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2 Sluggo's Garage

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rmalkow2

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Very cool pictures Bob! :thumbup:
I see they have a Chevy Vega Kammback (wagon).
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Yep, good eye Jon. I had one of those for awhile in college. It was a loaner from my dad for awhile as my 66 Chevelle was in the shop.

Bob
 
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rmalkow2

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Some Land Speed Racers from the past couple days.

Something for everyone here. From 450mph Challenger II owned by Danny Thompson to all shapes and sizes of cars and motorcycles, to a 50cc scooter streamliner with side car that got its record at something over 49mph.
The racing spirit combined with the desire to help any fellow racer was a very cool thing.
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rmalkow2

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One word, COOL!!!

Glad to show lots of pictures but they do not come close to the actual experience. For a change of pace I spent the morning today at the starting line and was in salty horsepower heaven. I'll post some pics and video links when time permits.

If you have ever desired to see this event do not put it off as long as I did. Make it a priority. I am already planning for next year!

Bob
 
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rmalkow2

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I've been back home from my extended vacation for a couple weeks now and trying to readjust to work life again and catching up on everyone else threads here on GJ. I realize I have not updated here for quite awhile. Connectivity and/or free time was sometimes hard to get while I was on the road and after getting home catching up on home chores was first priority along with back to work.
Overall the trip was totally great and I got to see some of the most beautiful parts of this country, had long visits with family, saw some cool garages here and there and even made some deals of tools antiques and other fun stuff along the way. ( Purchases will be the subject of a future post)
The short summary of travels goes something like this: Brighton, MI to Le Claire, IA (Home of the American Pickers) to Animosa, IA (National Motorcycle Museum) to Perry, IA (World famous Sinclair Station) to the middle of cornfields, NE (Carhenge) to Salt Lake City, UT and a week of driving back and forth each day to Bonneville Salt Flats, to Newman Lake, WA (For my son's wedding) to Spokane, WA (A number of times) to Bozeman, MT (Overnight stop and really god steak dinner) to Devils Tower, to Sturgis, SD, to Deadwood, SD to Crazy Horse Memorial, to Mt. Rushmore, to South Bend, IN on Sept 1st (to watch my Irish kick UM's ****), to finally home at 4:30 am on Sept 2nd to my own bed which felt really good after all the hotels.
All total well over 5000 miles on the trusty F150. Thankfully all it needed along the way was an oil change, new air filter and a new set of tires that I was going to replace before winter anyway.

The Salt racing was unbelievable and I will be back. The scenery everywhere was beautiful, the monuments and sights fantastic, the people I met were very hospitable (Especially Thomas and Lou at Bonneville), the wedding was amazing and full of love for the new couple, (even the forest fire smoke subsided enough) my football team won and I made it home safely.
Best trip ever and I am thankful for the opportunity.

Here's a few non-garage related pics of the sights.

PS. Somewhere in the travel list I left out Cody, WY and the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. I learned a lot about this man that was totally new to me. He was quite a fellow and the interesting history about his life goes on and on.

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rmalkow2

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While on the trip I spent a lot of time on back highways and going through small towns so I got to see quite a few old style service station or repair garage type buildings that were still standing. Some were repurposed into another business but many were just vacant and in various stages of disrepair. Admittedly I did not get to stop and take a lot of pictures on this trip. Usually I would be cruising through a town on my way to the next destination and pass some building having the reaction that is was interesting old architecture but then no time to stop, turn around and look for a place to pull off and take pictures.
Old service station history and architecture is something that interests me a lot as part of the automobile history of this country. Maybe the next trip out west I will just dedicate driving time to the very purpose of finding them, stopping and taking pictures. Maybe start a new thread similar to what phartman did with old buildings in Virginia and the Carolinas.

I did take a couple pictures in the town of Deadwood, SD of two places that were pretty cool buildings. One was definitely an old garage/service station and was currently empty and up for sale. What a great location on a main road in a fun town just a few miles south of Sturgis.
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The other place was down the road as you exit town, The "Chubby Chipmunk" and I'm not totally sure it was a former garage but it just had that look. Store in the back, three covered work areas out front and possibly a garage door for an inside bay to the one side. Or maybe it was a drive through gas station with a covered lane and an outside lane. At any rate, I liked the older design of the building and was a little sad to see it now selling chocolate to tourists. (Even if they were tourists in nice Mustangs!)
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rmalkow2

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Road Trip Treasures…

I managed to find some vintage treasures along the trip along with the usual tourist items we all seem to buy in that moment of lapsing common sense.

A stop at a antique store along the interstate had surprisingly better prices than I usually expect from retail stores but being in a totally different state I thought to stop and see what unique items they might have. Good call as it yielded a pretty nice Marathon 1lb grease can. I've been looking for an affordable Marathon branded item with this particular logo for a long time. I also got some of these license plates at that stop and more at another place. I like to collect a plate or two from each state that I visit.
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I was sort of looking for motorcycle plates too. They are harder to find than typical car, truck or trailer plates. But a fun small family run auto museum and store had a few that I picked up as well as some additional car plates. The Sturgis one is not old but I had to have that just to put on the back of my Yahama scooter.
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A really full antique store in Deadwood, SD yielded this pretty nice No Smoking sign which will get hung in my shop and this older Pennens 1/4" socket set. Missing the ratchet but I'll see looking for that some day.
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And lets not forget Nancy! I found her at Boyd's Antiques which is located a just north of the entrance to Crazy Horse Memorial. Old Boyd was a real character and in addition to trying to make deals on his junk he tried to sell me the whole place including 10 acres so he could get out of the business. He claims its going down because of all the young people playing on their phones. Some truth there I suppose but more likely it's because his asking prices were really high. He was sure that this cows name was Nancy and for $5 I had to bring her home.
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rmalkow2

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This Weekends Project….

The project in the garage this weekend is long over due. I bought this Bennett Model 3788 pump over a year ago from a local guy who just let it set outside his barn and never restored it. It was missing the upper face plate on one side and the remaining one like all other panels needed stripping and painting. I wanted it just as a display unit outside my shop to go with the Marathon Pump I currently have. $50 later it came home with me to sit in my garage half torn apart like many projects that follow me home.
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The pump was not used originally at a station. Likely was a private farm or construction site. This ugly decal was on the front panel and scraping that off was the first task.
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This original plate and decal will have to be worked around and masked off to save them.
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So, sometime last summer I started by removing that decal and stripping the paint off the front and rear bottom covers to get them into primer.
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Then……..it sat in my garage until now.
 
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rmalkow2

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Gas Pump Rescue Cont'd….

This is a picture of an older pump off the web but reflects the color scheme I'm going for and, the Texaco theme I want but with a little twist of my own.
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Looks like a bomb went off in a gas pump with parts all over the garage. Various states of restoration.
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The one good face plate needing lots of attention. Initially I thought it was painted white but closer inspection shows it too was originally red but with a lot of sun fading and some surface rust. I have a different plan.
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More body parts out in the sunshine with primer of a coat or a coat of rust preventer drying before the next coat of paint. This was yesterday. Lots of sanding, priming and painting all day. Also a little bit of dent removal but no bondo this time. Note: I did purchase my very first body part stand from Harbor Freight. It was on sale and actually I was surprised at how good it was. Never owned one before but it's a better height than other things I used to use and light and easy to move. All in all a useful purchase and it's already baptized in paint overspray.
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The front panel completely done now as of Sunday with the new Texaco decal applied.
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And another job finished just minutes ago is the front panel which was painted white yesterday and baked in the sun. Then the winged decal applied and the word gallons that I had to cut out by hand with xacto knife from a sheet of hardware store vinyl letters.
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The plan is to have it completely assembled by end of today.
 
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rmalkow2

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Gas Pump Rescue Complete ( Well 99%)

Thanks for taking a look 1/2 Cup.

Here's the finished product of this weekends labor. I say 99% done because I forgot to go out and buy a piece of plexiglass to fit in front of the face plate. I'll get that purchased this week and installed. Then I just need to make a weatherproof base to set it out next to my other pump but keep the base out of the dirt.

The rear of the pump was missing that face plate when I bought this so I repurposed a sheet metal panel from some scraps I had and cut it down to fit then folded over the cut edges to fit the existing frame. Since this side will always back up to a building wall I just wanted it enclosed with a reasonable look so it got painted the same red.
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The finished product. I'll let it sit in the garage a few days and let all the paint cure more before setting it outside in the weather. I used the premium Rustoleum paint products for the red and white. We'll see how well it holds up over time. One thing I learned from painting these panels is that I need to finally step up my painting game and go to using a spray gun rather than rattle cans. Even the premium cans with supposedly better spray patterns are not up to the task and make it hard to get a good consistent wet coat on the panel. And it would allow me to do base coat/clear coat much easier.
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rmalkow2

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very nice bob looks great :beer:

GB

Bob,
That pump looks great! :bowdown:

Thanks guys. :beer:

GB, I could have borrowed your home made sheet metal brake for sure yesterday. Too bad I couldn't reach that far over the fence as it were. I may have to make one of those for myself as I ended up clamping the sheet metal under a piece of angle iron and then forming the bent flange slowly with a hammer.
I guess I'll add a sheet metal brake to the list of projects.

Bob
 

taumac

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Bob, thank you for taking us along on your awesome road trip. I’m very jealous I wasn’t able to take the time you did to see the site. Your shop projects are just turning out amazing. It’s very enjoyable watching your place turn into what it has. All around great job Bob.
 

Grumblebum

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Thanks guys. :beer:

GB, I could have borrowed your home made sheet metal brake for sure yesterday. Too bad I couldn't reach that far over the fence as it were. I may have to make one of those for myself as I ended up clamping the sheet metal under a piece of angle iron and then forming the bent flange slowly with a hammer.
I guess I'll add a sheet metal brake to the list of projects.

Bob

They are not hard to make RM, although I still haven't got back to the actual project I made for. :(
 
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rmalkow2

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Bob, thank you for taking us along on your awesome road trip. I’m very jealous I wasn’t able to take the time you did to see the site. Your shop projects are just turning out amazing. It’s very enjoyable watching your place turn into what it has. All around great job Bob.


Thanks for the compliments guys. The trip was the biggest one I've ever taken and I guess I owe my son thanks for getting married to a girl from the north west otherwise I might not have thought to do all the driving. But stringing together events just seemed to make sense for a long trip and I have no regrets.

Appreciate the comments Gerard for sure. If you could see the inside of the new barn right now you might wonder what exactly I've turned it into. Pretty messy with parts and tools everywhere. But, I guess we all get to that point at times having multiple unfinished projects going and stuff strewn about the shop.
That gas pump needed done before winter so it would not take up valuable winter storage space and also be something I could enjoy outside where it belongs. That will give me original Marathon and now Texaco pumps for my own collection. I have one other small Gasboy to restore for myself then I'm taking a break from gas pump collecting. In the future if I find a cheap deal it would be one to refinish and flip.

So many projects and so little time…….
 
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rmalkow2

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Yesterday I bought some sheet acrylic and cut that to size for the front panel of the Texaco pump to install that last final piece.
Today I went back to Menards on the way home from work and picked up a couple new cement bases to set the two pumps on and make a little center piece arrangement with one of my oil pumps in the middle. A nice fall mum plant finishes it off.
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Vieux

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Now we have to make 2 large containers. Connect them to the petrol station. In one pour beer in another-whisky :)

Great job. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
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rmalkow2

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Now we have to make 2 large containers. Connect them to the petrol station. In one pour beer in another-whisky :)

Great job. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Now that is the best idea I've heard so far. But, I would never get any work done in the garage with those containers nearby and, it would need really big locks and maybe a guard dog to keep them safe.
:beer::lol_hitti
 
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rmalkow2

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Then you could keep track of how many gallons you drink.

Things are looking great, are you all ready for winter?

Winter, YUK! Not even close to being ready for winter yet but that was part of the motivation to finish this pump and get it out of my garage. It was just taking up inside floor space for something more fun like a snow blower or snow shovels.
It's actually snowing a blizzard here today except that the temp is 64 so all the snow flakes are melted before they hit the ground.
:lol_hitti
 

Strouty

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I hate to bring it up, but the trees are starting to drop a leaf here and there and the temps are feeling nice. Soon we will be complaining about cold and snow. I need to fill my heating oil tank and get the plow ready.
 
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rmalkow2

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I hate to bring it up, but the trees are starting to drop a leaf here and there and the temps are feeling nice. Soon we will be complaining about cold and snow. I need to fill my heating oil tank and get the plow ready.

Naw, no worries. It's been in the back of my mind too. While my temps locally have still been warm up until today the true indicator for me that summer is over is when my black walnut tree starts dropping its leaves and then its small branches. It's been doing that for a couple weeks now. It's always the first indicator.
And now I'm remembering why it was a bad idea to put the snow blower deep in the storage shed and pile a bunch of heavy stuff in front of it. But hey, I usually put off getting that thing tuned up until Thanksgiving.

So plenty of time right? :beer:
 
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