Blood,Sweat & Teardrops...

[bigblockbarry]

I'm hoping that my license plate fiasco is over and decided it was time to mount the tag. I built a 1 inch receiver for the rear to mount my table and I've been thinking I would build something that would slide in and be removeable. Spent an hour cutting and welding,slid it in and held the plate on it. I gave it 2 thumbs down . On to plan B. I spent a few years restoring a 67 Chevelle that I divorced a couple years ago and remembered that it had the flip down tag mount/fuel door in the rear bumper. The light bulb came on and off to fleabay I went. Bought the tag mount and 2 of those lighted bolts that the street rod guys like so much. Put the plate on and screwed the bolts in.


Took the receiver off and welded a piece of flatbar to it and drilled a couple holes.

A little paint and a couple 1/4 inch bolts later.


Do the lights work?

They seem to. Probably will be brighter with 12 volts and a dark night. Best thing is I'm legal to go out of state now. You can't go wrong putting old muscle car parts on your rig.

Barry

[bigblockbarry]

I haven't posted in a while,I've started building a tow rig for the teardrop. Usually you build a trailer for your vehicle not the other way around,but maybe its just me. I picked up a 88 Chevy shortbed with 56k actual miles on it for $2500.It had been sitting in a guys yard and turned out he hauled his trash to the dump in it once a month. He told me it needed tires and a catalytic converter.I bit. Had a blowout on the way home,that should have been an omen. Anyway, I put 5 new tires on it,new exhaust system,and now I have the engine out. It was wore completely out.I set the block up in the boring machine and still had a shadow in the bores after taking .026 out,but they cleaned up at .030 so I'm good there.I upgraded the camshaft to a later roller setup and went up a little on the valve sizes.Should pull the tear better than the Cobalt does and I'll have room to put a motorcycle in the back. I know,blah blah blah.


Happy building everyone.
Barry

[WhitneyK]

*BUMP*

Hey Barry,
How's everything going?
Any progress reports?

[bigblockbarry]

Hey Whitney,
I haven't done anything to the teardrop lately. Did get the truck up and running,but I'm having some drivability issues with the electronics.I have 2 parts left to replace,TPS and distributor module,and maybe this check engine/stalling problem will go away. I enjoyed reading about your trip. I would like to make one like that in the near future or even make it to a few of the teardrop gatherings this spring. How did your trailer do overall on the trip? Anything you want to add or something else you wish you would have taken along?

Stay warm, Barry

P.S. thanks for the bump.

[CarlLaFong]

I was reading through this thread today. Do you ride a Boss Hoss?

[WhitneyK]

Hey Whitney,
I haven't done anything to the teardrop lately. Did get the truck up and running,but I'm having some drivability issues with the electronics.I have 2 parts left to replace,TPS and distributor module,and maybe this check engine/stalling problem will go away. I enjoyed reading about your trip. I would like to make one like that in the near future or even make it to a few of the teardrop gatherings this spring. How did your trailer do overall on the trip? Anything you want to add or something else you wish you would have taken along?

Stay warm, Barry

P.S. thanks for the bump.

Nice of you to wake up Barry!
Might want to check the price on the whole distributor, might be cheaper.
Trip went very well, minor problem with one drawer, other than that, smooth sailing (except some of the roads in WI)
As far as what else we should take? Should leave more behind, as always, brought half of it back!
Give me a shout if you get up this way.

[bigblockbarry]

Funny that you say that,I have a buddy that rides his motorcycle to Alaska every year and he tells me that he usually goes about 3 days,and anything that doesn't get used by then gets FedExed home.I've been out 3 times in mine so far,took too much also,had a racoon take the trash out for me,and shook the rachet strap off the A/C.Minor things compared to how much fun it was.

As for the Boss Hoss,I ride a 1900 Stratoliner but I work on a friends Boss. He just put a new ZZ4 crate engine on his and rode out to Cali and back. 385 hp is just a little overkill for me but I go to the national rally every year,and every year I am amazed at what I see.

[CarlLaFong]

I ride a 98 BH. I've done a great deal of work on mine. Converted it to a 2 speed, manual trans with a clutch, built a water pump an a bunch of other stuff. You can click on my blog, below, if you have some time to waste.
Too much horsepower if just enough

[bigblockbarry]

Just to let my friends know that I'm not dead yet. I've swapped trucks,added a couple bikes to the stable and hit the road.This is from a couple weeks ago at the MS Rough Road Ride with the guys on the Motorcycle Tourers forum.


My teardrop is one of the best projects I've ever done.I have thought about building another but that would mean selling this one and I just can't do it.You guys have fun out there and maybe we will meet up at a campground.

[PKCSPT]

Love to see how everyone is enjoying their teardrops after a few years. Looking good.