umm, hi

Yeah, yeah. "Blogs are supposed to be updated," meow meow meow. You think this is infrequently updated? See my dressage blog.

The orange '73 Stang down the road is gone, and is not at any of the locations where this dealer sometimes puts sale cars. Somebody either bought it, or the owner took it back. ::sigh:: I would have liked it, couldn't realistically swing it. There's a cute, shiny little red-with-white shortnosed Mustang fastback for sale near the Forty Wire Road intersection in Mays Landing, too ... which I also can't afford, and certainly not now that the economy is tanking. (In the people's yard, though not with a for-sale sign, was even a Maverick! Holy fucking shit. It was Thanksgiving, I was headed to work, stopped to check out the sales car and voila.)

So it's back to my wee Shelby homage project car.

The vinyl detailing guy said $150 for wide stripes. It may cost more than that, because I want to extend them down to the bottom of the rear bumper. I'd like to do it even without the expensive bits being done. After the bumper-grill-foglamps are done, I can redo those stripes, and redo the hood after the scoop is made. But I haven't had a spare $150 anyway. Have you heard? It's a recession, officially. I knew that when it started costing me $40 to fill Ellie's tiny Civic gas tank. Jackasses.

Back during the summer, the friendly fiberglass shop owner said, IIRC, that he was on vacation and to call back in a week.

Then they were closing for some kind of fire marshal's inspection, call back in a couple weeks.

Then they were changing locations, call back in a couple weeks.

I haven't called back. Just ... sure, fine, whatevs.

In the spring, I'll get Ellie detailed, bugs and tar scrubbed off, then get the stripes. I'm thinking about a clear urethane layer on all of the car's leading edges and surfaces afterward, too.

In the meantime, my brother and nephew have been working a little on the Frankenstang, adding a Corvette suspension and wheels. He customized the wheels, they look lovely.

I suspect this winter's part of the Ellie Project will be hunting up various foams and clays to sculpt the plug for Ellie's scoop. Or maybe even scoops, if I can figure out where the side ones would go. That I can do in my own garage without a lot of fuss, or even any toxic chemicals. Maybe Bro and Nephew will even want to play.

And as an aside: The new 2010 Mustang? Bleagh. Why taper the nose and squinch up the taillights?