What have you done to your car today?

extremedave said:
Our sister shop D&M Automotive, and Wall Automotive (both in Rockaway) are both good.
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Was hoping you might weigh in, both have great reviews thanks for sharing. The code is currently not showing, but let's see what happens on the ride home today. Will head over and see if I they can get the code from the history.
 
Not really what was done today....this one took almost a year...

Bought this car in 1984....drove it until July 13,1987, when it needed some work to keep it roadworthy...married a year later, started having kids, and it has sat in the garage since 1987...

When the wife got her new kitchen last year, and I was turning 60, I guess she felt bad and said "We should get the car done!" I know that when you get that OK, you proceed IMMEDIATELY!

Had a friend of mine that has been doing hot rod/resto mod stuff for a long time, and he picked the car up in August of last year. I had no idea what kind of rabbit (or in this case mouse/rat) hole we were going to start down.

Got it back today, just in time for my sons' wedding this weekend....These are the before pics....
 

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mfennell said:
That's awesome. I see a modern AC compressor so I imagine it's pretty usable too.
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Correct! After years of thinking "It's got to be all original", and talking with Jeff (the guy who did the work, and has been doing hot rod/resto mod work for 20+ years), I realized that I really wanted a safe, reliable, useable car...and one that I can pass down to my kids. We upgraded the brakes to 4 wheel disc Wilwoods, all new power steering (it was an original power steering/power brake car from '57, but those old systems were trashed and I wanted it to actually work!). Modern AC system, upgraded to 15" wheels/tires, heavy duty radiator/cooling, added the optional back up lights, etc. Retro sound radio that looks OG, but has bluetooth and Sirius, and added dual exhaust. Stayed with the original interior codes (all new inside,) the all new wiring harness, (old stuff was just cooked), and he polished all the original stainless and chrome trim (about 85% of the brightwork is original to the car). Still plan on upgrading the gauges to something OG looking, but updated with the ability to monitor more systems and upgrading the rear bumper to a nicer one.

It was funny when my 31 year old son pointed to the lighter and said "What does that do?"

Used it in my sons wedding today....it was an amazing dream come true for the family...We will be cruising Somerville on Fridays coming up...
 
cfrone1 said:
Correct! After years of thinking "It's got to be all original", and talking with Jeff (the guy who did the work, and has been doing hot rod/resto mod work for 20+ years), I realized that I really wanted a safe, reliable, useable car...and one that I can pass down to my kids. We upgraded the brakes to 4 wheel disc Wilwoods, all new power steering (it was an original power steering/power brake car from '57, but those old systems were trashed and I wanted it to actually work!). Modern AC system, upgraded to 15" wheels/tires, heavy duty radiator/cooling, added the optional back up lights, etc. Retro sound radio that looks OG, but has bluetooth and Sirius, and added dual exhaust. Stayed with the original interior codes (all new inside,) the all new wiring harness, (old stuff was just cooked), and he polished all the original stainless and chrome trim (about 85% of the brightwork is original to the car). Still plan on upgrading the gauges to something OG looking, but updated with the ability to monitor more systems and upgrading the rear bumper to a nicer one.

It was funny when my 31 year old son pointed to the lighter and said "What does that do?"

Used it in my sons wedding today....it was an amazing dream come true for the family...We will be cruising Somerville on Fridays coming up...
Click to expand...
Hi, can you PM me the shop (Jeff) this was done? I assume you were happy with the work and congrats on your son's wedding.
 
cfrone1 said:
Correct! After years of thinking "It's got to be all original", and talking with Jeff (the guy who did the work, and has been doing hot rod/resto mod work for 20+ years), I realized that I really wanted a safe, reliable, useable car...and one that I can pass down to my kids. We upgraded the brakes to 4 wheel disc Wilwoods, all new power steering (it was an original power steering/power brake car from '57, but those old systems were trashed and I wanted it to actually work!). Modern AC system, upgraded to 15" wheels/tires, heavy duty radiator/cooling, added the optional back up lights, etc. Retro sound radio that looks OG, but has bluetooth and Sirius, and added dual exhaust. Stayed with the original interior codes (all new inside,) the all new wiring harness, (old stuff was just cooked), and he polished all the original stainless and chrome trim (about 85% of the brightwork is original to the car). Still plan on upgrading the gauges to something OG looking, but updated with the ability to monitor more systems and upgrading the rear bumper to a nicer one.

It was funny when my 31 year old son pointed to the lighter and said "What does that do?"

Used it in my sons wedding today....it was an amazing dream come true for the family...We will be cruising Somerville on Fridays coming up...
Click to expand...
Looks beautiful! I need to get to one of the Friday shows. Hope to see it there!
 
The minivan started making a scraping noise during left turns. Sounded like a brake shield on a rotor... question is which wheel?

LF wheel off. Everything looks fine.

LR off. I think we've found our culprit...

20250721_171322.jpg

Two 18mm bolts holding the caliper removed and now we can see what we're dealing with.

20250721_172101.jpg

A bit of pry-bar action and that looks better...

20250721_172250.jpg

Caliper torqued back on. Wheels torqued and a quick test drive. No more noise. Yay.

About an hour of sweaty work, but honestly took less time than taking it to the shop to fix. And obviously much less expensive.
 
Another darkening of the Yukon.

This time it was the high mounted brake light. The see-through lens, and reflective diffuser were not doing it for me.
I could just make it simple and add tint, but NO! I found a smoked lens direct replacement.

Before

IMG_9169.JPG

After

IMG_9182.JPG

I know. 90 minutes in the heat. But my cost was only about $10 - I see it.
A few more chrome delete items are arriving soon!
 
Patrick said:
Another darkening of the Yukon.

This time it was the high mounted brake light. The see-through lens, and reflective diffuser were not doing it for me.
I could just make it simple and add tint, but NO! I found a smoked lens direct replacement.

Before

View attachment 265645

After

View attachment 265634

I know. 90 minutes in the heat. But my cost was only about $10 - I see it.
A few more chrome delete items are arriving soon!
Click to expand...


i cant see a difference . . . .
 
Mice have been getting into my car through the cabin filter for years. This is the second dead dessicated mouse this summer. I get them mostly in the winter. I hear peppermint oil deters rodents, so I ordered some from Amazon and will spray the filter when I replace it tomorrow. Anyone else have this issue and how do you address it?
1000003199.jpg1000003198.jpg
 
1speeder said:
Mice have been getting into my car through the cabin filter for years. This is the second dead dessicated mouse this summer. I get them mostly in the winter. I hear peppermint oil deters rodents, so I ordered some from Amazon and will spray the filter when I replace it tomorrow. Anyone else have this issue and how do you address it?
View attachment 265730View attachment 265731
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I had them in the air filter of my metro every spring. Never tried to block them.
Maybe hit the entrance with the oil too.

They can get though such a small space
 
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