We sent the car to the body shop on a set of steelies, just in case there was any overspray. The car is now back on the Rota Auto-X wheels. Yeah, we need to post a photo. Thing is, the car is no longer wearing its stock color. Do we spoil the surprise? (And does anyone even care?)
Not too much big news from GRM World Headquarters. We’ve been working away on the next issue, watching gas prices climb ,and realizing that maybe last year’s hurricanes weren’t so bad.
Well, I’m finally home at last after a whirlwind tour of L.A., Monterey, and Denver. The historics were awsome as always, even if our R.V threatend to roll down the highest point at Laguna Seca. It sure is strange to see folks laying down $3.35 million on a car. (1938 Talbo Lago) For guys in this price stratosphere spending $40k on a VW Thing is like me supersizing my meal at Wendys. The beautiful people were all around…..heck, I went with Tim, Andy and Bill! If you ever find yourself in the Monterey-Carmel area, make sure to stop in at the Baja Cantina off Carmel Valley Road in Carmel. It’s to Laguna Seca what Seibken’s is to Road America. The walls are filled with cool racing memorabila, and the staff, and owners are very nice folks who make you feel welcome. Well until you start a fight, but that’s a different story.
Denver was beautiful, and fun as always, and the sportscar scene there is thriving. I’ll be back in the Mile High City on Sept 18-19 for the Colorado English Motoring Conclave. It’s supposed to be a great event with 600 or so cars. I’ll let you know how it all turns out, or better yet, stop by the booth and say hello if you can make it. After that, I’m off to the Petite LeMans at Road Atlanta at the end of September. It will be my first Petite, and I’m really looking forward to it. Oh yeah, and my brother Dennis is getting married this weekend up in Jacksonville. Unfortunately, two of the bridesmaids live in New Orleans, so things are a bit up in the air, or sadly, underwater. Hopefully all will work out well.
I’ve been on the road a lot lately and I think traveling in pressurized tubes with other humans has finally caught up to me in the form of a head cold. I just took some Sudafed and I’m enjoying that weird feeling you get when it starts working inside your head and things are moving around. This is actually a good time to be a bit sick, since proofing the magazine isn’t physically taxing and I should be plenty good in time for the Solo Nationals in a couple of weeks. I’ll be driving a shifter kart for the first time in my life in F125; should be very interesting. David seems to think my hyperactivity will translate well to the kart environment. Per just laughed and said “bring Advil.”
Solo Nats also means Chipotle burritos in Lawrence! We just had some local Tio’s burritos, but the flavors were a bit dull due to the cold. Meh.
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It’s hard to watch the news and see the devastation and destruction in the Gulf states. While the government and the various relief organizations are working around the clock helping the people of the area, the domesticated and undomesticated animals don’t have that safety net. Kim and I donated $100 to Noah’s Wish, a group that rescues animals in natural disaster areas. You can visit their site here: Noah’s Wish
Tonight we picked up the Civic, and it’s no longer red, pink, red-orange and whatever. Look for photos soon.
The other day, my pal Rob introduced my brother and I to the coolest Web site in the land: click here, but come back, okay?
Yes, a site where you can custom make your own stickers. No minimum quantity. Quick turn-around. The site lets you preview your work. I made a bunch that made me laugh out-loud, but this one I can share with the general public. (Don’t worry, I made a rude version, too.)
Are you sitting down? Our local Wal-mart Super Center does not carry PBR. Or if they do, it’s not in the beer case. Wacky. Still, Publix came though. Yum.
This afternoon we got a call from the body shop saying that our car was done. The plan is to pick it up tomorrow. Yippee.
We ordered some new trim pieces for the car, but we wanted to see if some could be saved, like our window sashes. No matter what the vintage, these pieces just don’t seem to last forever. These metal pieces (one goes at the top of each door) are covered with some kind of black, rubber-like substance. Over time, it cracks and flakes off, revealing the silver metal below.
To remove the black goo, we started with some sandpaper. That seemed to be taking too long, so we tried our Dremel tool. After we tore up our little wire wheel, we found a better solution: A sharp razor blade would easily slice off the black stuff. (And yes mom, we were careful.)
Once most of the black coating was gone, we then went over everything with some 180-grit sandpaper. We then wiped down the pieces with some solvent before breaking out the IES European Black Trim Paint. We applied a few light coats and are now waiting for everything to dry. It’s another humid night here in Florida, but hopefully we’ll have some dry trim pieces to install tomorrow.
And if our solution doesn’t look so hot, we’ll just order new ones.
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