[DML] The Resurrection of Vixen Continues... (Pt. II)

["Dave Stragand" <dave.stragand@xxxx>]

My dad's company (Hussey Copper) has a marine division, which for some
reason has gotten into drag racing. They now are a top manufacturer of
copper gaskets for the race trade, and my dad is offering their services
for a port & polish job! I had considered Extrude-Hone, but to do the
int/exh manifolds and the heads was $1800. That's a sizable chunk of
change. Therefore, having a professional race team redo those for free
seemed to be a much better option. However, to do so would mean
delaying finishing the engine by a month or two. That depressed me a
bit. I was really getting far along, and then... a huge delay. I have
the potential to build one of the hottest PRV's in the country (I hope),
but should I do so when it would hit me with such a morale killer?

There a line in a Phish song that struck me at this point: "A week is a
month, and an hour's a day, when your reaching just pushes it further
away". Sage advice. I've run into that trap before. You have to set a
goal of what you want the car to be when it's done and try to stick to
it. Every time you try to do a bit more, the goal moves further out of
reach. It's better to accomplish your original goals first, then set
additional ones. To do otherwise is just baiting yourself with a carrot
and stick. I'll send my spare heads and intake down to be machined, and
put them on at a later date. A little more work, true, but on a project
of this size & scope, keeping my energy level and spirits high is of
crucial importance.

With that in mind, I went back to work on the engine yesterday. The
intake manifold is in place, the new distributor, and all of the water
piping. I started in on the exhaust & turbos next, and hope to have the
engine assembled by the end of the week. My 30th birthday is on
Wednesday, so I probably won't be working that night. But now that I'm
"old", I should act responsibly, correct? I'm starting my new
responsibility with going to a Toga party at my old Penn State
fraternity this Saturday, so putting the engine in that weekend is out
of the question. =)

But it'll be before the end of March for sure!

This week was a big one financially -- I spent almost as much as I did
on the car. I bought the turbos ($2000), a brass radiator and an
anti-knock sensor from Don Steger ($800), a windshield, clutch slave and
other misc. parts from DMC Houston ($600) so the money flew out the door
in a hurry.

Sales of the "Backside to the Future" videos have done well -- I'll sold
about 35 pairs thus far. If you're interested, I have MANY more. These
are ADULT spoofs of the "Back to the Future" series. As far as I can
tell, they are the only adult videos to have a DeLorean in them.
They're a must for any complete DMC collection. For more information,
please check out http://www.ProjectVixen.com/videos.htm All of the
proceeds go to the restoration of #5927, so it's for a good cause as
well.

Another Vixen web site update will be coming soon! =)

-Dave Stragand, vin #5927
email: dave.stragand [at] ketchum.com
http://www.ProjectVixen.com