Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 December, and 2025 is coming to a close.

I didn't think that it would fit!

My wife and I went to Costco to pick up a few things. While we were there, we saw a live Christmas tree offered for sale inside. Seven to eight feet tall Noble Firs at only 19.95! We hadn't bought our tree yet, and we always choose a Noble Fir, for sentimental reasons. We usually get an eight foot or nine foot tree, and they usually run well over 100 dollars. This seemed like a real bargain. The tree on display looked great, it was very well shaped.

There was only one problem, we didn't have the truck with us. I usually take the truck because our tall trees easily fit in the eight foot bed. Instead we were driving our Flex. We spoke with an associate and asked why the trees were selling for so little. He told us that Costco had bought a semi truck load of trees earlier in the month, (actually ten days ago) and the trees had initially cost 70.00. They were wrapped and tied in the truck, and the customer had to choose one without untying it. Buy it, and if after you got home you didn't like it, bring it back for a refund.

So, these trees had been sitting for quite a while, without any water. We figured that they might be pretty bad off, and might not last that long. But there wasn't that much time until Christmas, the price was so attractive, so why not take a chance? 

We went out back to the truck and found one tree that had been unwrapped and it looked pretty good. So we chose that one. 

But we didn't have the truck. My Wife said that she would wait with the tree if I wanted to run home and bring the truck back. I didn't want to do that, it was already late, and it would be at least an hour before I could get back.

"Let's just load it into the Flex!" I said. I knew that there was almost six feet behind the front seats.

I lowered the second row and moved the front seats up 4 or 5 inches. We put the tree in base first, and pushed it up between the front seats. It almost fit completely inside, and we only had to bend the tip to the side to close the hatch.

I had about a foot between the base and my head.

Once we arrived home I wrapped the tree in an old blanket so that when we pulled it out, the branches wouldn't get snagged. Worked like a charm. I laid the tree on the front entry. I got my chain saw pruner and made a fresh cut on the bottom. I also trimmed a few of the bottom branches until it fit in the plastic base that I'd bought last year. 

The stand worked perfectly, the tree was completely upright without the drama of leaning to one side that we often face every year. I put it inside and it looked great. The tree has drunk a quart of water every day for the last three days, and it looks like it will last out the season. 

This tree is the best Christmas bargain that we've ever bought.

I have been quite busy, but I managed to spend a little time working on my cars. However, there were some home projects that I felt needed to be done first.

The Holidays are not really a good time to engage in home improvement projects,

In California, we are still experiencing another year of severe drought, but after a spell of rain, including an "Atmospheric River," what we used to refer to as a bad storm back in the Day, the Bay Area has been doused with a lot of rain in a short period. 

I took this as an omen that I should try to reseed my front lawn. I had added a rudimentary automatic watering system to the front yard and it contributed to my patchy lawn surviving another Summer. There are different ways of doing this, but I went old school, scratching up the bare patches with a small hoe and rake. Then I sprinkled the grass seed by hand and spread the fertilizing compost over the planted areas and stamped them flat by walking over them repeatedly. Oh, my aching back.

I've been careful to keep the areas well watered, by hand of course, in the hope that the rain would return and finish the job for me. Wouldn't you know it, there hasn't been any rain for a whole month! But a lot of the seeded areas have started to sprout new growth, so I think that my efforts will be rewarded.

After the New Year, I will also reseed my front side yard and some of the areas that I didn't do the first time around on the front lawn. 

Of course lawn maintenance and repairs should be a constant process and if the lawn was reseeded as necessary every year, if would not only look better, but the work involved would be spread over the years instead of trying to make it up all at once. I had decided to abandon the whole idea of a lawn, and replace it with flowering shrubs, ground cover, and flagstone pavers, but Nature intervened and I decided to try to save and improve the old lawn. At least for the next year or so.

Time spent in the yard, means less time spent messing with the cars.

I've added a motorcycle to the stable, and it is currently parked in the garage. Now I'm limited to having only one car inside. I had been keeping the bike in the side yard under a cover during the Summer and Fall, but with the approach of the rainy season, I felt that it should go in the garage. The Sportster relegated my Mustang to a driveway spot. 

I decided that I would put up a shed to hold the bike in the side yard, then I could keep my Mustang in the garage where it belongs. 

I went to Tuff Shed and they gave me a quote for a shed that might work. I needed a shed that was around ten feet long by six feet wide They didn't have one of that size. They are kind of expensive, I've already got two professionally built wood sheds in the back yard, and thought that I might like to find something a bit less expensive. I looked online and found one that was advertised as a motorcycle shed, the picture showed a bike inside. Measurements are 5.5 x 10 ft. It even has a metal channel for the wheels that runs the length of the shed in the middle of the floor.  It's a build it yourself metal building.

This is an awful picture, but it shows the center channel and wide opening doors.
There's even a window in one wall.

Before I put up the shed, I needed to do some repair work on the outside of the garage. I had to patch a leaky gutter and downspout, and I will have to paint the side of the garage before I put the shed in. Since I wont be able to do that once it's in place. After 37 years, it is time to paint the entire house again. I don't mind, I actually enjoy painting, using a brush and roller. I'm doing it in sections, and the project will stretch out through the next year well into the Spring. I'm in no hurry. As I told my Wife; since I retired, she'd never get another full eight hour shift out of me!

I also need to replace part of the side fence and redo the gate and front fence. 

More time away from the cars.

The Holidays are also a busy time for my Wife and her crafting business. She was selling at several venues this year, and this meant that she was busy making different holiday craft items. Quite a lot of them! I am the head of logistics and transportation, (in other words, I drive her wherever she wants/needs to go)  as well as the chief go-fer, so I've been busy driving her to these events and helping her set up as needed. She also wanted to attend several holiday craft events spread out over Northern California. So a lot of travel is involved. It keeps me busy, but I'm happy to support her in her interests and goals. Besides I like to drive, so it's no sacrifice on my part.

But that of course means even more time away from the fleet.

But I have been spending some time with the cars.

One priority has been to put more miles on the Mustang, and I drove it to events in Petaluma, Carmichael, and other Bay Area locations.

It's important for me to drive it. The more I drive it, the better I get used to the jumpy throttle response, and the less I pick it to death. It's not a perfect car, it wasn't perfect when I bought it, but it's a good running machine. It is a bit noisy and hard riding, but it is a Mustang, after all. It's also a great looking car, especially after the little touches I've added to the rear view. 

I've got a couple more things that I might decide to add.

A couple of items to give it a little more Mach One flavor. A honeycomb deck lid panel and black tail lamp trim. The trim gives the appearance of three separate lens, instead of one big red one. I think that these additions make the rear end look more distinctive. I had these items sitting around for almost six months before I got around to installing them this Summer.

I took the Plymouth to a Cars and Coffee in November. I brought along some old car magazines with the intention of giving them away to young attendees. That's my plan to get rid of my big stash of old magazines. Hopefully to inspire some young people and get them interested in the hobby. 

Maybe it was a very old piece of felt meant to quiet the motor's operation?
More on the wipers to come.

I pulled the windshield wiper motor out of the Plymouth. The top was covered by what I thought was a felt pad, it was really just a thick layer of forty year old dust! The motor was very stiff. I disassembled it and found that it was completely dry inside. I sent away for some new gaskets and will rebuild the motor and hopefully will be able to get it to work again. I am familiar with vacuum wipers as I had them on my daily driver '57 Cadillac back in the '70's. They never work that well even when they are in good shape, as they slow to a stop on acceleration when vacuum in the manifold drops.

The brightness is not overwhelming.

I've wondered how well the six volt headlamps would work on the Plymouth. Last night I took it out in the dark for the first time. It was better than I'd thought. On the larger streets with lots of street lighting it was fine. Around the neighborhood they seemed adequate at 30 mph. and the high beams did a pretty good job. I can't say that I'd set off for Paso Robles on US101 at midnight, but around town they should suffice. I plan to run a new circuit with relays to power the head lamps, which will deliver the maximum juice and maybe add a few extra lumens over what they now put out. Then they will be as good as they can get.

I think it's taller than eight feet.

There is more to life than cars, and around this time of year, it's important to give the Holidays their due. 

As the year draws to an end, I'd like to thank everyone that takes the time to visit my website. It may not be real exciting, but I hope that it's interesting enough to keep you coming back. I am trying to live the car guy dream in my own way, at my own level. Accentuate the positive as the old song says. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all. I'll be back at it with some new projects in the coming year.