So, it was fun while it lasted. The shop forgot to change out the lug studs which weren't broken but apparently installed incorrectly. My friend was driving it back to his house. He got up to about 60 and the lug studs fell off. It was a near death experience, the wheel stayed on for way longer than it should have. We lost the center piece(hub cap) part of the rim, but we got it towed back to the shop for free, he reinstalled the remaining studs correctly and ordered some new ones for the ones that we lost. we should get the bradley back this weekend.
All in all, we're very lucky because of how well that went. The company we were trying to get insurance rejected it, which has happened a few times, but were still looking.
Seatbelts, insurance, registration, tags, and an inspection sticker will be in the near future for Ol Brad.
Peace,
Harlow
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
On the road again...
The Bradley is on the road! I'm still in the process of learning to drive it, but its rippin it up finally. The only thing left wrong with the engine is the possible burnt valve, the engine skips a little bit but it's not causing a big problem. I will be posting videos of a walkaround and some driving vids here.
It's been a long journey but its finally driveable and that much closer to the finish line. The next steps include paint, wiring, possibly carpet if its cheap enough or were just getting the floor sanded and painted along with the rest of the car, and side view mirrors.
Next step will be driving it back to monroe, getting quotes on those things previously mentioned and getting more money. There will probably be a pause in the restoration until I start a job this summer, because I've emptied the bank already, but at the end of this summer it should start to come together. Anyways, there will be updates in case I do anything to it in between now and when I start my summer job.
Until then Peace,
Harlow
It's been a long journey but its finally driveable and that much closer to the finish line. The next steps include paint, wiring, possibly carpet if its cheap enough or were just getting the floor sanded and painted along with the rest of the car, and side view mirrors.
Next step will be driving it back to monroe, getting quotes on those things previously mentioned and getting more money. There will probably be a pause in the restoration until I start a job this summer, because I've emptied the bank already, but at the end of this summer it should start to come together. Anyways, there will be updates in case I do anything to it in between now and when I start my summer job.
Until then Peace,
Harlow
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Hot Rods!
So this weekend, I went to the hot rod show in Dallas. It was a pretty awesome show. There were plenty of classics, some awesome rat rods, and more hot wheels and die casts than one person should need. I got pics of all the cars that peaked my interests(about 80 percent of them). You can see those pics here.
Tomorrow morning I'm going to pop the back wheels on the Bradley and then get it towed to Ruston where I'm getting my cousin to tune the carb, replace the lug studs, and put a new battery in. I should have the hood pins by then so I can properly secure the back license plate flap. I plan on measuring and ordering the lap belts tomorrow at some point as well.
I will post again tomorrow as a follow up and let you know how it went.
Peace,
Harlow
Tomorrow morning I'm going to pop the back wheels on the Bradley and then get it towed to Ruston where I'm getting my cousin to tune the carb, replace the lug studs, and put a new battery in. I should have the hood pins by then so I can properly secure the back license plate flap. I plan on measuring and ordering the lap belts tomorrow at some point as well.
I will post again tomorrow as a follow up and let you know how it went.
Peace,
Harlow
Friday, February 17, 2012
Everybody's workin' for the weekend.
This is just a quick update because Ol Brads close to hitting the road. This weekend my family and I are headed to a hot rod show in Dallas. I will put some pics up on my photobucket for you to see. I will link to them in my next post. Then when we get back the bradley is gonna get towed to my cousin's shop in ruston so he can tune the carb and replace the lug studs(two of them had snapped). After he gets done with it we will be taking it on the funnest road in ruston. Then we will drive it back home. The following week, we will get estimates for paint and carpet.
A few other things I'm getting for it now include a new battery and some black lap belts.
Also this week I discovered something amazing, if you've never seen the super speeders series check it out. There are curcurrently 6 installments and they all have plenty of fast cars and fun. The series has inspired me to check out the bullrun rally. One of my new goals in life is to participate in it. I will be taking my saleen tt s7 when I get it and I may even go early with my friend, hunter, if he gets the new 2013 gt500 motor for his mustang.
A few other things I'm getting for it now include a new battery and some black lap belts.
Also this week I discovered something amazing, if you've never seen the super speeders series check it out. There are curcurrently 6 installments and they all have plenty of fast cars and fun. The series has inspired me to check out the bullrun rally. One of my new goals in life is to participate in it. I will be taking my saleen tt s7 when I get it and I may even go early with my friend, hunter, if he gets the new 2013 gt500 motor for his mustang.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
The Final Countdown
Ol Brad is in his final stages of preparation for the road. We cut out the rails ourselves and got a pair of 2001 camaro seats from a junkyard. We will soon finish mounting those properly. After a long process of looking for tires since the firestone didn't want to give us the tires they said they had, I found some tires on Direct Buy Tire .com a very good site to find tires at very reasonable prices. We went to walmart to get them mounted and balanced but they weren't set up to do aftermarket rims(or they just didn't want to do it). We ended up going to Sears auto repair, they had great service the guy got the tires on and made me want a mounting and balancing more than i already did. You can see the seat in the car, the process of cutting the rails, and the new tires on the car here. All we have left is to get the carb tuned and some insurance for it and it'll be ready to hit the road. We're going to ask my cousin if he can work on the carb and go from there.
Now on another note, I have decided as you might can tell from the new colors of the blog that I am going to go a different way with the color scheme of the car. The beautiful neon green color that makes some lamborghini's stand out as can be seen here, got me thinking. I have decided to paint the body that same green and paint all the chrome(bumpers, rims, and window trim) black. I will get black carpet and a black vinyl material to wrap the seats and the dash in. Then instead of the red neons I will get green neons to go on the underdash that we are probably going to custom make soon, and green undercarriage neons. I think it will stick out even more this way and catch all the people's attention that it wasn't already catching being a hard to find kit car.
And finally, some things I will be needing to attend to. We found out the rear view mirror on the windshield wasn't going to work so I will need to either restore or find some new side mirrors for it. The rear flap that goes over the engine and has the license plate on it latches closed with some hood pins. The hood pins that are on it now are old and don't really work, I will be finding some black ones to replace them with. That's really all that's left that's completely necessary to get it into an acceptable condition. And as always I will keep you posted.
Peace,
Harlow
Now on another note, I have decided as you might can tell from the new colors of the blog that I am going to go a different way with the color scheme of the car. The beautiful neon green color that makes some lamborghini's stand out as can be seen here, got me thinking. I have decided to paint the body that same green and paint all the chrome(bumpers, rims, and window trim) black. I will get black carpet and a black vinyl material to wrap the seats and the dash in. Then instead of the red neons I will get green neons to go on the underdash that we are probably going to custom make soon, and green undercarriage neons. I think it will stick out even more this way and catch all the people's attention that it wasn't already catching being a hard to find kit car.
And finally, some things I will be needing to attend to. We found out the rear view mirror on the windshield wasn't going to work so I will need to either restore or find some new side mirrors for it. The rear flap that goes over the engine and has the license plate on it latches closed with some hood pins. The hood pins that are on it now are old and don't really work, I will be finding some black ones to replace them with. That's really all that's left that's completely necessary to get it into an acceptable condition. And as always I will keep you posted.
Peace,
Harlow
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Years
Well New Year's Eve we finally got some work done on Ol' Brad. We ripped out the carpet, cleaned up the dash and the outside, dismounted the old seats and brackets, installed a new steering wheel and shift knob as you can see here, and installed the new carb.
There are a few issues but can probably easily be fixed. The seats aren't going to mount correctly because the seat rails from the vw beetle are in the way. We have someone in mind that can cut those off and even weld new brackets if needed. The carb tuning is going to be done by someone else, who we are currently looking for.
I still need a few things done as well. We found out seat belts aren't necessary if the car is made before 74 so i'm just going to order some red lap belts. We tried to get some red and black seat covers but they were too big so we will have to think up something else. I might get the seats wrapped in something when I get the carpet done.
After we get new tires, the carb tuned and the seats in place we will take it to get the estimates for carpeting and paint. I plan on getting the whole car interior and exterior painted black. I also want a thick red stripe running along the bottom on each side, which we will probably do with decal stickers. For the carpet I was thinking some red carpet and then if that happens probably wrap the seats in a black material.
We still have to get some mirror adhesive to mount the center rear view mirror on the windshield(all I'm using for now).
Once all this gets done it will be roadworthy and I'll post a review of the first ride.
As a recap, the future objectives I have are building a custom speaker mount for the back, interior red neons, mounting the battery box, new windshield, doors and back window and wiring it up correctly.
Some new additions to the list include building a custom glove compartment and undercarriage red neons for show.
Anyways have a good New Years day and enjoy the rest of your year.
Peace,
Harlow
There are a few issues but can probably easily be fixed. The seats aren't going to mount correctly because the seat rails from the vw beetle are in the way. We have someone in mind that can cut those off and even weld new brackets if needed. The carb tuning is going to be done by someone else, who we are currently looking for.
I still need a few things done as well. We found out seat belts aren't necessary if the car is made before 74 so i'm just going to order some red lap belts. We tried to get some red and black seat covers but they were too big so we will have to think up something else. I might get the seats wrapped in something when I get the carpet done.
After we get new tires, the carb tuned and the seats in place we will take it to get the estimates for carpeting and paint. I plan on getting the whole car interior and exterior painted black. I also want a thick red stripe running along the bottom on each side, which we will probably do with decal stickers. For the carpet I was thinking some red carpet and then if that happens probably wrap the seats in a black material.
We still have to get some mirror adhesive to mount the center rear view mirror on the windshield(all I'm using for now).
Once all this gets done it will be roadworthy and I'll post a review of the first ride.
As a recap, the future objectives I have are building a custom speaker mount for the back, interior red neons, mounting the battery box, new windshield, doors and back window and wiring it up correctly.
Some new additions to the list include building a custom glove compartment and undercarriage red neons for show.
Anyways have a good New Years day and enjoy the rest of your year.
Peace,
Harlow
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Getting it done
Finally I got the engine running. The timing was off and it still needs a new carb. I ordered a carb but it was the wrong one and I had to send it back for an exchange. Once I get this new carb on it should run close to flawlessly, though I may also need a new battery(probly going to mount the battery casing in the back somewhere properly as well).
Also, me and a friend went to U Auto Pull It and pulled a 2001 camaro seat for 20 bucks. We only got one to make sure it would fit. It's going to fit and were going to get the second one asap. The mounting may be difficult if they don't fit just straight bolting them down. We will have to get a custom mounting bracket welded, but we have someone lined up to do that. I also plan on getting some black and red seat covers for each one.
I will soon have the money to get the red racing harnesses which we will try first bolting directly to the floor. If they aren't long enough we will most likely just measure and look for a roll bar to go in it.
The last thing we need to get it on the road is some new tires. They should be cheap since they are only 14 inches but we will see, hopefully I will have the money.
And if all of this goes according to plan we should be able to have it on the road by the end of winter.
Now, at that point I will probly stop until summer when I can get a job and work up the money for the doors and back window. Once I have those I can properly clean out the interior and get it carpeted. We will also probly do a few small things like get a cool looking shift knob/handle and get a new e brake boot(to get rid of the levers that open and close the vents, since there are no vents). The bigger things that we will need to end up doing when I have the money and time is paint, wiring(lights, blinkers and whatever else we run into), fixing the molding of the windshield, getting a new windshield, and deleting the vent holes.
Some extra stuff that isnt necessary but that might be added is a sound system(enough room in the back for a speaker setup), custom "OlBrad" license plate, and an upgraded dash.
But that's in the future for now I just want to drive the thing.
Peace,
Harlow
Also, me and a friend went to U Auto Pull It and pulled a 2001 camaro seat for 20 bucks. We only got one to make sure it would fit. It's going to fit and were going to get the second one asap. The mounting may be difficult if they don't fit just straight bolting them down. We will have to get a custom mounting bracket welded, but we have someone lined up to do that. I also plan on getting some black and red seat covers for each one.
I will soon have the money to get the red racing harnesses which we will try first bolting directly to the floor. If they aren't long enough we will most likely just measure and look for a roll bar to go in it.
The last thing we need to get it on the road is some new tires. They should be cheap since they are only 14 inches but we will see, hopefully I will have the money.
And if all of this goes according to plan we should be able to have it on the road by the end of winter.
Now, at that point I will probly stop until summer when I can get a job and work up the money for the doors and back window. Once I have those I can properly clean out the interior and get it carpeted. We will also probly do a few small things like get a cool looking shift knob/handle and get a new e brake boot(to get rid of the levers that open and close the vents, since there are no vents). The bigger things that we will need to end up doing when I have the money and time is paint, wiring(lights, blinkers and whatever else we run into), fixing the molding of the windshield, getting a new windshield, and deleting the vent holes.
Some extra stuff that isnt necessary but that might be added is a sound system(enough room in the back for a speaker setup), custom "OlBrad" license plate, and an upgraded dash.
But that's in the future for now I just want to drive the thing.
Peace,
Harlow
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