Holiday Trip and Car--new toy pics...and a loss in the family

Been an interesting couple of days, sorry for not posting these pics sooner. I did go to Houston on Saturday as planned, and had a great time. Picked up a goofy new POS project from my buddy AJ, see pics below, and also got some Houston yarding in.

Sunday morning I had to take down all the Christmas crap and load it all back into the attic, plus cut the tree in half so the garbagemen will take it. After that I took a bunch of pics of the new POS project still on the trailer in the driveway, unloaded it, and then washed both the Roady and the Cutlass, and pushed the GTO out of the garage and blew the dust off it too.

Sunday afternoon I put Eddie, my 9-year-old, on the back of the Honda Magna, rode over to Dad's and we went for a good motorcycle ride out to the hill country, followed by a good Tex-Mex dinner at Chuy's. Really a nice day, but I was too beat that night to upload the pics.....had planned to do this yesterday, on my last day of holiday vacation.

Since I'm sharing all this, here's what happened yesterday. Emily, our goofy 11-year-old black cocker spaniel had been limping, and had a lump on her foot. We took her to the vet yesterday morning, thinking she got bit by something in the yard, and it turned out to be a tumor...she had cancer, and it was all through her body....amazing, other than the limp she seemed fine...if older and a bit grey in the snout.

After talking to the vet, we were told the only humane thing to do would be to put her down. So we lost our family pet yesterday. Misty and Eddie both boo-hoo'd all afternoon. We'd had Emily since before Eddie, who is almost 10, was born. My 3yr old Tuck didn't know what was happening think goodness... I was sad but was ok until yesteday afternoon. We have a really good vet, and they sent us a rose and a small plaster circle with Emily's paw print in it and Emily Massey 1-2-12 printed on the back. That choked me up. She was a really good old dog.

So on that happy note I'm back in the office today, and at long last am going to upload the Houston pics. So here we go. Dad and I got up early Sat morning and drove the 3 hours to AJ's in Magnolia, just north of Houston. I got to see his Eurosport VR wagon in person, it's neat, and also some of his other latest toys. In addition, I picked up a yellow 1975 Suzuki 250 2-stroke dirt bike, and a lot of spare parts and the repair manual. Ha! I needed another POS at my house! Misty was not pleased when I got home..... AJ also gave me a '66 Chevelle 1/24 scale model for Eddie and a package of sparklers for Tuck. He's a good guy! Oh and he gave me that 91-93 Roady gauge cluster. Will post a pic in the For Sale section. Somebody buy it! Free shipping!

Dad, AJ and I went to Houston Wrench-A-Part, Pick-N-Pull, and then to Bass Pro Shops. It was the first time AJ had ridden in my wagon, and he liked it, especially the Z28 gauges. Fun stuff.

So here we go:

At the first yard I found this white '93 Roady wagon, with very nice red leather interior. I REALLY thought about yanking the front passenger seat for a "someday" floor shift conversion, it was CLEAN. The car itself came from Pennsylvania, and was a rusty mess....dang salt! I did score a good set of red tailgate release handles and a pair of rear grab handle light lenses off this car. It also had a perfect vist roof sun-shade and I should have grabbed it!



At the next yard there were two more wagons. These were both rust-free Texas cars too. I yanked the tailgate handles from these as well....both were blue inside, but I can always SEM the handles.

Fairly clean OCC, but with a Chevy bumper and hood


Caprice wagon. This car had a nice interior, and I really like the wood in this one. Was different from most I've seen.





And this is well off topic, but Laird is an AMC nut so got these for him. This car was CLEAN. The odometer showed 34K miles. The paint was perfect. It had all four hubcaps (one was in the passenger footwell), the seats were not ripped, dash was not cracked, it looked like you could get in and drive away. I've seen people put AMC 360 and 401's in these and they fly. This one had the Jeep 258 in it. Anyway it was a clean oddball and worth the pics.


Half wood, half red steering wheel. AMC's are funky




And these pics were taken Sunday afternoon back home in Austin..
Shhhh...don't let Misty see what I drug home....hahaha......ahh heck there's poor Emily on the grass in front of my car...sad stuff.



It's ROUGH but I have most all the parts. Frame is good, engine is not locked. Projects!


Big Tuck likes it!


After unloading the bike and parking the trailer Eddie and I pushed the GTO out and dusted it off. It rolls well....

Tuck wanting me to push him fast so he'll look cool.....


Here's my salvage yard take, plus that cluster AJ game me. I want $35 for the cluster...free shipping! The rest is for my personal parts stash:



Since I was outside working already I washed the Roady and then sprayed the dust off the Cutlass. I really miss the Cutlass....it still looks so sharp. I've GOT to get on that engine swap.




Hope everyone had a good holiday season and a Happy New Year!

-Mike

My wife is already wanting a new pet. I'm sure we'll get a new one soon.

I plan to follow George Carlin's advice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktp-Zsm25dU

Pro tip: feed the new dog good food. I give HIGH recommendation of Blue Buffalo. Warning, it is not cheap ($50 for a 30 pound bag), but it's made with REAL meat, and has other good things for the dog. Of all the stuff I've seen, it's the best value for the money. Sorry for your loss. That's probably my least favorite part about working at PetSmart... when someone comes in looking for a dog and realizes we don't sell them. Bummer.

What's the story on the bike? Cool little project, but you've got a Cutlass to finish, man!

Thanks for the tips on food. Will keep it in mind.

As for the bike, it's more of a project for my brother-in-law. He's a bike nut and I got it more for him than for me. I just want to RIDE the thing once it's put back together.

-Mike

81X11 wrote:

I just want to RIDE the thing once it's put back together.

-Mike

Poor little bike,.

Sounds like you had a full week! Sorry to hear about the dog. Loosing a long time family pet is hard for everyone. Nice junkyard finds though. Hey, sounds like me and Laird have similar interests! I like those little AMCs, I actually found an AMC Eagle SX/4 in the junkyard last year. 258 with a 4 speed and 4WD, must have been fun to drive. I can't believe how many wagons you found in those junkyards. I thought you said you hardly see wagons out there? Around here, I see them often on the road, but almost never in junkyards. Cars like that go right to the crusher at the scrap metal places. I went with (95BRMW) Dave to his local junkyard in CT on New Years' Eve, and much to my surprise, there were THREE wagons! An LDM '96 woody RMW Limited, tan interior. We got all exited until we realized the last owner used the car for roofing (Roofmaster?), and almost every interior part was trashed and it was rusted underneath bad. Dave did get like the one good door panel as well as 3 of the precious '96 seatbelt plastic caps as well as a few other bits and bobs. The other two were a '92 or '93 Caprice wagon with a dealer/aftermarket woodgrain job, and a dark blue '92 RMW with a dark blue leather interior. Snagged a few pieces off those two as well as a couple good sets of vent windows. Never seen that many wagons in a junkyard ever. Usually one IF you're lucky. So what's with the tailgate handle stash? You break them often or what? I've never come across a broken one...

Lately I'm starting to see more wagons in the yards here. That white Roadmaster was from PA and was really rusted. I feel for you guys that live in the salt all winter. I don't think I've ever seen one with dealer-installed wood. Sounds different. Did you get any pics?

When I lived in Jersey I used to go to GI's Auto Salvage off Rt. 46, and also there was a good smaller yard in Clinton, and Kober's in Washington Township. Some big yards up there back in the late 80's and early 90's.

Oh and FYI, I'm looking for two of those '96 seat belt caps for my car. Please grab them if you see any. Have never seen any here.

As for the tailgate handles, I've had two break off and one of the replacements I got from Fred has now cracked but not totally broken yet. Maybe it's the heat here. I'm sure those really bake with that glass window right on top of them, even with the window tint. I'm grabbing every good one I see from now on.

As for the Eagle SX/4, that's pretty cool. I always thought those were funky with the spoilers, stripes and slats and 4WD. My buddy Laird has that orange Pacer X wagon, loves oddball stuff....and most AMC stuff is pretty oddball...

Fun stuff. Good luck with all your projects Lynol!

-Mike

Explain this seatbelt cap mystery... I believe the wagon in my local yard is a '96.

In 96 GM put an interior-colored plastic cap on the male part of the buckle, the part attached to the shoulder/lap strap, not the actual buckle itself. On ALL the other older cars there is a brushed metal piece of trim in this spot. The '96 is an oddball, have no idea why they added this trim. I have two missing on my car. One off the rear belt, and one off a front one.

Will snap a pic later.

-Mike

I know this car in the yard has a tan interior, but I assume you're not afraid of a little SEM.

After my door panels SEM and I are good friends. That stuff is great!

Thats good to hear Mike considering whats coming your way shortly.
Jim

Posting pics of the seatbelt covers I need in the Parts Wanted section.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t5407-96-only-plastic-interior-colored-seatbelt-buckle-caps#52564

Please be on the lookout!

-Mike

I missed this before... Sorry about your Dog, Mike. That's a tough deal.

And that PA wagon didn't look bad at all! The core support was even still white!

sorry to hear about the dog,nothing worst than losing a family member, btw use good food we use taste of the wild,not cheap either, blue buff is good also

Taste of the Wild is good but Blue Buff is easier to find generally. Another solid choice.