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By Sylverstone, on August 8th, 2010 so stone got a shiny new grocery getter…
you remember, the slightly beat up Mercedes in the above picture…
Recently I made a screaming deal on a set of 19″ axis shine’s and Pirelli PZero Corsa Direzionale’s for the front, and PZero Corsa Asimmetrico’s for the rear…. looks good with the new shoes eh?
Note that I finally managed to get it licensed. I don’t wanna talk about what it took to get this document:
what a pain in the ass. note the dept of homeland security stamp.
love the shiny bits 
so the next day it goes into the body shop and gets torn apart…
thankfully the front aluminum hoop isn’t damaged…
turf the back bumper cover (going with the amg one)
thankfully the frame is straight…
looks pretty pitiful now doesn’t it? 
I was told the circles on the hood are from people slamming the hood, you’re supposed to just hold it up about a foot and drop it….
the doors fixed, the lower amg rocker panel being test fitted in place…
looking pretty swoopy
I’m going to put coil overs under it and lower it an inch in the tail and 2 1/2 in the front there’s nothing in the trunk, it’s just how they sit…
smooth as a baby’s butt
the amg front bumper is a totally different piece. way bigger air intakes for the radiator, the intercooler, and the brakes… looks sharp
and here we are, out of paint and ready for reassembly… notice the color matched door handles… was going to shave ‘em but I’m going to save that for the trans am…
I’m incredibly happy with it so far, but it’s going to need another 20 hours or so of reassembly, then the fun starts (coilovers, sound system, etc.)
I’m excited
-stone
By Sylverstone, on August 7th, 2010 So once upon a time, a friend of mine told me they had ended up with a car that had been abused a bit, but that I may be interested in…
So it’s a “C” class Mercedes.
It looked pretty rough, but the price wasn’t bad, so I figured what the heck, why not?
Now keep in mind that for the most part I had no experience with the marque at all, and the plan was buy it, do the bodywork on it, and sell it, because it had very low miles for it’s age.
For the most part I never understood why someone would spend that kind of money on a car they didn’t build themselves, or didn’t have “Hemi Cuda Convertible” in the name somewhere.
Yeah, that whole “I don’t get it” thing lasted until the first time I drove it, and the whole “I’m going to sell it” thing vanished when the girl at the espresso stand said it matched my eyes.
Later that day, two other women that I love and admire told me the same thing, cementing the “I’m keepin’ it” for good.
So, without further ado, let me introduce you to my new grocery getter…
These are the before pics:
some of the scuffing is sorta explainable, but the dent in the passenger door boggles me a bit.
and then of course you have the front bumper cover that no longer fits properly, due to impact, and a thumbprint sized missing paint / rusty spot on the hood a couple inches from the ornament… (yeah, I have no idea either)
and the bottom of the passenger side doors for the entire length of the car are scraped up pretty bad… but surprisingly not as bent as they look…
the guy who owned it was an idiot apparently (not the folks I got it from, the guy who bought it new)
see what I mean about the dent? it’s *deep*.
and that’s just from being careless in a parking lot, or hitting traffic barrels… dunno.
every single corner on the car is screwed up somehow.. I’ve seen drivers ed cars and new york city cabs that are treated better… but hey, at least the maintenance got done on time all the time. (wouldn’t have believed that except I have the records of it)
at least the trunk lid isn’t messed up…
oh wait, till I get rear ended by a 67 chevy pickup by ft lewis… tempted to kick in the rest of the panels myself.
scuff…
scuff…
and more scuffs…
of course, there’s some fun bits to all this… it’s a eurospec car, so it’s damned fast, but importing it is going to be a pain in the ass, and the part where my girlfriend’s roommate asked her who she’d spent the night with, since the Canadian plates were still on it, gave me giggles for weeks…
tires are shot, interior is filthy, computer is complaining about all sorts of things…
(to be continued)
-stone
By Sylverstone, on September 12th, 2009 so i’ve taken on another hobby lately…
it’s kinda fun really, and in many ways a natural extension of some of my old ones…
so this:
is me in the hot seat at the heavens club in seattle. (my buddy dave had to bail for a meeting and said “you’re up”) … heh. it was fun, and i don’t think i did too badly
this:
is 80′s night, jazzbones in seattle…
i think i’m just addicted to blinky lights… :
heh
well, that and a little bit of rock n roll…
-stone
By Sylverstone, on September 12th, 2009 so as many of you know, i’m hunting for a new piece of property…
i want a bigger house, land, and an epic shop.
… so i fell into a screaming deal on a bunch of stuff for my new place.
the more eagle eyed of you will realize what a lot of this is…
thank you to tuck, chad, aiden and dave for helping me move all of it…
first load:
that’s most of the furniture, the custom filing cabinet, and the big box of doom
the second load:
the fridge and freezer in these pics are both from the 50′s. the air intakes on the freezer look like a chrome grill, and they both look like cadillac built ‘em.. (and weigh like it too heh … that dresser is older than i am, lots of sweet antiques…
sad state of affairs i suppose that i have *nowhere* to put them other than long term storage:
26 pieces of furniture total, and most of it is gorgeous…
(the green dresser i’m on the fence about, it’s really nice wood, but i think it’s worth more if i don’t strip it and refinish it… i need to decide if i’m going to keep it or not first…)
yeah, so i’m sick of moving stuff
-stone
By Sylverstone, on September 12th, 2009 so for the most part, people think i can’t cook.
i appreciate that, since it means i usually don’t have to.
so today i found a pretty large pile of rusty beat up cast iron cookware…
most of it looked like this or worse when i started in on it a few hours ago…
now the first batch is being seasoned in the oven…
for those of you who always wondered how to do this, start by taking off any wooden handles, and load the whole pile of it into the oven, and run it on a self cleaning cycle for at least an hour.
many ovens will only let you do 3 hours, this is fine.
when it comes out, it’ll have a powdered residue all over it.
let it cool down, (do *NOT* quench it or use water on it until it’s cool!) then wash it with a scrubby pad, *no soap*.
if the bottom is rough you can scotch brite it or even sand it (220 then 440 grit) till it’s as smooth as you want it.
then rinse it really well.
when you’re done with that, put it in the oven “naked”.
no oil of any kind and heat it to 450°F.
leave it in long enough to just reach that temperature.
be careful and remove the piece from the oven and let it cool to where you can handle it.
find yourself an old cotton rag or an old t shirt, and wipe it down with crisco shortening.
apply a very thin coat on the entire piece. make sure you get in the cracks (use a q-tip)
once completely and lightly coated (i cannot stress “light coat” too much) put it back in the oven at 400°F for 30 (use a timer) minutes and at that point turn off the oven and leave it
in the oven till it cools on it’s own.
when you remove the piece it will have a nice dark brown uniform patina that shines brightly.
you can repeat with one or more coats of crisco if you like. you’ll be happy you did.
a good cast iron pan beats the hell out of teflon…
-stone
By Sylverstone, on September 12th, 2009 so the other night i was coming down old 99 (aurora) in seattle and i caught something out of the corner of my eye…
i’ve always wanted one of these.
for the uninitiated, it’s a bmw m1.
specifically, [this one]
covet covet covet.
check out the video [here]
-stone
By Sylverstone, on May 26th, 2009 so someone pointed out to me this morning that i have a tendency to be colorful…
sometimes it’s the garb, or the car, the project, whatever…
and sometimes, it’s the bruises, scrapes, and other miscellaneous damage…
so, without further ado, i present to you a gallery of “not dead yet…”
top to bottom, this happened yesterday…
never occurred to me i would need my safety glasses to sweep a floor, but i slipped and fell, and shoved a broom handle into my left eye socket. :/
it only hurts when i blink…
or look at things.
or, well, all the time. not recommended.
that lump is about the size of a grape :/
anyway, so the other ouch i’m currently annoyed at (it’s healing very slowly due to it’s location, and how it was done…)
this lovely bit:
was done with an 8″ angle grinder…
it’s been a week i think, and this is what it looks like today…
the problem with it is that the scab doesn’t flex and the arm does, so it keeps coming detached, and it’s big, so it’s healing from the sides and ends moreso than the bottom.
so that brings us to my legs.
this set here…
was kinda confusing…
cause it’s high up on the back of my right thigh, and it’s huge, deep, hurts, and i have no idea how i got it…
this one here:
was the result of a bit of miscommunication between myself…
and the object i was standing on, while fixing a dryer vent…
express ride out of the attic for the big bruise…
here’s to hoping i have an uneventful day…
(i’m going out to finish my laundry room…
-stone
By Sylverstone, on May 16th, 2009 or, “how to destroy something to make it better”
so my friend tony called me up and said he knew where there was a trailer i might be interested in. it was free, it was hammered, stripped, and was a 5th wheel to boot.
*sigh*
my rig isn’t set up for a fifth wheel, being a van and all
… so the woman called me, told me about it, and i told her i’d get back to her.
so a week later i go look at it.
eek.
someone, in the process of stripping it, had cut the front of it off, so there wasn’t even a way to tow it if i had the rig to do it.
so i figure i’ll head out there with my generator and a sawzall, cut it up into manageable pieces, and load it into my buddy chris’ truck. (f-450 for the win …
then he mentions his boss has an 18 ft car trailer…
now we’re talkin’
so today, we headed out there to get it… when i said it was in rough shape, i wasn’t kidding…
it was kinda a mess.
i shook my head and laughed at myself when i realized it’s got dexter wheels on it.
the irony is that i was desperately looking for a pair of these a couple years ago, and now some little old lady gave me five of them
anyway, so we used a bunch of cargo straps and a come-a-long to load it onto the car trailer…
and we then headed out…
of course, we had had a lot of fun backing the 8 ft wide car trailer down the 7 ft wide road to go get it… heh
and the 5th wheel was too wide to pull up past the car trailers wheel wells…
so we kinda had to make do
7 ft of overhang is a bit… much, but we weren’t going far, and it was secured very very well
so we get to our destination, and decide that most of the work can be done where it sits… so out comes the implements of destruction… (8″ angle grinder and a sawzall for the win
note the style of the spare wheel… that’s a 4 lug dexter wheel. if you have any kicking around, let me know, i’m short one, or 7, depending on how you do the math
anyway, what truthfully amazed me was how bent everything was. stick and staple construction sucks, *cheap* stick and staple is even worse… although i was amused by the steel rod bridge trussing…
chop…
chop…
and the rear floor supports are gone, and now we have the front floor bracing and the front bulkhead…
which cannot stand up to the mighty sawzall from milwaukee…
i used the angle grinder for the small stuff, but this is 1/8″ wall 2″ x 8″ “C” channel for the outside beams, and the center one is an 1/8″ wall, 2″ x 6″ box tube… tough stuff.
the horizontal cut was also through 1/8″ gussets welded on the corners, so it was slow going…
i thought about making a utility trailer out of this:
but truthfully, it sits higher than i like. (all my trailers have a really low center of gravity for a reason, and i’m picky as hell about my engineering)
so the impact wrench couldn’t touch the suspension bolts….
but the angle grinder made short work of them…
and off comes the frame rails (don’t worry, most of this steel will be used for other projects, or recycled)
and now we’re down to what i was after…
a set of lightweight (2500 lb rated) 4″ drop, dexter axles, with brakes.
when i build trailers, i pretty much insist on double axles and brakes. it’s a whole lot safer when someone does something stupid on the highway… and they will.
i’ve been looking for a set of light ones for a while, since i’m putting together a 12′ pop top gypsy vardo, with the goal of keeping it light enough to tow behind a small car. these should fit the bill nicely. truthfully, i expected a 25 ft fifth wheel to have a lot bigger brakes… but these are plenty big for my vardo, since most 12 ft trailers don’t even have dual axles, let alone brakes…
so we clean up all the parts and load them into chris’ truck…
breaks down surprisingly small, although it weighs about 1000 lbs or so…
so yeah… new project coming down the pike when i get my house done, and get some time…
but now you know how i spent my afternoon
thanks for the help chris
-stone
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