Last Friday I just got used to writing `04 on my checks and now it's changing once again
but 2005 should be an awesome year!
John Vernon (from Rod Visions) and I keep in
touch and check on the progress of each other's rides on a regular basis. His e-mail this
morning contained this suggestion:
"If I may make a
suggestion on your website..
The 'Progress Editorial' is now a great way to tell folks what is currently happening with
your ride. Not Articles, just an update. Grammatic editorials are cool, but I for one
would love to know the present status!"
He's right! I thought an
excerpt from my reply to him might make a good update, so here it is (slightly edited and
expanded for clarity).
December's progress editorial
had nothing about the car because the car has been sitting gathering dust since SEMA. I
haven't even thought about it for over a month, I was so sick of it. I would never be good
at jamming on project after project like the "pro's" do. I get burned out if I
log too many stress-filled hours of work with a deadline carved in stone. Since then I've
been trying to catch up on all the work I missed when I took the month and a half off to
finish the car. I've been exhausted.
I literally only had one week to
finish the entire interior. I'm just now looking forward to getting back in the garage and
working on it again. I want the interior, the sound and feel of the doors latching, etc.
to all be perfect.
I'm seriously considering going
on Power Tour
this year with my wife and youngest daughter. Ross from Dakota Digital will pull their big
trailer so if we break down (we won't!) the car can be hauled. Someone would take turns
riding in the Suburban with Ross & Teri. They're a couple we hang with a lot so it
should be a fun time. Teri has a house in Florida close to where Power Tour ends. We'd
play around there for a day or two and trailer the rod back home.
The only thing right now is the
expense. Motels for a week (probably over $100/night), meals out, fuel for a car that gets
"who knows what" for gas mileage, Power Tour T-shirts, Cherry Coke, etc... could
be spendy. I also don't want to rock chip or damage the car but the adventure of doing a
Power Tour would be worth a few rock chips.
Tomorrow it's back up on the
stands taking up two stalls of the garage and the Durango will sit outside for the rest of
the winter :(
A new ECU (gen 7) should ship
from Accel in the next week. I'm adding a knock sensor and repining the existing wire
harness to work with the new computer. Should be a hoot ;) Then I'm handing it over to
Scott Sehr and Joey Keyman to get running while I sit back like an expectant father with a
digital video camera recording every last byte. The uncut footage will be available only
on the CD and DVD to give them added value (and because of bandwidth concerns on the web).
I had the guys from B&M
checkout my shifter when the car was at SEMA. It's definitely defective (takes Godzilla to
shift it and feels loose) and being the cool company that they are they offered to make it
right - actually, better than right. They offered to exchange it for ANY shifter they
make! (they liked the car)
I'm leaning toward their "Street Bandit" shifter because it feels so precise. The body
is machined from a 7lb. block of aluminum and it's smooth as silk. The only issue will be
cable routing since the cable exits the rear of the shifter and the Hammer exits the
front. My cable will need to make it's loop inside the car the way I have the console. I
need to make a decision soon before they forget their promise :)
Have to go make pancakes and
sausage for all the kids that slept over last night. No, this isn't Neverland! ;) ... but
it is a ZOO! Later, Scooter
Here's a picture of the car
TODAY - New Year's Day 2005
As you can see she's sitting at the far end of
the garage with her friends, quietly begging for attention. You can catch a glimpse of a
finished door panel behind it. I took down the Outdoor Christmas decorations today and
they're laying there waiting to be placed back in their boxes for the next 10 months.
I'm adding five new 4-bulb 4-foot florescent
lighting units to the garage (another 800 watts of lighting) for light therapy and to work
on my tan before summer. You can't have too much light and I found the units (used) with
bulbs for $10/each. I'm also going to do a major garage cleaning tomorrow once the car has
been placed in the air.
I got garage furniture for Christmas
this year! You could pick up this 3-piece set with a bar stool, roller stool and
creeper at the local Checker Auto Parts for just $27 complete! How can they do that? My
less than subtle hint to my wife was basically worded "If you're not going to buy
this then tell me now because I don't want to pass up this deal".
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I also scored some new
garage slippers to take the place of my embarrassing old ones. As you can see, I spend a
LOT of time in the garage! The old ones hit the
trash barrel today and the new ones feel SO comfy on the cool garage floor. |
After an unfortunate incident that my daughter had involving a soft drink and my keyboard,
a replacement was in order (if I ever wanted to use the spacer bar or capitalize anything)
so here's a photo of the keyboard and mouse I found under the tree. I'm using them right
now. |
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I also got some socks for Christmas but I didn't
take a picture of them :)
Anyway, with the new garage furniture, slippers
and a keyboard to write Project33 updates... I'm ready to get back in there and get this
thing finished and RUNNING!
Even though it seems like the car is finished to
most of you - it's not. There are still a lot of Articles to cover the past progress and
there'll be a bunch more to cover all the finish work that's planned over the next couple
months. So hang in there and thanks for sticking around!
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