2018 Is gone. What did you do . .

Bought and saved a 87 Limited in February. Was sun rotting away in a desert yard since 2003. Home to many pack rats. Freshened up the motor and restored the engine bay along with a new fuel system. Bone stock other then E85 fuel. Got it to pass emissions and back on the road last month....Lots of work.View attachment 333388View attachment 333389View attachment 333390View attachment 333391View attachment 333392View attachment 333393View attachment 333395
Congrats to you my friend , I love seeing them being brought back from the dead , GREAT JOB
 
Hmmm, not much on the GN this year, in fact only made it to maybe 5 shows all year.

Personal life was a rolllercoaster. Got divorced in January which was actually a good thing! Shut down my biz for one month since it actually was in the ex's name. Started back up the day the divorce was final in my name. Planning to get married to my high school sweetheart which did happen in August. BUT unfortunately my best friend who was going to be my best man passed away 2 weeks before the wedding. Things have settled down now but helping out my friends wife to sell his Turbo T which will be on the board soon if she ever gets the probate paperwork back. Been hell at the day job where we had a sprinkler pipe burst the day after Thanksgiving, about 1,000,000 in damages. Sure hoping 2019 is a hum drum type of year!
Wow, hope this year is a lot better!
 
Let's see. Got some 18" GNX repros. Lost 3rd gear. Proceeded to take the trans apart myself and spent hours...and hours...and hours on the phone with Dave Husek who patiently walked me through putting it back together. So now I have a nice dual feed setup with his calibration, rebuilt converter, billet forward, etc, etc. Car is back on the road and kicking ass. Wooo!!!
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Let's see. Got some 18" GNX repros. Lost 3rd gear. Proceeded to take the trans apart myself and spent hours...and hours...and hours on the phone with Dave Husek who patiently walked me through putting it back together. So now I have a nice dual feed setup with his calibration, rebuilt converter, billet forward, etc, etc. Car is back on the road and kicking ass. Wooo!!!View attachment 333433
Good for you Man , David is a Great guy
 
Made it out to see fellow TR brothers at the two car shows James set up. Hit 11,000 miles on the way back from the last one.


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Wow Mark that was a big year, divorce is always sad but glad to see you found happiness with someone else, really sorry to hear about your friend. Unfortunately 2018 wasn't a good year for me either, personally. I lost my mom in Feb. It made me realize how precious time is and I guess motivated me to take up some hobbies I enjoy in life but have neglected over the past few years with work, family and other commitments.

In usual fashion I did nothing slow or easy and tackled several projects all at once.

In July I bought one of my close friends twin turbo Mustang that needed put it back together Ray and I got it running and started to sorting it out. We took it to BG and got some shake down runs on it and ended up getting to run 9.44@155 by the end of the season, which should be a mid 8 sec car when done. Planning to use it for Drag week next year if I dont sell it. If it does sell I am probably going to buy my old TSO car back which has been sitting in a garage in MI exactly like it was when I sold it in 2010.

I pulled the T-type out of mothballs and started working on it again and built a new offcenter S2 motor for it which I didn't get it back together in time for Bowling Green but went anyway with my good friend Ray, This was the first time in 7 years I've been back after not missing a year from 1996 to 2010!

After laying on my back under the t-type in October it dawned on me I am almost 50 and still don't have a garage or shop which is something I always wanted. So I said f'it called my buddy up who is a contractor he drew up some plans, pulled a permit and broke ground in Nov. I am now in the middle of putting a 1200sqft garage addition on the back of my house which should be done by the end of Jan. and for the first time I will have a place to keep and work on all my hot rods!

Fortunately it was a really big year for my business as we had the biggest year yet in 20 years of practice. I was able to spend a lot of time with my family this summer too. With being busy with family, work and hot rods it left little time for my other hobby, triathlons. This was the first year I didnt race or train very consistantly. Hoping to get something together for next year though but also planning to do Drag week and make it back to BG too, lol!!

So 2018 started off about as bad as it can get but ended on a really high note. I hope it continues through 2019!
 
Back in the spring I installed some Bilstein HD shocks and had a buddy who does exhaust fab reengineer my RJC cross flow exhaust to correct multiple clearance issues after the hanger broke off the muffler. He made the tailpipes semetrical, made the over axle pipe a tighter bend, and added a hanger to the passenger side for more support. Right after, I attended Kirban's open house and picked up one of the first drip lips and installed with some pig mat. In early summer I took my original T wheels to Alloy Wheel Repair in east Baltimore to have them restored (CNC machined, painted and cleared). Unfortunately in July we had an unusually high amount of rainfall in the mid Atlantic area which caused wide spread flooding issues and my basement flooded 4 times within a 3 week period. Since insurance wouldn't cover anything, I've been left with a huge bill to repair the damages which means the car is on the back burner for a few months at least. I was able to attend the east coast regionals at Cecil in September where the car received a top 10 award in the car show.
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Back in the spring I installed some Bilstein HD shocks and had a buddy who does exhaust fab reengineer my RJC cross flow exhaust to correct multiple clearance issues after the hanger broke off the muffler. He made the tailpipes semetrical, made the over axle pipe a tighter bend, and added a hanger to the passenger side for more support. Right after, I attended Kirban's open house and picked up one of the first drip lips and installed with some pig mat. In early summer I took my original T wheels to Alloy Wheel Repair in east Baltimore to have them restored (CNC machined, painted and cleared). Unfortunately in July we had an unusually high amount of rainfall in the mid Atlantic area which caused wide spread flooding issues and my basement flooded 4 times within a 3 week period. Since insurance wouldn't cover anything, I've been left with a huge bill to repair the damages which means the car is on the back burner for a few months at least. I was able to attend the east coast regionals at Cecil in September where the car received a top 10 award in the car show.
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You have a beautiful car my friend , I gotta get my T wheels done that way .
 
Built a lot of engines and trannys as well as a few cars, got my ass kicked by the stage smoker and numerous other projects along the way. Most guys are happy , but a few are not.
As I found that's part of doing business with the public if you do good work you will please most but not everyone just ask Richard Clark, just keep hammering away looks like you're doing pretty good, by the way what is the stage smoker
 
2019 brought new change for me. After almost 18 years working for a dealership, I quit because of lack of proper management and the fact that they put even the premier express techs all flat-rate, the work dynamic shifted negatively. I left and I am extremely happy in the new environment. I bought a new Snap-on triple bank tool box. Pulled the trigger on an impulse buy and bought an 84 Hurst/Olds. Hope 2019 will be great and stress-free
 
Going to try this E85 thing everyone is talking about..gathering parts as i type.
 
Going to try this E85 thing everyone is talking about..gathering parts as i type.
I've had this flex-fuel sensor in my tool box for over a year now. And I even pinned out the XFI for it and left 10 feet of whip under the dash for it a few years ago. The rest of my fuel system is already up to the task. Maybe this will be this winters project.

But I may not have the time. We'll see.
 
I've had this flex-fuel sensor in my tool box for over a year now. And I even pinned out the XFI for it and left 10 feet of whip under the dash for it a few years ago. The rest of my fuel system is already up to the task. Maybe this will be this winters project.

But I may not have the time. We'll see.
I figured why not there are 3 stations within 2 miles of my house that have it, if all goes well in one car i will put it in the other.
 
So who was more nervous?? You or her??? Lol!!


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LOL!! To be honest. Neither one of us.lol I don't hold any value in any materialistic item, I like the car, but I don't love it if that makes any sense, and she is a high level gymnast, so this is soothing for her. Just a great bonding moment. She has driven it about 11-12 times since then.
 
So who was more nervous?? You or her??? Lol!!


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LOL!! To be honest. Neither one of us.lol I don't hold any value in any materialistic item, I like the car, but I don't love it if that makes any sense, and she is a high level gymnast, so this is soothing for her. Just a great bonding moment. She has driven it about 11-12 times since then.

Well, you have one of (if not) THE Sexiest Turbo Buick’s out there. So, I’d probably be at least a little anxious / apprehensive.

Funny thing is my daughters had never really expressed much of an interest in driving, or even riding in my car, for that matter. That is, at least not until recently anyways. And I guess that’s because i haven’t driven it much since last summer, as my trans had finally started giving up the ghost in the 2-3 up shift. (The new trans is on the ground and ready to go now though). And oddly enough they’re starting to ask about when it’ll be ready??

Love your car, it’s the bomb!




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Lol, classic. Girls are funny, they don't see the value in things until somebody else does first. I picked her up from high school one day with my car. It got a ton of attention. Then she came out of the school to see a crowd around the car. So I threw her the keys infront of everyone, and she fired it up, cracked the throttle a couple times and drove us home. Apparently she was all over instagram that night driving away in my Buick ,and everyone was asking her a thousand and one questions the next day in school. Go figure...
 
Lol, classic. Girls are funny, they don't see the value in things until somebody else does first. I picked her up from high school one day with my car. It got a ton of attention. Then she came out of the school to see a crowd around the car. So I threw her the keys infront of everyone, and she fired it up, cracked the throttle a couple times and drove us home. Apparently she was all over instagram that night driving away in my Buick ,and everyone was asking her a thousand and one questions the next day in school. Go figure...

Lol! That’s hilarious! I bet she loved it!!

My oldest daughter could barely drive a stick, but insisted on driving my Rubicon to school one day. Well, some boys filmed her from the parking lot (climbing into it as it was lifted) and then stalling it out like six times trying to leave school in it. It was posted on you tube and that cured her from asking to drive it, for the most part. This is a senior pic of her and the Jeep, in the middle of the Tickfaw river.
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