justbrewing

Spending a few hours stripping off the paint proved to be a challenging exercise. Went through two gallons of inexpensive stripper, both purchased for $20, one from Walmart and one from Autozone. Will need to find a better quality stripper for the final round.

After the second over all application, it became apparent that the work is pure elbow grease and will just require more time. For the next round I decided to pull a Tom Sawyer and invite some friends to help by luring them with steaks and home brew.

Progress

The car looks pretty good but up close needs some pretty serious work. The engine and transmission were both in dire need of a full rebuild. The interior needed new seats and some other serious upholstery attention and the body had filler in a number of spots and the color is not original. Been painted over at least once. These problems call for a bare metal restore if this is ever to be a regular weekend driver.

Next post will begin the paint removal and will dig up the engine rebuild pictures.

Here are the first few photos of the rebuild. This was a purchase from a couple years ago that I never started on so here we go. I set a target to be street ready by 7/2/2012. I will dig out some old pictures as well but will start with where I am today. Removed lights and some chrome and will be covering windows and pulling anything else that will come off prior to striping paint to bare metal to address any old body damage.

Still undecided as to what color to go with but will likely stay with cream color or get as close as I can to the original. Will get some engine pictures up in the next couple days.

I under estimated our group they were resilient in the rain and moved pretty good even after a few days in the clouds.

Goofing in the Inca tunnel

The whole crew, clearly we were not roughing it too much with support like these guys provided.

Finally made it to Machu Picchu, even covered in clouds this place is mystical.

I may get in another post in Peru but will have to see.

Not much is known about the great Inca civilization since there was not written history and the only documents that remain are from the Spanish during the conquest. I chose to hike the Inca trail for the challenge the history and the natural beauty of the Andes Mountains. Unfortunately as with most amazing places Peru is becoming more and more commercial each year. Now, after the trek, sitting in a small restaurant in Aguascalientes shows just how tourist oriented this part of Peru has become. Between the English signage and the constant barrage of offerings of everything from post cards and Internet to swedish massages I wish I would have stayed out on the trail just a couple more days. The town is very similar to Pokhara Nepal in that aspect. I will write a more complete post later but wanted to post some images from the first day of the trek even before making it back to a warm dry hotel.

My group, a couple of engineers from a small town outside Munich and a couple from Namibia. They all were great travel companions.

A couple horses just lazing around near the first archeological site admiring the view.

Our first site on the trail, Llactapata

I will never master the art of taking a picture with the timer.

Up again before dawn for transfer to the airport, driving the streets of Lima early was a treat but I am always struck by the walls, gates and, iron bars covering everything. Seeing the city briefly on the way to the way to the airport was not enough but this trip does not include time for Lima, unless I squeeze it in Jon Sunday between flights and based on my cuisine so far it may be worth the 45 min cab ride to Mira Flores for dinner before my red eye. This is likely the last post until Saturday night when I am back in a hotel since the Inca trail hike begins tomorrow.

Today was full as always small flight delay but allowed me to have some coffee in the airport since I rushed breakfast before leaving the hotel. Seems that everywhere but the states knows how to serve a decent cup of coffee in ceramic even with only a few minutes. The felt was on LAN airlines which I think will be my carrier of choice for future South America trips and since it is a One World airline may even squeeze some miles out of my bankrupt airline of choice.

Upon arrival in Cusco we visited the Cusco Cathedral where the first chapel was constructed in 1450. The Cathedral was more ornamental than many I have seen in Europe and the UK. The alter was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen so it is a shame I could not photograph it, but imagine a 40 foot tall ornate golden shrine with a magnificent Christ. This Christ was one raised and exalted for halting the earth quakes common to the region.

The next visit was to the santa dominigo museum build over the foundation of a Inca sun temple. Seeing the Inca foundations as sound as if they were constructed yesterday with the finest masonry ever was impressive. No mortar is used for Inca temple walls yet the huge stones fit together so well they have lasted for hundreds of years and a violent Spanish conquest and still I could not have slid a razor blade between the stones. In addition to the Inca architecture there was a number of catholic paintings from the Cusco school all of which were completed anonymously.

Next off to the Pisac market to get my tourist on, it is too bad I do not like to shop or this would have been great fun with the colorful textiles everywhere and many silver pieces all produced by local artists. Could not bring myself to shop for things I would have to carry on the hike so any gifts will have to be at the end.

Next stop was lunch at the ranch attached to the hotel, lunch was awesome and included a wonderful display of horsemanship including a young woman dancing in Spanish style with the lead horseman. We had to head out right after lunch for the first of the large Inca temples.

Walking up the steps of the temple made me realize what I may be in for on the trail with steep steps and wonderful views. I come to find later that I am hiking with two other couples which may be a bit slower than I am on the hike so perhaps this is not such a bad thing.

Post needs edits but no time off to the Inca trail. Best to all. Check out the Sol Y Luna awesome hotel. Note to self make sure you pack the socks you just bought, travel fail…

Excuse the last post am having some serious IPAD problems today which hopefully will be cured in order to complete posts with photos the rest of my journey. Today was great, arrived early this morning about 1am which made my 5am departure to Ica a challenge but was well worth it. Drive to Ica down the Pan American highway revealed the beauty of the Peruvian desert and coast line. A visit to the regional museo de Ica provided great color into the area prior to heading to a desert oasis where I road the sand dunes and did some sand boarding. The oasis and the dunes were magnificent. Stopped for lunch at a lovely hotel in Paracas in the most breath taking setting and delicious cuisine. After racing to the airport caught the flight to see the Nasca lines, to this day there is no certainty why they were created or how but after seeing the alien in the hillside I can understand where the wild theories come from. Long ride back to Lima with plenty of napping and feeling refreshed and ready for tomorrows trip to Cusco to aclimatitize for the hike, very excited despite the realization I am getting up at or before 5am est everyday for the duration of my time in Peru. Lovely place great first day and can not wait to see what tomorrow holds.

My itinerary was loosely confirmed four hours prior to departure. As is my normal flight behavior I arrived in time, sat down and immediately fell asleep. One hour in and wide awake and excited regardless of my lack of sleep the night before. Figured out that I can not manage much about the feel of my blog from iPad on the road so things will stay pretty simple limited to posts and pictures since I did not bring a laptop. Had a great day prior to departure with family and friends, now off for another adventure. Probably will not be lucky enough for my next flight to have wifi since I am switching to another carrier, LAN airlines. Going to try and figure out how to link my blog, twitter and linkedin so I can attempt to embrace more social media while on the road so if you all see some redundant posts I apologize.

From AA 2401 to LAX

Justin