And now for something completely different
Like all here, cars aren't my only hobby, watches are also a side hobby. In other spare time I modify watches for fun and profit. Well, at least for fun. My watch addiction ebbs and flows depending on my interest with the most I have owned is 25 I usually I try to keep it to 12-15. One of my(and others) favorite is the Invicta 8926 which is a reasonable "knock off" of the ubiquitous Rolex Submariner. With the Seiko NH35 movement and tons of aftermarket support many choose this as their entry level foray into watch modding. Remove the Invicta branding on the side, the crown detail, swap dials/hands/bezel insert and you will have something you will have a watch that very few will have. Lots of fun here making a $75 watch into a $200 watch very easily.
After
Or grab any of the may Seiko watches made that uses a 28mm dial and build this with a dial and hand swap
Or
And now back to your mildly entertaining car thread
More thriftiness, more razor blades, more burnt fingertips
Repurpose that tip-tissorie onto a body cart
Tools of the trade
I had a couple spots of pitting in passenger door jamb and near the quarter window repairs, took it outside and did some blasting.
After a bare metal wipedown with the blue stuff a couple pics ago, we dragged it outside so my buddy could laydown some DTM primer
It was at this time I also decided to buy two Jeep XJ Cherokee's for the awesome price of $1200 and neither had run in 5 years. Awesome decision. Even better decision? I want to keep the one that had been ditched at some point and then a vengeful ex wife filled the gas tank with sugar. This would make an great lease vehicle.
Your like me times 10...big malibu build...and several other projects to delay its evolution.
I am approaching 5 years for my engine swap...
But you can't just take it to the lease without mods, nah. Lets see just what a turd this is. 2001 Cherokee XJ, 201K, automatic and 4wd, ditched and bent panels on both sides. After selling the other Cherokee( it was cleaner but someone had removed the trans and transfer case so only 2wd) I'm in for $500 on this Jeep.
Off to Autozone for a fuel pump after cleaning out the old gas and sugar, new battery, plugs, radiator, serp belt, and it lives! No smoke, no clunks, 4wd engages. So next up is off to search for some wheels and tires, Craigslist scores some aluminum wheels and BFG's that have plenty of tread but out on the date codes and you HAVE to lift a Jeep, right? Think we ended up with around 5".
Arund down to Pik N Pull netted a header panel and a rear door.
But the new door made this look even uglier
Good thing for off roaders, tube rockers are a thing if you are wheelin hard, let's cut!
And paste
Front subframe needed a little repair also
Plated over this after cutting it out
Also bought a U bend it and Weld it bumper kit, this will need a good bumper for pushing over smal trees
And these tend to run warm so lets put some holes in the hood
It needs a different color for a lease vehicle
Finished the paint and it was missing something
Needs more light bar, 42" should do it
And off to the lease to get work done
Now back to our regular scheduled programming.
Bodywork. Prime, grind, pull dents, prime, sand, repeat ad naseum. But first up is to get the body mounted so things line up, new poly body bushings, hardware, and new hinges
And such fun sanding, thankfully I'm not a bodyman but a great friend is.
If you ever need one I can recommend the Harbor Fright stud gun, it's been a godsend on this project
And back into the paint booth for primer again. At this point we are almost through the first primer kit.
Short of the mirror spot, every shiny spot is where a den was pulled with the stud gun
Then some work I can do, seam seal all the outside seams with 3M
More magic juice action on the fender liners from the ratty four door. It works wonders on plastic/rubber
Surfing Craigslist I found a 4.8 with all accessories and a rebuilt 5.3 short block for a song, seller even threw in an engine stand. Having a work truck with a lift gate comes in handy. Who knows when you may need spare engines.
At this point I once again get bored and buy a Chevy truck I have been driving by for years. I picked up a 1973 C20 pickup, one owner with a "bad" engine and had been sitting for 12 years. It had a 30K mile GM Goodwrench 350 that had a knock and a rebuilt TH400, they tried rod bearings but they didn't work and so it sat. I found the .020 oversized bearing when I pulled the motor out plus found the "knock" that was what I though, cracked flexplate. Cleaned the heck out of it, painted/detailed it under the hood, new tires and put it up for sale.
Some time spent with the "magic juice", sanding, painting, de-Texafying, and reassembly. I replaced one inner fender, shot both in hot rod flatz, had the factory color mixed up in single stage and shot the inside fenders. I also rebuilt the steering column, flushed the brakes, added new tires to the factory wheels, and did an overall cleanup. Why am I typing this? My good buddy bought it and made me an offer on the 5.3/4L60E that was in the Malibu to put in the truck. Since I have a spare 4.8 laying around why not? At the time I also had a 91' 454 sitting in the corner.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2gyyYuV][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48282605581_aec1a86ea0_b.jpg[/img][/url]
Then my friend installed the 5.3/4L60E along with Vintage Air, painted the firewall, and uses it for his business.
So while everything else was going on aroudn this time the Road King went chrome and bought Fairless removable fairing with an Infiniti marine stereo and two 6.5" speakers and the next set of many pipes to come
Then I got bored with the paint and bought a bunch of pearl white vinyl and decided to wrap/two tone the bike. Knifeless tape is your friend. Also patience, lots of patience. And a heat gun
Knifeless tape is the green, it has a filament you pull to create the split
And finished
Not a bad try for my first vinyl wrap time and cost about $100 in material and is able to be removed at will. Definitely a learnign experience.
This thread is amazing. I'll be sure to follow all of your adventures here
So I think wee are around the end of 2019/begining 2020 now. Another car comes home. My brother had bought a Texas 2006 6 speed GTI from a friend and took it back to Iowa, he never really bonded with the car and then let the nephew drive it and hit a coyote on a 5 degree night shattering the front bumper and cracking the core support which eventually chewed through the harness and fragged the ECU. I drug it back to Texas, cleaned it up, new computer and flipped it.
Then I bought the Avocado for a song. A buddy's dad had this car forever, was a body man and painted it this teal green in the 80's, the paint reacted giving it and avocado texture, and then it sat until around 2010 of so when he gave it to the buddy's son. He worked on it but really needed a new car not a classic so I picked it up, I've always wanted an air cooled Porsche, or so I thought. Interior had been gutted and most tossed, it came with a bunch of parts and books. After I got everything out of it I took it for a drive, nope not for me, so I sold it on for twice what I paid. I didn't neeed another restoration either.
Wow, I'm envious of every bit of your story. I have a few questions.
1. Who made the the block off plates? I didn't know they existed now my Monte needs them
2. Where is the Jeep bumper kit from? I want to make one for my Renegade with tow points and a tire carrier
3. Are days longer down there? I barely have time to read along let alone accomplish any of this
Wally (Forum Supporter) said:
Wow, I'm envious of every bit of your story. I have a few questions.
1. Who made the the block off plates? I didn't know they existed now my Monte needs them
The spare tire block off is from Scott Rod Fabrications, I have the block off for the AC too but that will be used for the box I frame out to use an aftermarket box.
2. Where is the Jeep bumper kit from? I want to make one for my Renegade with tow points and a tire carrier
The jeep bumper is from DIY Offroad Products
3. Are days longer down there? I barely have time to read along let alone accomplish any of this
This build started in 2013 so a lot of time has passed but the days apparently get longer in the last two years, tons of other cars to come!
After the sale of the Porsche I was flush with extra cash, sameamount of time to work on the Malibu but it was the beginning of the summer and I was jonesing for something to cruise around in. after living here a few years one of the neighbors I'd never talked to stopped by and turns out he was a car guy too, just starting to dip his toes in the water but he had this in his driveway. 2000 Mustang Saleen SC281 with 40k miles, Kenne Belle 2.1 Supercharger with Boost a pump and on CCW's.
We took it in to do a paint correction so he could sell it and buy some other cars
And done
And then I bought it LOL
Welcome to GRM! Following with interest. That Volvo was a gem but the rest are not too shabby either.
What part of Texas are you from ? That zinc plating on the first page looks like the work I get done over at Arrow Plating in Fort Worth. I'm on the west side of Fort Worth.
Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:
What part of Texas are you from ? That zinc plating on the first page looks like the work I get done over at Arrow Plating in Fort Worth. I'm on the west side of Fort Worth.
I'm over in North Richland Hills, used Billmark Plating for the bolts.
I'll throw these two random purchases from the Queen of the South series, luckily for me I sold them on before I could go down those rabbit holes. The guy I sold the Deuce to got it running around 6 months after purchase, the burn was superficial for show, no real major damage, the F750 was bought by my neighbor and is waiting for me to Cummins swap it.
So then I had a summer of fun in a ridiculous Saleen. The blower whine was intoxicating, power was instantaneous, and brutal. Did I mention it also had a magnum TKO 6 speed? I never found the top speed but on a "closed course" it did see 150mph. Fixed a lot of minor things, details, new stickers from Saleen, and painted the front and rear bumpers, the paint was rough. Ended up selling the CCW's, BTW 345' on the back were huge, but they had R888's and were very pedictable. Went back to the stock wheels, floating pony grille, and sold the Mustang on.
59K original miles
Tire tread at four Modelos wide. Could this be a new tire measuring standard?
OHSCrifle said:
Tire tread at four Modelos wide. Could this be a new tire measuring standard?
Easier to work with what you have at hand lol
Then the neighbor buys a Mercedes CL65 and wants some work done to it, paint correction, black out the emblems, black out the chrome, black out the wheels, repaint bumpers, valve cover gaskets, tint the tails and headlights(later removed, he didn't like the purple color), paint rear valance, and paint calipers. We wrapped all the chrome in gloss black vinyl, tedious but rewarding.
You can see another of the 50 other distractions coming into play lol
Before
During
After
In the last episode of As the G Body Turns we have alot of work done and now sans original planned engine. With the purchase of a spare 5.3 short block and a fairly complete 4.8 we have options. We have a stock 5.3 tuned to 278hp/318tq at the wheels in our group, the same buddy that bought the C20 has an LS swapped 1991 Volvo 245.
But that isn't in the cards for this car. Not at all. Not with a 4.8. Let's start ordering parts. First part, billet 7875 turbo
Next up is a Fahler Speed turbo manifold and mock up, I think this will work.
Starting to strip it down and then a quick hit with th Magic Juice(trademark pending) and a water hose.
To make room for everything needed I ordered up a chrome moly tube header panel
And then the next round of parts were ordered and I tore down the engine. Brian Tooley Racing springs, titanium retainers/keepers, stage 3 cam, LS7 head gaskets, umbrella seals, SnakeEater injectors, ATI Super Dampner, Crossflow radiator, huge AC condensor, fairly large intercooler, timing cover with AN oil drains, LS7 lifters /trays, and a new AC Delco water pump
Looks to be a low mileage engine
Gapped the rings, lapped the valves, and fresh coat of paint
And back together
