[ponyakr]

After the parade, the Goat parked beside the Bird, on the concrete porch apron, of the church. So, I suppose it was on Holy ground, huh ?

When I saw 'em side by side, the thought came to me of what a great year '69 was, for Pontiac. Hey, there were RAIII & RAIV engines, the Trans Am, the Judge, plus all the other Birds & A-bodies. Hey, the '69 GP was OK too.

Glad I was around to witness it. And, glad I can still enjoy 'em today ! We all had a good time today, at the Saline Watermelon Festival, in fabulous downtown Saline, Louisiana.

[ponyakr]

Most states have counties. Louisiana has parishes. Many states have creeks. Louisiana has both creeks & bayous. I suppose the bayous & parishes come from our French heritage.

On the way to the town of Saline, we crossed over Saline Bayou. As it flows further South, it gets bigger, and also feeds Saline lake. It forms the boundary between 2 parishes, and a section of it is a national scenic waterway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saline_Bayou

http://www.louisianatravel.com/paddl...bayou-and-lake

http://www.angelfire.com/la3/saline/

[Greg Reid]

Whew... 90 degrees at 10:30 in the morning is only a couple degrees lower than our overall high today at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. That's what I like to call 'stop, drop and roll' weather.

[ponyakr]

Yeah, it was pretty warm today. But actually a little below average, I think. At around noon, we got some cloud cover, and a breeze kicked up. Looked like it was gonna rain. But, the clouds went away, without a drop.

Speaking of weather, I think we had one of the coolest Junes I can remember. Had real good weather for berry pickin. Didn't get up past 90° very many times. Lots of days it stayed in the low 80's. Hey, the record temps are well over 100° for most every day in June. I remember our weather man saying the record was something like 108°, for one June day. With our humidity, that's HOT--downright dangerous !

Just checked the record high temps for June, in Monroe. They are indeed all 100° or higher, with the June 26 record being the highest, @ 108°.

https://www.wunderground.com/history...ic=&reqdb.wmo=

A lot of the records are from 2011. I don't remember that as a particularly hot June. But, obviously it was.

[ponyakr]

Well, there's another chapter to my Pontiac story. Because the policies of our new President were so good for the stock market, TJ's 401 K did real good last year. So, she decided to buy me a new shop, for a combination birthday/anniversary gift. This year will mark our 40th.

So, I must thank God, President Trump, and my wife TJ, for "Speed Barn 3" !!!

It's called Speed Barn 3, because my 1st shop was called the Speed Barn. Then, the old cow barn I've used for a shop, since I sold the Speed Barn, we called Speed Barn 2. So, this new one can't be anything else but Speed Barn 3. TJ will probably make me a sign with that name on it, to hang inside.

Since I haven't had much Pontiac news lately, I decided to do this as a sort of "build thread". The building is not nearly as big as Speed Barn #1 was. It's just a small 2-car shop. Was gonna make it a little bigger. But, due to the price of the concrete, we had to downsize, in order to come in under budget. But, it'll be all I need.

I realize that most here will not be interested in this, at all. But, there might be a few low budget guys that find it interesting. So, here goes.

I took lots of pics, during the building process. I'll post more as TJ gets 'em sorted out & edited, as needed.

For this 1st post, I'll show the slab. It's all we saw of the shop for nearly a month. It's 20 x 25. The building is called 20 x 26, allowing for the roof overhang on each end.

The pic also shows the hay we took out of TJ's horse barn to cover the foundation dirt. The day after the slab was poured, we got a big rain, that washed away some of the dirt. So, I used my tractor & front end loader to add a lot more dirt, all around the slab. Then we covered it with hay, before the next rain came. Worked great. No erosion at all.

To be continued

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


Well, you gotta start somewhere. So, we picked a plot in the field to the West of our house. Decided to line the South wall of the building up with the outside of the columns on our front porch. So I tied a long string to the 3rd column from the building site, then used the string to mark the location of the South wall. Drove a stake(old broom handle) where I wanted the SE corner of the building, plus another stake in line with the columns & corner stake, and 20ft from it, to mark the SW corner.

I didn't do any squaring up, for the 2 stakes on the North end. Just measured 25' North, then 20' West. I left the squaring up, for the concrete guys, working off the South wall I'd established.

So, that's how it looked when the concrete guys got there, on Monday morning, which I believe was March 26. They went right to work, gettin it squared up, & driving their own stakes. The main concrete guy also did the slab under the house we live in, back in 2003. His son is now old enuff to work with him.

One thing I regret is that I failed to take any pics of the dump truck that brought the foundation dirt. It belonged to Mr. JT Allen. He has been in the sand/dirt/gravel business for a long time. He hauled the dirt for my 1st shop, back in 1975, and he hauled the dirt for our house, in 2003. So, I think it's pretty cool that he could also haul the dirt for this shop. I think he is around 80 years old now. Said he can't pass the physical to get his CDL to drive heavy trucks. So, he has a smaller single axle truck he can legally drive. I think 26000# is the max legal weight, without a CDL. Anyhow, sorry I didn't think to take any pics of the dump truck.

Pics below show how the foundation work started. I took lots of pics, but will not try to post 'em all here.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


So, the crew finished up the dirt work & started the pour, on Tuesday about noon.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


Concrete is really expensive nowadays. And our local concrete plant shut down. So, the truck had to come from West Monroe, about 40 miles from us. So the concrete guy ordered just barely enuff to make the pour, with VERY little left over. I was hopping to have enuff left to bust up and use for rocks in some of the potholes in our driveway/road. But I didn't get much.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


I had them put a "broom finish" on the concrete. That makes the surface a bit rougher, so that you'll be less likely to slip on the inevitable oil spills, water or whatever.

There was rain in the forecast, so the concrete guy said they'd come back in a few days to clean everything up, which they did.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.

We had a hard rain, which washed away much of the dirt around the slab.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.



The concrete crew came back and dressed up the dirt, & finished their work & clean-up.

But, as much rain as we get here, I knew there was not enuff of the right kind of dirt to survive. So, I used my Kioti tractor to scoop up some dirt and put it all around the slab. Then, after I packed it all down, we put some old hay, from TJ's horse barn, on top of the dirt. It worked real good. The dirt was unaffected by several more rains we had.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.

Well, the Eagle Carport guys took off for Easter Vacation. So, they couldn't schedule us til this past Monday, April 16. The crew foreman called Sat, saying they'd be here about 9AM, which they were.

They brought all the pieces to build my shop, plus one for somebody else, on a tag trailer, pulled by an old Dodge diesel pick-up. It was a 3-man crew. They were all of Mexican or Latin American decent. I don't know if any of 'em were illegals or not, and don't care. So, please don't anybody badmouth me for mentioning this, or possibly using the wrong terminology or mentioning their ethnic background.

I will say this: These 3 guys knew what they were doing. You could tell that is was not their 1st rodeo. I didn't see them take a break, or smoke , or spit any tabacco juice, like most white construction crews I've seen.

As soon as they stopped the truck, they started unloading all the parts & pieces. It sorta reminded me of the Erector set I had in grammar school. Some parts were slip fit, others were fastened together with screws. Some were cut to the exact required length/shape. Some were not, & had to be fabbed.

Most of the time, each man was doing a different job. Some stuff required at least 2 guys working together. When they spoke, it was in Spanish, I assume. Don't know if they were talkin about the job, me, women, or what. Talkin did not slow down their work at all. The crew foreman drove the truck, handled the paper work & spoke good English. If the other 2 spoke much English I didn't hear it.

Let me say here that the cheap labor is probably the reason these type buildings are so much cheaper than the red iron buildings. I got a good price quote on a red iron building. But all the guys I talked to wanted $2000 to put it up. That put the price well above the price of the galvanized building. And, the red iron building required anchor bolts in the concrete, in the correct places. So, that would have made the slab cost more.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.

The anchor bolts are the type that require a hole to drilled in the concrete, then the bolt driven into the hole with a hammer.

The legs of the frame members slip over the stubs welded to the support rails.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.

The frames for the roll-up doors must be fabricated, on site.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.

We chose Earth Brown roof/trim & pebble Beige wall panels.

Seeing the guy standing up walkin the iron reminded me of when I was an iron worker apprentice. It took a while to be able to walk it, standing up. It just felt a lot safer to get down an "coon it".

Ya'll might notice that the North doors are not centered. I did this so that I could put some 12"-15" shelves and work tables along the East wall, and still have room to work around a car parked inside the East door opening. Might be able to use slightly wider tables. Not sure yet.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


I assumed those 8' wide roll-up doors were heavy. But, 2 guys were able to climb the ladders & hang 'em without too much trouble.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


6 hours from the time they arrived, they were thru with the building. They had gotten up at 1:30 AM, & came from Nacogdoches, Texas, making another stop on the way. We picked up some trash, I paid the foreman, while the other guys loaded up the rest of their tools. He offered a "Thank you & God bless you.", which I returned. I gave him three $10 bills, for each of them to eat on, or whatever. Then they turned the rig around, waved as they left, and were gone, to the next job, I assume.

As far as I could tell, they worked really hard & did a great job. And the young foreman was very polite and answered all my questions. So, I'll have to give these guys & Eagle Carports a good review. This should last as long as I need a shop.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


Our dog had been tied up during the whole thing, so when TJ cut him loose he had to check out the new building that wasn't there when he woke up that morning.

[ponyakr]

Note: This is strictly a low budget build. I'd much rather have a bigger, nicer building, with hydraulic lifts, insulation, A/C, etc. So most will not be interested in this series at all. But, for the low budget guys that can handle a $10k budget build, some of this info may be helpful.


A few more views & I wave good bye & close the door & this Speed Barn 3 session.

Will post more as I get shelves/tables/parts/cars/tools/etc inside.

[ponyakr]

Today was our annual Sunshine Festival car show. The festival was named in honor of a past governor of Louisiana, and his version of the famous song, "You Are My Sunshine." Most of you probably know that was Governor Jimmie Davis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckKeQNCyPBU

Our town is small & nearly 50 miles from Monroe, the biggest city in our area. So, the show is small, compared to the big shows I read about. We had exactly 100 vehicles in the show.

And our merry little band of area Pontiac guys if very small. We've all known each other for a long time. And most of us have raced together. There were 5 Pontiacs at the show. 4 of 'em have been attending area shows for several years now.

The only '69 Bird at the show was "The Red Bird", named that for obvious reasons. The owner is known by most as "Wild Bill". We go way back. We raced together on the strip & the dirt track. He's owned the car for a long time. It's won quite a few show awards.

TJ took one shot of some appropriate "Pontiac attire", as she called it.

There was only one 2nd gen there. We call the owner "Tab". I've also raced with him on strip & dirt. For a period of time Tab, Wild Bill, and I raced dirt at the same tracks. I think that was somewhere in the 1986-87 time period.

Anyhow, when we all get together at a show, we have plenty of old memories to talk about.