With apologies and a tip of the hat to the Car Talk guys Tommy and Ray, I've swiped the name of their radio show for this topic. I figured that with me getting gushy over my van, I'd better make a place for it all lest I take over half of the site!!     And anyone else that wants to talk/complain/gush about their ride or cars/trucks/vans/SUVs/landspeeders in general should feel free to put it here. I'll be posting one or more new pix of the Phoenix shortly and in honor of the Car Talk guys, here is the link to their official Car Talk site.  If you have never listened to these guys, they are hilarious. They know their stuff too.

http://www.cartalk.com/

I've been working on the hood bird. The head is perfect. The body nearly so. The tail needs more work as I haven't decided if the bird will rise from a bed of flames or not. And the wings aren't even started and they will be the foul word of your choice!! I'm making a full sized prototype from paper to see how it will fit on the hood and give me a rough idea how it will look. I'll do it up smaller for color tests. At the moment a black and silver color scheme is in the lead since the van is red. And then I'll do the whole thing again on grid paper so it can be reproduced either by a talented soul with an airbrush or to make a decal.
I pick easy projects, don't I? 

And yes, I'm still working on the Castle model...

This is post #11,100 for the site!

My hood bird's tail is pretty much set unless I get divinely inspired. Now I'm making "wing decisions".  Should I go with the uber-cool "curved over the head" look or the "widespread, ready to swoop" look? Or something in between the two?
As Winnie the Pooh would say: Think. Think. Think!

And this would be a lot easier if I had a nice 3 x 4 foot drafting table handy.....

GODS HAVE MERCY!! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOSE???

http://www.evolvefish.com/fish/emblems.html


I gotta get the "vampire" I know! And I can think of someone else who would like it too! hehehehehe

I'm making some headway with the hood bird. I may let MoonCat handle the detail work on the design since she is much better at it than I am. I'm still working on getting the proportions right and the general design. Deciding on what colors to use and where they go will be a tough one.
Decisions. Decisions. 

I can't wait to see what you come up with!


Black Rose

I got these for the Phoenix today. Since we all have the "S" initial in common, it is a natural. Now if they would just license Wonder Woman and Batman logos I'd be all set on the DC Comics side. All I'd want from Marvel would be a "Phoenix" (of course!) logo. No sign of any of those yet but all things are possible.... 

http://www.chroma-graphics.com/asp/view.asp?link=280

I'm also redesigning the driveway. Now that we have two vehicles, we need to be able to get either of them out without having to move the other one which is the case now. The driveway needs to be restoned anyway so it will just be a matter of deciding what we want to do and preparing the bed for the gravel. I personally want to put part of it in as a slab of concrete blocks with an eye to building a carport of some sort in a year or two.

Well, we got the estimate. Most of the work that needs to be done involves the brakes which need a LOT of work, the original spark plugs and wires are still there and will be replaced, various other odds and ends -- I'll have the complete list when we pick up the receipt -- and the usual replacement of all filters. The body is in excellent shape so we don't have that to worry about. Parts and labor is going to come to $1,370, maybe a bit more if they end up having to replace one thing that they think now that they can repack and tighten. Since we had budgeted $2,000 for this first visit to the "auto-doc" we are quite pleased.

And we saw the silliest thing today. A bright yellow stretch limo with a giant chicken on top....

Goodie! I got the Chilton repair manual for the van that I ordered. Once the shop is done with the "make over" we will be able to do the "routine" stuff. hehehehehehe

Meanwhile, back to the bird!

I've been working on the hood bird this evening....

By George, I think I've finally got it.

Okay, the auto shop guys labor on the Phoenix even as we speak and it will be ready by late afternoon. Skywise will be at work by then so we will pick it up tomorrow. We will also hit the license branch as well so tomorrow's going to be busy. Skywise has Tuesday and Wednesday off this week so he will be getting some comp time too, so don't worry if I'm not on as much the next couple of days!   

I might just leave it alone then!  They're still working on the van. There is a leak in the manifold and they were putting in a new gasket when I called. They are still waiting on the window motors and some mirrors. They are going to try to have it done by mid-morning, early afternoon tomorrow provided the parts get there on schedule.