And the Trophy for "Most Optimistic" goes to.....

Well, if the Tulsa VW Club Car Show had presented a "Most Optimistic" award, I'm sure I would've won it. As it turned out, of the four cars that were entered in the "Under Construction" classification...My Precious came in fourth.

Heh heh! That's ok.

I was at the show from about 8am to around 5pm. While I was there, I won a couple of door prizes! Then Steve and I went with a bunch of other VW enthusiasts to a local "Deutschfest". I enjoyed a plate of schnitzel with potatoe salad and sauerkraut.

I realized that I had gotten a bit too much sun on my face that evening. Ouch!!

Here's some pictures of the show.

This is the evening before the show...my car was almost all alone in the parking lot.



Here's some folks looking at the car...Steve is showing them some of the things we'd accomplished.




Now this was sometime during the judging of the show...I had to have both doors open, the hood open and the rear deck lid up. Well, mine doesn't go up...it comes off.



It was so hot that some kind folks next to me let me share the shade of their umbrella. While I was sitting there, Robert sat down with me and told me some pretty woeful stories about trying to get to the show last year! (He finally did make it.) Also, he told me he had a screw loose. Literally. He let me feel it. Sure enough, there it was...a loose screw in his forehead! It was from a prior surgery.



Steve judged some parts of the show (not the classification we were entered in, naturally...that wouldn't have been fair.) Anyway, here he is judging...



My friend Pete returned the car to our shop after church this afternoon. And so it sits, none the worse for it's adventure.

There Goes My Baby with Someone New...

Bright and early this morning, I got up and pushed the car out into the shop driveway and did some last minute bolt tightening. Here it is, waiting for Pete to come and pick it up. I wish I coulda got that rear deck lid put back on but it was just too hard.





Then Pete came and got it. I was able to steer the car out onto the street while he pushed it and then steer it into position behind the hauler.



Then off they went to the Tulsa VW Car Show!!! Woohoo! The day has finally arrived!



What a wild feeling that was, seeing My Precious scooting off down the street behind Pete! Even that couldn't have been done when we got it. Remember? The wheels were fused and the rims were bent.

All the King's Horses and All the King's Men

Putting My Precious back together again.

Well, at least to some extent. We're getting it ready for the Tulsa VW Car Show. My friend Pete is coming to pick it up tomorrow morning and we register for the show tomorrow afternoon. It will be registered in the "Under Construction" catagory.

Floor Pan Done! On to Heater Channel!

Well, Steve finally got the front cross member and the floor pan welded into place. Here he is, putting automotive seam sealer on the welded areas...



Doesn't it look good??!! I really think he's done a great job on it.

The next thing Steve did was start removing the old rotten driver's side heater channel. Here he is, drilling out the spot welds in the back near the rear wheel well, just like Rick Higgins says to do.



Now, we tried to get the heater channel into place but it was really hard. Probably the hardest thing we've done yet. Part of the problem was the back where the area had been rebuilt wasn't just the way it should be and some of it needed to be trimmed back. So I took a dremel and cut away just a little lip that was getting in the way.





Then I took the grinder and smoothed it out...



After a bit of finagling (and one really good swift kick from me) the heater channel finally slid into approximate position.

Here you can see Steve doing the finagling...you can get an idea of what it is supposed to look like from the outside.



Here is what it looks like on the inside. Bear in mind that the front end is slighly jacked up off the floor pan. The t-post welded into the doorway held it pretty secure...the door shuts pretty good even without the channel welded in!




Here is an old picture for comparison...

Of course we still have the hole there in the wheel well, but once that's fixed it should look pretty good, don't you think?

The Tulsa VW Show is this weekend. We have got to get it ready to be hauled down there by Friday. We've got a LOT of work ahead of us but I think we can do it!!