1983 Suzuki GS1100G brat build

I've always had a motorcycle, and for most of my younger life, I've always needed a motorcycle, whether it be for low cost of transportation, or the simple thrill and joy of riding. I rode my Buell almost exclusively as my sole mode of transportation year-round for my final two years of College many years ago. Life lately hasn't afforded many opportunities to ride a motorcycle in the way I've always enjoyed riding. No long drives to work, no weekend travels with friends, far and few spur-of-the-moment joy rides through the mountains. So my last motorcycle was just an expensive thing in the way taking up garage space. I sold it. Then while mindlessly surfing the classifieds on the internet, I stumbled across this 80's heavy-metal beauty. plenty of power, comfy, and cheap! I figured I'd buy it, store it outside under a cover and ride it if I felt like it. It wouldn't be in the way and who cares if it sits outside, right?                                                                                       

                                      

I was attracted by its originality. I like naked bikes, and though this is from the early 80's, it still looks timelessly styled. 

Corvette C4's, the best and worst (almost)

 In the spring of 2019 the unthinkable happened: I bought another C4 Corvette. Even more unimaginable, it was a 1984- arguably the worst year for the C4. That's not to say that the '84 is a bad Corvette, far from it, just that it's got the lowest hp rated engine of the entire C4 line-up. The one I picked up had the "doug nash" 4+3 manual transmission and Z51 suspension. The Z51 "track" suspension included a quick ratio steering rack, large diameter sway bars,  extra stiff (bone-jarring) springs and staggered rim sizes. I got the car cheap because it had suffered years of neglect mechanically. The clutch was shot, the exhaust manifold gaskets were blown, oil leaks, 1,000 interior rattles, etc. 

The body and paint were very nice. I lowered it an inch and added slim wheel spacers at the rear to get the stance right. What I loved most about the 84 was it's total lack of modern safety gadgetry: No ABS, no Airbags, no Traction control, no 3rd brake light. The purest expression of mechanical C4 performance machinery.

2005 Cadillac Deville DTS land yacht, a gluttonous and unpopular fetish ride, a wolf in sheep's clothing

This will look like a stretch being posted on my blog about "humble custom and classic" vehicles, but, I assure you, with the little tweaks I did, I can argue that it meets the loose definition of "humble custom", and for me (and harder to argue) it is a modern classic.

This gracefully-aging beauty came along at the right time in the right place a little over a year ago. I had just resolved with one of my car buddies that my next car was going to be a cheap full-size, fully loaded out-of-fashion luxury-barge Cadillac (I've never owned one and needed to check that off the proverbial "list."). They sell used for pennies on the dollar compared to things like Toyota trucks, which as they age increase in value like real estate.

This car presented itself to me and it was love at first sight. I was not well versed in post-vintage Cadillacs so I didn't really know what I was looking at. But I knew I really really liked it. The color grabbed me, the beautiful gray leather interior reeled me in, and the bucket seat and floor shifter sealed the deal.
                                   
My DTS (Deville Touring Sedan)  is finished in the exquisite and understated "thunder metallic gray" complimented with chrome plated Cadillac rims and a hand-painted pinstripe.

My 1996 Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider experience

I found this bike for sale as a trade-in at an Indian Dealer nearby. They had it bargain priced and listed on craigslist. I skeptically went to have a look. I was wanting a nimble uncluttered  Harley with twin front disk brakes and a carbureted evolution engine, and this one fit the bill. It was adorned with a windshield, saddle bags, sissy bar, and heaps of pointless add-on chrome glamour pieces. This is not to my taste, but I was able to see through all that and picture the cool simple bike that was concealed within. The sales lady talked $500 off the asking price all on her own, much to my surprise, and it was a done deal!

Day 1 departing the Indian dealer with my new/old Dyna. Note the tall windshield, sissy bar, thunder header exhaust, saddle bag supports.

2000 Audi TT Rally Cross experiment

I remember when this car was unveiled; sometime in the late 1990's one of the mucky-mucks from Audi announced that this new car was the type of car "James Dean" would have driven (much to the chagrin of the Porsche mucky-mucks, who historically owned those bragging rights). Well I have always been passively interested in this fascinating little car. This particular example, an all-wheel-drive, turbo 5-speed model presented itself to me recently for very cheap and I had to have it. I've never owned or driven an old Porsche 356 or 550 spyder (Dean's car), but when I'm hunkered down in the low slung, chopped roof cockpit of this little bomb-shell, I feel distantly connected to that piece of German sports-motoring heritage. This car in 180hp trim with a 5 speed and all wheel drive is responsive, grippy, slightly under powered, and spectacular in twisties. It is also highly modifiable and pretty simple to work on.

 My car had 199k miles on the odometer, but looked to have been well maintained, so I figured it was  at least a 50-50 chance of it not blowing up in my face...I replaced the timing belt, gave it a full tune-up, and completely rebuilt the cooling system.

1995 Volvo 850- Swedish Dream.

Well this is a departure. My wife and I just had a son born to us and I needed a comfy, convenient and safe vehicle to transport him in. At my job I am constantly tempted by all sorts of ordinary and misfit cars available to purchase at or below wholesale prices. One day, this little Volvo showed up and spoke to me. I had to have her. I'll be brief.

1995 Volvo 850 GLT

1955 Willys M38A1 the miliary spec CJ5 Jeep

Presently the oldest "car" I own is this 1955 Willys ex-military Jeep. "Car" being a bit of a euphemism, as it operates, looks and feels more like a piece of industrial equipment...and that's just one of the many cool things about it.

BMW 2002 polyurethane rear sub frame bushing and differential mount bushing install

As this little BMW approaches respectability, I have been chipping away at some of the little long ignored detail things she needs to be "right." There was a pretty good knock from the right rear sub frame bushing when going over big bumps. A quick look underneath revealed saggy bushings for the subframe and the differential mount. I decided to purchase some poly bushings and try them out. This is an easy enough job, but a little cumbersome and smelly. The following is how I got it done.


                                  
                                                the rear of the 2002 up on stands

1975 BMW 2002 fresh Polaris silver paint (twice)

Earlier in the year I was on a strong roll whipping the body into shape and took the leap to paint the car myself. I have successfully painted before, albeit single stage. The BMW is getting a base/clear system. I have an inexpensive harbor freight HVLP gun and a good compressor. I set aside a complete Saturday for the project and set out early with two layers of a gray sealer, which when on respectably smooth and even. After the appropriate flash time I sprayed on three beautifully uniform coats of the base metallic silver "Polaris" color.  After enough flash time I mixed up the clear and started spraying. I immediately was having difficulty putting on a smooth coat of clear. It was spraying out in large drops/blobs. No matter how I fiddled with the gun, it wouldn't flow even and smooth. I reasoned that I could just lay it on heavy and cut/sand/polish it to a good smooth finish. It might have worked, but it didn't. The clear was so heavy that it hadn't time to flash off before it began to attack the base coat and wrinkle it in places. The following is how it all went down and what I did to move past this terrible "worst-case scenario" situation.

Little 2002, masked under awnings in the side yard wearing a fresh sealer primer coat

Procar Pro 90 seats installed in a 1965 Ford Falcon Hardtop

I've been enjoying a slushy restored bench seat in the Falcon for about six years now. I have long flirted with the idea of switching to sportier, more supportive bucket seats and have had my eye on the Procar Pro 90 low backs for some time. They are super reasonably priced and look pretty good in all the ads. Recent events and revelations in my life finally prompted me to make the leap to bucket seats. I scored a set of seats and adapters from Summit Racing (No sales tax and free shipping...Woo Hoo!!!) and got to work.

 Step one is to remove the old bench seat. To make it easier and less back-breaking,  I unclipped both back rests, slid them off their pivot pins, then I wrangled the bottom out separately

1964 Comet parts car before and after, and on to a new home

Well I managed to succeed with the plan for buying a "parts car" for some rare and expensively un-obtainable trim parts for my 64 Caliente convertible. I harvested the trim pieces I needed and they were in surprisingly good condition. My intentions were primarily two-fold: 1-Get the parts; 2-Not lose any money doing so.

I then took to freshening up the car a little to sell it on to the next person as a viable restoration project. Over the course of about one or two months, I did just that (see previous posts for details). The car turned out pretty darned respectable.

I rebuilt the brakes and power steering system and the car drove very well.

Only problem was that once I fixed the exhaust leaks and broken engine mounts, I could hear a distinct rod knock...sadly the engine is on it's last legs. Also the differential was growling. I advertised the Comet and had a buyer with cash within 24 hours, who happily drove away in Bruno, windows down, in style. He drove approximately 20 miles to his house without incident. Happy ending and hopefully I'll see him driving around the Sacramento area from time to time.

Ahhh that new car smell - 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente hardtop!

I'm a sucker for anything in the form of a 60's era two door hardtop. And obviously I have a particular interest in the Falcon and Comet. While I was wrapping up the rehab on my blue 64 convertible, this little gem popped up on my local Craigslist looking for a sympathetic new home. Now, seeing as I haven't bought a car in at least 5 months, clearly the planets have aligned and brought us together. It's a cosmic thing.                          

"Bruno," as the old German lady who owned him for the last 30 years called him, has been weathering out in a field for the last decade. Ingrid parked him in 2004 due to what she described as "death-wobble" in the front end whenever she'd hit a bump in the road. When I found him he was/is in pretty rough shape. It's unclear how much of the degradation occurred during dormancy, and how much was already there leading up to his 2004 mothballing.                              

 He was sitting on 4 flat tires and stitched to the ground by spiderwebs too numerous to count. His corners are bashed and his soft parts are all hard and cracked. The good news is that he's virtually rust free, short of a little non-obtrusive surface rust. I had in mind to purchase Bruno with the intent of harvesting some of his nicer trim pieces for my convertible, than give him a quick "refresh" to make him a driver. I may practice my panel beating skills to straighten some of his dents, and strip out the shot interior.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...Today I am heading out to make him run again. I will flush the fuel system, rebuild the carb, change the points, condensor, cap and rotor, change the engine oil and filter, prime the oil pump, drop in a new battery, and voila!

When he's moving under his own power again, I'll tuck him away in the side yard for warmer days. With the completion of the convertible, my focus has once again shifted back to my beloved wife's BMW 2002, which I will be completing hopefully by this summer....But stay tuned, as Bruno here will be the subject of future posts.

1964 Comet Caliente Convertible edging towards daily-driver status!

Pursuant to my goal of having this little gem on the road and usable by November, I've been busting my rump nearly every free moment. I got the engine in, hooked up and fired with little fan-fare. I primed the oil system, replaced the old fuel with fresh, static timed the distributor, and she roared to life with just a few cranks of the key. The open headers were pretty head-splitting inside the garage and made for quite a neighborhood nuisance during initial test runs.

I topped up all fluids, made a few neighborhood romps and then drove it 2 miles to the muffler shop for a complete new system of 2.25" pipe with dual magnaflows. Since then, I've put about 150 miles on her while tuning the Edelbrock Performer carb. I bought a jet and rod kit from Summit and have been playing with different combinations to achieve a good balance of power, transition and idle.

I replaced the dented rear bumper with a well-worn example from ebay that isn't dented. I found a clean grill on craigslist and installed it in place of the wavy original. I welded in a patch at the drivers quarter panel where a little rust had eaten away. 

I am presently working on freshening up the interior. Unfortunately as I write this I am held up waiting for a response from Dearborn Classics about a defective section of carpet that I can't use in the car...Hopefully they come through for me and ship out a replacement piece pronto...

                                 

                           Final iteration of the engine. Note the Monte-Carlo bar attached now for structure                                                                     reinforcement.

1964 Merc Comet Caliente front suspension rebuild and modification

Having just recently acquired this car, I set to work on the rehabilitation. Since the engine is already out this is a good time to rebuild the original suspension. I wanted to upgrade the suspension on the whole car with some improved parts and also make some inexpensive but valuable handling modifications. Here's what I did to the front.

 I retracted the coil springs up in the shock towers with a spring compressor and removed the brakes, knuckles and upper control arms as a unit. The rest was simple unbolting.

1978 Honda CB750K

I sold my Harley Davidson down the road and ended up unexpectedly committing some of the cash proceeds to the purchase of a 1964 Mercury Comet. The cash I had left over was what I was left with for my next bike. I didn't know what kind of bike I'd be getting, but I had one concrete criteria- a Kick Start lever must be attached to the motorcycle (and it must be cheaper than the product of Comet purchase money subtracted from Harley Davidson sale money). I shopped craigslist for weeks until this sweet little gem popped up- a 1978 Honda CB750k, the last year of the original SOHC engine and last of the kick start 750 Hondas.

 Pro's: Kick start, 750cc engine, less than 10k miles on odometer, good tires, immaculate original paint and seat, 4 chrome mufflers, chrome fenders, tons of style.

Tribute to a good riding companion 1990 HD Softail

I love motorcycles. Back in 2009 I picked up a neglected Heritage Softail. I limped it home on bad tires, oil soaked brakes and with the choke pulled wide open just to keep it alive. It was in full dress, windshield, tall bars, bags, his and her seat, sissy bar, Conchos and tassels. I loved the bike but hated the look. I took to stripping it down to the essentials and making it my own. I de chromed pieces, changed the bars (several times), changed the seat, stripped the turn signals, speedo and dash and other un needed doo-dads. I wanted a pure machine, the only luxury I was allowing was the full fenders, as I really like the look. I took to repairing any faults over time and wound up with a reliable and awesome Harley Davidson that served me for six years, way beyond my humble original expectations. With mixed feelings, I sold it in tip-top shape a few weeks ago to try something different.

          Here's Black Betty at her peak of fitness, a few days before I found her a new owner.

1964 Mercury Comet Caliente Convertible: the modern gentleman's rocket ship cruiser

A few weeks ago I sold my Harley Davidson motorcycle of 6 years. 20 minutes later I was sweeping up the garage, wad of cash in pocket, and fate brought one of my distant neighbors over for a visit. This would be no ordinary visit though, as he was there on business. He wanted to sell me his project car, a car which had been solely in his family since new- a '64 Comet convertible. He had undertaken a mechanical restoration years ago, but life interfered and the project stalled on him...for 15 years. Now I don't need another car, nor do I need another project, but I am a sucker for a cool 60's FOMOCO product and I can't resist. So we made a deal and pushed the shuttle a few blocks from his garage to mine. Follow along as I perform a sympathetic mechanical and cosmetic restoration of the Comet. It is my ambition to have her back on the road by November(ish)...we'll see about that (as I write this it's August 9, 2015).

 

Here is my first glimpse of the '64 comet. The engine and transmission have long ago been removed

BMW 2002 M10 engine build

Well, the old girl was a smoker, no matter how much I drove her and pushed her and tuned her, she had a nasty habit of expelling a cloud of bluish-grey when taking off from a stop. The longer she idled, the more embarrassing the cloud. I figured (optimistically) that the valve guide seals were deteriorated from sitting, so I embarked upon replacement of the seals. If you know your M10's, you know BMW doesn't make this an afternoon project like, say, a Chevy 350 engine. No, BMW insists you remove the camshaft and rocker shafts, and to do so requires you to remove the cylinder head from the engine. No big deal, that's a chore that takes around 3 hours working at a reasonable clip.

                                                      1975 BMW 2002 losing it's head

1975 BMW 2002 Esty Carpet Install

The 2002 interior door panels, rear seat and dash were all in really good condition. All that was letting the interior down was the front seats, (which were deflated and the drivers was torn) and the well worn original carpet. The 1974 came with a one-piece molded carpet, as opposed to the "cut and sewn" multi-piece rugs of earlier cars. Some say the cut and sewn looks better aesthetically, but I decided to order up a replacement one-piece molded carpet to replace the one that was being removed. I wanted a quick and easy install...

I received the one piece carpet from ACC. I had previously installed a molded ACC carpet in my 1974 Ford truck and it fit like a glove! It went in easily and looked fantastic, hugged all the bumps and curves as good as an original carpet. I hadn't had even a second thought about using them again.

Sadly, the carpet for the 2002 was a completely different story. I guess the floor pan is quite a bit more complicated than the old Ford's, because this carpet was a very poor, sloppy fit. There are a lot of nooks and crannies and little protrusions on the BMW 2002 floor that demand close and custom fitting. Yes, the ACC did lay down on the floor, albeit not at all snug, leaving annoying air voids everywhere, and generally requiring custom modifications that were not possible, given the one-piece design.

I didn't want to put forth the effort to make the ACC fit, because I knew I would end up with a very marginal final product. On the advice of a friend, I switch to Esty, a known custom carpet maker for old BMW's. The Esty carpet was less expensive (had I known that, I would have chosen that one first).

The Esty BMW carpet is a better choice as it is individual pieces, cut and sewn like the earlier cars. You can manipulate each piece as you install to attain the best fit possible. And with the sewn edges and original-looking materials, it really is a nicer looking finished product.

 I stripped the original carpet, the seat belts, brake lever, console and shifter.

1974 Ford F100 Explorer "rehabbing the rig"

I have never owned a truck. I had a Ranchero once, but no trucks. I was never really a truck guy. I have held a job or two where I used various company trucks for heavy-duty industrial purposes, and was always delighted at how well a good strong truck did whatever I needed it to do, within reason. I drove Fords, Chevys, Kenworths, Volvos and International Harvesters. I liked the Fords the best, though, as real "big rigs" go, A new Volvo is pretty sweet!

I am going to do some fixing up around the new house soon and need a good truck to haul stuff. However, I am wired such that I can't spend any real money on a fancy, newer truck,  I don't need or want a luxurious daily-driven modern rig. I want something that is inexpensive, has a little history and is unique. Enter the 1974 F100. It has a proper 8 foot long bed, a 390 cubic inch big block V8 engine, power steering, and disk brakes. It's a classic American Work-Horse of the highest order. Best of all, it's only $1600.

It was probably the "Viking Red" color that drew me to this one. I viewed lots of cheap Fords, but this one spoke to me. Being a 1974, it is exempt from state smog inspections, so as a hot-rodder, that spoke to me also. It wasn't without it's flaws though, principally, the engine was severely down on power, and had a rough idle due to compression loss in multiple cylinders: The valves were toast. The brakes were also toast, as were the U-joints, and the cab heating system. However, the body was rust-free, wearing mostly original paint, the tires are fairly new, and the interior was original, worn, but not abused. There was enough to this truck to make it worth fixing up for the tasks at hand.

                 The previous owners had used it as a camper to follow the blue-grass music scene.