Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT My Mini Garagemahal

[zmotorsports]

I like the term "financial peace," Mike, which in my mind, "F**K you," is all relative to what you want.

A younger me would have aspired for endless cars, boat(s), etc., getting older all the sudden you realize that there isnt enough time to deal with all those things and all the money in the world can't buy time.

To me, "f**k you" money is how you define it, my wife are striving for, no mortgage, no car payments, taking a few nice trips a year, and the right about of toys we can enjoy, maintain and still relax when we want. In many cases, I firmly believe, more money, more problems is true, b/c people continue to chase an image or something like that.

My son and I had this EXACT conversation a few days ago Mike. I once thought in order to be "successful" I had to have all of these toys and "stuff". I worked so hard to have the race cars, street rods, muscle cars, snowmobiles, sandrails, motorhome and all these things that I thought would bring happiness. Largely because a few people that I hung around with had all this "stuff" and they seemed happy, so that must be the formula. It took me quite a few years of stressing over robbing Peter to pay Paul and always working on said "stuff" to realize this wasn't success at all, it was just throwing money at things. Burning the candle at both ends for money and that money would have been much better served had I put it in a better place. I can say that now as I look back, but at the time I was neck deep into the trap and couldn't see it. My wife and I finally stuck our head out of the sand for a split second around 2009~ish era and realized this craziness wasn't getting us anywhere and surely not in alignment with where we wanted to go. We had the house paid off, money going into investments and thought we had the world by the balls and were doing great, until we realized how much money we were wasting. It was all for show or "fake rich" ******** that we thought was bringing us happiness, but was only bringing us stress and anxiety. We broke away from some people we were hanging around with and were completely content being alone just the two of us knowing we were different and had a different mindset. That's when we discovered an entirely new group of people who were much more likeminded, granted they were most 20 years our senior, but they had this **** figured out and were enjoying their retirement years. That's when the wife and I started having a more meaningful discussion about what we wanted our retirement to look like and started to focus more on a path that would get us there. Even though I think we are doing well now, I fear that all that money thrown away earlier in life could have really benefitted more in our later years. Maybe to some degree I am trying to make up for my mistakes as a younger man. I am so glad my son didn't follow all of my footsteps and has learned as I have along this path. He is in a much better place today at his age than I was in my early 30's.

 

[fouckhest]

I figured that would resonate with after hearing your stories about how you moved away from all the toys and ended up where you are. Chasing the "dream" is fun till its not, but its nice to have a couple well maintained toys, nice home, yard, etc., and honestly, I LOVE looking at the bank account and seeing a number that say, I "COULD" buy this that or the other, but reminding myself...WHY!

Glad to hear your son learned or followed your later in life lead, now you can focus on spending quality time with him and your grandson.

 

[zmotorsports]

I figured that would resonate with after hearing your stories about how you moved away from all the toys and ended up where you are. Chasing the "dream" is fun till its not, but its nice to have a couple well maintained toys, nice home, yard, etc., and honestly, I LOVE looking at the bank account and seeing a number that say, I "COULD" buy this that or the other, but reminding myself...WHY!

Glad to hear your son learned or followed your later in life lead, now you can focus on spending quality time with him and your grandson.

Yes, watching that bank account grow to the point where you "could" buy something but choose not to is a wonderful feeling and a wonderful blessing.


Case in point, next week is our annual bonus period at work. Granted it's definitely not "F you" money, but the past four years it has been a nice sized number and although my wife and I have viewed it as the cherry on top of our normal salary, and then mostly invested it each year, some members of our leadership team have absorbed it into what they view as their annual salary. Personally, I don't see it being that great of a bonus this year because 2024 was an unusually difficult year as we had some headwinds that we fought much of the year, and we failed to deliver on several of our metrics in which the incentive pay is calculated on. However, I have watched about 6 or 7 members of our leadership team buy new trucks over the past several months. Keep in mind, this is NOT that kind of money nor anywhere near it, hell probably only a few months payments at most, but there are at least a half dozen new trucks in the parking lot and listening to them justify them or the reasoning makes me smile because it confirms that we are the exception to so many rules these days. We find out at EOD today exactly what the annual incentive will be, but I am not convinced it will be much this year.

To make matters worse, during our morning huddle about three weeks ago several of the supervisors had asked our HR manager how to go into their W-2's and change them so no taxes nor withdrawals are taken out, so they get the maximum amount at one lump sum. Being me and not able to keep my mouth shut when I hear stupid things like this, I questioned why they would do that and was told because they don't want to have it taxed. Yeah, no ****, I get that, but why? I mentioned that it is still taxable income and you'll end up paying for it at the end of the year anyways, why not let it ride? Plus, if you're contributing to your 401k or ROTH like I hope they are, why not let more money go into those accounts at this one time of the year and put a nice dent in your annual contribution amount PLUS, get the company's match on a percentage of this larger amount???? I was met with bewilderment, and I think this mindset is the epitome of living paycheck to paycheck and just robbing Peter to pay Paul, but at another level.

 

[Xti04]

I work with lots of younger folks (20s) and the way they spend is wild. Door dash food that costs twice as much as regular expensive takeout 2 meals a day, fancy coffee every morning, brand new cars, crazy trips etc. I have shared my journey to gain financial freedom and how I work to move towards that. They act like I am nuts for contributing such a large chunk to 401k and for not eating out everytime they order food. Explaining that small moves like that allow me to have what I have become easier with time and seeing the savings add up makes it worth it. You would think I am trying to teach them physics the way they act about it.

Funny how we got here from talking about a fence huh?

 

[zmotorsports]

I work with lots of younger folks (20s) and the way they spend is wild. Door dash food that costs twice as much as regular expensive takeout 2 meals a day, fancy coffee every morning, brand new cars, crazy trips etc. I have shared my journey to gain financial freedom and how I work to move towards that. They act like I am nuts for contributing such a large chunk to 401k and for not eating out everytime they order food. Explaining that small moves like that allow me to have what I have become easier with time and seeing the savings add up makes it worth it. You would think I am trying to teach them physics the way they act about it.

Funny how we got here from talking about a fence huh?

Our journeys sound similar, as to many fellow forum members here. It's not rocket science, just common sense and I look at as if I can help them to see the light and envision a future without being enslaved by that debt monkey, then it is time well spent. Small changes to one's behavior can pay huge dividends (literally) in the long term.

As for how we got here, talking about a fence? THAT is one of the reasons I love this forum so much as the open communication amongst the members. Seems like we can talk about such a wide variety of topics yet many of us seem to relate in one way or a hundred.

The topics can jump from one thing to another, like seeing something in the background in someone's photo of a project in their shop and someone notices something sitting on a workbench 30' from where the action is and brings up a question that takes us all on a detour. We know we'll eventually get back to the topic at hand, but first we'll take this side trip together.

 

[DeeDubz]

@fouckhest Sorry to hear about your ****** neighbor. Did you try and talk to them? I have cameras on my property but they're not pointed at my neighbors yard.

 

[fouckhest]

@fouckhest Sorry to hear about your ****** neighbor. Did you try and talk to them? I have cameras on my property but they're not pointed at my neighbors yard.

Thanks and no, this is a long time brewing with several things in the background/past. BUT, some type of privacy fence was always in the plans because of house the lay of the land is between the two houses, this "incident" and then the subsequent camera did nothing but accelerate this on the project list.

 

[fouckhest]

Funny how we got here from talking about a fence huh?

As for how we got here, talking about a fence? THAT is one of the reasons I love this forum so much as the open communication amongst the members. Seems like we can talk about such a wide variety of topics yet many of us seem to relate in one way or a hundred.

@Xti04 As expected I fully agree with @zmotorsports, I think back to WHY I came to GJ originally, I am a hands on, DIY person, and come to find out there are a LOT of people here that are very like minded, so its easy to find people with that common thread to start. Then continue to "peel the onion back" and that one thread becomes many.

Just like being in the show car world in what ever marque that may be, but there are the built not bought crowd and then the checkbook warriors....we all tend to fall into the first category, or at least we know our boundaries and know when to write the check (i.e., for me, drywall work LOL).

I always think back to when I first got on here and wanted to see peoples cool garage and cool toys, then scratched my head when it was always people doing wood working, house projects, yard work etc., and was very confused....then built my shop and all the sudden, I'm buying wood working tools to finish my shop and it all made sense! At the end of the day, this is one of my favorite parts about this community, be in taking solace in knowing I'm not alone, getting advise on the better path or a reality check that I'm off base!

Looking forward to seeing where the wind blows our collective conversations next!

Have a good weekend all, I'm going back to fence building!

 

[pima67]

zmotorsports, I have to tell you this but you will need all the savings for future dental work now that Floride won't be in the water!
(worked in Ogden and lived in N. Ogden for some 30 years)
We saved like others have mentioned but still lived well including house remodels. In retirement we traveled some even to Europe then health got in the way. So don't forget to enjoy life before life gets in the way.

 

[Bob Heine]

@pima67, most people get a wake-up call late in life. I got mine when I was 20 and it changed my life for the better. In the back of our minds we all know we're going to die someday. If it's tomorrow, what will you wish you had done or not done. The month after I almost lost my life, I celebrated my first year at IBM and was eligible for the employee stock purchase plan (15% discount). I enrolled and had the maximum 10% of my salary put into the stock purchase plan. When the stock rose, we cashed some in to buy a new car. We had a 30-year mortgage but that was our only debt. We lived frugally so we could take nice vacations to Europe and cruises in the Caribbean. Much as I wanted all the toys, I realized financial stability was more important. IBM had a pension plan but the day the IRA was established I contributed the maximum ($1,500 per year). The one time I needed to take out a car loan, I agreed to a 5-year term and paid it off in six months.

The day IBM offered a 401K, I had to stop contributing to the IRA and contributed the maximum 9% of my salary to the 401K. By the time I turned 40 in 1984 we paid off the mortgage and had never made a car payment, even for two new cars purchased in in '68 and '71. We decided to buy used cars with whatever cash we had saved up. Wrote a check for the amount I was willing to pay but left the "Pay to the order of" line blank. The day I turned 45, we boarded a plane to spend two years working for IBM Australia. We mostly used cash to pay for things because Australian credit card companies charged interest on purchases starting the day of the purchase. We drove/took a ferry to Tasmania and vacationed in Fiji, New Zealand and Northern Queensland. I returned to a job at IBM Boca Raton in 1991 and resigned/retired/ worked as a consultant for one year. The month after I turned 50 in 1994, IBM started depositing pension payments to our bank. All the men in my family died young (brother at 21, grandfather at 53, father at 55 and uncle at 56) so I expected to maybe have five good years in retirement. A six week job at AOL turned into four years but I set up an SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA and contributed the max to it. I know I could have made more money waiting to retire at 65 and my social security deposits would have been bigger if I kept working until 65 but past performance by the men in my family, getting payments starting at age 62 made a lot of sense.

If you eliminate all your debts it doesn't take a lot of income to live comfortably. These 30 (26?) years of retirement have probably saved my life. I also pay estimated income tax four times a year, instead of letting the government withhold taxes from all my assets. I'm happy to pay a little tax beyond the estimate on April 15 because a refund means the government is returning money that was rightly mine all year.

 

[jonshonda]

Uhh ohh! Old guys with lots of money and toys....bitching about having more money and toys!

Typically anyone who has their own thread in the GJ Garrage Gallery Forum is a highly functioning individual. We all need things in our lives that occupy or time as we aren't good at idling, as we are highly motivated and need to be working on "stuff".

There is no shame in buying and selling, successes and failures. The only time you should feel shame is if you get yourself in actual financial or personal trouble (aka mad wife/family or fall behind on payments). This might not come across as being very humble, but I've done a lot of fun **** and will continue to find a lot of fun **** to do until I can't do fun **** anymore.

 

[Bob Heine]

Uhh ohh! Old guys with lots of money and toys....bitching about having more money and toys!

@jonshonda, Wendell Berry (farmer philosopher) encouraged people to "settle for less, enjoy it more" and to prioritize meaningful relationships and experiences over material possessions.

The money I accumulated for retirement in my 20s, 30s and 40s made it possible for me to retire at 50. If you work in a stress-free job you really love, keep working and accumulating more money and toys. I chose to leave the stress behind and let the money we saved work for us. We chose to travel when I was working rather than waiting for retirement. Much as I loved my toys, I loved seeing things in person just as much, if not more. Seeing our national parks, every state in our union, all but one Canadian province and most of Mexico can't be traded in or sold for profit. Same with the Great Pyramids, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ephesus and Stonehenge. Visiting our ancestral homelands in England, Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and Estonia made us want to see more. Not sure how much living in and traveling in Australia, visiting New Zealand and Fiji are worth but they live inside my addled 80-something brain and those memories and I will die someday. Until that day comes, I'm going to laugh my *** off every chance I get, re-tell stories to my family and strangers and share my bucket of happiness with every person I can.

Just like here on the Garage Journal, I've shared my version of success with my children, grand children and great grandchildren. I know it has helped some and been ignored by others. All any of us can do is live the life we have and be grateful.

 

[swsman]

It is really simple, in the end all one has are the memories.
The only thing we can take with us, depending on brain functioning of course.

I merely look at house and material things as a temporary care taker, once I depart it lives on with someone else.

This is the second, of two forums I peruse, just about the only social media for me aside from YouTube. I enjoy banter, knowledge shared, and of course tool craze.

In my mid 40s, made plenty of dumb choices - as well as some rather good ones. Small mortgage keeps me from being debt free.
Having lost my dad just recently I have been doing a great deal of thinking about it all.

Someone somewhere wrote: Do Good, Be Good, Don't Quit.
I like to align with it and stay in my own lane.

Cheers gents, thanks for the good read on this page.

 

[fouckhest]

Another productive and fun weekend in the books, which is always a good feeling as you start the work week back up!

Aside from continuing work on my privacy fence, this weekend is one of my favorites of the year due to a local small/independent movie theater partnership with a southeast based outdoor shop that sponsors and hosts the Banff Mountain Film Festival Tour, which is a compilation of short films about all things "outdoorsy," if you've never seen/heard of it, I'd highly encourage checking out the trailer below and if it comes through your area, go check it out, its a great way to spend an evening (or two if you are lucky like in our town!)

The film viewing certainly put a time constraint on work Saturday, I utilized it the best I could and got right back at it Sunday once the weather straightened up. The finish line of this side is in sight, then it will be time to start planning and building the gate, which is a project I've been looking forward to for a while!

This was my stopping point yesterday once all the lumber was used up....the Sunday lumber run was ~40 boards, SOO CLOSE!

I am rather happy with how it is turning out, covering the eyesore of that neighbors dilapidated garage is going to be a great added bonus. The next lumber run will include the next round of 4x4s to continue moving down towards the corner.
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

 

[zmotorsports]

Fence is looking great Mike.

 

[fouckhest]

Fence is looking great Mike.

Thanks, Mike!

It was really nice sitting on the back porch last night with my wife having a cold beer after a hard day of work and not being concerned of who might look over and be able to look down on/at us. There is also the added bonus that it makes it more difficult for our dogs and their dogs to see each other, plus I like the look much better than the fence that is now hidden.

 

[Xti04]

Lookin good Mike!Glad to see you didnt get blown away. We had a ton of high wind out here.

 

[fouckhest]

Lookin good Mike!Glad to see you didnt get blown away. We had a ton of high wind out here.

Between Saturday night, and yesterday, I feel pretty good about the fence after this little stress test! Good to hear you guys didnt get anything too bad either!

 

[fouckhest]

Been another busy week it seems, guess that is springtime!

Last week one of my buddies that works at the BMW plant called me early afternoon, which we rarely "talk" on the phone, so I wasn't surprised that he needed a hand of some sort, which was to come give him a flat tow about 3miles back to his house....He thought the clutch cable in his trusty '81 VW Rabbit Truck broke, but upon further inspection, it was a bracket on the clutch pedal. So I told him to remove it and I'd fix it, he said it took far too much of his Saturday, but I ran over to pick it up on Sunday too access the damage and see how repairable it was

Luckily there was a pretty nice clean break that after "tapping" and subsequently sanding down, I was able to get lined back up
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after a little massaging
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Started with some gentle cleanup, leaving the good welds as reference points
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Couple tacks to ensure it looked okay
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Next was a proper wire-wheeling and wipe down with acetone
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Welded up, this side came out much better, i was actually surprised for 40ish yr old steel
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This side, not so much, but it will never be seen, also tried to put a couple healthy tacks on the top that holds the cable, it was already cracking/separating
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Outside for a quick splash of paint and ready to be taken back to the owner. He confirmed last night all fits and works as intended, great success!
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr


One night last week I pulled the pressure washer out of the shed, the wife has been wanting to clean up some things. It needed a new pull cord after the el'cheapo previous replacement broke right after a put a new carb on it last year. So when it only ran on brake clean last week, I immediately pulled the carb, upon dropping the bowl, I wasn't going to put any more effort into it, so off to amazon for a replacement, that came in last weekend, so got it installed, fired right up, and time for a test drive

Last week during "trouble shooting"....insert, "that escalated quickly meme"

Pretty sure the tank must have been full of crud from years before me of this poor small engine getting ethanol heavy fuel
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After a thorough cleaning of the tank, new filter, she fired right up

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Put it to work on the "yard art" car as my wife calls it....
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Quite the improvement....I really need more time so I can do something with this poor thing, at a minimum get it out from under the pecan tree
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

 

[Xti04]

First car I bought myself was an 81 rabbit cabrio. Paid 100 bucks for it. Only after purchase did I find out how you cant get any parts for a cis car. Of course this was circa 2002 and I was 17 with no idea pf how to make the thing run. I could jump the fuel pump relay and make it kinda run in the garage. Ended up pushed out into my parents yard and I traded it to a buddy for a lightweight flywheel for my civic when I blew it up. I think he just needed the car because it had a title.

 

[swsman]

Have you considered getting a cover for it? Perhaps a heavy duty tarp, and put moving blanket underneath.

 

[zmotorsports]

Nice job on the bracket repair Mike. Turned out great and I'm sure he was pleased.

 

[fouckhest]

First car I bought myself was an 81 rabbit cabrio. Paid 100 bucks for it. Only after purchase did I find out how you cant get any parts for a cis car.

This thing was supposed to be a "tinker project" while I was doing my MBA, that quickly changed when I found out how bad the floors are....now its a longer term project where I'd like to build a tube chassis, so its just the shell that I really need, which is good b/c thats about all thats left

Have you considered getting a cover for it? Perhaps a heavy duty tarp, and put moving blanket underneath.

I have, just have love/hate about covers, b/c they become out of site, out of mind, and then still let moisture consume the car from under. I've got a couple things cooking that might lend me some time to get it in the shop and at a minimum, cut the floor and such out so I can preserve what I need for my longer term project.

Nice job on the bracket repair Mike. Turned out great and I'm sure he was pleased.

Thanks Mike, appreciate that. Also try and strive for perfection, but sometimes you have to settle for good enough. And honestly, I think its good to weld these old crusty parts from time to time, keeps you sharp, welding nice new material is rather easy

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Mike, appreciate that. Also try and strive for perfection, but sometimes you have to settle for good enough. And honestly, I think its good to weld these old crusty parts from time to time, keeps you sharp, welding nice new material is rather easy

Welding on less than ideal materials/parts also keeps a person humble. While I strive for the perfect welds that are all over IG, I have to keep telling myself that I work on things that have been exposed to the elements much of the time. Not justifying per se, just have to keep my expectations real.

 

[fouckhest]

Been a crazy couple/few weeks in my world....shortly after my last update I had to go to San Francisco for a trade show, flew out early Sunday, (6am EST) to be able to assist with boot setup, made for a long day, but was able to catch up with an old friend while in town, the little microbrew where we met was closing (Sunday night) earlier than we planned, but made an opportunity to be able get a local to give me as much of a highlight as possible given the short window, we "hiked" up to a park called "Twin Peaks" super cool to see the city from that vantage point, and luckily the brewery had to go beers, so we drank a couple beers, shot the **** and caught up on life....

View of the city from the park
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Golden Gate bridge is hiding in this photo behind some fog, you can see I managed to catch one of the top lights blinking.
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Also while there a very large vendor hosts a party/social every year and there venues are second to none (last year in San Diego, the venue overlooked the Padres stadium and it happened during a game during a game!) This year in SF the venue had windows 360°, great view!
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr


Weeks always go by quick at tradeshows, took a red eye home Wednesday night, home by 830am, quick nap, then catch up Thurs/Fri to get ready for a short following week to head up to Tail of the Dragon....Unfortunately while in SF, I missed a call from my aunt, my gramma was in the hospital, at 86, thats scary....so had to cut my Saturday fence building short to head to Ohio to see her. Luckily things were looking much better and I was back on the road Sunday morning to head home!

....more to come

 

[fouckhest]

....Started the next week full of piss n'vinegar, two day week then 3.5 days of driving, sign me up!! Vacation time!

Wednesday morning, stopped for some snacks before heading up to ToD, had to snap a cool photo of the Cayman
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Got up to Fontana Village, unpacked, headed out for an afternoon/evening rip, only to get back to the cabin for dinner to see a txt from my wife that two of the dogs got into it, she got caught in the cross-fire, quickly escalated from urgent care to an ER visit....so I packed up and headed home to play nurse for wife and dogs for the rest of the week...I did manage to get one photo from the killboy guys while I was there!
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With my new found "stay-cation" that evening I kept the wife comfy on the couch, enjoyed a few cold beers and started plotting how I can best utilize my time

Day 1 - Thursday
Worked a little on the ef-you fence till I ran out of the left over lumber from before I headed to Ohio....then decided I wanted to spend some time on the project car.

I needed to get into the garage attic, so while up there I grabbed the old "cooling package" that was on my R32, I'd like to use this radiator to start since it fits in theh frame rails, has nice fans and, well, its already here...I've always wanted to do a "v-mount" radiator, and knowing that it will effectively increase the amount air that contacts the radiator, it seems like a good idea knowing the the 4.2l is more ~30% larger than the 3.2 it used to cool


Initial fit up is good, need to start thinking about mounts next, going to try and incorporate the bottom mounts into the cross bar for the front engine mount

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Did some garage clean up after this to get ready for what I had decided would now be my Friday project, full court press on the project!

Day 2 - Friday

One small, but kinda large variable I need to solve is seating position, which requires multiple dimensions of consideration. Plan is to try and build the tunnel to accommodate the exhaust being "tucked" enough to allow a flat floor, so that will drive tunnel width, which they drives seat in one plane, and then feet and relation to steering wheel...so it all snowballs fast, so we get out the trusty cut off wheel and get to trimming

First step - more floor/tunnel removal

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Next step - install driveshaft and support it with lightly better than a bluetooth support

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I did mock up 2x 2.5" straight sections, should have plent of room...next step is to get the shifter mocked up....to do that I also wanted to make sure my new shifter handle was installed to help determine its height

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Time to swap linkages

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Installed and flopping around...I also had some extra seat brackets laying around, so started with them just sitting in the car

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Had this "hoop" from when I was playing with the bender when I first got it, botled up the brackets to use as "oem" mounting, then the bar on top is my "old" seat bracket

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Found another slightly wider "hoop" and it ironically works well and lines up very close to where I think I may way the front seat mount rail to go....hard to tell in this photo, but I "should work"....

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Thats where I stopped Friday, the rest of the weekend was dedicated to other projects, more to come on those...

 

[zmotorsports]

Progress on the car is taking shape.

Sorry to hear about the wife's ER visit, hope she's doing better and it's nothing too serious.

 

[fouckhest]

Day 3 - Saturday
After what I felt was a productive Friday, I started Saturday energized and up for a trip to the metal store for some material to start working on the seat mounts. Followed by a local concourse style car show (European Auto Festival) for a quick visit with a buddy that game up from Alabama, then home to start on the next project.....Finish the Golf TDi interior

Started by cleaning up the headliner first. Not really sure what a previous owner did, but it looked like the fabric fell off, the foam stated in tact and then they painted or maybe even under coated it....it took WAY too long to clean this up with a drill and wire wheel

Starting
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Halfway
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Done!
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With that part done, I set out to clean all the pilars and door cards, that didn't take too long. Then started in on covering them, no progress photos, got in a groove and knocked them all out....not perfect, but I'll take it for my first attempt
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Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

That is where the day ended, didnt have the energy and likely patients to start on the headliner....so that got pushed to Sunday...later in the evening I did sneak down to the garage and install the rear door cards, they look pretty good!
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by fouckhest, on Flickr

Day 4 - Sunday
Up early for a run to Lowes to stock up on lumber for an afternoon of working on the ef'you fence, then home to start on the headliner....after a fight with the spray gun, a detour back to HF for another, came home and got to work....again, not perfect, but should be good enough for the ~377k daily beater

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All finished up with the edges folded over....overall pretty happy, but will see how it looks once installed
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr


With the remainder of the day I started in on the fence and installed the ~40 boards that I purchased earlier in the day....wrapped up around 530p in time to sit on the back porch and admire and appreciate the utility of the new fence!

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

 

[fouckhest]

Progress on the car is taking shape.

Sorry to hear about the wife's ER visit, hope she's doing better and it's nothing too serious.

Thanks Mike, she is doing well, luckily it wasnt too deep, but enough to slow her down for 4-5days, but she is back to normal!

I'm pretty excited/motivated on the car, its kind of strange how such a little bit of time/progress can help a project take shape and provide a vision of how to get it done.

 

[Xti04]

Hate your trip got cut short! Hopefully the wife is doing ok. I see a lot of dog bites at work. They can be nasty!

 

[fouckhest]

Hate your trip got cut short! Hopefully the wife is doing ok. I see a lot of dog bites at work. They can be nasty!

Thanks, she is and is lucky that it wasn't worse.

I was bummed that it got short, but happy with the amount of work I got done....Similar thing happened a few years ago, going up to ToD, busted an oil pan which landed me at home for a long weekend, I think I finished my shed, did insulation in the garage and something else....8-10hr days of work are great when they are possible!

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, what do you use for adhesive for the headliner?

I've used the 3M aerosol before, but I'm not an interior person and always like to see what others are having good results with.

Thanks.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Sorry to hear about the wife and your shortened Dragon trip. Hate to hear a came from a dog scuffle at home.

You got a lot done and the f-u fence is coming along really nice. Really gives the entire space a nice feel with the different fence style.

 

[fouckhest]

Mike, what do you use for adhesive for the headliner?

I've used the 3M aerosol before, but I'm not an interior person and always like to see what others are having good results with.

Thanks.

This is what I used at the recommendation of a guy that used to do interior full time, then this past summer I had the headliner done in the wives car and the mobile place used the same thing, oh and the "purple" HVLP gravity feed gun from HF is the winning combo

Amazon.com

Sorry to hear about the wife and your shortened Dragon trip. Hate to hear a came from a dog scuffle at home.

You got a lot done and the f-u fence is coming along really nice. Really gives the entire space a nice feel with the different fence style.

Yup, never good when you have to leave vacation, but gotta roll with the punches and make lemonade when life gives you lemons.

Appreciate it, I have really come to like it much more than I thought I would. Project for tonight is to get the planter boxes installed.

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks for the info. Mike.

 

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a nice Easter Weekend!

Kept pretty busy all weekend knocking out some projects and a little bit of play.

Got the hanging planters installed on the fence end of last week, got busy and forgot to post an update, but I really like they way they turned out.
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fridays have long been "boys night out" which meant beers and wings at a local dive bar that had arguably the best wings in our area. Unfortunately after 12'ish years, the owners decided to close up shop, we shopped around and to much disappointment, we have yet to find a spot to fill the void of our last spot. After a month or so of trying different places and continuing to be underwhelmed, the group made the decision to start a rotating dinner/happy hour at someone's house, we all like to cook and figured it was a more cost effective solution in the long run.

All that to say, Friday night was wing night at our house! New to me deep fryer and we are in business!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Aftermath of make your own sauce concoction and toss your own wings!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr


Saturday a buddy came by to use the lift to perform some maintenance on his daughters car, so I used the time to get the interior back together in the white golf and then gave it a bath Saturday. It is now back in tip top shape and ready for its first car show next month in Helen, GA.

Interior isn't perfect, but good enough that it wont bother me enough that I want to redo it. I do need to figure out how to address the sagging above the quarter windows
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Sunday brought on a fun side project....The wife found the mount brackets I bought too long ago to hang up one of my old sets of wheels in the garage. After getting these wheels out of the house attic, along with some organizing, headed to the garage to do more organizing, below where these wheels are now hanging was the OEM Cayman wheels and some boxes from when my wife moved in after we got married, so after 2ish years, it was time for a cleanup.

Cleanup and trips up/down the latter to get things into the garage attic took longer than expected, but got them all mounted. Two directly into studs, two have a board nailed between two studs. Will see if the slight abstract nature of how the mounts ended up with bother me or not....but all in all, I like it! Expensive wall art!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

 

[zmotorsports]

Those planter/flower boxes on the fence look very nice Mike.

Looks like a nice weekend.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

The fence project came out great. The flower boxes really set it off. Any plans to finish the top board all the way across the sections?

I am down to only 1 place I am willing to pay still to make wings in our area. I likely would give up and only make them at home as well if they decided to close down. Everyone one can make wings but few can make them well these days.

Those old BBS I know not the plan but those would look fantastic on the white golf.

 

[fouckhest]

Those planter/flower boxes on the fence look very nice Mike.

Looks like a nice weekend.

Thanks Mike!

Any plans to finish the top board all the way across the sections?

Yup, likely going to jump back on that this coming weekend! Been debating some solar lights for a somewhere up there, not sure though.

Everyone one can make wings but few can make them well these days.

Preach! Its crazy to me how so few can do something so seemingly simple.

Those old BBS I know not the plan but those would look fantastic on the white golf.

LOL, I'd LOVE to put them on that car, but unfortunately the spec on them is not conducive to fitting on that car. They were built specific for my widebody car years ago, they are probably 9.5" & 11" wide...I think. There is a cool old body kit that if I could get my hands on these would absolutely go on that car! Until then, they will be wall art until the widebody car is done.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Yup, likely going to jump back on that this coming weekend! Been debating some solar lights for a somewhere up there, not sure though.

Lights would really set the space off. Make sure they bleed through the other side to light up the sign.

LOL, I'd LOVE to put them on that car, but unfortunately the spec on them is not conducive to fitting on that car. They were built specific for my widebody car years ago, they are probably 9.5" & 11" wide...I think. There is a cool old body kit that if I could get my hands on these would absolutely go on that car! Until then, they will be wall art until the widebody car is done.

Yeah, that is really wide. Some of my favorite wheels ever made. Never built a car to this day that they would look good on. Someday.