1960 Triumph TR3

When a friend says "Hey, I just bought an old car off Ebay close to your house, would you want to go pick it up?" My typical response is, "You bet! When and where?"

Turns out, this particular purchase was about 1 hour from me. We quickly arranged for me to pick it up.

First attempt: car made it out of the guys driveway and as I shifted into second gear, it started sputtering and back-firing. Ok, no big deal. Just adjust the choke and see if it smooths out. Well, that didn't work........now how about I limp it to a stop light and plan the next move? Or, it could just stall out and leave me sitting in the middle of traffic.

Let's fast forward to Round 2....

It was a nice day, the owner had fixed the 'issues' and ensured me it was good to go. With my friendly neighbor trailing me, I was ready for any problems that may have crept up. Out the driveway I go, for a second time! First gear, smooth. Second gear, smooth. Third gear, still strong. Fourth gear, good deal! I thought to myself, 'is this real? Could this beast actually be allowing me to drive it all the way back?' Back roads were the route of choice as putting a 51 year old micro-car on the freeway next to modern-day semis probably wouldn't be the smartest decision. It cruised smoothly along at 3,000 rpms (what, did you think the speedometer worked?). After a while, the temperature started climbing. We stopped about half-way for lunch and to let the car think about how it was acting. Subway was the only place around. I still don't know how Jared was able to eat all those subs. Subway is TERRIBLE!

Round 2.5: Starting the car is apparently an art form and I'm not an artist. First, you put the key in, turn it, then hit the push button start. Sounds simple, right? Well, 1/2 hour later, I called my friend who purchased the car to let him know just how awesome his new 'toy' was. Turns out, it was just flooded and eventually gave in to my cussing. Back on the road! This time, I kept it running around 2,500 RPMs and it didn't warm up as much. For some reason though, it started running rough. Any time you tried to accelerate at more than a Ms. Daisy pace, it would start missing. I ended up limping it back to my house with the choke pulled all the way out. Any time I tried pushing the choke in a little, it would give me fits. Best part of this scenario: NOT MY PROBLEM! No, just kidding. I made it back safe and sound and the little TR3 patiently waits for it's new owner. One thing I failed to mention, this purchase came with a parts car too. No hands will be raised to volunteer to pick that up!

Sorta nice smile. Almost like a teenage kid with acne that needs braces.

The dash had some 'patina'

My favorite part of the car, the hood latch. 29 cents at Lowes.

2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited- my first love

When I was young and dumb, it was cool to buy a new car and go into debt. With so much money invested into a car, you HAD to take care of it. Here are some photos of a vehicle I owned from 2006 until 2010. Purchased in Sarasota, FL with 13 miles on it, it added an amazing 4 years of value to my life. When sold, it had just shy of 50,000 miles. While living in Sarasota, some of the best memories were to put my Great Dane in the back with the top down and cruise down to the dog beach in Venice. True Jeep enthusiasts will remember this Jeep as the last year of the classic body style. This is also the last year of the 2-door Unlimited/Long Wheel Base. It made sense at the time to get rid of it, but it's greatly missed!

1952 Cushman-The Beginning!

First, let's start with what I got myself into. After speaking with a guy at a show (back in the spring of 2010), I found out he was getting a divorce and selling an 'old Cushman'. He mentioned it had a side-cart, which peaked my interest. His description "it's 'all there' and just needs paint." With a little bit of money saved up in my collector car fund, I thought this might be a good project to cut my teeth on. The goal was to spend a minimal amount to purchase it and use the rest to restore......we all know where these stories go.
After a few days of contemplating whether or not to go look at it, I decided the 2 hour drive to Cincinnati would be an adventure. When I arrived, it was apparent that my definition of 'all there' and his were somewhat varying. Regardless, never willing to back down from a project, I cut him a check and borrowed his truck to take it back to Indy. It came with a title, even though we couldn't find the VIN.

After getting it home and putting it next to my unfinished 1970 Honda Z50 project, regret and remorse immediately settled in. But hey, this would give me a great opportunity to learn more about Cushmans and their history.

First order of business: Find someone who knew what the hell they were doing! A good friend, Cliff, knows his way around restorations. I wanted to learn how to restore something, so we connected and got started on the disassembly process.

Initially, the intention was to revert this back to original. After looking at the engine, we decided to try and stuff a modern engine in there until we could restore the original Husky engine. GOAL: stuff as big an engine as possible for the cheapest amount! Harbor Freight, HERE WE COME!

Trying to stuff a 13hp engine in there didn't quite work, so we settled with a 6hp Briggs and Stratton.

Let's fast forward to the somewhat finished restoration. The decision was to stick with flat-black/primer until I could sort everything out and get the original engine finished.

Something just wasn't quite right about having a modern engine in a 52' Cushman. The whole reason for purchasing it was to learn how to restore it back to original. So a quick trip up to Arcadia Cushman, where Steve Lorenz (one of the most respected Cushman dealers and restorers) helped me give the engine a refresher, allowed a much more period correct look.

BEFORE

AFTER

With some pin-striping done by the One-armed Bandit out of Connecticut, I decided to rock out the hot rod look for 2010.

That brings us up to date. Now, the Cushman has been disassembled once more. This time, I'm going to restore it to museum quality and replace every nut/bolt. I've chosen an original color of Apple Green. While I haven't seen many in this color, I like the color green and am hoping to set it apart from all the Red ones flooding the market.

More updates to come!