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The "What Did You Work On Today" thread

3M views 36K replies 388 participants last post by  cerial 
#1 ·
4 hour work day for me at the shop. Used the time to do a valve body swap on a '01 Jetta 1.8t auto .... I successfully installed a transbrake on the car .... that however wasn't my intention.

Its in 2 gears at once in park, all other gears (R/N/D/2/1) are forward gears.... they all seam to be first gear.

I have it torn back down most of the way. Tuesday I'll actually get the VB back out and see whats up.... but part of me wants to take it out for a test drive the way it is just for the fun of it.
 
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#981 ·
Ditto to all of the above. It is great to see guys coming to the forum for help and great to see how much unselfish help is offered. To see members of the forum posting their progress with so much attention to detail has to be a big motivator to them. What you are doing Pro 48 is not about who can spend the most money to build a great car but who has the patience and determination to make it happen. I love seeing what you are doing. Keep the pictures and progress reports coming. :)

John L
 
#982 ·
Wife said her brakes felt "funny", so jacked up the car and checked everything. Rear shoes on her little Mazda were getting thin, so put a new pair on to make her happy.
Then I tore all three inner door panels off the '69 Burb and did some maintenance on all the moving parts. Locks and door handles were getting a little heavy, so I lubed them all up and reassembled them. Working like new again now.
 
#983 ·
1971BB427 said:
Makes me want to chop mine up and start over!;) That truly is very clean and neat looking! Even places where most people will never see, it's still nicer than many cars are in the obvious places! Nice work, and I love that you're doing most of it yourself!
Personally that was something that hit me long ago, I was working at a full on restoration shop and was about 20 years old. We were doing a spare wheel on a Model A ford. We had the wheel sand blasted and it was pretty pitted, I had primed it and was sanding each spoke real nice and my boss came over and said to get it painted, it is "just a spare wheel" after all. It hit me like a brick, "just a spare wheel"? HUH? It would be bolted on the a bracket in a spare tire well on the fender for goodness sakes! It would be sitting right there for all to see on the fender! If this is "just a spare" why didn't we do a half ars job on the fender being it is "just a fender"?

Nope, I did just the job I always did and that wheel look just as good as the fender and cowl and hood that I painstakingly sanded out every speck of texture after every 5 coats of lacquer.

Personally in my opinion (sorry to those who don't feel this way , nothing personal) but I feel a real nice car is one that you could take apart and put it in a car show. I mean it, it should be show worthy with the door panels and seats and carpet out of the car! I am not talking psychopath crazy like cut and buffed floor and inside the doors but nice, it should all be painted as if someone was going to see it that way. I don't care if it isn't going to be seen, it should be NICE.

Does every car need to be done like that, no not on your life my Gran Sport sure as heck isn't. But if you want a real special car, that is what you do. And for goodness sakes the "show cars" had better be built like that or they are a poser.

I will never forget seeing an AMBR winner at Roy Brizios shop a few years after it had won. I will never forget this, the trunk interior trim was out of it. There was a little square tubing brace or two running across the back of the body behind the seat. It was BARE METAL! I am not making this up, this six figure car (we are talking a car that won in the late seventies or early eighties) probably one of the first six figure hot rods. The underside of the trunk lid was red primer everywhere that was covered with the beautiful upholstered panel. The paint ended right where it would be covered with overspray falling over the primer. There was a few wires going to something that weren't wrapped in any way and were simply black taped every couple of feet across these tubing braces that weren't even painted!

I was blown away, absolutely blown away, in my opinion it was a shock.

Nope, there is no reason for that. And that is the coolest thing about detail, it's FREE! Anyone in their garage with very few tools can blow away some shop built car simply because you have more passion to put the extra mile into it.

Like I said, I applaud those who apply themselves and build the outstanding car because they have the passion to make it outstanding.


Brian
 
#984 ·
Well tonight was for working on my wife's mothers day gift and I pretty much got that done. And I started looking at my Gran Sport and had to get into it a little. I am to a point that I am sort of happy with the top and window fit on the left side, I now can go to the other side and knock it out in no time. I have learned what I need on the left side and get it done. I am not real happy but with aftermarket rubbers, I think this is as good as it gets. I will be real close to putting that top on now! :sweat:

Brian
 
#985 ·
I got out there for my five minutes ended up spending about an hour. Got my turn table running with a vintage Santana and then Lynyrd Skynyrd Live albums and couldn't stop working. I am getting the top and windows pretty close. It is amazing how much time this is taking. Working on late model cars I could put 25 doors on and align them for what this top and windows are taking.

But it's getting better, I am trying every trick in the book and it is shaping up.

Brian
 
#986 ·
Seems like every time I have some time some family member needs something. Was going to go work on the car last Sunday and my sister needed me to go ride up with her to pick up my niece. Then last night I went with mom to Branson so she could pick out a dress for another niece's wedding, which will also keep me from seeing a car show and working on my car next saturday. If I get some sleep in before work this evening I am going to go get some small pieces of hardware to mount my tank and fuel line. But once I get the stuff, it should go pretty smooth with the tank. It is just getting the time. Hopefully monday and tuesday I can get some serious time in on the caddy.
 
#989 ·
egroothand said:
Project Kawasuki has been cleared and wet sanded down to 2000. Went buff out with 3m rubbing compound and glaze with Meguires #7. Looks a little cloudy. Maybe I should have left he clear alone as it layed out smoooth with more bugs than orange peel but live and learn
It may be that you skipped a step if it looks cloudy. I didn't see any mention of buffing with a finishing compound before using the glaze. The finishing compound is where the mirror finish comes from.
 
#990 ·
Well today my brother came over to try and fine tune my Rambler to achieve better gas mileage and I think we got it nailed. We then turned our attention to my Gran Sport top iron alignment. He had one of these cars and I don't remember doing this top, don't remember a darn thing. So I asked him how he remembered we did a few things on it. Right off the top of his head me mentioned something and it was really odd, about a set screw that I forgot was even there (it's pretty hidden) and there is nothing about it in the manual. He mentioned this, I took an allen to it and one other thing and wham I had gotten something done that I hadn't been able to before he mentioned that!

It was really cool, and like he said, "Damn I can't remember my wife's birthday but I remember that obscure tiny detail on something I worked on 30 years ago!

I said "What's more important, my Gran Sport or your wife's birthday"? LOL

Brian
 
#991 ·
MARTINSR said:
Well today my brother came over to try and fine tune my Rambler to achieve better gas mileage and I think we got it nailed. We then turned our attention to my Gran Sport top iron alignment. He had one of these cars and I don't remember doing this top, don't remember a darn thing. So I asked him how he remembered we did a few things on it. Right off the top of his head me mentioned something and it was really odd, about a set screw that I forgot was even there (it's pretty hidden) and there is nothing about it in the manual. He mentioned this, I took an allen to it and one other thing and wham I had gotten something done that I hadn't been able to before he mentioned that!

It was really cool, and like he said, "Damn I can't remember my wife's birthday but I remember that obscure tiny detail on something I worked on 30 years ago!

I said "What's more important, my Gran Sport or your wife's birthday"? LOL

Brian
That's incredible! I can't remember where I put something yesterday...
Brad...
 
#993 ·
Yes sir, mine is gone 9 years ago and my wife's left us this past July. I started the day waiting on my wife (as I usually do on the weekends anyway) and we went to visit our mothers and grand mothers graves and went out to lunch. It's been a very good day, but nothing got done on the car and it's fine with me. :D

Brian
 
#995 ·
Both of my parents passed away in 1972 at the age of 63, of different causes, when I was 20. My wife's dad passed away January 26th , and her mom passed away yesterday morning at 7:15 AM . She was 89, and got to spend mother's day with her Lord and Savior. Now she has all of eternity to rejoice. She will be missed, until we meet again.
 
#998 ·
Thanks guys. My wife is meeting with her brother at the funeral home in a few minutes to make final arrangements. Later she will be practicing singing with a couple that she has been lifelong friends with. They will be singing at her mother's funeral, as they did at her dad's funeral a few month's ago. Gotta give the lady credit for being able to do that. She loved both of her parents sooooo much, as they did her.
 
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