Blackstains' Blog

today's projects

Mon, 09 Mar 2020 20:06:53 +0000

Tried to fix the headliner from the 74 again , turned out good but how will it hold up?

13 years later...

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 18:46:13 +0000

It appears that it's been five years since my last entry and I never made it to Okteenerfest, but after all these years I now know exactly what engine resides inside my six. Serial number indicates it's out of a 1977 US spec 911S coupe with a 5 speed. Now sporting Mahle Euro RS pistons (8.5/1), Crankfire ignition, Carrera chain tensioners, headers and her original Webber carbs, she dynos 195bhp@5800rpm. No idea what cams she has but I think I can squeeze another 5bhp out by changing the plugs

Getting Mnatasha ready for Octeenerfest

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:05:40 +0000

Time to start looking for problems now so I can attend Octeenerfest this year in my six. Got an oil leak from the tank so I have to pull that & see what's up. Also going to clean & lube all 4 of my calipers- they seem to be binding up a bit so that's going to require my attention as well. The car is a blast to drive & a very different experience from my LE- squeaks & rattles a lot more than Knikki, but is quite a bit faster & handles slightly heavier than Knikki.

My silly names for cars

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 14:13:46 +0000

I'm sure people have noticed I'm a little different when it comes to coming up with names for cars so I'm going to do my best to explain things.
I was born & raised in the 60's, so I grew up in an era where guys named their cars/ships/planes/etc... after girls. Fast forward to my 1st daily driver, a 1975 Scirocco that I named Natalie. Nothing really different about that & I wanted something different. One day in English class after the prof. started talking about letters you put in front of the letter N & remain silent, as in knife. Light bulb went off in my head- Natalie, gnat, so why not Gnataly? That is how it started & since there are so many girls names that start with N & there are @ least 4 letters you can put in front of the letter N, (in the English language) my course/path was set. So here they are, my collection of cars named after girls with the letter N:

Gnataly, my 75 Scirocco
Pnaomi, my 83 GMC S15 pickup
Mnatasha, my 70 6
Knikki, my 74 LE

Ying & yang

Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:57:36 +0000

Okteenerfest Fever

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 19:14:11 +0000

After attending Okteenerfest I came back home a little fired up about 914s. I'm hoping to attend next near, however this time in a car I'm not afraid to drive. There's nothing wrong w/ Knikki, aside from a dirty AAR & new tubing needed for my windshield washers, & that's exactly it; there is nothing wrong with Knikki & I want to keep her that way, hence she will continue to be a garage queen.

Anyway, I bought Mnatasha so I could drive & enjoy her, however that's no reason she has to look ugly or plain. I'm amazed how much nicer she is now compared to 7 years ago & I still have not restored her.

Damned stickers

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 02:12:51 +0000

After wasting a lot of time & money buying worthless stickers from evilbay & AA, I got a set of good ones from Jeff Bowlsby. They worked out pretty nicely. Experimented w/ one of the bad ones on my six to get a feel for the proceedure & then used the good set on my LE.

Damned LE stickers/stripes

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 19:12:51 +0000

Been a long time since I wrote in here & doubt if anyone is paying attention to this woefully neglected blog but I'll give it a shot now.

It's been 11 yrs since I got Knikki back on the road after her repaint down @Auto Atlanta. I was never happy with the job they did on the LE side stickers- really a half ass job. The original stickers went all the way into the wheel wells & the silhouette letters were evenly spaced. As you can see from the 1st picture, whoever applied the side stripes down @ AA had no clue what he was doing-

The vertical line on the E is way too fat & the stripes don't wrap all the way into the wells. I was smart enough to take pictures of the car before I had it repainted & you can see how the stripes are supposed to look in the 2nd picture-

So I peeled both sides off & purchased 2 complete sets of orange side stripes, watched a few how too videos on Youtube & bought this application kit (fluid & squeege) from Griots' garage, (3rd picture)

Now I'm just waiting for this blasted winter to end so I can roll Knikki out & spend an afternoon applying the stripes as they should be. Once done if all goes well I will be honestly able to say that I own one of the finest creamsicles on the planet

Mt. Jackson Car Show

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:58:45 +0000

I entered Knikki in the Mt Jackson Apple/Grape harvest festival & car show on Sunday & didn't even place. Serves me right- a firm believer in Brandism. I should have known better than to put a pretty little import into a redneck car show. I thought for sure I'd @ least place in the top 20 but Knikki is not a 69 Camaro or 70 Chevelle w/ a 454 big block under her hood (lol). Still, it was fun & all the wives loved her. Maybe that was it?

Hondas

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:55:32 +0000

Well the ECC went down & it was a good turnout. I spent most of my time conducting individual tours of my garage, mostly explaining Knikkis' history & why she looks so nice. This was not my plan, but it just happened that way. I didn't take a single pic...

Since then I've been working on my Hondas. The Civic got an oil/filter change, new spark plugs & I installed a Spoon VC-3E VTEC contoller for more power. After procrastinating for over 2 yrs, I've almost finished fixing up the VFR750F. New main wiring harness, cowl support frame, stainless steel brake & clutch lines, DOT4, coolant, oil & filter, spark plugs, instrument cluster glass & facia. I also painted the frame black & the front calipers red. I'm waiting on a missing caliper/pad clip & I'll be done w/ the bike.