Mothers Day

My son Jim wanted to know what I wanted for Mothers Day.  Since my daughter is away at college and my husband lives in L.A., it is only Jim and I.  I asked him to wash our smart.

  Since they are predicting rain tomorrow for Mothers Day, he did it today.  My dad had us washing cars every weekend when I was a kid.  There was always a special process to do it, so I passed it down to Jim:  Use a soft spray, work from top to bottom, long strokes and rinse.  To dry; use the towel on the windows first to avoid scratching the paint, and work from top to bottom.  He did a real nice job on the wheels.  I am curious about what kind of wax to use on the plastic surface - I'm planning to attend the free car wash clinic at Griot's Garage in Tacoma to get that worked out.

While he was doing that, I was attaching the grill parts I had just gotten back from paint. I had replaced the horns while there were off, I also had to take off the bumper.  Everything back on and tightened in place.  I got a tip to not tighten the new chrome down too much as the bolts will pull in the surface and show later on.  I'm just over the moon with getting these parts.

I had also gotten window parts for the doors. I've had new glass for years, but hadn't ordered the "U" channels and cat whiskers until last January.  I've been waiting for some quiet time to give it a shot.  They have to be measured and cut to fit then bent without creasing.  The passenger door is a little rough as I was figuring it out, but overall, I'm happy with it.  The driver door took no time as I had a string pattern to measure and marked where to bend and cut the back of the ribbing to bend smoother.  Unfortunately as I was loosening the vent window on the passenger side it cracked.  I took it to Speedy Glass for a quote: $150.00 there a bouts. What???!!! That's CRAZY.  I talked to John at Specialty glass who I have arranged to install the front and rear windshields.  He agreed, and will cut another piece at a  third of that - sounds better.   I think I'll get it etched.

I'm waiting now for some barrel clips to finish up installing the fins, and some clips to install the cat whiskers as I didn't order enough, I had saved some of the old ones and thought I could reuse them but they all broke as I bent them back, too worn out.

Later this evening I took Jim to a weekly car show at Clear View just a few miles East from hear.  There was a lot of the standard stuff, but no Studebakers today. It's one of those things you never know what might show up.  I'm bringing my smart next week just to bother every one. It has that affect.