Category: 1A Auto Blog Home

1964 Impala Convertible Project Part 4

Jeremy Nutt 4 Comments

We left off the last episode with a freshly fabricated trunk floor, and I had a new tail pan and taillight surround on order.   A few days later, they arrived, and work commenced.  If you are curious, I would imagine that at this point in the story, I must have had about 75 hours into the removal of the quarter, and the repair of the wheel house, filler neck surround, trunk drop off, and trunk floor.  It is easy to see why car restorations add up fast.   The labor factor is huge.  Moving on…

I began this round with the test fitting of the tail pan and the left taillight surround.  They were both perfect, except my trunk floor wasn’t.  Everything needed some TLC with hammers to align it all.  Once I was happy with the tail pan, I drilled a million holes in it and spot welded it all the way down just like when the car was new.  I then coated it in ugly reddish primer because that is what was within reach.

The taillight surround was much more challenging to align than the tail pan was. I used a variety of clamps, and cleco’s.  If you have never used cleco’s you are missing out.  They are cheap little devices that hold metal together like a champ.  Every tool box should have some.

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Cha Ching!

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

That’s the noise that team owner Tony Stewart heard as Ryan Newman crossed the finish line ahead of him during Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Both Newman and Stewart ran an excellent race yesterday. Tony Stewart has had one heck of a bad year at the beginning of the season. This was a great shot in the arm for Stewart- Haas racing. Ryan Newman is now 8th in the Nascar Sprint Cup points chase and team owner Tony Stewart is pretty close behind in 11th.

Sitting in row 22 on the start/finish line, it was a little toasty on the metal bleachers up in the grandstand. Temperatures were into the 90’s on race day. I was listening in on Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he said it was so hot inside the car he could feel his face blister. Read More

Friday’s 1A Blog Video Wrap Up

Jeremy Nutt Leave a comment

Tony’s Friday Video Pick:

“Keeping with this weeks theme and my excitement for racing, here’s a cool video that I dug up on YouTube of Clint Bowyer’s win at NHMS last year,when Tony Stewart ran out of gas.

This was also the controversial race where Clint Bowyer was docked 150 points, and 150,000 dollars for a quarter panel that was 60-thousandths of an inch out of what Nascar deems as acceptable. Less than the thickness of a quarter!”

Jeremy’s Friday Video Pick:

“I bet that you have never seen multiple Cadillac CTS-V’s on two wheels before.”

Can’t see the videos? Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wivfPiQI5u4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fM1VF9F5vw

 

 

 

What’s Going On At New Hampshire Motor Speedway This Weekend

Jeremy Nutt 2 Comments

If you’re heading up to NHMS tonight after work, the race festivities kick off at 5:00 today with the New England 125 K&N Pro Series East. Max Gresham won the pole for the event, he will be piloting the 18 from the first place starting spot Friday afternoon.

Be sure to check out the F.W. Webb 100 modified race on Saturday. This is always one of the best races of the weekend. Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman won the pole for Saturdays race. He’s always a force to be reckoned with in the modified series, as he has won the event in 2010 and this is his third straight pole at “The Magic Mile” for this series.

After the F.W. Webb 100 modified race, the Nationwide Series New England 200 will be set to kick off at 3:30 pm. This is a great chance to watch some of your favorite Sprint Cup drivers compete against some of Nascar’s up and coming young stars as they try their hand at defeating seasoned Sprint Cup drivers such as Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch to name a few.

On Sunday, Nascar’s main event the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 is set to take stage at 1:00 pm. However show up early because there are always some cool souvenir trailers to poke through and usually there’s an opening band that gets the crowd rocking before the race.

The weather for Sunday’s race is said to be near 90 degrees.

 

 

Thank you to “Cindy” for sending in this cool picture of a Coors Light stock car she saw sitting outside of Sam’s Club.

Move In Day At NHMS;Louden NH

Jeremy Nutt Leave a comment

It’s Thursday ! What’s so great about Thursday? Well… if you’re a race fan it’s official “Move In” day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The excitement begins tonight at 5:00 with the race hauler parade. What’s the race hauler parade do you ask? That’s when all of the cool 18 wheelers line up and parade around the track so that the fans can get a good look at these things. If you have ever seen one of these truck blow by you on the interstate,they’re pretty awesome to look at. They are always super clean and painted up like your favorite drivers stock car.

Joey Logano will also be available tonight to sign autographs for the fans at the track. Logano’s first win was at NHMS in 2009 making him the youngest driver to have won a Sprint Cup Race.

Here’s a video link to the Sprint Cup Hauler parade on the NHMS website.

NHMS Sprint Cup Hauler Parade Video

Next Stop NHMS; Louden NH

Jeremy Nutt Leave a comment

With Kentucky behind us I’ll be heading up to NHMS on Friday night. The RV’s already parked in it’s place courtesy of some great friends just waiting for the race weekend festivities to begin.

If you’re heading up to Louden before the weekend be sure to take in the K&N series race on Friday. Andrew Ranger driver of the Waste Management car has been lighting that series on fire. The kid can pretty much drive anything you put him in.

On Saturday for $40.00 you can catch the Modified race which is one of the best races of the weekend. Ryan Newman usually drives in the event, and after that the Nationwide race runs. So you can catch both of these races for very little money and it’s a great fun filled afternoon.

The Sprint Cup Series is set to run on Sunday. Guys to pick for your fantasy league are Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and David Reutimann all typically run very well at this track.

I’ve had seats on the start/finish line for 10 years now and have witnessed Tony Stewart climb the huge catch fence right in front of us, it was a pretty cool sight to see.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. absolutely loves this track and even if he has had a bad season he usually runs well here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the 88 in victory lane on Sunday.

One of the coolest things about winning at Louden on Sunday is the victory ” lobsta” that these guys always receive. I have no idea where they catch these things but they’re always huge.

 

This Is A Mandatory Item For Every Car Enthusiast

Jeremy Nutt 18 Comments


Bolt drawer, bolt bucket, or junk drawer.  No matter what you call it, it is absolutely imperative that every automotive enthusiast has one of these within reach.  If you don’t, you are basically setting yourself up for heartache & pain.  This particular drawer in my tool box has saved me approximately 470 gallons of gas, several hospital trips, 1 million hours of work, and unimaginable amounts of cash.  Over the last 15 years, it has been cleaned and organized many times, but in the end it always ends up looking like this.  Though I can’t confirm whether it is a good or a bad thing, it is quite possibly the most used drawer in my tool box.   Read More