Offenhauser!

The weather got cold - about 5 degrees with a pretty decent wind chill at 7:00 AM yesterday. Didn't feel like doing much outside so I watched a couple of movies on TCM and switched over to cowboy movies on Grit TV while catching up on my reading. Ol' Tex had a rather distinctive voice. The movie Wichita had him doing the opening number. Me being an old fart who has watched many, many a cowboy movie and a fan of  the old cowboy singers, recognized his voice right away. He cut a lot of records but you don't hear much Tex anymore.

Finished up the wheel for the rail bike, The wheel cleaned up nicely with the steel wool. New tire and tube, a few new spokes and it's all set to put back under the bike.

I went out for breakfast Saturday morning with Cuzzin Ricky and my brother from a different mother. My brother and I exchange gifts for Christmas every year, even though the exchange rarely occurs on Christmas. Much to my surprise he got me a polished aluminum Offenhauser valve cover for the slant-six project. It looks good in the photo even though the lighting in the basement wasn't the best, but it looks even better up close and personal. I couldn't have asked for a better gift. Actually, I never would have even considered asking for something like this. I need to pick up some of the long "wing nut" hold down bolts now.

I got the blueprint for the car laminated recently. I want to tack a print on the wall for a handy reference so I can start gathering and/or making parts. Definitely need a car to drop the engine in so I can show off that valve cover.

I also picked up some floor grating to use for a burning table with the new plasma cutter Friday. The place I buy my steel from had some cut-offs that were about 8"-9" wide and 36" long. I'll weld the three pieces I picked up together, set them on the new horses and I'll have a decent little burning table that'll be easy to set up and knock down.

It's supposed to be a bit warmer the next couple of days so I'm planning on getting out in the shop a bit. I've got some more work to do for the side hustle as well as my own stuff to play with. I told my boss I was planning on calling it quits about Labor Day. He wasn't all that pleased to hear that, especially since I've started doing more and more fabricating and plastic welding. He tossed out the idea of me still making parts at home which I might consider. I'll see when the time gets near.