2015-5-14 14:51 - Spring Cleaning

Well, it`s that time... spring cleaning. I plan to be selling, trading and tossing a TON of stuff to make room in the garage.

This will hopefully allow us to get the 71 Charger body back into `living` condition.

I don`t dare post photos of the state of the MW Garage right now but I will post pics once it`s manageable again...




 2012-3-15 22:51 - Frame Rail Repair

So, progress has been a little slow lately and I do apologize for that. We`ve been in the process of changing the shop around some, clearing out some old projects, wrapping some others up and it`s all so we can focus on the new project.. the 71 Dodge Charger.

So where are we? Well, the drivers side floor pan has been opened up and as we expected there is a lot of work to do. The frame rail is pretty rough on the bottom but appears to be saveable. The rest of the frame looks pretty solid especially near the torque bars which is a relief. We`ll clean the whole area up and make sure everything is solid anyways.

Right now we are working on fabricating some inserts to go inside the existing frame rails to strengthen them up. The plan now that we have them opened from the top is to media blast all of the rust out of the inside of the rails. We then plan to drop the insert in and weld it in place from the top and sides. The rust chewed bottom of the old rail will then be carefully cut off, everything sandblasted and welded again and finally a new bottom half of the frame rail will be fabricated and welded into place.

Why are we doing it like this? Several reasons, thank you for asking. First off it`s cheap. No buying a new or repop frame rail to do this fix. Secondly it can be done with everything in place this way. No need for special supports or anything. We don`t remove any real material until the inner support is already..well...in. Finally we are doing it this way because we want the repair to be strong but hidden. This will allow us to make it look like nothing was ever done but still have the confidence that the repair is strong.

Check out the pictures of the damage. We`ll update soon with a full write up and plenty of pictures of our fix. In the meantime those of you that have projects waiting for you - log off, shut the computer down... stop day dreaming and go make it a reality.

Coming soon we`ll give you a full review along with pictures of our installation of all new floor pans. We may even be using a brand you may not have heard of before but that shows some good promise...



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 2012-2-9 20:20 - Frame Repair on the Charger

So the first step on the latest project will be to repair the frame rail.... looks like some serious rust. The sides look okay once you go up high enough but the bottom is gone. The idea is to cut out the bottom completely, sandblast inside and out then cut out half of the frame section, reinforce it from the inside then do the same on the other side and then recap it.

This should stiffen it up and repair it without having to realign anything or support the car in any special way while this is done.



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 2012-2-9 10:16 - New Project

Okay, LONG break there... yes, we have still been rolling. Just more day to day stuff and less useful/interesting tidbits.

We do have a new project though. A 1971 Dodge Charger. Needs rust work and a complete restoration but should be a great project. Meanwhile the 1968 El Camino SS 396 is going up for sale. Asking 3k.



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 2011-5-27 9:25 - New Cabinets

So a gentleman out in Colchester just donated 2 very sweet commercial duty steel cabinets to the MonkeyWrench Garage. These cabinets retail for close to $600 a piece and are brand new! He even included an under light for them. A huge thanks!




 2010-10-5 10:12 - We`re back

So we took a brief break while we did some work on a custom bar we are building for our entertainment area but we`re back. Progress on John`s car is coming along nicely and we may be pulling the El Camino in next to get some more work done on that. Depends on if I decide to sell it or fix it. We`ll see. Meanwhile, stay tuned :)




 2010-7-27 7:34 - Craigslist

Okay, so not a ton new lately - been too busy. I have however posted up a list of things available to trade on craigslist.

Speaking of craigslist I saw someone looking for a sprocket cover for a 96-99 GSXR 600/750. I happen to have a bunch of spare parts including a sprocket cover so I contacted him and told him I`d sell it to him for 20 bucks including shipping. Jeff seemed like a real nice guy but said he wanted proof that I was legit and that the part was on its way. Makes sense to me. In fact it seems nowadays craigslist has become a borderline dangerous place to do business. The concept is sound, there are a lot of great people out there but there are also far too many shady people playing games. Keep your eyes open!

Meanwhile, if you want to check out my list, here`s the link:

http://burlington.craigslist.org/wan/1865492012.html




 2010-6-22 21:51 - New cabinets

So we have new steel cabinets. Nothing fancy but a little heavier duty and larger then what we had. I`ve been methodically stripping them down, straightening them up and getting them repainted. They look pretty good and should hold a lot more then the old ones.




 2010-6-16 16:34 - Hydraulic Press

So we finally have a nice new 12 ton hydraulic press to do ball joints etc with! Very nice gentleman down in Pittsford ended up with two and sold one to me for $75. So for all of you that kept asking when we would have one, come on over we have it!



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 2010-6-16 16:41 - Autobody week

Tons of car work going on this week. John is redoing his cars paint job - welding, straightening, filling and painting are all going on. I just finished redoing the motorcycle head bearings.

We also finally got in the 10mm gunson colortune so we can get Adam and Johns motorcycle fuel settings tuned.

Oleen has his dresser almost done and it looks great!

If anyone needs to get in there in the next few weeks give me a heads up so we can make sure we get you in the schedule as there is a lot going on right now!



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