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December 19, 2006 The Big MoveWell, things are looking up; one of our houses has sold and the other is pending, despite the holidays and horrible market. There were a few unexpected and unfortunate problems along the way, including a break-in at my investment house where the thieves stole all the (new) copper plumbing--grrrrrr. The place was pretty well wrecked, but two friends, Eric and Garrett, and I were able to put it back together in 3 very long days. The buyer wasn't concerned as long as everything was as it was before. What a relief! Things should start getting back to normal, though I've got to keep the jobs coming. More importantly, however, the task I dreaded most is done: moving the Buick and all its assorted bits and pieces. It took about a week of filling the Dodge with parts to get it all, plus a rented flatbed trailer for the frame and body. Then there was the air compressor, the blast cabinet, the powdercoating oven and all those other BIG tools that I had stockpiled over the past 5 years. It's funny; I went from a 2.5 car garage to a much larger 3 car garage and it's packed full. I have a desperate need to organize the place and get the parts moved to the storage area in the garage attic. It's a job I'm not looking forward to.
The other big thing that needed moving was the engine, which I had fully disassembled a few months ago. Rather than risk damaging and/or losing some important part, Julia reluctantly agreed to let me take it to the machine shop. I dropped it off about two weeks ago at Classic Auto Repair where they specialize in these Buick straight-8s and have done dozens of them. Al Blake, the owner, was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly, even agreeing to wait until my house sold to cash my check. I'm looking forward to working with him and seeing my engine come together. I'll be going out to his shop this Friday to see the clean block and talk about the upgrades we'll be doing during the rebuild. I'll have photos of that trip by the weekend. We're pretty settled in the new house and I've been working hard to get as many rooms ready as possible (perhaps I'll show you some of my handiwork in the near future). We unloaded the last of our furniture from the "POD" we had in the driveway (basically a storage box that they can move from place to place and which you rent by the month). I'm exhausted but relieved and excited about my new place.
Look for more regular updates in the near future as the engine comes together. I'll be trying a few interesting procedures, including powdercoating the block and Jet-Hot coating the manifolds, so stay tuned for all that, too. Previous Restoration Day E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |
