MA MOPAR BIT ME AGAIN or SO MANY MOPARS, SO LITTLE TIME

[1967 'cuda]

I had become fully ensconced in the world of Mopar and hotrodding. The local P.D. in Seward did not seem to appreciate my taste in cars or the way I had a tendency to drive them.



I think that girls that I dated weren't eager to let others know who they were.



But I was determined not to become just one of those other bowtie fanatics.




Life is too short to stop pursuing your passion . You never know when it will all come to an end.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Damn it's cold. - Almost noon and it's only gotten up to 45'. I actually started the heater in the garage this morning. It's not here yet, but I'm afraid it's going to be a long winter. I guess I can take comfort in knowing that the flies will suffer too.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. The colder it is in the garage, the less I see of the bugs. As my heater warms the place they all start buzzing around again. Some of you may think that I'm exaggerating. But while you're all worrying about global warming I know where the real threat to mankind is. It's the flies!

 

[1967 'cuda]

UPS dropped off a box to me today.



A few days ago I ordered a large garage screen so that I could have the overhead door open without letting in the bugs. It was only $29 and I figured it would save me that much in bug spray and fly swatters over the course of the next year.



I also had made the decision to paint the headers orange on the Duster. In hindsight maybe I should have ordered the gold instead. Hopefully it'll look good. I plan on pulling the exhaust off over winter and grinding down some of the welds on the left header. The previous owner had this power plant in a Dart that smacked a concrete wall off of the starting line. It destroyed the Dart and had badly mangled the left header. They cut and re-welded it but the welds are borderline gross.



All the while I was growing up (and didn't want to eat my veggies) my folks would remind me that there were a million starving people in China. I'm not sure if it was leftover guilt from those early days or if I really needed new alarm clocks for the house. - But I went ahead and did my part to support those Commie workers over there. This first clock wakes you to the sound of a car staging at a christmas tree and then you hear it going through the gears as it makes a pass. The lights sequence down as the alarm goes off.



This second clock is made to resemble a tachometer and when it makes the sound of a car revving through the gears it shows the tach reaching the red line.

 

[1967 'cuda]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=800381120005866

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=937256686287671

 

[1967 'cuda]

I swear I'm going to lose my mind! The number of flies has slowly been shrinking. I even left the big garage door open today with the new screen blocking new entries. Now it's only a matter of time until I hunt down the rest.

But as I've been cleaning I've been constantly distracted by the sounds of rustling papers. It must be mice! All day long I've been searching but whenever I get close to the source of the noise - it stops. I'd swear it's coming from my new tool box. I've got drawers full of decals, templates, instruction manuals and such. I've gone through them several times and can't find anything.

I even put one of the house cats out here. It was attracted to the same areas that I believe the noises are coming from but couldn't find anything either. If I get to within 6 feet of the noise it stops.

Not only does it sound like a mouse, but it must be one helluva big one. - And it must be really busy. I don't think a squirrel would make this much noise. Some of you may think that I'm exaggerating. But Teresa heard it too. And she couldn't believe how noisy it was. She wouldn't help me track it down because of some weird mouse phobia. - Women!

But then again, if this thing is as large as it sounds it might actually be sort of scary. But it must be invisible. Some kind of evil ghost rat thing.

I guess I'm buying mouse traps, moth balls, and poison tomorrow. Maybe I should stop by the church for some Holy Water while I'm at it.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I think I can hear it breathing. At first I thought it got quiet when I'd approach because it was afraid. Now I think it may be stalking me and trying to lure me closer.

 

[1967 'cuda]

SUCCESS!!!!

Success at last! I caught the little bastard. OK, he wasn't nearly as big as what I thought he'd be, but I got him. He's not actually a rat. - Or even a mouse. He's a pocket gopher. It got into a waste basket which acted like a megaphone whenever he rustled around inside it. I had planned on a quick finish for the varmint I was searching for but I think I'll let him go (far away from the garage!).

I may be a wuss but those front teeth of his look like they could cause me some agony. Ya, I know he looks really tiny in the pictures but I tend to inflict enough pain on myself with the regular shop work. He ain't leavin' that basket until he reaches his new home. And then he's going to embark on a ten foot flight while I go back to contend with the flies.

It's too late now to take him anywhere. Until then (some time tomorrow) I think I'll name him.





I don't want to give him a cutesy name. I think it should be something sinister sounding so when I tell my buddies about the fact it creeped me out they won't laugh at me for being afraid of 'lil _____' (you fill in the blank). Maybe GOPHZILLA or FANG or HANNIBAL or LUCIFER.

 

[1967 'cuda]

GOPHZILLA it is.







I think I may have lost some street cred with Teresa when she saw how much smaller it was than what I'd thought it was going to be.

 

[1967 'cuda]

http://youtu.be/rrmyikYsa-Q

http://youtu.be/NUn-7yqiy2I

http://youtu.be/e6iu2nxSC9o

 

[1967 'cuda]

It's a sad day for gophers around here. Last night I tossed the little bugger some green beans thinking that it would give him something to chew on during the night if he got the munchies. This morning I found him lying chisel teeth up. In hindsight I should probably have removed the plastic sack from the basket that he wrapped himself up in. I guess he committed suicide. Funny, he didn't seem depressed last night.

As promised, he did take a flight after leaving the garage. If I were still living out at the farm there would have been a cremation ceremony. He is (no doubt) survived by a pack of siblings.





Donations can be sent to the 'Let's put a Hemi in the 'Cuda Foundation'.

R.I.P.

 

[1967 'cuda]

While I've been cleaning the garage I decided that I should go ahead and put up some of the wall art that I've accumulated. I have a lot of work to get done as I try to figure out a way to cram all of these parts and tools in here and still have enough room left to work in. Normally I'd be storing half of this stuff at our farm but I'm too afraid of more things getting stolen.



I had wanted to do an automobile graveyard theme for Halloween this year. Teresa didn't object but I think that she believes that's the theme we have for our yard year-round. So I kept it fairly traditional with the addition of the PLYMOUTH and CUDA tombstones. The zombies are wearing the obligatory car themed caps.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I'm trying to keep busy while I'm waiting for the new shocks to arrive. I'll probably put everything on hold so that I can swap converters and shock absorbers. I think I might try to make another run on the 1/8 mile at Mid America Motorplex yet this year. It'd be interesting to see how big a difference it'll make compared to last time. If I get her to the track again I'll try to post better videos this time. I've got my son's Go-Pro now.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I ordered a DVD copy of American Nitro a few weeks ago but it hasn't arrived yet. I used to own a VHS copy of it years ago and it's been awhile since I've seen it. Sometimes rather than listen to music in the garage while I'm working, I like to let videos like this run.


http://youtu.be/Lu0KTQW6ibw

 

[1967 'cuda]

The mailman was very good to me today. Not only did the racing shocks from DragonDan64 show up but so did the copy of American Nitro. (THANKS DRAGONDAN)










I'm still cleaning the garage. When you've got parts from a half dozen projects crammed into two stalls along with all the tools and engines it's hard to find room to get anything done in. During this past year I've been shoving everything to one side or the other each time I've needed to get a car inside. It's total mayhem now. And it's made worse by the need to move stuff here that might be tempting to the thieves that have been targeting the farm. I've still got several goals to achieve before the snow starts to fly. I want to finish the interior of the Duster, get the drive train in and running in the 'Lil Red, prep the 'Cuda for another run, fix the fuel injection issues on the Roadrunner, and get the Charger moved inside. I don't think it's all possible. But at least I've got that American Nitro video running in the background to keep me inspired.

Oh yeah, I also want to have the plating equipment up and running too.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I'm always struggling to get videos to display when I want to share them. I uploaded a few clips to my facebook account and here are the links. I'm not sure if they will work.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=910142912337913

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=909958122356392

 

[1967 'cuda]

I've been sufferin' for the last few days with the mother of all tooth aches. It's my own dang fault. Too many sweets. Too little dental care. I've been needing a set of dentures for years already. All I know is that pain killers are my bestest friend right now.

Regardless of the agony I still have to try to progress on the garage cleaning. It's already been sub-freezing at night. I brought the Hemi into town. As much as it might have been a real bitch for them thieves to take, I'm afraid they would have found a way. You can see now how fast this 2 stall garage is filling up.



Tomorrow is the Fall swap meet in Wahoo, Nebraska. I wish now that I'd fixed the heater in the Ford truck. I'm not really planning on buying anything but you never know. I'd hate to show up in a car and find out that someone's selling big stuff cheap.

 

[Basketcase]

pricey as in $8 and crappy?( hamburgers at The Nats this year.)

 

[1967 'cuda]

pricey as in $8 and crappy?( hamburgers at The Nats this year.)

I've always said that the smartest people that show up at car events are the food vendors. Everybody else goes home with less money in their pockets than what they came with. Half of the time you can't tell the good food from the bad by using the length of the lines waiting to be served either. I've had a few burgers that I've bought and tossed because they were gross. But those chili dogs at Mid America Motorplex really were awesome!

 

[1967 'cuda]

The Wahoo swap meet was sort of a bust. There never is much for Mopar at these things but even less than usual this time. I only saw one vendor with Chrysler stuff. A guy I know out of Milford, Nebraska brought down a crusty '69 Roadrunner along with various '68-'72 B-body parts. I heard that he sold the Roadrunner for $4200.

I purchased a couple of Hot Wheels to set up in the basement next to the drag strip. - A Sox & Martin Super Stock Duster and a Gary Densham Challenger Funnycar. I hadn't mentioned it in this thread before but I have a 30 foot long HO scale drag strip that I've been building. It's got a working Christmas tree and even displays e.t.s on a billboard on the far end.

I started working on it last Winter when the weather got bad. I have a long way to go before I'm finished. There are a few hundred trees that need to be planted. I still haven't installed or wired in the street lights. I'm debating putting in a return lane so that a person doesn't have to run down to the end to retrieve his car. I realize that the strip is longer than what it should be for scale but I wanted the e.t.s to look more realistic. The cars are too fast to accurately mimic the e.t.s they should be running. I did make an animated THUNDER VALLEY billboard which (combined with the street lights) should look awesome for night racing.

I'd also like to set up a camera combined with a 42" screen to give a real time display of the action. I may try to limit the style of tires on the cars to give them less traction. - Then you might be forced to feather it off the line in order to 'hook up'.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v...type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=911192285566309 .