This was such a wonderful and inspiring thread to read. Do you plan on painting it before the next LeMons? My vote is for some flames on the front.
This was such a wonderful and inspiring thread to read. Do you plan on painting it before the next LeMons? My vote is for some flames on the front.
Part of me really loves the aesthetic it's got going on now, but part of me (and Mrs VCH) would love to toss some color at it. She is partial to teal, and a Matte teal job might look pretty awesome. Maybe go full "princess rod" on it with some silver, pink, and white accents.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I believe the term is scallops (flames made with a ruler) and not accents. Maybe try them out over the patina? (win/win)
You know, as I always like to say, "it's teal time" for the Plymford.
After work yesterday I had to play Tetris with the Plymford and the Jaaaag, as I need to get the Jag into the garage to address a power steering fluid gusher. As long as the Plymford was started and moving about, it seemed like a good time to take it on a road test. 
And, am happy to report, (mostly) all went swimmingly. The brakes are touchy as hell and pulled a bit at first, probably due to the car sitting for several months. But after a few stops they seemed to even out. Should probably bleed them anyway. The engine and trans worked great, and the car had puh-lenty of pickup. Noise was made, neighbors turned their heads to gawk, mission accomplished. 
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Have you commuted to work in it yet?!
RedGT said:In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Have you commuted to work in it yet?!
I've been angling for the right day. The weather needs to be cool, and no chance of rain (no windows or wipers). And there's a few guys who sometimes work offsite, who told me they want to be here the day I do drive it in. Patience. 
When I do, I will post pictures.
How to drop the pan on a C6 without creating a hot red mess. Apologize for the jittery camera; I'm working solo here.
How To Swap a Pan in 45 Minutes, on a C6 Tranny, Without Making a Huge Bleeping Mess.
Step the First: Drill a hole in the old pan. Remove and discard. See above video
Step b): Admire the shiny new pan; it will never look this good ever again.
Step 3): Install Fel-Pro gasket onto pan, use NO RTV. Gasket holes are slightly undersize, to hold the seventeen hundred bolts in place.
Step the Fourth: Install pan, tighten seventeen hundred bolts in crosswise pattern, using care to not overtighten.
Then top off ATF. Tested tonight, topped off, and went out and made some noise around the neighborhood. 1-2-3 shift, no leaks, good to go.
The remaining list "to do":
pics no worky for me? :*(
In reply to Mad_Ratel :
Huh. Weird. I dragged and dropped them as I typically do. Does this one work?
The single pic post works, the others still no go.
Reposted. Hopefully that works.
All working now
read the whole thread over the past couple days, great work. the kids enjoying it was the bast part for me.
We missed you at South Fall this year. Plymford vs Grand Fury/Monaco would have been a beautiful battle. I hope to see you back on track next year.
In reply to buzzboy :
We missed seeing you all, too. Fall CMP is always a great time. We're gaining momentum for a return next year. How did you guys do?
One of the great things about having a registered, street-drivable race car is using it to run daily errands.
Friday afternoon, I headed up to the butcher where we get our meat:
It was a picturesque, 75 degree day. And the 460 burped along happily. As I was climbing out of the car at the butcher's, one of the guys who works in the back came out the door, pointed at the car, and shouted, "-THAT'S- berkeleying Awesome!"
On the way back with the meat, I was tooling along, probably doing about 50 or so (there's no speedo, so I drive by the tach, and usually try to do exactly the speed limit so I don't give cops any more reason to pull me over) and this big black bruiser of a modern BMW comes flying up in my rearview mirror. He pulls into the oncoming lane on a straight stretch of road with no traffic. About a split second later, I realize that I am driving one of the few vehicles that actually can address this "problem". So I plant my right foot. The C6 dutifully downshifts into 2nd, the 460 roars up to about 5000 RPM, and Mr. Big BMW starts disappearing in the rearview and pulls back in behind me. I slowed back to my normal cruising speed, and he started riding my tail, but by now the roads were windy and traffic started coming in the oncoming lane.
Sorry, Mister Bruiser BMW, you picked the wrong jalopy to pick on today.
I got home with the cooler full, and Mrs. VCH dubbed it, "The Meat Mobile".
From page nine of this thread:
My daughter quipped, "This car makes me happier than it should."
I've got nothing more to add.
I need to come see this car one day. I love it.
infinitenexus said:I need to come see this car one day. I love it.
I'll let you know when I drive it in to work. You should be able to hear it from across the Inner Harbor.
Saturday morning I woke up ready to start on another house project, and then realized I was short a few pieces of lumber...
*RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE*
Something that's been bothering me a little aesthetically about Plymford is that, as huge as it is (and it is gigantic; I believe that its width, by law, requires that clearance lights be mounted on its roof and rear fenders) the exhaust pipes seem a bit dinky. The entire exhaust is a dual 2-1/2" system, which of course is plenty for a low revving big block. But when they poke themselves out right in front of the rear wheels, it almost seems like a .22 rifle. It looks a little....ridiculous.
The solution to this was hitting the "add-to-cart" button on a set of 2.5" to 4", 12" long exhaust tips. Naturally, this necessitated plasma-cutting the opening in the body to accommodate the new pipes, and cleaning off a non-trivial amount of weld spatter from the pipes so that the slip-on/ clamp-on tips would actually slide over the existing plumbing. After an hour or so of futzing around, I grabbed a block of wood and a 3 pound hammer, slammed the berkeleyers on, tightened the clamps, and called it a night.
I haven't fired it up yet; I don't have any grand delusions about the car sounding any better or being any more powerful. On the other hand, I can't see how it will be any quieter. The important thing here, though, is it certainly looks more appropriate.
The air was crisp, with a hint of dampness, as the sliver of a moon hung above the soon-to-be rising sun. Purple, followed by a bright, bursting red, followed by a hazy blue crept up the horizon.
And all I could hear was loud.
The first half of the trip had been dark. But still loud. After tanking up with 8.88 gallons of premium at the sign of the Tiger, I crested the big hill before the 4 lanes of the state road turned into the 4 lanes of the interstate spur. The engine puttering along at about 3000 RPM. Staying in the right lane and going with traffic. Periodically I flipped on the "dome" light (a Harbor Freight LED light zip-tied to the roll cage) and checked the gauges. 185 degrees. 40 pounds of oil. All was well.
A periodic screeching noise caught my attention, and for a few seconds a light panic overcame me. Then peeked over my left shoulder and saw the Metro train pacing me, steel wheels on steel track, down the highway median.
Relief. Onward.
The Beltway was fairly easy- I'd taken care to wake up a little earlier than usual, and, coupled with the generally light Friday traffic, I only spent a few minutes creeping along at 10-15 mph. Oh- yeah- turn on the fan! Merging on the I-95 was a bit of a trick, but with patience I was able to resume a cruising posture in the second-to-left lane. Once traffic opened up a bit, I got on her, nailing 4500 RPM for a brief stretch and the cacophony of the exhaust ping-ponging off the Jersey barriers. As I coasted down the offramp, the side of my eye caught a brief flash, followed by a steady red light. One of the fuses had popped. I glanced around- everything seemed to be working. I was about a mile from work, so I pressed on.
After narrowly avoiding a clueless bimbo in a BMW SUV, I pulled into the work parking lot. As I flipped off the lights switch, the red light at the fuse went off. OK, popped lights fuse. No biggie- Won't be needing those the rest of the day, hopefully.
As I walked into the office, I noticed my armpits were damp. My ears were slightly sore- whether from the touch of chill in the air or the hour of exhaust thrubbing they'd just endured, I could not tell. My hair was tousled, and I felt dehydrated. I felt like...I'd just gotten out of a race car.
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