January 9, 2000
Out in the driveway...
Well, I decided to jump right in and start taking the new Bloo apart so I could send some of the parts I wasn't keeping away with the old Bloo when the guy came to pick it up. He wasn't able to do it because of the lousy weather lately, but I got a lot done anyway, so it certainly wasn't a waste of time.
I started by pulling the inline 6 engine and tranny. It took me a solid day to do it, mostly becuse of things like the power steering pump, removing the radiator, draining the tranny fluid (which I didn't do nearly enough of because the tranny tipped when I pulled it out and sent a river of ATF flowing down my driveway). Sorry I couldn't take pictures of the actual process - my hands were full :-)
But I finally got it out. I started that morning when the sun had barely come up, and it was dark by the time we finally set the engine down in the driveway (my husband helped, he was thrilled). After that was out of the way I degreased the engine compartment and rolled the car inside for further dissasembly.
Back in the Garage...
I am a little surprised that things worked out this way. I, in general, am against doing an I6 to V8 swap because there are so many parts that need to be swapped to do it right, it seems to make more sense to buy a V8 car to begin with. But in this case, I had a complete V8 parts car, and I just needed a solid body, and the one I found happened to have a 6 in it, so a swappin' we will go...
Rear Suspension (new Aug. 22, 2000)
Interior (new Oct 17, 2000)
Front Suspension/Steering/Brakes (new Aug. 22, 2000)
Engine Compartment/Engine and Tranny (new November 8, 2000)
Big Progress... August 25, 2000 Deja Bloo sits on wheels for the first time in eight months, sporting a new V8 suspension salvaged from the old Bloo!
More big progress... September 10, 2000 Deja Bloo receives the engine from old Bloo plus a new five speed transmission!
Getting to look more like a car... October 17, 2000 Deja gets her fenders back - one original, one donated from old Bloo.
November 14, '00
If that's not a beautiful sight, I don't know what is. My Mustang racin' friend Ron showed up with his trailer and hauled Deja away to Vernon's for the final assembly. I left the tricky stuff for Vernon to do, like the brakes and the wiring - you know, stuff I want to be sure is done right!