Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

-
Still no new car news other than I'm missing out on the 1st Goodguys event in Lincoln, Nebraska and the swap meet in Fremont. - I spent the day doing drywall again... I may have to fire the Duster up just to start feeling human again.
 
I made a quick trip to Wahoo, Nebraska this morning. - Picked up a washer/dryer for the house remodel. Another Craigslist purchase. I'll have to keep them stored in the garage until we're ready for them.

img_5495-jpg.jpg


img_5496-jpg.jpg





View attachment IMG_5495.jpg

View attachment IMG_5496.jpg
 
Last edited:
That is a nice pair of appliances!
Hope you got them right.
 
sireland67 said:
That is a nice pair of appliances!
Click to expand...
sireland67 said:
Hope you got them right.
Click to expand...


The owner said he paid $1300 for each one. I don't know if that included the storage stands underneath. He was only asking $500 for the pair. They have all sorts of fancy options built in. The dryer even has a steam setting that's supposed to reduce wrinkles or something like that.

Teresa was getting tired of beating the grease out of my clothes with a rock by the stream. She wanted me to install these things in our house in David City but I told her they were for the renovation project. - Next thing you know she'll be wanting a new mop. Sheesh! There's no pleasing her. How's a guy supposed to afford car parts?
 
Last edited:
If I were you, I'd give her the appliances on the condition that she stop slapping me when I felt her.................... #-o



HA!!!!!! :glasses7:
 
---------------------------------------DISCLAIMER----------------------------------------------------

The following post contains NO interesting car stories. It doesn't even contain any boring car stories. View at your own discretion.

:wack:



Yesterday I finished putting up sheetrock in the rear entry room. While I was at it I put up a medicine cabinet and lighting.

img_5500-jpg.jpg


The new (used) microwave is now built in.

img_5499-jpg.jpg


The refrigerator is cleaned and we wrapped it with a drop cloth to keep paint, sawdust, and plaster off of it.

img_5501-jpg.jpg


Today I managed to re-do the kitchen ceiling. The antiqued tin look tiles are actually Styrofoam. - Another stained glass light fixture installed also.

img_5503-jpg.jpg


img_5505-jpg.jpg


I still have to repaint the kitchen after I finish working on the drywall. The top wallpaper border will probably stay but the other wallpaper is going away.


View attachment IMG_5500.jpg

View attachment IMG_5499.jpg

View attachment IMG_5501.jpg

View attachment IMG_5505.jpg

View attachment IMG_5503.jpg
 
Last edited:
1st of all, let me say I hope everybody is having a nice 4th of July. Car shows, cookouts, & fireworks.

With only 2 days left until the deadline on the house, I spent my time installing a kitchen counter backsplash, staining woodwork, and painting. We have been making steady progress on the house but we're way behind where I wanted to be.

I believe that I've got less interior design aptitude than most folks living in trailer parks, but I am convinced that sooner or later I'll get something right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

One of the spookiest decisions I made was to cut an opening in the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Teresa tried talking me out of it but I was convinced that a small bar/counter between the two rooms would work. The kitchen had a relatively square floor plan with a lot of wasted space. We didn't have enough funds to purchase more cabinets to fill the area and I wanted a less 'boxy' feel in the food prep area. It'll be awhile before we have all the measurements figured out for the new countertops. For now we have the hole.

img_5510-jpg.jpg



I picked sort of a baby **** brown color for the kitchen walls. I'd remembered seeing a shade close to it on some of the original lath/plaster. I'm trying to go bold but not bright. I did paint over some of that wallpaper that was on the soffit. Although the paint I purchased was supposed to be a 'one coat' paint I'm finding that it really needs two.

img_5507-jpg.jpg


img_5512-jpg.jpg


The antique looking copper backsplash is plastic and came in a 2' by 25' roll. I still need to add some trim to finish it off. Even though the drywall work isn't done we applied paint to some areas to make it look more 'finished' on our deadline date. We pulled the plastic drop cloths off the appliances to get a better idea of how the colors were working together. The new countertops will be black with copper streaks in it.

img_5513-jpg.jpg



View attachment IMG_5510.jpg

View attachment IMG_5507.jpg

View attachment IMG_5512.jpg

View attachment IMG_5513.jpg
 
Last edited:
House is lookin good man. And I love that ceiling, never know it's Styrofoam! :) Just tell the city fathers to kiss off BUT make sure yer butt's covered when ya do it. :)

Jim
 
dcdriver said:
House is lookin good man. And I love that ceiling, never know it's Styrofoam! :) Just tell the city fathers to kiss off BUT make sure yer butt's covered when ya do it. :)
Click to expand...
dcdriver said:

Jim
Click to expand...


Thanks dcdriver. I've always liked the look of those old tin ceilings. Original ones are worth a fortune. Reproduction ones are still more costly than I could afford. It cost me about $250 to do the kitchen. If I had torn down the old tiles that were up there and installed new drywall it would have been more $$ than putting these up. I am considering using some in the dining room too but I'll probably choose white instead and maybe pick another pattern.

Well, yesterday was the big day. We had received notice that they were planning on inspecting the property after their meeting (that we were required to attend). During the days prior to the 6th we spent the majority of our time cleaning and moving the building supplies out of sight. We also brought in some extra furniture and nick knacks to dress the place up. Teresa and I felt that these clowns had no vision of what the house could eventually look like so we figured we'd be best off demonstrating it visually. The sad part about it was that it was only going to further delay any real progress we could be making. Everything we were moving in was going to have to be moved back out so we could continue working. Waxing floors that still need to be sanded was another waste of our time that we'd rather have spent making headway on the house.

img_5515-jpg.jpg


img_5516-jpg.jpg


img_5522-jpg.jpg


img_5523-jpg.jpg


img_5524-jpg.jpg


img_5527-jpg.jpg


With everything in place we headed to the meeting. The last time we met with the mayor and city council it was a nightmare. They openly mocked us and gave us no credit for having made any of the previous progress we'd made on the property. We weren't eager to attend another session like that.

I knew we'd done the best we could in the time we had. I had the house looking the best I could. I tend to be non-confrontational. I don't like controversy. When all is said and done I usually come off as someone that's a pushover. I was determined that today would be different. I figured that no matter what I wasn't going to take any more crap from them and I sure wasn't going to let them get away with the way they'd treated us in the past.

Teresa and I walked into the Community Center (where the meeting was being held) at 7:30. Teresa doesn't do well speaking in front of crowds so she expected me to do all of the talking. They were all seated around a table with their attorney present. Two chairs were set up for Teresa and I. Outnumbered about 10 to 1, it seemed they had the upper hand. I needed to grow some stones.
surfeit-of-skunks-jpg.jpg


I don't know these people. The only time I'd ever spoken to any of them was at the last meeting we'd attended. I did know that they were capable of being rude and demeaning. I knew they were arrogant. I had the impression that they liked pushing people around.

One of them spoke up. He began by saying that he commended us on the progress we'd made. Then he started to make it sound as though the council deserved the credit for it because we wouldn't have done anything without 'their encouragement'. I interrupted him. " Excuse me. Who are you?"

It was obvious that the question raised his ire. It was as though he was offended that anyone wouldn't know who he was. "I'm Heath Vrbka and I am mayor AND head of the city council!" The other members of the council seemed to be taken aback by the question. They looked around at one another a bit nervously. They were aware that their mayor had taken the question as an insult. I truly did not know who the hell he was. None of them had ever introduced themselves.

"If you're going to start out with a chip on your shoulder, we're not going to get anywhere!" he retorted.

I refused to show any sign that I was impressed by his title anf fixed a steely gaze upon him.

I told them that any progress made on the property was no thanks to them. I said that they'd set us back six months from where we'd otherwise be. I went on to say that they should have no reason to expect any friendly responses from me after the way they'd treated us at the last council meeting. I described how they'd insulted us and belittled us. - How they had given us no credit for previous progress made during a time period when Teresa and I had lost each of our parents, I'd had two heart attacks, we'd endured almost $10,000 damage from break ins and vandalism and I'd quit a lucrative job to spend the last 3 years of my mother's life caring for her. I further went on to detail that I'd also cared for their attorney's father (during his last few years) at a nursing home. So if he wanted to lecture me about civility it wasn't going to be accepted well. I also let them know that several neighbors had suggested I sue the city and council as did a few attorneys.

A few of the council members spoke up and apologized for the way we'd been treated at the last meeting. - Not all. Some of them stared back full of hatred.

Their attorney finally spoke up and said that it was obvious that we'd more than met all reasonable demands for improvements and said that he believed the city's interest in the matter was over. He'd been staring down at the floor ever since I'd made the comment about his father.

They never did come over after the meeting to tour the property. I think some of the members were too afraid.

I managed to leave without having to kiss anyone's behind. I felt good about that. But I really felt the most satisfaction in telling them what I thought of them. I didn't make any new friends. But as the saying goes, 'With friends like that, who needs enemies?'.

View attachment IMG_5515.jpg

View attachment IMG_5516.jpg

View attachment IMG_5522.jpg

View attachment IMG_5523.jpg

View attachment IMG_5524.jpg

View attachment IMG_5527.jpg

View attachment surfeit-of-skunks.jpg
 
Last edited:
Abodybomber said:
Nice work,'67... When I move ,this is no 1 on my sh*t to do list...
Click to expand...

Abodybomber, I know I've got a long way to go on the house but at least a lot of the pressure is off now. There's a car show coming up this next weekend in St. Paul, Nebraska. I think right now I might be able to go and relax for awhile. I guess you could say that the show has moved itself up on my 'to do' list.
 
Last edited:
Nice work putting the town council in their place John! Glad to see you can take a well deserved breather.
 
You were nice to them.
But I would have took the same approach, unless things got nasty.

Now finish the house, no need to stop now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top