The first rule of project cars is to be overly optimistic in how much time it will take. We had originally aimed for a June 1st finish, but Brigita took to the road the middle of August. The good news is that we met our goal of spending less than $1000 on the purchase and restoration.
The past few months were spent finishing the body work, reinstalling the interior and painting the exterior. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I am very proud of my daughters and all the work they put in. It was fun to see their enthusiasm and skill development. A couple of months ago the 5 year old, Ingrid, was telling me about the rusty BMW she had seen earlier in the day. I asked her how we fix rust and she shouted "Welding Daddy! and righty is tighty and lefty is loosy." They did a great job!
My wife and I had told our kids for the past few years that they could turn our minivan into an art car. Instead, we decided to paint Brigita with chalkboard paint and it is now their rolling canvas.
GRETA: When we were chalking we drew flowers and suns, Dad even drew a giant evil spam pig! We had a LOT of fun. In a couple of days it rained. The car looks great. I've had tons of fun working on her. I can't wait too chalk her again!
ELSA: A note on the spam pig: underneath the "evil" pig it said, "I am pink, therefore I am Spam." It was great to be able to ride in her when she was complete. Painting her took a whole night, and the next day we did touch- up. I'm really looking forward to Chalktoberfest, when everyone can chalk her. For now, though, it's just us. THANK YOU SO MUCH, DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
INGRID: We have a had a great time working on Brigita. It is lots of fun. Dad and I and my sisters, too, have been working very hard. I love my Daddy very much. He is a very good car worker. The chalking was really fun. I wrote my name, Ingrid, on it a lot of times. Daddy is a great dad!
