Weeks 7 and 8 More progress

Hi,

Week 7: We had great fun removing the front bumper and the fenders. The girls were a great help and actually did most of the work. The fenders are now in our basement for a little rust removal and dent repair. Once the fenders were off we noticed a little more rust in corners, which brings us to...

Week 8: Fortunately, we were able to grind out the rust and did not need to weld anything. I found a 1 inch by 3 inch hole in the firewall just above the dead pedal. I am sure this was the source of the water that rusted out the floor. We patched it with a little steel and sheet metal screws as it was an awkward place to weld. We spent the rest of the weekend cleaning the garage because my parents need their garage back for a couple of weeks. We will spend the break daddy-daughter camping and collecting parts.

ELSA: For the fenders, we found a few little extra screws, but took those out. It was fun to unscrew the fenders. Watching Dad cut the steel was very interesting, and so was taking off the fenders, since it was very involved. I don't think that there's much else to report on Brigita, so here's Greta.

GRETA: I liked unbolting the fenders. There were mystery screws. The screws were rusty. I wonder what we are doing next time.

INGRID: Brigita would especially like a rainbow pony. We really enjoyed taking off the fenders. It was super duper fun. Another thing that was fun was to work on cars. You should always enjoy working on things with your dad. We did one noisy thing, which hurt my ears (grinding). We love working on the car. Stuff can be really fun with your daughters.

Week 6: In the deep freeze!

Hi,

We took the weekend off due to the cold weather. How cold was it? Let's just say I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets. The girls still want to write so...

Elsa, Greta, Ingrid:
During the time when we don't work on Brigita, who knows what she gets up to?

She... plays games. Some of her favorites are Jack-in-the-Box and Strawberry Shortcake. She especially loves to play with people's hair. The way she moves the pieces are with invisible hands. Also, she watches TV.

She... turns cartwheels. At least, she did, until we put her in the garage. She would really like to do wheelies, but there isn't room in the garage. She always dreams about riding on a train. To turn cartwheels, she goes through a long and difficult process. One time she broke something, which we will have to fix.

She... communicates telepathically to the other cars she sees. This is a strenuous process, and it wears her out. One of the more notable conversations she has had was with the car directly next to her. They chatted about repairs, and argued about whether it was better to go to a mechanic or to be fixed up at home. We have yet to find out whether she won that argument.

Weeks 4 and 5, welding and painting.

Sorry for skipping a week, but the kids are banned from welding and most of you seem to follow their comments more than mine.

I finished the welding last week. I'd like to say that I got better at it and will now be welding titanium bike frames from leftover SR-71 parts. I'd like to say that, but I can't. My welding skills did improve to the point that my welds look o.k. now that they are covered with seam sealer and undercoating.

I hope you like the picture. I am known as "the handsomest man in the family." That is right, with a wife and three daughters I am the only man in the family.

It was great to have the girls back helping me this weekend. On Friday night Elsa and I painted the new sheet metal with RustBullet protective paint. We also filled the seams on the rear valence repair. I love the smell of Bondo in the evening, smells like... project car. On Saturday we painted, seam sealed and undercoated. All three kids had RustBullet stuck to their fingers and I had it on my fingers and nose. I learned an important lesson, no matter how much your nose itches, do not scratch it with paint covered hands. Today we painted the trunk.

I am excited to be done with the welding. The next step will be to pull the front fenders so we can pound out and fill some dents.

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Thanks,


Steve


Elsa: Today (Feb.3), we spray painted the trunk. Yesterday we put on seam sealer. On Friday we put Bondo on. I liked spray painting because it was easy and not very messy. I liked working with the Bondo because it was just an interesting texture, especially when it had dried. Seam sealer was interesting, because it was like a can of semi-liquid putty.

Greta: We spray painted the trunk. We used black paint. We used a device that you squeeze to help you spray. We used paint thinner to get paint off our hands. Spray painting was fun but I did not like the smell.

Ingrid: I liked painting. I also held the light, which was very fun. We were working on it because there was rust. Brigita says: "Hello, I love you!"