I think this would be a good place.......

[earthquake68]

I don't want to clog up the Chevelle area with my other cars, so I figured this would be a good place to introduce you to the rest of my family.

In addition to the Chevelle, I own a 1977 Nova I'm finishing up a Baldwin Motion tribute on. It doesn't just look the part, this car runs, too! It has a 10:1 396 big block, an M-20 Muncie four speed and a 4.11 Eaton posi out back.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/271014_226767734023065_226006434099195_741210_2970 6_n.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/Novainterior002.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/Nova0012.jpg

In the other bay of the garage is my 1990 Corvette. Actually, it's a big pile of spare parts we bolted together. There's 6 or 7 different cars and one pick up truck in there somewhere. It's fun to drive and looks cool, so it's all good.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/100_0194.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/100_0192.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/100_0196.jpg

[earthquake68]

Oh, in the winter time I always play with my other hotrods, but they're just for show. :D

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/005-1.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/003-1.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/0072.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/0092.jpg

[flash]

Thats the best looking snow I think I've ever seen ,and I hope we dont see any this year .

[Ms Grumpy]

Alan, I am going to have to make some of those snow cars this winter. Those things look so cool. Also, I see a lot of cars in the back of one of those pics, are they all yours ?

And finally....I am jealous !

[flash]

He is quite talented making those cars out of snow ,his real toys arent bad either .

[Ms Grumpy]

Boys love their toys. Real and made of snow. lol

[earthquake68]

Thanks guys! The extra cars in the background are my Dad's neighbor's cars. That was right after I painted the 'Vette down at his place in Florida.

[68ChevelleSS]

very nice looking cars. Not a big fan of those Novas but the big block and 4 speed definitely make it cool.

[earthquake68]

Nobody is, that's why I still own it after 11 years. It's been for sale for 6 of those years. I keep working on it and the price goes up each year. I won't give it away, but I don't expect to make a million, either. It's headed to the Branson Auto Auction in October.

[68ChevelleSS]

I think I might have saw this car on Craigslist. Other than the 10:1 compression it looks like it would be a great driver.

[grandsport]

I like Novas.

[shadowgray396]

I had a 78 Nova that I purchased new, still wished I had it. It was a fun car and I got a few speeding tickets with it since it was also a 4 speed car. Nice cars.

[earthquake68]

I think I might have saw this car on Craigslist. Other than the 10:1 compression it looks like it would be a great driver.

It runs on pump gas. No problem. It's a little crisp with the gears. That is, if your shifts aren't perfect, you'll know it. It's fairly easy to compression lock the back tires if you let off the gas too fast. When you hammer it, hold on. It's TONS of fun to drive. Yeah, I had it on CL for a while.

[Ms Grumpy]

It runs on pump gas. No problem. It's a little crisp with the gears. That is, if your shifts aren't perfect, you'll know it. It's fairly easy to compression lock the back tires if you let off the gas too fast. When you hammer it, hold on. It's TONS of fun to drive. Yeah, I had it on CL for a while.

Then you realized how much fun it is ?

[68ChevelleSS]

It runs on pump gas. No problem. It's a little crisp with the gears. That is, if your shifts aren't perfect, you'll know it. It's fairly easy to compression lock the back tires if you let off the gas too fast. When you hammer it, hold on. It's TONS of fun to drive. Yeah, I had it on CL for a while.

Awesome! I bet it is a blast!

[flash]

My first car at 15 years old was a 69 Nova ,it was a worn out POS but I still loved that car .

[earthquake68]

Then you realized how much fun it is ?

Of course I have! Wanna see?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQOiv74XH7U

This really is the car, just before I painted it and made the hood for it.

[earthquake68]

I FINALLY got the rest of the Baldwin Motion Phase III graphics done! Woo Hoo! Check another chore off the list. (which is getting really short now)

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/ToadProgress001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/ToadProgress004.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/ToadProgress002.jpg

[flash]

Boy ,that looks fun.

[Ms Grumpy]

My first car at 15 years old was a 69 Nova ,it was a worn out POS but I still loved that car .

I think that everyone of us had that worn out POS at one time. I had too many !

[earthquake68]

I think that everyone of us had that worn out POS at one time. I had too many !

Lol, ain't it the truth! Mine was that '73 Ford Grand Torino Squire station wagon in snake vomit green with fake wood grain sides.

[grandsport]

65 Impala SS 6 cylinder 3 speed for me.:banana:Why did I waste $ 50 on this car?

[earthquake68]

$50??!! I must've gotten ripped off. I paid $300 for wagon. I wish I could find deals like that again.

[Rank]

Looks like that vette got painted 93 anniversary ruby red .... good looking c-4

[earthquake68]

Looks like that vette got painted 93 anniversary ruby red .... good looking c-4

Good eye. That does, indeed, happen to be the color of that car. Thank you!

[earthquake68]

I took the Nova out for a spin and got some pictures while I was at it.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/EditedNovadone.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1977%20Nova/Novadone003.jpg

[Ms Grumpy]

I like the paint job on the Nova !

[flash]

I like everything about the Nova except for one thing .................................................. .................................................. .............................................It aint in my driveway.

[68ChevelleSS]

Saw your new paint on your Facebook page. Looks awesome! i agree with Flash! You took a car I normally do not like and made it look awesome!

[earthquake68]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I usually don't like my own work, and aside from a couple small defects, I'm very pleased with how this one turned out.



.............it's for sale by the way! :D

[68ChevelleSS]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I usually don't like my own work, and aside from a couple small defects, I'm very pleased with how this one turned out.



.............it's for sale by the way! :D

Saw it on Craigslist again! My wife would literally shoot me if I came home with another car. lol

[earthquake68]

Saw it on Craigslist again! My wife would literally shoot me if I came home with another car. lol

If you pay the asking price, I'll throw in my frag vest and kevlar! :D

[68ChevelleSS]

Lol I already have those. But I wouldn't go back in the house without it.

[earthquake68]

Ok, I thought I'd update you all on the car situation.

I finally traded off the Nova. A guy had to have it, so I got something I thought would be easier to sell. I really did care about the Nova, so when I made the trade deal, I wasn't very happy about it.

I brought home this '53 Ford Kustom. It was nice but it had a bunch of stuff wrong with it. Nothing worked inside except the CD player. Not even the radio worked. I spent a LOT of time making the car right, which made me resent it even more. Anyway, here are the pictures of it.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/PurplePassion53Ford005.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/PurplePassion53Ford012.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1953FordPurplePassion009.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/PurplePassion53Ford004.jpg

[earthquake68]

So anyway, I went to a couple shows and put a few miles on it, but never planned on keeping the car. I had it for sale since the day I brought it home. I FINALLY got a trade deal I wanted. Ironically, it was to the guy I got the car from to begin with. (we both trade cars pretty regularly) SO, I brought home 500 horse power for the Chevelle, and this.....

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/007-2.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/008-1.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/010.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/011.jpg

It's a '61 Bel Air. My plan was to fix it up enough to be a fun cruiser for the family. I really like these old B bodies. THEN I brought it home and my oldest daughter fell in love. What's a dad to do? I gave it to her. Now we have a cool father daughter project to tinker with. Someone's pretty happy about it, too. :D

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/006.jpg

[flash]

Your daughter has great taste in cars and is quite cute too, with her and that car you will have trouble keeping the young men away .Keep us posted on the build and I hope she jumps right in there with you to work on it.

[shadowgray396]

Looks like a fun project.

[carpoor]

That would be really cool with a 348/409 and a 4 speed! :D Multiple carburetors are a must!

[flash]

I would have to go back stock with that one if it were mine but it would also be a killer Sleeper with a big block under the hood.As long as its brought back there is no wrong way to do it.

[earthquake68]

UGH! Kids these days. That project didn't last long. It's my car again. My daughter will be 15 next month and I told her it was her car unless she screwed up. A few nights ago, we caught her smoking in her room with her mother and I home. This was just after we found out she's failing two subjects and she lied to our faces about the cigarettes.

The next day I searched her room, found her cigarettes and put the car up for sale.

When I was her age, I worked my butt off for every penny I could scrounge and saved up $800 to buy a rusty wreck of a '64 Chevelle that I poured dollar after dollar into, and worked on every day until it was road worthy. I GAVE her this car with the condition that she be the one to do the labor on it. It didn't even mean enough to her try and hide the fact that she was smoking.

I just don't understand. Anybody want a real decent '61 Bel Air. Cora did a good job of rebuilding the carburetor and I fixed the ballast resister so it runs decent now.

Kids can be disappointing.

[Ms Grumpy]

Alan, what a bummer. Kids now a days don't realize how good they have it. I have 6 kids, 3 grown and moved on, 3 still at home. Each one of them have their strengths and weaknesses and it is so disappointing, as a parent, when they mess up. I do think that sometimes Tough love is harder on us. But good for you in sticking by your guns so that she learns there are consequences to their actions. And, unfortunately, this is a big one.

[Hank70SS]

This won't be your last disappointment Alan. Kids want to experiment and they think they know it all. Don't go too hard on her, see if she is willing to work with you so you both get what you want. Teenagers can be real trying, raised 2, plenty of disappointments but they both turned out pretty good and I'm proud of both of them. Just something you have to work through, too bad there's no handbook to tell you how to deal with all the things that will come up.

[earthquake68]

It's funny. I said I wanted a girl because I didn't want another "me" running around. These girls are the polar opposite of me. I guess I got what I asked for. I'm sure Cora will get another chance at a car. Next time, ..she'll have to work just a little bit harder for it, though. I keep hoping one day soon everything will "click" and she starts kicking it in gear a little harder. I have no doubt Kasie, our middle girl, will do fine. She tries harder at things than I ever did. The youngest is 8. She's always off in her own little world. I hope I can real her in before it becomes a problem.

[RBeckman]

It's funny. I said I wanted a girl because I didn't want another "me" running around. These girls are the polar opposite of me. I guess I got what I asked for. I'm sure Cora will get another chance at a car. Next time, ..she'll have to work just a little bit harder for it, though. I keep hoping one day soon everything will "click" and she starts kicking it in gear a little harder. I have no doubt Kasie, our middle girl, will do fine. She tries harder at things than I ever did. The youngest is 8. She's always off in her own little world. I hope I can real her in before it becomes a problem.

She will come around, I have 3 and the oldest one gave me a run for my money and he is now 27 and I could not be prouder of him as it took him a while to fiqure out that bucking the system is a no win situation. Good job sticking to your guns on the car as I know it is hard on us to do than it is on the kids sometime. Chin up and keep up the good parenting.

[Ms Grumpy]

She will come around, I have 3 and the oldest one gave me a run for my money and he is now 27 and I could not be prouder of him as it took him a while to fiqure out that bucking the system is a no win situation. Good job sticking to your guns on the car as I know it is hard on us to do than it is on the kids sometime. Chin up and keep up the good parenting.

Well said.

[earthquake68]

I got some rust repair done on the Bel Air.

Look at the eyebrows and around the headlights. They're actually MUCH worse than they look. Someone did some shoddy patch work before. I had to cut out all the garbage and weld in new metal.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/61BelAir005.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/61BelAir001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/008-1.jpg

I didn't get any in progress shots, but here it is done. Keep in mind there is NO plastic on these yet. This is just the raw metal work.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair002.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair003.jpg

[earthquake68]

...and the driver's side. While this side looked better, it was MUCH worse. Check what was used to back up the inside of the fender so all the fiberglass resin didn't leak through.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair004.jpg

Here it is done. The section under the eyebrow was completely gone. I had to rebuild the entire front 5" of the fender.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair007.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair006.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/BelAirrustrepair005.jpg

..and the headlight assemblies fit beautifully, too. On to the fender bottoms and quarter panels.

[carpoor]

Nice work!

[earthquake68]

Thanks Carpoor.

More metal work's been done on it. Almost all of the rust is gone now. The more I look at this car, the more I'm impressed with it. It is 100% original! I still have the owner's manual in the glove box, the push button AM radio works and the original spare, bumper jack and tire iron are in the trunk. How cool is that?!

[carpoor]

I envision that car with a 348/409 and a super t-10, body color steel wheels with dog dish caps. :D

[earthquake68]

That's funny. I'm half-heartedly looking for a 348 for it. I'll keep the factory 235 if someone would want to make it original again. It had the factory full cover hub caps, but I saw these and had to have them. I hadn't thought about the "poverty caps". That's a good idea.

[Ms Grumpy]

I really like what you are doing to your car.

[carpoor]

There is something about those old W engines that makes them cool. My ex's father has a few 348 & 409 cars. One is a factory 348 tri power convertable with a four speed and air conditioning. I used to walk past that car in the warehouse and daydream about what it would be like to bang gears in it.

[Ms Grumpy]

There is something about those old W engines that makes them cool. My ex's father has a few 348 & 409 cars. One is a factory 348 tri power convertable with a four speed and air conditioning. I used to walk past that car in the warehouse and daydream about what it would be like to bang gears in it.

So did you ever get to take it for a ride ?

[carpoor]

Nope, Dale doesn't let anyone drive his cars - not even his daughter. He rarely drives them, he has 30+ cars and trucks. He would have been the ideal father-in-law.

[grandsport]

I would to but another stock Nova.Novas rock.

[Ms Grumpy]

I like the Novas too. My brother had a 10 second '72 Nova. We would spend every weekend at the drag strip. I miss those days at Detroit Dragway.

[flash]

My fitst car at 15 was a 69 Nova POS but I loved that old car .

[earthquake68]

Yup, Novas are pretty cool. I'm always on the lookout for a first gen gasser candidate, but the deals always come around when I can't do anything about it. :(

[Ms Grumpy]

Last weekend I was at a car show and my dream car pulled in. It was a 2 door Nomad.......Someday I will own one, and I will drive the hell out of it.

[earthquake68]

Not a Nomad, but I painted this for a guy about a year ago.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/57%20Chevy%20two%20door%20wagon/1957Wagondone004.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/57%20Chevy%20two%20door%20wagon/1957Wagondone003.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/57%20Chevy%20two%20door%20wagon/1957Wagondone005.jpg

[flash]

WOW ,I like them 2 door wagons ,looks nice.

[earthquake68]

Thanks, John. I really pulled that paint job out of my butt. The customer bought his own paint. It was dirt cheap. It was crazy toxic, it dried before it hit the surface and the dust and overspray was HORRIBLE!!!! Some areas looked like 80 grit sandpaper. I was able to wet sand and buff 95% of the uglies out. We were both nervous there for a while.

[Ms Grumpy]

I could "suffer" with something like that. :)

[earthquake68]

Yeah, but this is how the paint laid out from the gun....

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/57%20Chevy%20two%20door%20wagon/57001.jpg

It's hard to see in the picture, but the finish was REALLY bad when I shot it.

[Ms Grumpy]

I could always have it repainted. :)

[earthquake68]

I thought I'd share my latest project. I started it about 9 months ago. I have about 400 hours in it so far and all the fab work is done. It's still on the fence whether or not I'm going to do the paint work on it.

A guy bought an old, rotted out '66 F100.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66project008.jpg

He had an '85 Bronco he couldn't get a title for.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/Shopstuff012.jpg

The idea was to put the '66 body on the Bronco chassis. Some problems arose and to make a long story short, I had to fabricate about 60% of the truck from scratch. ...including using half the frame from the '66 and half the frame from the Bronco. (more or less.) Here's some of the obstacles I had to overcome.

The Bronco frame had a real bad kick up in front of the rear axle.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66Ford003.jpg

So I had to use the rear frame rails from the '66, but the Bronco crossmembers so I could still use the suspension and in-frame gas tank. This also stretched the wheel base a full two feet.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66FordChassis005.jpg

[earthquake68]

Then I tried to put the body on the modified chassis but it wouldn't fit. So I had to fabricate the lower part of the cab, repair all the rust damage and change three support members on the bed.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66floorremoval002.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66toeboards001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66floorsdone001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66frontsupport003.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/Newbedfloor001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66frontsupport001.jpg

[earthquake68]

Then I had to change even more stuff to fit the tilt wheel, pedal assemblies and power brakes.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66steeringcolumn001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66steeringcolumn002.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66brakesandbedmounts006.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66fordmechanical005.jpg

[earthquake68]

Finally, I'm left with this....

A 1966 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4. The only one on the planet.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66f150BUILT001.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66f150BUILT002.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66f150BUILT003.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66f150BUILT004.jpg

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/1966%20F150%20project/66f150BUILT007.jpg

[earthquake68]

Now, the build was a ton more complicated than this, but these are the highlights.

[Derek69SS]

I love those trucks! Any of them from that era are just awesome, Chevy Ford or Dodge.

I would love to do something similar, but on a modern Chevy drivetrain with a 5.3L

[carpoor]

:ntwrthy: Excellent fab work!

[Ms Grumpy]

wow. that was a lot of work, but I think it is cool.

[earthquake68]

Thanks! It was a long road for sure. But for a custom, one off budget build by myself, I think 9 months was pretty good. It was mostly financed by selling parts off of the parts trucks we didn't use.

[flash]

Wow ,nice work and I too like those trucks .

[Ms Grumpy]

flash, I don't think that you have ever met a Truck that you didn't like.

[shadowgray396]

Nice work on the truck, I had a 64 F100 pu short wide box in college, I have been looking for another one to fix up.

[earthquake68]

I got a screamin' deal off of Craigslist yesterday, so I thought I'd share. I paid $1,200 for this and drove it home 100 miles. It needs some work to be safe, (it has no brakes :o) but other than that, it drives like a dream. A little bodywork and paint and it'll be a fun cruiser.

1967 Impala all original 283/PG, non A/C car.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/Tiffs2door001_zps7309ff36.jpg (http://s129.photobucket.com/user/earthquake68/media/Tiffs2door001_zps7309ff36.jpg.html)

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/Tiffs2door002_zps9f73b83c.jpg (http://s129.photobucket.com/user/earthquake68/media/Tiffs2door002_zps9f73b83c.jpg.html)

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p224/earthquake68/Tiffs2door003_zps7fde6f36.jpg (http://s129.photobucket.com/user/earthquake68/media/Tiffs2door003_zps7fde6f36.jpg.html)

The matching mags for the rear are in the trunk, I just have to put a set of tires on it and fix the brakes and a couple light bulbs and it's ready for the road again!

[flash]

Alan ,you should be ashamed ,you stole that thing .You know we want to see more ,that is a cool old ride .

[carpoor]

Every time I see a "big" car like that, I instantly think... "F yeah! Put a big block in it." Nice score.

[earthquake68]

I'll try to get some more pictures. The seat covers and headliner are shot, but the rest of the interior is passable for a driver. The engine compartment is pretty good for all original.

[earthquake68]

Just an update on the Impala.

The guy told me he redid all the brakes, but couldn't get one of the rears to bleed. I tried to bleed the brakes, but everything seemed to bleed just fine. No air. So, I pull all the wheels and am blown away to find all new brakes, hoses, wheel cylinders, master cylinder, ....everything!

So, why no brakes? ....after he put the new stuff on, he never adjusted the brakes out! 30 minutes to adjust all four corners and it stops great! To go through inspection, it needed wiper blades, two battery cables, a battery, and a tag light bulb.

As I checked the car out I noticed this thing already had a TON of new parts on it already. After the upholstery, body work and paint, and new set of rear springs get done, this is going to be a SUPER nice, original cruiser.