hurtlocker truck - stripper time

Remember this thing?

56 chevy truck

Yep,
still peckin away at it.
We're at the bodywork stage,
patch panels and dents.
This thing is so caked with paint, 5 or 6 colors,
it was tough to know how to tackle the sheetmetal problems.
Didn't think Ken wanted to strip off the paint with scouring pads or chemical stripper...

So with the help of some chainfalls...

chainfall fun

last night the body was pulled off and all the pieces gathered up...

chevy in a chevy

to load onto my brothers truck the next day.
This little flatbed has hauled alot of stuff.

loaded TJ style

Some day he'll get some heavy duty springs!
We figured one trip there,
but definitely 2+ trips coming back.

el dorado sandblasting
(619) 696-0700

We take alot of stuff here.
Actually my brother does with the boat business.
I have a '27 roadster body that was blasted and epoxy primed,
and had never seen the stamping stretch marks in the steel.

The Hurtlocker Truck will be stripped and coated with black epoxy primer.
I'm sure it will uncover a ton of bodywork,
without the 5 coats of paint and bondo!

Well,
while we're talking about strippers.

suicide girl on the left
perichbrothers (and sister) link over on the right
the right!

Just want to say thanks to the HateFuckers out east.
Crazy bunch these guys.

Hate Fuckers

There's a link on their site,
and I get alot of hits from it.
I laugh sometimes cause my blog gets so, well, dry, in comparison!

Chow.

TP

tres huevos - home sweet temporary home -

Finally.
Get that german car outta here...

bmw 1600/2002 - night moves

It took some coaxing,
like leading a donkey with a carrot on a string.
But it finally left to the outside under its own power.

1968 bmw 1600/2002 outside

For now it's still crippled as I reinstalled the old spent center-link not too tight,
and still needs some basic engine tuning, burn out the old gas etc.

multicolored bmw

There's a certain patina to it,
 like it was rebuilt inbetween rally stages on the european circuit.
That rear bumper was started about 1130pm, and looks it!

need more lights

I am happy as other than the $60+ center-link, and some spray paint,
there was no real money involved,
just stuff that I had stashed away - and time!
The car is really solid, just needs some wiring and small stuff,
like insurance,
and I think it will be a decent town-car.

1940 ford coupe - stools back!

The byproduct of the BMW leaving was the 40 entering.
I have some other obligations,
but it will get its time.

TP

R.I.P. - Papa

Today marks the 4th year of the death of my grandfather,
the "Perich" in perichbrothers!

Stanley "Papa" Perich

When he was younger,
he rose up to be a Chief in the Navy.
During WWII and the Korean war,
he was one of the guys on the aircraft carriers
that put the wrecked planes back up in the air.
(aviation structural mechanic, I believe)

sub-killer

Must have been intense doing the sheetmetal etc.  fixes on these planes during the wars.
Wonder if its a little in my blood too!

I'll have to take some pics of these little ships he helped build during his last working years.
They were exact 4 to 8 foot miniatures of ships used for radar exercises.

sneaky sailor

He had tons of stories hopping trains and living on onions and potatoes as a kid,
during the depression.
Then joining the "CC's" or Civilian Conservation Corps, planting trees and building roads,
working for $5 a month ( his parents were sent the other $25!)

Typical of teenagers back then,
he enlisted in the Navy with a false birthdate, too young.
WWII helped out with that.

nana and papa

I'll have to get the exact story later,
but somehow he married the town hottie  ;) from his hometown in Minnesota,
dragged her to San Diego, and never left.
Fortunately for us, Nana's still around.

He always said he hated the cold!
As a kid,
he'd have to trek out in the snow to the food locker,
and dig out the sauerkraut and blood sausage that got them through the winter.
Yum.

nana, papa & macey

When I grew up,
he wasn't the hard-ass that my Dad and Uncle Steve knew!

pop's truck - 1957 chevy

Many  years cruising around with him in this old pickup.
As a kid, we'd go fix the widow's and church friends house problems,
plumbing, carpentry, general handyman stuff, dump runs...
I'll be getting the truck back on the road soon!

papa and jake

Although we lived in Ventura 200 miles away,
I am glad we had our 3 kids early enough so he knew his great-grandchildren.
One of the main reasons we moved back to SD after he died,
as it helped me realize the importance of family,
although it is farther away from my wife's family.

I'm gonna end this post though with a pic of Papa and his brother Joe
during communion.

stan and joe

Remember this was a financially tough time,
but being a very catholic family,
they really looked sharp in their suits.

Than seeing this snapshot in time,
4 generations later.

jaxon & jakob

We miss you Papa!

TP

when life was easy

Remember when all you had to worry about was losing your baby teeth?

jake before

a couple minutes later...

jake after

Now that he's lost 6 teeth,
its more than his friend Mitchell whose only lost 5 teeth.

Not enough to get away with the moustache though.

stash

to be 9 again!

TP

bmw 1600 - home stretch

Like I said in the last post,

I had a brief realization that helped me to organize my shop situation.

This BMW project started out as a 

"whatever I could do by the end of the month" project,

but now it has entered into the second part of the month.

There has been more work than expected,

or maybe it just took alot longer than I had thought.

So I decided to get the car back together.

First off I found out that the new aluminum bumper was strong enough to hold up the car!

bumper jack

I had removed the front end since it was only 6 big bolts and 10 little ones,

making it alot easier to clean.

Unfortunately I had found out the reason for a light shimmy at a certain speed.

 watch the center link tie rod end

little loose!

A quick search found the part ranging from $60 on up.
All the other tie rod ends and balljoints were pretty tight,
and since this is a budget car, only the minimum here.

clean frontend

and it was alot easier to remove.
Actually it was easier to remove than it was to order the part online!
I need to do that still.

removed tie rod assembly

Usually these are a PITA to take off,
but thanks to either PB-blaster or just luck,
all 6 tie rod ends popped right off without ruining the threads!

Of course before the frontend could be reinstalled,
there was a little rust issue.

holey unibody

I had been kinda dreading this one,
as its the "on your back" type work,
and the steel is the chintzest rusty sheetmetal,
really tricky to weld.

go car not a show car repair

Definitely not pretty but its strong, alot thicker steel too.
Probably too stiff if there's an engineered flex to the bmw body!
It all looks good though with some black paint.

partial front end installed

Just to let you know,
there was one night when I almost considered putting this mustang/pinto front end in it!

junkyard pinto frontend

Whew!
It was a low point,
when I compared buying all new balljoints/tie rods/ etc. at $400,
that was just a midnight option!
Along with this 283 I have lying around it would have been one helluva bmw!

chevy v-8 in water configuration

After adding up the cost and time of the 5speed conversion,

and the value the car would be after, ($1300-2500)

I realized working on the chopped 40, tres huevos,

was a way better place to throw any "extra" time and money!

So back went the 4-banger and 4-speed.

It is an upgrade to the 2000cc engine at least,

with a little rattlecan rebuild...

4-banger back home

One of my hesitations with the 5-speed 320i transmission conversion,

was the need for a hydraulic clutch mechanism.

The driveshaft shortening was doable,

but a couple hundred on bmw parts...not right now.

stock 4-spd worms eye view

Not having to make another tranny mount was also a big perk.

While I cleaned off years of grease and grime off the clutch rods,

I noticed they had some severe wear!

worn clutch rod

rebuilt clutch rod

Since there are 3 of these hooked ends,

each with a similar wear pattern,

I figured this allowed an easy 5/8"-3/4" of pedal slop.

I'm hoping this is the reason why the transmission is tough to shift.

At first the thought was worn synchros,

but there is a big possibility the clutch was unable to be adjusted properly.

We'll see.

Another issue was the driveshaft bearing.

It was basically nonexistent, the rubber around it had disintegrated.

I never heard any knocking, even at speed,

but it was an accident waiting to happen.

These things are really tough to remove,

so I came up with a rebuild kit...

4 rubber rings...4 bolts

The bearing is held in a metal ring by a thin rubber bellow-like housing.

perichbrothers rebuild kit

Since the bearing was ok,

the rubber should hold it in place.

It is really sturdy as the bolts tension the bearing to the housing.

Another $40 saved.

buttoning up

So now there's just some wiring and other little stuff left to make it start.

Here's why the dash is white though.

A while back I had listed it on craigslist.

A guy offered to buy just the dash,

so I ended up selling it.

The idea was to build a trick aluminum rally style dash,

but the carpenter neighbor down the street was tossing some cool veneered plywood.

So the idea for a 70's hippy wood dash had begun.

dash scrap

A steel rod frame held the first layer of thin plywood.

first layer

Than a small strip was cut to beef up the edge.

crude but effective

I forgot how easy it was to cut wood versus metal.

clamped

Since the plywood scrap was too short for the full dash width,

the glued in rib really helped form the curve.

good start

There's alot left to finish the dash,

but nothing crucial that stops the car from driving.

With any luck,

the rusty 40 will be in here by the end of the week,

and this old beemer can get me to and from the shop...

TP

motorvation - ford coupe nose part I

Last week I had something called an epiphany.
I'll talk about it later on though.

Basically though I think I've gotten some project priorities straight.
Or I thought I did until my cousin drove his '36 5-window down.

brandon and tanya's 1936 ford coupe

They're going to take the car up to Viva Las Vegas,
so wanted to fix it up a little.
Good photo opp too.

three ford coupes

Kinda like a mini family car show.

ford coupe back sides

It would look even cooler just haulin ass on the freeway,
but this will do.

So somehow I got roped in to making a little mini hood.

before

I had made one for our green '40 a couple years back.

40 coupe nose

For some reason I thought it took only one day but I was definitely wrong.

installed coupe nose

So anyway,
like I don't have an overload of projects already.

startin it up

Fortunately Brandon knows how to do simple mechanical stuff.
So while I tackled this,
he threw some parts on the BMW,
but I'll show that in a different post.

Meanwhile.

By the 2nd night,

I've gotten about this far.

2 nights - holy chit

I was questioning my sanity last night.

almost finished

Kind of a gamble since the car wasn't here,
but it should fit ok.
Tonight or tomorrow he should bring the coupe down,
so we can finish it off.

Stay tuned.

TP