* I predict that this will be one of the updates that I will get little input from......whenever I do something a little unorthodox, I always get that. This one should fall into that category.
So,.....Consider this for a moment.
You're building a car. The interior is completely custom. Unlike the car that you actually own, the one you're building in your head right now has absolutely no storage space.
No glove compartment.
No console cubby.
Not even a map pocket in the doors.
So where are you gonna put your registration, and proof of insurance? Where are you gonna put all of that loose change after a trip to the local McDonalds? A comb,pen, or pencil? A tire pressure gauge?
Your wallet if you don't want to sit on it for the next 300 miles? What are you gonna do with your damn Iphone for Christsakes?.....
What to do,........what to do?
*** Ok,...you can stop wondering. I've actually had that part planned for almost a year now.
What do the motorcycle guys do?.........
They have saddlebags.
Now, so do I.
When we went to Spain last year (When I still had money coming out of my butt) I was on a mission to find that solution. See,....... The average "Euroguy" is comfortable enough with his sexuality that the "man bag" is very commonly adopted and used over there. Since I was in fact "in Europe", I figured what better opportunity to find a pair of those man purses that I could use as a saddlebags for the monster.
It was no easy task,...I had to find the right one. Not too big, and not too small, it had to be made out of leather, and had to be dark brown. It took going into dozens of bag stores, in multiple cities before I found what I was looking for.
Good thing, because the wife was just about to brain me if I drug the search out one more day.:shutup:
I bought two of these. They weren't cheap. 60.00 ea. for what will amount to be a place to keep my registration.
I tried to be a euroguy while I was there. I really did. I actually walked around with all my valuables jammed into my little man purse.
I couldn't stop thinking how freakin' stupid it was to carry all of your junk in a foreign country, to include your money, identification, passport, and phone in one easy to grab little bag for some mugger to snatch off your shoulder?
Freakin' ludicrous.
That's why I had no problem cuttin' the strap off of those bags. The likelihood that they'd ever need to be removable so they could be carried similarly while I was at a cruise-in or show, was never gonna be even a consideration. ( I guess I' could alternately just tape a sign on my back that said KICK ME!)
That ain't gonna happen either.
So, another consideration also weighing in favor as to whether or not the bags needed to be permanently attached to the car.
And.................,
When things are permanently attached to this car,......... they become what?............
Didjya guess yet?
Gila bags. Of course.
But we'll hold on the completed G-bags for a minute, we have other things to talk about.
My floating console has two cup holders. I bought those things off of Ebay, and they are spun aluminum. They're very shallow, and also Gigandor. They are just beggin' for a full cup of some sticky soft drink to tip over and spill onto my pretty camel colored carpet. What I needed was an "insert" to fill the over sized cupholder, so a drink will stay in it's intended place.
I needed a coozie.
Now I coulda just did that. I coulda went into "The Walmart" and bought some generic foam coozie for .99. Hell I could've splurged, and spent a whole 2 dollars and got one of those little zippered "bottle wetsuits" you typically see the seasoned BudLight drinkers using.
But Nooo!!!,.....I had to go and buy the MOST expensive coozie on the planet. All for the sole purpose of making a bigger hole less big.
Ever heard of these guys?
Yeti. The thing actually serves as an actual 8oz cup as well, and can be had with an optional lid, but for my purposes they'll remain snugly sitting in the big assed, too shallow drink holders that sit in my floating console. How much does a Yeti spun aluminum coozie cost you ask?........
Why ONLY 25.00 each. 50.00 dollars for the pair.
How can you argue with the fact that the things have 10 year warranties, are guarantee not to sweat,..and are heavy enough to actually serve as ballast to keep one of the drinks where it belongs, the next time I take the Monster X-crossing. I mean, who amongst you WOULDNT pay 25.00 for a metal cup?
But it's all good, they do what I want, and they look like this.
Whoops,...now you also know what the G-bags are gonna look like at the same time.
So you may as well look.
They're actually screwed to the tube.
In addition to adding another couple of coats of copper metallic paint (I ran out), What's left to do, is to deal with covering the 2.5" slot that had to be cut for the shifter to move through it's range of motion. I called the folks at Seals it, and asked them if they have a rectangular grommet that I could use as a boot to cover that slot. While they didn't, they did have an oval one that would work.
Dude at Seals it says this thing is the size of an Iphone. He says I could punch two 1/8" holes 2.5" apart, centered in the grommet, and take a razor blade, and connect the dots. That way, the cut will not run, and it will act as a slit that the shifter handle could stick through. I think that it will fit the interior theme. But the thing is 60 bucks.
The rubber in those grommets is very thin, and very elastic. If I could find a piece of that stuff, I'd make a retangular frame out of 1/2" x 1/8" flat bar, and make it myself. I will probably do that over spending the money for that goofy grommet.
Also missing from the pics are the two rocker switches that I have to drill into the top mesh behind the shifter. Those two switches will serve to activate the OD, (4th gear) and the converter lock up.
A point I'll finish on. This 4R70W transmission has a fully manual valve body I have to shift every gear, every time. I also have to engage the 4th gear OD, and torque converter LU everytime I want that to happen. The down side to that being I cannot forget to unlock the converter, and disengage OD before downshifting at the risk of hurting the transmission. A process that I hope to not learn the hard way.
