Here's just some random stuff from lately.
I managed to score a whore of a scooter. This started as someones mom's scooter, then their sons, then their friends, another friends, lent and returned from another friend, then spent some time in a storage unit. 1984 Honda Spree, in the Canadian only 'Vista Blue'. It's a Heap. #1 lesson in scooters is DONT REMOVE THE AIR BOX. The tiny little 2 strokes don't do well as the carbs are purposely oversized and need the restriction the air box gives to run and idle properly. It does not make them faster to remove the air box, just louder and slower! This little example hasn't seen the road since 1992!
I've now officially owned 26 Corollas. An addiction to say the least. This happened to be E7 Liftback #4. First we had Betsy White, then we had Betsy Blue, then we had another white one, this time Betty White, and it only made sense to call this one; Black Betty.
Found abandoned in a car port by Kahla, we were lucky to find the owner standing outside! After a bit of chatting he agreed to meet with me the next day to take a look at the car and get it running. A battery, some gas and swapping one of the wheels out managed to get the car home. I then spent 2 days and nearly $200 cleaning the vomit, coffee, and cigarettes out of the damn thing!!! It was disgusting. What I was left with was the only factory Black E7 I'd ever seen. It had a strange interior as well, with integrated head rests, another first for me. Later on I was able to score a nice pair of remote adjustable factory chrome mirrors and B-pillar trim, two more obscurities I'd never owned on an E7 before.
Although kinda denty, it was an extremely low rust example, just look at those arches and rocker panels!!!
Steam cleaner in hand, I removed all the seats, and much of the interior trim and basically hosed, purple powered, and steam cleaned them over and over endlessly to get as much of the nasty guck out of this car. It was one of the dirtiest cars I'd ever owned, but it cleaned up decently! Here you can see the rare black and grey interior with the integrated head rests. The fabric reminds me of the early Japanese market E7s.
For what ever reason, and accidentally in tune with the black paint job, the car featured incorrect taillights. These 82-83 non-sport body
(2/4 door sedan) taillights were forcefully installed before even the previous owned ever had the car. They suited the exterior well, so they didn't stand out at all. Check out the passenger mirror, uncommon!
The engine bay cleaned up nicely as well!
Black Betty was solely acquired for use by my Mom who had flown across the country to visit me. It was her first ever vacation in almost 15 years! This Corolla was similar to the one her and I had when I was growing up, so I cleaned it up so she could get around during her trip, she was quite pleased when she arrived. :)
After she left I sold Black Betty, the money was filtered right into a new graphics rig. I've been dying to play with advanced 3D programs for a long time now, and had been itching to do it for a few years now!!!!! Finally I have something to express my ideas with. Immediately I began diving into design programs. A few years ago I used to sneak into the local college to use Solidworks on their computers. After a few weeks I managed to teach myself how to use the program. This was my first stop on my new rig. It's so nice to be at home and design at my own convenience without worry of being kicked out, or the cops called. lol
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