Hello? Mapdrummer? What has been happening with the Lombardo? Have you gone into Texas summer hibernation? I am still interested in your progress on this very unique vehicle.

 

Hey gang, sorry to drop off radar. It's been super busy for me as I have had family matters pulling me away. I have also temporarily held off on the car project as I was building a new shop at my place so I have more room. Yesterday I was able to move the Lombardo to her new home and I have lots to do to complete the new shop but for the most part its up and functional. Side note...Building a shop in Texas, in summer, with no AC (yet), well it is what it is.

 

You've gotta dump your pics into an album, and not thumbnail size. Please and thanks.

 

I did just figure out how to do that, pretty easy to do. Will do more when I get a chance to go back through them.

 

Great hearing from you. Now we are all jealous of you with that shop. Very nice. What size is it?

 

I went with 30x35 with 14' sidewalls/17' at the peak. I will be putting in lofts/cat walks at 7' around the inside walls for storage and extra work stations, not to mention, finishing out one corner for the man cave...the wife will never see me at home again. I also had reinforced concrete poured where the car sits in the event I ever wanted to add a lift. My goal is to get everything in, lofts, electrical, plumbing, man cave, benches and HEATERS by the fall. I can handle the heat, no worries, but I do not like the cold. Should be able to get that done and then I can get back to the car, you know the important stuff!

 

Yes to a lift. If nothing else, you can charge your friends a small fee to come over and use it to do their own brakes / etc. Crawling around on the ground sucks.

 

Doing ANYTHING in Texas in summer without A/C is impressive! Very nice shop and plans, might be nice to close off and air condition part of it for bench work and assembly. Get one of those Big *** fans for the high ceiling... I have a three car garage with low ceiling and a 15,000 btu window A/C unit handles it nicely.

 

I would love to put a lift in, problem is I have already had too many budget over-runs, but were necessary and would have been costly to to do after the fact. We all know how that story goes. I really have to hold myself back and use some constraints because Lord knows I could get crazy with it. I have a family member that works commercial A/C and we have come up with a couple of good ideas to heat and cool the shop and I will probably do something at some point in the future. But honestly, I have a couple of big floor fans running in there now and I have so many trees on the property and around the shop that it doesn't get unbearable.

 

Wow, you have lots of room left over for more cars.... For heat and cooling, look into used mobile home self contained all in one units.

 

Have been considering one of those new Daiken units. Pretty affordable considering and their compact. I may have room for one more car. I would love to have this one as a cruiser and build another hot rod for giggles. I also have to leave room for the studio. I still play in a band, although not nearly as active as I once was, so using this space to also have a practice pad and occasional parties when we are not in the bars. I anticipate that getting a little more active now that the kids are grown and somewhat moving on...not "empty nesters" quiet yet.

 

 

[QUOTE=Mapdrummer;1052064]I’ll start off by saying I am a newbie to the whole forum platform too, but wanted to join here to see if there are any tips and tricks I can learn as my story takes me to uncharted territory. Story: I’ve recently inherited my Great Grandpapy’s last ride. It’s a 1959 Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday Hardtop Coup and has 12,685 original miles and last evidence of being driven is the license plate that is stickered 1974. The interior is in mint condition as you would expect to see any car with such limited mileage, the exterior is in great shape, no dents, body lines are all straight with surface rust in some minor areas and on the under carriage and in the engine bay. The car has been stored in an enclosed garage for the past 43 years. My question: What is the best course to take…keep it as original as possible…modify and upgrade suspension and break assemblies, keep original wheels or slap some Cragers on there, get it running with what is there or swap our the engine and tranny and rock an LS fuel injected and new tranny?



Great car, Do some home work on oil a lot has changed since your car was built. I like to use a small bottle of STP oil aditive for the zinc. Older engines love zinc. Just take your time forcast what you want to do and there is a lot of help here for you

 

My days of crawling under a car and doing bench presses with tranny's are over. When I had my house and shop built I had the shop pre-wired 220 power for a lift, welder and compressor. Plus they put a beam when they poured the floor approx. where the lift would be bolted down. Have running water, sink. I could kick my self for not insulating and putting in A/C. Yes here in Texas in July and August it gets a bit to hot for me these days. As for the lift, yes it's made in China but I figured it work for me since I don't it all the time.It's 4 years old now and know issues at all.

 

just saw this thread. what a beast. you need that F450 to tow that thing. lol I love the pictures of the interior with the interior lights on in the dark. great job on it.