Vanna White

[MorrisonFab]

MorrisonFab submitted a new DSM Profile :

Vanna White


Read more about this vehicle here...

 

[MorrisonFab]

I have wanted a white 1ga since as long as I can remember.

There were a few times in the early 2000s that I tried to buy one but they were either not as advertised or it sold before I could get there. It was frustrating so I just gave up with it after like the 12th letdown but they remained my absolute favorite.

I first learned of this car in 2018 when Zak bought a manifold from us. Matt showed me pictures of it and I can remember looking at him dead in the face and saying, “I want that.”

It was really fun to cheer him on with all the badass stuff he was doing but man, the jealousy was unreal. I was like completely obsessed with it.

At last year’s shootout he parked next to Clunkbox and I looked at Matt, pointed at it, and said, “Who owns that?!” because it looked even better in person- which was crazy because it already looked perfect in just photos.

Last October Zak contacted Matt and asked if we would be interested in buying the car from him. He had some personal reasons for needing to sell it and he knew how much I loved and wanted it ().

There was no hesitation in the response: I wanted it.

It was nearing snow flying time here in Wisconsin by the time he would have had everything out that he wanted to sell so he said he’d store it for winter for us, which was incredibly generous and kind of him.

The plan was to go get it in April but then COVID happened and he’s a nurse at a hospital in Ohio and my doctors put me on lockdown as I’m considered “high risk” due to several kidney issues. So we had to keep waiting.

And waiting.

and waiting.

A few weeks ago, he asked if it would be ok if he just delivered it to us as we got incredibly busy during the shutdowns. We couldn’t find a free weekend to run to OH to pick it up. Again, incredibly generous. We said we’d pay for transport, his time, etc., and we picked a date for delivery.
He sent these photos two days prior

It pulled into my driveway at 4 pm. Nearly jumping out of my skin while we were working in the shop, I shouted, “HE’S HERE!!!!!” and we went outside.

It was just as beautiful as I remembered. Maybe even more.. knowing it was mine and I’d be able to spend my whole life loving and cherishing it.

And yes, I know, it’s “just a car.” But it’s “the car.”

On Saturday we just spent time looking at everything and just being in awe that it was finally home.

On Sunday we changed out the rear end and put mine in from prototype. We put in the sumped tank and got that all ready. I cleaned the interior pieces thoroughly and decided we need to cut out the current and get a new one put in sometime in the spring. We haven’t tackled that yet but probably in a few weeks. It’s really getting in the way and it will be nice to just get it out.

Today I cleaned out the engine bay and started shampooing the carpets. I didn’t get all the way through carpet shampooing but mostly there. each side will need another round or five. And one side I only got half done.

All the boring stuff that is annoying but needs to be done before the big stuff can happen. Next will be the cage removal and seat installation. Then buying haltech and doing those beginning parts of getting things where they need to be and ready. exciting!

 

[MorrisonFab]

Here are a bunch of photos from when it was getting painted. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s like 3 extra coats of clear (on top of whatever is usually put on) on it!

 

[MorrisonFab]

Remaining paint photos

 

[Ludachris]

Hey, look what I see on the homepage of the site!

 

[90'AWDTalonFroggy]

Subbed...love your guys work, builds, and everything you all do for the DSM community thank you!!!

 

[mikEclipse99]

Excited to see updates! Zak and I go back about 12 or 13 years when we first got our dsms! This car is piece of NE Ohio history

 

[chinola69]

Remaining paint photos
View attachment 605842View attachment 605843View attachment 605844View attachment 605845View attachment 605846View attachment 605847View attachment 605848View attachment 605849View attachment 605850

THERE is something so satisfy about a freshly painted car

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

That is a "Queen"!!!! Love it Sam! Keep up the posts!

 

[MorrisonFab]

In preparation of a new cage going in once I save enough, it was removed. That felt like a good next step.

Cleaning every crevice of the interior of this car was AWFUL. That metal dust got everywhere and in places I didn’t think things could go. Hours and hours with a vacuum, cleaner, and q-tips. Exhausting.

I’m ordering new carpet for it because while I spent several hours cleaning it, after removing the bolt-in part of the cage, the carpet where it was is just wrecked. It’ll be a few weeks before that comes in but still, exciting.

Once the carpet comes in, the stock seats/seatbelts will be put in temporarily (mostly to get them out of my way in the garage but it’ll also be nice to have the car look and feel like a car, ha!). The plastics will be painted, too - probably black. Spent a good amount of time really scrubbing those today since they were out of the car. Most are not in terrible condition but they’re not in great condition so hopefully the paint covers up the defects.

Coming up is ordering some kirkeys and making the driver adjustable so Matt can drive it too. Just finished looking into Haltech and trying to wrap my head around all that goes with needing that. So hopefully getting that ordered soon and getting to work on the harness and stuff.

It’s all these little things though... yuck

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Use Adhesion Promoter on the plastic parts and the paint will stick like glue. We completely repainted the red plastic pieces in my sons 1986 Z/28 and they turned out fantastic. He used paint matched color in spray cans that we had Oreille's mix for us. It would have been cheaper for me to spray with a real paint gun but it was his project not mine. He used a plastic primer also and the paint was for plastic/vinyl specifically.
Love Vanna, she looks like my 90 GSX!
Pops

 

[LaserRS92]

Where are you getting your new carpet from?

 

[MorrisonFab]

Where are you getting your new carpet from?

I don’t remember who it was that said it but I read somewhere in Facebook land that they had good luck using stockinteriors.com so I was going to give them a shot! I’m currently waiting for the color samples

 

[Jerzm3]

FYI. I believe rockauto sells the same ones as stockinteriors.com. They even have the same exact pictures!! Someone correct me if I am wrong!

 

[Jk's97DSM]

Not many places have the manufacturing to produce the carpets so they are probably the same. I did the same thing on mine. Cleaned and cleaned but in the end it was still 25 year old carpet and some of the pile was rubbed off. If you know a good upholstery shop they can overlay it with material.

Lucky for me the wall to the left in my profile picture is an upholstery shop and my shop is to the right .

 

[MorrisonFab]

Well, we took a few hours and got some work done. I was going to paint the plastics but everything I need hasn’t come yet (2-day prime or 2-week prime? )

We buttoned up the bottom end, set the stretch on the rod bolts, got the case and oil pain on.

I always underestimate the amount of time it takes to clean stuff up and how much it cuts into getting things done. Ah, well. Forward progress is progress and it’s more than i had done yesterday morning

 

[Vegas Smith]

Your two little girls are such cuties. I have no doubt my 11mo will be trying to date them when he grows up! Are you just swapping all the stuff from your old red car or what is this vision here?

 

[MorrisonFab]

Ok, so I followed this thread on how to properly paint my plastics.

But oh my word, the things that weren’t mentioned are that 1.) your spray finger will ache for like days, and 2.) it takes several days for this process. Start early in the morning.

I followed his instructions exactly. I bought the recommended products.

And I shook those cans like my whole life depended on it for the required amount of time.

The first part was easy, take ‘em out and wash with soap and water. I had already done that previously when I got the car to clean it all up but I did it again and got every nook and cranny with a heck ton of q-tips. Then I used the plastic pre-cleaner which picked up anything I may have missed and removed my dirty fingerprints.

Then I wet sanded them with NO PRESSURE and constant wet. Man, this was messy. I had the plastics on my lap and the water was just flying around everywhere. I should have thought about this better but nope, I did not.

Then I sprayed those babies with a hose to clean them off again. Dried ‘em with a clean towel and let them sit overnight because I started late in the day and ran out of time.

Ok so the next day came and it was time to apply the adhesion promoter and as told in the linked thread above, I shook the sh*t outta that can. Shook and shook and shook. One light spray was sufficient.

Then I waited three hours.

Next came the primer, and again, that can was SHOOK. Sprayed one light coat, waited an hour, and sprayed the final coat.

Then the 24 hour wait period began. And since I started my blasted process late, my 24 hours was 8:30pm. Would not recommend. I have sufficient lighting in our shop but it was still very annoying.

The exciting part is finally here: Paint! After diligently shaking the can, I sprayed my first coat. The thread recommended waiting at least an hour but more is better so I waited overnight before doing the second coat since my first coat was at 8:30pm. The first coat made me nervous as it was so light. I thought it would take ten coats, ha! But the next day I applied the second coat and the black started to show. Then after an hour, the final paint coat was applied and it looked really good!

So, after the final paint coat, we are met yet again with another 24 hour wait period before applying the clear coat. I applied three coats, waiting an hour in between each. Then I let everything dry for 48 hours before even looking at it again.

Overall, it was a lengthy process but I’m super happy with the outcome. I didn’t take many photos because i was just focused on getting it done and doing it right. I’ll have to do this process all over again with the two pieces I’m picking up from my friends at Performance Partout at Kevin and Katie’s event this month (and the one piece I forgot in the car, sigh).

——

So, in case you hadn’t heard, Performance Partout is now doing DSM-haltech harnesses (https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10217229269939500&id=1103791350)! You’ll have to copy and paste the link if you have the fb app, it’s goofy.

I began inquiring about Haltech about a month ago and went to Nathan for help since he’s very knowledgeable with it. I had at least a bazillion questions that ranged from super noob to moderate noob. Matt and I had long conversations about this and that, and then I’d go back to Nathan with even more questions. He was so patient and answered everything in full detail. It was super nice. Then he said he was beginning to make the harnesses and could customize them so it was an easy decision for us to make. I despise all things wiring (and we need all the time savings we can get as we are so limited with it!) and he does it all with care. I think he’s beginning on mine this week and he just placed the order for the elite 2500! Can’t wait to get that home - it feels like a big step.

Anyway, more little things will be done in the meantime - putting in the seatbelts (we are going to get the car running and tuned before getting the cage work done - I know, it’s backwards), seats (and making the driver’s Kirkey seat adjustable), getting the gauges wired in, wiring in the speakers and radio again, etc.

Basically everything that I don’t want to rush through or skip at the end.

 

[Fyke]

Looks fantastic! I will say in regards to your finger take a trip to Home Depot, or Walmart and they have spray grips that give you a little trigger contraption to place on top of the spray paint can. It will make a night and day difference! Rattle canned an old 76' Chevy one night to make it all the same color and my finger would have fallen off if I didn't have one of these!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ol...Comfort-Spray-Grip-Accessory-241526/100670383

 

[Ludachris]

Looks fantastic! I will say in regards to your finger take a trip to Home Depot, or Walmart and they have spray grips that give you a little trigger contraption to place on top of the spray paint can. It will make a night and day difference! Rattle canned an old 76' Chevy one night to make it all the same color and my finger would have fallen off if I didn't have one of these!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ol...Comfort-Spray-Grip-Accessory-241526/100670383

that's genius. Love how people keep coming up with cool solutions to old problems.

Found it with Prime shipping:
https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-241526-Comfort-Grip/dp/B0015RJ41I/

 

[Ludachris]

Ok, so I followed this thread on how to properly paint my plastics.

But oh my word, the things that weren’t mentioned are that 1.) your spray finger will ache for like days, and 2.) it takes several days for this process. Start early in the morning.

I followed his instructions exactly. I bought the recommended products.
View attachment 610382
And I shook those cans like my whole life depended on it for the required amount of time.

The first part was easy, take ‘em out and wash with soap and water. I had already done that previously when I got the car to clean it all up but I did it again and got every nook and cranny with a heck ton of q-tips. Then I used the plastic pre-cleaner which picked up anything I may have missed and removed my dirty fingerprints.

Then I wet sanded them with NO PRESSURE and constant wet. Man, this was messy. I had the plastics on my lap and the water was just flying around everywhere. I should have thought about this better but nope, I did not.

Then I sprayed those babies with a hose to clean them off again. Dried ‘em with a clean towel and let them sit overnight because I started late in the day and ran out of time.
View attachment 610393

Ok so the next day came and it was time to apply the adhesion promoter and as told in the linked thread above, I shook the sh*t outta that can. Shook and shook and shook. One light spray was sufficient.

Then I waited three hours.

Next came the primer, and again, that can was SHOOK. Sprayed one light coat, waited an hour, and sprayed the final coat.

Then the 24 hour wait period began. And since I started my blasted process late, my 24 hours was 8:30pm. Would not recommend. I have sufficient lighting in our shop but it was still very annoying.

The exciting part is finally here: Paint! After diligently shaking the can, I sprayed my first coat. The thread recommended waiting at least an hour but more is better so I waited overnight before doing the second coat since my first coat was at 8:30pm. The first coat made me nervous as it was so light. I thought it would take ten coats, ha! But the next day I applied the second coat and the black started to show. Then after an hour, the final paint coat was applied and it looked really good!
View attachment 610383View attachment 610388

So, after the final paint coat, we are met yet again with another 24 hour wait period before applying the clear coat. I applied three coats, waiting an hour in between each. Then I let everything dry for 48 hours before even looking at it again.
View attachment 610391View attachment 610392

Overall, it was a lengthy process but I’m super happy with the outcome. I didn’t take many photos because i was just focused on getting it done and doing it right. I’ll have to do this process all over again with the two pieces I’m picking up from my friends at Performance Partout at Kevin and Katie’s event this month (and the one piece I forgot in the car, sigh).

That came out friggin' great. Thanks for sharing all the photos.

 

[MorrisonFab]

Looks fantastic! I will say in regards to your finger take a trip to Home Depot, or Walmart and they have spray grips that give you a little trigger contraption to place on top of the spray paint can. It will make a night and day difference! Rattle canned an old 76' Chevy one night to make it all the same color and my finger would have fallen off if I didn't have one of these!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Ol...Comfort-Spray-Grip-Accessory-241526/100670383

Thank you!!

Funnily enough, after I get done, Matt tells me he has one “somewhere” but I am going to order one now for the next set because man oh man my finger has never felt so sore,

That came out friggin' great. Thanks for sharing all the photos.

Thank you!! I was really nervous because his instructions were so.... firm and seemed kind of intimidating. But I was so happy with how they turned out, even if it was A LOT.

Ps - all updates from here on out will ONLY be on my tuners thread.

 

[Dericsh]

Lotsa years ago, I painted the whole interior of my 93 GS white , and with all the prep that you would expect from a clueless teenager. It turned out awful.

It looks like you really did a great job! Thanks for inspiring me to redeem myself by refinishing the sun fade in my current mid life crisis car!

 

[Ludachris]

Ps - all updates from here on out will ONLY be on my tuners thread.

 

[MorrisonFab]

Since we couldn’t make Kevin and Katie’s event this weekend, we decided to take two days off and get some work done on my car.

Pulling her out of hibernation felt really nice. I’ve been dying to get some progress made and this weekend is it!

Bowl and blended the cylinder head. Got the water pump on, sealed up the bottom end, and started putting some timing components on.

Not super exciting stuff but it gives us a good start for tomorrow! We have big goals that we hope to achieve by tomorrow night and I can’t wait to share them (once attempted/accomplished).

I’m only posting updates on Vanna here because I love the forums and want to keep everything in one space