Dia De Los Muertos: The Dead Lives Again! (almost)

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Volkswagens.  My first car was a 1968 VW Beetle.  I continue to be drawn into the 'old volks' world again and again.  In the past few years I've owned two different bug's a 1964 and a 1966.  I enjoyed both and miss them both but I have a restless soul and I've moved on.

Several months ago as I was sifting through Craigslist I came across a car I knew.  Or at least I thought I knew.  The car in question was a 1960 Karmann Ghia coupe.  I had seen it before when I visited the owner who owns and operates a local VW suspension fabrication company.  It was his personal car that he had built a narrowed air bag beam for it.  It had an awesome patina to it and someone had clear coated over the patina to preserve it.  He had put VW Thing wheels and lower profile tires and an extremely unusual interior.  The interior is essentially a mexican blanket that was trimmed by a local upholstery shop to create a very colorful interior.  The interior, the patina and the stance 'make' the car.  It was special.

I saw the car listed and I contacted the owner.  I went to see the car and I brought a trailer and cash with me 'just in case' I decided to buy it.  Well I bought it.  My original thought was, it wasn't going to take much to get it on the road.  I was wrong.  It's taken a lot.

One of my friends who is an old school VW guy told me "Dude that this is a bigger project then your think it is and it's going to snowball on you and turn into a huge project."  He was right.  But even so, I love this car.  I am still in the process of resurrecting it and getting it back on the road.

The car needed the following: rear shocks, new wheel cylinders all the way around, new brake shoes on the front and back, new bearings, all the drums were turned, new brake lines all the way around.  The air ride beam and bag were installed but it needed everything else installed.  Luckily it came with most of the needed parts and luckily I have a friend who is extremely mechanically inclined. My friend set up the air-compressor, air tank, lines, solenoid, air tank, switch etc.  I bought a new battery and purchased a used 1300cc motor for the car as the original motor was seized.

The car is almost complete and I am really looking forward to driving it around town.  If I own it long enough it might make it to the 2014 Bugorama, but who knows.  Below are some pics of the car, enjoy!

G T Oooohhhh hell yes!!!

I've been on a bit of a frenzy lately with my car buying selling trading etc. To make a long story short I finally sold my trusted 2003 Toyota Tundra access cab. That was a great truck that never left me down and I miss it. I bought a 2003 Honda Element to replace my pick up. The element was a good enough car/suv whatever but it was A) No fun whatsoever and B) Didn't get all that great of gas mileage like I thought it would. I sold that for a few dollars more then I paid and moved on. I then traded my 2005 Harley Davidson wide glide for a clean and fast 1966 Ford Mustang coupe. What made the car fast was a 351 Cleveland big block with the 4v heads. That car haaaauled ass! It also had a 4 speed in it, really fun to drive! I sold that car for a nice chunk of cash (more then I had into my bike so I was happy). I also sold my 1967 Chevy Chevelle Malibu 'Nadine'. She will be missed. I actually lost a few dollars on that deal but such is life. My main reason for selling the Mustang and the Malibu was #1 I didn't really like driving either car everyday or when it was hot (no AC in both cars and Stockton can get into the triple digits in the summer time). I looked around for a while on what I was going to buy next and my needs were this: 1) Must go fast 2) Must have A/C 3) Must go fast 4) Must look good doin it. I've always wanted a Corvette so that's where my search began. I know, I'm 35 so I'm a little young to be buying an 'old guy car' but the older I get the more I find that those 'old guys' seem to know what they're talking about. I was looking at C5's and preferably a Z06. I found a really nice black one in nearby Rio Vista for $25K at a Chevy Dealership (Abel Chevrolet to be exact). I called and asked about the car and came close to driving out to look/buy it. I continued my search as I wanted something a little cheaper but I wanted an LS2 and a 6 speed transmission. Then I had an idea. Whats cheaper then a C5 Z06 Corvette but has the same motor? The 2005-2006 GTO. A friend of mine has had 2 newer GTO's and I've driven one of them and was impressed with the power and ride. I set out to find a 2005 or 2006 GTO with as low miles as I could find and I was OK with it being modded. I ended up finding a black 2005 GTO with a 6 speed in it for $10,000. I went and test drove the car and it ran great. I ended up getting a good deal on the car and drove it home. Since I've had it I've had to do a few repairs, the A/C compressor had to be replaced as well as a few ABS components. The car has aftermarket headers, exhaust, K&N air intake and a Diablo sport tuner. Previous owner also blacked out the rims which I like. Essentially you get a slightly heavier Z06 with a back seat! Now I can go tear it up with my son and my wife at the same time! With the money I would have spent on the Z06 I went out and I bought a 2005 Honda S2000. I couldn't help myself. My wife has learned to drive stick and now drives the Honda to work on a regular basis. She also has driven the GTO a few times and the first thing she said when we got on the freeway was "This thing is fast!" How lucky am I?

Summer 2013

Well it's summer time again, June 4th to be exact and I find myself once again teaching summer school. My main reason for teaching summer school EVERY YEAR is because I feel like if I were at home left to my own devices I would get extremely bored. The reason I think this is that when I have extended breaks I tend to get bored thus I teach summer school. I'm not sure I used 'thus' correctly just now but I'm ok with it. It is already the second week of a five week summer school and things are moving along. Stockton continues to be Stockton and this week we are expecting triple digit temperatures! Yay Stockton! News - Ok so whats new since my last post? I have recently acquired a 2005 Harley Davidson Dyna wide-glide from a nice elderly gentleman from Lodi. The bike was immaculate when I bought it and runs perfect. I didn't care for the color and I have since had it painted flat black. I then took off the sissy bar and replaced the seat with a lower profile seat. My next modification will be a Thunder Header exhaust. Below are a few pictures pre seat and sissy bar delete and post paint job.

Tick Tock...

Well the 2013 school year is coming to an end. It's been a really great school year for my school. A lot has changed, a lot of new opportunities for the students have been made available. Some students are taking full advantage while others are still sitting on the side lines waiting. Waiting for something to happen 'to' them rather then making something happen. I find that if you sit by and wait for something to happen to you, it never does. Or nothing good happens to you. The good things that happen in your life are things you have to go out hunt down and work hard for. Then good things happen. If you sit on your couch or on the side lines or in your room waiting... not much happens. I am super busy with a lot of different things. I have a lot of idea's (my problem is never ideas it's executing them). I hope to create even more artistic opportunities for my students next year. At home things are great. Brody is doing excellent and growing like a weed. He talks ALOT around family and very little around people that he does not know. He loves cartoons and our iPad. Jacelyn is also doing very well. Her work is going very well and she is now getting much deserved recognition for being the most stable and reliable person in her lab. She is a spin-workout-aholic! Mothers days was yesterday and we spent it at Sue and Dales house. During our visit our little dog Roxy pee'd in the kitchen and Dale accidentally stepped in it and demanded she be put outside. Jacelyn's cousin Marcelo is visiting from Uruguay and we are going to go to an A's game tonight which should be fun.