Casey Family Build Thread (coupe)

[John Dol]

Mike,

Thanks I PM'd him to see if I can get some answers.
A little at a time will get you there eventually. I've been doing the same thing. We'll see you there one way or another with or without my car I'd like to go. Everyone should be wearing a t-shirt with their screen name on it for identification!

John

[QSL]

we have always thought the same. Plus we are wicked bad with names!

[MRSQSL]

I think I may have suggested the name thing last year. They give you a badge, so why not put your screen name on it too?!

I don't think I could get a wink of sleep if my car was on a trailer in a hotel parking lot. If I had the garage space, I'd offer to put you up here. I hope things work out. Looking forward to meeting you and I'd love to ogle your coupe if you can find a way to get it here.

[John Dol]

that's a good idea about the name tag, and easy for me!

john

[MRSQSL]

Update:

After spending a little bit of time straightening up the garage, it was time to dive back into car building. In this case, brake bleeding. When we left off last, we bled and bled and bled and bled, but still had soft brakes. Mike was certain if we tried again after all this time, it would magically work. Yeah and unicorns are sleeping in my closet. Mike agreed to do the hard part if I'd sit in the car and press/hold/release the pedal. Sounded easy enough until I realized he wasn't going to lower the lift. This required a ladder and some climbing and holding back gobs of fear since I'm afraid of heights. I shimmied into the seat and pedal mashed. It didn't take long before the bubbles escaped and the brakes were firm. How is this possible?! I need to go check my closet. Mike suggested it was simply because the car sat for so long, the air settled and was easily released. That or the car cried out all the air while sitting lonely and abandoned in the garage all these months. Poor little helpless car.

That was about the extent of my helpfulness. Over the next few nights (while I ran errands and took care of the crap life dishes up), Mike was able to suffer through his agonizing commute and still somehow have enough oomph to spend some time in the garage. He ground down the side rear cockpit panels in an attempt to mash them in. Those side impact bars don't get along with any of the original panels. Everything needs some persuading. It took several nights, but he got the driver's side whittled down and told me to drill one hole while he held it in place and then I could use a cleco to hold it in. Again, easy enough. Perhaps it would've gone flawlessly if the drill had been fully charged. I guess after letting sit idle for all those months, it drained itself. I was able to get the hole drilled, but it took every ounce of strength and pleading with the battery.

Another day or two of work passed and Mike announced he was ready to drill and cleco that same spot but on the other side. This time the drill was charged and ready. I grabbed it, skedaddled into place and began to drill. Wait, I'm having to do this sort of left handed and I have the strength of a small lap dog. Mike has one arm on either side of me so I tell him I'm going to push back against his chest to try to get leverage. Imagine my surprise when he decided to use his chest to shove back and I nearly head butted the frame. All in all it was a very pleasant experience and I'd like to suggest that all future holes be drilled with his arms around me for support.

That's the last we/he accomplished, but the plan is to try to get those two panels drilled so all the cockpit metal can get sent off for powder coating.

[68GT500MAN]

It has been soooo looong since an update, I almost forgot howmuch fun you put into the build Julie. Glad that progress is being made each day and it will add up. See you two at HB.
Doug

[xlr8or]

11034271_779127145499227_390653253685057727_n.jpg

[QSL]

Spoke to the Batman this morning. Going to drop the dash off to get paint. Hope to have a nice canvas for Pete to sign!!

[143point9]

Hey QSL, I read your roadster build and that is a awesome car! You and the MRS really did it up right. I was wondering how you did the carbon fiber parts? I would like to add some CF parts to my roadster build. Were they solid pieces or some sort of laminate you covered the metal with? I'm posting here because I 'm not sure if you are still using the other build thread.Thanks, Jim

[QSL]

Thanks for the kind comments. The material is real carbon fiber, but very thin. I then glued it to the metal parts and trimmed. They came out great and have held up quite well. Here is a link to the exact product I used...http://dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=12

[QSL]

Julie just dropped off the dash to be painted. Jeff says that he is going to drop everything and stop on everyones projects there right now and finish up that dash for us. Sorry guys, hope nobody wanted their car back soon. LOL.

[143point9]

Also, my birthday is the 18th of this month and Mike got me an early present. At first I thought he was a little strange, but after trying it out...I'm in love. He bought me a Chicago Pneumatic riveter. No, that's not a Harbor Freight brand. It's an amazing riveter that is so smooth and it catches the rivets and I can't say enough wonderful things about it. I held it and petted it and talked to it and I'm very possessive so expect to lose a few fingers if you try to touch it without my permission. Just saying...

Hello Julie, I just got to this point in your build thread and have to ask, what model of Chicago Pneumatic riveter did your hubby get you? I too have the HF one and am not happy with it at all. I was going to rob the parts out of my hand riveter like you did to see if I could get it to work better, but if this one is so much better, another tool to add to the collection sounds in order. Thanks.

[MRSQSL]

IMG_0554.jpg

I went out in the garage and took a picture. Hopefully I added it correctly. Sorry it took me so long to respond.

I still adore the riveter. Best. Tool. Ever. In case the picture doesn't come out, it looks like a D01268-2012

[pavieSD]

Looks like they updated this model and the newer one is CP9882. Found an amazon link here:

http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Pneuma.../dp/B00BK771TU

Mark

[QSL]

we purchased this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Pneuma...GXVBF8JEW5NX66

[QSL]

we purchased this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Chicago-Pneuma...GXVBF8JEW5NX66

[143point9]

Thanks Julie. Thanks Mark. When I expanded the picture you can see it is model CP9883. Also found it on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PE21F4/...I3I466GZ8J5B8V

[MRSQSL]

Sorry. Someone was knocking on the front door when I was out taking the picture. Didn't have time to look. You are right about the model number. Oops. Whatever it is...LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[143point9]

I should have refreshed the page before I posted my last reply. Thanks for the confirmation Mike. And good luck at HBCI with your 2 awesome cars!

[MRSQSL]

Update:

Sorry. I was supposed to do this Monday, but you know how time can get away from you? Yeah.

I ended up going out in the garage before Mike got home one evening so I could take the gauges and knobs and goodies out of the dash. The lift was still up, but not as high as before so no ladder was needed. I hefted myself up and started undoing. Several of the gauges allowed me to remove them with little to no issue. Three were jerks and refused to release their death grips. I was able to remove the ignition as well. The headlights, though, were impossible. I unscrewed everything I could find with no luck. Fortunately, Mike returned for the evening and remembered the trick. Push down on something while you pull and/or twist. I was going to resort to a hammer next. As for the gauges, he told me I'd have to take the entire dash out first in order to get a better grip. Sigh. I went on one side and he stayed on the other and we undid all the nuts. The darn dash didn't want to let go. He was telling me to bash it with the back of a screwdriver, but I couldn't get enough force. After nearly squishing fingers, he handed me a mallet. Jerk. Why didn't he give me that before? A couple smacks and the dash surrendered. We got it off and he was able to get the gauges out.

After some discussion, Mike suggested I have the dash painted the same color as the center of the wheels. Maybe.

At some point during the week I drove out to Da Bat Cave. It was great to see Jeff again. He's busy which is wonderful, although his aching back may not agree. We chatted for a bit and then he asked about color. We looked at the wheels. He could tell I wasn't excited. I seem to recall a comment about being a woman and therefore having an opinion. He's a very smart man.

Jeff handed me a book of colors and asked what I liked. Oooooh!!! That one (insert pointy finger). We discussed briefly that it looked very similar to my truck and whether it would be too dark, too light or too (insert wild crazy hand motions). Jeff stared at me momentarily and figured out I was trying to say "blingy". Yes. Blingy. He speaks "crazy woman" well. In short, we went out and looked at my truck door sticker to see the color and that's what he will be painting the dash. I'm very excited and he promises it'll look great. It should be done in a couple weeks. Now I need to figure out what color to have Peter use to sign it. Well, I suppose it's more important to persuade him to autograph it...

The only other progress was made by Mike. While I was out galavanting around, he was slaving in the garage. He sliced the trunk aluminum so he could get it in around the x bars. It looks really nice and we've discussed hidden compartments. No consensus yet, but we'll get there.

Nothing has been accomplished this week because Alyssa is home from college and we've been hanging out with her ("hanging out" makes us sound much cooler than we really are). BUT, I think we are going to be home most of the day Sunday and it is designated as Coupey Day.

[MRSQSL]

And good luck at HBCI with your 2 awesome cars!

Actually, we are only taking one car this year - Coupey. It's too much work to bring both. I told Mike I had no issues if he wanted to drive Scoopy. I could tow a trailer (did it last year), but he was content to only bring one.

[xlr8or]

Glad to see you making progress Julie. The closer you get to the finish line the more you will find time and energy to work on it.

Can't wait to see it done.

[MRSQSL]

Sunday didn't work out exactly as planned. We did work on the car, but not much. Mike is having all sorts of issues with his neck and actually ended up at urgent care last night.

I drilled all the holes in the aluminum for the flat trunk panel (now two panels since Mike cut it), but now I have to drill into the frame so I can attach the panels. Mike started cutting out the battery area and a storage cubby. It felt really good to be outside working and the weather was warm and pleasant in the evening. I wanted to get everything done during the week, but it hasn't worked out yet. I know I've got other stuff to do the rest of this week after work, so maybe I can steal a few hours on Sunday. Sorry this is so short and unexciting, but there's not much to tell. Drilling holes in aluminum isn't all that difficult. I would've caused the safety police to have heart failure on Sunday when I pulled an office chair under the lift to mark the bars and decided to put me feet up and enjoy the breeze and the comfort for a bit. It wasn't for long and the lift was in the locked position. Don't yell at me. Nothing happened and I won't do it again. I wore glasses and gloves and had my hair up and had real shoes on while I worked. That should count for something.

[Carlos C]

Mike:

Hope that you're feeling better. Coming from someone with a bad spine, I feel your pain. Hopefully, it won't delay this build, like mine. Wish you a speedy recovery. Hey, at least you could have Julie do all the work for you on Coupey while you sit on a recliner in the garage, with an ice pack on your neck, barking out orders... Just saying.

Carlos

Carlos

[MRSQSL]

Hey now. No suggestions that put me in the line of fire. He can sit on the recliner with an ice pack, but he also needs to make me an ice cold drink and rub my feet. That sounds really pleasant. Let's go do it now!!!!!!!

[CraigS]

Make sure Mike gets to a specialist. I had bone spurs in my neck about 5 yrs ago that made my shoulder (spur rubbing on a nerve) hurt enough to bring tears. Spent 2 months taking a prescription pill before going to bed and setting the alarm to take another at 130am. Did the alarm thing after I realized that if I waited for the pain to wake me it was at least an hour before the pill fixed it. Did double (triple a few days) doses of Tylenol during the day so I could still work. Turned out that a series of three very specialized shots in my neck (me knocked out and on a table w/ live xray to guide the doc to place the needle) fixed it. And, if they recommend exercise, do them religiously until at least a month after he feels all better. I searched the web for neck surgery and the pics were super scary so I am real grateful the shots fixed it. Best wishes.
PS: I am really glad to see you guys back working on your coupe.

[MRSQSL]

Thanks for the info. That sounds miserable! Thank goodness you got relief. Mike has seen a specialist, but he didn't want to do anything other than send him to PT. Mike did PT with his previous doctor and it didn't work. I can't convince him to try it again now that we have Kaiser. I feel terrible for everyone suffering with back and neck pain. It's incredibly hard to watch him and I so want to take the pain for him (at least for awhile to give him a break - don't think I could handle it long term). I wish I had a magical solution so he'd never have to go through this again. Do you know what kind of shots you had? Maybe it's something I could research. As far as I know he doesn't have bone spurs, just herniated disks. It seems like something is causing a pinched nerve and he has pain all down one of his arms (sometimes both). He describes it as the pain after you smash your funny bone on something. I can't even imagine. Poor guy.

[Rodster]

Julie -
Now we need videos to go with these updates.

Looking forward to seeing you and Mike in HB!

[Colonist]

Now I need to figure out what color to have Peter use to sign it. Well, I suppose it's more important to persuade him to autograph it...

I don't know what color your dash is (or your truck), but this may be a more interesting question than you think. If my own experience is any indication, he prefers to sign stuff in anything but black. In fact, I wound up giving him my anything-but-black Sharpie so he could use it on other people's stuff, too. So find a pleasing color for him (and you) and maybe he'll sign with an extra flourish!

[QSL]

nice tip. thanks!

[MRSQSL]

Wow, I had no idea he disliked signing in black. I can't thank you enough for that. I'd vote for purple since it's my favorite color, but somehow I just don't think it would match any of the rest of the car. My truck is a charcoal/anthracite sort of color if that's any help. Maybe silver would be a good choice since the frame is silver.

I worked on the car a smidge Sunday. Mike was supervising both builds. I was in the garage drilling a bajillion holes in the trunk aluminum and Steve was in the driveway removing the turbo from the Grand National. Hopefully Mike will post a couple pictures of both.

What can I say? There isn't anything exciting about drilling holes. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.

The turbo was much more interesting. 1) If you ever decide to take one out, undo all the oddly placed bolts that make you contort oddly to reach them and then yank really, really hard. The corrugated looking hose thing underneath is not attached. You can pry the turbo out if you are packing enough muscle. 2) The fins in the turbo were destroyed. Some were chipped/ripped apart. Mike is concerned metal got into the engine. There was also oil everywhere. Yuck. Steve did a great job, but didn't have enough time to put the new one in. The project for tonight is to remove the things from the old turbo that will be needed for the new turbo. Mike can then send it back for a refund on the core charge. Steve will have to clean and paint the old pieces though. Looking in the engine, I really wanted to climb in and paint the headers and other assorted pieces and parts. It would be a lot of fun, but not worth pulling the engine at this point.

Mike is doing better, but his neck is still a problem. I'm concerned about what's going to happen after the pain meds are gone. If the stupid nerve would just unpinch itself, I think he'd feel a whole lot better. Fingers crossed something magical happens over the next day or two.

[CraigS]

I wish I knew what those shots were but I don't. Funny part was I would lie face down on the table and they would start the stronger anesthesia and tell me to count backwards from 100. I would usually get to about 95. It was the second in the series of three that I woke up back in the little room sitting upright but somewhat reclined and finally asked how the heck did I get from that table to this chair. The nurse says ..oh we have a really strong guy working here.. Made me feel kind of creepy. I recommend what you are already thinking Julie, find a different doc. If they haven't done an MRI that is step #1.

[turbonut48]

Mike, get an MRI to confirm Discs. Get the Dr. to prescribe steroids.
I had broncitis and coughed so hard I displaced TWO discs. The steroids helped within 4 days.

Good Luck.

The Nut

[MRSQSL]

He had an MRI several years (guessing five) ago and it confirmed four herniated discs in his cervical spine. I would like him to have another to see if there has been any change. In the past, he has had a steroid injection and a morphine injection. He's had PT and lots of pain meds, muscle relaxants, and anti-inflammatory drugs. I just made him another appointment with the doctor, but she had no openings until April 20th. Sigh. You used to be able to get into Kaiser within a day or two. Now it's like a month. He's feeling better today and is going to try to go without pain meds. Fingers crossed. We appreciate the concern and the suggestions. If you have any more ideas, let us know.

[QSL]

Thanks everyone. I actually feel much better today. Just a little sore. I hope the trend continues and I feel 100% in the next couple days. I have a ton of projects I need to get done!

Here are some pics.

[Big Blocker]

Julie,

Speaking as someone that has had two back surgeries, my suggestion is to see a neuro-surgeon, not an orthopedic surgeon. Both times I had to have herniated discs repaired, it was done by a neuro-surgeon. Today, I'm almost perfect with no long lasting effects after a day or two in the garage working on the Cobra.

Now I realize that my condition isn't cervical, more spinal, but the herniation has the same effect - discs move and pull on the nerves flowing down your neck/spine. Mine was bad enough that I could not function at all without mega-pain killers until the surgery(s). Get a current MRI and see a nerve Dr., not a bone Dr. . . . this is a nerve issue, bones do NOT feel anything.

Mike . . . GET BETTER!!! I'll bring some "pain killer" in a brown paper bag . . . we can "suffer" together. LOL!

See Ya at HB.

Doc

[Rodster]

QSL -

Mike - get better - and I will see y'all in HB.

[MRSQSL]

I've been meaning to update for a couple days. I don't have anything about the car. Mike worked on it a little last night, but that will be for next week's update. I did have a very exciting weekend though.

After celebrating Alyssa's 19th birthday, we were roaming around outside the cabin when Dan came down with a big tractor he's borrowing. When it was time for him to go back up to his cabin, he offered me a ride on it. Um, yeah! Wow, tractors are huge. I guess "tractor" isn't the correct word. I think it's more of an excavator maybe? Big, yellow with a giant bucket out front. Anyway, I had a ton of fun even though I didn't think we were going to fit through the gates despite the fact he'd already passed unharmed at least a dozen times throughout the day. He was also borrowing a bobcat and he was nice enough to bring it down to help us lift an old refrigerator into the back of the pickup. Once done, he offered to let me try it. Panic. I SO wanted to, but I was terrified. I got hooked in and turned on the ignition. As Dan was explaining the controls, the adrenaline rushed. I changed my mind. Let me out!!!!! He assured me I'd be fine. Yeah, but there aren't any brakes. I started going and was shocked to discover it was one of the most fun things I've ever done. Sure I was jerking around during turns because I didn't realize you had to be a little more fluid with the levers. Still...there was something about going that slowly and seeing the bucket move. I want to drive a bobcat for a living now. Maybe not. I want to drive a bobcat for a hobby. We should buy one. Except I can't ever use it alone because I can't release myself from that safety bar. I think everyone laughed at my feeble attempts before Dan came over to rescue me.

So then Sunday morning I got to do something on my bucket list. For Christmas, Mike bought me a ride in an Indy car. There are not words to describe how much fun that is. When we got to California Speedway and I saw the Indy cars on the track, it looked like they were going about freeway speed. Vroooooooooooom. No big deal. After getting the helmet and neck brace thing and climbing over the wall, I was told to climb a little ladder thing and put my right foot in first. I had a lot more space than I expected and was a little afraid the belts weren't going to get tight enough. Nothing to fear. The two men doing the safety stuff mushed me firmly into the seat, attached the fake steering wheel, patted me on the helmet and told me to have fun. Off we sped. I expected it to take at least half a lap to get up to speed. Nope. I'd say it took a few feet. The first turn was terrifying. Who am I kidding? All the turns were terrifying. I don't understand what keeps that car on the track. I looked everywhere for duct tape or super glue, but I guess down forces and geometry, etc are the cause. It was so much fun. SO MUCH FUN. I couldn't stop smiling!!!!!!!!! Someone in line had asked how fast the cars go. 170. Yeah, right. They look like maybe 90. Once you are firmly implanted in that seat and the driver takes off, it becomes immediately clear that 170 is probably accurate. I was so short, it was difficult for me to see out. I had my head back since the helmet was so heavy and I didn't want to do any permanent neck damage. I couldn't see well and the visor hadn't closed all the way so the wind was flapping my eyelashes wildly and I couldn't keep my eyes open entirely. I picked my head up so now I could mostly see out, but it felt like the helmet was being ripped up into space. Thank goodness they had tightened the strap securely. It was only 3 laps, but it was the best 3 laps ever. I wanted to thank the driver after we returned, but the crew was trying to whisk me away so I had to sort of twist out of their grasp so I could whip around and scream/holler a huge thank you with a violent happy wave. I was directed back over the wall so they could dismantle my safety outfit and then I was released. I race/skipped back to Mike and nearly knocked him down. The joy was oozing out of me. What a great gift!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone should do it (if you don't have back or neck pain). So. Much. Fun. Mike has pictures, so hopefully he'll post a few. So now I have uber respect for anyone that races on a track. It's fun, but absolutely terrifying. I know real Indy cars go faster, but I have no clue how the drivers can handle that. If you told me I had to go over 100mph, you'd find me down in the bottom of the cockpit hiding. No thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

[xlr8or]

LOL. At least in that car the driver didn't have to hear you scream like I did and we only hit about 100.

.

[cozmacozmy]

My "bucket list" item was this back in 2007, I had won a raffle to go for a 45 minute ride in this P51 Mustang. We were doing just over 300mph with loops, and rolls. The adrenalin rush was off the chart!