The Saga of the Lapuwali Raffle Tranny, In memory of James Options

[Dr Evil]

I am so very happy to be finished with this tranny rebuild. It has taken FAR longer than anticipated due to some set backs that were out of my control. The cool thing is that the winner, Charles (914Nerd), has been increadibly understanding, grateful and poistive about receiving this tranny. In many ways Charles is an example to all of 914dom in that he is patient, unassuming and just an all around great guy. Kinda reminds me of James in a way. We all seem to have a little bit of James in us.

I took more time than normal with this tranny and added some extra goodies (male drain plugs and a set of bolts). I used the time spent rebuilding it as meditation and a way to give my own version of thanks to our missed member, James Montebello. I am so lucky to have had the ability to do something like this and the support to do such. It has helped my grieving process.

Thanks to the community as a whole for their support of our friend's family, for buying tickets, donating a tranny, and being patient. I hardly get any time to work on my car now a days, but I still come to hang out with my friends. The events of recent have punctuated that indeed it is the community, comraderie, and fellowship more than the cars that keep us together. The 914 does not miss James, we "the community" do.

Here are some pics of the tranny before I shrink wrapped it and shipped it off via Grey Hound to Santa Fe (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

In loving memory of James Montebello