So, you want to build or restore a car, huh? Well, let us just start by saying that you'd better do some research before you jump in head first!  Basic knowledge is only the beginning.

We know and have heard alot of people talk about that they want to build or restore a car. But come on now, in reality, some people have absolutely no concept of what it takes to achieve this task. Some of these folks seem to think that all they need to build or restore a car is that shiny red tool box in the corner of their garage. Of course people read the magazines about how someone built a car for $3,000 out of junkyard parts, a rattle can paint job and some nifty sewing by their mom, and then think.. "Dude, I can do that. I got the skills, I got the motivation, and I got a shiny red tool box!"

Oh, you poor,poor souls...how wrong you are.  There is soooo much more involved than one could even imagine!  I wouldn't know where to begin with the stories.

Both Denis and I grew up around cars our whole lives and let me tell you, even as a kid helping the ole man in the garage was overwhelming!  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we are the "gurus" of car building and/or restoration, but buddy let me tell you, it's something I think you have to be mentally prepared for! 

Being a backyard mechanic is one thing... most are able to change some brake pads, do some oil changes, replace plugs, wires and maybe even install a stereo or two. Now, being a true car builder/restorer is something totally different, you are creating something from virtually nothing, possibly even working from the ground up. This could mean taking parts that were never meant to work together and making them fit. It may look easy in that there magazine you read, but let me tell you, be prepared for things not to go as you planned.

Oh, and let's not forget about all the money. Yup, that's right...call it what you want; green backs, moolah, saw bucks, coin, cabbage or what have you.  I think it's an old wives tale, but a good rule of thumb is, if you decide to partake in a project of this sort, figure out a budget then double it. If you do this you may hit your target. (but I wouldn't bank on it)

All in all when your building or restoring a car it truly can be a painful, exhausting, rewarding experience.  If the outcome is what you envisioned then hopefully everything was worth it! 

Just keep in mind that your project could cost you more than just time and money. Don't believe us? Ask anyone who's ever done it.

The hubby has a project that he has been working on for about the past 6 years.  It is what I guess you could call a "frame up" restoration?  The truck got wrecked, damaging the frame and front end, including the dash, (we won't go into how this happened).  Anyway, it is been slowly being put back together starting with a new frame.  Just a quick note, the truck already had a good dent to the front before he bought it.  I guess the guy he bought it from had hit a fire hydrant.

Now when I first seen the truck, (spring of 2003) it was completely torn apart, just a frame sitting there.  We have since then been working here and there putting her back together. I know that some of you are thinking..."What's taking so long"?  Money, yup, money as I mentioned before, can and has been a big factor with the progress we have made.  Humm...do you feed your kids or buy that new aluminum intake? 

Thank goodness Denis knows what parts go where.  I think he made a mental photo album of them all when he took it apart.  I can hold up a bolt and he can tell me "Well, that goes to the radiator support or that screws into the fender to ground the battery".  He just amazes me sometimes!!  I do pretty good at guessing though.  Some of the parts look like they belong to some medieval torture device.  The only real knowledgeable help that I can offer him is fetching tools (thanks Dad for teaching me the names) and occasionally turning some wrenches. And oh yes, I have had my share of broken nails and busted knuckles on this project let alone many others. 

This truck is a 1985 Silverado short bed.  Original Apple Red paint, grey cloth interior, aftermarket sunroof, and no a/c.  The new engine is a 350 - 4 bolt main bored .30 over. Edelbrock carb, intake manifold with matching cam and lifters with headers and dual exhaust.  Out with the 700r4 trans and in with a nice brand new Turbo 350 with a B&M street shift kit. Nice new white letterd tires with American Racing rims (they were bought before the crash).

We are hoping by next year she will be roadworthy enough to cruise her in the Streator "Roamer Cruise Night". 

We will update this post periodically with new pictures of our progress.

Please feel free to comment, especially if you know Denis and the history behind this "diamond in the rough", or would like to share your own build/restoration story.

Now sit back and enjoy our slide show and a video of it running!

Thanks for reading!
Annie

Popularity: 51% [?]

Technorati Tags: Chevrolet, engine, Rebuild, Restoration, roamer, Shorty, truck

Barley Motor Car Co. was a manufacturer of automobiles in Kalamazoo, Michigan and Streator, Illinois. It manufactured the Roamer automobile (1916-29) and, briefly, the Barley (1922-24), and the Pennant (1924-25).

In 1913, Albert C. Barley bought the assets of the Streator Motor Car Company, which was put into receivership in 1911. Streator was itself the product of the Erie Motor Carriage Company and had been manufacturing the Halladay automobile since 1905. Barley's new company was called Barley Manufacturing Co. and he reopened the factory in Streator, Illinois and continued to produce the Halladay for a few years.

Barley, Cloyd Y. Kenworthy, a New York auto dealer then selling only electric automobiles, and Karl H. Martin, who later developed the Wasp automobile, decided to build an upscale automobile, and incorporated Barley Motor Car Co. in New York State in September 1916 with a capitalization of $50,000. It was established for the purpose of building motor trucks, cars, autos and accessories. Shortly thereafter, the company issued more classes of stock and was recapitalized with an additional $760,000, obtaining the existing assets of Barley's manufacturing company. Manufacturing was soon moved to Kalamazoo, occupying the former Kalamazoo Buggy Co. factory.

The initial model introduced in 1916 was called the Roamer. The name was suggested by Kenworthy's chauffeur after a popular racing horse of the era. The car was very stylish and the grill was nickel plated and modeled after the Rolls-Royce. Its resemblance to a certain automobile from the other side of the Atlantic is not accidental and it was actually advertised as "The American Rolls-Royce". To further the comparison the company took to spelling its name with two capitalized "Rs" -- RoameR.

The initial model, the Roamer Six, was a four-door tourer with a 24-hp (18 kW) 6-cylinder Continental engine. Several models were introduced over succeeding years.

In 1918, the Model C6 succeeded the Six, with a 54-hp (40 kW) Continental 12XD engine which was available in eight body styles ranging from $2200 to $4900. In 1920, the Model D4 Touring had a 75-hp (56 kW) four-cylinder Duesenberg engine went for $5,300 (4-passenger) and $5,400 (7-passenger).  The Lozier Big Six tourers and roadsters were $5,000, American's lowest-price model was $4250 (its highest was $5250). A Colt Runabout was priced at $1500, while the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for $650. By 1922, only Roamer's Model 6-54 remained.

The Roamer was marketed from its inception as "America’s Smartest Car." It was also successful in many early racing events. After a Roamer with a Rochester [disambiguation needed]-Duesenberg engine set six records for one kilometer, one-, two- three-, four- and five-mile sprints at Daytona Beach in 1921, the advertisements crowed, "America’s Smartest Car Makes America’s Fastest Mile."

In 1922, the company introduced a lower-priced line, the Barley, named for the company's president. The first Barley Model 6-50 debuted in September offering topedoes and sedans with Continental sixes. The following year, a Sport Sedan and Touring Sedan were added. The prices ranged from $1395 to $2250, and competed with the $2000 Enger 40, the FAL at $1750, the Cole 30 and Colt Runabout at $1500.

In 1924, a reorganization was announced. Roamer Motor Car Co. was to be incorporated at Toronto, Ontario, headed by George P. Wigginton, to be manufactured there. A. C. Barley sold his interest in Roamer and the Kalamazoo factory remained the Barley Motor Car Co. and continue to manufacture the Barley. However, the Barley was not successful and it was rebranded the Pennant, outfitted with a Buda 4-cylinder engine and targeted at the taxicab market. Its main competitor was the Checker, also built in Kalamazoo. The Pennant trade-dress was a maroon upper body and ivory lower body. Both the Barley and Pennant were out of production by 1925, and A. C. Barley was out of the automobile business.

Meantime, Roamer abandoned the Continental in favor of a Lycoming eight of 88-hp (66 kW), at the same price as the former 6-cylinder engine. The new model was called Model 8-88 and offered in seven body styles. Sales were disappointing. In 1926, the Dusenberg Motor and Car Company was in distress and the Lycoming engine was no longer available to Roamer. The same year, Roamer bought Rutenber, of which A. C. Barley had been an officer years earlier. The Barley family had been large shareholders in the company. Rutenber had an extensive factory complex and built engines used in many early automobiles.  Sales were weak and declining so that even before the stock market crash, in 1929 the company stopped manufacturing and was dissolved.

Today, only 11 Roamers are known to still exist, and the Streator-built lone survivor is annually displayed Labor Day weekend during the Streator "Roamer Cruise Night".

Popularity: 59% [?]

Technorati Tags: Barley, Illinois, roamer, Streator

Annually, on Labor Day weekend, Streator hosts the largest automotive event in downstate Illinois, the Streator "Roamer Cruise Night" whose name comes from an automobile manufactured by the Barley Motor Car Company.

Generally featuring over 400 cars and 18,000 spectators. This is a free event that is held in the downtown business district.  Spectators will enjoy lots of vendors, live radio broadcasts that describe the unique cars and their drivers as they tour the downtown streets. 50's and 60's era music is played along with carhops on roller skates giving out free gifts to youngsters.

One of the highlights of the Streator Cruise Night is that participants are encouraged to cruise the roadways wrapping up with a slow cruise down Main Street.

This is a family event that reminesses about the times when families strolled the downtown business district every Saturday night. So Streator is the place to be for Labor Day weekend -- especially the Saturday Cruise Night with camaraderie, neighborliness and cars, cars and more cars.

Hope to see you there next year!

Popularity: 82% [?]

Technorati Tags: cruise night, hot rod, muscle cars, roamer

Choosing The Right Headers For Your Vehicle       

Choosing the right headers for your ride can sometimes leave you scratching your head!  Quality, fitment, and performance are some of the major components and factors that one should consider before purchasing a set of headers. 

Do research...Check out different forums and sites to see what the most popular brand of headers people are installing in your type of vehicle. 

Another thing, you might want to make sure that the headers you are about to buy are stainless steel.  Anything else could eventually end up rusting and rotting out, which can lead to louder exhaust and that annoying "ticking" when your ride is running.  Nothing worse than a header leak!

Of course, you can always ceramic coat them, but that doesn't really work out, and isn't very cost effective.  The exhaust your engine makes (while running) will heat up the metal which expands and then contracts when cool and can cause the ceramic coating to crack, fall off or deteriorate in a few years.  Although they will look great, you won't get the longevity out of them as you would stainless.

And also, don't waste your money on those over the counter cans of high heat spray on header paint.  If you can't fit them in the oven to bake it on, it ain't worth it.  With that stuff, once your engine is running for just a few minutes, it will start bubbling right off.  Believe me, been there, done that...Boy were they pretty at first!  

So for the long haul, save your money and buy a good pair of headers. 

Isn't your ride worth it?

Popularity: 85% [?]

Technorati Tags: engine, exhaust, headers

A VIN is an identifier/manufacturer’s serial number. Each character in your VIN has a significant meaning. And what happens when you put them all together....They create a code that tells you everything about your vehicle and its unique history.

Now, prior to 1980, VIN codes only contained 13 characters and prior to the 1950's vehicles were not required to have one. During this time, the first few characters of the VIN identified the make and model of the vehicle and the remaining characters identified the model year. Very few auto manufacturers assigned characters for their assembly plant and the number of cylinders the engine had.

Click on picture to to enlarge

Firewall

Left inner wheel well

Steering column

Radiator Support Bracket

Dash by windshield (drivers side)

Drivers door or post

Maintenance Book / Vehicle documents

Machined Pad (front of engine)

Frame

Drivers door or post

Firewall

Your vehicle identification number is divided into four parts:

World Manufacturer's Identification - (three characters)

Vehicle Description Section - (five characters)

The VIN Accuracy Check Digit

Vehicle Identification Section - (eight characters)

The second character refers to the manufacturer. The characters can be either letters or numbers. For example: Jaguar (A), Dodge (B), Chrysler (C), Jeep (J), Buick (4), Cadillac (6) or Saturn (8).

The third character represents the vehicle type or manufacturing division.

The 12th to 17th characters are the actual serial number of the vehicle—these last 6 digits make the vehicle unique (think of your DNA). It can also help you to identify whether the vehicle was the first, the hundredth, or the last vehicle off the manufacturer’s assembly line. This is extremely valuable information for classic collectors.

So now, the next time you see that long conglomorate of letters and numbers printed on your registration papers or stamped across your dashboard, you’ll know exactly what it is, what it means and how to decode it. We hope that this information has given you a better understanding of your vehicle identification and where your ride actually came from!

eBay Auctions

Popularity: 99% [?]

Technorati Tags: Automobile VIN Decoding how to, Vehicle Identification Number

One day, while a blonde was out driving her car, she ran into a truck.

The truck’s driver made her pull over into a parking lot and get out of the car.

He took a piece of chalk and drew a circle on the pavement. He told her to stand in the middle and not leave the circle.

Furious, he went over to her car and slashed the tires.

The blonde started laughing.

This made the man angrier so he smashed her windshield.

This time the blonde laughed even harder.

Livid, the man broke all her windows and keyed her car.

The blonde is now laughing hysterically, so the truck driver asks her what’s so funny.

The blonde giggles and replies, “When you weren’t looking, I stepped out of the circle three times!”

Couldn't help myself'

PaPaGrizz

Ha even got a picture of her!

Popularity: 94% [?]

These photos here is what we call a "Redneck Frame Straightner".

How it works is you take your truck out on a country road and swerve to miss a deer and kiss the ditch. The harder you hit it, the more damage you will do of course. We trashed both front fenders and bent the frame, but the hood....not even a scratch. Anyway, you then drive it home and pull it in your backyard.

Now for those of you lucky enough to have a sistern, take the cover off, insert an old reese hitch into the hole, hook up your come-along to the hitch and then to your truck.

Now, once you have the front of your truck pulled way down, you then take your 2 ton floor jack and start lifting the truck up on the frame where it is bent. Now don't go too far cause then your fenders will never line up. This is a process that has to be done in "baby steps". Over straighten and then it's a whole nother process to bend it back down. More pics will be added as we progress....

Anyone out there have a decent set of front fenders for a 92 Chevy??

Here's some more pics of our frame straighting project.  This is the second time we have "pulled" it.  And we finally found some good decent priced replacement fenders.  Had to have them so we knew just how much to pull her so the body lines would match up.  She Just needs a "tinge" more and she should be good!  Well at least the frame will be, gotta check out the suspension and all that, ya know!  Keep checking back for more progress.....

Popularity: 100% [?]

Technorati Tags: chain, frame, hydrolic jack, truck

Hi all!  As an introduction to our site we would like to present this article that has great information if your in the market for a used car. When you get a chance check out the about us page to find out "Why we are Here!"                

Negotiation Tips When Buying Used Car

These days purchasing a used car is certainly a good option, both practically and economically. You can find many varieties of used car available in market to check out. Another advantage is that you can get a new model and get rid of your old one. One more reason could be is that in case someone has bought a new car may have end up in financial mess, so could go with selling a car and buying a used one.

Whatever could be the reason purchasing a used car eventually benefits the users. In fact a new car is generally considered as a fresh car if it is a year old. Such cars you can find it at amazing discounts of 20 to 40 % from the present market price. So here you are not only getting a new car, but you are as well saving much financially. This does not mean that 2 year old car is worst; it is just that you need to check it and if the used car expert advise taken then buying any old car could be really beneficial.

On the other hand, you must be ready to face certain limitations when buying used car. Your financial charges could be little high when compare to the new car. Yet it is a good decision to go with used car and you would save high considerably.

Negotiation Tips for Used Car

Know while talking to a used car salesman or a seller you need to control your emotions. Don't go hyper, so no wows and no oh's. At the same time do not express any disappointment or any fury in any kind. Just learn to play it with deadpan and accurate.

Below given are few examples of the conversation you might have to come across.

i) If the salesman asks you to see the car and then have a talk on the price then you must carry on talking and attempt to make the salesman quote a cost. This way you could work out if the salesman is strong-minded about the value of the car or not.

ii) In case the salesman states that the price is not to be discussed or is somewhat flexible. You should make him realize that you are a serious buyer and does not desire to squander the salesman's time in addition to his time. Further you must stress that you are interested in little lesser price and this would offer a thought on how negotiable the salesman is.

iii) If you feel that the used car is apt for you, but the value is little high, then you could leave your contact number with the salesman, requesting him to contact you back in case the seller lessens the price.

By: Jhon justin Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Jhon Justin is a Expert author for Fontana used cars and Loma Linda used cars. He has written many articles like Orange County used cars For more information visit our site: www.randbautocenter.com

Thanks for reading...

Popularity: 100% [?]