Converting my Convertible to Driveable

A few of you might have heard that my Del Sol convertible was taken out by a drunk driver a few weeks ago. Although shaken, I wasn't hurt. Sadly, my car looks disturbing now. The driver's side is smashed in spectacularly. Congratulations to Honda's safe design, I hopped out of the driver's seat without a scratch.
This weekend was filled with wonderful Del Sol news. I settled up monetarily with the other driver this weekend. I took a road trip down to Austin to pick up a door, side skirt and quarter panel from a junked white Del Sol. That little car took a hit to the passenger side, and mine took a hit to the driver's side, so out of two half-damaged Del Sols I'm going to try to assemble a single decent one.
It's time for "A Makeover Story", Mary style. I never planned for this makeover, but now it's rolling along. Unfortunately, the salvage yard employee who got the order for my quarter panel got a little mixed up. He cut off a quarter of the car. Part of the floorboard, severed brake lines, and an assortment of other bits of a quarter of a Del Sol are now lodged in my van. They're awaiting transport to a skilled welder who will separate just the quarter panel from the one fourth of a Del Sol and weld it onto my little car.
This might be the best automotive makeover on which I've ever embarked. Best wishes to the little Del Sol. I just hope I can convert this convertible to a usable vehicle again.

Flaming Van Results

90.9% of respondents agreed that the van should have flames!

Of course, since I spent September out of town, I missed the end of this year's painting season. Next spring, April or May, I'll stage another episode of "A Makeover Story".

Here are the results for color choice of the flames:
Neon Green 9.1%
Purple 9.1%
Red and Yellow 45.5%
Silver 27.3%

Red and yellow was an overwhelmingly popular choice.

I'm also considering flames for my new Del Sol convertible. The Del Sol is white, so I thought this would be the perfect base for red and yellow flames. But perhaps I'll give the van red and yelllow flames, and the Del Sol a bit different look. The Del Sol might get flames made out of a custom vinyl cling material. I'm hoping to find a black sparkle material. What do you think of that? Let me know! Post a comment.

The Three "R"s

Okay, Halloween is my favorite holiday. But this week I discovered a new celebration that's probably my third favorite (first being Halloween, second being the Dakota County Fair.) This week, October 14-21, is Choose to Reuse week! Those hip county employees at Hennepin County came up with a new way to celebrate one of the three "R"s, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This is a whole week celebrating reusing stuff, like console TVs you find beside the road and laptops your friends are giving away.
Best of all, Hennepin County is giving away a coupon book you can use at stores that sell previously owned items, like CD Warehouse, Plato's Closet, and the good old Goodwill. I love Plato's Closet - they only sell cool stuff. It's like shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Gap, Express and Aeropostale all at one time, but the prices are far less than WalMart. I picked up a snazzy new hoodie from Wet Seal there last night. They carry both guys and girls clothing. Shopping there is a great way to reuse and look good doing it!

Conclusion to "A Makeover Story" for the Van

I spent Sunday masking off the van. I listened to MPR the entire day on the garage radio, lest my neighbors discover my secret status as a metal head. I masked and painted the front end first, figuring I probably wouldn't get to the rest of the van at all. But I quickly finished the front end, and went inside to eat some brown rice and veggies as a snack.
The rest of the van had a few rusty bits, nothing like the roof, but still areas that required sanding. Once I got these sanded off, I masked, primed and painted the passenger side of the van. I carefully masked to preserve a single silver stripe. I hope this looks snazzy.
I was in the middle of painting the second door on the passenger side, when MPR began a section on the Food Network. Sounds innocent enough, huh? The guest speaker immediately started talking about how the Food Network is similar to porn movies. My elderly next door neighbors were outside, smoking and watching me paint the van. When the MPR guest described making a flaming dessert as difficult as performing a specific sex act, I had to run for the radio with my painting mask still on. I fumbled furiously with the dial until I came across Jimmy Buffet's "Wasting Away in Margaritaville". Wow, I was close to looking for my lost shaker of salt, if you know what I mean.
But the passenger side of the van came together quite nicely. I even had time to paint the hubcaps and the spare tire cover a shiny silver. The van looks gorgeous. I hope the high pressure system lasts so I can finish up the passenger side this week. On Saturday I have to go to a boring hair and make-up trial for the wedding. That's the Saturday for the demo derby at Dakota County Fair, so I'm going to show up at the fair with pretty fancy make-up and hair. I wonder if wearing my yellow Dakota County fair shirt will ruin the effect. Here I am, busy restoring an old vehicle, while all over Dakota County, folks are getting ready to destroy their vehicles. There is nothing better than the demo derby, except maybe spending a beautiful sunny weekend performing a vehicle makeover.

Another Episode of "A Makeover Story"

The van's roof was looking quite orange and rusty. There was virtually no paint left on it. This weekend I decided to take things into my own hands. I bought a myself a little treat, a brand new orbital sander from Menard's. I went to town on the van's roof, sanding, then painting with a special anti-rust compound.
Several of my neighbors noticed the van gone early Friday evening, because I took a huge load of stuff up to Goodwill and then stopped by Menard's. When the neighbors saw me outside with the sander, they came over. One of my neighbors said, "We saw the van gone and we thought you went camping. We figured you went up to Weefest." Weefest is a popular country music festival. Obviously, I haven't been cranking up the tunes too loud. My neighbors don't even suspect I'm a metal head. Last night I watched Headbanger's Ball at a slightly louder volume than normal, since I'm betting they probably can't hear it.

Here is my finished picture of the painted van roof:


I finished up with the van roof early Saturday evening. The result was so nice, that I decided to paint the whole van. Many of you may know I'm getting married in September. I decided not to rent a limo. That wouldn't make any sense considering I have a seven-passenger vehicle with TV, VCR, and mood lighting sitting in the driveway. The only thing is that the van has a kind of casual look. With its multi-hued blue, gold and silver stripes, the van looks like somebody dressed in a flannel shirt, getting ready to go fishing or camping. This isn't quite the right look for a wedding. So I set about trying to dress the van in a tuxedo. Notice the "before" picture of the van next to my nifty ladder. I have a long way to go.

A New Addition to the Family!

I'm proud to announce there has been a new addition to the Farmington branch of the Lebens family.

Our New Arrival: Honda Del Sol
Born: 1993
Weight: 2,301 lbs.
Length: 157"
Arrived: June 10, 2006

A few of you might remember that I made a mysterious post about a new makeover story back in June. When I brought this little guy home, he had a few issues with his appearance. I knew the Del Sol would really appreciate a makeover. But this makeover involves more than just a facial. This makeover involves glass replacement, rust removal, painting and gluing a jigsaw of broken plastic pieces together. At this point, the makeover is only partially finished. I'm still searching for a few replacement parts. Very soon though, it'll be time for another edition of A Makeover Story, Mary-style.

Get Ready for the Suspense

I apologize for taking so long to post. The last week and a half was taken up by a new project, plus I hosted a huge Flag Day bash. But, I'll let you in on a little secret.
Since reality TV is still so popular, I've decided to pull another reality blog stunt. It's time for another Makeover Story on the blog. Many of you may remember back when I gave my '88 Dodge Grand Caravan a makeover. Maybe you remember when I gave the console TV I found alongside the road a makeover. The results were dramatic, yielding the prettiest van and the hippest console TV in Farmington.
The next makeover story is beginning in a few weeks or so. My next-door neighbor is already in on it, but I trust him not to spill the beans. I hope the suspense doesn't kill you.

How to Restore a 1983 Sears Model TV

I spent a Friday night this May picking up curbside treasures and unloading the van. After an early dinner with friends that Saturday, I spent the evening cleaning my new Sears TV. Okay, so while all the cool people were out partying and avoiding getting shot while bar-hopping in Downtown Minneapolis, I was busy collecting and cleaning my junk treasures.

Here's how I restored the TV:

• First I wiped it with a 3M static-attracting dust cloth to pick up any loose dust.
  
• Then I scrubbed it with a toothbrush soaked in "Awesome Orange" degreaser.
  
• I sterilized it by wiping it down with an anti-bacterial cleaner.
  
• The final step was conditioning the plastic case by rubbing it with a soft cloth sprayed with "TurtleWax 2000" plastic and vinyl protector.

All of this work payed off. My old TV looks like new, and it has a fresh, citrus scent. I proudly set it on the kitchen counter, nestled next to my toaster oven. On Sunday, Joey walked into the house and he said it looks like Grandma's house, between the Sears black and white model and the console TV. I couldn't imagine a better compliment.

A Makeover Story Success!

You may remember I posted here about the makeover of my console TV. The long awaited moment is here. I finished re-painting and re-conditioning this wonderful piece of electronic furniture. I've never been happier with any TV. This is the first time in a few years I've had a TV with good reception, so I'm re-acquainting myself with network programming. There are so many murder mystery programs on TV right now. My grandma is a big fan of CSI, so right away I had to watch a few episodes. It's pretty cool and gory! In general, I'm not a very big TV watcher, but now I turn on the console while I'm cooking dinner or cleaning. I hate sitcoms, so if I turn it on and there is a wacky family arguing, I change the channel to PBS. There are no sitcoms there.

A Tome on Selecting a Proper VCR for Your Console TV

The Finished Result - A Makeover Story Success!

My nice living room, featuring the latest in console television technology:

It's All Good at Aldi

I'm sure you are desperately waiting for Part II of The Makeover Story, but in the meantime I had to rave for a bit on another topic. On August 4, 2005, the act of grocery shopping for the Lebens Household changed forever. Just up the road in downtown Rosemount, an Aldi store opened. I'd heard Aldi described as "kind of ghetto" by a pal who shopped the Inver Grove Heights store shortly after it opened. And it really is! You have to rent the cart for $0.25 and bring your own paper bags. It's my kind of store. Everything in the entire store is generic. Aldi even has generic Nutella (a European hazelnut spread I like to eat on toast.)
I stocked up on generic garbanzo beans and brown rice. They have red and yellow bell peppers 4 for $1.49! I've been on a red pepper frenzy for the last two months. Usually they're so expensive, I stretch them out with the green peppers. Now I just grab one and chop it for a snack. I've been including them in pizza, curry, tacos, pretty much everything. The other night I had soy nuggets with red peppers on the side.
I'm so happy. Not since the demise of Buy'n'Save have I enjoyed such reduced grocery bills. Aldi carries Whippy's favorite variety of squash, so I've been saving quite a bit on the cost of iguana chow alone. I'm channeling my grocery savings towards furnishing my new house entirely from IKEA. I finally obtained a "Klippan" black leather couch on clearance that I've been hoping to buy for two years. Now I don't have to sit on the floor while watching movies in the family room. I have Aldi to thank, in part, for my new couch. Tonight I'm going to sit on the new couch while munching a generic vegetable frozen pizza from Aldi and enjoying a Metallica DVD. It's all good at Aldi!

My New IKEA Klippan!

A Makeover Story

After I moved to my new house, I realized I needed a new TV for the living room. (I banished the 10-year old Wal-Mart special to the family room in the basement.) I looked at a few TVs at Target, but the prices were pretty high, considering I also needed to buy a new TV stand.
Then my prayers were answered. A few weeks ago I discovered a console TV along the roadside with a free sign taped to it. It's a TV that's also a piece of furniture! I don't have to buy a new TV or a stand. Now I can use the money for an IKEA shopping spree instead. (I love their shrimp and egg salad sandwich! Yum!)
After hauling the new TV out of the van, I realized that it really didn't match my black pleather couch. Luckily, I had a few cans of spray paint left over from when I painted my flaming Festiva a few years ago. I decided it was time for a console TV makeover. So in this edition of a makeover story, we'll be seeing the "Before" pictures of the TV, and a some shots from the in-progress makeover.

Before the Makeover:



After removing the free sign and using Goo-Gone to scrape off the tape mark on the screen, I carefully unscrewed the brass handles on the front of the console. Unfortunately they were covered with a greenish corrosion, so I spray-painted them with a hammered metallic pewter finish, left over from painting the Festiva's hubcaps.

The Makeover In Progress:
Notice how I carefully masked off the screen. Please check back soon to see the "After" photos! The makeover story continues . . .

The Start of a New Trend!

Wow! Check out this cool article on mini-van makeovers in today's Star Tribune. I didn’t realize I was on the bleeding edge of a new trend. One couple in the story added huge flames and dragon seat covers to their mini-van. A mini-van after my own heart!



The recent van makeover is my fourth vehicle makeover. I know a couple of loyal blog readers were disappointed it was so conservative. The other vehicle makeovers have been much more dramatic, such as the Flaming Festiva. (I painted my 1990 Festiva L Plus black, with a shiny clearcoat, and added new silver wheel covers. Then I applied a red and yellow flame graphics package similar to the one in the article to my Festiva.)

It looked incredible when it was done. People in much faster vehicles would wave and give me a thumbs-up as they passed me by. Boy, did I love the Festy. After acquiring a ’91 Festiva GL, I donated the Flaming Festiva to the Minnesota Valley Humane Society. It was too small for transporting animals to the vet, so they sold it and earned some money to feed the hungry pets staying there.

Does anyone out there have a makeover story of their own? If you do, please post a comment here. I’d love to hear your makeover story.

The Dramatic Before and After Photos

A Makeover success Story! Check out the van's fresh new look for fall.

Before: Getting Ready for a New Look

The stop rust primer is applied.






Yikes! Look at the rust on this wheel well.

After: The Prettiest Van in Farmington

Looking good!



I painted the hubcaps a shiny silver.

A Makeover Story Success!

I've finished painting the van and she looks beautiful. I even painted the hubcaps, so they are shining silver. With her fresh new look, she's all ready for her big trip to downtown Chicago. Look for the before and after shots coming up here soon. I haven't been able to post them yet this week due to illness, extra work hours and travel preparations. I can't wait to show you the results of the van's makeover story.

A Makeover Story Halted by Illness

After trying five auto parts stores, I finally found a close match on the paint for the van. Unfortunately, I've been struck down by a head cold, so I haven't been able to complete the painting yet. I can't wait to finish the van's makeover. I'm sure the "Before" and "After" photos will be dramatic and her fresh new look will be stunning. Perhaps I'll also add some scrollwork on the rear gate, just to dress it up a bit. I added scrollwork to my Dodge Omni after I repainted it, and the effect was amazing.

A Makeover Story

Right now The Learning Channel is proliferated by shows with the word "Story" in the title, such as "A Wedding Story", "A Dating Story", etc. I avoid these shows because none of these life events are particularly interesting unless you know the participants personally. Who would want to sit through a wedding where you don't know any of the players involved in the production?

Anyway, although I'm not a huge fan of this crop of "A ____ Story" shows, this week I came up with my own really cool idea for an episode of "A Makeover Story." What if, instead of putting mascara on a middle-aged lady, the hosts put paint on a middle-aged van?

Although she is aging gracefully, (most people never guess she's an '88), my Caravan needs a fresh look for fall. I decided to host my own version of "A Makeover Story" in my garage this week. I spent Monday night sanding rust off the sides of the van and Tuesday night priming with Rust-Out. I was cranking the 93x in the garage. Metallica makes a much better soundtrack for my version of "A Makeover Story" than the stock public domain music they usually play in the background as the lady is excitedly having her hair wrapped in foil pieces.

Last night I raced over to Checker for paint, but they were out of the metallic maroon. Tonight I'll be calling around, looking for the paint. Keep watching my blog for the dramatic "Before and After" pictures, to be posted soon. The van will look so pretty when I'm done! (And she'll feel so much more confident on those icy Minnesota roads.)