Another Year Older ...

December 1, 2016

 

Today was my special day ... my birthday ...

my morning started with a lovely breakfast ... made by Mike ...

It was snowing ... the trees and ground were blanketed in white ...

Gifts were given to me to open ... also received many cards ... phone calls ... emails ... texts ...

from friends and family ...

Love my gifts from Mike ... a new curling iron for my hair ... chocolate ...

a pair of jeans and two new tops ...

( I had picked out when I went shopping with mom )...

Mom had bought me a new outfit as well ...

A knitted purple top with leggings ... and my favourite ... a package of Liquorice Allsorts ...

All this was done before our guests were arriving today ...

 

Mark and Sandy drove from Castlegar ... to come for a visit ... and deliver my gift in person ...

Sandy had started paintings ... a while back ...

and decided to create one for me for my birthday ...

This painting is her "Tree of Life" ...

Mark and Sandy had lived out here over 25 years ago ...

and now reside in Castlegar ...

Our friendship goes back to our school days ...

back in Sarnia, Ontario ...

We had a lovely evening ... Mike and Mark celebrated my birthday ...

with Mike's famous martini ...

We enjoyed a Halibut dinner ... (my choice) with pan fries and sauted vegetables ...

then Peach Crisp for dessert ...

We spent the evening chatting ... reminiscing of days gone by ... with lots of laughter ...

and visiting with family and friends on FaceTime ...

We couldn't believe how quick the evening went by ...

we talked until the wee hours of the morning ...

 

 

December 2, 2016

 

After a short night's sleep ... we enjoyed having breakfast ...

of fresh fruit ... waffles and freshly brewed coffee ...

Mark and Sandy were heading home this afternoon ...

but before they left ...

we hopped into the truck and drove them around ...

to see how much this area had changed over the last 25 years

Mike and I will plan a trip over to Castlegar ...

sometime in the New Year ... to visit them and their family ...

Thank you to everyone ...

for my Happy Birthday wishes ...!!!

 

VW Motor Assembly ...

August 10, 2016

Mike was busy in the shop ...

the motor reassembly now in progress ...

pedals and carburetor cleaned and painted ...

and new brake lines installed ...

Continuing the assembly of the engine ...

Parts from Brazil do not fit perfectly ...

so adjustments took a bit of time ...

The new flywheel was installed ...

as well as the clutch and pressure plate on the motor ...

The motor was installed back on the pan (chassis) ...

plus the brakes were adjusted ...

and ready for wheels ...

Won't be long now before the tires will be put on ...

and it will be ready to roll out ...

in order for Mike to work on the car body ...

 

More On The 32 ...

June 15, 2016

Ian made the firewall part for the car ...

this is attached to front of the cab ... separating the cab from the motor ...

June 23, 2016

Here Ian was doing the finishing touches on the frame ... dragging it outside ...

to get it ready to paint ...

It looks like he had done some grinding and sanding the frame ...

 

June 24, 2016

Ian then took large sheets of plastic ...

and made a paint booth in the garage ...

He decided to paint the frame this shade of green ...

as the body is a lighter green colour ... with a darker green colour on the trim ...

Ian spent a few hours in the garage ...

painting the car frame ...

June 25 & 26, 2016

Once the paint was dry ...

Ian started to put all the body parts back ...

Ian also installed new disc brakes instead of the old drum brakes ...

 

 

Painting the Pan ...

March 11, 2016

Mike took advantage once again with the nice weather to work on the VW ...

He had sanded the bottom of the VW earlier ...

He wanted to get this done before Craig, James and Ella arrived ...

The kids really wanted to help out and work on it ...

Since I was the only person around at the time ...

I ended up helping carry out the "pan" to the stands for Mike to paint it ...

Once it was painted and set to dry out in the sunshine ...

it was time to pack it back into the shop to finish drying ...

Ready for the next stage of rebuilding ...

 

VW Transmission ...

While I was out working in the garden ...

Mike was outside sandblasting the transmission and differential ...

and then covered it with a coat of POR15 ...

(an extra durable undercoating paint)

to protect it from rust, stones, and abrasions ...

Slowly but surely the VW restoration is starting to come together ...

 

 

Old & New VW Parts ...

Old and new brake drums ... the old ones were too far gone to use ...

It's important to have good working brakes ... !!!

Mike was able to restore the brake backing plate ... sandblasting and painting them ...

It was great to have had a couple nice days to work outside ...

Mike had sandblasted and painted the front axle beam ...

the torsion arms ...

steering gear box and the brake backing plates ...

Once the paint had dried on the control arms ...

it was time to press in the balljoints ...

Mike also assembled and installed the torsion bars ...

Then over the next couple days...

Mike assembled these parts onto the front axle beam ...

including the tie rods ...

getting it ready to install the floor panels ...

next he measured and tack welded the panels onto the car frame ...

 

Working on the Bug ...

November 15, 2015

There was a break in the weather ... warmer with the sun shining ...

Mike decided to do some work on the VW ...

finishing off the sandblasting ... priming ...

and putting a coat of paint on the "pan" ... the core frame of the VW ...

After Mike was finished with the painting ...

we carried the pan into the shop for the paint to dry ...

Ready for the next step of the project ... !!!

Mike was happy to have this part done ... so that the frame would be protected ...

 

 

Perfect Day For Painting ...

May 25 - 28, 2015

A beautiful morning ...

waiting for the painting team to arrive ...

to freshen up the house ...

Scaffolding placed in the living-room and dining-room ...

and the painting has begun ...

Next two days were spent upstairs ...

in the bedroom ... bathroom ... and hallway ...

so happy to have the professionals painting those areas ...

They did an amazing job ...

we are so happy with the results ...

Now to take a few days ...

and move everything back ...

to get the house back to normal ... !!!