Car Guy....

First thing Monday I dumped the black tank (8 days since the last dump), and then spent some time helping Tom do some finish work in the new garage.  I think I've mentioned before, but it bears repeating....I have about 40 gallons of black water capacity, and can go around 13-16 days without dumping, but when I must use the portable macerator pump I dump about every 8 days.......it takes a lot longer to dump using the macerator pump, so doing it every 8 days cuts that time in half, obviously.  Around Noon the UPS truck arrived with my replacement air filter, which I'll be installing on Thursday after we get back from our visit to the dentist in Yuma.

The new Detroit Diesel air filter.....24" long by 11" wide

Last year when we visited Tom and Darlene I had the opportunity to meet the legendary Dave Crouse (realhotrods.com) who had just moved to Wittmann, AZ from Colorado after retiring where he built a reputation, as well as vintage cars for a few decades.  At the time he was just in the process of having the first of two large garages built to house his car collection.  Now, almost a year later the second garage is almost finished and he has been steadily moving his car collection from Colorado to Arizona.  Tom had told me about a vintage top fuel dragster from the early 60's that Dave had brought out to Arizona, as well as other vintage Fords, so I was anxious to pay Dave a return visit.  Tom and I headed over to Dave's property around 12:30, and while Tom tried to install Dave's new HP printer on his computer Dave took me out to see the dragster.......it is still in one of his trailers awaiting the completion of the second garage, and it was difficult to get a good picture of it in the cramped confines of the trailer, but here is a picture of the partially restored 'Dead End Kids' top fuel dragster taken from the Real Hotrods website.  Dave found what remained of this dragster in New Jersey about 30 years ago.  At the time the body (aluminum) was destined for recycling in just a couple of days.  Dave traded a set of magnesium wheels for the dragster body, and then began to restore it to it's current state.  In it's day (early to mid 60's) this was one of the best at the quarter mile.

Dead End Kids top fuel dragster from the 60's

One of the coolest projects Dave has worked on was the restoration of the Norman Timbs Special one of a kind streamliner originally conceived, and built by Norman Timbs in the 1940's.  It was discovered rotting away in the California desert in 2002.  Ultimately the restoration of the aluminum body was handed over to Dave Crouse at Custom Auto in Loveland, CO.  Click on the link above to read about this amazing car!

Norman Timbs special....before and after

One of Dave's favorite automotive platforms is the iconic '32 Roadster by Ford.  He has at least three of these with him here in Arizona now......they are soooo cool.

'32 Roadster - one of Dave's favorite platforms

Tom and I spent about 2 hours with Dave while she regaled us with the stories behind each of his cars......to me the cars are amazing, but it is the individual stories that come with them that make them so interesting and memorable.  I didn't take any pictures of the roadsters as they were a little dirty from being transported, and Dave has not had time to get them all cleaned up yet.  

By the time we got back home it was closing in on 3 pm, so I spent the next hour working out, and then read until about 6 pm when we went inside for dinner with Tom and Darlene.

Another first Saturday lived well......thanks for stopping by!