Congrats on the sale, went for way less than I expected. Honestly I thought 5k would be a steal.
Im sure being Canadian didn't help the price sadly.
Congrats on the sale, went for way less than I expected. Honestly I thought 5k would be a steal.
Im sure being Canadian didn't help the price sadly.
Roller-coaster of emotions, but I am reasonably pleased with the price.
Hard to know exactly what this was worth, and with no reserve, it went for whatever it WAS worth at the time. BaT was probably the best venue for this car, and certainly being Canadian could have been a strike against it, but honestly I don't think I would do much better than that trying to sell it locally, certainly not as quickly.
Anyone remember that twin turbo V8 Sprint that was for sale for ever for some surreal price?
1) It entertained me for ten years.
2) I met my challenge of putting a V8 in a Chevy Sprint.
3) You don't put a price on your hobby.
4) I built it for cheap, and came ahead at the auction - yay me!
5) Buyer got a lot of my life for a relatively small sum - yay buyer!
That sounds like "winning" to me </sheen>.
OK, wow. SO I remember this bui;d starting a couple of years ago and sort of lost track of it. I like to catch up on build threads in large chunks, so often wait a couple of months. Then suddenly I see the 'You must have this' and the BAT auction and look it up again. I was stunned to realize that a couple of years was actually five, so I started at the beginning again. I think I only got to page 4 last time. Then I see the following post I'm quoting. I can't believe it didn't even get a single thumbs up back in the day. For some reason, forming your own hose attachment from flat, bead rollering it, rolling it into a pipe then TIGing inside and out before attaching it to the end tank completely blows my mind. My hats off to you. This is simply stunning. I can't wait to see how the rest of the story plays out in the past!
This is another reminder why my ideas and plans need to stay in my head and not get started. The skill, time and dedication are all things I honestly don't posses. Thanks for the Walter Mitty moments.
SkinnyG said:I recently spent some time with my friend Liam of Burr Fabrication (Armstrong), who helped me immensely in fabricating a gas tank, and gave me tips in welding my own rad tanks to the Ranger pickup core.
Today, I worked on the lower radiator tank (no pics - boring), and the lower rad house outlet. Lower water pump inlet is 1-7/8 diameter. That makes the circumference 5.89". I cut a strip from the same scrap aluminum I used for the tanks.
Anneal the aluminum by scribbling a Sharpie on the aluminum, then heat it with a torch until the ink is gone.
Then I ran one side of the sheet through the bead roller for a hose clamp antipoppinoffinator.
I started curving the sheet by bending it bit by bit by hand in my vise.
Then persuaded it into round using a dead-blow hammer around a piece of tubing.
Then TIG welded the seam inside and out. Top hose inlet is there too.
The outlet is squished on one end to fit the tank. The hole was shaped with a carbide cutter on a die grinder. Spraying the cutter with WD40 keeps the cutter from bunging up with aluminum.
Magical TIG goodness.
I'll finish the top tank and hose inlet, flush the rad clean, then cap the ends.
I tell my own kids "The stuff you see me do with cars isn't normal. Don't be surprised if your friend's dads don't do anything like this at all."
Meh, "Normal" is subjective, and boring.
I've enjoyed following the build, and look forward to any new builds you may post.
Thanks, GrayRaceCat, aka Brian
And the Firefly will be picked up tomorrow. Mixed feelings of relief and loss at the same time.
A parting shot at the garage door looking towards the 'FLY' being loaded up would be most
appropriate eh?
Bump to the first page, for all you east-coaster out there, good morning.
(Insomnia out my way.....)
My office got real dusty near the end of that video, I needed a tissue.
Just found this thread. My kinda car. I'm on page 3, now.
That video was hard for ME to watch, and I've only occasionally checked in on this build over the years. But "car enthusiasts" really consists of many different subgroups, such as driving enthusiasts, automotive history buffs, disruptive roaming tailgate partiers (usually fancy themselves as "street racers" 
), and wrenching & fabrication enthusiasts.
As a driving enthusiast, to me driving is the actual fishing, and being the fastest is landing the biggest fish. Wrenching is winding reels and knotting swivels and organizing tackle boxes and buying bait...the stuff you have to do to get to the fishing. So to me it feels like you've put in a lot of work without enjoying much of the best part. But if I ever achieved my dream of being able to pay other people to do all the wrenching and fabrication to my satisfaction and just doing the driving myself, you, as a wrenching & fabrication enthusiast, might think I've skipped straight to putting a big mounted fish on the wall 
You are too kind.
I also started to lose passion for this car not too long after I got it on the road. It took me quite a while to put my finger on why, exactly.
Ultimately, there are builders, and there are drivers; I'm a builder.
Building a car is my art. And just like a painter has to paint, and a sculptor has to sculpt, I've have to build a car (finish my "art") and then I need to move on to the next one.
Did you watch the video ALL THE WAY to the end? You need to, to see the set up for the sequel.
<edit: less rambling>
The hard core builders that I've known through my life have all pretty much loose interest in a car when it reaches the point where there's nothing left to do to it...Myself included. All my life when my projects reached the point of driving it was all there was, I'd find myself thinking "I need something to do" & that's when the 4 sale sign went in the back window.
So the fact that you lost your passion for the car once it's on the road, doesn't surprise me at all.
Got a mesasge today from the new owners of the Firefly.
They sent me this.
It's kind of like seeing that flame that you still have a thing for. It put a big smile on my face.
That ws fun. The slalom run video following even more. Disappointed there was no ET on the first video.
They've taken it to the strip twice, says it's run 13.9 at about 99mph.
That looked like a pretty soft launch. In theory, that engine and that weight should easy 12's, if not low 12s. But I am no drag racer.
A student finally drew the short straw, and got to take apart the old 305 that I hurt.
The only thing we can find, is #8 is right down to the copper, and the rod journal is deeply scratched. Evidence also, that the engine had been apart before, but no machining done, probably just a re-ring.
I know I likely over-revved it, but I'd almost say the damage is lack of lubrication. But only one cylinder, closest to the pump?
Interesting, nonetheless.
SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:They've taken it to the strip twice, says it's run 13.9 at about 99mph.
We ran that time with a 3cyl/1.0L powered one, but it was over 100 MPH
Mr. Peabody said:SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:They've taken it to the strip twice, says it's run 13.9 at about 99mph.
We ran that time with a 3cyl/1.0L powered one, but it was over 100 MPH
Frenchy, is that you?
It's more like I was surprised that's all it ran when we did it with a 1.0L and FWD.
That 3cyl was nowhere near stock though
Dunno. I never raced it. The videos suggest it needs more converter.
I wouldn't be surprised if it's a whole lot slower than we'd expect it to be. I really focused on 1) horror, 2) fun, 3) safe.
It's certainly ended up being heavier than I expected.
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