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Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop

Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.

Sweet Old Bill

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Mar 20, 2009
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362
Location
N. California
Thomas,

Very fitting tribute to your father, grandfather, & great-grandfather in both this post and your entire thread.

If my memory serves, Isaac Newton said "we all stand on the shoulders of giants!"
 
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Grizz1963

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Jan 7, 2010
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12,014
Location
Rochester, KENT. UK
Did you ever do a project just because it was going to fun to do? That's how I started this project...

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Dad had bought numerous Jorgensen wood clamps soon after he returned from WWII when he was setting up his first wood shop.


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He made these brackets to hang them on the wall.

When he and I started to enlarge our wood shop in the late 1970's...

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...he bought just a few more smaller one's, but he never got around to making a bracket to hang them on.

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As long as I had some scrap cherry material left over from the little trim project a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make a smaller sized bracket for those clamps.


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After the pieces were cut fairly close to size, the 2 outer boards were dado-ed to receive the center board that the clamps would hang from.

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He used only 2 flat head wood screws that were counter sunk, one per side, to mechanically help hold the boards together along with gluing them.

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After the pilot holes were drilled and counter sunk, the 3 pieces were glued and screwed and clamped together.

While those were drying...

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...the outline of the shape of the wall bracket was traced onto paper, then scanned into my computer and reduced about 10% in size since this bracket was going to be slightly smaller in size to accommodate the smaller wood clamps.

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In turn that design was traced onto the newly glued bracket and using his 1948, 14" Delta bandsaw they were cut to shape.

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With them glued, cut and sanded it was time to drill the mounting holes.

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He had used carriage bolts and...


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... notice the angle that he installed them. That provided a clamping, squeezing pressure to more securely mount them on a wall. To duplicate that angle...

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...I used my great-grandfather's sliding bevel square. This tool dates from around the turn of the century making it well over 100 years old.

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With the angle established, I transferred it to Dad's old Delta floor drill press, by tilting the table. He bought that drill press in about 1936. With the table locked...

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...the bracket was clamped to the table. To aid in clamping...

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...this block was fabricated decades ago, to provide a nice surface to clamp to since there are casting ribs under the table.


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That block has always worked perfectly for us through the years as you can see. Simple, but effective.

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The drill point was centered punched. I drilled a smaller pilot hole first and then enlarged it to the final size.

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That tilted table worked nicely so next step was to...

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...create spacers with angled counter bore holes for the washers and nuts. Look closely and you can see that it is angled.

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I selected a small block of walnut for my 2 spacers and used the 20" Delta bandsaw to cut it to proper thickness.

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The spacer was clamped to the drill press and using a Forstner bit...

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...the angled counter-bore was drilled. Then the bolt hole was drilled.

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With both ends of the walnut block counter-bored and drilled, I then cut them apart on the bandsaw. I had initially left them together in one piece so I ha
d a larger piece to work with while drilling.

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The idea behind angling these spacers is that the side of the spacer next to the wall will be parallel to the backside of the wall when the brackets are installed.

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Last step was to relieve the area for the square shoulders of the carriage bolts just a little bit. I used a small chisel for that.

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So there are the carriage bolts installed. Once the bracket is installed on the wall and the bolts tightened down, the bolt heads will draw down into the bracket a little bit more, but not a whole lot.

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This is how it looks with the small wood clamps...

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...in place.

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So...

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... this one's for you Dad. I miss you every day, especially when I'm in the wood shop surrounded by your presence. Every tool I use of yours or great grand-dad's, I think back to our time together over the years. I am grateful for everything you taught me, and how to use and properly care for your tools and equipment. Even though you're no longer here, know that it was and still is an honor to be your son.

Thankful Thomas




In a word……..

PERFECT.




.
 
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MG David

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Apr 14, 2009
Messages
192
Location
Warwick UK
It is great to watch you using these tools that have come down through your family. I am ashamed to say I have a dovetailing jig that was my maternal grandfather's and I have never used it.
Thomas, you have inspired me to come up with a project just so I can use it.
 

BlueBomber

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Sep 14, 2013
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3,201
Location
Outside Boston, MA
An excellent, picture- and detail-rich story, I didn't know I needed to make a block to ease clamping things to my drill press table until just now. Thank you, Thomas!
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
Messages
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Location
Philo, IL
Thank you everyone for those wonderful comments. It's nice knowing this thread has been helpful.

Here's a follow up to the wood clamp bracket; installing them.

IMG_2054.jpg

This the new bracket...

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...and to the left are the original 3 brackets.
The proportion on the new one is off because of the slightly smaller scale, plus I changed the design ever so slightly.

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On the other side of the wall, you can see the angle of the mounting bolts.

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This is how the original angled counter-bored spacers look in place.


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The new clamp spacers are on the left. I did match the bolt angle when drilling the holes through the wall.

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This is the new bracket loaded with wood clamps vrs...

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...one of the originals.

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You really can't see much of the bracket when it's loaded up can you?!

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And so, with that little project completed...

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...I'm a bit closer to getting the wood shop set up. This work space is much as I had imagined it when I started the design work on the house. A worthy successor to the shop in our previous house.

Stay warm everyone, spring is right around the corner and I'll be posting about warmer activities.

Thomas
 

rmalkow2

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Joined
Jun 26, 2009
Messages
4,087
Location
Brighton, MI
Hi Thomas,
I've been off GJ for such a long time it's a challenge now to catch up but I'm trying. Glad to see you are still posting updates and doing some great projects and organization around the shop and home. Good simple idea to make the scrap wood storage cart. I need to do something similar as I seem to always be moving around stacks of scrap wood that is so useful when you need them but in the way when not being used.
Sorry I missed sending birthday wishes to Lou last November but glad to see you had a wonderful celebration for him. If you indeed have your open house this summer I look forward to making the trip and seeing you both as well as this most famous shop.
And as in past years I hope to see you both at Bonneville Speed Week this year. I'm planning to be there for a few days as usual and then I'll be making the trip back again in September to race at World of Speed.
Good Lord willing and the crick don't rise, maybe I'll someday bring a race car to Speed Week too. Wouldn't that be a treat and dream come true!
Anyway, wishing you and family health and great times at the COTU.

Bob
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
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Philo, IL
Good to hear from you Bob. The old shop open house is on the calendar and Chris and I are planning on it.

June 10-12th, 2022, 10AM to 5PMish, central time.

With any luck, Lou will be here as well, so his legion of fans can do a meet and greet with the great, land speed racing legend himself! I know some of the Johnson family are planning on being here for some of the time too.

I'll get some more details on here as we get a bit closer to the date. It'll definitely be a low key affair. No ridged, organized program. We'll have some snacks and soft drinks. I plan on having the old Pepsi machine stocked with a variety of soft drinks for those who want the full experience! Remember it's all free. This will be a time for Chris and myself to meet those of you who can make it and a fun way to cap this now 17 year adventure of ours. We purchased the property in 2005 and started this thread in late 2009.

If you think you might make it, please send me a PM for address and directions. If necessary, we have over an acre of parking available in the empty lot a 1/2 block down the street.

As we've always said, we're all friends here, we just haven't met yet. This is the time to fix that!

Thomas
 

Poor Ron

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Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
69
Location
Michigan
Good to hear from you Bob. The old shop open house is on the calendar and Chris and I are planning on it.

June 10-12th, 2022, 10AM to 5PMish, central time.

With any luck, Lou will be here as well, so his legion of fans can do a meet and greet with the great, land speed racing legend himself! I know some of the Johnson family are planning on being here for some of the time too.

I'll get some more details on here as we get a bit closer to the date. It'll definitely be a low key affair. No ridged, organized program. We'll have some snacks and soft drinks. I plan on having the old Pepsi machine stocked with a variety of soft drinks for those who want the full experience! Remember it's all free. This will be a time for Chris and myself to meet those of you who can make it and a fun way to cap this now 17 year adventure of ours. We purchased the property in 2005 and started this thread in late 2009.

If you think you might make it, please send me a PM for address and directions. If necessary, we have over an acre of parking available in the empty lot a 1/2 block down the street.

As we've always said, we're all friends here, we just haven't met yet. This is the time to fix that!

Thomas
Thomas, I can not find the way to send a message. I plan to make the trip to visit your shop. Will bring the home supervisor along. Thanks for the invitation.
 

TR6SR650

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Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
65
Wow, how great that will be to visit the very place I have been reading about for a few years. That is very generous of you and Chris to extend to us this opportunity. Yes indeed, we will mark our calendar this evening.

Best regards,
Calvin
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
Messages
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Location
Philo, IL
Thomas, I can not find the way to send a message. I plan to make the trip to visit your shop. Will bring the home supervisor along. Thanks for the invitation.
Good deal Ron, we'll make note of that. I'll send you a private message shortly and you can then let me know you received it.

To send a PM (private message) take the cursor and hover over my Garage Journal name, i.e. BB767. Then when a menu comes up, click on the "start a conversation" tab. That will take you to a page where you can leave me a message. I am notified in my regular email that I have a PM and then I can go to my Garage Journal messages to read it. To find your Garage Journal mail box, sign in and then near the top of the page, just to the right of your GJ name you'll see the outline of an envelope. Click on the envelope, that's where all your PM's are stored. We'll try it and see if you can make it work. Let me know, OK? Thanks.

Thomas
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
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Philo, IL
Wow, how great that will be to visit the very place I have been reading about for a few years. That is very generous of you and Chris to extend to us this opportunity. Yes indeed, we will mark our calendar this evening.

Best regards,
Calvin
Hello there Calvin, it works both ways you know. Chris and I get to meet all of the wonderful folks, like yourself, who have been following our adventures here for the past, um, 12 years. That we are looking forward to. Over the years there have been many who have stopped by and it's been lots of fun so this should be a really special treat. Send me a PM and I'll reply with additional information about the open house. Looking forward to meeting you.

Thomas
 

Thirdyfivepickup

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Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
1,948
Location
Portage, Indiana
See... I just clamp my wood clamps to a 2x4 support off of one of my overhead shelves...You outclamp me by 4 clamps... (3 drill presses.... etc)

Fun Fact.... it appears you have the same bandsaw that my father has in his garage. I'm totally jealous of your setup down there! Nice!
 

mybigwarwagon

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Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
4,428
Location
Vale, Nc
Just for giggles I went and looked at the map of Philo. It took my about 5 minutes to find you. Although the street view still has the Johnson house.
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
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Philo, IL
"Is this old news? Sorry if it is." J808

Hello J808, well the video made at the PSMCRD race was last September in Stanton, Michigan. And so that, I guess, makes it old but I don't think I've ever posted it here so that makes it new! I had nothing to do with creation of the video, it was done independently. Not really fond of how he does it with those comments of his, but if you look past that it does give pretty good factual information and the quality of the video is decent as well.

The little Chevy II strikes down another big block! :bounce: Lots of fun. The driver of the GTO is a friend of mine from drag racing and he's still smarting from the loss. The round that I did lose was from a terrible start reaction time from me. All my fault there. In all 3 rounds the Chevy II ran the quicker times. That was the only drag race event I ran last year and the slow ET's show it. Hope to get a few more races in this year, I'll see how that goes.

Thanks for posting the video for those who might have missed it. The car will be available for inspection at the open house in June for those who can make it.

Thomas
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
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Amazing shop.
Thank you m6Z. It really is a nice, comfortable work space. The culmination of many years of accumulating and restoring tools and equipment and a bunch of thought about what I'd like in a wood shop. I'm still "tweaking" different aspects of it but it's largely complete.

Thomas
 

TR6SR650

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Dec 13, 2012
Messages
65
I enjoyed that video. I liked the turbo 400. I thought I got better hole shots. But just for fun around town, I preferred the 4 speed.
 

J808

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Aug 2, 2021
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Location
SW Va
"Is this old news? Sorry if it is." J808

Hello J808, well the video made at the PSMCRD race was last September in Stanton, Michigan. And so that, I guess, makes it old but I don't think I've ever posted it here so that makes it new! I had nothing to do with creation of the video, it was done independently. Not really fond of how he does it with those comments of his, but if you look past that it does give pretty good factual information and the quality of the video is decent as well.

The little Chevy II strikes down another big block! :bounce: Lots of fun. The driver of the GTO is a friend of mine from drag racing and he's still smarting from the loss. The round that I did lose was from a terrible start reaction time from me. All my fault there. In all 3 rounds the Chevy II ran the quicker times. That was the only drag race event I ran last year and the slow ET's show it. Hope to get a few more races in this year, I'll see how that goes.

Thanks for posting the video for those who might have missed it. The car will be available for inspection at the open house in June for those who can make it.

Thomas

"Is this old news? Sorry if it is." J808

Hello J808, well the video made at the PSMCRD race was last September in Stanton, Michigan. And so that, I guess, makes it old but I don't think I've ever posted it here so that makes it new! I had nothing to do with creation of the video, it was done independently. Not really fond of how he does it with those comments of his, but if you look past that it does give pretty good factual information and the quality of the video is decent as well.

The little Chevy II strikes down another big block! :bounce: Lots of fun. The driver of the GTO is a friend of mine from drag racing and he's still smarting from the loss. The round that I did lose was from a terrible start reaction time from me. All my fault there. In all 3 rounds the Chevy II ran the quicker times. That was the only drag race event I ran last year and the slow ET's show it. Hope to get a few more races in this year, I'll see how that goes.

Thanks for posting the video for those who might have missed it. The car will be available for inspection at the open house in June for those who can make it.

Thomas
I agree with you on the videos. The pure stock drag racing is fun to watch for me because of its simplicity and reflection to the hey day of drag racing. P.S 62's are one of my favorites, thanks.
 

68400BIRD

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Nov 14, 2017
Messages
332
Location
Shorewood, MN
All kidding aside, Pontiac really does not have a big block and small block like Chevrolet.
326-455 are all the same size block with just different strokes and bores. I have a good friend who is a big car enthusiast. But he just could not understand that a 326 and 455 were the same size block. Made for quite the discussion and internet search.
 

TR6SR650

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Joined
Dec 13, 2012
Messages
65
All kidding aside, Pontiac really does not have a big block and small block like Chevrolet.
326-455 are all the same size block with just different strokes and bores. I have a good friend who is a big car enthusiast. But he just could not understand that a 326 and 455 were the same size block. Made for quite the discussion and internet search.
The 428 too?
 

68400BIRD

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Nov 14, 2017
Messages
332
Location
Shorewood, MN
Yes, believe it or not but the 287-4.7 all the way through 455-7.46 were all the same size block. Some articles call them small blocks where others compare them to Chevy and call them a medium size block. I think there are a few motors that are not in this category including the super duty motors.
 

Monza Harry

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Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
1,433
Location
Windsor ON
For Chevrolet the differences are Small Block, has a 4.400" Bore centerlines and a 9.24 " deck height and the "Big Block" has a 4.840" C/L and offers two deck heights of 9.800" & 10.200" but the BB is built for bigger cubes [and trucks/Heavy Duty use]and looks it hence the term. others were frequently called Big Blocks but there weren't any differences between them. Ie; Buick 215, 300, & 350 was all the same block but everyone I knew called the 350 a BB, but that didn't happen until 400 C.I.'s. Harry
Here is a link with some numbers for SnG's: http://victorylibrary.com/mopar/bore-center-c.htm
 

BlueBomber

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Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
3,201
Location
Outside Boston, MA
Hello, Thomas & Chris!

I was working on finalizing the LS swap on my Impala this morning and something made me think of Thomas and my visit to Philo back in 2019. This is the very same '60 Impala Thomas was gracious enough to host for a few hours of garage time as I was passing through on the very day I'd bought it.

IMG_20220423_100058.jpg

What made me think of Thomas? As I was installing the hose clamps on the air intake, I noticed that I had, by chance, clocked two of the screws nearly perpendicular to the direction of the intake tube. So, of course, I had to go back and adjust all of the screw heads to be in the same alignment.

IMG_20220423_100216.jpg

Hope you two are doing well! I am on the hunt for a C1 Corvette to join the Impala, and if times and locations line up, I'll definitely stop by at the open house in June.

Cheers!

Mike
 
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BB767

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Dec 24, 2009
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Philo, IL
Hello there Mike and thanks for the update. The car is really looking good. That's a big project! The screw heads look terrific but don't look under the hoods of any of my cars. Some people will notice and it's certainly a sign of attention to detail. If you make it by in June, my Challenge Coin is at the ready!! :thumbup:

Thomas
 
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BB767

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Philo, IL
Thomas, will you be at US-131 next week?
Unfortunately, I will not much as I wish I could. Next Saturday the 14th is our annual car club, car show fund raiser so Chris and I will be busy prepping and running that. We raise funds every year for Cunningham Children's Home which is based in nearby Urbana, IL.


However I've been invited again and am planning on attending and racing the Chevy II at the Super Car Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky, July 21-23rd.


That's always been a really fun event and with the location, between racing at nearby Historic Beech Bend Raceway and displaying cars at the National Corvette Museum it promises to be tons of fun.

Maybe see you there or later at Stanton in September?

Thomas
 

Poor Ron

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Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
69
Location
Michigan
I am planning on Philo in June & Stanton in September.
I have a good friend who races a "Clone" L-79 at Ubly & Onondaga often.
I have spectated a couple times. Not as good as Stanton however.
 

Vette60

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Mar 15, 2006
Messages
448
Location
Glen Allen, VA
Just checking in...love the post about your Dad and Grand-dad. So nice that you are able to use their tools. I always marvel at your attention to detail and the little things that you do to just make it right.

I was lucky enough to have my Dad here with me last weekend and we went for a nice ride in the 'Vette and to Cars and Coffee here in Richmond. He is moving slower and was happy to have a seat and chat with folks that stopped by to admire his ride. I'm the lucky son that is now the keeper of the flame and just trying to do my best.

Happy Mother's Day to Chris and hope you all both have a great day!
 
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BB767

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Philo, IL
Just checking in...love the post about your Dad and Grand-dad. So nice that you are able to use their tools. I always marvel at your attention to detail and the little things that you do to just make it right.

I was lucky enough to have my Dad here with me last weekend and we went for a nice ride in the 'Vette and to Cars and Coffee here in Richmond. He is moving slower and was happy to have a seat and chat with folks that stopped by to admire his ride. I'm the lucky son that is now the keeper of the flame and just trying to do my best.

Happy Mother's Day to Chris and hope you all both have a great day!
Many thanks to you Vette60 for the nice post and others for the kind words and good wishes.

I can well remember the last time I took Dad for a last ride and his last visit to the shop before he passed away. I had no idea at the time of course that he would be gone in a short while. I'm so thankful I took the time to do that. For those who are still fortunate enough to have their Dad's (and Mom's too!) around, spend as much time as you possibly can with them. Most importantly, give them a hug and tell them you love them. Yes, Dads like to hear that stuff too, trust me!! You can never do that too much! I am eternally grateful to both my parents and I'm pretty confident I was able to convey that to them on numerous occasions. By extension of this thread, my Dads influence on me has reached out to all of you. I think he'd have liked that.

Thanks everyone for your support and interest. Hope to meet many of you in about 5 weeks time.

Thomas
 

PhilCarlson

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Jan 28, 2022
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1
I've spent the past few months reading through all 317 (as of right now) pages of this epic tale of wonder! Thank you, Thomas and Chris, for sharing your lives on GJ! It's truly inspiring for those of us who are in an earlier stage of life, and thinking about building their ultimate shops, garages, and houses. I'm proud to say that this is my first post on GJ, and I'm looking forward to continued updates from the COTU!!!

Thanks again!
 
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