First Weekend

New picture albums up (in the "Pics" link to left.) Video of an engine start now on youtube. We're in business!

This weekend we retrieved the Car from Lopez Island. Loading onto the trailer turned out to be cake. Sam (my dog) took his first ride in it while we pushed it down the gentle slope of the road and onto the trailer ramps. We stopped off to give her a bath and managed to plug up the drain with all the years of crap that had accumulated on/in this car. The paint's looking a bit more "Adobe Beige" and less "Lopez Mold" afterwards.

Getting her off the trailer was a bit more of trick. My garage is behind the house, down a steep & narrow driveway. We decided we'd get the trailer aligned then coast down the rest of the way and onto my back patio, which is sheltered by my deck. The goal was to get her running out there, at which point she could go into the garage under her own power. We're lucky she's came with strong brakes, that made the whole thing about as easy as could be.

2 new spark plug wires, 1 new fuel filter, 2 ft of fuel hose, 1 new battery, about 3 cans worth of WD40 and some starter fluid down the carb and she turned over like she'd never even stopped running. =D The exhaust isn't all there so she shakes every window with a three mile radius, and that's just sitting at idle! Not bad for one days work.

Sunday we started tackling some of the many, many, many things this car will eventually need done. Lots of WD40, penetrating oil, vinyl cleaner, & elbow grease involved here. We took a long look at the electrical system; currently the generator isn't hooked up at all, and the voltage regulator has wires where there probably shouldn't be. So the battery gets its charge from the house mains for now.

After a morning of poking, prodding, and scrubbing, we decided it was time for some more test. Fired right back up, drove back and forth on the patio no problem, so Sam and I piled into the passenger seats and up that hill we went, roaring and smoking and having damn good time! =D Imagine this old beater of a '57 Chevy coming growling down your street with no hood on it, blowing smoke and making so much beautiful noise you could hear her coming long before you ever saw it. We got a lot of smiles and waves and looks of "what the fu...?"

Back at home we pulled right into the garage where she'll be living from now on. Now the real work begins. :)