The temps are rising, the snow is melting, and baseball's opening day is just around the corner. For us Hot Rodders, that also means it's getting to be cruisin' season!
With Autorama over, and motivation still running strong, I have high hopes of the Camaro seeing the run this season. I started preparing the garage a few weeks ago. I had never been happy with my "throw together" work bench. I didn't have a square at the time, or a circular saw for that matter. I needed a bench though, so I worked with what I had. When it was all said and done, it's 33 inches out from the wall was WAY overkill. With the shoddy craftmanship, I knew I'd eventually tear it apart and start over.
This past Christmas, my wonderful wife bought me a Craftsman shelving kit and a wall cabinet for a work bench. Not wanting to throw up my new gifts and simply call it good, I got the Sawzall out and pry bars and proceeded to disassmble my bench, saving all the wood for re-use. No sense in going halfway this time around, so I took a trip to Lowe's for insulation and insulated 1/4 of the garage where the bench will go. Next up, OSB board for the walls, allowing me to mount things wherever need be, without worrying about finding a wall stud. A new bench design is in the works, an L-shaped corner bench, 18 inches or so from the wall. A peg board will mount on the wall behind the bench, and another cabinet may be in the future to bookend the other end. I'm not putting a storage shelf under the bench this time, allowing me to store my welder, floor jack, and other things on the floor as opposed to crammed in a corner. I'm pondering some sort of hood over the bench with additional lighting, though that could be added later down the road.
Why the rush to insulate/OSB and build a bench? Well, I have my vacation this year in June. During my time off, the plan is to have the engine ready to go, get my car back up here in the D, and get as much done as possible. Reality is, I can probably get everything ready to go over my vacation aside from perhaps the brake system and maybe the fuel system. If possible, I may reuse the fuel system I got. Since I'm not going to be making the race track this year, due to lack of funds to build a rear end, I can cut a few more corners for another season. Another area will likely be with the carb, which I plan to scavange from my dad's 1970 Challenger. For cruising around, doing the occasional smokey burnout, the 750 race demon should be up to the task.
With a lot of luck, I'll at least be able to fire up the beast for the first time since fall of 2001. Brakes? I don't need no stinking brakes! LOL I'll be sure to document every stop of the way, from the removal of the car cover, trailering her back home, and perhaps a video of the first fire up. 2010 is gonna be one good year, I can feel it.
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