Some of you have seen parts of this on the FAST site but for those of you who haven't, it might be interesting or amusing but different for sure. Since it's too cold outside to do much of anything else right now, sit back, cuddle up and spend some quality time with your computer. :grin: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567 Thomas
I saw that on the FAST board a while ago. I was drooling then, and I'm still drooling. That's not just a restoration, it's a complete transformation!:beer
Thomas, Now that is very very nice!!!!!:TU: Way to stick to it ! That is a work of art!:beers2: My father owned a Mobil Service Station in the city of Chicago,in the Lincoln Park area from the late 50's through 1975. Later ,it created a soft spot for old gas station memoribilia,and I now collect it ,when the price is right and money permits. I've got pictures of my dad holding me up in front of the gas station circa 1964 when I was 6 months old,with all the trimming of a 50's-60's service station in the background including a gigantic red pegasus winged horse and the old pop machine. I'm in the process of finishing a restoration on a Snap-on Master engine analyzing machine,that my dad bought brand new in 1963 (like a Sun Scope but by Snap-on). When he was forced to relocate his business because Childrens Memorial hospital bought the property, I ,with others, helped him take the two Rotary Lifts that were in the station. One was a frame contact unit,and the other was a drive on ,I think exactly like yours. My dad had many friends,and one had a concrete company. He came with a jack hammer, compressor, etc. to take the lifts out. When we were taking the frame contact unit ,they didn't realize that it was not only concreted in from the top,but that it had a poured base at the bottom of the ram unit. I remember (Bruno) chaining his Mack Dump truck ,up to the top of the ram ,after we disassembled the contact parts and dug down around the ram.This Mack truck was grunting ,snorting , bucking up and down,and spinning the tires in reverse trying to yank the cylinder out.No go! Then they discovered the footing poured around the base of the ram. Of cousre the second one "drive-on" was a lot easier to extract once we knew what to do.:laugh: :spank: Rich C.
Boring? Not for a second. Now I'll have to check back to see the next group of pictures. Awesome Thomas !! :TU:
That has to be one of the nicest garages I've ever seen and with the history it's a work of art. Congrats on a superb job. What's your next project?
You've got to be kidding me with this statement right? "The roof was pretty bad but we only needed to replace a few deck boards. I caught it right at the turning point. Much longer and it would have been too expensive to repair." Too expensive? LOL Looks like it cost 10 billion dollars as it is! Beautiful job. :beer
That is absolutely beautiful! An amazing transformation. One of the most interesting posts I have read in a long time. Adam.
WOOWWW... I'm speechless! Just amazing, impressive work Thomas! I've seen that nice 64 Imp of yours in various Chevy publications (Impala News with ol' Verne at the wheel comes to mind). I had no idea that was just the tip of your workmanship iceberg. Just curious, what do you do for a living (aside from play with cars)? You must own your own business (which is obviously going quite well for you) to be able to dedicate the time it took to get that much done in that short amount of time.
Rich I had no idea of your background. Great story on the lift removal. :laugh: Mine was embedded in concrete too but we just dug around the concrete and then lifted the post out with the concrete attached on the bottom. Once out, I got to chip it away while trying not to damage the cylinder. I managed to bust all that concrete out in mid August. With the humidity it was miserable! Just kept telling myself it was all worth with it. Let's do some preseason T & T at Morocco this spring. I run there a lot and find Sundays to be the least busiest. I can usually hot lap early on in the day. The Chevy II is just dieing to be heard in anger again!! Thomas
Dave It's already nearly done............. The Chevy II needed a new home!! :grin: BTW hows the Mrs making out theses days?? That was quite an ordeal!! Thomas
Tom: Fabulous....Now what are you going to fill that with? How big is it? Looks huge. Wife's doing fine. Still walks a little stiff on that ankle/leg/hip, can't do the "Mashed Potatoes" anymore...she was pretty good at that. Latest thing was cataract surgery last week, but came through that fine. Looks like the steroids that she took 2 years ago for that kidney problem may have been at fault here, too. Prednisone....resolved the kidney problem, but is known for weakening bones and causing cataracts.. BTW, it was her idea for me to get an old plow truck, felt sorry for me on those little tractors freezing my ass off. Not sure she expected it to happen that quickly.....less than 24 hours from when she first mentioned it to sitting in our driveway. Wasn't about to let her change her mind.... dave
Thomas, I'm in for the T&T in spring. My last outing of the year ,last year,was my first outing ever at Morrcco. It was basically not good,but that didn't really have anything to do with the track. Hopefully I learned from that. Just take it easy on me with that screaming grocery getter of yours!:TU: TTYS, Rich C.
Thomas, HOLY COW!!!! very nice just doesn't seem to do that justice. looks like a work of art and in 2 years. amazing!!!! :TU: I can't recall if you told me that was your first trip to US41. Remember, you were able to drive the car onto the trailer and drive it off at home, so it couldn't have been that bad. p we'll see what I can get done on the GT-37 before the test-n-tune (front end rebuild and exhaust system are the big items). of course knowing my luck, I'd break the car there and be SOL for Martin. ou: