TOWER SHOPS Friday Nith Cruise 01/08/2010

ROAD TEST! The first LONG drive of 16336

*Special thanks to Ozzie and Brian for a great morning!*

Sunday, November 29, 2009

I have never really put the car on a long drive. The furthest it has gone has been to Hollywood to my mom's condo via surface streets. I have never fully highway'd the car for a long period of time or for a long distance.

Ozzie had called me to see if i was interested in pushing my luck...haha. Since he had done some work on his car, and his son was down from college, why not see what would happen? At least with another driver with me, if anything had happened, I would not be too worried.

Brian came in driving his Mk II Supra, and Ozzie came with his car:




Brian's AMAZINGLY clean Mk II. This will serve as the camera car that Ozzie will be driving as he shoots the pictures.



The first picture of our cars together, as mine has never really been "done" enough to drive like I wanted. Ozzie's car is on the left, i'm on the right. Notice how LOW my car is compared to the stock height of Ozzie's car.



All three Sunday morning cruisers.





This is the first time i've ever seen the outside of my car while on the road! I'm the low car on the right. This could turn out to be the world's SLOWEST drag race....




It DRIVES!!! I-75 west bound on the way to US-27. Notice my custom door ding. It makes the car faster....



Ozzie's VERY clean car, with his lead footed son driving :D




This is only the 2nd time I have ever put gas in the car!



I-595 West Bound right before the 75 exchange. You can really see how low my car is. PERFECT.



Probably my favorite picture. Ozzie is a GREAT photographer! All this while driving!



Time to turn around and head south.


The results: My car and Ozzie's car were 100% perfect on this trip. Not one hiccup, not one issue. All in all, we drove for about 45 minutes straight, really stretching the legs of the cars. Brian's Supra was surprisingly quick, because I can see who he inherited his lead foot from! haha!

This was a GREAT morning for a drive! Very fun, great weather, and good friends. What can be better?

DETAIL: A full exterior detail of the car for the first time

After the headlight install, I decided since the car was 100% road worthy and safe, it was time to blend the panels and give it a proper bath.

No real secrets, just wash and detail, plus some nice shots. Enjoy!








Notice the sign behind the car: 'Future' Resident Parking... get it?!? Sigh...


Now for a comparison: This is the day I brought the car home... May, 2009...

INSTALLATION: Silverstar Headlights

Special thanks to Joe and Melissa for loaning me their garage once again! Without them, I'd be lost.

I spent time running around to different auto parts stores back in September, 2009 to find Silverstar headlights. The advantages are a cleaner beam of light, versus the yellowed water-filled lights that were currently on the car.

I purchased the low beams from Autozone off of 441 and Broward Blvd, and the High Beams from Pep Boys on Sunrise Blvd.




Here is Joe starting to remove the stripped screws from the passenger side. His screw driver was perfect for biting into the stripped heads.




My headlight buckets were no where as bad as I thought they would be. I will actually re-furbish the entire assembly later on in the future. Right now, they will hold up just fine.




One lesson we both learned: Both of our hands are too big for the tiny stainless steel screws used to hold the lens rings in place. There are now little screws rattling around in my fascia somewhere... oh well! That's restoration for ya!

Budget building 101... trade, barter, sell... keep your overhead LOW!

Im a firm believer that you can get deals if you are patient and wait around. That's exactly what I did.

I was contacted by a guy off of facebook asking if I was interested in buying some DeLo parts for cheap. Sure! Why the hell not? I asked him what he had, and literally he had MOST of what I needed.

When asking what he wanted for the parts, he told me he was in dire need of a decent laptop. PERFECT! I have a laptop that was only a few months old that I really wasn't using as much as I thought I would be, so what better way to get parts?!? I selected the following parts:

- 140 mph speedo
- battery tie down strap
- aftermarket steering wheel collar
- all new side marker lenses
- hood emblem
- grille emblem
- black DMCH seat covers (new)
- NEW black DMC dash
- NEW ORIGINAL binnacle- black
- L and R door escucheons
- Ashtray
- DMC shirts
- NEW mirror switch
- Driver's side metal door handle
- DMC Banner/flag
- issues of DeLoreans magazine
- Aftermarket steering wheel
- Engine cover hinges
- Interior lights
- Glove box lid
- Rearview mirror

...and some other miscellaneous items.

I drove up to Orlando to scout schools, and while on the trip, headed to pick up the parts. The transaction was very smooth, and he took me to his warehouse to get the stuff. He said he got most of this stuff from an owner when he sold his car. The parts came with the car he was picking up. Pretty awesome score for me!

This really kept purchasing costs down.

I purchased the following:

1. dwell meter from Sears for $20.93
2. Long allen wrench set from Sears $12.99

total for that trip to sears: $33.92

Harbor freight has become my new Sunday morning cruise spot. Even if i dont buy anything, I like to just go walk around. Ozzie has been joining me lately, so company is always good!

Only 3 months since my last update?!?

Hello all. Yes, it has been an entire three months since my last update. i will try to do better, but I am also a full time student as well as holding down a full-time job, so taking the time to write out everything kinda takes a back seat.

So, with that being said, I will update the blog this weekend with all new pics, stories, and budget updates.