A journey with my boys- The Elf Barn as I call it. (6 Viewers)

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Last weekend we did barn work, but at @CenTXFJ60 ‘s magic barn. Jimmy has become a good friend of ours and the boys really look up to him in many ways. This whole journey with the Elf Barn began with Jimmy. They had a good time with @CenTXFJ60 and another awesome friend @CaptClose.

We had an epic weekend of wrenching. Trying to make one good 80 out of two bad 80s. The boys got an intense dose of working on rigs from drive train to interior. They worked hard. Very proud of them. It was hot. We also took some time to dip in Jimmy’s TX style ranch pool. I will let the pics do the talking.

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We even had a deer show up. See if you can find it in one of the pics below.

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Having a big tractor helps.

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We usually hit the barn to get some progress on the elves projects. But its also about the journey with our fellow cruiserheads. @CenTXFJ60 joined me and @Cowboy45 at the barn. He was shedding his herd of remaining muscle cars. This one a 1971 LT1 corvette. His buyer met him at the barn because it was closer. We had a good time. Sitting on the front porch nursing good coffee and watching the horses and sunrise was great. “Progress” was working on the hoodliner on the pony which needs to go on before the glass can, erecting a rolling tool chest, and meeting a corvette buyer/ restorer and his dad that has had over 400 vettes. We had some good beer and food. All good. @CenTXFJ60 also took a modified hj62 frame (with 80 front end coil buckets) home with him that @dogfishlake brought to my barn from @bdyer12. We also loaded up a 1fzfe from my stash to send to @CaptClose who will be using it on his FJ45 build. Fair amount of Cruiser DNA running around TX.

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Had a good weekend getting the Pony wrapped up. Headliner went in. All the glass went back on. @SipLife, @Cowboy45, and @cowgirl40 all got in the action. We are spoiled with the well laid out FSMs on Cruisers. Let’s say we did the door glass about twice over. Still some tweaking to do. Chrome goes back on next week. Hoping to wrap most the remaining work next week if possible. Interior carpet, seats, new gear shifter, dash refresh, new instrument cluster bezels. It’s been a hard row as weekend warriors. Getting close to finishing this so we can hit the cruiser projects next.

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Few more pics of the weekend. Boys got a full on lesson on window install. Definitely more complex than cruisers. Multiple planes to adjust. Quarter vent window and multiple planes of adjustment. Tiny hands rule the day in tight spaces.

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Few more pics of the weekend. Boys got a full on lesson on window install. Definitely more complex than cruisers. Multiple planes to adjust. Quarter vent window and multiple planes of adjustment. Tiny hands rule the day in tight spaces.

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Wow man...that paint looks great. Your challenges are the same reason I don’t miss working on Corvettes. Toyota made things so much easier :).
 
Your doing great!
Your kids will have an amazing life with skills and memories that are rock solid!
And the Mustang looks very good too!
Bobmo

Thanks @Bob Morazes. It’s been a good journey. Both ups and downs. Sticking with something to completion and doing it as well as one can is a big one. We have never painted or done body work before. How to go about doing new things through proper research and working with the hands you have is another.
 
Thanks @Bob Morazes. It’s been a good journey. Both ups and downs. Sticking with something to completion and doing it as well as one can is a big one. We have never painted or done body work before. How to go about doing new things through proper research and working with the hands you have is another.

Being 70 YO now, I can tell you it wont be long before you'll be building cars with your grandkids and your sons will be telling stories of today's adventures. So be careful, they are ruthless story tellers when they leave the nest and come back to sit around the family thanksgiving table.
 
@SipLife worked on getting the chrome back on, trunk weather stripping glued in. We also water tested the front and rear windshield glass after sealer last weekend. All in all great. Two tiny leaks. Recaulked those areas. Chrome trim goes back on after a leak re-test next week.

@samc2447, it’s the small bits that take long. @SipLife had a school project so we only got a day in the Elf Barn this weekend. Sometimes we do the best with the time we have. Weather was great. Had some great tunes on. Seeing the pile of pony bits on the floor diminish and end up on the truck was pleasant. Seeing @SipLife see it coming together was awesome.

Next weekend we are off to Tucson to get a FJ45. So no work at the barn. Will share some pics on that in another thread.

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I usually like to post what we do at the Elf Barn. This weekend was a little different but somehow connected to the though. My wife and I took @SipLife to University of Texas at Austin to get tooled up on college and mechanical engineering in particular. Some of the work at the Elf Barn is revealing some interests it appears. His younger brother @Cowboy45 also tagged along for an awareness tour. Life skills at the barn will hopefully help with their college applications. Both seem to be leaning toward mechanical engineering. It is was a fun trip. The campus is great. A challenging and rewarding environment for sure.

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We are heading to the barn for a week of wrenching and some turkey.
 
Oh and last weekend we got another cruiser we just could not pass up. 1965 45 with 1HDT/H55/Split case with E-locked axles. Full float rear, brand new Awl_TeQ bed and tail gate. Hercules we call it.

A few pics.

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The hunt, capture, and soon to be build will be housed here:


Thanks @CaptClose and @POTATO LAUNCHER for a hell of a cruiser pickin trip.
 
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G'Day Fella's,

Great to see Celonfj40nut and thanks for sharing the images.
Best wishes for both the young blokes education, and I could think of worse career option's, than Mech Engineering.

Regards
Homer
 
And Happy Thanksgiving!
From the looks of things, you might need to invest in a Barn stretcher!
Bobmo

My wife is the king of space planning. We have a plan🤣🤣
 
Thanks giving at the Elf Barn was fun. We enacted my wife’s idea of space planning to get Hercules situated. We have a 40’ workbench on one side of the barn that we used for everything else but a work bench. Minimum horizontal space means junk does not get piled up on it. We cut 2/3 of it. Which created the right amount of space to get Hercules situated. The chinesium car dollies with plastic wheels were a joke. We shoe horned it in.

We also spent a good 2 days arranging the barn so it worked better for our needs. We moved all the tools by the entrance. Bought a new tool chest to keep all the sockets sorted out better. Got a drawer system put in labeled all for easy access.

@SipLife worked on installing new window regulators and door weather stripping.

@Cowboy45 worked on repainting the block and cylinder head ready for final assembly.

We also took time to get some turkey in for thanksgiving. Deep frying is the way we do it. 16lb bird takes an hour to be tasty at 325F.

Day after thanksgiving we spent time with family eating left overs, walks to pet the horses, and movies. Good balance of work and relaxation.

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