My Little Matilda

Matlida Hits The Road!

2012-01-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

Matilda at the Harris Covered Bridge

I have been dreaming of this day for a long time. Is she done? Is she shiny, smooth and beautiful? Is she the museum-quality show piece she will someday become? No on all counts. Did we have a blast driving her anyway? Totally.

Last weekend we took our little foray to the gas station for her first fill up. I discovered shortly after, Matilda is rather picky about her choice of beverages. This little car barely runs when fed 10% ethanol pump gas. I did a little asking around, and there is a place in Tangent, about five miles from here, that has ethanol free premium. Fortunately, a five gallon Jerry can is practically a full tank for Matilda. She still managed to sputter a bit, even with the new fuel. As a last-ditch effort for a simple fix, I changed the spark plugs. That was all she needed. Now, she ran more smoothly, all but stopped stalling and even idled! This gave me the confidence to venture across the highway to visit a few friends who live about a mile away. The trip went very well. It did die once, while I was decelerating from the fastest speed (55) she's seen in a long time. Luckily, a quick pull of the choke, a few accelerator pumps and we were under our own locomotion again. We did a little more running around and visiting, and then headed for the barn. This was all Saturday. Today the forecast kept promising that the fog was going to burn off at some point, and we would see the sun again. No such luck. Finally, we decided to bundle up and hit the road anyway. There is a covered bridge a little over ten miles from our house toward the coast. This seemed a little risky, since in addition to being farther from home than Matilda's been since she became Matilda, it was foggy, there was highway traffic and there is no cell service at the bridge. With all that in mind, we decided to have Carley and Josie follow me in the pickup, just in case. Turns out, we needn't have worried. Matilda made the whole 22 mile trip like a champ. She even climbed the hills at 55. I had an '87 Civic hatchback when Carley and I met that wouldn't even do that. I'm sure once the interior is in, and I have a passenger and a half (Josie) it will be 45 and third gear, like that old Civic. But for a two cylinder 36 hp engine, I was tickled. We started the weekend with 14 miles on the odometer, and now have 56.

I have taken pictures, and filled out the paperwork for the classic car insurance company. I realized when I saw that I needed to provide proof of ownership, that the parts car is the one that is titled. I've effectively changed the body, and therefore the VIN, so I will have to drive down to the DMV sometime this week to do a title transfer. Any excuse to drive her...

Let's Get Street Legal!

2012-01-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

Not too pretty, not too proud.

I've been collecting informal estimates to get the final body and paint work done, and keep getting asked to, "Bring it in, so can see what we're working with." So it occurred to me I could put the doors and fenders on, get the lights working, install some seat belts and drive it in to the shops. I realize that almost everything I put on, will have to come back off for the paint job, so I have to keep my improvements to a minimum. So far, I've been getting figures between three and five thousand dollars to make this little ride smooth and shiny. Considering I have less than that saved, and I refuse to go into debt for something like this, it made more sense to wait until next winter to make her pretty, and just drive it as is. That way, with a bit of a cash buffer, I can get this job done right, and in the mean time, we get to actually drive the car! So today, we took a short, and slightly illegal (as we have yet to procure insurance), trip to the gas station for Matilda's first fill-up. We'd been running on the first gallon of gas we put in when we did the first test fire those many months ago, and ran out of gas on the way. Fortunately, Matilda weighs little enough, that it was a pretty comfortable push home. Naturally, a city bus just had to come around the corner as we were trying to stay in the bike lane, but it all worked out. We got gas, I did the first oil change, and re-tightened the CV shaft bolts and bent the holding tabs. Our seat belts will be here Wednesday. That just leaves insurance. I tried talking to our usual insurance company, but they were sky-high. I've since talked to two collectors' car insurance companies, and should hopefully be covered by the end of the week. With any luck, we should be able to take a substantial drive next weekend. I really want to get a couple of hundred miles on this engine to make sure it will make it.

600 Sighting in Roswell

2011-12-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

My folks came across this N600 in Roswell New Mexico. It looks like it is being used as a mascot for a restaurant. Might be a bit more work to bring this one back to life.

Magnum Drove an N600

2011-12-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

It turns out that Thomas Magnum, famed '80s PI, took a break from the Ferrari 308 to drive an N600 for most of an episode. Guess he was having trouble with the ladies and needed something cool to drive. Someone took all of the scenes that feature the Honda and cut them all together to make a delightful little episode. It has about ten minutes of N600 footage. I never get tired of watching these cars go down the road. Here's the link:

Broadband users (384 kbps)
Dialup users (56 kbps)

On the restoration front, I'm shopping for a body shop to do the final body and paint. I tried going to a shop that I've had work do in the past, but they weren't interested. Collision centers rarely want this kind of project clogging their shops. I don't plan for this to be much more work than a standard paint job, as I will be doing the reassembly, and have already done all the tedious stuff, but they took a pass. They gave me the card of an actual restoration shop, but when I talked to him, he ball-parked the job at around $5000 plus materials. Hopefully that is as outlandishly high as it seems. I fully expect to pay quite a bit to have this done, but since I've already done the majority of the work, hopefully it will be a little more reasonable elsewhere. On the way home from that shop, I stopped in at another collision center. They were actually interested in the job, and would like to see the fenders and hood to get some idea what we are working with. This shop uses the newer water-based paints, which I'm not excited about since there will be compatibility issues with the paint I've been using, but they assure me that this is one of the best coating systems available. I'm going to meet with them early next week to see about a solid estimate.

We're Jambin'

2011-11-27T20:15:00.000-08:00

This turned out to be a busy holiday weekend. Big surprise. Between holiday travel, an impromptu work day and a practically impromptu dinner party, I was starting to think this would have to wait. Luckily, I got into the garage this morning and finished media blasting the few remaining parts that would be needing body color. I cleaned and hung everything I could from the lift. I suited up, and shot everything with an etching primer to prep the bare metal for priming. I then gunned the catalyzed primer and single stage body color on the back sides of the fenders, under side of the hood, and insides of the doors. The Hood and door hinges, the fuel door and rear bumper panel needed to be painted prior to reassembly also, so they got the same treatment. I was conflicted about how to ventilate the garage while spraying, as I had been running two heaters all day to get up to the recommended 70 degrees. I was a little alarmed to come inside and remove my respirator and smell automotive paint. I set up the spray booth fan set up I used earlier in the project, and opened several windows in the house to clear the air. It smells fine now, but I think I will run the fans overnight to aid in drying.

Back to The Grind(er)

2011-11-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Life has finally slowed down enough to allow me to get back into the garage, and back onto Matilda! It has taken me a bit to get my head back into the project, but I think I have a plan of attack. I've spent the last few weekends sand blasting small parts, and this weekend, I broke out the wire wheel. So now I have the Hood, fenders, one door, various hinges and the rear bumper panel ready for jamb-painting. I had been planning to do the final paint, as well as all of the ensuing body work, myself. Fortunately, I came to the realization a few weeks ago that that would only serve to frustrate me, and drag this project out even longer. So I have decided to find a good body and paint man to do the finish work. I fully plan to have this baby on the road next summer, so that should help. As near as I can figure, I have the passenger door to strip, and I should be ready to start the painting process all over again. It's so nice to be making real progress again!

Mergers and Acquisitions

2011-11-13T18:12:00.000-08:00

I call it that since I am technically merging three cars into one, but this post is more about acquisitions. Our summer was insanely busy, as usual, and so progress on Matilda took a back seat (also as usual). We were both in a play, got a new puppy, worked on remodeling the kitchen, and well, it was summer. I decided that since I wasn't going have much time to spend on the car, it might be a good use of time to pick up some of the items I would eventually be needing. I'm not sure why it took me over four years to realize that the more time I waste, the less available many of these parts may become. I sometimes wonder how my brain works. So, with this revelation came action. I started contacting N-600 guys, and keeping an eye on eBay listings. Now that I have the windshield installed, I would be needing the gasket for the back window. And as long as we're talking windows, I'm gonna need weatherstripping for the pop-out side windows and the doors. Bill Colford, a great resource for parts and knowledge, had part numbers for the weatherstripping, and has a guy that manufactures the windshield gaskets. As luck would have it, Bill also has an upholsterer who makes beautiful reproduction seat vinyl. And since we're getting new seats, a new carpet kit is a must. The carpet is offered by Mike O'Connor, who built our engine. Last week I sent the door handles and trunk lock to Miles Chappell, another great resource, to have them re-keyed and polished. As always, eBay has also been a good source of various items. I got a pretty nice set of front turn signal lenses with housings from someone in California, and rear bumper brackets from Ray Cave in Missouri. I did get into an exciting bidding war over a very nice pair of tail light lenses. These are extremely rare since they were never really great quality to begin with, and after 40 years of weather exposure most of them are shot. It got up around $350 at the end of the auction, when some guy swung in in the last few seconds, and stole them. Fortunately, another guy got them from him a second later. Bloodsuckers. That prompted me to search for a way to make molds that would allow me to make new lenses on my own. I found a kit that might just work, but it will be so long until I'm ready to reinstall the tail lights, that I may come across another set somewhere.

I was pleasantly surprised by a gift from a fellow restorer, when my buddy John gave me an original N-600 brochure! It is in pristine condition and will have a prominent place in my garage when I have time to have it framed. His gift made me realize this would be a good time to pick up an original owner's manual. Both were located in Great Britain for some reason. It's always in the last place you look.

Matilda's Big Outing!

2011-05-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

I dunno...

It's been a while since I've been able to make any progress, as I've had a few road blocks in the way lately. I mentioned the need to follow the proper sequence of events in the last post. Well, I've been wanting to get the windshield and exhaust system installed for months now, but I needed the brakes to operate safely so that I could pull it into the glass shop, and onto the lift at the muffler shop. As luck would have it, I was directed to a place that rebuilds brake boosters in vintage cars. Not only that, but they average one N600 booster a month, so they know what they are doing. The trouble was that it is in Upland California, which required shipping out the booster and waiting a few weeks to get it back. Then I had to find time to reinstall, bleed and test it. I was very excited to test drive Matilda and have the brakes work perfectly. That meant I could take a day off, rent a dolly and pull her down town. There were several headaches involved with procuring the dolly, including having to modify the tie down system to accommodate such a narrow car, but eventually it all worked out. I was pleasantly surprised when, after examining both of my windshields, Dave the glazier noticed that one of them was in nearly perfect shape. I had to wonder when he proclaimed that the other had probably been owned by a woman. When I asked what made him think that, he pointed out the two deep scratches on the inside of the windshield. He told me that they were probably caused by someone wiping off condensation while wearing a diamond ring. Just like CSI. From there we went straight to Jerry's Precision Muffler. Jerry hadn't seen one of these cars in three or four decades, and wasn't sure what to do for a muffler. After some test fitting, and a couple of cigarettes, he decided to weld together two 18" glass-pack mufflers in the "transmission hump" and add another 12" unit out back for good measure. That would mean that we would have four feet of muffler in a ten foot long car. We wanted quiet, so I thought it sounded fine. It actually works great. I had no idea how loud the engine was since we couldn't hear it over the exhaust noise. Now, with a practically silent exhaust system, you can really hear those 36 ponies up front. We did have what looked like a very serious problem when it came time to drive off the lift. I depressed the clutch pedal to start the engine, and heard a "pop". I then noticed that the clutch pedal was hovering suspiciously close to the floor. There was no getting the car into gear. The clutch had gone out. We pushed Matilda out of the muffler shop, and onto the tow dolly for the ride home. I had just about accepted the fact that I would now have to pull the engine, and open up the clutch to see what sort of catastrophe had befallen our little car. I made a few phone calls, and sent a few emails to gather information on just how screwed I was. One suggestion I got via email was to check the clutch adjustment bolt. On a whim, I decided to tighten it a bit and see what happened. The pedal seemed a little higher. A few more turns, and it would go into gear. A few more, and I was ready to chance a test drive. Amazingly, it worked. The only thing I can figure, is that something must have been binding in the clutch housing since we got the engine, and the pop I heard was that thing falling into place. Once in place, it simply needed the adjustment bolt a little closer to do its job. What a relief! It was so much fun to drive around the block, this time while looking through safety glass, and enjoying a relatively quiet ride. I've started prepping the fenders and hood for jamb-painting and hope to have them on soon. The dream is to have her road-worthy (if not totally presentable) sometime this summer. Keep your fingers crossed!

Details, Details...

2011-03-20T20:46:00.001-07:00

Among the many things this project has taught me, is the importance of observing the sequence of events. At some point in the car's life, someone decided to relocate the radio antenna from its original location above the driver's side "B" pillar to above the passenger side "A" pillar. It looked like they had done this with the assistance of a can opener. One of the first body repairs I did a few years ago was to patch that gaping wound. I had not done the kind of job that would be unnoticeable under the final paint job, so I knew at some point I would have to revisit it. I've been trying to get the car ready for the windshield and exhaust system installations, and it occurred to me that I'd better get that old patch cleared up before a portion of it was covered by the windshield gasket. I've also been on the fence about the quality of the interior paint job, so I decided to sand, mask and repaint the visible surfaces while re-shooting the windshield bed. It was a lot of work for such a minor result, but I knew it would bug me later to see essentially textured paint while sitting in the car, which I hope we do a lot.

Here's a little video of my folks taking Matilda around the block. I love the perspective as they drive past full size vehicles.

Matilda's Maiden Voyage!

2011-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

It only took four years, but Saturday the dream came true, and we drove Matilda!

The weekend began with my dad and nephew coming to help get this show on the road. I was pretty sure all that needed to be done before we could get rolling, was to bleed the brakes and adjust the clutch. I was a little nervous about the brake bleed. I had gone through the whole system and replaced or refurbished every component I could. I bent new brake lines, rebuilt the calipers, replaced all the hoses with brand new stock and replaced the master cylinder with a rebuild. I knew that I would have a potential leak at every one of the several double-flared fittings, as they are notoriously difficult to get right. As a matter of fact, I did have a few leaks, but they sealed up with a few additional wrench turns. Actually, it's been sort of magical how everything that looks like a problem seems to work itself out. Besides the brake leaks, the charging system didn't charge, the transmission wouldn't go into reverse and a needle valve in the carb stuck closed. All of these issues were fixed so easily, that it was almost worth having the problem in the first place, if only for the satisfaction. The one thing that was an issue, and still is, is the brake vacuum booster. It's amazing that a car this size has power-assist brakes at all, but when the booster doesn't work, you sure miss it. I've got emails out to the N600 gurus looking for suggestions. I could probably bypass it, but as just about every other little detail on this car is working, I'd like this to operate too. I learned an exciting statistic while doing a little online reading. It turns out that of the 40,000 plus N600s sold in the US, roughly 1,000 remain. Of those thousand, about half are restorable, and of those only about 300 are drivable. I had no idea this would be such a rare and special car when we got started, but I'm looking very forward to spreading the joy when it hits the road for real.

Let The Body Work Begin!

2011-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

I've been looking at two dents in the roof for about four years now, and I decided that today was the day to do something about them. Their size and spacing suggest that someone made an ill-fated attempt to put a roof rack on this car. Clearly, if you have furniture to buy, you should take something else to Ikea. When we first acquired this body, I attempted to get a few different body tools into the tight space beneath these dents to no avail. This only left me with one option: I needed a stud pin welder! This is one of the better inventions to happen to the auto body industry in the last generation. You simply load a small copper-coated steel pin into the gun, press the tip into the lowest point of a dent and pull the trigger. In less than one second, you have something to attach a slide hammer to, and voila! It actually takes several of these pins to work the dent out, but it is very effective, and a lot of fun. Fortunately, I'll have plenty of chances to use it, as the body has a few wrinkles. Once the dent is within 1/16" of flush, the Bondo may be applied. I worked for most of a year in a body shop in my early twenties. I learned a few basics (mostly enough to get into trouble) but never had enough practice to get really good at body and paint work. As for the body and paint on Matilda, I've decided to give it a shot, but it is notoriously difficult to make dark colors look good. I figure if I'm patient and don't mind redoing, and possibly re-redoing some things, I may have a chance at getting it right. If that doesn't work out, I may have to leave it to the pros.

From This...To This!

2011-02-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

Was it dangerous? A little. Was it Hillbilly? Definitely. I had been thinking for some time how I was going to swap out the sub-frame without having to remove the engine it was holding up. I considered cutting a couple of holes in the ceiling on either side of a roof joist, and securing to that. I tried to calculate the body damage from bracing across the top of the fender pinch weld. In the end, strapping to a rigid conduit supported by two ladders seemed to be the best option. I was pleasantly surprised when it worked, and damaged neither myself nor the car. In fact, it worked so well, and so quickly, that I had time to get the front end reinstalled. While changing the sub-frame, I also installed the new rear engine mount, corrected the position of the front engine mounts and re-furbished and reinstalled the sub-frame mounts. With all that done, I was very anxious to see if the drive axles finally cleared. It turned out that they do, if only barely. While all of those corrections certainly helped, what made the difference was having them re-booted to a smaller size. It's great to have the car sitting on all four tires. Without being on a large rotisserie, or sitting on a wooden crib, it finally feels as small as it is. We're just about ready to take this baby down the road (around the block). I still need to fill and bleed the brake system, adjust the clutch and buy a new battery. And, for some reason, the pin that connects the shifter to the shift rod has vanished. It will either turn up, or it will get a bolt and nut. I've already made arrangements for towing her to the glass shop for the windshield installation (the gasket arrived yesterday), and then on to the muffler shop. This is getting good.

A Shiny New (ish) Sub-Frame

2011-01-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

The new sub-frame arrived about ten days ago, and though I had my fingers crossed for the new old stock part Tim had mentioned, it was actually used. This turned out to be fine, since after a trip to Willamette Powder Fab, it looks brand new. I figured that after 40 years, the original finish of an NOS part would need a little freshening up anyway, and I got the same result at a lower cost. I also used a product from the Eastwood Company to coat the interior of the sub-frame with a rust converter/inhibitor. I used the remainder of the can in the unibody channels that may have some rust hiding out. Who knows if it actually does anything, but it definitely has psychological benefits. I considered attempting to swap sub-frames today, but ran short of time for what I have in mind. The idea is to not remove the engine, even though this part holds it in. Stay tuned.

A little powder coating makes a big difference.

Plotting and Planning

2011-01-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

Things have gotten a bit slow lately, but the stars are about to come into alignment. After a patient, vigilant search, I located a replacement sub-frame. I spent several weeks checking ebay listings, until one morning while on a weekend getaway, I saw what I'd been waiting for. As we were away from a computer, I immediately bought the part from my phone. The thing about those small screens, is that it's easy to miss small details. It wasn't until I got notification that the part had shipped, that I noticed the sub-frame was for a coupe. A Z600 coupe. This little two door wonder is a sedan. So I now have a 65 lb anchor in my garage. No matter. I called Tim Mings to see if he could help my predicament. He told me that, not only did he have a NOS sub-frame, but if I happened to live in the area, I could come by and pick it up gratis! Since Corvallis is no where near San Diego, he agreed to ship it to me. Tim's had a few things going on, so after nearly a month, he got it on a UPS truck today! I hope to see it early next week.
I also got Bill Colford to order me a new front windshield gasket. His parts can take up to several months, as they usually have to be manufactured, but they are considered top quality. Once we have that, I will trailer the car to the glass shop to have the windshield installed. I will then pull it directly to the muffler shop to complete the exhaust system. This will of course take place after the new sub-frame, lower control arms with their new ball joints and freshly re-booted CV shafts are all reinstalled. At this point, I fully expect the car to be able to go down the road under its own locomotion. Of course, it won't be street legal...but that is merely semantics.

Dashing Along!

2010-11-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend getting the steering column and the shifter back together and reinstalled. I got a little nervous when the key wouldn't turn in the lock cylinder when I got everything back together. I disassembled the other car's steering column to look for clues. It turns out there's a pindle that protrudes from the lock cylinder into the steering shaft to act as the locking column. I must've gotten some grit in this mechanism during media blasting (even though I had taped it off to prevent just this sort of thing). This pindle needs to move freely to allow the lock cylinder to turn. Once I pressed it into the lock housing, the cylinder turned freely. Of course, I won't have a locking column unless it eventually pops back out. Oh well, the locking column never was much of a theft-deterrent. I heaved a sigh of relief when I was able to get the two 39 year old natural rubber boots to stretch back over the shifter linkage without tearing. I also got to try my hand at wrinkle paint on the shifter bracket. I was skeptical at first, since it goes on heavy and very glossy. But, to my pleasant surprise, when I checked it this morning, it was exactly the finish I'd hoped for. I did learn that wrinkle paint takes at least 24 hours to harden, as some spots got damaged on reassembly. So now the dash is looking even better with the steering column and wheel, the gear-shift and the pedals all in place. Sadly, they are all only temporarily installed. The dash is resting right against the body at the windshield bed. We are most likely going to have to install the windshield, and its corresponding rubber gasket, before the dash, steering column and shifter can be tightened into permanent position.

Rare Parts

2010-11-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

Since this is the first car I have ever restored, naturally a few things have come as a surprise. I knew going into this that finding parts would be a challenge. What surprised me was how easy and readily available parts are...if you are restoring a domestic car. My uncle sent me a copy of Hemmings Motor News' Collector Car Restoration Guide. The magazine is literally riddled with ads for parts and services for the (domestic) car restoration enthusiast. Turns out, if you wanted to build a '58 Chevy pickup from reproduction parts all you need is a credit card and a place to do it. I was lucky enough to procure what may be the last two new old stock (n.o.s.) lower ball joints known to man. Mike O'Connor put me onto the CMS (Consolidated Motor Sports) website. This is essentially a clearing house for unsold motorcycle parts in The Netherlands. Is sounds like they've had these ball joints sitting on their shelf since around the time I was born. It only took five days, well five days and $300, and they arrived at my doorstep. As you can see, the original joints are in pretty sad shape. I also scored a pretty good deal on a reproduction exhaust pipe that a guy in Missouri sold me on eBay. He's been parting out a few N600s, and while most if his stuff is used, this piece was made from new material to match an original. I got notification Saturday that the bushings for the sway bar have shipped, so the front end can go together when I get the CV axles come back from the shop. This is all contingent on what happens with the sub-frame. The rust issue is forcing me to replace it, or cut out the bad spot and weld in a patch. I think it's a lost cause since it's rusting from the inside out, as a result of having spent time in the Florida Keys. Hopefully, I won't have to go to The Netherlands to find another one.

Minor Setback

2010-11-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

So, in the last post I had mentioned a potentially serious problem. Well, it was only serious if a solution didn't present itself, which fortunately, it has. As I was pondering what to do about our axle rubbing problem, it occurred to me: if you have a serious N-600 problem, who do you call? Why, the N-600 God, of course! Well my good buddy, Chad, is an avid follower of the Jalopnik website. A few years ago, they did an article on a fellow named Tim Mings, who is apparently the guru of all things N-600. So I gave him a call on Monday to see if he had ever heard of axles rubbing on sub-frames while up on blocks. Turns out he hadn't. He did want to see some photos, though, and had a few suggestions from there. So the engine cradle (a.k.a. subframe) mounts actually have a front and rear, and it matters how they are installed. Apparently, I have them all sorts of upside-down and front-to-back. Also, I need a new rear engine mount. I knew this already, but was willing to try to use the one I have for now. Tim has this particular mount in stock as a NOS part. Since I try to learn something new everyday (or have it thrust upon me), I discovered that NOS means, "New Old Stock". This is the greatest thing possible, because that means that this part is original Honda stock that never sold back in the day. Also, it looks like the boots on my newly rebuilt CV shafts are a little over-sized, which is contributing to them rubbing on the sub-frame. After a quick call to Oregon Axle, they agreed to re-boot them to a smaller size that will hopefully clear. So, long story short, after a new rear motor mount, a CV re-booting and the installation of the sway-bar, we should probably be clear for take-off. There is a minor rust issue on the engine cradle, but that's another story for another day...

It..Is...ALIVE!

2010-11-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

Completely defying my expectations for this weekend, we actually started the engine. This had been my hope for the past few weeks, but as time ran short, I had accepted the reality that turning this thing over was probably not going to happen. Well, I had my dad work on rebuilding the carb while I started getting the front end put together. Luckily, the old man was "The Carb Guy" at his auto shop before he retired, and he made short order of the little beast. We did run into what has the potential to be a major problem. For some reason, the drive axles are hitting the sub-frame. Normally this wouldn't be too big an issue, since they should straighten out once the car is sitting on its tires. The problem is, when we used a floor jack to compress the struts, the CV boot was still in such solid contact with the frame, that it would have destroyed itself had it turned under power. So far I've checked with a couple of N600 savants, and a few of the more mechanically inclined fellows I know, and we're baffled. Clearly, the car will never move unless we correct this issue, so I have to figure this one out. On the bright side, We got the dash and wiring harness installed, oh, and we STARTED THE ENGINE!

New Finishes.

2010-10-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a bit of quality time with the blast cabinet and the spray can. Just about every surface on, in and under this car needs refurbishment. I recently re-did the front suspension, brake calipers and dash. As it turns out, the guys at Oregon Axle had just enough parts to do our CV shafts. Three of the four joints were pretty much destroyed, so they completely replaced those, and cleaned, lubed and re-booted the fourth. I've also been pretty concerned about what to do for struts. As luck would have it, once disassembled and blasted, I discovered I had a pair of Tokico struts that are actually in pretty good shape. Now freshly painted and reassembled, they look brand new! I've turned my attention to the dash, which will need to go in before I can even think about the day we fire this baby up. I've had a pretty good time bringing the dash back to life. Naturally, after a lifetime of exposure to the sun's life-giving radiation, the dash pad was cracked and discolored. Vic at Chuck's Upholstery, here in Corvallis, recovered the pad with a thin, pliable vinyl used for ATV seats. Between our impending need for a headliner, door panels and original looking vinyl seats, I see a lot of work in Vic's future. After I had cleaned the rest of the dash, repainted the forward trim piece and re-affixed the VIN plate, I reinstalled the pad. I also hand-painted the raised lettering and border with the touch-up paint from Carley's '04 Accord. While taking the paint off of a dash piece, I discovered that if one intends to commit suicide, I do NOT recommend using an angle grinder to slash one's wrists. I got the shifter disassembled and painted, which was a challenge as it was not made to be taken apart. Now I need to concentrate on pedals, wiring and cables for clutch, choke and whatever else presents itself. My dad will be back next weekend to lend a hand. I need to try to get as much of this accomplished as I can so I can make good use of his talents. I got a carb kit for a '75 Honda Goldwing, which apparently has a number of usable parts. No one actually makes a kit for this car, so this is what people use to rebuild the carbs. Mike O'Connor (the guy who built our engine) let me know these have a tendency to have trouble with accelerator pump diaphragms drying out and going bad. Of course this part is also unavailable, but he happens to have a guy who makes them for him, so he sent me one. Heck of a guy.

Big Doin's.

2010-09-30T20:17:00.001-07:00

Well, things have really been happening. I haven't kept up with my blogging, so I'm going to do a little retroactive post...

The Canary Has Landed!

At long last, the engine has arrived. Carley picked it up after work one evening, and brought the crate home, leaving me wondering how I was going to get it out of the truck. My dad had the suggestion of using the lift as an engine hoist, which worked very well. Mike O'Connor appears to have done a nice job. I, of course, wanted the engine to look brand new for my restoration, but as I could tell he was a serious mechanic, I didn't want to insult him by asking him for visual perfection. It did come out very clean and will hopefully look good in the car. He told me he has the cranks for his engines built by a guy in Germany, which accounts for some of the expense of having him do an engine. He also only uses synchro-mesh transmissions, which is nice since Honda had both synchro, and non-syncro trannies. Part of the reason I wanted to buy an engine was so I could save time and money looking for parts like a starter, clutch, carburetor and various gaskets, bearings and seals. Unfortunately, his engines don't come with a carb, but since I have three of them, hopefully I can make something work.

Gettin' This Puppy In.

When my dad retired, I hoped we would be able to spend some more time together. Well, even thought he's at least as busy as he was when he was working, he came to spend the weekend and help give the project a push. I had managed to get the steering rack cleaned up, painted and reinstalled before he got here, if not much else. We got a reasonably early start Saturday morning, and quickly made great progress. The engine needed a little attention to details such as locating the engine mounting bracket and related hardware, and getting them bolted on. After two and a half years the body finally came off the rotisserie when we installed the rear end and set the car on it's first pair of new tires in decades. As I worked on various items, Dad got to rebuilding the brake calipers. These are a strange design with an inner and outer piston in each caliper, which took some figuring to get reassembled. I sand-blasted the caliper brackets, and got them painted. I've been using a high quality paint from Eastwood Co. that leaves a great finish, but takes a long time to dry, so we couldn't get the calipers fully reassembled yet. There are, of course, quite a few small things that need to be done, but I'm very excited to be at this point. This weekend I hope to get the front end parts blasted and painted, and finish the calipers. I also sent the drive shafts to Oregon Axle in Portland today to see if they can refurbish them for me. So hopefully things will continue to come along as nicely as they have this weekend.

Matilda's New Heart is on It's Way!

2010-08-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the five to six week time frame turned into fifteen weeks, but that's what you get when you are dealing with an artist. Mike O'Connor has had a pretty busy summer, but haven't we all? I got a call from him a few weeks ago to let me know that the engine was done, had good compression, and that he had installed it into his car to run for a couple of days to make sure there were no problems. It took a bit of time to uninstall it, crate it up, and have the shipping company pick it up, but it is now officially on it's way. He even threw in an exhaust system he had laying around. Heck of a nice guy. So now I need to get the steering rack painted, and have the drive-shafts rebuilt (and do about 250 other small things), and we should be able to drop Matilda off of the rotisserie.

The Ball is Rolling!

2010-07-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

So a few areas of the project have been coming together nicely. I've been trying to get the rear-end done so that I may drop the body off the rotisserie in preparation for the engine's arrival. Prepping the rear-end involved doing the rear brakes, and re-bending related brake lines. There was also a little challenge finding a replacement brake hose to feed those lines, bearings and related oil seals for the hubs, and rebuild kits for the wheel cylinders. Ah, the joys of restoring a car that is not only old, but had very little value even when it was brand new... Well it turns out that asking the guys that do only these cars has a lot of value. Bill Colford happened to have the rear brake hose on the shelf of his eBay store, and had a few words of wisdom regarding wheel cylinder kits. Turns out that they are a direct match for the '93 Geo Metro. As for the rest of it, Honda used sealed bearings on the rear hubs that fortunately were still in good shape, as were the oil seals. I had my twentieth high school reunion a few weekends ago, which afforded me the chance to mooch a favor off of my dad, who though recently retired after a thirty plus year career as a mechanic, still had access to a brake lathe. The drums turned out fine, while the rotors were about a millimeter under the nine millimeter recommended minimum. With as rusty as they were, I count myself lucky to be that close. So today, I was able to finally get the fuel tank back onto its mounts. I had to get the e-brake cable and its related guides into place as well as the gas tank vent hose attached before the tank could go in. Thank God I have a parts car to pull from and see how things go together just a few feet away!

The refurbished fuel tank and rear end.

Pulling The Trigger On The Engine!

2010-05-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we've had some sad news lately. Our beloved dog, Simone, was recently diagnosed with bone cancer. Last week we had her left rear leg amputated, and yesterday she began her first course of chemotherapy. With this course of treatment, we've been told we can hope for another year with our girl. With that knowledge, we decided it was time to light a fire under this project. So, this morning I ordered the engine/transmission from Mike O'Connor in North Carolina. I thought I remembered him saying he needed a year lead-time. Turns out, he'll start work on our engine next week, and we should see it in five or six weeks time! I have a serious amount of work to do before we can drop it in (or in this car's case under), but we need to be able to take Simone for at least one ride in her car.

A Little Brake Work, A Little Body Work

2010-04-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

As usual, it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. I have actually made a little progress lately. I use the term, "little" in its literal sense. I recently picked up a media blasting cabinet, and a small parts tumbler. This allowed me to re-finish the power brake booster before reinstalling it. I've bent new brake lines for most of the brake system, and with the booster in place, have started installing them as well. While I was doing that, Chad got going on straightening out the header panel. That's a tough one, since we haven't got a straight one to match it to on any one of the three bodies we're working with. Considering the damage to the thin metal of the header, Chad did a great job getting it where it needed to be. It should just need a skim-coat of Bondo, which is way less than it had when we started! We even got to use the stud-welder for more than just practice. A few rare parts have also presented themselves. I've had a few conversations with a fellow named Bill Colford, who is very well known in N600 circles, and he let me know that he is offering side-marker lens replacements. I bought back-up light lenses from him a few months ago, and was glad to hear he had a line on these units. During the process of ordering a pair of side-markers from him, I inquired about shocks and struts. Bill was very helpful with a quick recommendation for a KYB rear shock that was a direct replacement. Unfortunately, front struts are going to be a bit more of a challenge. Apparently, Bilstein made a replacement back in the day, but no longer. It sounds like they will rebuild them if you can find a pair, but they are of course rare. I'm glad to have found shocks, as it will allow the rear axle to be installed when I get to that point. There's really not a ton of work to do before the body could come off the rotisserie, so that's what I'm shooting for.

Fuel System Work Begins

2009-07-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

I was excited to get to this part of the process, not only to get rid of the vinegary rotten-gas smell in the garage, but it was a quick way to see a big difference. I also knew that there would be a bunch of varnish and rust in the fuel tank that would have to come out, or we'd never get this baby running. The Eastwood Company is an online shop for auto restoration that specializes in coatings that resemble OEM finishes. They carry a gas tank sealing kit that allows you to revitalize your old tank in twelve easy steps! It was a pretty filthy and environmentally questionable process, but it turned out pretty well in the end. The final photo shows the pristine coating in the filler neck that is supposed to be uniform throughout the gas tank's interior. Unfortunately, it was no where near that coated for most of the tank, but it should pretty much keep all the crap out of the rest of the fuel system, so I figure I got my money's worth. One major hurtle was that the 18", or so, of fuel line that act as an intake within the tank itself, was completely varnished shut. After trying to figure out how to clean a piece of tubing that has an inside diameter of less than 1/4" and also has two 90 degree bends in it, I settled on using a frayed piece of bicycle brake cable in a drill motor to ream it out. This, mixed with a little Zippo fuel as a solvent, worked remarkably well. Last thing was to spend a little quality time with my old friend the angle-grinder to clean off the outside of the tank, and shoot it with a special zinc coating for gas tanks from Eastwood's.

UNDERCOATING!

2009-07-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Well, it finally happened. After over a year of prepping, pondering and a little painting, Matilda actually made it into Line-X for undercoating. My original plan was to load the body on the cheesy folding Harbor Freight utility trailer that I bought especially for this purpose, stuff the rotisserie into the back of my truck, and attempt to set up this contraption by myself. Thankfully Chad decided not only to help, but to rope his dad, Jim, into the adventure as well. Turns out, that three guys can just pick the body up, and put it wherever it needs to go. The fact that Jim also has a fourteen foot car hauler that allowed us to put the whole setup on a moving platform, didn't hurt either. I had envisioned the need for all sorts of elaborate cribbing to hold the car in place during the trip to Salem, but since we were able to simply lift it into place when attaching it to the rotisserie, we just let it ride on the trailer deck, which it did like a champ. I noticed a number of people on I-5 trying to get a closer look at the strange little car on that trailer.

When we arrived at Line-X, we were greeted by the owner, Wade Starbuck and his crew. They were great to work with, as they were both professional and helpful. I was asked about use of the vehicle, placement of the material, and to what thickness I wanted it applied. Wade even went so far as to call me after the masking was complete to see if I wanted to get some pictures of the process! He explained that the material is a two part chemical blend that is kept separate as it is heated and pressurized to 2500 psi, before it is mixed by the spray gun during application. The amazing thing to me, is that after ten seconds it is set up well enough that you can walk on it! Another surprise is that Line-X is also practically non-toxic. I thought that any material that had all of these properties would definitely be adding to the hole in the ozone layer, but I guess we'll have to look to our other pursuits for that.

Needless to say, I couldn't be happier with the finished product. This is exactly what I've had in mind for the last year. We have a surface that is practically bullet-proof, let alone rust-proof and will cut down on road noise. The best part is, now we have a great base on which to build a beautiful little car.

There's Color in the Air...

2009-05-31T20:44:00.001-07:00

Fans line the bottom of the garage door, transforming our garage into a makeshift spray booth.

I realize it's been a long six months since my last post. For the past five and a half months, a lot of the same tedious tasks were taking place, and I knew few people would want to hear about the seemingly never-ending grinding off of paint down to bare metal. So I decided to wait and spare you the boring details. There was a lot of grinding, a lot of dust, and a lot of vacuuming and cleaning in between. I finished up grinding in mid-February, about a year after I began. I was ecstatic to finally be able to cross that task off the restoration checklist.

Down to bare metal

So, at long last, I finally got to shoot some paint on the body. This turned out to be a good way to figure out how to apply a few different types of primer and see how my garage spray-booth would perform.

Mixing the etching primer

Since I had taken most of the body to bare metal, it was necessary to dust it with an etching primer before proceeding to a catalyzed primer, and finally a single-stage body color. I was a little unsure as to when in the process I should seal the body seams. My Uncle Joe suggested etching, then sealing. I was leaning that way since it made sense, but it also added a bit of extra work. There's a window of time that you can shoot the next type of paint without having to re-sand and re-clean, and since I took the time to caulk seams, I missed that window. This meant that not only would I have to scuff the entire body with 100-grit paper, I would also have to re-shoot the etching primer before proceeding to the other two paint types. I didn't mind too much, after I had finished sanding, since it really seemed like the way to get the best bond.

Caulking the seams/Primer coat on

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I would be supremely disappointed if this were in any way supposed to resemble the finished product, because it does not! There are places that look like textured drywall, a few landslide runs, and I actually ran out of body color! If I'm reading the data sheets correctly, I should be able to pick up a quart of paint tomorrow, and still be within the window for re-coating, so that part should be okay. As for the blemishes, this only really needs to look decent in the engine compartment and interior. The rest of it will either fall within the tiny unnoticeable spaces around window glass and doors, or be covered completely.

First coat of Matilda purple!

The best part about having cleared this hurdle is that the next chance I get, I can finally get this thing in for undercoating, and then start making some real progress!

—GP

Today's the Day!

2009-05-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not....Matilda will be mostly all purple by the end of the day!
Check back for a longer blog post this evening with photos. Major advancements have been made in the last six months. More soon!

Scalping Matilda

2008-11-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

It's been part of the original vision of the car to cut out most of the top and install a sliding ragtop similar to those found on original Mini Coopers. Around six weeks ago, I ordered just such a top from a company in Arizona called, Street Beat Customs. They told me it would take six to eight weeks to receive, as they would have to custom make it to the 35x37" dimension that I wanted. It actually only took about a month, and with a few weeks for me to get around to it, I finally fired up the jigsaw. The original sheet metal that makes up the roof is very thin and has almost no integrity. I'm hoping that adding the aluminum frame of the slider will add a considerable amount of rigidity, because it would be impossible to straighten anything on the top of this little car as it is.

Slow but Sure

2008-10-05T16:28:00.000-07:00

Alright, so the body restoration process has become long, slow and boring. Hence the lack of meaningful posts. Currently the undercarriage has been completely stripped of undercoating and original paint. The engine compartment and interior have a bit of grinding left to be done, and I decided to take all of the door jambs and visible interior surfaces to bare metal. The next step will involve caulking all open body seams. Once that's done, I'll finally be ready for primer and paint. Then, the rotisserie can be disassembled and the body can be trailered to Salem to be undercoated. Once back from Line-X, I will begin the process of bending fuel and brake lines from new tubing, and sand blasting and painting all of the undercarriage parts before reassembly.
—GP

Happy Birthday Matilda!

2008-06-29T20:00:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe, but one year ago today, Matilda arrived at our address after being hauled nearly 1000 miles from the greater Los Angeles area. In the last year, we've made significant progress on our project. We found Fred, another rusty parts car, in July and a month later, Monique, the rust-free body. We worked on the project off and on through the fall and winter, and picked up speed again this spring.

The past several months have been devoted to stripping Monique's undercarriage in preparation for new undercoating. This has been a somewhat long and arduous process, but we are nearing the end and hope to be transporting the unibody shell to Salem in the next 4-6 weeks for the application of Linex. As soon as that has been accomplished, the meticulous restoration of all the undercarriage parts will begin before reassembly. Although the Matilda project will likely turn two (38 in car years) before she is running again, she will be better than new in the end. We look forward to the day when we can take her out for a weekend drive on a back road to find the perfect spot for a picnic, Simone's head sticking out the top.

Chad's Tornado

2008-06-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

The following post has nothing to do with Matilda. For that we apologize. But an amazing thing happened to Chad, friend and Matilda co-conspirator, in the past two weeks that we felt needed some recognition.

As you may know from reading this blog, Chad has an amazing eye for cars. He is the one that spotted Fred (our Matilda body #3) some 100 feet off the road covered in a pile of boxes while flying down Highway 20 last summer. A few months ago, Chad was out driving near Lacomb (southeast of Albany), when his radar went off and alerted him to a white car obscured in the distant corner of a pasture. He had an inkling this was a special car, but didn't see the car's owner and so drove off with the intention of coming back another day to get a closer look.

Fast forward to a Monday afternoon about two weeks ago. Chad again drove out to the pasture, and ogled the vehicle through his friend Eyela's binoculars. He was taken aback by the view of a car he had never seen before. He then spotted a man walking around the property and quickly jumped out to meet him.

The man agreed to let Chad take a look at the car, and they walked over to it. The man explained that it was an old British kit car, chassis and window glass long gone, but had a complete body that is in fair condition. Chad persuaded the man to sell him the car, and then set off for home to wait for its delivery and do a little research.

It turns out the car is a Tornado Typhoon Sportsbreak, made by the Tornado company in Hertsfordshire, England around 1959-60. Very few Sportsbreaks were made, and there are only six known Tornados left in the world. Only one photo of the Sportsbreak is known to exist, and it is pasted here.

Chad sent the photo out to friends to show his new find. When Eyela saw the picture, she noted the license plate looked similar—if not the same—to the one Chad had just acquired. Turns out the car pictured above IS the actual car that Chad bought. He is now the proud owner of the car bearing the British FXU392 license plate! The photo that was taken nearly 50 years ago in a field in Hertsfordshire, England, is of the exact car that somehow made it all the way to Albany, Oregon.

That story in itself is amazing, and we were blown away by it. But it gets even more interesting. Chad came across contact information for folks who are Tornado aficionados, and sent them all emails discussing his find. He was informed that there were only TWO Sportsbreaks produced, a factory prototype, and one other. His car, the one with the FXU392 license plate is the factory prototype. Turns out the car belonged to the Tornado company's founder, and it was his wife's daily driver. The man in England who writes the newsletter for the Tornado enthusiast's club, has notified the owner of the car's existence, and is planning on making this the lead story in the next issue.

We can't wait to hear what happens next!

To learn more about the Tornado car company, visit: http://www.toddmizener.com/Beadyeye/hist1.htm
http://www.astruc.s.easynet.co.uk/tornado_register/frame.htm

Matilda gets a pick-me-up

2008-06-02T19:33:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten crazy again with the onset of the busy summer season. Matilda's progress has been held up temporarily as the undercoating removal did not go as well as planned. It took a few weekends to clean up the dust that was created by the wire wheel and offset grinder I was using. I might try a heat gun and solvent to finish it up.

During my break from grinding, something caught my eye in the Northern Tool catalog. After some semi-precise measuring, I came to the conclusion that our garage actually could accommodate a four-post lift! So, after a few weeks of plotting and planning, not to mention calling in favors from most of the guys I know in the area, Matilda now has a cozy little perch above Carley's Accord. In the next few weekends I'll get the body back on the rotisserie and finally get it ready for Line-X.
—GP

1971: A Race Oddity

2008-03-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Click the play button to see Matilda's successful ride on the auto rotisserie.

Sunday we had Chad over for breakfast, and a little "car-listhenics". That's getting exercise by lifting a small car off of a motorcycle trailer. We then unloaded the rotisserie and started setting it up. I had already read the instructions, and watched a video on the proper way to rig the Whirly Gig Body Handler, but that didn't stop us from figuring it out anyway. Actually, Chad had to get to work, and even though I didn't really expect to have it up and running in one day, I had it horizontal by lunchtime! I must say the little car looks pretty cool rigged as it is, and it's going to make the undercarriage work a snap.

Light as a feather, stiff as a board....RISE!

2008-03-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

In preparation for loading onto the auto rotisserie, Matilda's body was lifted off the trailer and onto the floor.

Rotisserie Retrieval

2008-03-02T20:46:00.000-08:00

So, this morning, we got up early (for a Sunday) and got after it. Carley had a study date with another X-ray student in Lebanon (the town, not the country), and I met Chad for a quick trip to Cottage Grove to see his parents and pick up the auto-rotisserie. It was my first trip to the folks' place, and what a place it is! Right after crossing the river that they refer to as "the creek", you're immediately greeted by a very quaint Tudor-style home nestled in the woods, and a full professional grade auto shop that would make any mechanic's mouth water. Chad's dad, Jim had the larger pieces of the rig suspended by chain from the cable crane of his heavy equipment service truck, making load-up a snap. I was treated to a tour of his shop, which included a look at a few of the cars he's restored over the years. I see where Chad gets his knowledge of, and his love for cars. After a nice visit with his mom, Nancy, we were back on the road, stopping only to save the life of a wayward salamander. We transferred everything to my truck where it was parked, and now await the opportunity to set this puppy up! —GP

Breaking the Logjam

2008-02-24T12:18:00.000-08:00

Our nephew Brendan came down again to help us with a little auto-restoration fun. I'd been saving the tear-down of the passenger door for him, and since we're in sort of a holding pattern on the undercoating, we finally got back to the engine. I'd hit a road block several months ago, when I was unable to remove the clutch plate. It was supposed to just slide right off the shaft with minimal effort, but hadn't budged since bell-bottoms were in style. My buddy Noah was over to help and hang out, so between the three of us, we were eventually able to come up with a suitably dangerous solution to the problem. Turns out that all it took was grinding down two of the adapters for the slide hammer, holding a torch on the hub until it released the requisite noxious fumes, a little cursing, a lot of hammering, and we were home! After that is was practically no effort at all to open the drive chain housing, and remove the drive gears and sprocket. By this point we were all pretty pleased with the weekend's progress and didn't want to push our luck.

For a short introduction to the project, click the play button to watch our first Matilda video log:

—GP

Body Work Begins

2008-02-11T19:41:00.000-08:00

Even though we are blessed enough to have an almost completely rust-free body, there were a few little spots that needed some attention. Fortunately, they are in places that will never be seen, but since we are doing this thing all the way, I figured it'd be a good chance to remind myself how to do this body work stuff. The worst of the two places that had actually rusted through, was under the driver-side door sill plate. I remembered taking care of some similar holes in a car when I worked for Tom Brown at Coachworks Autobody when I was nineteen. It involved tapping the rusty spot with a pointed hammer until you've broken out anything that isn't solid metal. This has the effect of bending the surrounding area down slightly which makes the body filler portion of the repair work better. Then you cut some light-gauge sheet metal into shapes that will fill the hole, while sitting into the recess created by the hammering. Next, you apply a coat of Duraglas (fiberglass body filler) to the hole, insert your metal plates, and cover the whole works with another layer of Duraglas. After sanding, and re-filling any low spots with regular Bondo, it's ready for primer. —GP

Body Deconstruction is Complete.

2008-01-27T20:39:00.001-08:00

Well, I talked myself into it. I called the guy at the Line-X place in Salem where I had the bedliner for our truck done, and he guessed that it would be about the same price to undercoat this little car as it was for the bedliner. The only challenge is that he wants the car standing on end so that he can stand the requisite four to six feet from it to spray on the material. I've been brainstorming some sort of carpet-covered wooden apparatus that will work as a stand that will allow not only his application, but my removal of the old undercoating from a comfortable standing position. While thinking on this geometric feat, I got a little more work done this weekend. I've been battling a broken bolt in the rear bumper bracket that has prohibited me from sliding it from the channel in the unibody. Well, now that I had dropped the leaf springs (and fuel tank), I had an unencumbered shot at the offending bolt from underneath. It took a little maneuvering, but I was able to insert a small cutting wheel from a dremel tool into a slot in the body, and cut off the remains of the bolt, allowing the bumper to come free. This left only the front break hoses and mud flaps, and the body would be only a shell. Of course, there is a ton of prep work to do before it will be ready for undercoating, but is nice to be done with the (except for the engine) deconstruction phase. —GP

Almost Stripped

2008-01-13T20:01:00.001-08:00

The last few weekends have been relatively uneventful, or enough so that I've had a little time to get into the garage for some "Matilda Time". This has allowed me time to finish stripping out the engine compartment, and after a long struggle, remove the dash. I've also decided that if I'm going to go this far, I might as well pull everything off of the undercarriage. So today, I removed the spare tire carrier (to be powder coated at a later date), the rear shocks, and generally eyeballed the under-side of the car. I figure that once I drop the rear axle by removing the leaf-springs, that should only leave the monster-size six gallon fuel tank. I'm a little torn as to whether to grind off all the original undercoating and have it Line-Xed, or just clean it up and start the reassembly. I'll probably bite the bullet and start grinding, but I'll need a few days to talk myself into it.

—GP

Bringing in the Big Guns

2007-12-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

Dad and Nancy and Dennis and Mary came to see us for the premier weekend of the play I've been working on, "Goodbye, Charlie". They came to the Saturday night showing, in which we were blessed to have twice the audience with four-times the sense of humor as the night before. After a delightful Sunday morning breakfast at the Broken Yolk Cafe, we hit the garage to see just what I've gotten myself into. It was reassuring to have the input from Dad and Dennis on the wear and tear of the engine. While one perused the shop manual, the other would explain to me just what I was looking at. It was relieving to hear that they seemed to think that this was a pretty well (albeit strangely, in some places) engineered car, and that I could probably handle the rebuild if I stuck to the manual. Dennis explained a few useful tricks to me, like holding the cam chain horizontally to see how worn it is, or checking the bondo'd spot by the gas filler with a magnet to see how thick it was. While checking this spot, he noticed that someone had replaced the gas filler hose with a radiator hose. It's feeling a little thin and squishy, so I'll have to put it on the list of things to replace. It was sure great to visit with everyone and especially nice of them to check out our project.
Until next time...
—GP

Thanksgiving Weekend Progress

2007-11-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

Our nephew Brendan was kind enough to stick around for a few days after Thanksgiving to give us another hand on Matilda. We continued our stripping of the body. While Brendan used the angle-grinder to wire wheel the old, crusty remains of the weather stripping, I cut the rubber seal and removed the windshield. I also began dismantling the driver's door. Overall, the car is nearly rust free (especially compared to the car parked next to it), but there are a few small spots under the back seat, in each door sill, and inside the window slot in each door.

With brushes in hand, Brendan and I applied Rust Mort to any spot that needed it, and a few that didn't for good measure. According to the instructions, some rust must remain to react with the rust converter, which would explain why some spots seem to have been treated better than others. I also took this time to remove the fenders, hood, and head light bezels. I plan to remove the remaining items from the engine compartment when next I have time, in order to get ready for paint. Before returning Brendan home, we made a trip to Harbor Freight so I could do my part to support the US trade deficit by purchasing some of the finest tools China has to offer (at rock bottom prices!) I picked up various items, including an air regulator/drier and two new gravity-feed spray guns. I'm confident that with such surgical grade instruments, and my finely honed body and paint skills Matilda will end up with a paint job that Earl Scheib himself would be proud of.
—GP

Engine Rebuilding Begins

2007-11-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

I started tearing down the engine today, and with the exception of a few minor obstacles (a broken valve cover bolt, and the strange presence of a wood screw) it went pretty well. Even though the only other engine I've ever rebuilt was roughly the same size (a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower powerhouse in a tenth grade small gas engines class) this one is slightly more complex and has a four-speed manual transmission built into it. So, armed with this intimidating knowledge, I've been bagging and tagging all parts and pieces and taking pictures like a paparazzi stalking Brittany Spears. I'll need to start up Chad's solvent tank parts washer and get the thirty-six years of grease off of this stuff, but I'm leaning toward getting the engine compartment and interior of the body ready for paint.
—GP

Matilda's New Shoes

2007-11-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

We learned an important lesson last Sunday afternoon: choosing to pick up a spirited, mud-encrusted Simone can result in a lower back injury. Gary was flat on his back in a great deal of pain for several hours after the attempted lift, and then had to spend the next 24 hours lying down alternating heat and cold packs before he made a full recovery.

Staying home sick from work when one is immobilized isn't generally fun, but Gary made the best of it. While sequestered to the recliner in the living room, he spent time online researching a few things for the Matilda project. He decided to begin by searching for tires. He called the Schwab's store in Corvallis that he used to work for to see if he could get a set of 145/80-10 tires for Matilda, but they don't carry anything that small. Not to be discouraged, he turned to the Internet. Several Google searches later, he found a Mini Cooper parts company based in Auburn, CA that carried the tires for a fair price and ordered them. They arrived Thursday. They are so small that all five of them fit in one relatively small box!

Matilda's new tires aren't much bigger than Simone's head!

When I arrived home from class late Monday afternoon, Gary was feeling better and a little stir crazy from being cooped up all day. We decided to then go out and see if we couldn't find paint for Matilda. We've been looking hard at purple cars lately, and I'd decided the only purple I really liked was one found on late 1990s Dodge vehicles. I couldn't find a paint name or color code though, so we thought we'd try the auto paint store and see if we could identify it by looking through their color chart books.

We drove out to Tangent and spent the next 15 minutes looking at paint chips. None of them seemed correct. The man that was helping us suggested we go to the Dodge dealership and see if they had one on the lot or could help us identify the color. We managed to find the dealership in Albany, but they didn't have any purple vehicles, and didn't have any pictures of one. They suggested we visit another dealership to see if they might have any on the lot.

Gary called Chad to see if he had any ideas, and in less than two minutes, he had both the name and the color code for the purple that I liked: Deep Amethyst Pearl (TCU). Chad saved the day yet again! So, we headed back to the auto paint store and bought some of the paint supplies that we will need. We're hoping to paint the engine compartment and the inside of the car over the Thanksgiving holiday. We painted some on a plastic coverplate to see how it would look. It's a little hard to see with the glare, but it's a deep purpley-blue. I can't wait until our project is far enough along to where we will be able to paint the exterior body! In the meantime though, Gary continues to tear down the engine and work on tracking down things like engine gasket and seals. Hopefully we'll be blogging again soon about the engine disassembly.

Until then... :)
—c

The Original Honda n600 Commercial

2007-10-26T17:22:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Chad for finding this gem! If you can't watch the video, you can also go to the originating page.

Isn't it adorable?

The Deconstruction Begins

2007-10-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

Our nephew Brendan came to stay this weekend, and helped us make the first real progress on "Project Matilda". After Teri Lynn and Brendan met us in south Salem, we made a quick trip to Harbor Freight to get the finest breaker-bar India has to offer. On the way to Corvallis, we were surprised to not only see, but be passed by a Fiat 850 (pretty much Matilda's Italian cousin) doing seventy miles an hour down I-5. We took it as a good sign of our impending automotive adventure.

Saturday evening didn't get us too far. I'd been working on getting the passenger side axle nut broken loose, and after breaking Chad's 1 1/4" socket and my new breaker bar, it still didn't budge! However, after a delightful Sunday morning breakfast, the day was looking up. I decided to forgo the luxury of a removable drive shaft, and just took the whole hub loose. While I toiled on the boring mechanical stuff, Brendan started on cleaning out the new, rust-free car. We hadn't done more than peek inside of it since we got it home from Madras. We were pleasantly surprised to find a plethora of spare parts (including a third usable carburetor) and even an abandoned vehicle notice from the Madras Police Department. It's dated 2001, so it's probably from another car, but it's still pretty cool.

Brendan made short order of the interior, removing the seats, carpet, seat belts, and just about anything else that wasn't floor pan. We did find a few small spots of rust under the back seat, and driver's side sill plate, but it's nothing a little rust-converter and Duraglass can't fix. So far, this car is in excellent shape, and will be ready for jamb-painting any time. By the time Curt and Teri came down this afternoon to get Brendan, the engine/transmission (as they are one unit) was nearly ready for removal. After a little wiggling, and lowering of the jack, it came free, setting the stage for next weekend's project: engine tear-down. —GP

PS: Photos from this weekend's progress have been posted to Matilda's photo album.

To-Do List

2007-09-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Here's our Matilda to-do list, in no particular order:

Rebuild the engine/transmission, CV shafts, steering rack and suspension, starter, alternator, and steering
Replace the brake system, exhaust system, carpeting, and vinyl
Jamb-paint the interior, trunk, and engine compartment
Purchase a new set of 145/80-10 tires
Powder coat the wheels
Straighten and re-chrome the bumpers and trim
Remove all rust
Straighten and paint body
Cut out roof and install canvas rag top
Add new seals and felts on all window glass, an alarm system with keyless entry, and a new sound system

Short list, right? This should only take a couple of weeks, tops! ;)

Matilda's Body Arrives!

2007-08-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we drove over to Madras to attend our friends Joey and Jesse's wedding reception. We had been waiting for this day for weeks, not only to celebrate their recent nuptials, but to also pick up our third (and hopefully final) n600.

We had made plans to stay with Gary's Aunt Mary and Uncle Dennis since their house is just down the road from where the reception was being held. When we arrived to drop off our things before heading over to the party, we were delighted to discover that Gary's dad had towed Matilda #3 (dubbed "Monique" by Gary's sister Teri) over to Dennis and Mary's on a small motorcycle trailer where she was now patiently awaiting our arrival.

She was as beautiful as we could have hoped for. Though a little wrinkly in spots, she was more complete than we had expected (especially for $200) and delightfully rust-free. She even had custom striping and spiffy Honda decals. Of course, that's all coming off, but we were amused by it.

Sunday morning we (and by we, I mean Gary) had to build a custom trailer lighting adapter while seven of us looked on. Fortunately, it was a daylight tow, as the trailer wiring shorted out the tail lights on the truck. We managed to get on the road by 3 p.m. and headed out Hwy 97 towards Redmond and then turned off to Sisters. The Toyota towed it like a champ, although grumbling a bit up the mountain passes. Santiam had light traffic, and while steep and curvy at points, we were able to go the speed limit most of the time while listening to some old "This American Life" podcasts. It was a smooth and uneventful trip.

I convinced Gary to tow Matilda 3/Monique home instead of to our friend Chad's so we'd have added incentive to start working on her/them. We are now delighted to have these two tucked away in our garage, waiting for the transplants to begin. We have one free weekend in September we're hoping to get started, but are planning on putting more time into it in October. We'll keep you posted!

A Body for Matilda!

2007-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's been such a whirlwind lately. We were realizing last week that it's only been a month since our Matilda adventure began. It feels like we've been involved with this project a much longer period of time.

As of Friday the 27th, the parts car had been delivered to Chad's and waits for us to have time to disassemble it. Matilda is still sitting in our garage awaiting the various transplant procedures.

The body hunt intensified over the weekend. We checked eBay again and saw there were three cars for sale in Montana. Debate ensued as to whether or not to pursue them and what all would be involved in picking them up. Then I decided to see if I could find some sort of n600 message board, and amazingly found one on Yahoo! We joined and posted a message to the group telling them we were looking for a rust-free body for Matilda, preferably in Oregon.

Within 2 hours, we had a reply from Wayne in Redmond who said that yesterday his son heard of an n600 without an engine at a wrecking yard called Ira's in....Madras. We couldn't believe it! We called Gary's dad Jim and asked him if he wouldn't mind paying a visit to Ira and checking out the car for us.

Jim called Gary back this morning and said the car looked like it was in good enough shape. Next to no rust, a few small dents, but nothing we couldn't easily handle (especially with Gary's body shop experience). Jim paid for the car for us (a screaming deal at $200), and as it turns out, Gary's sister Teri and her family will be going over for a visit in less than 2 weeks, and offered to tow it back for us. We're lucky that we got it when we did, because the car was slated for crushing in a matter of days. We're just astonished at how this is all coming together...

Next step: Rebuilding the engine!

Parts for Matilda!

2007-07-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month! Matilda has been sitting patiently in our garage while we've been plotting and planning our next steps in her restoration. We've been looking around town and online for another parts car for Matilda, and thanks to Chad's help we now have one!

Chad has an amazing radar for cars, which lately has included 1971 Honda n600s. In fact, he was driving on Highway 20 by Blueberry Meadows when he saw out of the corner of his eye the tail light of a car that called out to him. What you have to understand is that this tail light was on a vehicle that was 100 feet off the highway, buried under a slew of boxes and other stuff in a carport, and Chad was most likely going at a speed greater than the posted 45 mph speed limit.

So, Chad called Gary to give him the location, and then we sped out there after work. Sure enough, a little '71 n600 was buried under a pile of boxes and other miscellaneous stuff. We didn't poke around too much as no one appeared to be home, and there were two rather vicious hound dogs barking at us from behind the chain link fence. But, it appeared to be in decent shape, so we left a note and asked the owner to give us a call if he was interested in selling.

We were at play rehearsal the next night, waiting to enter the wedding scene in the third act, when Gary's phone rang. The owner of the n600 was on the line and said he was definitely interested in selling. He had been traded the car a number of months ago, had hoped to restore it, but then got busy on other projects. We made plans to meet up over the weekend and see if we could come up with a mutually beneficial arrangement.

We drove out there Sunday to look at the car. It wasn't quite what we were hoping for body-wise, but it had good parts, including a good passenger seat, doors, instrument cluster, various engine parts, and a comparatively rust-free hood. We made him an offer, and he accepted, even offering to tow the car over to Chad's for storage. He wrote us a receipt, promised to deliver the car by the end of the week, and that was that. Once we have a few spare hours, we can begin swapping parts out.

Next step: A new body for Matilda.

Matilda is Naturalized!

2007-07-09T12:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday was the day we took Matilda to the DMV to transfer her Florida title and make her an official Oregonian. What an adventure that was! Gary hooked her to the truck using a tow strap, wrote "in tow" on the back in blue painter's tape, turned on the hazards, and off we went. Although I didn't like either option, we decided that he would drive the truck and I would sit in Matilda to steer. Gary gently took off and we made the turn from Aster onto Country Club okay. When he hit 15 mph, I began to freak out. It was like a riding in a terrifying carnival ride with no seat belt, being pulled along in a tiny, rusty tin can. When Gary hit 25 mph, I though I was going to lose it. Making wild hand gestures and having a look of sheer terror on my face, I did my best to communicate to Gary via his rear view mirror to please slow down. Apparently I need to work on my miming skills because he mistook my hand waving as a desire for him to go faster, which he did. A short distance later (right before 35th street, a whopping half mile from our house), the toe strap broke. Hallelujah. I was relieved to be able to stop for at least a minute and let him know that 10 mph was going to have to be the max.

Gary retied the toe strap and we took off with our now agreed upon top speed. We tootled down 35th Street and onto Philomath Blvd. Fortunately, there was a large shoulder and we were able to stay in it so that we didn't totally muck up traffic. We made the turn into Avery Park, and navigated its speed bumps and windy road just fine. When we got out of the park and were stopped at the light on Highway 99, we decided to switch spots. Gary now got to ride in Matilda while Simone and I drove the truck. We made it about a mile down 99 before we were pulled over by one of Corvallis' finest. He talked to Gary, took both of our licenses for a quick check, then kindly let us go with the understanding that we would not tow Matilda back home ourselves. We were relieved to not get a ticket! He probably could and should have told us to get a truck/trailer right then and there, but let us go and we slowly drove the last 3/4 of a mile to the DMV.

Amazingly, we got right in at the DMV and were in and out in 10 minutes. We requested Matilda's custom plate "M TILDA". Here's our best rendition of what it will look like:

Once we finished all the paperwork and paid the necessary fees, we pulled Matilda down to the end of the dead-end street by the DMV (they tow any cars left there after 2pm on Saturdays), and then called a tow truck. It was worth the price of the tow to: a) not die on the way back home, b) not cause anyone else to die, c) not cause an accident, and d) not get a ticket. When we arrived home from rehearsal that afternoon, Matilda was sitting securely in our driveway, like she never left.

Next adventure: removing the engine! It may be a few weeks though, as we're swamped with work and play practice right now. We'll keep you posted!

Matilda's Heartburn

2007-07-06T18:50:00.001-07:00

Well, we arrived home late Tuesday afternoon and were excited to see Matilda after long last. Even though it had been less than two weeks since we decided we wanted to be auto restorers, it had felt like an eternity.

Wednesday, Chad came over to help us assess and check out Matilda. We decided to try and get her started. After having charged the battery overnight, we found that certain things were in good working shape, but not the starter. So, we decided to pull-start it with Chad's Mercedes. But first we had to remove the old gas (in the gas tank for more than a year by our best estimates). Matilda's six gallon tank proved to be rather full, as four and a half gallons of stale gasoline were drained from underneath and poured into the readily available plastic milk jugs (side note: bad idea, but that's another story for another day).

After introducing two fresh gallons of Safeway brand petrol, we gave Aster Street her first view of its newest and smallest auto inhabitant. With Chad's diesel ponies yoked for the task, Matilda was dragged skippingly down the street. We dragged her 87 feet or so with no result. Just as we were about to lose all hope, we hit the 88th foot and she actually fired and began to run. She managed a coughing, sputtering idle for upwards of 20-30 seconds before coming to a halt. It was then that we noticed smoke coming through the rust hole in the hood. With master instinct, Chad expertly deduced that a fire extinguisher would be of some use at this moment. I sprinted back to the garage, grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher, and then ran back to the smoking rust bucket that is our Matilda. A quick blast to the air cleaner and the fire's progression was halted.

In an attempt to hide her from prying eyes, and stay out of the newspaper, Chad and I pushed her into the garage where she now awaits our next foray into her imminent resurrection.

—GP

Matilda Arrived!

2007-06-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

So, after much stress and going to plans B, C, and D, Matilda finally arrived. Chad, kind and generous soul, said he would wait for her to arrive on Thursday and make sure she was safely deposited into her new spot in the garage. Hoping there would be no further delays, we loaded our suitcases into the trunk of our car, Simone into the backseat, and left Corvallis for points south at 5:50 a.m yesterday morning.

We spent a lot of time fretting on our way down I-5, watching the northbound lane for signs of Matlida. We figured chances were good that we would pass her somewhere along the way. We called Rudy (who was driving Matlida up from LA) around 9:00 a.m. and he said he was in Jacksonville, north of Ashland, delivering a car and we were next. He said he anticipated being in Corvallis at 1:00 p.m and would call us again after he left Jacksonville with his GPS calculated ETA. Unfortunately, 1:00 p.m. was about the only time that Chad could not be at our house to receive Matilda. So, we hoped that it would take Rudy longer than he expected to get back on the road and waited to hear back from him.

We got into Ashland around 10:00 a.m. and hit the Safeway to get sandwiches and take a stretch break. Rudy called and let us know that he had adjusted his schedule and would be at our house at 2:30 p.m., which was perfect, because that was when Chad was able to get there.

We took a deep breath knowing that Chad would be able to be there when she arrived, but we continued to fret and watch the clock. When we hit Susanville a little after 2:30 p.m., Chad called to let us know that Matilda was indeed there and in the garage. Chad reported that she is a little rustier than we could see in the pictures, but the engine and interior are both in great shape. We resolved to pursue the Creswell car with a little more rigor since it didn’t have the rust issue and between the two vehicles, we will be able to create one perfect Matilda. It's going to be quite a project, but at least we're going into it with our eyes open!

Watch for the next installment next week, when we get to see Matilda (part 1 or 2, depending on how you view it) up close and personal!

Matilda is Delayed

2007-06-27T10:37:00.001-07:00

In anticipation of Matilda's noontime arrival, we postponed leaving on vacation to Nevada by a day. I have been home all morning waiting by the phone to hear from the driver. A few minutes ago, Gary called him to check and see where he was and was told that he was in North Hollywood. Apparently his truck broke down yesterday and needs a new radiator. He claims he will be on the road in a few hours, and up here tomorrow. If it's anything like his claims that he called and left us messages on three separate numbers (we didn't get any word of this happening), it's not looking very likely.

So, Matilda will not be here today. Drat! We won't be postponing our vacation any longer though, and will be on the road in the morning anyway. We are in the process now of trying to see if they will pull Matilda off the truck and wait until next week to bring her up. Or, if that's not a possibility, seeing if a neighbor might be able to sign for her.

It's a little (okay, a big) disappointment. We were hoping she'd be here and in the garage before we left. But, I guess she'll get here when she gets here. Hopefully she'll be here by next week and then we'll have more to report.

Until then...

Matilda's Journey Begins!

2007-06-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

We just got a phone call...Matilda is being picked up right now and will be arriving in Corvallis tomorrow by noon!

More tomorrow!

Matilda's Dimensions

2007-06-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

We drove down to Creswell with Chad yesterday to see the Honda at the wrecking yard and check it out as a potential parts car. Bob wasn't there, and there was no dealing to be done again yesterday, but it was fun to see it in person and get an idea of just how small it is.

Matilda isn't much larger than a dollar bill!

To put it into perspective, here are Matilda's specs:

Wheelbase 2000mm (78.7in)
Track: Front 1149mm (45.2in)

Track: Rear 1111mm (43.7in)

Length 3099mm (122in)

Width 1321mm (52in)

Height 1327mm (52.2in)

Length:Wheelbase Ratio 1.55

Weight 550kg (1213 lbs.)
Original cost (1971) $1300
(no extra charge for the sporty side-mirror!)
MPG: Estimates range between 40-60. We're hoping for 60...

Matilda's Story

2007-06-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Tiny purple Fiat in Prague, 1993

Years ago (14 to be exact), I saw this car on a side street in Prague and fell in love. At that moment, that tiny purple car became my vision of a dream car. I knew it was chimerical, but stashed it away in the nether regions of my psyche as a "someday" wish anyway.

The next few steps in the story may seem superfluous, but will all be necessary in hindsight.

Fast forward to December 2006. Gary has a dream that he's acting in a play again, and it drums up such nostalgia that we decide to dive back in to community theater. I find a listing for an audition in the newspaper which sounds like it would be a good fit for him. He auditions, and is cast in one of the lead roles. He spends the next three months going to rehearsal four nights a week and becomes good friends with Chad, who also has a part in the play.

Chad is over one night and I end up sharing the photo of my dream car. This got Gary and Chad talking about possibly one day finding that car (turns out it was a Fiat), or one like it, and fixing it up. It turns out that someday would only be a few months away.

It just so happens that Chad is quite the car connoisseur. He is rather adept at finding and fixing up vehicles. On Thursday (this past Thursday!), he was down in the Cottage Grove area (south of Eugene) for a haircut. While passing a saw shop, he saw a friend's car and decided to stop in and say hi. Bob, the slow-talking gentle giant that runs the shop, felt compelled to mention to Chad that he'd seen a little Honda car at a wrecking yard in nearby Creswell. Chad asked if it was a CVCC, but Bob said it wasn't, and it was actually smaller. Chad was intrigued, and called Gary on his way to look at it, knowing our penchant for Hondas and desire for a tiny car.

We were immediately interested, and when it turned out they were only asking $350 for the 1971 Honda N600 Sedan, asked Chad to seal the deal for us. The fellow at the wrecking yard, whose name was also Bob, seemed reluctant to part with the car. Chad left empty handed. Facing the uncertainty of that deal, we now wanted the car even more.

The Honda N600 in Creswell

We spent the evening looking up information on the old Honda 600s and found they are pretty rare. It's estimated (by one of the sites we looked at) that of the original 40,000 cars produced, only about 1,000 are still in drivable condition today. The car down in Creswell was certainly not in drivable condition, but we hoped with a little TLC and a couple years of faithful effort, it could be drivable again. Not wanting to pin our hopes on a deal that might not go through, we started searching for other Honda N600s that were for sale. We scoured the Internet, and found a few on Ebay. Several were way overpriced and others were too far away or in too bad of shape to make bidding on them worth it. We went to bed anxious and a little disheartened.

Friday morning Gary woke up an hour early by accident, and because he had some extra time, he decided to check Ebay again for any new postings. He did a slightly different keyword search than the previous night, and stumbled across an auction for the same car Chad had seen in Creswell, but in considerably better shape. This car was in the LA area, there was no reserve, and the bidding was only up to $450 after six days. Only nine hours remained. Gary placed a bid and became the high bidder at $485. He then left for work and put me in charge of keeping an eye on things.

Initially, we thought we'd max out at $500, but after consideration, decided to up it to $750. A noontime call from Gary upped the max to $1000. We stayed at a pretty steady $485 all day and were excited that this car might actually become ours. At 4:30 pm, 15 minutes before the auction closed, a new bidder came in and outbid us at just over $1,000. After some deliberation, we decided $1300 was the absolute most we would be willing to pay. We entered our new maximum and kept our fingers crossed. The bidding went back and forth a little bit more in the remaining 10 minutes, but stopped once our bid was upped to $1,110. Bidder 5 backed off, and the little car was ours!!

Our Little Matilda

The next major undertaking was figuring out how to get the car from the Los Angeles area up to Corvallis. We spent the next 12 hours waffling back and forth between driving down there ourselves (a side trip from our vacation to Nevada next week) and having it shipped. We penciled out all the costs and risks and determined it would only cost about another $150 to have it shipped than to get it ourselves (and not have to risk running our truck into the ground). Gary got online and got a bunch of quotes from different companies and ended up finding one that would pick it up in LA and deliver it to our door for a reasonable rate. As a interesting side note, Dan, the customer service rep Gary talked to, was originally from Eugene and was watching the Beavers game on TV at the time (we only need one more win for a second World Series title!).

So now the wheels are in motion, and our little Honda N600 will be here within the next two weeks or so. We have named her Matilda, and have big plans to start on her restoration once she arrives. We have started this blog as a diary of her transformation from a slightly tattered orange car into a shiny purple Corvallis cruiser. Simone will look so cute riding in Matilda with her head poking out of the window!

Artist rendition of Simone in a purple Matilda. Picture to scale.

We will keep you posted on her progress!