The 69 Adventure

Chapter 9 – Racing - Against the Cold Weather

11/03/01 - After 3 weeks of doing nothing (just a bit of sanding and chiseling) due to weather and bronchitis , Kat and Julie come to visit.  Kat and I plan on trying to track down a sandblaster for the interior and my heart is set on getting the interior repainted so I can rewire.  

11/04/01 - Richard's in Point Pleasant has a sandblaster and a compressor.  Kat and I abandon a sleeping Julie to go get it.  Arriving there, we find the compressor is the size of a Geo Metro and needs to be towed.  We nix that idea and stop by Home Depot to look at air compressors.  Then on to Sears.  An air compressor would be nice but looking at the size of it and knowing how little space is in my garage, I am frustrated.  We get a few more attachments for the drill and decide to continue with the manual chiseling and sanding.

I decided that no matter how much more I think needs to be done, wherever we stop for the day is it!  No more sanding, no more chiseling - the interior will just be painted.  After a long, dusty day, we shower and the three of us have dinner at Outback.  I am still frustrated. 

11/10/01 -  The weather man has promised me a 60 degree day, maybe the last one this year.  By 11, the sun has moved around to warm the front of the house and I am back with the drill - yep; I lied - I am still sanding.  I decided to pull down the last two panels of headliner with hopes of painting the ceiling too.  

I found the mouse house in the last two panels of headliner, except now the mouse house was all over me, in my hair, and the interior.  After a cigarette break to get over the gross mouse house, I grabbed the shop vac and decided to squoosh up Mickey's home.  Mickey got even by destroying the shop vac.  It stopped sucking.  I took it apart and cleaned it, played with it, nothing improved the lack of suction.   Sam was supposed to be up and running errands, so I decided I'd ask him to stop at K-Mart and get me a new one.  I went back to using the wire wheel to take down the insulation above the headliner.  What a mess!  

By 1pm, I came in and woke Sam up for the third or fourth time.  He had to be at work at 3 and I needed a shop vac before I could paint.  I was the dirtiest, filthiest sight ever - there was no way I could be seen in public and I didn't want to take the time to clean up.  I figured I had about 3 hours of warmth to finish cleaning and painting.  A cursing, grumbling Sam left for K-mart.  I finished the ceiling and with a dustpan and broom swept several inches of debris from the car.  Sam returned after 2pm, handed me a bag with goggles and masks, and plugged in the new, stronger, bigger shop vac. I vacuumed the interior and when Sam left for work, he agreed it still needed wiped down with a wet rag.  I did that and headed for the shower while the car aired out.  

Still dripping but in clean old clothes, I headed back out to paint.  The Zero-rust has a distinctive odor that I couldn't quite place.  But it wasn't bad and I didn't puke like I did with the drywall primer in the laundry room.  I grabbed an old brush and swabbed it on.  There were still areas of bondo that were rough and I worked the Zero-rust into all the nooks and crannies - yep, reminded me of an English muffin.  The late afternoon sun shines right in the windshield and was blinding, but by 4:15 I had finished.   

Back after Zero-rust	Back (above ) and Center hump (below)

When I put the new shop vac away, I noticed the box said it came with attachments.  Sam had just lifted it out the box and plugged it in.  Looking in the empty box, I noticed the flap said "Attachments may be shipped inside canister".   I opened the shop vac and under 4 - 6 inches of debris are wheels, tools, directions, and a warrantee.  Thanks for the chuckle, Sam!  I left the doors of the car open to air it out and called it a day.

Drivers floor (above)    Another view of center hump (below)	Passenger floor (above)   View from passenger's side (below)

I ordered delivery from the Italian restaurant while discovering Zero-rust doesn't wash off skin well.  Hopefully I can get a second coat on the car tomorrow and start wiring.  

11/11/01 - Woke up to rain at 7am and rain is forecast for all day....not a light rain - a heavy downpouring, windy, monsoon rain.  Definitely not working-on-car weather.   OK, one coat of Zero-rust will have to do.