End of this blog -> New blog started

This blog is no longer maintained. I have started a new Blog about Tiny Toy Cars and model cars, both new and old.
All news releases I receive are published there on a daily basis. It is currently in Dutch only, but I am working on an English version which I hope to release soon!

Please visit www.modelautonieuws.nl and join us there! Thank you for your visit!

Nose emblem from bus STOLEN!!!

Last night the nose VW emblem was stolen from my bus. I am pretty much upset about it!

The Bus!

Yesterday our company logo's and texts were applied to the bus . It looks stunning and very '70-s.

Various items from last week

Another update. What happened last week? Well, the car lift is finally finished. All painted, and connected to electicity and it WORKS! Wonderful! Although it will never move again, as it will be in the 'up' position from now on.

Furthermore I finished working on the blister towers, made of old oil drums. And I spend one day working on the gas pump, which looks much better now!
Yesterday I started installing the shelves.

Lift with underneath the shelves.

Start of the shelving. Space between is about 23 cm (9 inch appr.)

Hey, what's that...

Ah yes, the first model car is already on the shelves!

KONI promotional picture

KONI Stertyl did use an old car lift for promotional purposes, a couple of years ago. I received this picture from them! Thanks!

Car lift almost finished

I am so excited!!! The lift looks like a real lift again!

The effect is amazing!!!

Opening: 7th of June!!!

It is final, we have set ourselves a deadline. The official opening of the Toy Car Garage will be:

June 7th 2008
from 13:00 till 17:00 hrs

There will be a giveaway car for each visitor.
Free beverages.
And a 1:1 car show!

For the car show, we can use any interesting vehicle! So if you own a classic, or just something special, bring it to the opening the 7th of June! In front of our Garage is a large, private, parking lot which can be filled with over hundred cars easily!

We will make this a very, very special day!!!

Painting the Car Lift II

The smell of paint is almost gone from my nose... last week, with lots of days off to work in the Garage, we only did a lot, and I mean a LOT, of painting!

Hey, what's this!!! This is a garage, or what?!?!?

Loose parts are so much easier to paint! And foremost, to clean!

These are the last remaining 'dirty' parts that will be painted red

Used till now:
2,5 liters of red
1,75 liters of white

Now where is it actually??

Although the street name where the Garage is, is very famous in 's-Gravendeel, the street itself is quite difficult to follow and the beginning and end are several kilometers apart from each other.
Even people who have been living their whole life in 's-Gravendeel do not know exactly where the Garage is. I hope this photo trail will clear up the confusion! The area is called the 'Vlasstaete'.
This picture was taken standing alongside the Mijlweg. On the left is the 'Nieuwstraat' crossing, and in the background, left, you can see the Texaco / De Geus tankstation.
The Garage is located behind the gate.
Looking behind the gate, a huge (private) parking space is seen. At the end of the parking space, the building is visible in which the Garage is housed (behind the yellow/white truck).
And here it is!

Progress on the KONI car lift II

Friday I took some 'in progress' pictures of work done on the lift, but unfortunately these were lost. I made some new 'end result' pics today to keep everyone updated and provide a peek review on the way the dirty, old lift is transformed into a nice, old classic.

Volkswagen dealership sign

In my village there used to be quite a large Volkswagen dealership. They had this nice 'sign' outside, with a real 'bug' on it!
Too bad the dealership isn't no more, but the sign, complete with bug, is still there!
Today I drove my T2a underneath it and took this photo.

3 Inch show 2008

Again, this years 3 Inch show hosted in 's-Gravendeel, was a huge success! We had participants from as far as Austria, France, Belgium and of course the Netherlands.

Painting the Car Lift

Finally we started painting the lift yesterday. It took centuries before preparation was finished and as a final action I had to remove a thick layer of some kind of tectyl from the 'runners'. Stuff that does solve when in contact with any kind of paint... Not a good base for some nice & fresh red & white colors!

Here is my wife Paula in action applying the base coat of the Hammerite paint.

And I'm working on my 'beloved' runners...

Painting in Progress

A painter can make the difference! Here is 'my' painter applying the first coat of white.
See the difference!!

Progress on the KONI car lift

As working on the lift is still a very dirty job (...) it is hard to take pictures while working on it. So I took these this morning when my hands were still clean!
The 100+ kg weighting gearbox. Took me about 4 hours to clean. I had no idea it was green!
Left side of the lift with the cable pulley.
Left rear leg, to be cleaned.
I-beam, that supports the ramps. This one had grease on it of each car the lift has ever lifted, it seems...
Box with loose parts we took off the lift so these could be cleaned in the parts cleaner. And the 3 phase 380 Volt motor.

Ikea!

For the shop shelves, we have selected the modular storage system from Ikea, called Broder

For the coffee table, we selected Forsby
Chairs Herman:

Then and Now...

Just for the fun of it, a then and now photograph...

Then

Now...

The bus that brings a smile to your face

Today we got the new, 38 year old, Volkswagen Transporter T2a. What a nice ride it is! Everyone who sees it, immediately gets a smile on their face!
This is a 'easy does it' vehicle, top speed of 100 kmh max! But cruising at lower speeds is much more relaxing!
The day was also special because of the beautiful weather!

Welcome, little bus!

Grease!

What a day... After my brother in law and I set up the KONI car lift last Tuesday, I started cleaning it Wednesday evening. After five minutes I had this feeling of 'I wish I never started ...'.
You will understand that a car lift of 58 years of age (!!) does have it's share of oil, grease, dust and sand. I have never seen a car mechanic cleaning his car lifts.

Anyway, I figured it would be better to remove most parts to clean them separately. And loose parts mean greasy parts, as they have to move or rotate. Today I spend all day removing these parts and cleaning the area's around them. Also, my brother in law helped me to clean the parts we took of the lift. He has a parts cleaner in his workshop.

Forgot to tell this lift is fully mechanical, no hydraulics or whatever. One electric 380 Volt motor drives a large pulley, which is linked to a gearbox that drives the two pulleys to which the ropes are attached. The gearbox is normally filled with oil, but mine does have a small leak so all and everything was covered in oil.

I'm done 3/4th now. Good thing is that where's grease, there's no rust!

Too bad I didn't take any pictures today. On the other hand, that would have been impossible with my greasy fingers...

Lights!

These lamps will decorate the Garage!

Available at Rietveld Licht en Wonen: http://www.rietveldlicht.nl/artikel.php?art_id=1111
This company has a lot of very nice, retro lamps!