DIY: Emblem Replacement on a 1973 Mustang

I would love to write more of these DIY blogs, but for some reason I never remember to take pictures when I'm doing something blog-worthy.  Changing out a badge on our '73 Mustang isn't really blog-worthy if I'm being honest, but I had my phone and remembered to take a few shots so here you go.

I'm changing out the trunk badge on our 1973 Ford Mustang Convertible here, but really this could apply to just about any of the old pin-type badges on just about any car.  I know it's extremely simple and you could figure it out yourself, but here are a few tips on the process.

The first thing you have to do, if it isn't missing already, is to remove the old badge.  You can see on ours that the "g" has broken off.  It's really not a big deal, but it was bothering me and it's a very cheap part so I had to swap it out. Pulling these badges out isn't difficult or complicated - you just pry it away from the body until it pops off.  This particular badge has three pins.  My only tip here, and it's a really big one, is to tape all the way around the area to protect the paint.  I used painters tape, but masking tape works fine.  I simply used a flat-head screwdriver and very gently and patiently worked the badge away from the body at all three pins until they came out.

I got my replacement part from CJ Pony Parts - one of the many Mustang parts suppliers on-line.  I went with a Scott Drake aftermarket piece.  It's a little cheaper than an NOS, and probably better quality.  It fit perfectly and everything lined up with the original holes.  It also came with the three tube nuts (as they are called) as well.

I probably could have reused the old tube nuts, but since I had new ones I just pulled the old ones out.  It was a little tricky, and in fact one of them actually got punched into the body but it's so small and light that it won't make any noise or cause any other issues.  Basically, you are just distorting the old nut until you can pull it out with needle-nose pliers.  Simple, but it's important to be careful of the paint.

Putting the new tube nuts in is extremely simple.  You just set it in and tap it with a hammer.  I opted to use the thick and soft packaging the emblem came in and a small rubber mallet.  It doesn't take much, just a light tap and it will pop in place.  I did the same thing to pop the emblem in place.

There you go - better than new.  This is about a 10 minute job, and about 7 minutes of that is taping around the old emblem.  As I mentioned, this was our trunk emblem which is about as easy to work on as it gets.  If you have to do a fender emblem, you will be on the ground and might have some funny angles, but it's still a simple and quick DIY project for your car.

As a general rule, everybody is going to check out your rear end so you might as well make it as presentable as possible.

2001 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

Random Vehicle Blog:

2001 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible

I bought this Vette at the end of 2002 with less than 20K miles on it and kept it for a little over a year.  It was in like new condition, loaded with options, and an automatic - which I had decided that I preferred in the 5th gen Corvettes.  Of the 14 Corvettes I've owned to date, this was one of my favorite.  I always thought it was sporty and classy at the same time.  I could have been wrong, but at the time I really liked it.  

I haven't owned a Vette newer than a C5, but I've driven plenty.  Having a power top on later Vettes is nice, but for the money these C5s are really hard to beat as a weekender.

While I was fine with it, the 'Torch Red' interior didn't seem to appeal to most people.  I really noticed this when I eventually tried to sell the car.  If I remember correctly, I finally sold it to an obnoxious middle-aged guy with a wealthy girlfriend who I'm pretty sure was financing the purchase for him.

I never look at these anymore.  I'm guessing that's because I've owned so many of them.  They're great to drive though, and extremely reliable.  If you want a nicely equipped, fast and fun car to have in the garage, it's hard to go wrong with a C5 - especially if it hasn't been "customized".

 
Here's a good shot of the HUD (Heads Up Display) system on this Vette. They're pretty common now but at the time you didn't see these too often.  It looks like the gauge info is 'floating' on the hood as you drive down the road.  (You can also see my Saffron Orange Volvo C70 in the distance).  

What a great motor.  It's not a coincidence that these get dropped in all sorts of performance cars.  Don't overlook the C5.  The C4 is a little more fun to drive, but this is such a better car in almost every way - especially being easier to get in and out of.  

Guest House Construction: Part 14

So close to being dried in......and still all wet.

A quick update on our guest house build.  The cornice guys came back and finished up.  This included getting all the windows installed and just a little bit of trim.  The roofers were supposed to start decking a couple weeks ago but for some reason they only like to show up on bad weather days so they skipped 65 and sunny and came back when it was 50 and raining.  Regardless, they got about 3/4 of the roof decked in two days - with just a two-man crew.

 
Unfortunately, that last 1/4 they didn't finish before going MIA again for almost a week meant we had a 2nd story swimming pool and mud tracked everywhere when they did come back.  They claimed they were short on decking materials, and they're probably right, but extra was delivered the next day and they didn't show up for four more days.  

When they do show up, they really work!  Their stupid compressor (which is 10 times smaller than it needs to be so it runs constantly) is going at 7:00 am every day and they work till the sun goes down.  You can see the moon over the house in this shot.

 
Their unreliability came back to bite them yesterday though.  Shingles were scheduled to be delivered and the roofers were supposed to be here to take delivery.  The reason they needed to be here is because my builder had a separate truck with a big arm on it sent out to actually place all the shingles on the roof.  Nothing is heavier than it actually looks than roof shingles.  Since they weren't here, the delivery guys just dropped everything in the driveway.  Now the roofers, who are here today, have to carry every single pound up a ladder.

There are four guys here today and they're really moving.  The decking is almost complete and they've already started on the shingles.  I think doors are next, and then it will finally actually be 'dried in".  Progress!

2006 Volkswagen Jetta

2006 Volkswagen Jetta

This 2006 Jetta came as part of the “New Girlfriend Package” and technically I never owned it, but it was under my roof for quite a bit so I’ll claim it.  It’s not the first time I’ve ended up with a car this way, but since I married this one I imagine it will be the last. 

This was my first Volkswagen, and one of only two I’ve had to date.  It was what I would call “basic transportation”, but it wasn’t bad for a simple car.  

My wife bought this car new.  Had she been dating me at the time it probably wouldn’t have happened.  That said, I can see the appeal to a young engineer.  It was fairly reliable, had a low cost of ownership, and was economical to boot (those are three qualities that I don’t typically rate important when buying a car).  She loved it though, and named it Wendy! 

Wendy hung around for a while, but ultimately my stable of less reliable and less economical (but much more interesting) rides won out and we agreed the Jetta was no longer needed.  We sold her to a good home, and I turned my wife into a car snob (her words, not mine). 

Guest House Construction: Part 13

Plumbing & Cornice...ing?

For the past couple weeks we've had two different crews doing work.  The plumbers have actually finished everything they need to do inside the house. Some builders don't do this step until the house is "dried in" (basically has a roof and windows and doors), but I'm glad we didn't wait to do the plumbing because they basically worked at the same time as the cornice guys.

The cornice guys basically do all of the eaves, trim, and windows.  I had no idea this was a separate step, and actually a separate skill as well.  The first thing the cornice crew did was construct a working ledge all the way around the house and build ladders and platforms to reach high areas.  It was brilliant.  I would have spent two weeks going up and down ladders, but these guys brought the eaves to their level with scrap wood.

This is what the eaves start to look like when they get them trimmed out.  I can see why this needs to be done before the roof goes on.

Windows were delivered.  I happened to be outside messing with Christmas lights when the guys dropped them off - a nice surprise.  

I'm no expert, but the plumbers seem to have done a great job.  Everything is clean and well organized in the walls.  Every line is properly attached wherever it crosses a beam or gap (if you turn on your water and hear anything, it's your pipes vibrating because they aren't attached properly in the walls and ceiling).  

The cornice guys actually installed a couple of windows.  The front windows have the fake panes in the glass to match the main house front windows. Continuity.  

They also got some of the siding up!  Almost the entire guest house is brick, but the dormer here is siding to match the main house.  It's kind of nice to finally see some finishing materials on.

This is the upstairs bathroom.  The plumbers set the tubs, which was surprising to me as well since the house is still open.

Even more surprising is that they set the hot water heater.  It makes sense I guess, since it vents through the roof and the roofers would need to know exactly where to cut.  Speaking of roofers, they are scheduled to start on Monday.  A huge load of roof decking was dropped (literally - the truck just dumped it in the yard) off today.  We opted to pay a little extra for foil-backed decking.  It's supposed to provide a radiant barrier to heat.  The weather doesn't look good, so we'll see if the roofers get started on time and if the cornice guys will come finish.  They have been MIA all week.

Santa Is Trying To Kill My Child!

Santa Is Trying To Kill My Child....

....Or at least that's what she's convinced is happening.  Our daughter Samantha really isn't afraid of much - to her detriment really.  She seems to have no fear of heights, sharp objects, falling - pretty much anything that can hurt her - but she seems convinced that every time we try to hand her to that old dude in the red suit it's a struggle for her very survival.

Her initial defense at just a few months of age was to play dead.  After explaining to her that this worked with bears but not Santa's, she moved on to more positive defensive techniques.  

Her next effort was to attempt to stare down her attacker.  She discovered quickly that mom and dad simply watched and actually seemed to enjoy her impending doom so she abandoned that approach.  (I've told her to keep this one in the bag of tricks for Water Buffalo, dogs, and Cobras.)

The next time her parents tried to hand her to the Red Death, she went completely the other way and refused to make eye contact - or even look at really - her would be assailant.  She also clung to mom for dear life, and it worked! (She's stronger than she looks.)

We tried to convince her that Santa was a jolly old man who brings Christmas cheer (and presents) every year and not a raving homicidal maniac with odd fashion sense by dressing daddy up in a suit.  This, sadly, did not have the desired effect.    

We'll see what this years batch of Santa's has to offer and what fun new ways of defending herself Samantha has come up with.  She's gotten fairly proficient with a light saber, but she rarely has it on her when it would come in handy.

1992 Mercedes Benz 600SEL

1992 Mercedes Benz 600SEL

In what has to go down as one of my all-time biggest mistakes, I traded my frame-off restored '71 Mustang Mach 1 to MotoExotica in Missouri for this 12-cylinder Benz.  Value wise is was a fair deal at the time, but I spent 10's of thousands of $$$s on this thing (I really wish I was exaggerating).  I even had to swap out the motor.  God help you if your German V12 needs an engine transplant.

To be fair, the car was in great shape cosmetically when I got it and was a joy to drive when it ran well.  After I had replaced about every conceivable part on the car I sold it to a guy from Corpus who's probably still driving this thing 15 years later with not so much as a burned out bulb.  I was just the lucky idiot that caught it at the wrong time.  To make matters worse, a few years after I traded for this thing the value of my Mustang quadrupled.  

These 12-cylinder German motors are amazing to drive, but can be a nightmare to maintain.  They don't like to sit and they're so complicated that every little issue has the potential to be catastrophic both mechanically and financially. This one cost me a fortune.

One interesting thing about this car was that it had the factory "Protection Package".  Basically this consisted of bullet-proof glass, run-flat tires, a filtration system to combat chemical attacks, and other various goodies.  Mercedes and BMW (and maybe a few others) used to offer these cars with this as a factory option back in the day.  It was VERY expensive and usually only ordered by companies and governments.  I'm not sure what my cars history was, but other than incredibly thick glass and a shocking amount of weight, you couldn't really tell it from a normal 600SEL.  If you want a "Protection Package" today, you have to go to an aftermarket company (one of the largest in the world is in San Antonio). 

Guest House Construction: Part 12

"We've been framed!"

So the guest house is now basically framed.  The framing crew flew through the initial stuff in about two weeks, but then it slowed down as it took just as long to do a bunch of little things.  It actually looks like a house now and not a spider web of lumber.

 
One thing that seemed to take forever was adding these metal "straps" everywhere.  Basically, just about every piece of lumber is strapped together. We are in the zone that requires us to build for "windstorm" compliance, and I imagine these are a product of that.

The additional garage spaces (pictured here is the 4-car tandem section) seem to draw the most comments.  People walk in and say things like "Man, this is a big garage" - and I'm thinking "I should have doubled it".  You can never have too much garage space.

Exterior sheeting is already underway.  I'm guessing a few days and this will be done.  It's funny, but when you walk through a house that's open - just framed - all the rooms seem smaller than you imagined them, but when they're closed up, as they are with the sheeting, they start to feel bigger.  Strange.  

I came home one day and there were all these orange notes spray painted throughout the house.  I assumed it was the inspector telling us what we needed to do to pass.  Turns out we had already passed our framing inspection and the notes were from my builder to the framing crew of things he wanted done before they were finished.

The most fun part of the build has been watching the upstairs space take shape.  We weren't really sure what we would end up with but it's turning out cooler than I had hoped.  It has been referred to as a "Man Cave", but that's not really accurate.  I'm trying to think of something clever to call it and I'm open to suggestions.

- The Manetarium?
- The Fortress of Solid-dudes?
- If I call it "The Gym", I can honestly say things like "I spent 3 hours at the gym last night."

Any ideas?

2003 Land Rover Freelander SE3

2003 Land Rover Freelander SE3

It's post-election day and I'm trying to keep myself from posting anything political, so.....Random Vehicle Blog!

I think this Land Rover is a perfect choice for today:  Freelander - "Land of the Free".  I bought this in 2004 with less than 4,000 miles on the odometer, so it was basically new.  Land Rover had stopped importing the Defender and wanted a third model to go along with the Range Rover and the Discovery. These started popping up all over Houston, but mostly in the more refined 4-door version.  I bought this on a whim (shocking, I know), and for some reason went with the very Jeep-like SE3 with its 2-door / removable rear cover configuration.

It turned out to be a pleasant little truck to drive.  It wasn't particularly spacious and certainly didn't have enough storage space to work for me as an 'SUV', but it was comfortable and well-appointed.

I ended up keeping this for less than a year and then sold it to a nice young female military friend who was stationed in Utah.  She flew in to get it with her mom and couldn't have been happier.  All in all, I liked it.  I never took it off-road and I never even took the removable roof off, but I'm sure it would have performed well.  

Perhaps the world's dumbest cup holders!  Are you really going to put a coffee thermos or a soda in the middle of the dash and then drive around?