RIP Buster

Its with a heavy heart that I have to report that my best friend Buster went to the great racetrack in the sky. His health was dropping like a lead balloon over the last couple of years, but in the last couple of months he’d lost it all. I just didn’t have the heart to put him down, but he let me know that he just needed to chase squirrels in the Happy Hunting Ground. The vet broke the (Covid-19) rules and let me be with him as I insisted that I owed it to him to be there to the end.

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Superbird

I had someone blowing up my dress that he wanted to buy my B5 Blue, V-code, 4-speed Superbird. So I took it out of the bubble, cleaned it up, tuned her up. Turns out the guy was all talk but too scared to pull the trigger.

I figure as long as I had to bust ass to make it ready, I might as well push hard to sell. If you know anyone interested, information and photos can be found at www.OldHippie.com

Red, White & Blue

Gone through about 35 gallons of paint at my Barnominium/Race Shop. The pictures tell the story.

Magnum

If you’ve been following along Ginger, my 78 Magnum XE, you’ll know that so far I’ve

• Put a pump gas drag race big block motor in the car
• Street Strip 727 transmission
• 8.75″ rear end from a 74 Charger, with a Suregrip an 3.55:1 gears
• March Serpentine Pulley system
• Schumacher headers to dual 2.5″ exhaust, with Flowmaster 40s
• Gear Vendors Overdrive to Victory Driveshaft
• Brand new Polyurethane paint
• And most recently a Holley Sniper throttle-body EFI

The newest update was to take the dull bumpers off the GT I have, have them powder-coated gloss black, and put them on the Magnum XE. The bright chromed bumpers will go on the GT.

And finally, I ordered a pair of new leaf springs and hardware from Espo Springs and Things. She should be finished now.

Sharknose, Step through & Eagle

Many years ago, while racing at NHRA’s Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green, KY – I saw one of the Racers running around in an early 60s Harley Davidson 3-wheeled tiller steered golf cart. I decided that would be a natural for a Nostalgia Super Stock drag racer like me, who races a 1960 Plymouth wagon, to have instead of my 15 year old Yamaha golf cart. Then I saw the Cushman Sharknose golf carts made between 1962-1964. I knew that was what I needed as a pit cart.

Years prior to that, I dreamed about some day finding a nice 40s or 50s Step through Scooter, like I saw in my Archie comic books in the mid-60s. Jughead rode one.

Well a couple of weeks ago I stumbled onto a lot of Cushmans that included a 1961 Sharknose with the high speed rear axle, three speed transmission. The original 8hp motor had been replaced by a 23hp Vanguard. The step through scooter is mid-50s Model 70 Turtleback. The other bike is a 58 Cushman Eagle.

I ran up to Tulsa last week and bought them back. The scooter is pretty quick, and the golf cart will hit an incredibly unsafe 60 mph. I really haven’t played with the Eagle yet. I have big plans for all, but that’s for another day.

Mailster

I’ve also been looking for a Mailster from the Late 50s and Early 60s. While your standard mailman’s leather bag was limited to 35 pounds when I was a kid, the mailman with a Mailster had 500 pounds of mail on board. They were later replaced by little Jeeps – as they weren’t very durable – and a little snow crippled them. There were mainly two different manufacturers of Mailsters. The Cushman above, and the Westcoaster below.

I just bought a very rough Westcoaster Mailster that I’ll pick up Wednesday. I’d prefer the Cushman, but the price was right so I’ll decide what I’ll do with it when I get it home.

Allante

I have two Allantes. The blue one I bought new in 93. It’s had an AC leak. It was finally fixed by first replacing the evaporator, which required dropping the engine cradle, then it wouldn’t charge – requiring replacement of the compressor. That was an equal pain in the ass to remove and replace. Now its all converted to R134 and I hope will last as long as I last.

I also have a Polo Green 93 that had been in storage. I brought it to the shop to be gone through, so I can sell.

Black Bettie & Billie Sue

As Buster got too old to go racing anymore, a new race dog was going to need to be groomed. Buster was a huge (135 pound) English Lab. My wife doesn’t like male dogs because of their size and independence, English Labs because they shed, or labs in general – because they shed. She wanted me to get a Labordoodle, because they don’t shed – but they’re two time Poodle and one part Lab. I don’t want a freakin homo dog! We finally compromised on a female American lab, as they’re smaller. So January a breeder with litter born on Christmas let us check them out. We did and put a deposit on one, to be picked up in February.

In February we went to pick out a female. Since this was to be my dog, I picked the biggest female – who came right to me. However, my wife had her eye on a different one. The breeder said she could have a second for half price, and that’s how no labs turned into two.

Having two Lab pups is very challenging, but also fun. They’re now 5 months old, have been to a race, hang with me at the shop, and love to swim. They’ll be much like Buster, especially Black Betty, the one I chose. Below are some photos as they’ve grown.

Trailer Work

On the single enclosed trailer I’ve been outfitting, I wired a roof fan,

Mounted a pair of batteries to power all of the DC power, and an inverter

I still have a little work, like an inverter and a charger for when I run a generator.

Also made some backing plates to mount a very secure puck lock for the door.

That gets me up to date on shop news.