. Me? Use that? No!!!!!!! He wasn't letting me off the hook. I walked up to the frame (mentally apologized for the pain I was about to inflict) and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I couldn't even pull down all the way. Mike explained the safety feature. Oh. Okay. I tried again. Zrooooom!!!!! Eeeeeep!! The first few pictures he took of me showed a very crinkly forehead filled with giant concern lines. As I got used to the mahoodle-doodle, it wasn't so bad. I think the only thing that freaked me out was that it doesn't stop immediately after you let go. The engine stops, but the wheel keeps spinning and I felt like I was going to stick it in a very tender, stupid place by accident. Maybe a finger (had gloves on) or maybe my hip or my forehead. I don't know how or why I'd do that, but fear isn't necessarily a logical beast. At some point the kids came out and they helped too. I can't say it was fun, but we smoothed down all weld splatter and anything that wasn't smooth as a baby's bottom. Coupey was ready for powder coat. Kind of. I pointed out a couple spots I felt should be welded. Mike welded them. I then pointed out a few more spots. He told me to weld them myself. No. Yes. No. Yes. No. That went on for awhile, but he told me it was safe for me to try in that spot and I couldn't do any damage. Fine. I started out doing really well. I think Mike was shocked at my skills. Yeah, but that didn't last long. I kept telling him I couldn't see. The mask would turn dark and then I couldn't find the edges I was trying to smoosh together. I welded on one side or the other side or on no side. It was frustrating. It looked terrible and I was mortified. I was ready to throw in the towel, but Mike told me to wear the mask and watch him weld. I don't know how he can do so well without looking, but his weld was great. Oh, wait. Wait, I see what he's doing. My problem was that I was moving the wand thing a lot. He lined it up with his arm resting on something and barely moved his wrist. Wait, let me try this. I lined myself all up and gently wobbled my wrist back and forth. My weld was almost as good as his. Yay!!!! Wait, sad face. There's nothing left to weld. The bulk of what I did looked monstrous and the powder coat guy is going to think King Kong got a welder caught between his toes. I'll master this welding thing the next time something flat needs to be bonded to something else flat. If nothing else, I learned what NOT to do and it was fun. We cleaned up and headed in for the night. Now all we need to do is find a trailer to rent and check with the powder coat place to make sure we can bring the car in. Mike went from thinking about taking a day off to being grumpy when I mention taking a few hours off. I can't complain. He worked like a champ on the car even when he felt like he was dying. That's love. I'm a very lucky woman.

[loeffler1]

Third photo - welder extrodinaire!! A lot of dead bodies again in the other photos. Is there some virus in the CA air?? LOL

[Presto51]

A lot of dead bodies again in the other photos. Is there some virus in the CA air?? LOL

Nope, no virus, just women working their men into the ground :rolleyes:

[QSL]

Busy weekend! Julie will narrate. But meanwhile, try to find the dead body... man those things are everywhere!!! LOL.

[QSL]

Pics!!!

[QSL]

last batch

[MRSQSL]

Week 35:

I miss Coupey and I got bamboozled again.

Tuesday morning I called the potential powder coater and he said to bring the car down between 6am and 3pm. I went online and rented a 6 x 12 Uhaul trailer with ramps. Mike kept asking if I was excited, but I wasn't. I don't feel comfortable when the car is out of my sight and I especially hate that it has to ride in a trailer on a freeway where people could accidentally hurt it. That and I was going to have to pick up the trailer all by my lonesome (unless I could talk the kids into going) and I was a little nervous about driving with it. Actually, I was nervous about backing up to the trailer. The driving part seemed pretty easy. I mean you go and it follows. That seems pretty simple.

I left work about 15 minutes early and made my way over to the Uhaul lot. I did all the paperwork stuff and they told me to bring it back the next day after 8 am. I said I thought I might be earlier. They told me just to back it into the same spot, detach it and then put my rental agreement in the drop box (pointing at the door). Okay. He repeated this twice (I'm a redhead, not a blonde). He directed me to drive my truck back down the hill and then turn sharply to go up over the curb and into the dirt lot where I'd meet him and all I had to do was back up following his hand signals. Butterflies were moshing in my stomach. I did as told except for the following his hand signals. I was looking in my mirrors so everything seemed backwards or inverted or something. I had Aly with me and I kept asking her to tell me what he wanted, but she was looking in a mirror and having the same problem. Ugh. Feeling like I shouldn't have mentally made that redhead comment. I was able to back up within about two inches and he just hefted the trailer tongue thing the rest of the way. Yay! He reminded me about dropping off the paperwork and we both pointed at the box. Got it.

I drove home (staying under the 55 mph towing limit). I even managed to park nicely up near the curb with no issues. Aly and I high fived and trounced into the house.

Before the sun even rose the next morning, Mike, Aly and I were outside trying to shove the frame up into the trailer. Let me caution all you future Coupe owners. A 6 x 12 utility trailer with ramp will work for your car, but ONLY if you have the car on a stand like the one we borrowed from the now famously overhauled Scott. The frame is apparently 13' long, not 12'. This is not my fault. I didn't do the measuring. Wait, maybe that does make it my fault. Whatever. The stand raised the car just enough so the extra foot could dangle over the trailer tongue.

We made it to the powder coat place in record time. Seriously, traffic was not normal for 6:30 on a Wednesday morning in California. Mike had to back the trailer down a driveway sort of area and through a gate and then turn slightly so the frame and stand could be unloaded. With his extremely painfully throbbing back and neck, my only job was to stand where he could see me and make sure I gave him the appropriate hand signals. On the third attempt at backing up, one of the powder coat employees came out and flawlessly guided Mike back. This has nothing to do with Mike's driving skills. As he exited the truck, he explained I kept standing where he couldn't see me. Oops. Sorry. Guiding trailers in reverse was not on my marital resume and perhaps he should've looked deeper into that before agreeing to marry me all those many years ago.

After unloading the frame, we were ushered into the color selection room. There really weren't as many samples as I had hoped, but we made due. It was also still dark, so taking them out into the sunlight was not an option. We saw two which would've been fine. Both were that charcoal kind of color and one was a smidge darker than the other. We opted for the lighter of the two and I was pleasantly surprised to see the name was "Anthracite" (I'd been calling it that for months). The person who actually gives the quotes wasn't in, so the worker man smiled, nodded and (in broken English) told us they would give us a call.

To make an already really long story, less long, we returned the trailer and encountered traffic because of an accident which Mike was now going to have to deal with for a second time on his way BACK to work. Sorry Pookie. Mike expertly backed in and unhooked the trailer while I pretended to look like I was using proper hand signals and then dropped the rental agreement in the box on the door as I was ordered to do repeatedly.

Two days passed before I was able to finally get in contact with the powder coat guy. I was practically in panic mode at that point. They had gotten my frame and were going to sell it on the black market or something. Poor Coupey. I should've given it a hug before I left. Oh no! Yeah, so maybe I was a smidge on the melodramatic side. The guy gave me a quote, but told me the color was not in stock and it would be $200 cheaper if I picked one that was. He also told me they hadn't used that color in 8 years because they had a blotchiness problem with it and even the rep said there was an issue. They switched to the darker color. I didn't want to go darker though. He told me he could still order it and didn't think after 8 years it would still have the same problem. I called Mike and we agreed I should drive down there and pick out a color they had in stock. It would likely be silver since that's what I originally wanted. I get there and there are two possible silver options. One is majorly sparkly and scares me because I don't want to have a clown car. The other option is so dull though. It has no sparkle. I take pictures and send them to Mike (overcast day, so still no sun). He can't see because I don't have a smart phone and my pictures look awful. We talk on the phone for a bit and agree too much sparkle is probably better than no sparkle which we both know will make me super sad. I'm a woman. Bling is a good thing. All the way home, though, I'm thinking I made a mistake. Mike tries to reassure me, but he didn't actually get to see the color so it's not like I can blame him if we get it back and the car looks horrendous. He tries to remind me we won't see THAT much of the frame because lots of other stuff will be going on the car (including the body). Okay. Yeah, I feel a little better. I'm definitely not confident in my choice, but I know for a fact I wouldn't have been happy with the dull one. I just hope this isn't 60's amusement park ride sparkle.

Now that the coupe is on vacation, we have an empty spot in the garage. The plan has been to remodel the inside of the house. Is that what we did this weekend? No. Mike said. "Hey sweetheart. You know what I was thinking? While your little Coupey is gone, we should redo the garage floor so it has a nice, clean home to come back to". I fell for it. Not only that, but part way through the back breaking labor on Saturday, he declared I was right about the wall color not matching anymore and we should paint the walls too. Why is it I'm only right when it benefits the garage? Keep in mind his neck and back hurt so while he was able to do a lot of the painting, he wasn't able to sand the floor or move all the stuff in the garage, etc. And of course his back was causing him excruciating pain when it was time to build the "gun cleaning table" we bought. I spent a large part of Saturday and a small portion of Sunday building the thing. We still have one more room of the garage to paint which Mike has informed me he'd like to do after work tonight. Great except it requires moving every single Coupey inventory box along with a sofa, wall mounted TV, etc. I was actually shocked the kids came home from school today. I kinda thought they'd run away and come back only when the garage was finished. Steve wants to know why we keep painting the floor every couple years. I have an answer for him. The state of California will not allow anyone to sell us a clear coat for the epoxy floor. Grrrrrr...

One last story note. I got a call from Uhaul Wednesday night asking when I was going to return the trailer. I explained to the woman I had returned it at 7:45 that morning and had put the paperwork in the drop box as requested. The next afternoon I got an email of my receipt for Uhaul showing they charged me for two days because I didn't return it until Thursday at 10:55am. I called and spoke to a man who said it must be a mistake and that I needed to drive to Uhaul to get my refund. DRIVE!!!!!! I drove. I was friendly. I behaved. I got my refund, but they shorted me about $5. I sucked it up. I'm renting the same trailer from the same place this Wednesday. The powder coater already called and said my car is ready to come home. The garage isn't yet, so Wednesday afternoon will be the big reveal. I sure hope I like the color. Scared face.

[Rodster]

That was a quick powercoat job - can't wait to see the chassis color.... in the sunshine....

[tirod]

However it turns out, don't mention bass boats.

[SoCalMike]

Now that Steve is done learning "Sand De Floor" from Mrs Miagi and the most important room of the house is all bright and pretty the chassis can be brought back.
So whats the verdict? Its Wednsday, how does it look? Pictures, we need pictures!!! The suspense is killing us.

[SoCalMike]

Oh, and you guys copied the floor color of my garage. I also know where to get the clear but you would have to move everything out for 24 hours. Its some nasty stuff going down, requires you wear a resperator while applying.

[MRSQSL]

Mike has the pictures so I can't show you how much I love my new bass boat. Hee, hee. No, I definitely love the bling. I'm not sure how men will feel about it, but I couldn't be happier. I'm so glad I went with super sparkle instead of no sparkle. We did a ton more work in the garage and I think Coupey and Scoopy love their updated home.

[68GT500MAN]

No photo's it did not happen.

[QSL]

Ok, ok, here you guys go!!! LOL.

Garage remodel is almost done! One more side to clear coat and I just need to now clean the place up and we should be ready to rock!

P.S. YES that's carpet in the third bay. :) That's the "lounge"

[68GT500MAN]

Now that is more like it! The frame looks great and the smile on Julie's face sparkles too. Now the build will really start to rock.

[John Dol]

Bada BLING bada boom!
Garage and frame look great. Bet you guys will pass me now in no time.

John

[WIS89]

The frame looks great. I can't imagine it without the sparkles frankly! Good choice.

Like the garage too!

Regards,

Steve

[cobrajj]

Very nice!

[xlr8or]

Looking good guys.

[MRSQSL]

If it wasn't for Halloween, I'd probably have the car totally finished by tomorrow morning. ;) I guess I'll take the night off (well if you consider following kids around the neighborhood carrying extra bags, water, etc a night off...). I'm glad you guys like it too. Yay!!

[SoCalMike]

Sweet, and with all that BLING will need shades next time I'm over. Floor is looking really nice too, reminds me of home. LOL.
You know, with all that sugar from the candy last night the car should be like half way assembled today. You just missed out on a perfectly good sugar high!

[Rodster]

Looking good - thanks for the update. Now I gotta get more work done on mine.

[QSL]

Some progress made finally!

[MRSQSL]

Week 36:

I learned a lot this weekend. 1) The build manual needs to be rewritten for "dummies". 2) Some people were not meant to build cars. 3) Lower expectations are going to be necessary for the remainder of the build. 4) The build is going to take a lot longer than I anticipated.

Mike insisted on clear coating the other side (my side) of the garage Saturday morning, so I couldn't work on the car. That's okay. I had other things to do. By evening, though, I was a smite grumpy when Coupey was still outside and darkness was descending. I realize it wasn't Mike's fault the floor wasn't dry. We moved the outside cars around so they blocked the frame in completely. The only way anyone was getting that bad boy out was with a crane. Right before bed, Mike caved and moved the frame indoors. Poor little cold, shivering car.

Sunday morning I bounded out of bed and leapt out into the garage. Well, actually I went down and worked on the puzzle until Mike came along and convinced me I shouldn't be scared of starting the build. It wouldn't be hard and I'd have the suspension on by the end of the day. I wanted to believe him, but there was a niggling in the back of my brain.

Step one was to read the instruction manual. "Look, I'm already on page 59", I shrieked. Mike grimaced, probably wondering why he continued to invite me into the garage. I wanted to quote directly from the manual, but I'm in my office and it's cold and I don't want to get up. I'll paraphrase instead: Install the front lower control arm. Let me point out that I didn't cut out major portions of the instructions. That was it. The build manual simply told me to install it. Okay Factory Five. Here's the deal. You all may know what a front lower control arm is and how it "installs". One of us does not. A simple picture with maybe an arrow or two would go a long way towards helping us less mechanically inclined folks. I knew they probably came with the Levy stuff and most likely were those heavy things in the top of the pantry wrapped in bubble wrap that are too high and too heavy for me to fetch. I whipped out some cleavage, sauntered over to Mike and lovingly pleaded with him to help a damsel in distress. In return, I received a giant eye roll and the parts. I unwrapped them, but had no clue which was top and which was bottom and which side was which or even what would be considered upside down. Back to sauntering and pleading. Mike looked at me like I was incredibly "special" (I don't mean that in a good way). How, he wondered, could I possibly not know this basic, simple, elementary information (not his words). Ummmmmm...I didn't help with suspension on Scoopy at all and I've never built another car nor did I work at a dealership, mechanic, car wash, etc. It was not taught in school. I have a sneaking suspicion that when they separate the kids for "sex ed", the boys actually learn important car terms while the girls learn about fallopian tubes. Anyway, Mike gave me a few tips and then groaned when I couldn't figure out which of those tab things they actually bolted to. How was I supposed to know you had to use all four holes? Not a rocket scientist. Doing my best here. I was very proud of myself when the front lower control arms were mounted. Yeah so the spacers didn't fit exactly right and nothing was installed permanently (torqued). I was thrilled the part was sticking to the car and hadn't clunked to the ground in a clangy pile of metal. That's a win in my book.

I won't take you through every step of my day, but let's just say that I was less than thrilled that I'd have to take things off and put them back on more than once. Mike's term "mocking up" doesn't make me smile, but instead makes me want to throw things. The bolts for the lower shock mount were too short and we needed some more washers to use as spacers, so a trip to the store was in order. I wanted to drop everything and go, but Mr. Husband said I had to finish "mocking it all up" so I'd know if I needed anything else. I'll mock something up. Mutter, grumble.

The shocks were next. The first words out of my mouth were "how can shocks hurt or kill me"? I wish I could describe the look on Mike's face when I ask questions like this. He assured me that unless I got out tools to compress the springs, it would be impossible for me to get injured. Do you see the second picture up there with bandages on my hand? I can assure you that shocks most definitely can cause pain. First, let me read to you from the manual (which I've now worked up the energy to fetch from the garage): "Double check the jam nut under the rod end and bump stop to make sure that it is tight." There is not a picture to help with this step. What are you trying to tell me? First, I don't know what a jam nut is. Second, what's a rod end? Third, are you sure this thing has a bump stop? I looked at both ends. Where is the thing that could get lose? Cleavage, saunter, etc. Mike told me to get him a screwdriver and a wrench and he'd check them for me. I watched intently as he lowered the squishy thingy and checked the "jam nut" (sounds like it would be delicious with coffee by the way). He confirmed they were tight and handed me back the contraption. Next step "Screw the spring seat down on the sleeve so it is closer to the unthreaded end". Seriously? No picture yet? "Slide the coil sleeve over the body of the damper beginning at the end which has the rubber bump stop". Now we are getting somewhere. I know what a damper is and there is only one rubber mabob AND there is a picture. Just for funnies, I threadlocked one part to another part because Mike told me to. I can't tell you exactly what because I don't know the terminology. The black thing that slides got locked to the red thing that doesn't. Next came the snap ring. Yeah, right. Snap rings don't like me and I don't like them. Mike essentially built the first shock while I watched. Nothing injured him and it seemed somewhat simple. Shock #2 was all mine. I snatched the snap ring tool and immediately plopped to the ground in frustration. The pointy things don't open far enough to plonk into the holes in the snap ring. How am I supposed to do this? Mike told me it was possible and I'd just need to work at it. Fine. I tried and tried and was ready to cry or throw everything when I decided maybe taking my gloves off would help. I had managed to hook that stupid ring once or twice after that, so I wasn't going to give up. Trying, trying, trying...OUCH!!!!!!! The stupid pliers slid off the ring and took off all the skin down my thumb and off of my pointy finger. That's it. I'm going to get that stupid little ring. I was so thrilled and shocked when I succeeded, I started dancing around the garage yelling. Eye rolls. It took some doing, but I managed to assemble that entire shock. Steve helped me with the snap ring re-application. He held the shock while I moaned and shoved and squished and flung. We high fived when it finally succumbed.

In the end, nothing is torqued down and it was a very frustrating day for me. I need to remember that I'm slower and much less experienced than I want to be, so this is going to take longer and require more patience. I will build this car, but I am going to shriek and flop and possibly even throw myself on the floor in an angry huff. By the end of next weekend, I'm hoping to have the front assembled and torqued. I don't want to set a higher goal at this point. For the record, I would be more than happy to get together with Factory Five and make a build manual aimed more at the extremely inept or inexperienced builder. All it really needs is more pictures and maybe a section with the name of the parts (with pictures). A few arrows here and there couldn't hurt. If I thought I'd ever build another car after this, I'd totally rewrite the manual to save my future self hours of frustration. Castle nut? Jam nut? Spindle? What the heck does a spindle look like? I know now. I see from skimming the manual that I have some fun terms coming my way: traction lock bracket, spring perch, sigh. Oh! Okay, important technical info. If you are using Levy control arms and are building a coupe, the top shock mount holes need to be redrilled about an inch back. Haven't done that yet, but I'm sure that will be coming in the very near future. We mocked it up now, so we know for sure the spring will rub on the upper control arm if we don't relocate the mounting point. ARGH!

[Pike]

Thank you for the write-up. Don't give up...I've been following this thread and it's fantastic. My inspiration when I decide to pop the cork and order mine!!!! You made my day!!!

[68GT500MAN]

Julie, you have a 1' to 1' example in the other side of the garage than can be used in almost all of the suspension part of the build. If you have a question just go over and look at the roadster for the answer. The important thing is to keep at the build, do NOT let your frustration get in the way of accomplishing something.
Doug

[MRSQSL]

Thanks for the support and encouragement. Unfortunately, the roadster isn't exact (and Mike keeps it covered). We don't have Levy arms on Scoopy. Plus, some idiot went and put the body on the roadster, so I can't see down in there very well. I have Encyclopedia Mike and he knows what he's doing. I'm just determined to do as much as I can by myself. Even though I make him out to be an eye rolling monster, he's actually pretty darn supportive and a wealth of knowledge. I'm hoping Scoopy and Coupey are more similar in future build sections.

I forgot to mention in the update that Jim (Cobrajj) made a surprise visit on Sunday. We were thrilled to see him and chat for a bit. He got there just in time to see me fight with a bolt that got itself wedged in from the powder coat. Mike used a hammer to get it through the hole, but my weak little fingers couldn't pull it back out. Once Mike ripped it from it's stubborn home, he used the Dremel to clean out the opening. All better. He even turned his back long enough for me to snatch up the dremel and take a stab (literally) at cleaning out one of them. Kinda fun.

[QSL]

Todays pics! Enjoy!

[QSL]

last batch. Julie to follow with comments.

[68GT500MAN]

I can't wait to read Julies commentary about the weekend. Those control arms add a lot of bling to the chassis and it looks like she is getting a lot of help from the family.

[MRSQSL]

Week 37:

What Mike didn't post was the picture of my newest bandaged finger. I have decided that Coupey hates me. I don't know why and I've tried to be extra nice to see if it makes a difference.

The very first thing I did on the car was to unbolt the top shock bolt so that Mike could turn the spacers on the lathe to make the parts look all blingy. I grabbed a wrench and attacked (gently). Some part of my brain knew the shock might fall, so it reached my hand out to stop the movement and protect the powder coat. I didn't realize my brain cared very little about the fingers it is supposed to be protecting. The shock slammed onto my finger which slammed against the frame and caused my finger to be smashed between the two. I screamed and immediately plunged into the lovely hunched over, moaning position I have adopted each time I've worked on the car since it came back from powder coat. There was a little blood and a lot of throbbing. I'm glad I drink milk every evening as the bone did not seem to be broken, just a bruised, swollen, sad finger. As I was still squirming and mentally cursing and writhing in pain, I noticed the force of the crash caused the spacers to plummet to the ground and one was very near the cabinet. I bent down a little more, releasing my injured finger, and grappled for the metal. Whoosh. Off it shot under the pantry into "never to be seen again" land. Mike kept asking how I could possibly hurt myself again. I tried not to shout as I explained firmly that I did not know. I asked him to give me the alligator. I don't know what the thing is really called, but that's my name for it and I've forced everyone in the family to accept the name so they can hand it to me when I drop/throw/kick/knock parts into impossible to reach crevices. After a short battle, I was finally able to pull the escapee back to safety. At this point, I didn't want to work on the car. Instead, I went in the house where Aly bandaged my finger (pushing unnecessarily hard on tender spots) and I took some pictures of it.

I traipsed back into the garage now angry and determined to force the car to submit. Mike had confirmed that we would need to carve out new holes for the upper shock attachment in order to gain clearance with the Levy arms and the springs. He thought it would just be an inch back, but someone posted somewhere that the hole also needed to be moved down slightly. I grumbled and held things while he measured and marked and measured a bunch more times. The other person was correct. The holes needed to go back and down, so I'm quite thankful Mike had done his research (probably should've been my research - oops). We had visitors at this point, but several hours later Mike drilled the holes and Aly and I vacuumed up the shards of metal. We reattached everything and left the garage thinking all we'd have to do next time was to torque all the bolts. Did I mention Coupey hates me?

Sunday morning brought a change of plans. We were originally going to demo the kitchen countertops (getting new ones), but we got a slow start and then discovered there was a potential issue and we may not need to do it quite yet. That allowed us to spend a good chunk of the day in the garage. Step one was to tighten the bolts attaching the front lower control arm to the frame using 110 ft/lbs of torque. I don't weigh 110 lbs, but I'm sure I'll have no trouble exerting that force (said in a confident voice). Steve agreed to help. In fact, he used the torque wrench while I held the nut still. Did you know the little numbers etched onto the round, spinny part of the wrench mean something? I didn't. I thought you just lined up the 110 line with the round part and you were done. No! Those numbers change it from 110 to 111 to 112 and so on. I was feeling very smart after Mike filled me in on that. So Steve lost traction before 110 ft pounds. He even tried putting all his weight on the wrench and looked adorable with feet dangling in the air. He just didn't have the heft required. That and I lost the ability to hold the nut still (in all fairness, he had more leverage than I did). Mike came over to save the day. It turns out every bottom bolt was the same - needed his help at the end. It must be nice to be strong.

The next thing the manual suggested we torque was the castle nuts on the lower spindles. Okay. I adjusted the wrench and waved it in front of Mike to confirm I had it set correctly. Yay me! I turned and turned and turned and turned that wrench. It seemed like it was never going to get tight. Mike took a look and discovered my epic fail. I had torqued the nut while the spindle, ball joint, etc were at a slight angle. Apparently this caused galling or cross threading or something equally as awful. I was able to turn and turn because the nut had bonded itself to the ball joint threads and the entire joint was twisting rather than the nut. D'oh! Mike tried some creative solutions involving a blow torch, a jack, wood, vice grips, hammer and so on. I got really lucky he was able to use brute strength (probably herniating a few more discs) and a couple of handy dandy tools to finally get the nut off. I felt horrible. I didn't know. So, helpful tip for all builders using Levy arms and at the torqueing stage. Make sure you disconnect the upper control arm and make sure the whole assembly is level before you torque the poo out of the castle nut. Fortunately, Mr. Levy must sit by his phone just waiting for us to call. He answered right away and was able to email Mike the part number for the ball joint that we would now need to replace. Sigh.

When all was said and done, we made a couple trips to the store to get bolts, nuts, washers, etc and we have one completely torqued and ready to go suspension side. The other is a mess and is basically a bunch of pieces laying around waiting to be reunited in a much healthier manner. Thank goodness Mike is so strong and smart. I don't know what we'd do without him.

Mike said I should mark the bolts with nail polish so I would 1) know which ones I torqued and 2) be able to take one look to see if any had loosened. Don't have to tell me twice. Nail polish. Woo hooooo!!!! Decisions, decisions though. What color? I raced upstairs and began sorting. I wanted something that would contrast sharply enough to be easily seen, yet not clash. It would have to be a solid color rather than a sparkle, glitter or other metallic. So many choices. I opted for a bright pink shade that I absolutely adore. I forgot, though, that the brush is much wider on this particular model. My lines are very thick. Oh well. They are pink and go well with my bling frame. I'm hoping the color cheers Coupey up. I'm tired of getting hurt and having everything go wrong.

I should probably mention that the castle nut was a (sorry about the bad word here) b!tch. Gordon told Mike to put washers under the lower castle nuts in order to get them to engage in the taper, but leave the nut high enough for the cotter pin. I may be completely wrong with how I said that, but my brain says that's what Gordon said, so that's what you get. We had gone to the store to get more 5/8 washers, but they didn't have any thin ones. What we got was too thick for 3 washers, but too thin for 2. The nut didn't want to line up with the hole for the pin and still be within torque specs. It was frustrating and painful and I ended up grunting a lot while pulling on the torque wrench with all my might and praying it wouldn't slough off and catapult me into painful metal protrusions. I don't know why it finally succumbed, but it did.

Okay, so that's what happened this weekend. I think I have to work next weekend and we will be spending evenings working on demo in the house. I don't know how much work will get done on the car this week, but hopefully something. The ball joint should be here in the next few days and I'm supposed to pick up the steering rack we ordered tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully all goes well and I will be able to report on a fully torqued front with no new finger (or other) injuries.

[Hankl]

Week 37:

I have decided that Coupey hates me. I opted for a bright pink shade that I absolutely adore.

Guess WHY???

Its a monster and it knows it! It deserves respect, and I don't think it likes "Coupey", Any bolt marks should be painted the same colors as any injures that the Coupe can deliver, preferable colors are, Red, Black and Blue, for obvious reasons.



Hank :cool:

[QSL]

julie bleeds pink, so she is good. :)

[Jeff Kleiner]

Julie,
Sorry about the smashed finger :mad:

Looking at the photos of the assembled front suspension...are you missing the dust boot for the upper ball joint?

Jeff

[Gordon Levy]

Mono ball upper ball joint. No dust boot.

Pink is just wrong

[QSL]

Wait till you guys see the eyelashes she got to go over the headlights :)

[NukeMMC]

Wait till you guys see the eyelashes she got to go over the headlights :)
Blasphemy!!!!!

[xlr8or]

Mike don't tell them about the daisy stickers she bought for the doors and dash. ;)

[John Dol]

I've seen the spy pics....it's not pretty :p

John

[MRSQSL]

I could use some advice. Since pink bolt markings, eyelashes and daisies seem too feminine all by themselves, I was wondering if I should "man it up" with some cow/bull decals and/or mud flaps with naked women silhouettes? I'll need to make sure the decals don't mess with the Lambo doors, so not sure if I can fit bulls AND daisies. I didn't know there were going to be so many difficult decisions on this build.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Thanks for the clarification Gordon.


...I was wondering if I should "man it up" with some cow/bull decals and/or mud flaps with naked women silhouettes?

No, of course not. Your mudflaps will need to include this silhouette (in either pink or chrome, your choice)

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/MUD-FLAP-MAN-Sticker-Funny-Trucker-Vinyl-Decal-Fat-Joke-Mudflap-Sexy-Car-Window-/00/s/MTYwMFgxNjAw/$(KGrHqV,!nsE-)ZM2BkuBP50pKCGpQ~~60_35.JPG

Jeff

[MRSQSL]

Oh my.

[John Dol]

you could put a nice set of bull horns on the hood!

John

[Rodster]

Maybe this logo would be most suitable:

23342

[Colonist]

So, is Coupey surly because she needs a new, grown-up name? If so, you should consider having a naming contest. You know, the sort of thing you have when the kids start growing up and they no longer respond to names like Poopy and Croupey....

[MRSQSL]

Week 38:

Mike did all the work this week (on the car that is). He took the rear end in to have it checked out. All is good. They pressed something so the ball joint came out of one thing and went into another. They also pressed in other things on various assorted parts. Super technical, huh? Sorry. I don't really know what's what. We stopped at Pep Boys and got some paint so Mike spent the last couple evenings painting the steering rack and rear end pumpkin thing and two parts that look like large spindles. I'm not sure what those are. The odd thing is the coloration. Two cans of paint were exactly the same. The third can looks like a different color (slightly) even though it says the same thing on the can. Very odd. It's okay since everything goes well together. Something came from Breeze, but I haven't had a chance to open the box yet. I think it's solid mounts for the steering rack.

We didn't have time to do anything this weekend as we spent the last four days working non stop (dark to dark) at our newest location (the company we both work for). There is still a ton to do. Mike will be there for a couple months and I'll be there a couple days this week. It was hard to even stay awake to eat dinner, so Coupey (or whatever you guys decide to name it) didn't get any of the love and attention it deserved. Besides, my squished finger is still having some nerve issues so I think I'll wait a bit longer before going back out there to be injured again by the car. Hopefully we'll be in the garage some on Sunday.

[xlr8or]

Julie just cover your finger with bubble wrap and duct tape, you'll be fine. ;)

[WIS89]

Julie just cover your finger with bubble wrap and duct tape, you'll be fine. ;)

Actually, I was always told to rub some mud on it--or dirt if no mud was available. Then, according to my Dad, you should be fine!

I enjoy your progress and detailed updates! Thanks for being so committed to keeping us "in the know" on your build.

Here's to swift progress without injury.

Regards,

Steve

[racephotoman]

See you installed injectors - any feedback regarding setup performance. I wanted to, but was basically talked out of it by many.

Walter

[QSL]

do you mean the intake? Not sure yet since we have not run it. On the roadster i have a weber setup and i can tell you, that the look alone is worth admission. The performance is not bad either and the sound is really sweet. I expect the same with this setup, but perhaps a lille easier to manage/tune.

[QSL]

Pics of progress!

[xlr8or]

Actually, I was always told to rub some mud on it--or dirt if no mud was available. Then, according to my Dad, you should be fine!

Steve

That's for when it's still bleeding. Pack it with fresh dirt and wrap with duct tape. My suggestion was so she could get back to work on the car. ;)

[68GT500MAN]

I like the look of the powder coated spindles and pumpkin.

[WIS89]

That's for when it's still bleeding. Pack it with fresh dirt and wrap with duct tape. My suggestion was so she could get back to work on the car. ;)

I stand corrected; my apologies. In any case, I hope the paw is better, and you get back to it straight away!

Regards,

Steve

[MRSQSL]

Week 39:

Nothing to report on the car. Instead of working in the garage, we worked in the house. Technically, WE didn't do the work. Frankeeski (sorry if I spelled that wrong) and Julie installed granite in our kitchen. Looks awesome!!!! I think Mike may have taken a picture or two. I've waited about 15 years to finally have granite countertops and now I can't stop staring at them. Anyway, we will definitely be working on the car this weekend since it's a four day weekend. Can you say wooooo hooooo????????

For the record, I accidentally ended up getting my finger all dirty and it feels better now. Still a little nerve oddity, but much improved over last week. I'll try wrapping it in duct tape and see if that helps. :)

[frankeeski]

Week 39:

Frankeeski (sorry if I spelled that wrong) and Julie installed granite in our kitchen. Looks awesome!!!! I think Mike may have taken a picture or two. I've waited about 15 years to finally have granite countertops and now I can't stop staring at them.

:)

No wrong spelling Julie, I don't capitalize it since it's not a proper name but.......For the record, your kitchen is going to turn out awesome. We did take pictures and anyone wanting to view them can follow the link to our facebook page and view them. You do not have to have a facebook account to view our page. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.678450555512747.1073741833.145852112105930&type=1 Julie (my Julie) and I are so happy you chose to have us handle your kitchen facelift. Enjoy your new granite while preparing your holiday meal.

[HCP 65 COUPE]

Man the counters are gorgoius, are you going to do new cabinet doors to make the counters even better? BTW your chassis looks fantasic in the metal flake silver.

[MRSQSL]

No. I'd like to redo the cabinet doors, but our money tree seems to have wilted. We have to do the backsplash right away and then the floors need to be redone as well. Thanks for the kind words.

[68GT500MAN]

Those counter tops look great! You and Mike do things right (kitchens and cars). Frank is a master craftsman at more than cars too. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Doug

[BFFofMRSQSL]

Wow, GORGEOUS countertops, Jules!

Nice fridge too. :)

[bansheekev]

Those counter tops look great! You and Mike do things right (kitchens and cars). Frank is a master craftsman at more than cars too. Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Doug

That sounds like a catchy reality show name - Kitchens and Cars...

[CraigS]

Depending on what you are thinking of for cabinets check out this.
http://rustoleumtransformations.com/

[QSL]

i saw this product at home depot yesterday and thought it looked cool. I think we are going to research it more as I agree, darker cabinets would look a bit nicer.

[frankeeski]

With a four day holiday weekend we should be seeing daily updates. Come on Julie, get on it.

[Gordon Levy]

You mean she's dot finished yet?

[MRSQSL]

Daily update 1: Turkey is yummy. Caught a glimpse or two of the car on trips out to the garage to make sure Mike was still alive. He isn't a social creature. I'm starting to think it was a mistake to make the lounge area so nice. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

[frankeeski]

No pictures, turkey didn't happen. You know the rules.

[MRSQSL]

If it didn't happen, the calories didn't happen. Definitely no pics.

Daily update 2: Mike and Steve went deep sea fishing while Alyssa, my mom and I went shopping. Not a fan of black Friday battles, but it was nice to have some girl time. Nothing happened with the coupe yet though. I'm hoping we can spend some time on it today. Let's see what kind of injuries we can muster up this time around.

[MRSQSL]

Daily update 3:

We worked on the car today. Not a lot, but got some stuff done. Will it have to be undone is the big question. I'm on my iPad so no detailed update until I get back to a regular keyboard. Plan to work on the car tomorrow as well. It'll be brakes day. I'm scared.

[MRSQSL]

Week 40:

Progress is slow. Again, this is because I'm not really capable of building a car yet I convince myself each week that I've somehow magically become more mechanically inclined. Step one was reassembling the passenger side front suspension. We were able to torque it all down, but I still think the shocks look too compressed. Mike seems to think the weight of the wheels/tires and maybe some minor adjusting will help. I'm skeptical.

Just to throw it out there, I did not get injured this week and I think I figured out why. I was mentally trying to treat the car as if it didn't have a gender. Now I've finally given in and admitted Coupey has to be female in order to proudly wear her silver bling and pink nail polish. I think we have an understanding now and the car no longer hates me.

Nothing terribly eventful happened during the front assembly. Well, I do have a question. I was going to put the hubs on and torque them down way more than any human should be able to torque anything (almost to the limit of the torque wrench), but when I pulled the little plastic cap off (covering the bolt things sticking out), there was a bunch of little silver dots. Mike looked and said it's grease. Why are there little dots of grease all over the hubs?

Attaching the steering rack tie rod end things to the spindle arms didn't go well. We had to buy the tie rod ends, but didn't know they were sold without jam nuts. Mmmmm...jam and butter. Anyway, we will have to get those before we can fully claim to be done with that project.

The next day, it was time to work on the brakes. I pulled all the components out of the cabinets and Mike helped me sort. I didn't know if the big rotors went in the front or the back. I had no idea I had TWO parking brake caliper things. They are adorable! He told me to attach the hat to the rotor. In English please. Oh. Threadlock the big black round thing to the shiny silver round thing. Do the bolts go through this way or that way? Poor Mike. Steve helped me. He put the thread lock on and started the bolt while I ratcheted away. Then we went back through and torqued them all. I win because I didn't break any of my bolts by crushing them to 155 ft lbs instead of in lbs. Neener, neener. Wait, I failed at everything else. Sigh.

Once both rotors were assembled, I was told I could journey over to the sofa and begin the safety wire process. I was fairly certain this would be a step best left to an expert and all the warnings on the Wilwood boxes agreed with me. Still, Mike insisted I would be able to do this. I'm not going to use all the words I mentally uttered. Getting small wire to go through stupid little holes in bolts and then twisting that wire and keeping it tight AND going the right direction is not fun. It isn't easy and my hands hurt. I am not strong enough to pull the wire completely through the final hole in a way that keeps the entire twisted metal mess taut. I finally gave up and did the best I could, leaving the rest for Mike to sort out. After devouring some divine fish tacos from the deep sea fish Mike and Steve caught, Mike plopped down next to me and took over. He was able to salvage all but one of my feeble attempts and that final one he completed entirely on his own. Alyssa's boyfriend was visiting and when I plopped the rotor down, he was able to point instantly to the one Mike did. Sigh. I still have more rotors, but I was disgusted and my hands hurt and it had been hours and I was done. Stupid wires. It has to get easier at some point. I didn't have this much trouble with Scoopy, so why is Coupey so much harder? Oh yeah, I didn't do any of the suspension on the cobra. Speaking of which, poor Scoopy is sick. Mike and I went for a quick jaunt yesterday to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was really a beautiful day. We stopped at Vons to get the fixings for fish tacos, but realized neither of us had anticipated shopping and hadn't brought wallets. We turned around and hopped back in the car. Mike started the engine and white smoke was everywhere. There was a sick sort of smell too. He turned to me and said we just blew a head gasket. No!!!! I couldn't believe it. We drove home, but it didn't smoke anymore. Odd. Mike said maybe it was an intake gasket instead and rattled off some impressive technological garble. Okay. We got home and let it rest for a few minutes. He started it again and smoke filled the street. Not good. The dipstick didn't show any foaminess. Once it cooled down completely, he started the engine. No smoke at all. He's working on the assumption it's an intake gasket which he wanted to replace anyway. Mike was surprisingly calm. It's almost as if he was looking forward to tackling a project. That confused me, but at least he wasn't cursing or throwing things.

[SoCalMike]

Hey Julie,

Do you need me to come down and give you some help for a day or two here in the near future?

In Pahoenix (Phoenix) on business until Sat. possibly Sun; but can probably come down next weekend if you want some help.

LMK, Mike

[MRSQSL]

Thanks Mike. I sure appreciate the offer. I'm not sure about our schedules the rest of this year, but I'll have Mike call you if it looks like it'll work out. Enjoy Phoenix!

[frankeeski]

Disappointment! :( No update this week? We've been on the edge of our seats all week waiting for an update.

[MRSQSL]

Week 41:

The car didn't get worked on. I figured everyone was getting tired of hearing that, so I decided I just wouldn't update. I did, however, ask Mike (more than once) to post the pictures from the last update. He has been super busy so that hasn't happened. I can regale you with tales of what we did instead of working on the car, but I imagine that gets old too. Besides, I'm getting old enough that I'm not sure I can remember what happened that many days ago. Let's see. We got a tree. We did a ton of Christmas shopping. Saturday was the only day we would be without the kids before Christmas, so we wouldn't have to hide purchases or distract the kids while the other parent rushes to the check out line. I wouldn't say it was enjoyable, but maybe tolerable. We also finally picked out backsplash material for the kitchen and Mike has been applying it each night after work. I think he's probably got two more nights before it is done. I have toyed with the idea of bringing the brake parts into the house to wire them up, but I'm still frustrated. With most of the shopping done and the stone squished onto the wall, there shouldn't be any reason we can't work on the car this weekend. I'll keep nagging at Mike about the pictures from last week.

[68GT500MAN]

Julie, I have been looking for this every day this week! Hopefully the next report will have some accomplishments with coupey (family like is important too). Coupey missis YOU!
Doug

[QSL]

not to mention we just acquired a new location that I have been working at for the last month. Its in Wilmington and thats about 2.5 hours each way even taking the toll road. Leaving at 5:30 am and getting home at 7:30pm is really taking its toll. The kitchen project has not helped :( Light is at the end of the tunnel though :)

[68GT500MAN]

Hang in there Mike, I just finished spending 4 months "commuting" from Fresno to San Joaquin (a very small city on the West side of the valley) each day.
Doug

[MRSQSL]

Week 42:

Bah humbug! I'm okay with Christmas, but not so much with the brakes. Busy weekend, so I didn't get out to the garage until Sunday afternoon. Mike was out there working on Scoopy, so I decided it would be smart to plop on the sofa with the rotors and safety wire. Several hours later, Mike asked how it was going. I hadn't shown any outward emotion up until that point. I glared evilly at him. Maybe 20 minutes later he sat on the sofa next to me and looked at my Frankenstein creation. I had three out of six sections partially wired. Ends were sticking out every which way, the wires were loose and messy looking. It was a disaster. He gently took the round metal chunk from my hands and deftly wired up the remaining sections, going back to remove and redo two of the three I had done. He mentioned quietly that he wasn't sure why I had so much trouble. He finds it to be easy and relaxing. I discovered I have three settings. Normal...annoyed...rage-engulfed. I did not turn my anger towards Mike. No, no, no. He was fixing my problems and making it all better. I was furious with those darn little wires and the bolts. On the plus side, there is a very large gap between annoyed and rage-engulfed. I was able to feel the wave of fury rising and mush it back down to highly annoyed. Nothing was harmed in the making of the safety wires. This is something, though, that I will never attempt again. I am not physically able to make those wires do what the instructions say to do. I understand the theory. I discovered I was even doing the correct motions as I watched Mike. When a problem arose, I knew exactly what to do and this was confirmed when he picked up the tool and did exactly what I thought should be done. I think the deficit is in brute strength. You can't make wires tight when you can't pull hard enough to tighten them. When I pulled and one snapped, I nearly snapped. Thank goodness Mike is telling me he'll do the rear ones as long as I get them ready (put in threadlocked bolts and torque them down). Yes!!!!! Happiest moment of my life. I'm thrilled that this also means working on the car is going to be moving faster now. I can get around to doing real things instead of stupid stubborn impossible wire chores.

The kitchen backsplash is up and sealed. Mike worked on it every single night after work and his hellish commute. I have no idea where he gets the energy. My hero!!!!

Scoopy is currently under repair. Mike pulled off the intake and whatever else is involved. The gaskets were probably the issue. Fingers crossed anyway. I asked lots of questions that I'm sure you'd all roll your eyes about, but I learned what it looks like under the intake and a little about gaskets, but I'm still really confused about how and where fluid flows, so it's hard for me to tell when something bad was happening just by looking at the gasket or that intake valley thing. Anyway, he decided to do what Tim did and grind down the things sticking up on the manifold that keep people from being able to tighten the bolts correctly. He got through one, but needed more grindy things and a different socket.

I drove to the school to pick up Steve this afternoon and just as Steve was closing his door, a kid on a bike knocked his handlebars into the side of the truck and put a nice long scratch all along the rear passenger door. By the time I realized what had happened, the kid was gone. I was really sad. I'm sure it was an accident, but I wish the boy had stopped and apologized. I wouldn't have shrieked at him or anything. I would've like to have gotten his name, though, so I could talk to his parents if it turns out to be too deep to fix with whatever magical things Mike plans to use to fix it tonight. Poor truck. It is a 2011, so the paint was in good shape. No dings or scratches or anything. Super sad face.

Lastly, we were pulling into the gas station last night when we noticed a GT40. Those cars are gorgeous!!!! He started it up with a nice sinister rumble and took off down the street. I stood there until it roared out of sight, wiped off the drool off my chin and got back in the truck.

So, back to Coupey. We have several days off in the near future and I'm really hoping we can get some real work done. I wanted more days off, but Christmas falls in a bad middle of the week spot. I think Mike might take a couple extra days off and I'm hoping to maybe accidentally leave the office a little early if it's slow. Let's hope the next update is much more upbeat and progress filled.

[CraigS]

Hey Julie, they make replica GT40s too!!!

[MRSQSL]

Oh I know. Mike has been trying to figure out how to fit one in the garage for several years now. In fact, I think that was the very first kit car we talked about buying. That had to have been at least 16 years ago. I don't see how we could ever afford one or have a place for it, but I'd be lying if I said I though that would stop us. I've seen the look in Mike's eyes. Someday it will happen. We might be 90 and using walkers. For the record, I will NOT be doing the safety wire on that one either.

[68GT500MAN]

I do not like to do safety wires either, but they are a necessary evil. My solution was to find a fellow builder who actually takes pride in his work, great guy to work with, too bad he moved overseas or I would recommend him (he loves FFR's). I too want a full size GT40 replica some day, for now I have to enjoy my 1/10 scale Exoto.
Doug

[MRSQSL]

I was smart enough to marry a fellow builder who takes pride in his work. Yay me! Wait, yay Mike! I'm excited to hear I'm not the only one that dislikes the safety wire. I figured I was alone in my suffering. I feel better now. Thank you!

[BFFofMRSQSL]

Jules, while reading your Week 42 adventures, my eyes skipped a line and I read " Normal...annoyed...rage-bolts" (as opposed to rage-engulfed). I like rage-bolts better. :)

[NukeMMC]

I was smart enough to marry a fellow builder who takes pride in his work. Yay me! Wait, yay Mike! I'm excited to hear I'm not the only one that dislikes the safety wire. I figured I was alone in my suffering. I feel better now. Thank you!

Next time, demand a Saf-T-Cable (http://www.dmctools.com/Products/safe-t-cable.html) kit.

[MRSQSL]

Why didn't anyone tell me about that thing before?! I neeeeeed that system.

[NukeMMC]

We used them in the nuke subs. I just thought of it when reading your post. They are pretty handy. They aren't super-expensive, like most mil-spec stuff, but at $1 per .032" x 12" cable, they aren't cheap.

I really don't mind spending your and Mike's Christmas money for you, though!

[MRSQSL]

Submarine? You have my attention. I have always wanted to do two things. 1) ride in a tank. 2) ride in a submarine. Well, maybe the sub doesn't have to move. I just want to go inside one. I'll bet it's nothing like what I picture in my head. Do people get seasick in a sub? I wouldn't think so. Seems like it would be smooth underwater not all bouncy like on top of the ocean. I get car sick if I can't see out. Maybe I should stay out of moving subs after all. :)

[NukeMMC]

The USS Dolphin and a Soviet-era diesel sup can be toured in San Diego. There is also a Soviet diesel sub (B-427) in Long Beach next to the Queen Mary.
If you go to the FFR Open House again, I highly recommend a jaunt down I95 to Groton, CT to the Nautilus Submarine Museum. Tour that boat and the museum and you might get an inkling into about 1/50th of what we did or can do ;-). Besides, Fox woods is about 1/2 hour away and makes a nice overnight escape. $ :) $

[BFFofMRSQSL]

Or, you know, the submarine ride at Disneyland...

[MRSQSL]

Or, you know, the submarine ride at Disneyland...

LOL!!!!!!

We toured the aircraft carrier in San Diego. I really liked that. It took hours and we didn't even see the entire ship. Those things are huge!!!!! I don't suppose they'll let me take the USS Dolphin out for a test drive, huh? I've never been to the Queen Mary and I had no idea there was a sub in Long Beach. Thanks for the info. I need to work on the car, but I'm hoping to report back about amazing submarine tours sometime soon.

[loeffler1]

NukeMMC - tell me more about your nuclear submarine adventures. I was a piping designer at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from 1958 to 1971. Did sea trials off the coast of Africa. Worked on the Thresher, unfortunately. I'm also thinking there is an attack submarine 593 class still preserved in Washington state, I think either the 605 0r the 606, I'm not sure. Are you familiar with Sherwood Forest!
Julie - if you ever get back east you can tour the AGSS569 USS Albacore which is in Portsmouth, NH landlocked as a museum piece.

[MRSQSL]

Look at you people all full of submarine knowledge. Yes, tell us more about your submarine adventures. Now I have to add New Hampshire and Washington to my list of places to visit.

[NukeMMC]

Reverted to PMs. This is Coupey's thread, doggonnit!

[MRSQSL]

Week 43:

Saturday morning was cold. Okay, so to you back easterly peeps, 60 isn't cold. To us SoCal wimps, 60 freezing and way too cold to be tinkering in the garage. We tried. Really. In fact, when I walked into the garage, Mike was on the phone with Frank speaking car-ese. Unfortunately, Mike opened the garage door since he had to do some grinding. Brrrr. When I told him it would be almost 80 on Christmas, he looked up the forecast (never believes a word that comes out of my mouth) and discovered it would be 10 degrees warmer Sunday. Didn't have to twist my arm to go back in the house. Oh and the little bit of work I did forced yet another call to Gordon Levy. I'm pretty sure the poor guy is going to change his number soon to avoid our calls. Wilwood must've made a boo boo. I woke up that morning knowing exactly what needed to be done. Step 1: Get dressed, brush teeth, etc. Step 2: Enter garage and place rotor hat on rotor and threadlock and torque so Mike can do safety wires. I accomplished step 1 somewhat easily. Step 2 created some issues. Mike was on the phone so I couldn't immediately explain my problem. Waiting, waiting. La, la, la. As soon as he hung up, I pounced. The rotor hat doesn't fit. I was half shrieking. He looked at me with the same look he gave when I said the weather was going to be warm on Christmas. No, really. They don't fit. He forced me to show him. The bolt pattern is way off. I may not know much, but I knew I was right about this. Gordon is talking to Wilwood to see what needs to be done. With that task stalled and the freezing chill, we decided to call it a day.

Sunday was slightly more productive, although it didn't start out that way. Step 1: Same as the day before. Step 2: IRS. Again, Mike was on the phone (his dad this time). I knew I needed the stuff from box 11, but box 11 was actually two boxes according to the inventory sheets. I searched high and low, but could only find one box. I decided that would have to suffice and I proceeded to unload all the heavier boxes and make my way down to the correct one. Huff puff. Several minutes later I had the box open and realized this couldn't possibly be the only box. The control arms weren't in it. Wah. Okay. I can do this. Searched some more and eventually realized I hadn't looked high enough. The second box 11 was waaaaaay up near the ceiling in a different section of the garage. Oh yeah. We took that one to get powder coated. Duh. I was still waiting for Mike to get off the phone so I could moan and whine that the box was too high and his big, sexy, strong, manly self would have to get it for me. Talk, talk, talk. Sigh. I gave up and got the ladder off the side yard. I set it up (straddling the transmission) and proceeded to climb. I pokedly shoved at the box. Too heavy. Look at Mike. He was chatting away. Fine. I decided to take out each individual item until the box became light enough for me to move. I managed to pull down the door frames and a few door parts, but that really wasn't what I needed. Box was still too heavy. Fine. I flonked my wrist over the edge of the cardboard, but couldn't reach anything else. I tried to go up a step, but there were no steps left, only the platform saying don't stand on this. Waiting, waiting. Still talking, talking. Fine. (Safety police stop reading) I stood on the flat evil part of the ladder and after several minutes of struggling, retrieved all the rear suspension parts. Yay me!

According to the manual, all I had to do next was screw those heim joint looking things into the control arms. Easy peasy. I inserted and turned. Grinding halt. I unturned and uninserted. Grindy. I poked my little eyeball into the hole and discovered it was filthy in there (arm dirt, not eyeball dirt). I stuffed my gloved finger into the threaded area. Filthy. I blew in, stuff flew out. Hack, sniffle, sneeze. I stuck the joint back in and tried to turn it again. Grinding halt. Sigh. I tried every threaded hole in the arms, but all were clogged with icky. Mike finally got off the phone, so I stomped over (pouting) to announce that the car hates me and the ends won't screw in. Same look as before. He ended up using some little round tool for the dremel (after breaking a wire brush for gun cleaning). All ends were eventually inserted. Yay! I didn't want to actually apply the control arms to the chassis yet as I was afraid it would hamper my ability to successfully install the pumpkin. My arms aren't as long as I'd like them to be sometimes. Mike agreed and said he'd help me maneuver the center section. He told me to get the bolts for it. Bolts? What bolts? Yup, no bolts in the base kit and I hadn't known to buy any. Brilliant Mike had realized bushings were needed and had purchased those somewhat recently. Man, he's smart. The missing bolts required a trip to the store and of course going to the store makes us hungry so we had to stop for lunch.

Several hours wasted, we returned and installed the pumpkin. Women, this is impossible to do without a man. I'm not being sexist, I'm being honest. Those things are so freaking heavy. I kid you not. There was no way I was going to be able to do anything other than pretend I was helping. In fact, I called Aly out to help. I probably should have had her boyfriend come out, but I kinda forgot he was there. I was a little more concerned with not crushing Mike. He laid on his back and hefted the thing over his head and into the frame (with a bit of help from Alyssa and a lot of squealing sounds from me). Definitely take the cover off before you attempt this. We had read enough to know beforehand and I'm guessing all the previous people were correct. Also note that the rear bolt holes need to be drilled out and the frame tabs need to be crow barred apart more to allow the cover to slide in. All in all it was pretty painless, but then I wasn't the one laying on the floor hefting a billion pounds over my head.

Pretty much every step of the day gave me some sort of an issue and I was pretty frustrated. Once I got the control arms on and the pumpkin in, I was impressed and actually excited to do more. The next step is shocks, though, and my fingers remember the trauma from last time. They weren't quite ready to start on that next task. It was getting late, so I decided to stop there.

Mike spent the day helping me and when he was finally able to leave me alone for short periods of time, he ground down more of the intake. I think he has all the grinding done and is ready for cleanup and assembly. He is working on a new tool for torqueing down the intake. He has taken a socket and is mauling it on the lathe until it's too hot to touch and looks nothing like the original. I keep hearing noises from that section that can't possibly be good. I'm a little scared to see what kind of Frankenstein monster he's created. Whatever works. I just feel bad for the socket. I know it never envisioned itself enduring the torture it has already suffered.

We have tomorrow and Wednesday off and may take Thursday as well. I'm hoping to work on the car, but I know the next two days are going to be filled with cleaning and cooking and entertaining. I think we are going to try to go shooting Thursday, but maybe we can squish in a couple hours in the garage. I suspect the bulk of the work will happen on the weekend and/or the next week as we have a day or two off and we are too old to actually successfully stay up until midnight. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

[frankeeski]

I'm exhausted just reading that. Whew!

[NukeMMC]

I think we are going to try to go shooting Thursday, but maybe we can squish in a couple hours in the garage. I suspect the bulk of the work will happen on the weekend and/or the next week as we have a day or two off and we are too old to actually successfully stay up until midnight. Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

I just remembered about you guys having a 1919. I just sold half a dozen 400rd cans of USGI M2 ball ammo. Would have made you guys a good deal on it.

And you folks have NO (zero, zip, nada) room to call yourselves old. Wait until the grandkids come.

Merry Christmas to all ... and to all a good ride!!!

[MRSQSL]

Can you please tell my knees I'm not old? I just squatted down to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer and was afraid I needed to call the kids to help me back up.

I forgot to mention a couple things.
1) I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Women out there. If your man says he needs a tool. He really, really needs it. Don't say no. When we went to Lowe's, I was ready to buy anything and everything that would make any job even a fraction of a bit easier. It's kind of like when we say we need another shade of nail polish. Maybe "need" is a strong word. I mean, we could get the job done with any of the other colors we have, but to achieve the best possible outcome, we "need" that shade. Men "need" that tool (and women "need that shade").
2) I painted my nails, was feeling festive. I took a picture, but I doubt Mike will post it. Actually, it was two pictures because each hand is painted differently and I couldn't hold the camera in my teeth.
3) Be thankful I left out the part where I put the shims in the control arm bolt/heim contraption. If I could've cursed like a sailor, my neighbors would've been blushing something fierce.

[68GT500MAN]

Merry Christmas to you, Mike and family. I agree about being a California wimp and NOT working out in the "cold" garage!
Doug

[tcoon]

Hi Julie, always great to read your commentary. Yes those differentials are heavy! I do mine alone but use a combination of floor jack and/or lift (cheery picker) to move it around the shop. Sounds like progress is steady on the coupe. Keep up the good work! Merry Christmas to both of you.

[QSL]

finally here are a couple pics. sorry guys that i have been so slow and not around much, but light is at the end of the tunnel here!!! Merry christmas!!!

[Garry Bopp]

Thanks for the update and pictures. I always check this thread for the latest fun and fury! Merry Christmas and Happy coupe-building New Year.

Garry

[MRSQSL]

Merry Christmas everyone!

[NukeMMC]

If it isn't too late, it looks like you folks are manually twisting your safety wire. I can loan you my set of wire-twisting pliers (McMaster Carr 5296A62) to finish off the rotors.

[MRSQSL]

I appreciate the offer, but Mike swears it is therapeutic for him. He honestly has no trouble with safety wire and is demented enough to ENJOY it.

[tirod]

60 is cold? I just R&R'd the motor in my daily driver, started in 50 degree weather outside, finished up in the garage where it was a toasty 45 - and grateful for it. It had snowed, the high was 16. If you are really working on it, you keep warm. ; )

Thanks for the pics, I hadn't considered the cover on the IRS, needed to see that.

Merry Christmas!

[MRSQSL]

Week 44:

It's hard to believe that by week 44 of the Scoopy build, we were nearly done with the car. I'm thinking Coupey is going to take an extra week or two.

We had a couple of days off for Christmas, but weren't able to get in the garage other than to show the cars off to the visiting family. I didn't work on the car until yesterday and that was only for an hour or so. I was in the garage longer, but our ex neighbor stopped by to chat. All I managed to do was build the rear shocks and install them. I wouldn't even say it was "install". I'd call it "mocked up". I think Mike was proud of me though. I did it virtually by myself. Aly helped with removing the snap ring. I can get them on, but off is a nightmare. The powder coat was keeping the bolts from fitting and I had to dremel them out (Mike came along after and made them even better). The other issue was washer drama. Mike was a little grumpy I only used one on each shock bolt, but that's what the manual called for and what FF gave us in the kit. I glared back at him. I don't know who won since it is just in the mock up stage and we didn't have any extra washers laying around. Anyway, I couldn't get the bottom bolt in all the way because the washer would hit the frame and stop all progress. I showed Mike and he very thoughtfully ground down the washer for me. I don't know if it's because he loves me or because he wants to eat and is afraid I'll lose fingers and won't be able to cook if I do the grinding.

If Mike posts pictures, safety police look away. I realize my shoes were not appropriate for garage work, but I didn't go in and change and I still have all my toes. I'll go back to boots and such in the future, but the heels actually made some of the tasks easier. I tried to convince Mike he should borrow them and see if he liked working with them, but he didn't look amused.

I know Christmas isn't about material things, but I would like to share some of the car related gifts. Mike had sent my mini coupe away to be worked on and he priority shipped it back so I could open it Christmas morning and see the progress. What a great husband!! I love it!!!!!! The intake is looking amazing and the disc brakes are perfect. I kept staring. I'm really looking forward to seeing it completed (hopefully in the near future). The guy that's doing the work is back east and he is just the nicest guy. Super talented too. Another great car related goody was a Simpson sweatshirt. We couldn't make it to the Simpson sale, but Mike asked PedalMasher to grab one for me. I was really surprised to see the background on the writing was pink instead of red. Wooohoooooo!!!!! I love it. Thank you!!!!!!! Oh and he bought me a tool bag to keep in Coupey once it's on the road. The tools and bag are purple!!!!!!!!! My favorite color!!!!!!

Anyway, so I have to work tomorrow (month end AND year end), but I have Wednesday off and plan to spend some quality time with Coupey. Mike is a busy bee, so I don't know when or if he'll post pictures. He and Steve have been working on another father son project lately which makes me really happy (unless I need help and have to wait in line for Super Mike). I'll nag at him though (bet he's really looking forward to coming home now).

Happy New Year!!!!!

[68GT500MAN]

Happy New Year to you Mike and your family. You are making progress, a little at a time. As motovation, it would be nice to see it as a roller (or go-cart) in April at HB (I promise you a prime parking spot for coupy and Scooby.

[MRSQSL]

As tempting as a prime spot sounds, I get icky butterflies thinking about renting a trailer and loading it up and then driving that far. We'll have to see how things look as April approaches. I'd love to have Coupey there, but maybe someone could invent a "beam me up" sort of contraption.

[CraigS]

Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and congrats on your progress. But,... can you talk to your son about where not to point a gun please?

[Movieman]

NukeMMC - tell me more about your nuclear submarine adventures. I was a piping designer at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from 1958 to 1971. Did sea trials off the coast of Africa. Worked on the Thresher, unfortunately. I'm also thinking there is an attack submarine 593 class still preserved in Washington state, I think either the 605 0r the 606, I'm not sure. Are you familiar with Sherwood Forest!
Julie - if you ever get back east you can tour the AGSS569 USS Albacore which is in Portsmouth, NH landlocked as a museum piece.
OT: years ago I'm talking to one of my customers and he's telling me he was in the Navy and then mentions the Thresher.
I do a huh, didn't that go down and he says yes.
He got apendicitis two days before they sailed and was in the hospital when he heard what happenned..

[MRSQSL]

I thought it would be best to do a middle of the week update since we had today off and got some work done. I was up before everyone else and decided to head out to the garage. I assumed I'd have issues, but I knew I had several avenues available for progress. I decided I'd start by screwing the heim joint thing into the upper control arms. One went in without issue. The other, not so much. Apparently Mike didn't dremel that one out with all the others. No big deal. I'll just switch over and install the CV axles. I remember seeing them a few months back and I recall they were super heavy. I searched and searched before deciding they must be up in a box by the ceiling. I'm NOT climbing on a ladder to get them down. That didn't leave many options. Fortunately, Mike came out about then (shocked to find me in the garage). I pulled out the ladder for him and together we made short work of getting the CV box down and all the other boxes back up. Talk about heavy. Yikes!

I pulled an axle out and shoved it in the pumpkin per the manual. Imagine my surprise when it fell back out. It didn't crash to the floor, just scared the bejoobies out of me. Note to self for other side: push axle ALL the way in. The spindle was next. Wait...the pic makes it look like there should be bushings in all the little ends. Off to find Mike who was hiding out front trying to get his own work done (grinding on the intake still). He said the bushings are in a box in the pantry (car pantry, not kitchen pantry). Searching, searching, nothing. I ask again. Same response. I search some more and eventually fine this mystical, magical box. Inside I find lots of little round black things and some gold metal things and a bunch of little squeeze packets of white greasy stuff. Wait, I have to assemble stuff? I frantically searched through the box for directions. None. Crap. I was able to mentally discern which black piece went where and was mighty proud of myself for that. It seemed impossible, though, to get the rubbery things shoved into the spindle holes. Mike's solutions didn't work either. Internet to the rescue. A little Googling showed the use of a C clamp. Don't waste your time. It didn't work. The eventual solution was to put them in the little press we have (a bigger one would've been better) and squish the poo out of them until they sploosh in the hole and out the other side. I'm not a fan of this technology and I think somehow they should've made it easier.

At this point, I'd hit my head on the car at least twice, I was hot, irritable and very, very sticky from that grease stuff. Sadly, the trauma was only just beginning. The next step was to somehow squish the metal rods into the rubber openings. Sounds easy, right? Not really. I didn't notice that two of the six were larger and was on the floor (nearing tantrum status) because the darn rod wasn't even close to fitting in the slot. Mike immediately spotted the problem when he came for a consult and I felt pretty dumb. The rubber mallet was able to smack the things most of the way in, but not enough. Mike told me just to hit them harder. Ummmmm...not only am I hitting as hard as I can, but my aim isn't trustworthy and I really didn't want to add bruises to my list of injuries and I especially didn't want to inflict pain on any innocent bystanders. He grabbed the thing and WHAM! One hit and it was in. Show off.

It was finally time to shove the spindle on the CV axle and make some visible progress. Several hours had passed by now and I could tell Mike was getting tired of having to stop helping Steve and come help me (they are still working on a project together). I tried more stuff alone, but honestly the car takes a lot more muscle than I can muster. I'm not lying or faking. I truly believe men have NO clue how strong they are in comparison to women. The things you can do so easily are muscle poppingly difficult for us (if not impossible). Anyway, so the spindles didn't want to fit in the tabs on the lower control arms. Mike was able to discern the problem was the metal center things we just whacked in weren't perfectly flush. I tried to smack. Nope. He smacked. Instant gratification. Jerk. (meant in a loving way - mostly)

It took some doing, but the spindles finally submitted and are now perched in their new home in the chassis. The upper control arm was a problem. The spacers FF gives you to place on each side of the heim joint are too big. Mike taught me how to lathe them down. It was the least scary thing I did all day. I forgot to mention that I had to use this horribly terrifying wire spinning grinder thing to clean up the spindle bolts and nuts. It wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed to be when I watched him demonstrate the first one. I went upstairs and changed my shirt (super hot wearing black in the sun) and actually said goodbye to the dogs in case the wire grinder mangled me beyond recognition. Mike stayed close until he was sure I had the hang of it.

Okay, so with the upper control arms ready to be mounted, I had to slide the spacers in. Stupid things kept falling to the floor (far from where I was) and then the nut fell. I hit my head a few more times, but finally success. The bottom didn't hook in too easily, but it was nothing a mallet and a little help from Alyssa couldn't fix.

I started on the other side, but Mike didn't have a chance to dremel out the upper, so I could only shove the CV thing in and get the bottom of the spindle hooked in. My back hurt and it was getting dark and Mike was busy, so I cleaned up my mess and came in here to update. I'd like to finish that little chore this weekend. I'm not sure what to do after that though. We are waiting on the Wilwood replacement parts, so the rear brakes are stalled. Maybe I can mount the front ones. Maybe.

[frankeeski]

I'm not sure what to do after that though.

You could start with a nice breakfast with some like minded people on Saturday.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?12813-Breakfast-Saturday-January-4-2014

[68GT500MAN]

Those shims are a pain in the ***! I spent many hours with Andy Savagieo under Karen's coupe on our backs with the cold rain pouring down getting the control arms back in so that the car could go out for practice in the morning. After the third time I knew what tool Andy would need and we got lucky. Hang in there, you are a real trouper.
Doug

[QSL]

Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and congrats on your progress. But,... can you talk to your son about where not to point a gun please?

I know it slightly looks like it in the picture, however it was not aimed near Alyssa. Steve is a gun safety nut. This is our gun cleaning station and this was right after a cleaning and he just assembled the gun and was giving it a final wipe down as any 12yr old should be doing :)

[QSL]

I think it would be cool to bring both cars to HB. Might be an option!

[68GT500MAN]

Mike, I totally agree.
Doug

[QSL]

Pics of Julies Mini Coupe! Functional V8 with custom stack system. This car is still very much a work in progress.

[QSL]

Pics of us working and some progress, even a couple of Steve and I working on his new project he scored for christmas!!!

sorry for the delays guys!!!

[CHOTIS BILL]

Wearing gloves around spinning machinery is very dangerous. If the glove accidentally gets caught by the grinding wheel it can pull your whole hand into the grinding wheel and cause some serious damage. I know a lady this happened to.

Please be careful.

Bill Lomenick

[QSL]

Yep, 100% agreed. However the safety police crap on these threads so much that she now tries to pose with stuff we don't even usually use. What you don't see is that she also took a birth control pill just before using the machine.

[MRSQSL]

Mike warned me about that and I was very careful. It was actually good I was wearing them because part of my finger got close and I'm pretty sure I would've lost skin had I not been wearing a glove. Thanks for the concern. As dangerous as we may look, Mike does an excellent job of supervising and warning us what to do and not do. He was very very clear that the glove could get caught and it would really really hurt.

[NukeMMC]

I think it would be cool to bring both cars to HB. Might be an option!
I think Coupey might need a rollback ride for such an occasion!

[NukeMMC]

Yep, 100% agreed. However the safety police crap on these threads so much that she now tries to pose with stuff we don't even usually use. What you don't see is that she also took a birth control pill just before using the machine.

LMAO at BCP!
As I am living with a former Industrial Health RN and work at a very safety-conscious company, I have learned that OSHA belongs in the workplace, not at home, and not on internet boards, especially on threads by someone who as a businessman in an industrial hose company(?) is quite aware of OSHA and workplace safety.
Some folks just don't find posed pics with stilettos humorous ... sheesh!

[xlr8or]

Working on the coupe in high heels just cracks me up.

[Cobradavid]

...What you don't see is that she also took a birth control pill just before using the machine.

Working with a bench grinder can lead to unplanned pregnancy? Who knew?! :confused:

You can learn so much on this forum!

[jayguy]

Is that a Buick Regal T-type? Nice! Wish my first car was as cool as that.

[QSL]

its an 84 regal grand national. Its a rare year since they made so very few, but the newer ones have more power so are a bit more desirable. I picked this up with a deal for a new business we acquired. It was sitting in the warehouse for 10years on a Non Op.

[QSL]

Working with a bench grinder can lead to unplanned pregnancy? Who knew?! :confused:

You can learn so much on this forum!

Yes, we learned that from our first kid. Never operate a grinder without proper birth control.

[MRSQSL]

Yes, we learned that from our first kid. Never operate a grinder without proper birth control.

So why do we have two kids?

[Hankl]

So why do we have two kids?


Wire Wheel...........:cool:

[QSL]

Here are this weeks pics... before julie posts this time!!! yay!

[xlr8or]

She's obviously slacking on this weeks update. :D

[tenncobra]

Maybe she is too busy working on Coupy.

[MRSQSL]

Week 45:

On. Off. On. Off. I broke my 4x rule by at least 4x.

First of all, Mike used the Dremel on that last upper control arm so I could slide the heim joint thing in and finish up that section of the suspension. I needed a little help whapping the spindle/knuckle into submission. I had the brain power, but not the muscle (as usual).

So then it was time for the front brakes. I now know what those adorable little silver dots of grease are for. Well, not really but I can tell you what they touch and that removing the rotor multiple times leaves this really neat pattern that looks like hundreds of leafless trees. Anyway, the rotor went on and then the caliper. The pads looked almost even on each side, but the rotor wouldn't turn freely, so off came everything and a washer was added. Back together. Hmmmm...still not right. Took it apart and added another washer. Hmmmm...too big. Turns out the washers weren't all the same size. In fact, by the end I had found super skinny ones, medium skinny ones and thick ones. After a couple of tries, the rotor spun freely and I wasn't all that frustrated because removing the lug nuts and bolts and stuff was not difficult, just tedious. I should mention, though, that the lug nuts and other wheel pieces and parts were all in one of the wheel boxes, not a small chunk in each box. Of course I started by opening one with nothing in it and then a second with nothing and later a third with nothing. I was ready to give up and call FF on Monday when Mike suggested I open the last box just to be sure. Yup. All in the bottom box (of course).

It was getting late, but I wanted to quickly get the passenger side done. now that I knew it was two thick washers, it should be a piece of cake to install the same on the opposite side. Stop laughing. I know you are all laughing at my naivety. I pulled out a couple more lug nuts, hefted the rotor up onto the hub (installed the bracket for the caliper first), plopped the caliper on and realized something didn't look right. Oh. Brake pads. Right. I forced them in and reapplied the caliper. I was feeling awfully smug as I tightened down the last couple bolts. I reached over, grabbed the rotor and yanked really hard. Imagine my shock when it didn't spin. Anger glare. I undid it all and changed the washers. No spin. I undid it approximately 5 more times with no success. I was confused. I didn't feel like I had the wrong combination of washers. It felt like there was something more. The caliper didn't go on as easily as the other side. I was done. I was dropping stuff and getting frustrated and my neck was bothering me from staring down for so long. Mike had been working on his intake and I told him we should just call it a night and I'd try again during the week. Since the battery in the Dremel was dead, Mike put it on the charger and told me he'd work on the calipers for awhile. Okay, but good luck. He tried and tried and I ended up getting sucked back in to help. After another 10 or so tries, Mike made an amazing discovery. If we took the brake pads out, the rotor would still bind up. This truly confused me, but it was like a lightbulb moment for Mike. He explained I never checked to make sure the height of the caliper was okay and it wasn't. It was too low and was grabbing onto the rotor. That's possible? Is it fixable? I guess all we had to do was throw a washer on each stud looking thing and that fixed it. He had to take things off and on about three more times before finding a spacer combination that worked. Of course I'm not done. I still have to take things apart and locktite and stuff. It's just a relief to have that figured out.

The rear brake parts arrived Monday (replacements), so I plan on working on those this weekend. Well, Mike and/or I may have to work this weekend, but we'll see. Also, Mike will have to do the safety wire. If I have to try again, I'll be throwing rotors and hats through windows.

[Gordon Levy]

Changing the topic for a minute, I thought you would like this. http://www.musclecarszone.com/the-smallest-v8-engine-with-electronic-fuel-injection-only-45cc/

[Ray]

Submarine? You have my attention. I have always wanted to do two things. 1) ride in a tank. 2) ride in a submarine. Well, maybe the sub doesn't have to move. I just want to go inside one. I'll bet it's nothing like what I picture in my head. Do people get seasick in a sub? I wouldn't think so. Seems like it would be smooth underwater not all bouncy like on top of the ocean. I get car sick if I can't see out. Maybe I should stay out of moving subs after all. :)

Julie,

Yes we do have a sub-tour here in San Diego (http://www.sdmaritime.org/b-39-submarine) Give me a call and we'll all go.

Also, thought that I would let you know that we have a friend who serves on a sub based in Pearl Harbor. He's 6'8"......

Ray

[Gordon Levy]

The Russian sub, the water tight door opening get smaller as you go forward.

[Barrel]

The Russian sub, the water tight door opening get smaller as you go forward.

It might be the heat (111 degrees here) and the beer but I don't get it?

[MRSQSL]

Tiny V8 engines, submarines. Love how we can talk about all sorts of stuff. By the way, that engine is amazing. It sounds a lot smoother than I would've expected.

Week 46:

Scoopy got the bulk of the attention this weekend. Mike is in the garage as I type this. I think he's getting really close to being able to start the engine again. Fingers crossed it all goes well and the problems have been resolved.

If I told this story already, forgive me. We were working out in the garage a couple weeks ago and a couple walked by with their dogs. The man looked up, looked down and then immediately jerked his head up again. Here it comes, I thought. We always get asked one of about four different questions. He saw me standing by the garage door and yelled out "Is that a real Grand National?". Mike and I both replied simultaneously that it was. He gave us a thumbs up and off he went. This is the first time, I've been asked if it was real when it wasn't the Cobra. Mike and I giggled for a few minutes before returning to our projects.

Okay, so I worked on the coupe. The first issue arose immediately early Saturday morning. I couldn't find the thread lock. I used it when I built the rear shocks and I know I put it away, but it was gone. I looked high and low. No dice. Mike said he needed to get gasket cinch stuff. He had looked high and low the previous week and couldn't find it. I'm pretty sure we have beasties gobbling up our chemicals. There's no other logical explanation. Hee, hee. Anyway, since he was going to have to go out anyway, he suggested we go in a few minutes after he finished installing the wipers on the Cobra. They gave the impression of being installed before, but were actually not functional. I'm proud to say he was able to get them working and it didn't take all day (just a few hours). In the meantime, he noted my hubs were not pressed into the knuckles in the rear. Noooooo!!!!! We were going to need a press. Off we trounced to the store (finding a delicious new restaurant along the way). I discovered a new factoid. While every automotive parts store I've ever been in has a full oil recycling bin, Wal-Mart accepts oil and their's is not full. Shocker, right? I had to sign something saying it was just oil and not all my missing chemicals though. We also found a pretty nice Harbor Freight where we found a nice silver 12 ton press on sale. Score.

We got back to the house and prepared to assemble our new press. Mike ripped open the box and discovered it was orange. Orange!!!!! He was sad. The two of us got it put together and I dismantled the rear end so I could get the hub to the press. Nothing went smoothly, but in the end we succeeded. I reapplied the parts to the car. Yay! I want to say it was late enough that I decided I was done for the day.

Sunday morning brought about a new set of problems. I had plopped on the floor ready to build my rear brakes when I discovered I couldn't find a socket that would work. Mike pointed out the bolt is a hex head. Oh. Confusion floated across my face. What does that mean? He showed me what I would need. Okay. The problem turned out to be that the torque wrench that does inch pounds is say a 3/8 and the only socket with hex attachment thing was 1/4. We used to have an adapter, but it broke. Back to the store. I had to wait for Mike as he had gasketed and RTVed the intake and needed to torque it down before we could go. Unfortunately, it turns out he needed an adapter socket thing too. He torqued down everything but the center ones which he had tightened, but couldn't check the actual torque setting. Off to the store. We ended up getting home really late and I didn't do anything else to the car. Mike went out and torqued the center ones. I think I heard him start the engine a minute ago. Wooooohoooooooo!!!!!!

[Gordon Levy]

Barrel, the door openings literally get smaller as you go forward in the Russian sub in San Diego. As a big gy when I was taking the tour by the time I got to the last hatch they were getting pretty hard to get through.

[Barrel]

Thanks Gordon. I thought there may have been a "punch line" to go with that but you were serious!

[QSL]

julies pics!! not much to share, but here they are!

[Gordon Levy]

I see you have the hard job

[QSL]

Supervision is tough, but I do it because I love her. Lol

[WIS89]

Great picture of you and your son! We always had the beer and the root beer...

What did he do to his "wheel?"

Thanks for keeping us going with all your updates. Love the build!

Regards,

Steve

[QSL]

we were moving the press and a part of it fell off and hit the ground and then his foot. Nothing some ice and duct tape couldn't fix. He is good as new now.

[WIS89]

we were moving the press and a part of it fell off and hit the ground and then his foot. Nothing some ice and duct tape couldn't fix. He is good as new now.

Duct tape? That's new. My Dad always told me to rub some dirt on it; mud if I was REALLY hurt!

See, now he has a great story to tell the ladies when he takes them for a ride (assuming Julie will let him). He can tell them how badly he hurt his foot while "he was building" the car! He doesn't need to be THAT specific!! HAHA. You can award him the "purple foot" for being wounded while building.

Glad he is OK.

Regards,

Steve

[xlr8or]

Updates? Is Julie sleeping on the job again? ;)