78 GMC caballero (elky love)

[Longroof79]

Yeah, getting older also makes us less tolerant. It does get uncomfortable down here in the summer, I can attest to that, but I still like warmth.
I'd like to see pics of your various toys and projects. Sounds like you might have had enough of the Edsel. I dig old school rods and customs. That's what I grew up with.

 

[the ghoul]

geeze theres some stuff I have thought about in years in here!
only pic I could find from the 85 cutless supreme (yes that is a cop behind it and the pic is taken from my parents house, yes, the cops pulled me over in front of my parents house!)

The 3rd gens (easy to do them all at once)
Highschool hell rasing 86 firebird GT 350 (cam, 305 heads, headers edelbrock intake, carb, 700r4 high stall 4:10 rear end sh*t and get!) Even a kid at school with his daddys brand new z06 couldn't touch me in that car.. that officially got me addicted to SBC

I burned out the trans took it apart to fix everything and then got a deal on the 85 trans am; swapped the engines scrapped the 86 then realized without the 4:10 rear end the car wasn't all that fun...

ended up about the same time trading an old bike for the 84 z 28 (305 auto really no fun!)

94 dodge caravan AWD vr4 swap (yes, air foil, fog lights, and underglow.... just out of highschool, that's all I can say about that)

73 charger se, 400 auto, ripped it apart to restore it, got nothing really done on it, ended up scrapped

98 firebird formula ls1 6speed blue green chamilon, had it for the best 3 months of my life, friend spun it on the freeway and wrecked it for me... Still miss it, even to the point that I want to paint the caballero that color

After the firebird wreck I picked up a boan stock 2000 Subaru 2.5rs.. this pic is about 3 years after, full cage, stitch welded all the body panels together, head porting, full exhaust, Kyb shocks all around as well as white line flat out springs, sway bars anti lift kit, lots of body and paint work.... all by me

83 celica ripped it apart to install supra drive train and realized it was way too much work... scrapped!

87 supra was running driving, I was going to swap the drive train into that 83 celica but as stated, that never got off the ground... so scrapped

63 sunbeam alpine series 3.. still have this sitting on a rotisserie sideways in my driveway! 6 year and counting project!!

2000 firebird v6 auto tan interior, full of fail but it was the same color as the first firebird... so I had to have it

The second 98 firebird formula ls1 6speed

This car got me addicted to the cheap performance you can get from Hondas
93 civic hatch; big breaks, minime vtec engine, function 7 rear LCA and cross brace, sway bars, tubular upper controle arms front, coil overs, magnaflow exhaust, rear disc swap ect ect ect oh yeah and intergra front end swap. Ended up with a trophy from a show I took this to

95 delsol got stock vtec, Dropped, brake swap, poly bushings all around, turbo, shaved handels, EK front end swap and painted it

95 Toyota MR2 got it stock and barley running, swapped a lexus v6 into it, lots of suspension work and started roughing in the wide body, ended up trading for a Datsun.

A quick fix and flip 525i

SBC swapped 78 280Z

85 supra (this one I regret not finishing) got it stock, stripped it to shell, stitch welded the body, 1uzfe swapped it (lexus V8), manual trans swapped, poly every thing, wayyy too much crap to list!

One fall I ended up going from an empty garage to a crx, most of a 96 delsol, and three Honda drive trains in 24hours with less than $800 invested. CRX got fixed and sold, sol got parted out

94 350 5 speed Silverado 4:10 rear end, belltech drop kit 2wd... didn't last one winter

56 ford customline, picked it up 90% complete 100% original, I added 351w, t5, dropped it 5" chopped it 6" and never washed the moss off it. Still have this one

Jeep wrangler I had when I was building the ratrod, this is picking up the 351w that went into the 56 ford

At one point I ended up needed a DD so I traded the customline for this eclipse spider and a parts awd turbo talon. I ended up parting the taylon and selling the eclipse and all the good taylon bits to a friend then buying back the customline

59 edsel ranger, i6 3 on the tree. bit of a bondo buggy but it was a good cruser

2004 lancer es, wife bought it when her 96 monte took a dump, did nothing but maintence to it till we bought her a new car, I had it for a year and hated it

2011 charger, v6 AWD, tinted the windows and tossed an srt8 drop kit at it... wife still DDs it

2001 GMC sierra, 5.3l 4wd, tossed headers, exhaust, brush guard at it then realized it was 150k mile daily driver with long commute.. got paranoid and offed it

2012 dart 1.5l turbo sitck.... still not sure what I was thinking.... didn't even last 6 months!!

2013 4.8l Silverado 2wd, 4/7 drop kit, rear air bag assist, debadged, tinted current dd/tow pig status

Not just all about 4 wheels
74 sportster, put it together from a basket case, ended up trading it for a camero before I ever road it..

2006 Suzuki sv650 s the first street bike I ever had on the road, in the back my dads 78 Suzuki gs650 that he bought new and actually just gave to me...

Yamaha bobber I tossed together and painted

75 triumph bonaville chopper, uncle chopped it out in the late 70's road it for 2 seasions then let it rot in his basement. I rescued it about 3 years ago, got it running and moving again but did nothing else with it... still have it, another long term project

2012 motoguzzi v7 racer, got into an accident with it this april (why I needed to have surgery on myshoulder) ended up getting an insurance check and some one offered me $2k more than I owed on it for the wrecked carcase..

all and all, my garage often looks a lot like this...

 

[Longroof79]

Geez! I must say, you've had quite a variety of vehicles. I honestly didn't expect that.
The chopped '56 Ford 4-dr. is different. You don't see many 4-drs being chopped. It usually entails more work than chopping a 2-dr body. The Edsel looks really good in the pics for a car that's packed with bondo.
You really like your 3rd generation F-bodies. I haven't seen a Sunbeam Alpine in quite a while. My neighbor actually has one, it's the later body style that doesn't have the pronounced fins.
I'd say you're a man that enjoys wrenching...and appreciates all types of vehicles. Your garage is packed to the rafters... :lol:
Thanks for the sharing pics of your stuff.

 

[the ghoul]

Yeah the 3rd gen F body was my first performance car... still have a soft spot for em.
Ive had a lot of every thing over the years... kinda sad seeing all the successes and regrets considering Im only 31... cant even begin to think what the list will look like in another 30 years!!
The 56 ford was one of those cars that came together from almost every aspect of my life.
I wanted a funky ratrod I could take to car shows (I pinstripe and always felt like a tool pulling up in the lancer).
I found the car on CL for $800

I was able to snatch it up for $500 because the seller had no one looking at it because it was a 4 door (that and some kids smashed all the windows but the rear one, they caught the kids and they ended up paying him $1000 in restitutions for that car... that was apparently $200 more than he paid for it.)
My brother in law had a fresh rebuilt 351w sitting in the corner of his garage with nothing to put it into. So he gave it to me with the understanding if I ever sell it I would pay him $500 for it. Co-worker had the trans slave cylinder and drive shaft for $200

At about the same time a former employeer opened his own auto parts store and he gave me a heck of a discount on the bits I needed to put it together (electric radiator fans, HEI distributer, stainless steel brake lines, rebuilt wheel cylinders, rebuilt master cylinder, new rubber brake lines, new pads, new break "hardwear", stainless fule line, new gas tank, flywheel, harmonic ballincer, rear sump pan and pickup ect ect ect...
as far as the chop I winged it and went the cheap easy rout, instead of cutting the roof into six pieces and adding metal, I just pie cut the corners and leaned the pillars... I really didn't want to disturbe too much of the original paint and the moss that had collected over the years...

Then it was just a matter of taking it to shows and freaking people the F out!!

 

[the ghoul]

Happy thanksgiving every one!!
I couldn't really sleep last night with visions of turkey dancing in my head, so I was able to get some work done before I had to get cleaned up for family stuff...
As I was tacking together the boxing plates and realized one of the lower control arms was a bit bent out on one side.

So welding that one was a bit awkward..

my intention with these boxed upper and lower control arms is a stronger than stock, but to be replaced one day by store bought boxed lowers and adjustable uppers, so I am not going for perfect or super pretty, merely passable... Just like my welds! LOL
I am unsure if this makes much difference from a rigidity standpoint but I felt, cutting, folding and welding the ends would help keep crap out of it..

So, I feel a good bit of work for a lazy thanksgiving morning

 

[liquidh8]

NIce collection of rides! I wish I took pictures of all the different things I have had. I like the triumph also, they have a special place in my heart lol.

I like how you made the boxing plates for the control arms. I never went that fancy, lol. They look good and would serve the purpose!

 

[the ghoul]

Thanks man..
Some one told me when I was young to take pictures of every car you buy... You may not like em at the time but you may feel differently down the road.. That's basically how I am with the cutless... It was my first car so I had some fond memories about it but at the end of the day I was still morning the loss of the elcamino, it was v6 auto and I tried every thing I could to kill it... Wasn't till I started seeing a few on here that I started appreciating the style (why I don't have a good picture of it on my computer but I know I have a few at my parents place.)
The fancy box plates were more to let moisture out of them than style.. 😀
I was able to get some work done before the honey do list caught up with me and wrecked my fun... Turns out the poly busings were only on the *ss end, he still had the rubber bushings in the upper and lower control. I got the old bushings pressed out, the new shells pressed in (a lot easier said than done), and the new balljoints pressed in.. Tomorrow I should be able to get some paint on em..

 

[liquidh8]

Looking good. Are you using rubber bushings for the front?

 

[the ghoul]

no, I bought a poly master kit from energy suspension so yesterday I pushed out the rubbers and pushed in the new shells from the poly kit.. Today I will get some paint on all the suspension bits, possibly even on the rear end.

 

[liquidh8]

nice, I was thinking about getting the poly suspension kit. My last rebuild I use rubber bushings.