Making do with what I have!

[rixtrix1]

FINALLY the alum heads are almost ready to ship out to the head porter... I am getting the very first set of Buick 350 aftermarket alum heads ever made EVER. Very exciting!

Neat deal, Sean! TA or?

 

[sean Buick 76]

Hi Ric, yes TA Performance is making the heads and my head porter is one of the best guys in North America so it's exciting! This Buick 350 will loose some weight with the alum heads... Stock fully dressed with accessories the Buick 350 weighs in at 450 pounds...

We added weight with the block girdle... But lost a lot of weight in the intake, heads, crank, rods, pistons, oil pan, etc so it should be safely under 390 pounds fully setup with the turbos. Not bad for a 355 (5.7L) twin turbo setup.

 

[sean Buick 76]

This is my new toy! I traded the two trucks below (88 Chevy and 91 F-350) for it!













I got this 1988 4x4 truck for a few hundred bucks a while back, had a missing rear drive shaft and a good running EFI 350 and 5 speed manual trans... Put a driveshaft in it (from a parts truck I have LOL) and it was ready to sell!



Removed the deck off the 91 F-350 dually because I have a better truck now to put it on. Paid $1400 for this truck, no repairs needed before flipping it.








The deck will go on the $1400 cube van chassis which I rebuilt the whole front end, added bag controlled air bags with electronic cab control and on-board compressor... Got a wireless remote kit for the Warn winch too. Next I remove the cube, make it a 16X8 storage shed beside the house, and then put the deck on. Once the deck is test fit on we will check the suspension ride height and then remove it and modify springs so it sits nice and low when the bags are aired down but sits right when aired up, we may even double up the bags if needed. The idea is to get the truck sitting low enough in the rear to help the loading angle for lower cars. The 7.3 Litre Turbo diesel engine and auto trans will be better for long hauls and it is running fantastic, changed all the fluids, smooth riding truck.

 

[rixtrix1]

Cool way to multi-task the cube van. What are the plans for the bucket truck; going to open a tree trimming* or lighting maintenance business?

*That would work well for trimming palm trees without having to climb up and trim the extra fronds away from the bottom!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Cool way to multi-task the cube van. What are the plans for the bucket truck; going to open a tree trimming* or lighting maintenance business?

*That would work well for trimming palm trees without having to climb up and trim the extra fronds away from the bottom!

I think I will just sell the bucket truck, but I am sure I will find something cool to do with it first LOL!

It is my first ever deal that involves getting rid of two vehicles and only getting one in return, this should be my new goal LOL thin the herd!

 

[madoc1]

another good score! the bucket lift should come in handy when you reroof the little house.

jim

 

[jbmatth]

That bucket truck is pretty darn cool, I'm sure I'd find plenty of fun things to do with it before I sold it. Odd that the driver sits in the middle, but understandable with the odd shaped cab. So how many vehicles do you have now, I'm sure everyone else has lost count too.
JB

 

[sean Buick 76]

lol I can't keep track either.. Let's count.

2005 GMC Sierra
1990 1 ton chevy
1986 3/4 ton chevy
2000 f-450 cube van
1988 Dodge Daytona T tops turbo
1986 Dodge Daytona T tops Shelby Edition
1971 Skylark parts car
1970 Skylark
1986 F-700 Bucket truck
1975 Buick Regal
2002 Honda Odyssey
1990 GMC Stepside
And Leanne has her 2008 Santa Fe

I have about 4 or 5 more parts vehicles that live over at my friends house 100 feet away LOL.. They have become community pick a part vehicles for if a neighbour needs something.

So I guess 14... But let's not count engines it would take too long!!

And 4 trailers

I was wheeling the truck today, lots of fun!

 

[jbmatth]

Haha thanks for the list, I have found a sweet spot at 5 vehicle for myself and one for my wife. I'll have to show her your list so it'll help her think I'm more normal than she believes. The road trip in the dusting of snow does look fun too.
JB

 

[sean Buick 76]

I agree there is no need for over 5 vehicles in most families... I will keep about 4 or 5 vehicles in use at any one time. The rest of them are either long term projects or vehicles to be sold... I am not trying to create a huge pile of un used vehicles I'm merely colecting low cost vehicles to fix up and sell as time permits. If I can have fun with the vehicles in the process then that is an added bonus. Although it may seem like I'm an impulsive hoarder I'm simply an opertunistic guy with Cash in hand...

 

[jbmatth]

You have been practicing that speach haven't you? LOL The way I see mine, a truck for truck things, a commuter car, a sunny day car, a backup car, and a project car, then my wife has her Jeep so we really do have justification for 6 vehicles for a family with 2 drivers. I can't wait until I can buy 3-4 more for each of my children when they are closer to driving age, they will need a commuter car, fun car, and project car at minimum right?

 

[sean Buick 76]

Well guys it's not an exciting update but I promised I would show progress pics of the cube van being converted into a car hauler so here is the first real step... I rebuilt the whole front end and took it on a 150 km drive in a snow storm and it handled great! I had the whole vehicle looked over by a pro from top to bottom and the only repair it needed was an exhaust bracket and windshield. The 7.3 turbo diesel is fantastic on fuel just idling up huge hills it's very impressive. I have the air bags in the rear to adjust ride height with cab controlled buttons.

So the next step is removing the cube.... These are the rough cuts, everything will be trimmed up better but here it is. The holes where drilled from the outside of the cube so I knew where to cut. Next I just need to un-hook the fuel fillup tube and unbolt the cube and take it off. Stay tuned for some redneck engineering to get it off... I trimmed the bottom so the cube can be set on the ground and used as a shed...pressure treated 1x4 will be used along the bottom to keep animals from getting under it plus cover up my sloppy cuts lol... It was -20 so I admit I rushed... The plan was to use long 2x4 as a guide to make a straight cut with an angle grinder but i just eyed it with the sawzal and will cover it with wood once its on the ground as a shed.

Once the cube is off the Magnum alum headache rack will be installed and then the deck that was previously on the tow truck. This time the deck will not tilt because tilting only made my loading angle worse. I will use a winch to go between the rear end and the deck so I can **** it down low for loading then release it back up for driving... And another Warn winch will be at the front of the deck to pull vehicles up on via wireless remote that I have.












The headache rack was expensive new but not used!

 

[jbmatth]

Very neat project and I'm looking forward to seeing this come together.
JB

 

[sreno]

Well guys it's not an exciting update but I promised I would show progress pics of the cube van being converted into a car hauler so here is the first real step... I rebuilt the whole front end and took it on a 150 km drive in a snow storm and it handled great! I had the whole vehicle looked over by a pro from top to bottom and the only repair it needed was an exhaust bracket and windshield. The 7.3 turbo diesel is fantastic on fuel just idling up huge hills it's very impressive. I have the air bags in the rear to adjust ride height with cab controlled buttons.

So the next step is removing the cube.... These are the rough cuts, everything will be trimmed up better but here it is. The holes where drilled from the outside of the cube so I knew where to cut. Next I just need to un-hook the fuel fillup tube and unbolt the cube and take it off. Stay tuned for some redneck engineering to get it off... I trimmed the bottom so the cube can be set on the ground and used as a shed...pressure treated 1x4 will be used along the bottom to keep animals from getting under it plus cover up my sloppy cuts lol... It was -20 so I admit I rushed... The plan was to use long 2x4 as a guide to make a straight cut with an angle grinder but i just eyed it with the sawzal and will cover it with wood once its on the ground as a shed.

Once the cube is off the Magnum alum headache rack will be installed and then the deck that was previously on the tow truck. This time the deck will not tilt because tilting only made my loading angle worse. I will use a winch to go between the rear end and the deck so I can **** it down low for loading then release it back up for driving... And another Warn winch will be at the front of the deck to pull vehicles up on via wireless remote that I have.












The headache rack was expensive new but not used!

Awesome project, Sean!

 

[sean Buick 76]

The renter moved out of the little house, and WOW was it a hassle trying to find a GOOD renter.... But my patience paid off when I got a call from a successful dog trainer who has dog schools all over the country. He just opened up a school in our area and he HATES the city so he was looking for a rental house for just himself out in the sticks. He said his hobby was restoring old houses and playing piano, okay by me! He will be here for 2 years and then once his school is going strong he will move away and start another school in a another location.

I said hey I will pay for any supplies you need if you want to do the labor we can go to town. He said sure he loves tinkering on old houses. We had done a ton of work on the house this fall but it still needs a lot of TLC. Tinkering is what I expected but this dude went all out. He has only been in the house 2 days and already has about 20 hours into restoring the kitchen. I brought over our washer and dryer and set it up for him as a gesture of thanks and then bought Leanne the fancy setup she wanted.

This was day one:



Plus he has been working on the yard, cutting firewood, and just plain getting it done! Awesome!

A random pic of a church about 700 feet from my little house:


I got laid off two days ago but got a new job yesterday!

We are building a huge conveyor to bring tar sands up to 200 feet elevation and then it gravity feeds into a crusher plant and then goes to extraction where the crude oil is removed from the sand.






Shane has been busy wrenching on his cars, and no I did not prompt him he does this all day LOL:





I found this RECORD vice (vise) in the back of one of my trucks... What can I use to un-freeze this thing its RUSTY!!!


The snow is almost all melted but what a mess it is now! MUD! I drove the 88 Daytona around and WOW its a fun car!! Except I got a little heavy on the loud pedal and assaulted the poor 75 Regal with mud splatter LOL!

 

[1/2 Cup]

sean, just awesome.

Shane has grown so quickly..

Regards

 

[dlcwent]

Hi Sean, just stopping by to catch up with you. I wanted to say how envious I am over the bucket truck. I can't say I wouldn't sell it if it were mine, but it would have to be an outrageous offer. Not something you're going to use everyday but when you need one.......I'm not much for using ladders anymore.

Glad you made it through the winter. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you'll be up to through the summer.

 

[madoc1]

sean, on that record vise, see if you can find some evaporust up there. amazon has it also. it will get rid of the rust and after filtering it it is reusable.

jim

 

[Grumblebum]

Lol how do you get to have a tire in the living room?

That's one massive conveyor.

Cheers GB

 

[sean Buick 76]

Thanks for the kind words!

I get the keep the drag tires and rims in the basement because they are brand new and I need to keep them warm and cozy...

Plus she gets the piano room and the rest of the house so us boys decorate the garage and basement.



I saw these two sign uprights being put into a dumpster yesterday at a construction site and I asked the guys if I could have them. They said yeah sure so I loaded then up and went to Home Depot and $20 later I had the top beam for my outdoor wooden gantry to help hold up one end of the cube when I remove it.... The gantry sits 10 feet high and the top of the cube is 12 feet high. Once we get the bolts removed we will back the cube van right up to the gantry and use a chain fall at each side to pick it up... Then a tractor on each side of the front will remove the rest of the weight and the truck will drive out and away... Add skids to the cube, drop it down, and then install the flat deck on the cube truck.









Upgrades I am making to the gantry are:

Replacing lag bolts with ready rod and bolts right through between the 2x6 braces and the 4x6 uprights. Braces on both sides.

At the front and back of the ground base I am adding 2x2 inch angle iron to tie them together. As of now there is nothing tying them together.

And for the purpose of this initial lift I will make an X brace to further re enforce it since I do not need to drive under the top beam this will not be in the way...

I do want to make it strong enough to be able to drive a
Car or truck under and have it hold up the body, box or engine and I do have a steel version of the gantry as well but it is more suited to a smooth surface...

 

[metalhead140]

Wow Sean... How do you find the time in the day!? Always good to catch up with what you're doing.

 

[jbmatth]

Always busy I see. Also noticed the Brock sticker on your hat, they are our main scaffolding contractor on site as well as a few other things. It'd be a shame if you got transferred down here.
JB

 

[sean Buick 76]

Any piano fans out there? Here is Leanne's awesome artwork:





Anyone else notice these hitch mount vice/vise setups? I know a guy with fabrication skills could make these quickly but they were low cost for me to buy 3 of them plus receiver steel to mount them where ever. I have not used them yet but they will come in handy!





Shane and I decided that a Buick 350 was just the thing to decorate the basement so we obtained permission from the boss and then went to work putting a nice fresh block and crank into the basement for future display and safe keeping in a climate controlled atmosphere. Total weight about 290 pounds, as these are 450 pounds fully dressed. This is a spare I will likely never use but have as a secondary backup. Someone had commented recently "How do you get to keep drag racing tires in the basement?" so I figuered I would step up my game and get an engine down there, LOL!





Onto the DRAMA, I had a HUGE deal with my neighbours this week.... They had been encroaching onto my side of the property line over the past few years and I drew a line in the sand yesterday by parking my 75 Regal right on the property line. Within a few minutes the fight was on however I have my official survey documents and I did not back down. They are currently moving their camper trailer and broken car and I am putting up a fence. I did not mind them encroaching a little bit however she called the county on me and complained about me having 4 sheds and 10 cars... After I had loaned them electricity to build their cabin, what a kick in the junk. Without me they would have no cabin, but to them I am evil for holding my property line.



View from the back, I own up to about 2.5 feet from the cabin they built.... They obviously did not know where the property line was. Their cabin on the right, my land on the left.


Here you can see my 75 holding the property line way back there, and I know the little shed needs paint but we are working HARD to fix up the yard... MAJOR sweat equity going on with both my renter and myself going hard at trimming, cleaning, and improving!




Got all the supplies to put a new roof on the house this weekend:




This is after 2 trailer loads to the burn site "my acreage" 20 minutes away.




Their view on my yard:

 

[ajohno]

Some times you have to stand your ground.

 

[Terrick down Under]

I was wondering what you have been up to. Pity they have no memory. But don't forget Kama is on your side.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Sean, stand by what you know is right.

 

[Bob Heine]

Sean, I also use those vise-mounts. I have a small buffer mounted on one that gives me almost the same access as a pedestal but it can be removed when it's in the way. Besides vises, grinders and motors are common uses for those vise mounts.

I have another HF bumper receiver mounted on a shelf on the outside of the garage (shelf is for storm shutter storage). I have a pneumatic paint can shaker and didn't want to have to clean up a gallon of paint inside the garage or shop.

I also mounted a reel on a vise mount. It has 100 feet of 3/8" air hose that can reach well into the back (or front) yard. Handy for using the air nailer on fence boards or reaching the shop where the blast cabinet is stored.

 

[Bob Heine]

Sean, I wish I understood people like your neighbor. Neighbor in our last home may have been related to yours. They didn't own a power edger so once a year he spent a whole day with a spade cutting the cultivated crabgrass back. I had a rather powerful edger and spent five minutes continuing to edge past the property line, across his yard and up the driveway. Rather than say thank you he asked what I wanted in return. I said nothing -- I thought that was what neighbors did.

We entertained our rather large Corvette club a couple of times a year and minutes after the 11:00 PM noise curfew the police would show up at our house to tell us to keep it down. They never called us, just the police. My wife was not a big help, screaming like a little girl "I love the Police -- I have all your albums!!!"

I tried harder to be nice, editing the wife's term papers when she was finishing her degree. While she was in the hospital a few months later her husband hired my kids (with my help) to remove a garden island in the middle of their lawn. The wife call to tell me her "gardener" quoted $500 to fix the mess we made. The problem was the new sod was lower than the existing lawn and was dark green (not yellow). The soil under the sod was level with the surrounding lawn but the lawn had a thatch 2-inches higher. Apparently her imaginary gardener didn't know about thatch. I suggested they fertilize to fix the yellow and wait for the grass to grow. I finally offered to refund their $20 and remove the sod I had included in the price. She hung up.

Several years later my son was dumping a grass-catcher full of cuttings (we used a power reel mower) in the empty lot on the other side of my neighbor's house. The police came after she called the city to complain about the grass clippings. Turns out you are supposed to bag the clippings for the weekly yard trimmings pickup so that's what I did from then on. That was Saturday and Sunday the Red Lobster where my daughter worked was robbed. My daughter was the hostess and handed over the cash register contents to the robber. She wasn't hurt but I wondered how many officers were taking care of grass clipping violations rather than tracking down armed robbers. I never spoke to my neighbor again and didn't send a sympathy card when she died at 46 from complications after surgery -- most likely they couldn't find her heart to resuscitate her.

Sean, your neighbor will likely have a frozen pipe fiasco next winter. Karma is a *****.

 

[racestatus]

Sean, I wish I understood people like your neighbor. Neighbor in our last home may have been related to yours. They didn't own a power edger so once a year he spent a whole day with a spade cutting the cultivated crabgrass back. I had a rather powerful edger and spent five minutes continuing to edge past the property line, across his yard and up the driveway. Rather than say thank you he asked what I wanted in return. I said nothing -- I thought that was what neighbors did.

We entertained our rather large Corvette club a couple of times a year and minutes after the 11:00 PM noise curfew the police would show up at our house to tell us to keep it down. They never called us, just the police. My wife was not a big help, screaming like a little girl "I love the Police -- I have all your albums!!!"

I tried harder to be nice, editing the wife's term papers when she was finishing her degree. While she was in the hospital a few months later her husband hired my kids (with my help) to remove a garden island in the middle of their lawn. The wife call to tell me her "gardener" quoted $500 to fix the mess we made. The problem was the new sod was lower than the existing lawn and was dark green (not yellow). The soil under the sod was level with the surrounding lawn but the lawn had a thatch 2-inches higher. Apparently her imaginary gardener didn't know about thatch. I suggested they fertilize to fix the yellow and wait for the grass to grow. I finally offered to refund their $20 and remove the sod I had included in the price. She hung up.

Several years later my son was dumping a grass-catcher full of cuttings (we used a power reel mower) in the empty lot on the other side of my neighbor's house. The police came after she called the city to complain about the grass clippings. Turns out you are supposed to bag the clippings for the weekly yard trimmings pickup so that's what I did from then on. That was Saturday and Sunday the Red Lobster where my daughter worked was robbed. My daughter was the hostess and handed over the cash register contents to the robber. She wasn't hurt but I wondered how many officers were taking care of grass clipping violations rather than tracking down armed robbers. I never spoke to my neighbor again and didn't send a sympathy card when she died at 46 from complications after surgery -- most likely they couldn't find her heart to resuscitate her.

Sean, your neighbor will likely have a frozen pipe fiasco next winter. Karma is a *****.

that is what they call karma. it can be a cold evil *****

 

[Terrick down Under]

Karma, ahh, we had a customer that was always giving us rubber cheques, so we finally stopped renewing their contract. He went for about 6 months without servicing his septic system, constantly putting rubbish down the drain. Well you guessed it, the shire turned up at his door to issue a fine, only to find him trying to hide the weeping black ooze coming from the tanks. It cost him $26000 in cleanup and fines. Now that's karma! It does happen!!!!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Thanks for the support guys! We are using positivity to overcome the negativity, better to spend life improving it than complaining about it. Speaking of which gotta rest up we are re doing the roof on the little house. I will add a pic be use I just hate making posts without at least one pic!!!

This is Shane "fixing" Brice's play center.

 

[Grumblebum]

Lol I think that was me with the tire comment Sean, although I don't think I realised it was the basement at the time. Can you whack a glass top on the block and get it on display ? (maybe later when the boys are older or Perspex instead of glass)

I'm sure you'll put the hitch receivers to good use, Bob you have some good ideas with yours.

****** with the neighbours, pain in the **** you don't need

Cheers GB

 

[jbmatth]

I have been lucky for the most part to never have neighbors like that right next to me. The worst was lazy lawn maintenance but that can be forgiven now that we moved. Now there are no neighbors to complain about us or us complain about them. Life will go on,
JB

 

[sean Buick 76]

Well, quick update. This weekend I re did the roof on the little house! I removed two old un used chimneys, and went to work. I had bought enough OSB to re do the entire roof however I needed very little of it. I did galvanized metal roof on the covered porch, that worked out well and I just need to trim the edge flush and a few details but its water tight. I doubled up the OSB on the covered porch, nice and stiff now. Had to tarp the whole house last night after I removed the old roof a storm blew in... Good times but it all worked out, no leaks overnight then a nice day today to get done.

Still some drama with the neighbor, having trouble getting them to remove their camper off my land and they are freaking out about me cutting down a few trees that I want removed...

 

[jp828108]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with your neighbors. I know all to well how that goes. I'm land locked by one who is similar. They are bitter that the land was sold 15 or 20 years before I was born by the father/father in law. They were allegedly going to put an offer in, but I made and had my offer accepted before they did. I have to drive by their house to get to mine, and anytime the wife or her daughter is out they look at me like I'm the devil. There will be another house for sale soon right across from theirs, and I am trying to talk my parents into buying it. They walk their dog all over the property that belongs to the house that will be for sale. Owner passed away a year or so ago so there is currently no one their to know or complain.

 

[hoyt]

Onto the DRAMA, I had a HUGE deal with my neighbours this week.... They had been encroaching onto my side of the property line over the past few years and I drew a line in the sand yesterday by parking my 75 Regal right on the property line. Within a few minutes the fight was on however I have my official survey documents and I did not back down. They are currently moving their camper trailer and broken car and I am putting up a fence. I did not mind them encroaching a little bit however she called the county on me and complained about me having 4 sheds and 10 cars... After I had loaned them electricity to build their cabin, what a kick in the junk. Without me they would have no cabin, but to them I am evil for holding my property line.

"Good fences make good neighbors." -- Robert Frost

 

[taumac]

Well I can say I'm lucky to have decent neighbors if not great ones. Its all about respect. I say hey I'll give you time to move it and if not I'll do it myself. Hopefully it doesn't last too much longer you know when you go home from work and you have to deal with ******** everywhere else the last place you want to deal with it is at home. Nice job on the roof. Unfortunately I've never done one and because of the hurricane codes in Florida a homeowner isn't allowed. At least that what insurance company said.

 

[sean Buick 76]

Good fences make good neighbours! Well the fence is not yet GOOD but we have got it started!!! They finally moved their trailer and car off my land so we got started on the fence.

Have a look!

 

[ajohno]

Great job on the fence Sean.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Sean, way to go..