Thanks so much Rich and mennobike!! Haha yes that's my Iron City tap that I managed to attach to the column shifter    And I am so glad there are people here that understand the '90's car love.  There was much of that on Cardomain with the Tempos, Shadows, the Topaz, etc 

I think I could sit here all night and not remember all the new parts and things done to this car over the past 10 years so I will try to list as many as I can...

-new gas tank, straps, fuel pump and float
-a new battery or two over the years
-larger exhaust pipe the whole way back (can't remember the exact size at this point)
-glasspack muffler (not a fart can, just enough to give it a lower note)
-new catalytic converter
-plugs, wires, valve cover gasket
-new a/c lines
-new front rotors
-Motegi 14" rims (kept the stock size for very affordable tires)
-Went through a set of Kelly Navigator Gold tires and they seemed to last forever! Now I have Cooper CS4 Touring tires on... 185/70/14, don't hear that size much anymore lol!
-brand new head and associated fun like water pump and timing belt with that when the head gasket went
-rebuilt transmission
-replaced torque converter
-new oil pan and gasket
-replacement heater box (something in mine collapsed/jammed and I couldn't slide the temperature control anymore)
-replaced the lens assembly that goes across the trunk lid (old one had a chunk taken out of it)
-took out the donut and threw in a full size spare and stock wheel (I commuted to school with this car for 4 years)
-new heater core and evaporator core
-new front axles
-originally replaced the stock shocks with KYB but they rattled like crazy, even after getting a second set (thinking the first was defective) so I went with Gabriel instead
-Moog cargo coil rear springs
-Strut tower bar/brace my dad and I made (couldn't find one for the Spirit R/T so we got creative)
-KYB struts
-Moog sway bar busings
-new motor mounts
-replaced passenger side automatic seat belt (remember those???) with OEM regular seat belt from an earlier year Spirit
-brake pedal cover from a Neon (has the Pentastar on it lol)
-original ignition wore out so had to get a new one of those
-new brake lines
-replaced the fuel filter at least once
-new rear bumper bar and bumper shocks
-new headlight lens assemblies (mine were of course that cloudy yellow)
-new ball joints
-replaced a rear tail light lens because I dropped one and broke it 
-replaced the thermostat a time or two

Most of these things were done with my dad showing me/teaching me but the bigger things (transmission rebuild, head, heater box, etc.) were sent to the professionals in that area.  My dad opened his garage back in 1972 and is still working hard... but he is getting older and doesn't want to tear into things like he used to lol!!!  Plus when most of these things needed fixing I needed the car back asap for commuting to college. 

And if ya got through all that reading, thanks!  Here is a pic of under the hood from a while ago (more on the story of why I am working hard on the car right now again soon)...


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Okay here's a bit about the interior.  For a while I kept it clean, nice and stock.  Gray with gray mats, woodgrain dash, totally normal looking.  Then when I did the really wild and colorful paint job I changed the whole interior.

When I was in college, there was this abandoned frat house I walked by almost every morning to get my coffee from the convenience store.  Every time I went past it I got this eerie feeling... I love abandoned and run-down places, they just catch my attention.  Anyway, I saw an opening in one of the basement windows and had my camera with me one day.  I (for whatever reason) thought it'd be cool to snap a few pics and see what the basement of this house looked like.  I know, crazy   

Below are the pics of what the house looked like, then the basement, and finally how I did the interior of the Spirit.  I pulled all the trim and painted it with blacklight paint, covered the dash, installed tiny strobes (LOL) and a blacklight tube hooked up to the dome light and my car became THE car to go out drinking and partying in with my friends (I was the designated driver a LOT that summer haha but I didn't mind) 

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Some dedicated work there showbiz!  .. haven't weighed into this thread so far due to internet issues at home and at random, most posts on phone and tapa. . Looking thru at lunchtime today though and liked your paintwork! .. then just after lunch spotted this in my work area... just a random dead car but the locals have prettier it up a bit!

Woah!!  Haha go figure the timing on that one eh??  Sad that it's a dead car 

Thank you for the compliment on my paintwork!    And for looking at this thread, I truly appreciate it.  My next post is going to show the steps I took to painting the Liz Montgomery portraits on the passenger side (I don't have any pics of the Wayne portraits in progress on the driver's side, they got lost years ago).  I can't post them while at work though because photobucket won't load on these computers  and it will be more than 4.

Home from work and now for more pics.  Here are some I took while painting Liz on the passenger side during the Spirit's last months being green, gray and black...








And when I sprayed all the colors... I did 3 of the portraits in skin tone and left one in gray and black. Each of the 4 portraits represent 2 seasons of Bewitched... the first 2 seasons were black and white (the left most portrait in gray and black) and the rest (6 seasons) were in color (skin tone and blue).


For everybody, more pics and story to come soon, thank you for lurking/looking/commenting 

You m'lady .. Have a good hand and eye for artwork! 

That's such a cool concept! What did you paint the initial portraits with?

Many many thanks !!

I painted the portraits with a little jar of black "Odds n Ends" enamel paint that would dry very fast. I used that to my advantage... it made it easy to do shading/fading when the paint would get tacky as I was brushing it on. I also kept a little jar of thinner close by to help with making some of the shadowing and detailing a bit softer.

Showbiz, you certainly have a gift. That's some wicked artwork!

You said before you have a degree in art, correct?

Thank you thank you Rich I believe I was truly blessed with this crazy ability to copy what I see... don't ask me to sing or dance or cook but for some reason I have always been able to draw !!

Yes I have a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art from IUP... I graduated in 2010 

Going to college and being "forced" to be creative... putting a timeline on a project... really turned me off to doing anything with my degree.  I learned that I do NOT want my paycheck to depend on how creative I am.  SO here I am, wearing a white lab coat, labeling blood at the Red Cross    I love it though, and am at least proud that I got a degree.

You are something else ShowBizWolf - it's kind of complement here in UK True Renaissance person. Those 80's and early 90's cars are rarity here in most of Europe. Nice cars but usually dingy colours. You made your really funky. Admiring your art skills and hard work (I bet you enjoy it )

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Small project from me - with small involvement of our beloved GS500 lol.


Battle axe made out of old 39 teeth rear sprocket to complete my cosplay "wasteland" "post apocalyptic" costume for Comic Con

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Beehave!! There ya are    Thank you for the feedback and compliments! Makes my day!!

That is a cool lookin' sprocket axe... what kind of wood did you use for the handle?  Do the symbols say anything? (Please pardon me if I am being totally out of the loop and I should already know this  )

Look like Norse runes, recognise the symbols.... pity I don't remember the meanings....

Hopefully beehave does... ... runes have power and effects depending on how they are grouped... if you believe in runes anyway!... I haven't decided about them yet.

It was quick job and I use Norse equivalent of roman alphabet (googled it lol). One side says "pestilence" and there on other side "damnation" - expected "spelling" mistakes "burnt" with angle grinder. At the end I "aged" it with blowtorch and rubbed soil and food grade oil. Wood is of dying apple tree we had to cut down. I cannot upload photos of end effect for some reason.

And btw ShowBizWolf - is always nice to hear that my actions made someones day

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Ok. Somehow I managed to push those photos through.
Next to the battle axe is my "tribal piercer. Couple years back I find crate of some rusted "ceremonial" swords in some charity shop run by Turkish guy. And I purchased couple. Their hilts were utterly useless (as rest of it lol) so I decided to use the infamous apple tree wood to make new one - aiming for tribalistic design and that's the outcome. And now isn't rusty and blunt anymore - nice hedges trimmer
As you see - getting ready for zombie apocalypse lol. Don't buy me metal lathe because I will get idea to make double barrel "gunpowder projectile extractor"

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Hell - I thought that if you like pictures and projects - why not to show this baby dino I made for my son. It was creation of love. Struggled with it and used combination of tools - just mentioning jigsaw, grinder with sand paper discs attachment, dremel and old good elbow grease. At some point I had to buy rasps which really helped with process (yes - I didn't have them when I started). The dino suppose to have 3 horns (being Triceratops) but I found it against "health and safety" lol and I am not as advanced craftsman - yet:)

That is too awesome!! I can appreciate the time and effort going into something like that... I took two woodworking classes in college (and was in shop all through middle and high school as well). Sometimes those classes were the only thing I looked forward to 

Thank you for sharing!!!!! This is turning into a neat thread... this forum has everything 

I love working with wood. I even thinking to incorporate some in my GS500 project. But something which won't stuck inside my ass in case of potential accident. I am always ready for it. Amount of careless stupid drivers is unbelievable here in UK

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