Never, ever, in the thirty-seven years that I’ve been on this planet, have I been happier for winter to show up. The last time I was this ready for winter I was still in grade school and we got enough snow in Washington State that not only were the schools not opening for anybody, but the awning to our home collapsed. No joke, just buckled under the weight of heavy, sloppy, eighteen-inch deep snow and went straight to the ground. This year, I couldn’t be more content to see ice cold temperatures, snowfall, and maybe even Christmas cheer. Normally I develop allergic reaction symptoms at the first few notes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, but maybe this year if they’re singing Christmas songs, they’ll keep their yaps shut about ANYTHING ELSE they would be saying. That would be some sincere good will towards fellow man, now wouldn’t it?
So, with the hope that the snow will be plentiful and the season as jolly as the governors deem fit (“Sorry, we’re holding a funeral for St. Nick. Stuck in chimney. Sad. Have a sugar cookie in his honor and leave us to our mourning.”), now seems like a good a time as any to discuss winter projects. I’ve got mine tucked away in the garage with three heaters pointed at it. I’ve neglected the Rough Start Fox for a minute now, mainly because I got focused on getting the Great Pumpkin Mustang up and going. Now that the orange Fox body has returned to the street…and has been put away for the winter…it’s time to get back to making our purpose-built beater make noise and tire smoke. That’s the plan here, and if I have any luck there won’t be anything else in the way. I’ve practically restored my house this year, there isn’t much in the way of travel, so let’s see if I can get the car running before I quit bitching about how cold it is and move to how hot and humid it is here.
So…what do you have in the works this year? Anything like Colin’s wild trebuchet?
It looks like I will make enough money this month to get the parts I need to get Project Mud Bomber 64 Galaxie up and running again.
Finish the Dart’s slant six rebuild.
Building the 355 nitrous motor for the wagon and a high torque 406 for the C20. I’ve got a backlog of other builds, but I just want to keep it simple. I’m really done with this year.
MTC multi-stage lock-up clutch for the racebike…
I bought a 1947 “Gar Wood” Mahogony boat so learning all about how to care for, and preserve, a wooden boat as well as the “Silver Fox” himself and how he challenged the world to race against him – first man to go 100mph on water – only took two Packard V12s in wooden boat named “Miss America IX” – note “Miss America XII” wrecked / came apart but he survived without injury then eventually made “Miss America X” with 4 (yes four) 1800HP Packard V12s (or 7200 HP total) which makes perfect sense to me. He even created a boat division of his hydraulic company to fund his racing career and fame – much like Ferrari selling road car to fund their racing endeavors – and all during the Great Depression….so amazing …..
New fuel system for the car. Methanol, E85, or 110? Carburetor or throttle body fuel injection? Got some decisions to make. Maybe a fiberglass hood and front bumper.