And... and... and...

Dr. Strangegun's blog... guns, electronics... and now cars.

Well, car anyways. I picked up a new project a few days ago, and sparing you *all* the photos I leave you with this one:



This is the car being called, for now, the white shadow. And not Ken, either (yes, in theory I'm too young to know about that show, but I know about a lot of things I "shouldn't").

Anyhow, it's a '93, 2.2 TBI with a 5 speed stick, and was an AC and radio delete car that I think was a service car for some governmental entity around Oliver Springs. 111K on the clock and it cost me $1400... not bad. Runs like a top but has some issues, and I'll be fixing them shortly since parts are on the way. What's coming?

-polyurethane shift linkage bushings
-instrument cluster with tachometer (right now, just has base model bare minimum guages)
-front and rear speakers
-2 yards of foam backed headliner fabric
-a decent scrubbing for the motor and everything else underhood

I figure I'll work on this a couple months and then add it to my insurance when it rolls out of the 2007 cycle so I won't have to give out make-up payments for the remaining premium. No AC isn't an issue for me here since it's a white car so it won't get unbearable with the windows down, but I can always just drive the truck for a month or two during the hottest times of the year. A head unit, antenna, and floor mats are on the books for later on once these initial fixes are done.

Plans for modification? None, really. I might stiffen the suspension but not harshly... I wanted this as a cheaper commuter than the truck. Considering I drive 50 miles a day and should get ~32mpg out of the shadow, I ought to make up the purchase price (at $3/gallon) in... a little over four years. See, that's never a good reason. What is a good reason, however, is now I'll have a sprightly little runabout that costs pennies to insure, is fun to drive, comfortable, and eminently more practical as a people/grocery mover than the Sonoma is. I keep a tray in the passenger seat of the truck so essentially it's a one seater, and I have to tie my grocery bags shut to keep them from fluttering away after they've dumped their contents out in the bed.

So basically, the truck gets me during hot days, when I need to carry the big stuff, and when the shadow's out of commission. All other trips are shadow territory.

And now, I get to figure out what to do with the stripped-down, brutal, ex-rallycross car, the blue shadow.