This olelongrooffan Got The Kenman's Christmas Card!!

So this olelongrooffan received my annual Christmas card from my buddy the Kenman.   The last time we spoke, he mentioned he had sold, finally, a vintage Mustang Shelby he has owned for 41 years. Yes, that's right Counters. 41 years. Of course, the fact he has bought and sold several hundred other cool cars over the years makes this believable.



The Kenman also related the story of the above Suzuki. It seems he and his gorgeous wife, Blondie....yeah, noone in my life is without a nickname....were heading from Blondie's home in Naples up to the Kenman's place in Door County, Wisconsin last spring. Just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, they stopped to grab a bite to eat and spend the night, and knowing the Kenman,  in some ultra cheap hotel. After they enjoyed some southern bar-b-que, they adjourned to the elcheapo hotel across the way. As they were checking in, a severe tornado popped on through, wiped out that bbq place and blew this sign down on the Kenman's daily driver Suzuki. He conned persuaded a couple local yokels to give him a 70 mile ride to acquire a U-Haul so he and Blondie could get the hell out of town. He filed an insurance claim with some roving claims adjuster from his insurance company and did beat it the hell out of there, leaving his Suzuki exactly as you Counters see it in that photo! The Kenman's comment was, "What am I going to do with a totalled Suzuki?  Tow it to Wisconsin?"

Did this olelongrooffan also mention "total police state? breaking into an electricity challenged hotel room to spend the night? the long line of tornado refugees heading toward a evacuation required school bus? Well, those of you Counting Along With Me get the idea.



So anyway, back to the Kenman's Christmas card. I know he is a true buddy, and a fellow car guy as well, as he always keeps an eye out on future vehicles for this olelongrooffan. He spotted this vintage Open Road Econoline somewhere in his travels and got this picture of it to forward to me. It just needs a little work to get it into shape and up to speed.



Or this olelongrooffan could get rid of some of my sh*t and just move into it and be done with it.

What I Saw Today, The Silent Edition: Ford Raptor SVT

So, yesterday I was surfing around and found a fairly popular, well at least well linked, blog that showed nothing but cars with no text.  Well, this olelongrooffan realized that I had seen a whole sh*tload of similar cars and nobody seems to have linked to By The Numbers.  Maybe it is the verbage.  So, for the new year 2012, I'm gonna post a bunch of textless images of cars seen around and we'll just have to see what happens.

A Great Day After Birthday

So Counters, this olelongrooffan had a quiet 52nd birthday and pretty much just surfed around these tubes on Thursday.



However, Friday was anything but quiet. This olelongrooffan has blogged many times about my sister-in-law, newly christened thebeachgoddess. The image of her above was taken a while back during a fateful afternoon back when she was thebarngoddess and a bunch of us built her a Chicken Coupe de Ville out on Haven Lee Farm up in the Missouri Ozarks.



This is an image of her with her team of miniature horses and her Springfield wagon during one of the many parades she and thehorsefarmer participated in back in the day.  She is always smiling, isn't she?



Yes, I just had to include an image of that aforementioned Chicken Coupe de Ville and



like their horses, their chickens are miniature also.



Now last spring thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer ventured off the cow path to come down to the Birthplace of Speed and spend a wonderful couple of weeks hanging with thejeepjunkie, the Kid and this olelongrooffan.



And the ever so sweet beachgoddess made sure this olelongrooffan had something to eat all the while they were here.



Well, as this olelongrooffan has previously mentioned, thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer had so much fun down here in the Birthplace of Speed they decided to divest themselves of a bunch of horses, tack, wagons, trailers and tractors and move to the blue hair Sunshine State joining three of his four brothers.



And thehorsefarmer, now thebeachbiker, traded his big *ssed zero turn mower for a beach bike and barbeque grill.



And it should be noted thebeachgoddess will be needing that sweater and scarf should she decide to venture out onto our Atlantic beach this coming January.

So by now, this olelongrooffan can hear those Counting Along With Me, what the h*ll do thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker have to do with my 52nd birthday and the day after?

Well Counters, refresh that cocktail and this olelongrooffan will relate the happenings of Friday, the last day of September down here in the Birthplace of Speed and its surrounds.

And Away We Go...

After thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker had made their decision to join their fellow family members down here in the Sunshine State, they decided to have their factory fresh lightly used 2003 Ford Taurus (you know a car had to factor into this blog somehow, didn't you?) receive a service update at their local Ford dealership.  This dealership had performed service on this sedan since the day it was driven off their lot and their service performance had been stellar.  However, on the last visit that Taurus made to that dealership, something went awry and, unfortunately, this problem was not realized until after the Bus had delivered that car to thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker down in the oldest city in the United States.

A couple weeks ago when they were down visiting this olelongrooffan at the Taj Mahal, thebeachbiker mentioned the Bull was not acting correctly and this fact was mentioned to thejeepjunkie when we finally caught up to him. Of course, that conversation evolved into the isomerics of air pressure in tires with regards to hot versus cold measurement of the same. My eyes kind of glazed over at that point, by the way.

So, anyway, it was determined thebeachgoddess and thejeepjunkie would coordinate their respective schedules and get that Bull down here to the home of the World's Most Famous Beach so thejeepjunkie could get a look at it in his new shop. Well, they set that visit up to coincide with this olelongrooffan's 52nd but due to a scheduling conflict with some of thejeepjunkie's best customers, that meeting was postponed until the following day.

thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan determined it would be best if she swung by the Taj Mahal and pick me up prior to heading to thejeepjunkie's shop. We were going to utilize thejeepjunkie's pickemup truck while the Bull was getting diagnosed as to what was up with it.  thebeachgoddess had a few specific things she wanted to do but the rest of the day was left up to this olelongrooffan to figure out what to do. She did, however, comment that she was, once again, feeding this olelongrooffan as she is trying to "put some meat on your bones."

So we got to thejeepjunkie's shop, picked up his pickemup truck and thebeachgoddess mentioned she was starving. Of course, the first thing I mentioned was that we should head over to the Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street and grab some Bloody Mary's and a burger. Well, I must say thebeachgoddess has a great sense of humor, as well as being extremely attractive, but this wasn't what she really had in mind and we just grabbed a quick eggamuffin from Ronny's place.

Now, here I must interject this point. As I have mentioned at least one time previously, this olelongrooffan has been known to be the tour guide. As such, I always strive to provide guests or travelling companions new and interesting destinations and try to venture onto new avenues so as not to get my guests bored with the same old scenery.

Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan, try as I might, failed miserably in my task as a tour guide that day as we drove past these five different times that Friday. thebeachgoddess knows their entire history as well as the location of The Best Damn Garage In Town.

So anyway, we headed out to Sam Walton's big box store where entry requires a little blue card and did us some shopping. Now this olelongrooffan can't remember the last time I was in a big box retailer that didn't specialize in home improvement products but I do know it has been at least ten years. I mean a single guy doesn't really have a need for a 48 pack of toilet tissue or a twenty pound pork tenderloin no matter how inexpensive the per unit cost is. Yeah, I was in sensory overload that is for sure.

After that we again passed by those vacant towers to return to the Taj Mahal to put a bunch of that stuff in the massive refrigerator to keep all that stuff fresh for thebeachgoddess's return trip to her new home town.

We then headed out to the Daytona Beach Flea Market to see what could be seen.  I have lived here for three and a half years and only have been to that market once previously. As we were leaving, I related this fact to thebeachgoddess and she commented that she could see why.

While we were there, thejeepjunkie called with the prognosis on the repairs to the Bull and, after consultation with thebeachbiker, authorization was provided to thejeepjunkie to perform the necessary corrections to get thebeachgoddess's daily driver back up to snuff.

In the meantime, lunch was in order and as we were passing the Daytona International Speedway, I recommended we eat at some Mom-n-Pop place down on Beach Street rather than some restaurant chain there on International Speedway Boulevard. thebeachgoddess concurred and we ended up at a great little Mexican restaurant that I have previously seen but had not previously frequented.



It turned out to be an excellent decision as the food was abundant and delicious, even if the hot sauce was a little to hot for thebeachgoddess. The portions were so gigantic this burrito came home with this olelongrooffan and I thanked thebeachgoddess for the birthday lunch and dinner!

Over lunch, we had an excellent conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. thebeachgoddess commented on how much they enjoy St. Augustine and that she wouldn't mind getting a cheap fishing pole to use in the lake at the place they call home.

After a quick trip through a nearby over priced antique mall, we decided to head back to the Taj Mahal and take a break. Upon arrival, we spent a few minutes on the massive veranda enjoying the ubiquitous ocean breeze and soon thereafter, this olelongrooffan could see a nap would be welcome in thebeachgoddess's world and suggested one. She commented that she didn't want to be rude and I admonished her that she still had to drive home and this olelongrooffan was not offended in the least.

I spent some time on these here webs and then divided up some of those Sam's acquired provisions as thebeachgoddess had instructed me to do. Shortly thereafter, the massive communication system here at the Taj Mahal lights up and as it is thejeepjunkie, I answered with "Is it done yet?"  "Come and get it," was the not unexpected response.

And we did. thebeachgoddess was thrilled at how well the Bull ran and the fact the air was, once again, ice cold. On the way back to the Taj Mahal, we stopped and topped off the fuel for her hour long trip home. We got back to the Taj Mahal and loaded up her provisions and got her on the road to be reunited with thebeachbiker.

A little while later, this olelongrooffan was getting a cold sodie pop out of the frig and noticed that I had forgotten to load this in the box for thebeachgoddess to take home.



Now I don't know how I missed it and even worse, how long will it take me to eat a pound of organic baby spring mix lettuce?



And the final cool thing? While thebeachgoddess was enjoying that much needed rest, this olelongrooffan headed out to pick up some more sodie pops and as I was driving down the street, I spotted this fully functional fishing pole beside the road awaiting pick up by the big green truck that travails my street twice a week. I remembered our conversation over lunch and snagged this for thebeachgoddess. After all, my favorite four letter word is "free".

A wonderful day was had by thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan that day and even though we never did make it to the Boot Hill Saloon we certainly did

Celebrate Life.

More Ramblings From The olelongrooffan

The other day, this olelongrooffan was commissioned to replace an irrigation divertor head at a buddy of thejeepjunkies home. As I knew this would happen during a full overhead sun filled Florida sky, this olelongrooffan promptly remembered this occasion and set this work area up.
But prior to establishing that workspace, after acquiring nearly all of the necessary fittings and parts from the big box retailer sponsoring these guys, this olelongrooffan stopped by the purveyor of roast beef sandwiches and picked up one of their elcheap one dollar sandwiches and a pair of potato(e) cakes. As they cooked up those cakes just for me, I knew they would be full of hot grease and decided not to eat in their air conditioned environment, instead heading up John Anderson Parkway to the
So, I parked the Indian and head out to that picnic table under that covered pavillion and enjoyed those now cooled down cakes and that buck a piece sandwich washing it down with an ice cold sodie pop from my ubiquitous free cooler I got while judging the Parade of Homes down in MickeyMouseLand last spring.
Yeah, it was a d*mn sight better than the interior of a corporate designed, sterile environment.
This park is located on the Halifax River which is also the Intracoastal Waterway in these here parts.
A gentle breeze, mullet jumping in the river, and plain ole tranquility.

Remember Counters, sometimes you have to keep an eye open for the opportunities to Celebrate Life!

So, anyway, this olelongrooffan headed over to put in place that farm beach umbrella and get that head replaced.

As always seems to happen, it didn't line up just correctly and another 1 1/4" fitting was required. As that big box retailer is 25 minutes away, and driving there for a $1.29 component wasn't all that desirable, this olelongrooffan decided to head to that outrageously moderately priced hardware store down in Ormond By The Sea to acquire that part and not drive all over the freaking place to get it.

And I am glad this olelongrooffan did just that.

As I was approaching Richie's Oceanshore Garage, this olelongrooffan spotted this
I had seen this out on the road several times previously but had been unable to get an image of it to share with you Counters. Of course, this olelongrooffan immediately decelerated my Indian to stop in and visit with Richie and find out more about this monstrosity.
It turns out the owner was there picking up an obsolete brake drum turning machine from Richie to convert into a tire shaving machine. You can see it on the world's smallest trailer in the background of the first image.

As you suspect, we got to chatting it up. Meanwhile Richie says, "I gotta go pick up a customer, you guys hold down the fort."

And we do. That's how it is round here.

The owner says it is built of plywood and titled as a 1970 Ford F-100 Ranger. It certainly is unique. This olelongrooffan is super p*ssed at myself for not asking him his motivation for its construction. Well I am sure I will see him again.
And he was especially proud of the four wide seating of this Beast. And the wildest part of it?

It is Two Wheel Drive!!

So, that visit with Manuel Labor is complete and I head over to the Kid's garage to return some tools belonging to thejeepjunkie and pick up some others to try and buff out the paint on the Indian. As I am loading those tools in the bed of it, this olelongrooffan spots this 1963 FOMOCO product driving up the street. A thumbs up is offered by this olelongrooffan as it passes by.

So I am exiting The Village thejeepjunkie calls home, I rounded the corner and spot it parked on the street in front of the racing family's home, just around that corner from thesungoddess's house. So, of course, I stop and the boys, yes boys, they are about the Kid's age, come out of the garage and we start chatting it up. I recognize one of them and I mentioned I was the Kid's uncle. "Yeah, I remember your old van," one of them says. So the information about the passing of that olestationbus is exchanged and the owner mentions his 1963 F-100, 1/2 ton stepside is also on the market for $3,000. "Of course, that is negotiable."
We determined it has the same powerplant and drivertrain as my olestationbus and I noticed it even has the same interior rear view mirror! Parts bin sharing at its best, FTW!

I then was checking out the wheels on this sweety and the kid asked me if I recognized them? "They are the ones that were on James' Jeep." I thought they looked familiar. I think I have some hubcaps for them and will get them to ya." And yes, it is prerusted.

I then decided to head over to that Hess station selling petrol for $2.52 a gallon vs the $2.79 per gallon at my local Beachside Mobil.

And I spotted this Gulf livery Porsche 924 piloted by the blonde kid pumping gas into it with his, presumably, Dad looking on.
It is a clean ride, had the proper colors, proper stance and just looks hugely desirable.
Plus, it sports a sticker from my favorite sports car series! Rock on Kid!
Well Counters, that's it. I know this stuff is pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things but as this olelongrooffan basically has no life these days, this is it. But even though I have no life, I do know how to

Celebrate Life.

It's A Doodlebug!

Those of you Counting Along With This olelongrooffan will remember while I was down at the Rods On The Hill 2010 last weekend, while looking at that old Firebird, I spotted something I had never seen before.
Now, I'm sure there are some of you out there who might believe you know what the vehicle in the above image is. I knew I had no idea what it is and contacted Daniel Strohl over at Hemmings for his input. It was necessary.

Way back in the 1940's, long before robots, computers, cell phones and the like were around, my Good Ole USA was involved in this thing called World War II. At the time, rationing was the rule of the day and there was rationing of dang near everything including rubber, gas, nylons and, surprisingly, tractors.

Ever seen a 1942-45 US produced civilian automobile? It is highly unlikely as production ceased on all non military related vehicles in early 1942 to make way for the construction of "War Effort Vehicles" including planes, ships, trucks, Jeeps and more. All of Detroit's production facilities were converted to the war effort.

So, those ingenious farmers needing replacement tractors and located all around our fair country invented what is known as a "DoodleBug". Not one was duplicated as every farmer out there had a different need and a different donor vehicle.

However, an example was spotted, for the first time by this olelongrooffan, at that show down in Holly Hill, Florida.
It is a rare sighting down here in the Southeast portion of these United States. It appears there is a strong representation in the Northeast as noted by Daniel Strohl here on a blog he did a number of years ago on Hemmings.
Apparently, a truck rear end was added to a shortened Model "A" frame and this was the setup for a period correct "DoodleBug". An interesting juxtaposition of body styles, that is for sure.
And, as Daniel pointed out, nice Mother In Law seat in the back.

It was interesting find that day and know I will never forget the DoodleBug but finding something new to me in this automotive hobby this olelongrooffan loves so much allows me to really

Celebrate Life.

Steam Whistle Pilsner

Just a quickie. For more click here.

A Saturday In The Life Of This olelongrooffan

Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan has had a bunch of What I Saw Today posts recently and I thought it was time for one of my rambling all over the place kind of posts so feel free to refresh that iced beverage and get back when you have the chance. I'm not going anywhere soon.

So, welcome back. Hey NotSoLilJim! Is that a PBR you're drinking there?

If you have been Counting Along With Me, you'll remember this olelongrooffan has been without steady employment for over two years. Yeah, I've met up with my buddy, Manuel Labor, once in a while but that has been it. And based on the day I had surfing these tubes for employment on Friday, that ain't gonna change anytime soon. Come on Hope and Change!

As a result of this situation, I'll pretty much do anything for a buck. Last week, I sold an old school set of HOPPY Headlight Aimers, thejeepjunkie acquired, for a cool five bucks on ebay to some Hoon up in South Carolina.
.....Wait, gotta go see the 9:30 fireworks down by the pier....

Okay, I'm back. That was pretty cool. Every Saturday nite during the summer, the City of Daytona Beach shoots off a bunch of fireworks from the end of the pier out over the Atlantic Ocean. I can see them from the front yard of the Taj Mahal and it never fails to excite me. Not quite as intense as those fireworks on the 4th of July down in Rockaway Beach though......

So, anyway, last nite at Happy Hour with thejeepjunkie and TheGoodAttorney over here at the Taj Mahal, while we were enjoying an iced cold beverage and that ocean breeze, this olelongrooffan mentioned that enormous sale. thejeepjunkie told me he had a box with a bunch of shreaded paper in it that he received some parts in that day and to come by and get it on Saturday morning.

And I did.

While I was at thejeepjunkie's shop, this olelongrooffan spotted the test mule those drivers of those blank and tan Fords use to practice their "take out" manuevers on evasive automobiles. Yeah, Counters, check this out. Quarter inch thick steel bars and steel tubing completely surrounding this Crown Vic.
thejeepjunkie had it as they had blown the rear axle clean out of it and, to the tune of $780 later, thejeepjunkie had it ready for more abuse.
This olelongrooffan can imagine the fun the welder had constructing this Beast.
Well, in discussion with thejeepjunkie, it turns out that his shop was tapped for all of the mechanical repairs to all of the test vehicles, of which there were many, not just vehicles but also repairs, as well as the supply of 50 sets of Goodyear tires for this test session out at the Deland Airport.
This mule even has NASCAR style webbing to keep those Officers contained inside this unit.
And yes, Counters, that is one of thejeepjunkies former possessions in the background of the above image.

Well Counters, I have mentioned that this olelongrooffan will do pretty much anything for a buck these days and that includes evaluating real estate properties for an investor out Californey way and he asked me to look at a few this weekend. So, after leaving thejeepjunkie's shop, I ventured out and checked out some of them.

Yeah, some of them were nicer than others and I let him know that.

So, after heading back to the Taj Mahal and getting a blog together for Saleem, this olelongrooffan was just lounging around watching the 24 Hours of Lemans on my backup laptop and checking out the blogs I follow on my primary, waiting on this. Yeah, this olelongrooffan loves having the inside scoop.

Suddenly, around 4:30, the massive communications system here at the Taj Mahal lights up. It is thejeepjunkie.

Whatca doin' longroof?

And I tell him.

Up for a ride on the beach?

Always!

Well, longroof, pack a cooler and I'll be right there.

I did and he was.

So we got down to my beach and thejeepjunkie couldn't resist playing in the surf.

Well, he returned, picked me up and we cruised on down that beach just enjoying the breeze, the view and laughing at the hoons who chose to grace us with their presence this Chamber of Commerce type of day.

And much like this day, we got to see some Sl-Ocalians stuck in a Mustang on the beach.
And, of course, thejeepjunkie had to go supervise help.
So, he got those kids out while I sat, comfortably, well as comfortably as a 6'1" guy can, in the front seat of that 64 year old means of transportation.
And we continued along, just marveling at the mass of humanity and their antics on the beach trying to beat the rising tide.
Did I mention it was Chamber of Commerce type of day?
And yes, Counters, all kinds of vehicles are allowed on our beach, just not overnite.
And as we were cruisin' along, thejeepjunkie spots this quintet along the shoreline, gathered for a photo shoot.
As this olelongrooffan was getting this image, I didn't see what they were looking at until I took my eye away from the viewfinder.
Still not sure what the photo shoot was for but sure glad we got to experience it.

So we cruised on up the beach into the four wheel drive only, due to soft sand, section between the Cardinal Drive and Granada Boulevard accesses, helped some Hoons from over in MickeyMouseLand get their 2WD Colorado unstuck, only to watch them get stuck again. Reported it to the Beach Patrol and we headed back to the Taj Mahal for another cold one and thejeepjunkie headed on back to thesungoddess's house.

Hey jeepjunkie, thanks for having me along for the ride while we did our best to
Celebrate Life.