My ’69 Camaro (the saga)
Aug 11
I’ve had my ’69 Camaro convertible for over twenty five years. It’s one of the last cars my dad and I restored together before I moved out, life took over, and I had less and less time to spend with him wrenching, sanding, and painting. I miss those days.
This car has always had a tendency to heat soak the starter and leave me stranded. Even with a new 400 small block transplanted in it (after I spun a bearing in the 327 a couple years ago), it left me stranded at the gas station and had to be flat bed home. I got fed up with it and it has just been sitting the last couple of years. Sort of a time out, if you will.
This past Winter I decided I want to get it back on the road this year so I bought a high torque starter (the small one on the left) to replace the regular worn out one (the larger one on the right). I wanted to start working on it earlier this summer, but with the rain and all I figured it could wait.
About a week ago I finally had some time to wrench on it, but it turns out the new starter won’t line up and the gears won’t mesh with the flywheel. The pinion gear on the new starter has 11 teeth and is supposed to be a direct replacement for the original 9 tooth one I’m replacing, but after many wasted hours of trying to get it to line up and the teeth to mesh, I call bullsh*t on that. This thing just won’t line up period. Unfortunately, I’ve had the starter way too long to return it. Crap!
Mini starter on the left won’t line up
Ebay and Skip White’s Performance Shop to the rescue! I picked up a shiny new 3 hp mini high torque starter (9 tooth pinion) and put it on this past Saturday. It’s a straight bolt pattern configuration, bolts right up to the 400 small block, and works exactly as it should. No shimming and no cussing. Let’s fire it up and get this thing timed!…. Well…. ummmmm… the Camaro seems to have other plans…..
New kick ass starter from Skip White’s Performance
The new starter is in, she’s rollin’ over like she should, but … now it won’t fire. What the fu… (whoa! watch the language)?!?!
So, now it’s time for troubleshooting 101:
– Fuel? –> Check
– Spark? –> Nothin’ (Sigh… It ran when I parked it. C’mon! They’re all new parts. C’mon!)
Here’s a shot of the dismantled HEI distributor on the bench getting ready to have all its vitals (pickup, coil, ground wires, etc…) checked. Everything I can troubleshoot checked out fine so that meant a trip to the parts store for them to test the ignition module. The ignition module checked out fine (really????).
HEI Distributor
So I buy some dielectric grease, head home, put it all back together (for about the 10th time), and it fires right up first try. Really? Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy it fired up; but I honestly don’t know what caused it not to fire before and can’t say I trust it since I don’t know what was broke. The only thing I did different was I left the tach wire off, but that really shouldn’t make a difference. Especially since everything was working when I parked it including the tach.
By the time I got it running, it was late on Sunday and I was just done. What should have been an hour or two on Saturday went well over the time I set aside to work on this. My plan now is to set the timing and mess with the tach sometime later this week.
To be continued…
New stuff
Jul 19
Been working on new items for ye ol’ Ardoria store.
Here are a few new items we have in stock (for more info click here –> Ardoria):
- Fleur-de-lis Carpenter Bee Trap
- Victorian Wine Caddy
- Victorian Wine Caddy
- Grapes/ Vino Wine Caddy
- Grapes/ Vino Wine Caddy
More to come, stay tuned.
Brandon
Outdoor Deck Wine Accessory
Jul 06
Summer is finally here!!!
Here’s the perfect wine accessory for the great outdoors. Whether just relaxing or having fun entertaining, this is a great accessory for your deck.
I make these and sell them through Ardoria Studios.
As you can see in the photos, these are designed to hold other beverages too.
They are solidly constructed of wood and aluminum. Everything is coated with outdoor rated finishes so they can withstand the elements.
These attach easily to a deck post or 2×4 railing with 2 screws (included).
Click here for more details and pricing: –> Deck Wine Holder
Happy 4th of July!
Jul 04
Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!!!
Dane and I went to to the fireworks store yesterday and are ready for tonight. Missy is making BBQ pulled pork. It’s going to be a great day today.
Thank you to everyone who has served or are currently serving in our military.
—– Brandon
For Sale – Antique Chamois – $125
Jun 01I have an antique Chamois I recently restored up for sale over on Ardoria.
These pieces are very hard to find in good condition.
I bought this one on Ebay. It had a couple condition issues and I restored it with the plan of keeping it; but we already have a couple similar to this one in our collection.
So here’s a chance to own a fully restored great piece.
Click on the pictures below to view the larger images:
Click here to see more pictures and/ or purchase this piece –> Antique Chamois
Thank you for looking,
—– Brandon
Joan of Arc
May 12
Here’s a rare piece that I just finished recently for the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.
The antique dealer Arlene Wagner (Nutcracker Museum’s curator) bought it from thinks the piece is from around the 1830’s and was made in France.
I only fixed the lower lip and left the rest of the piece’s character intact. When a piece is this old, doing a minimal restoration helps maintain its age and integrity.
- Before Restoration
- Before Restoration
- After Restoration
Thanks for looking,
—– Brandon
A Day at the Range
Apr 19
Had a great safe day at the range yesterday. Took an “Intro to Competitive Pistol” class.
Tim Logan runs a great class and runs a really safe range.
I learned that actively engaging a target pushes you as a shooter, and also pushes your equipment to a point where any weaknesses in your setup become very evident.
I have a Glock branded 10 round magazine sitting in the trash today as a result from consistent critical failures yesterday that never showed up during stagnant shooting.
I shot well, but the consistent 10 round magazine failures hurt my times. On a positive note, I got a lot of practice clearing jams, swapping mags, and cycling the gun under pressure.
Here’s pictures of the basic course and the instructors showing us how it’s done.
—– Brandon
Homemade Gin – Day 3
Apr 06
Ladies and gentlemen, we have Gin!
With this kit, it only takes about 36 hours to make Gin.
The kit is great! It came complete with everything to make Gin except 750 ml of cheap run-of-the-mill Vodka. It even includes the bottles to put it in!
I was skeptical that the strainer would actually work and keep out all the solids I had added to the Vodka (see Day 2 post).
As you can see, it worked great! No solids whatsoever!
So, how does it taste? Well, I’ve never had Gin, but I can definitely say it’s a sippin’ kind of drink. That’s a good thing, though.
It’s smooth with what I would call a hint of coconut and pine combined. I know, that sounds awful, but it’s not. Mixed with Sierra Mist, it tastes kind of like Ginger Ale, but smoother. It’s good.
Keep in mind, I’ve never had Gin so my description may be a bit unorthodox because I’m not at all familiar with Gin. Feel free to leave comments if I’ve completely botched describing it.
Honestly, this was drop dead easy to do and I think the results are great. The kit runs about $50 and they sell the seasonings separately so you can keep using the kit over and over.
I give this kit a solid thumbs up so if you like Gin, definitely give the Homemade Gin Kit a try – http://www.homemadegin.com/.