Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Billy, thanks for the thread to your hot rod build. I like it, and the Ford engine makes it VERY cool.

Thanks for the welcome home Jim. No, we just moved our residence, the shop is still intact. In fact, now I can tell the story.......the shop was Dan's and my home for the past two months. When he lost his job as property manager he also lost our apartment that was part of his deal. We had 3 weeks to move. We knew he would probably get a new property management job in a short period of time, which also would come with an apartment, so it didn't make sense for us to sign a lease on a new apartment and then have to break it and pay the penalties.

My Son Don offered graciously for us to come with him, but Dan had this crazy idea that we should move into the office of the shop. It is pretty big and we were only using it for storage, so for two weeks Dan and I worked til 2 or 3 am remodeling it. We painted, paneled, laid new carpeting, put in a new A/C unit, new fridge, closets for our clothes, etc. The shop had a bathroom with toilet and sink, so we added a shower stall and water heater and new plumbing. Don and his GF Taylor got us a gas grille and Dan, me, and two of the 3 cats moved into the shop. (My ex-wife took the female cat as she would have been at the mercy of the two male cats, Chewy and Lucky, they like to wrestle too much and Alto is getting up there in years) We added a couple of futons, and settled in to our new home.

Dan did get a new job 3 or 4 weeks ago and also a new apartment, but the funny thing is, we were in no hurry to move out of the shop. It was actually one of the best times we have had, cooking out on the grille every night and drinking a lot of beer (especially when Don came by ) We both felt sort of sad moving out the other day and into the new apartment, although it is really nice to have internet again. I think Dan and I have some great memories of the time we spent there.........I know I do.

During that time we also got lots of work done on my 27 and his RPU. He is literally ready for primer on the body and bed. He got all the little chores done that he had been putting off and it looks great. We want to epoxy prime it ourselves to make sure every area is coated well before it goes to the body shop for final paint. He is still on the fence for color, as am I on mine.

As for my 27, I got all the little things done to get the motor running and we fired it up for the first time last week. It ran great for about 5 minutes, lots of oil pressure, ran cool, etc. Then Dan saw the oil pressure go to zero. We shut it down right away and found a galley plug had blown out, so I put in screw in plugs, prelubed the engine with a drill again, and fired it up. Oil pressure was back up to 60psi, and all seemed well. Then I installed the exhaust system and once it was no longer running on open headers I could hear a knocking from deep in the engine. I guess the loss of oil pressure did do something, so I have to pull the motor out, tear it down, and figure out what is what. For now I don't even want to look at the d*** thing for a while, so I'll get back on it when I feel differently.

I also got my body back from the fiberglass shop last week. I had them remove 20 years of sins from the body, and modify my firewall to clear the new, bigger engine. He did a fantastic job, and sprayed a whole gallon (3 coats) of Evercoat Slick Sand over it all. Now I can block sand it and get it as good as I can.

Here are some pictures of the body the day I got it back.