To quote from my blog, milestones included:
4/13/02: Trailered the car to our house. What a job getting it onto the trailer.
10/28/02: We hooked a battery up and tried to turn the engine with the starter. Only clicks, no motion.
5/15/04: The car finally got moved to its new home in Baltimore, MD
10/31/04: Paint stripping complete.
7/10/05: Sprayed three coats of paint (Glacier Gray).
10/2/05: Work completed included installation of the new top.
10/9/05: Spent Saturday taking the drivetrain out of his '63 Corvair sedan and Sunday putting it into the car. By Sunday night I was able to drive it out of the garage.
11/27/05: Everything checked out, so back to school Brianna went, but this time driving her Corvair.
5/19/07: It's been a while, and the Corvair's been, for the most part, behaving. Today, we drove it to the local Corvair club's tech session. While there, some Corvair-savvy guys did a compression check and found that one of the cylinders was way down on pressure.
6/5/07: As Brianna was driving down Rt. 40 a tree fell onto the road. The car in the next lane ran into her.
7/14/07: Engine overhaul’s finally complete and the Corvair got put back on the road.
9/14/07: Still going through oil like crazy. Found a guy willing to give him a '64 4-door that runs.
10/12/07: Pulled the drivetrains out of both cars and put the replacement into the car before calling it a day.
5/12/08: Installed the differential and transmission and raised the rebuilt drivetrain into place.
8/16/08: A summer of reliable, fun driving - at least a couple thousand miles worth.
7/28/09: Four hours from Baltimore, Heidi started running very poorly. It was making putt, putt noises and has no power. Hitched Heidi up to the Suburban, and, after a stop at the gas station to wash up and fill up, was back on the road by 10 PM. Another four hours of driving and he was home.
8/3/09: Discovered that the end of one valve stem was damaged by the rocker arm running askew. Irrr.
8/13/09: After 5+ hours on Monday evening and another hour on Tuesday, I had the engine back together enough start her up.
7/26/10: After hours and hours of prep including welding, Bondo’ing, priming, and sanding Heidi was ready for paint yesterday evening…I mixed up the first batch of metallic silver and poured it through a filter and into the gun’s reservoir….With four coats of color applied, I moved on to the clearcoat.
8/3/10: Brianna thoughtfully waited until I was home before going out to the garage to gaze upon her transformed Heidi. With Loriann’s hands covering her eyes, she walked into the garage. Her reaction, once she saw the car, was suitably appreciative and complimentary. We all agreed that, now in her proper silver with original red interior, Heidi fulfills her German name.
9/17/11: Brianna asked me if I’d be willing to take Heidi back to Baltimore for the winter.
11/9/11: I was driving home from dealing with Glinda, I glanced into Heidi’s sideview mirror and noticed it was vigorously shaking. I rolled down the window and grabbed the mirror only to have it come completely loose from its mounting. Thanking God I caught it in time.
4/20/12: I popped open Heidi’s engine lid and discovered one of the spark plug leads had come off the distributor cap. I poked it back into place, started up her engine, and was rewarded with the smooth idle I so love.
4/9/13: I just got the word from Brianna that she doesn’t foresee a scenario where she and Nich will live close enough to us that they’d be comfortable using Heidi as a daily-driver. It was a hard and sad decision for her, but she texted me, “it’s time for me to sell her to someone who will appreciate her.”
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