/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[op No.1065967]

came into some moolah recently. tell me about your projects and ideas (so i can cop them) and i'll tell you how a crazy man can pull off a miracle.

[Anonymous No.1065969]

>>1065967
electroacoustics are bestacoustics

[op No.1065982]

>>1065969
thanks for getting it started anon.

my story starts in early march of this year. frustrated from years of just cruising through life, i was looking for something to do that wasnt work, that i could learn a lot from and obsess over. a project with clear progress and a clear result. a project that would involve a lot of problem solving, a lot of time, and would be something i would be thoroughly proud of.

a project car was my natural solution. now, having no car at the time, i had to find something close enough that i could bum a ride off a friend to go see the seller and sign the papers. with a quick search online into certain models of car, i found a few that i liked, and with an ebay search, i found this 1965 impala ss. but the car was a 3 hour drive away, and the circumstances forced me to make a choice.

either i would buy the car online, or wait a week (with risk the auction would close out to another buyer) to bum a ride. so, i took the first real risk of many- i bought the car online without seeing it in person first.

more to come.
>the first pic in the ebay ad

[Anonymous No.1066054]

I just bought this infinity g20. Repairing some problems from high mileage before turning it into a dual purpose car similar to classic enduro motorcycles. Think a rally car meets a grocery getter

[op No.1066323]

>>1066054
are you leaning more racer or more rough terrain stuff? sounds like a cool project in any case

so, on with the story. i bought the car online and arranged a pickup for the following weekend, because at the time i wasnt confident in the car's ability to drive the 3 hours from dallas out to west texas and none of my friends had a truck with a hitch. that scheduled pickup came and went without a pickup. i called the company the next day, apparently they hadnt agreed on anything. i hadn't paid them yet so it wasn't a huge deal. but it became a game of cat and mouse very quickly, lasting for 2 weeks, until i had a solid pickup date that was confirmed by the seller. 3 weeks total had passed, but the car was finally coming.

i spent just about all of the money i had buying that car, so i planned on using a credit card to pay for the shipping. i get a call the day it would ship, asking how they'd get paid. i said credit card. they said no, cash only. with a cell phone bill coming in, i was short $100, even though i had signed a contract stating cc was valid payment. i didnt want to pay impound fees on the car, so i had to scramble up $100. luckily, i had 8 hours to get it.

>my first day on the job

[Anonymous No.1066345]

>>1065969


Wow that's literally my dream.

[Anonymous No.1066358]

>>1066323

literally 12yo and using your daddy's shop and tools. DIY motherfucker!

[Anonymous No.1066362]

>>1066358
Why does that matter? I'm 29 and use my dad's tools all the time because I don't have a garage.

[Anonymous No.1066369]

>>1066362
Same, only my dad is dead. Still counts as DIY right?

[op No.1066386]

this is devolving quickly. im 23 and i have the money for my own tools, i just want ideas for hobbies (so i can buy those tools).

more of the story. i told the company id have the money when they arrived. in 8 hours i called in a lot of small favors from my friends and managed to scramble up the $100, turning them down for any more than $10 contributions each. the car arrived 20 minutes later. luckily, the car ran, at least enough to get to where it needed to be.

im military. so i had access to an auto hobby shop on base. but the shop was only open on the weekends, and the rules stated i could only work on the car at the shop. and i bought the car with 3 months left until i would move to another base.

so, with 3 months worth of work i could only really do on the weekends ahead of me, i decided i would drive the impala for the move. a move from texas to nebraska. a move that will forever be known as nebraska or bust.

>dead battery half a football field away from the nearest outlet

[Anonymous No.1066404]

>>1066358
The pic literally shows him doing it himself, you dumb hick

[Anonymous No.1066445]

>>1065967
Monster mower. Do it op. U know u want to.>>1065969

[Anonymous No.1066446]

>>1065969
WHOAAAAAAAA. DUDE.

MFW I AM DO THIS

[Anonymous No.1066448]

>>1066358
I'm 30. Why the fuck would i buy shit when i can drink beer with people in my dads shop with a lift and giant toolbox and gas heater...?

[op No.1066540]

>>1066445
holy cow. ill definitely consider it.

back to the story. i took the car in 2 days later, and the old farts there running the shop immediately started gawking. they asked me where i got the car, how much i got it for, what i wanted to do with it, how long i had, every question they could think of. it was then revealed that i had no wrench experience at all.

when i told them my goal, one of the old farts immediately asked me how i was gonna ship the car. i reiterated that i intended on driving it, and he asked me how i was going to ship the car again. he was the first true doubter, but also one of the main guys i had to rely on to help steer me in the right direction (pun intended). we took apart the rear wheels and drum brakes, inspecting the brake shoes. then we bled the rear brakes. but oddly, the brake fluid in the master cylinder didnt go down. we scratched our heads as the fluid came to a drip out of the brake bleeder, then realized we were out of time.

and so, 5 weeks of 12 were wasted trying to figure out why fluid wouldnt go to the brake lines. with each line bled more and more, i lost more braking power, and after the 3rd week, i had no brakes at all. which was an issue, because i couldnt leave the impala in the shop overnight, so i had to leave the gated area that the shop was enclosed in daily and park out in the parking out... all without brakes.

that weekend, i bought a new master cylinder. the 4th weekend, i managed to get onto a lift without brakes. we installed the new master cylinder and rebled the brakes, but still no dice. when i left the shop that day, i smashed pretty hard into the fence on the way out. luckily the bumper is steel, no damage done. but i was growing weary of this whole project. nothing but brakes and stress for 4 weeks. and little time to go before the move. i bought another master cylinder and went into the 5th weekend about ready to give up.

>snapchatting during brake bleed, then hitting that speed later on

[Anonymous No.1066550]

>>1066540
Keep going.

[Anonymous No.1066558]

>>1066540
>Inb4 old fart tells him it's rusted out on the bottom, so to check it he gets on the floor, everybody walks the dinosaur

[op No.1066565]

>>1066550
i really am looking for new project ideas, but i will keep going.

the 5th weekend, i once again got the car into the shop without brakes. i wasnt going to risk the legs and back of a 70 year old man trying to slow me down on a lift this time, so we switched spots and just went into a normal stall. the old fart (his name is harry) wasnt great shifting between neutral and drive, and the car idle was set really high because the carb wasnt tuned to deal with the major vacuum loss, so i ended up pinned in between the car and the wall on the other side of the shop trying to stop the damn thing. there was no way in hell i was leaving the shop that day without brakes. i had hit the boiling point.

we swapped in the new new master cylinder, bled a single brake, found the fluid in the reservoir draining and pressure returning to the pedal, then i gave the car a shove with the frustration of 4 weeks of no progress. and harry stopped it. we were golden, finally.

but there was a lot of work to go. after bleeding the rest of the lines, harry said i needed to replace the distributor cap and rotor, and that we would get the timing correct next. and after learning the distributor can turn to adjust timing, i made a huge mistake and turned it. i took apart the distributor and returned the next day with parts that didnt fit at all. so we spent a good amount of time for nothing, and on trying to start the car again with the old distributor parts back on, the car refused, and the battery died again.

with 6 weekends left, i had yet to do anything but fuck the car up. but the success with the brakes, after 5 weeks of trying, was the spark to a huge pile of kindle.

>>1066558
we knew it was rusted out on day one.
>pic related, in july

[Anonymous No.1066626]

>>1066565
A rusted out GM muscle car with shitty brakes? I thought I was the only one with one of those.

[Anonymous No.1066644]

>>1066565
You didn't get here by way of /b/, did you? Anywho, here's a project, just for shits and giggles. I'm in the process of making my own camera tripod out of some cherry that laid in my grandfather's barn for about 30 years. In the planning stages now. I already have a coffee table started from it. Now go on and troll us with the dinosaur, OP.

[op No.1066658]

>>1066626
ha! you've got a....... 70's camaro. am i right?

more story. when i told my fellow colleagues about my plan, a lot of them were skeptical. there wasnt a single day that passed where i wasnt asked about my car, then told im crazy for what im trying to do. first it was the guys at the shop, then literally all of my colleagues, then my friends from back home, then even my family. every single person i knew was cautioning me on the project. most were saying i shouldnt try. some were actually trying to sit me down for interventions. that fervor had really gotten to me by that 5th weekend, but the success in fixing the brakes meant that failure was not an option. i fully intended on proving everyone wrong.

i went on a parts run, mainly i started working on the car during the week, out in the parking lot. i didnt care what others thought, i didnt care about the rules, i only cared about success. and no one was going to make this happen but me. parts i had ordered online started arriving in droves. i hitched a ride off a friend with a list of minor things, including starting fluid. it was all going swell, and we had taken a shortcut through a neighborhood when i spotted a 62 impala in someone's yard. we stopped by, the woman wanted $2k for it, my friend said i should give up on the blue goose and take this rust-free, interior-complete car. but it didnt have an engine, and there wasnt time to figure out what to do with ol' blue.

we got back to base, turned into the parking lot, and off to the passenger side of the car, i spotted pieces of rubber. when we swung around to the passenger side, it hit me- the passenger side tire had exploded. coupled with a dead car, and an option for a replacement, my rollercoaster of motivation suddenly dove downward. i went back to my dorm room and heavily reconsidered everything.

then some guy from class said 'told you so'. i walked out of my room at 11pm, starting fluid in hand, to the fucking parking lot.

[op No.1066665]

>>1066644
my friend led me to /b/ back in 2011, does that count?

at 2am, with a jet of flame, that asshole's words fucking went up in smoke. with a flashlight in the pitch black of night, i managed to get the harmonic balancer lined up with the rotor on the first sparkplug point in the distributor, and with seemingly half a can of starting fluid, i got that shitcan to run. i didnt know it at the time, but the exhaust on the passenger side was partially disconnected from the manifold, so when she started up, she pierced the night with the pure sound of a waking beast. it was glorious.

that was on a friday night. i got 4 hours of sleep and headed to the shop, looking for advice. we formulated a plan, and with the help of a friend, we used a tire iron to remove the wheel with the blown tire. we took the tire to a firestone and had them put a new tire on, then came back a few hours later, picked it up, remounted it on the car, drove the car into the shop, took off the rest of the tires, took them all back to the firestone, got new tires on all of them, came back, remounted all of the wheels, then left the shop right at closing time. i went to bed an hour later, woke up an hour before it reopened, and got the car back into the shop. oil change, coolant flush, new hoses, and headlights fixing that day. suddenly everything was moving very quickly, and i felt like i had all the time in the world.

boy was i wrong.
>ripped off the entire oil filter cap trying to unseat it, then having to hammer the rest of it out

[Anonymous No.1066741]

>>1066626
bored big block 85 square body checking in. had rust for the last 15 years on body corners in back on the floor.

fucking cab corners...

good thing lmc can add to my bill.

[Anonymous No.1066747]

>>1066665
Hoooooly shit that sucks

>almost had dem satanic 6's

[op No.1067018]

>>1066747
i had em, they just werent the last 3

back to the story. we had also cleaned the fuel filter to the carb that day. upon starting the car back up to leave the shop for the weekend, harry came running over, yelling at me to turn off the car. the carburetor had flooded with gasoline, and gasoline had pooled up on top the intake manifold. we pushed the car out to the parking lot, and harry just gave me a look and went back inside.

so i did what any sane person would do. intending on fixing it, i took the carburetor off the car, and took it apart. luckily i was smart and had documented every screw and removable piece via my phone camera, because putting a carburetor back together *apparently* requires some precision tuning (i guessed a lot, based on the pictures, because i had no idea how the carb works). even luckier, with new gaskets and a single missing bolt (that mounted the throttle body to the intake), the car (with a large portion of the remaining starting fluid i had, and another large flame) managed to start back up. but it would immediately die every time it did. i scratched my head for a week, and figured out that the missing bolt was pretty important. i found it, replaced it, and the car was running just fine.

with new tires, brakes that worked, new fluids, new headlights, a rebuilt (sorta) carburetor, things were looking up. except for the fact that i only had 3 more weeks (2 more weekends) to get the car to pass inspection and get properly licensed and actually in good enough condition to drive 800+ miles.

but i was riding the high, and had already broken several weeks worth of rules working on the car in the parking lot, so i was damn determined to get it done.

but the car still had plenty of fight in her to try and deny me my dream.
>lemme just take out this screw idk what it's holding though
>this was later the reference pic for putting them back in "as close as possible"

[Anonymous No.1067388]

what happens next?

[Anonymous No.1067389]

>>1066345
>>1066446
Well do it bros! Those old transitor organs (Hammond, Lowry, Wurlitzer, Gulbransen, etc) are cheaper than catdicks on CL. Basically free if you find someone who's just trying to get rid of it. Find one, pick it up, and get choppin'! Probably the single best project I've done.

[op No.1067749]

>>1067388
in the week following that weekend, i did some research on what was needed to pass the inspection, and realized that i had a lot of minor things to fix. that weekend, first on the list was installing a turn signal lever (the old one wasn't in there). i took apart the steering wheel and found a broken signal cam. i cleaned it up and got the horn working- well, the horn for the car was gone, but i could hear the horn relay sounding so i knew in theory the horn would work. i fixed the brake pedal sensor (which was a pain in the butt because one of the leads was broken in half with the other half missing) and got the turn signals actually hooked up (they were disconnected, probably because of the broken cam). i replaced the distributor cap with one that fit, in the process breaking a lead for the coil (which i just wedged into the lead... case thing and filled with electrolytic grease), and then realized the new wires were still wrong. and that was the weekend gone.

2 weeks, 1 weekend. im going to talk in days now. monday, i pulled the leaking thermostat housing, cleaned it up, and put it back on with a slop of rtv. tuesday, i got the old wires hooked back up, and went to oreillys to pick up a bunch of coolant, oil, power steering fluid, and a gas can....

.....coming back from oreillys, i got to my usual parking spot, and upon throwing the car in reverse to back into the spot, the engine compartment erupted in white smoke. literally 5 feet from the parking spot. my friend and i stood out front, with a small crowd amassing asking about things, and we watched my car dump most of the coolant all over the parking lot. when i opened the hood, the hoses were still connected. the radiator had sprung a huge leak.

the next day, my colleagues all said it was time to contract out a shipping company. and each time they did, i couldnt help but smile. little did they know, a radiator company 10 minutes down the road was getting a new one ready.

>where the lead snapped

[Anonymous No.1068165]

This thread is all you... If only you would post faster so we can can all know you forgot to replace the soft fuel lines that ran between the tank and the hard lines. And then all that work went up in smoke.

[Anonymous No.1068179]

>>1068165
Yeah I think you're right. There's still a lot to the story but I'll try and finish tonight without sacrificing quality. Got some stuff to do first

[Anonymous No.1068202]

>>1068179
As a fellow military member who did a similar thing with a 76 vette. I am waiting for more of this story.

Pic related. After a motor swap, before paint.

[Anonymous No.1068239]

>>1068179
pls more story.

[op No.1068252]

alright here we go, gonna marathon the rest.

the radiator company moved really quickly. they had a new radiator ready for pickup the day after mine sprung a leak. again with the help of a friend, we had picked up the radiator and had it installed by the end of the day. that was wednesday.

thursday morning, i pulled the license plate lamp and tried to fix it, but i couldnt figure out why the ground would spark but a new bulb wouldnt light up in it. during the day, i scheduled a windshield repair for saturday. thursday night, i messed around with some other stuff like replacing the wipers then called it a night.

on friday, during lunch, i drove the car to oreillys to pick up the new turn signal cancelling cam. and on the way back, right before an intersection, i heard some weird ass noise in the engine compartment. i shut off the car and waved on the guy in line behind me, who flipped me off (which i took offense to, wholly because i was in uniform). i got out and started pushing the car into an outlet mall parking lot, and a few bystanders including another military member in uniform helped me push it. she was higher ranking than me and said she was on her way back to base, so i took her offer *without checking the problem* to go back to base (against fraternization policy) and she told me if anyone asked that she was the same rank as me. lol.

i returned after a few hours of panicking, checked the engine compartment... and it turns out, the alternator belt had snapped and wrapped around the fan. which was making all the noise. i went and picked up a new belt, and upon trying to install it/realizing it was too long, a thick mexican man covered in tattoos (literally the stereotype of a mexican cartel member) strolled out of the tattoo parlor towards me.

i did my best to keep my cool.
>the cartel member looking guy

[op No.1068259]

he said he was wondering what kind of car was hiding under the car cover out front his shop, and asked me if i was selling it. i said no, and told him i was going to take the car on a pretty long journey in literally a week (important: i planned on leaving the following friday, early). i told him about the belt that snapped, and that i had to run back to oreillys to grab the belts that fit. then he offered me a ride up to oreillys... and i accepted.

he told me his name was bam bam. i tried my best not to laugh. we went to the store, i bought the belts, and he helped me install the new belts. luckily he had a pry bar, i had a garage worth of tools in my trunk but hadnt yet run into an issue where a pry bar was necessary. then we ran the car, and he started messing with the idle (the idle was already in the right spot, but i was not going to refuse the guy. just pay attention to what he did and undo it later, no big deal). while running the car, i told him that i had to get the car inspected soon, but didnt have stuff like a horn that worked and a functioning license plate lamp.

he told me he knew a guy, and that i should come back tomorrow. that id pay a little extra for inspection. light at the end of the tunnel, most likely someone sketchy waving a flashlight at me.

i re-covered the car and went back to base on foot. i didnt want anything to happen to the car en route to the windshield place, so i called them back and told them where the car was sitting (so they'd come out and fix it on the spot). i went to bed, and very early saturday, came back out.

the car was gone.


just kidding! i cleaned the car up a bit and waited for the windshield guys to show up.
>no pictures between the pic of bam bam and the windshield appointment, but found a pic of the radiator up in smoke (way worse a couple minutes before pic was taken)

[op No.1068272]

before noon, they swung by for a bit, then told me the repair would need to be done in the shop since the windshield mount points were rusted through. they reassured me they could do it, and we drove over to the shop separately. they also took me back to base, and later picked me up again and took me out to the shop. it was refreshing to not be staring at a giant crack anymore as i drove back to the outlet mall in the car.

i followed bam bam out to the inspection place. the inspector guy asked what's wrong with the car, and i told him. he then said no biggie, and took the car for a spin. he came back, told me i had passed inspection, and i paid $25 on top of the inspection cost of $7 or whatever it was. i gave him 2 $20s, said he had no idea how much of a favor he had done for me, and i left with an unbreakable smile on my face. i had won.

on sunday, i gave the guys at the shop the good news. we just sat around and talked the day away, and "installed" a temp gauge.

monday, i got the car licensed properly and affixed the registration sticker, but didnt install the plates.

tuesday, on my way back from oreillys, i got pulled over in the impala. because i hadnt put the plates on yet. i went back and installed them immediately, with releasable zip ties. i filled up on gas, and parked the car.

with merely 3 days to go, we were finally ready. just me, the car, and 800 or so miles.

but i had yet to even drive on the highway.
>intermediate level zip tying

[op No.1068288]

in the final 3 days, i couldnt help but revel in my victory. 3 months of hard work, and i genuinely felt ready. all my coworker haters had gone silent. either they had learned their lesson in trying to convince me to stop, or they had realized that maybe, just maybe i could pull this whole thing off. the guys at the shop certainly werent convinced. they took bets on how far i would get, the furthest being just into oklahoma. i had bet them that i would make it to nebraska no problem, that when i come back in a finished 1965 impala ss to visit, that they'd pay for the gas round trip and for a round of beer at a bar near base.

i bought a gopro, intending on recording the trip, but couldnt find a good way to mount it. just figured id take pictures along the way. i also had some painters tape from an earlier parts run, so i made a small logo on the driver side door. i had spray paint too, and was going to paint the letters in, but i liked the tape as it was so much that i just left it.

i finished some outprocessing stuff, which i had almost totally neglected in getting my car ready, and then it was thursday night. and i hadnt packed.

late night and early morning, i had packed, i finished the absolute final outprocessing, said goodbye to the shop manager...
>the blue goose, what one of the old farts named dutch at the shop called the car

[op No.1068306]

...and i left. 0730, june 10th, 2016, almost exactly 3 months after i had bought the car. 3 months after i had broken down and jumped directly into the deep end. 3 months of hard work, turmoil, ups and downs, crazy days, the car falling apart and me fixing it, meeting loads of new people, and living life with a purpose. 3 months, and i was here, on the road, finally leaving. it felt like the world was watching me and judging me. failure would be a let down for everyone, and i wasnt about to fail.

my plan was simple. i had planned out 30 minute segments all the way from base to base, in order to allow my car to cool off (mid-june this year was really hot everywhere along the route and wasnt helping). i would stop in random cities that loosely follow the route up to nebraska, avoiding long stretches of highway, at least for the first portion. as i gained confidence in driving the car for long periods, i would ramp up the distance i would drive in order to save time (and my sanity).

it was so simple, that there was no possible way it could go wrong.

i made it the first 30 minutes easily. the floorboards were warm, but the car was running fine. i maxed out at 50 miles per hour (in a 65 zone) and stopped to wash my face, arms, and legs off in a gas station bathroom sink from all of the carpet fibers that blew around the cab. i also donned a pair of safety goggles (to keep residual shit in the floor from flying into my eyes more than already had), and put on headphones to cancel out the loud ass engine (from the exhaust leak at the manifold that i had found a week or so prior, but had yet to fix). i kept the windows down to keep myself from fainting due to exhaust fumes, and pressed on.

another 30 minutes, and i filled up at a gas station, thinking the car was gulping gas like a hungover guy drinks water, but i had actually consumed very little gas. turns out, i was getting 25 mpg.

1 hour down, lots more to go.
>cruising along in the second portion of the drive

[op No.1068313]

an hour in, and i was feeling confident. i didnt take very good notes along the route, mainly because i was trying to keep my phone alive and not have the screen on typing stuff, so my exact understanding of the route is hazy. actually, it's pretty hazy. and watching the debate right now isn't helping, but ill do my best. the main thing im forgetting is the time between the major events along the way.

after that first hour, i stopped at a sonic and chilled out in the parking lot with my hood up. one of the server dudes came by and asked if everything was alright. i told him i was overheated and was just waiting for the car to cool down, and he asked if he could get me anything. i said im good, but he insisted, saying he'd bring me a water and some ice in a cup for my jug of water. he came back out with a couple other guys and we just talked about stuff, and then a couple car mechanics in mechanics coveralls came over and asked me what's up, if the car is running good, etc. all around good guys and very supportive. it's funny, bam bam was really the first guy who said ill make it, but these guys really made an impact on my outlook of the entire thing. i wasnt really nervous after that. just open road ahead.

okay i cant really focus, ill continue after the debate.
>possible spoilers

[Anonymous No.1068317]

>>1068313
Not DIY related, but:
You're living the life, man. I'm jelly. Have fun.

[Anonymous No.1068321]

Op, this is the best thread I've read in my 4 years on 4chan.

You inspire me bro.

[op No.1068343]

>>1068317
>>1068321
i had the luxury of being on a strict timeline, because i could use that restriction as motivation to push myself. that's really the key to all of this success.

i thought i was going to be successful. if i could make a 30 minute drive, then i could make several 30 minute drives. but i started pushing my luck after that stop at sonic. i turned off the highway near the border of oklahoma about 45 minutes into the 3rd or 4th segment (the longest i had ever driven the car in one segment) and went cruising down a country road with a 75mph speed limit. i hit 75 on my speedometer and i was definitely feeling the adrenaline rush. i couldve died, honestly. and it would have been awhile until someone found me.

but i didnt. an hour into the drive, i passed into oklahoma. i was ecstatic. i had proven everyone at the shop wrong.

and a little over an hour into the drive, i hit my first toll booth, and realized that power brakes takes vacuum away from the engine. i killed it, and rolled up next to the toll booth. i gave him the money, and tried to start the car again. it turned over, but didnt start. and a line of cars started forming behind me.

i got out and, with the help of the toll booth worker, pushed my car onto the shoulder past the booth. embarassed, i tried to start the car again.

but this time, the car didnt turn over at all.

fuck.
>me snapchatting the affair
>luckily i snapchatted the trip, just a few days after my microsd card shit the bed and i lost all non-snapchat photos
>luckily i had backed up my regular pics right before the trip

[Anonymous No.1068347]

>>1068343
Digging the story OP. I recognize the overpass too, Walters, OK.

[op No.1068349]

i started beating myself up again. that it was all over, in oklahoma. but then it hit me... well, actually, i hit the starter motor with my handy, ironically-bought blue ford flashlight (which really comes in handy later on, spoilers). got back into the car, and she started right up, what with a bit of starter fluid of course. and we were back up and running. luckily, i was listening to one of the ol' blue hairs around the shop when they mentioned giving the starter motor a few taps will 'unfreeze' it if the car gets hot.

not wanting to push her any harder, i stopped at a gas station about a minute down the highway and let her cool off. she had made it over an hour and only died because i didnt give her a bit of gas while braking to keep the vacuum up. got washed up again, bought a big red, and just chilled in the car. phone was close to dying (thanks galaxy shit5) so i plugged her into my bluetooth radio and sucked the charge out of that.

after about an hour and a half of waiting, i hit the road again. it was getting close to lunch, so i decided to take another turn off the highway about 30 minutes later and stopped at a local mexican restaurant/bar thing. there were just a few people- a few very stereotypical southern blue hairs, and the mexican family running the joint. their hospitality was very generous, as the waitress talked me over about my car and my journey, as did some of the others eating lunch there. one of the guys was very old and leaning senile. i couldnt help but feel like i wanted to live in a place where the entire world outside the city stands still and everyone knows everyone.

i let the car cool off some more and headed back out. my route had me going through oklahoma city, wichita, and topeka. looking at my pace, i figured i would stay the night in wichita, then run through topeka and up into nebraska the next day.
>trying to keep my spirits up

[op No.1068354]

>>1068347
haha small world dude glad you enjoy it

dusk came by a lot quicker than i had hoped. i stopped in some weird gas station thing that didnt serve gas, cant remember what it had but no one was there and it was lit up. i sat around, took a few pics, let the car cool off, and talked with my dad.

he mentioned that i should find a hotel to stay in for the night, and naturally, i immediately built up this sense of motivation to keep pushing. i told him i would keep going, and he said i was being pigheaded. i remained pigheaded though, against his advice, and strapped the flashlight to the bumper to illuminate my license plate (since i had no functioning license plate lamp, since i cheated the inspection). then i headed back out, and immediately regretted strapping the flashlight to the bumper.

i had no dash lights. i couldnt see how fast i was going. and to make it worse, about 15 minutes outside oklahoma city, there was little traffic to gauge my speed off of. i was relying on the turnpike road lamps to shine into the windows of my car to give me a split second look at how fast i was going, then revmatch that speed while in the dark. meanwhile, my flashlight mod was shining at oncoming traffic.... better decisions could have been made.

but i didnt care. and after a 2.5 hour long segment of constant driving, i made it to wichita. what i still cannot believe to this day is how i was nodding off at the wheel. i guess the blue goose's sound is soothing. i stopped in a mcdonalds parking lot and tried to sleep for a bit.
>advanced level zip tying

[Anonymous No.1068355]

>>1068354
An old V8 can put crying babies to sleep.

[Anonymous No.1068356]

>>1068354
For future reference, any 12V source can power a phone charger. I had to strip the wire for my interior lights and wrap it around a charger while holding it to the frame on my vette to make a call for gas one late night.

[op No.1068359]

i sat with a little notepad and documented the day while trying to calm down from that long ass segment. im so glad i did, because that sheet of paper is what i look back to to recall the story proper. but the area i stopped in in wichita was kinda sketchy (read: wichita is kinda sketchy in general, and kansas sucks), and this car a few spaces over at the mcdonalds was making a ton of noise, laughing, giggling etc. keep in mind it was late as all hell, and pushing into june 11th.

so, without a nap, i headed down the street, filled up on gas, and mooched some of the electricity from the station's outlets. a lot of sketchy people were coming up, getting gas, buying stuff inside, etc. at one point, a young guy approached me, asked me what i was up to and stuff, light conversation. i told him i was heading to topeka (i was in the middle of considering making the drive out there without sleeping first) and he told me that i stopped in a sketchy area, and that i should leave soon.

needless to say, i took his advice.

i headed out for topeka. about 15 minutes into the drive, i started nodding off again, and frustrated with my ignorance, veered off the road and stopped at a rest stop. away from all the noise and the sketch, i drifted off into a slumber.
>still thinking about what my dad said while filled with adrenaline and hearing the shits behind me laughing, all while trying to relax and go to sleep

[op No.1068362]

>>1068356
when i bought the car i was afraid to even mess with the battery at all. ive loosened up a bit but havent gotten to the point where i can comfortably do stuff like that though. i should come to /diy/ more often i guess

2 hours later, i woke up to the beautiful kansas sunrise. after a pit stop, i was back on the road again up the kansas turnpike. the morning is extremely fuzzy; even on paper after the trip was over, i cant remember what happened that morning. all i really remember is seeing coughs of thin smoke bellowing into the cab after driving for awhile. i hadnt seen that yet, so i pulled over and popped the hood.

the engine was covered in oil. i couldnt make out what the problem was, but it looked like one of the valve cover gaskets was leaking, and had spit out some oil, which caught the fan and splashed the radius of the fan on the hood and the sides of the doghouse, then rolled back with the wind. it was a mess. while taking a look, a car pulled over ahead, then reversed towards me. an army sergeant got out and asked if i needed help. i was tempted to tell her i was military, and end up going into the story, but i was focused on the issue and told her i was just letting the car cool off and that i was fine.

i checked the oil (i had been checking all of the fluids just to make sure we were good, because i was certain that would be the killer if something went to shit) and filled it back up to full. only a smidgen was gone, though. so i wasnt too worried. i started her back up no problem and continued.

i made it to wichita mid-day. the car was overheating and having problems starting again, so i let her cool off and just chilled. i started to really take in everything. i had made it so far, honestly beating my own expectations (i didnt think long enough to figure out what those expectations were, in line with staying stupidly motivated. i was just surprised).

just a little bit further, and id be in nebraska.
>checkpoints

[op No.1068367]

fueled by the prospects that i was almost to nebraska, i started to push the car a bit harder than i had previously. i made a lot of good progress, but it was hot as all hell outside and the floorboards really started to heat up. nearing the nebraska border, my car started backfiring a bit. i had no idea what was happening, i thought the engine was misfiring or something, so i stopped again and let the car cool off. i then asked my dad if having misfires was bad, and he said it isnt too bad. after 15 minutes, i was back on the road, and backfiring a bit again.

but i made it. i fucking made it to nebraska. against all odds, against everyone's advice, against safety, against the rules, against everything, i had somehow made it to nebraska. i hit the border around 2pm, took a few pictures, sent them to all the haters, then just chilled in the car and looked at the state sign for a bit. i had even driven a bit into nebraska then backed up just so, if the car wouldnt start back up, i could still legitimately say i made it into nebraska.

a little bit passed, then my next goal was getting to base. i pushed the car even harder, and the backfires got worse. i started to get worried, so i stopped in a gas station parking lot again, and my car died again, this time because i let off the gas. i pushed that heap of metal up a steep hill, by myself, as a crowd of cars coming and going just watched. i tried pushing it into a stall to fill up but 3 people in a row drove in past me into the spot. i was still riding the high of being in nebraska so i didnt really care. i hooked up my phone to the gas station outlet, parked my car in a stall, filled up, then went back over to the outlet.

my phone was gone. legitimately this time.
>the pic i sent to everyone

[op No.1068370]

i went inside and asked if the clerk had seen the phone. well, as it turns out, she did, and she picked it up and took it inside. i felt relieved, the people at the station were being jerks so i felt that it would not be past them to grab my phone and ditch. luckily that didnt happen.

i took off again, and with a little bit of time and more backfiring, i made it to base. yippee. you're probably thinking now that at this point it's ezlife, but no, it isnt. nebraska or bust was a success... but getting the car to where it needed to be, my parent's house a few hours more away from base, was the ultimate goal.

and this, ladies and gentlemen, is where i like to call this trip.... nebraska AND bust.

i had made it so far. only a few more hours to go. what could possibly go wrong?
>celebrate good times cmon yeah celebrate yeah... literally partying like its 1999

[op No.1068373]

it was a little past 4pm when i got to base. just a few more hours and id be home. i kicked it into high gear, and started heading that way.

and with about an hour's worth of driving left, my car was backfiring a lot again. i stopped at another gas station, and my mom called me. my mom, dad, and sis wanted to join me for the last leg home. i begrudgingly accepted after they talked me out of 'making the trip totally alone, under my own power, with no help', and after being told that i couldnt stay parked out front of the gas station 'because i was nearing the time limit for staying' or whatever bs they came up with, i moved the car next doo to a restaurant parking lot.

i parked on a hill, so i engaged the emergency brake.

i waited a bit, and my family showed up. my dad immediately went into action, having restored a 68 camaro and currently in the process of restoring a 63 nova, he knew a thing or two about cars. he tweaked the carb and idle a bit, again making it wrong, but this time i told him that the car would die at that idle when you threw it in gear because i wasnt afraid of a cartel coming round my part of town. he told me it would be fine, and as we backed out, it died immediately. so we fixed it and headed out.

my dad was riding shotgun. he commented on the lack of lights, the lack of overdrive, the heavy fumes, the lack of sound insulation, etc. which we had planned on fixing (my mom tried to convince me to drive the car straight home, but i conceded at least that having it home to work on it with my dad would be awesome. this happened a few days before i left for nebraska). my mom and sister were driving behind us. i told him all about the trip, about how i had gotten to the point that i was confident in driving it, and he said that i have no idea how lucky i was to have 'made it home'.

and not 5 minutes later, about 5 miles from home, there was a giant bang. the driver side rear tire had exploded, not went flat but literally exploded.
>fate

[op No.1068377]

it honestly didnt even surprise me. there was just a loud bang, the car started skidding, i controlled it to the side, we got out and inspected it a bit. my dad started getting aaa to come out for a tow, and i was over the fucking moon with pride. that was the moment where it truly hit me how far i had gotten.

then my mom noticed some flickers of light behind the drum. she looked back into it, and there was a fire. the drum, as she described, was also literally red hot.

the fire got bigger, so i calmly grabbed my jug of water i had been saving and tried to douse the flame. i really should have bought an extinguisher. the fire persisted, catching the rubber on fire. then we started going into shtf mode, i started grabbing extra coolant from the trunk and using that to douse the flame. but still no dice. the drum was really hot, i honestly think the extinguisher could possibly have not been effective, just because the drum was relighting the rubber even as we doused it.

but we ran out of coolant. i started reaching for brake fluid, but my dad said that it's flammable. i never looked into whether it was or not, but i did look into coolant, and apparently the chemical in coolant is flammable. but idk. at this point there are a lot of coulda woulda shoulda's. i just remember the people grabbing their drinks and whatever liquids they could find, handing them over, and us dumping them on the fire. and my mom, with my bed sheets, trying to beat down the flame. meanwhile, i was taking pictures, and my sister was calling 911 but being totally useless otherwise.
>mom grabbing more shit from the car

[Anonymous No.1068381]

>>1068377
holy shit this was worth the wait.

[op No.1068384]

the firetruck came pretty quickly, but seemed to take forever to set up. for those that don't know, the gas tank is literally right next to where the fire was. they doused the flame, busting in the back window and the driver side rear window in the process (the water also destroyed my smartwatch, rip).

the towtruck, on the other hand, took forever. the 4th guy on standby was the guy who actually showed up, like an hour later. meanwhile, a cop was just standing around shootin the shit because he was keeping the wreck lit with his lights to warn passerbys of the wreck. he pointed out the flashlight, and i started into the whole not having a license plate lamp, but caught myself. that wasnt the ground that i wanted to start treading lol. we got it towed home, i took a much-needed shower, and slept like 12 hours.

when i woke up, my dad and his best friend (also a car guy) were already messing with the impala. i came out to find them properly tuning the carburetor fuel pins to maximize vacuum, and they taught me how to do it. then we got a spare on her, drove her into the garage with no brakes (pinning dad's best friend against the wall... classic). then i went to work for awhile, my dad put a layer of primer over the damage, and once i had a steady schedule, ive basically went home every weekend to work on the car with him. i could go on about that, but really the core nebraska and bust story is over. i love telling it over a beer because it's super long but just packed to the brim (and my friends say im pretty good at storytelling) but yeah. thanks for the ideas guys. feel free to ask me anything, ill lurk/respond in this thread until it dies on its own.

[Anonymous No.1068385]

>>1068377
You from Nebraska or are you just stationed in Offutt?

>Nebraskafags unite

[op No.1068386]

>>1068385
home is kansas city area, stationed in offutt. i currently live in the downtown omaha area near old market

>>1068381
i wouldve dragged it out even longer but no one was giving me project ideas lol

[Anonymous No.1068387]

>>1068386
Well, welcome to a better state. I'm a Lincolnfag. I've got a younger brother that's stationed at Offutt. What do you do, if you dont mind me asking?

[op No.1068390]

>>1068387
flyin' linguist, wont say much more. small world

[Anonymous No.1068392]

>>1068390
Small world indeed. Thanks for taking the time to type all that shit out.

[op No.1068398]

>>1068392
>10/10/16 01:01:01
np dude, i havent recounted the story in writing in full before. i probably wont do it again lol, might just make a superpost image and call it a day

[Anonymous No.1068400]

>>1068398
Thank you for your story.

[Anonymous No.1068403]

>>1068398
That was very satisfying to read, great job on the car. Do you have a picture of it now?
Regarding projects, maybe build yourself a nice flying fpv setup, they can be a lot of fun!
Or depending on the amount of cash, I have always wanted to build a buggy, designing and welding the frame, engine mount etc.

[Anonymous No.1068501]

>>1068349
Lived in Wichita my whole life. How long ago did you pass through?

[op No.1068547]

>>1068400
sure. it was pretty crazy because it had to be in order to work, and i did get really lucky in that i broke just enough stuff before the trip that (most) of the stuff was new/working well enough to make it that far. the current theory is that i never unlocked the emergency brake (or didnt fully disengage it) which caused the drum to heat up the wheel so much that the tire had a catastrophic failure, then dragging the drum to the curb combined with pieces of rubber acting as kindle (along with coolant being apparently flammable), the car went up.

[1311 No.1068548]

1311

[Anonymous No.1068551]

Idk if you're into electronic OP but if I had the dosh I'd want to make some minor quality of life type projects

>RFID reader near front door to activate a relay that unlocks it, i.e. keyless entry
>Automated blinds on my windows to wake up to natural light at desired time
>Set up all the utilities in my house to be controlled by a tablet (hvac, door locks, garage shit, sprinklers)

Can't think of any off the top of my head, but throughout the course of a day I like to think "how can I make this more efficient with less need for human interaction"

[op No.1068553]

>>1068403
thanks man. here's the most recent picture of the car, we're taking it apart now, preparing to get it media blasted. i wouldve held off on media blast, in order to just get structure and functionality good enough to continue driving it around for a few years, but the burn mark (combined with a ton of work stripping the car and installing new metal) pushed me past regular maintenance for the next year or so, instead just going straight for a full restoration.

and yeah, ive been considering building a baja bug too. i keep debating buying an old blazer and selling my dd, then using the blazer for dd along with muddin and stuff. the flying machine idea sounds cool too though

[op No.1068556]

>>1068501
i passed through on july 10th/11th, around the zero dark hours. i cant remember exactly where i stopped, but i know that i got off a highway, passed under the overpass, and immediately on the right was mcdonalds. just a bit down the road on the right was a car wash, and a bit more down the road on the left was a qt. that area is where i stopped, it was just off the turnpike, i mightve left i35 and driven a few minutes to go to the gas station. but maybe you dont want to try and find out where i stopped lol.

how do you live with the turnpikes man. im honestly considering circumventing kansas in future journeys just to avoid turnpikes. im from missouri side kc so maybe there's some bias there.
>on i35 just south of topeka about a football field south of an overpass, where the sergeant pulled over to help

[Anonymous No.1068559]

>>1068553
How much have you spent so far?

[op No.1068560]

>>1068551
IoT is pretty sweet, you could do a lot of stuff with that. later on down the road when im married with kids and a house *knock on wood* ill probably do a lot of that stuff too. a world of possibilities

[op No.1068574]

>>1068559
before nebraska and bust, i probably spent ~$1000 on tires, brake parts, master cylinders, fluids, and tools. since nebraska and bust, ive spent a grand on a new edelbrock carb and a full wiring kit, and have spent a little over $2.5k on brand new interior parts. a current running wishlist has me at another $3k at least, and ill probably end up buying new rear quarters, a new trunk weatherstrip gutter, and other sheet metal for patchwork. i dont have a budget, havent had time to really sit down and make one that keeps in mind what i want to keep, what i want to replace, what i want to make, and where im buying the stuff from/how much. but i buy most of my stuff from classic. i dont have any debt and i get paid ok so i dont beat myself up over missing good deals

[Anonymous No.1068610]

>>1068547
With the previous brake issues, unless you flushed the lines really well, it could have been gum/trash in the line worked its way into the caliper and caused it to stick.
>>1068574
Ouch, would have went with a holly carb but that just my opinion.

If you pull the motor for any reason, make sure to scrub and paint the engine bay. It really classes up the joint.

[op No.1068625]

>>1068610
that is also possible. i dont know if we'll ever know for sure. i am genuinely glad the car caught fire though, as insane as that sounds. if i had made it without problems, then there'd be no big climax to the story, you know? it had to fail at some point. with my work, it only failed right at the end.

im still really fresh to the car rebuild scene, i understand just about everything involving the car mechanically and structurally but variance in parts, what's quality and what isn't, etc is something that i usually go to my dad about. he put efi into his camaro and the nova so maybe he didnt make the right call. im not the one to judge and cant really speak on it though lol.

we've yanked the motor already. we're sending the car to media blast and plan on pulling the motor apart down to the block to clean everything and put new gaskets in. but we're both rightfully fearful of messing with the block so we're just going to send it to a machine shop and have them do it right. id like to pull it all apart but it's just not smart. ill probably have it repainted that classic orange because the plan now is to restore it to near original
>captcha: select all images with an orange

[Anonymous No.1068632]

>>1068625
Look into High torque mini starters. They dont get the heat soak issues.
EFI is better but I still prefer an old carb. It all depends on how much money and effort you want to spend.
Definitely switch all the bulbs to LED. Look into converting the front headlights to H4, the power drain will be smaller and a ton brighter. It doesnt require any major changes and a kit its pretty cheap.
Vintage AC is a great company if you want to install/replace AC.

[Anonymous No.1068662]

Great story m80, sounds like my project car.

>tfw miles from home, coolant hose asplodes and you have to duct tape it together and dump all the beer into the rad

It just werked

[Anonymous No.1068695]

>>1068632
thanks.
>>1068662
this is the kind of shit that i totally approve of. making shit work. i didnt really get a chance to do that during the trip, but im not sure i really wanted to encounter that lol
>the original paint, protected by the quarter panel for 51 years, the color i will likely paint the car again

[Anonymous No.1068730]

>>1068384
Trips like that are something that you take with you until you die, and you made a big one. When i was a kid, my dad took me across the country on a trip in a datsun 260z. We went from the inland valley in california, to a z car convention in kingsford canada, to buffalo new York, through the appalachians, and home in Three weeks. Though i was eleven, i remember almost everything from that trip, and it really showed me that the whole world isn't a 50 mile radius from home. Thats a hellova accomplishment. And i guess i was wrong about the fuel lines lol, still interesting failure! But you made it almost the entire way there. That super impressive. Good job

[Anonymous No.1070271]

Saving this thread from the pg11 monster.

Great thread. Please come back and post more pics!

[Anonymous No.1070356]

>>1068625
Rebuilding an engine isn't all that hard. Carb is really the most complex part, and bearings are usually the only frustrating thing. You should think about doing it yourselves. What are your reservations about it?

I've had a lot of adventures myself. Started travelling around 16. At 17 I drove up to the Upper Peninsula, where my car broke down. Spent the night in the tow-truck driver's camper. We tried fixing the car but it didn't seem worth it, too much wrong. I hitchhiked 200 miles and then took a bus home. My dad was just mad I left his sleeping bag in the car.
About a month later the tow truck guy (who kept my car) sent me a couple hundred bucks when he got rid of it.

[op No.1070847]

>>1070271
sure.

[op No.1070850]

>>1070356
we don't have a clean space to work with really. some dirt might get into the block and fuck up the bearings and journals. but i guess since we're putting a 350 crank in we gotta get it bored down the line anyway, right? i just don't want to fuck up stuff in the engine... but i guess it's just money at the end of the day. the engine isn't numbers matching. i guess we could mess with it and both lose our block virginity.
>laying down to my mid back in the trunk while only using bottom portion of trunk

[Anonymous No.1070851]

>>1070850
If you are going with a line bore. Take a look at doing a 383 stroker. Standard 350 block over bored and clearanced for a 454 crank. The cost is roughly the same if you are replacing the internals anyways.

[op No.1070859]

>>1070851
i like your style. i have a 327 but i could definitely go a little bigger. i just gotta give it a good think to figure out exactly what i want to do. if we do end up getting it machined i'll probably go for the 383 stroker. thanks

[Anonymous No.1070862]

>>1065967
Test

[Anonymous No.1070970]

Good story op. If i had to guess your parking brake didnt fully disengage after you got off that hill. Pretty common, easy thing to miss because parking brake is rarely used on most automatic cars. Im assuming you have an auto at least, because you said(implied, at least) your overdrive didnt work.

[Anonymous No.1071279]

>>1070970
thanks. also the thing with overdrive is that the powerglides from the era don't have overdrive at all. it's funny because that giant hole in the floor on the passenger side coupled with the exhaust leak and the lack of overdrive meant my dad was getting light headed on that last segment. also i think i would have pulled over and cooled off a bit halfway through the last segment had it not been late and my family along for the ride. i just wanted to get home in a timely fashion. lesson learned i guess
>today. only need to remove the windshield and she's ready for media blast

[Anonymous No.1071355]

lovely story OP! hope I can ever take on a journey like yours too. cars might not be the thing for me, but it sounds like something where you really get to know yourself better :). thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous No.1072918]

>>1068202
So that's a Vet's Vette?

[op No.1074414]

>>1072918
clever

>>1071355
dont just hope anon. anything is possible, even some nerd working a dayjob with 0 wrench experience getting a rustbucket to drive 1100 miles with barely 3 months of work. just gotta put your mind to it.

[Anonymous No.1074497]

>>1068252
>which i took offense to, wholly because i was in uniform

Stopped reading there you entitled welfare queen.

[Anonymous No.1074506]

im doing woodworking ;D. im making 2 world of warcraft pvp trinkets for my 2 friends i have known since being a high school freshman. pic related
im also making a wrist roller for forearm gains,
a wearable Majora's Mask with my taste added to it as soon..as the wood i ordered gets in zzz.
i also want to make something for my wife but fuck me i have no idea. she doesnt really like jewelry or decoration things. something representing her career would be neat, but i dont know how to convey 'diagnostic ultrasonographer' in an artsy woody way

[Anonymous No.1074536]

>>1074497
it's okay to hold edgy opinions anon, im all for freedom of speech. i dont know why you felt you had to tell me though.
>the tire that blew in the parking lot, different angle

[Anonymous No.1074543]

>>1074506
that's pretty neat.

i have an idea for a gift to your wife. you could make a wooden baby fetus in fetal position sitting on a flat wooden base, then enclose the entire thing in a box with one side having an opening that you could look through to see the baby inside. you could also put touch sensors on the box so that when you grab the box to look inside, the inside of the box lights up so you can see the baby. rechargeable batteries to power it so you can unplug it if you're showing it to people, and plug it back in when not in use.

it would be symbolic of not knowing what's inside, until you look. and that's what she does, right?

[Anonymous No.1074544]

so you bought an old car you didn't understand how to fix and couldn't afford to run and set it on fire?

[op No.1074546]

>>1074544
kek. yeah, that's accurate.

[Anonymous No.1075043]

>>1072918
Its blue and finished now.

[Anonymous No.1075081]

Glad I got to see this thread before it died, truly a great read. There are few greater feelings than the bond between a man and his old beater, no matter how much it drains your bank account. Keeping an old machine alive and kicking against the odds takes a lot of dedication and can be frustrating as all fuck but the pay off is so enriching, both personally and educationally.

Kudos from BC. I hope to see more Blue Goose threads in the future.