what a journey it has been

"What a long strange trip is been" A good resting place for Saffy.

Pegasus lives! Holy smokes...this was an uber spontaneous phone call after viewing this low mileage example on a site I rarely frequent, ebay. The guy was posing as a private seller, but he was a dealer. Long story short, I knew I needed to install hydraulic oil fed carrera chain tensioners and missed the moment by a smidge, on my way to warm it up to be prepared to drain the fluid and get those upgrades done. On my short drive, one of the tensioners failed and the engine starting making a loud noise that led me to pull the engine, replace the clutch, heater hoses, boge rear shocks, throwout bearing, pressure plate, plugs, adjust the valves and all new exhaust gaskets and both chain tensioners as well. Once the process was done, I reinstalled the engine and trans, cleaned up some tin, and reset the timing. The car is running tits as they say, and I love the light weight demeanor of this 

I new I needed this lift for this car. What I learned is that removing the engine and trans at the same time, which is ideal is problematic with the lift's horizontal beams interfering with the removal and installation. I'm hoping to not have to do this type of work until I have a two post lift in a building with a tall ceiling. That would make this a fairly standard procedure to not be too concerned about, although driving is alwaysmore fun than playing with oily parts.  

The V shaped part is the failed mechanical tensioner. This keeps the timing chain time and times the valves so there is no catastrophic interference with the pistons which is very important and can cost up to $40k if you skip teeth and blow up an engine in nearly any vintage 911. They are built well which is why they are expensive, so any precautionary upgrade is worth it! 

My buddy, Andy and I take runs out to The Yellow Deli, early morning style just at the crack of dawn. He drives a G50 G-body in bright red. He's a retired musician, married with grown kids and is a joy to hang out with and share the passion of these classic in the back country road of SD.  

This photo shows the 4 piers and 16" tall LVL beams I set after removing the pour oak tree that was growing through the front of the barn. There was a nest with hatchlings and a bat, plus so much other stuff I'd not like to write about after 20 years of being abandoned, and I cleaned it all out. Lord!

So this is where is stands as of May 2025. I need so much more time to keep this moving, but there are many other things dividing my time and it is just me. However, I love the building, the process, the views, and all the potential this place exudes into the future when it will be more functional. Amen!

That's the view! I saw hallelujah! 

I started setting up a place for design work in the upstairs of the windmill. Still insulating around the smaller window I installed, but the place is shaping up.  

End of April 2025, new pears, and lots of them! This is an old tree that needed much love, pruning, as well as soil works and irrigation rings around the base.  

The new raspberries are budding.

Peaches! 

European plums. There are two trees with loads of plums that turn bright red when ripe! One tree was there and I planted the other from neighbor Jill.

Nectarines! Another new tree for the farm. :-) Probably 2 years old now.

Donut Peaches! 2 years old.

Blackberries from the cool farmer lady in Vista. These are thornless and quite prolific and super Yum!

Speaking of crops, I had a lovely time at Jon's folk's house in Del Mar where Jon and Alexandra shared their deep detailed wisdom for growing the best veggies and garden variety of plants, shrubs and trees by making a biodiverse compost to enrich the soil and add nutrient dense soil for abundant nutritious plants. Alexandra made burgers and Wayne grilled them, while Jon's Dad provided wines for tasting along with each variety's detailed fact sheets to be better educated when choosing and tasting wine. It was a huge hit and something out of a movie with everyone touring the beautiful estate and all the hard work those two put into growing food for themselves and sharing with their community of friends.  

The most recent garden club meetup was at the Ramona Ranch Winery, with owner and operator Terry shown here educating the wine tasters on how the grapes are grown, pruned back and some of the challenges and successes of having your own winery. Their wine is certified sustainable and was very tasty. The club members brought snacks and the tour lasted just over 2 hours and was a lot of fun and very educational.  

Oh...Cowboy Junkies who I've loved since high school. Went with Dario as Jill had zero interest.  

My Morning Jacket at SDSU outdoor with Jill...good time, but missed the opener, M. Ward...and I really enjoy his music, so some other time. Jill wasn't into it. different strokes.

What a voice!

Sweet venue, especially if you go here for college! 

Oh...geez...this one spun me for a loop since I had to fight with two other high bidders and drop the time to nearly 1 second before entering a solid bid to shake the weak hands out. I'm about to fly into Naples and drive this honey bucket of love home. The color is rare from '85 and '86 only in Marble Gray.

And the interior is even more rare with Gray Green with Sport Seats, while instrument faces, LSD, Sport Suspension, and only 34,000 miles on an original owner car. They invited me to stay the night and take me to dinner, and I drive out in the morning up the Florida panhandle.  

We're a little out of order here, since this was the original white night that entered my life in October of 2022. A '85 Marble Gray with blue full leather interior, optioned 16" Fuchs, and another one owner 32k original miles targa that I flew into Reno and blasted home in the dark with windows down and heater blaring. Before leaving I went to Wally World and did a parking lot oil change..geezzz...sometime you gotta muster the offence and git'r'done, and had new tires mounted minutes before they closed. I was on cloud nine and the car sounded and ran like a top through the early night, into the first morning light. Wow!  

Okay...so the 77 year old Robert Knapp, was a business owner out of Nebraska from my googling. He is in a 10 million dollar palace in Naples with his wife, and kids must be off since this car is titled to his trust. He installed full flow SST headers so it won't pass smog. There is likely no CAT and he has a performance chip in the DME...so, I did buy a used exhaust system on ebay for $1250 complete with CAT. I will learn about the chip and might have to title this in Texas on my way home, so I need to locate the license. I still have Oregon as well, and could even do S. Dakota remotely...since this car will not be an easy CARB compliant vehicle. There is talk about a Leno Law and the Orange Man might make things easier for classic car owners...we'll see, but obviously, I wasn't concerned enough to avoid this opportunity even if risky due to tariffs and falling stock market cycles. F-it...this is the unicorn we all want to own! I would sell all the others for this sweet rare, sexy beast to share the fast lane with.

Jill out in Yosemite at the hotsprings with her Dad, Charlie and Sally his 2nd wife. We did a photo shoot with a unicorn mask, under a dramatic atmospheric backdrop with rainbows! Quite outstanding! We decided to go separate way in early 2025, as I have always dreamt of living a quieter, more open and free life in the country, and she is still keeping a tune to the busier social and career life in North County SD. Good memories though and I think we're both feeling good with the decision.  

Over at my neighbor, Jill's for a letting go ceremony. She is a love!