Monday, Monday

Monday's my day of certain chores. Besides cleaning the toilet in the back bath, it's also the day I water my orchid. I've had this thing for several years. I received it as a gift and it was blooming when I got it but hasn't bloomed since. It's added several leaves, so it's been prospering but it's finally going to bloom again. The first flower should be popping out in a few days and if it's like the last time, it will bloom for quite a while.

Since the weather wasn't too bad out, I went for a bike ride and then did some work in the garden. I cleared out around the asparagus and the rhubarb. No sign of the asparagus yet but the rhubarb is sprouting. It won't be too long and I'll be able to make some rhubarb bread. That and the persimmon bread in the fall are about the only baking I do, unless you count throwing a frozen pizza in the oven.

While I was out I noticed a fresh ground hog dig under my shop. Will it never end? There are two burrows in the raspberries along the edge of the building. It's all sand out there so it was pretty easy digging for the little devil. I shoveled sand back in the holes before I called it a day. I'll see what they look like this morning and decide my plan of action. I don't want my shop floor undermined.

I did get a bit more done on the track racer. I made the spreaders for the frame rails to hold things in alignment. I bolted a piece of angle to each rail and then welded a piece of square tubing to them, making sure they were the right distance apart and square to the rails. I also marked a center point on the tube. The photo shows the one at the rear of the frame, there's an identical one at the front.

My steel order is scheduled to arrive today. I can make the piece to finish up the cab section and then I can work on the front end. I don't want to weld the front nose on until I get it closed in and even then, I want to be able to knock it all down for storage. It looks like the lockdown will be going on for at least another month. If I get the front spring mount, axle and wishbones taken care of, I'll have to put this on pause until I can find myself a transmission. There's a junkyard not too far away. I might call them and see if they have something like I'm looking for.

I got a text message from my boss last evening. He included a photo of a repair on one of the pieces of equipment that used one of the repair parts I designed and had made up in stock. They're gonna miss me when I'm gone. Actually, even though I've been getting a lot done around the shack, I almost miss not going in to work. But I also miss not being able to go to the races or travel. I hear Kentucky is really pretty this time of year. Actually, Cuzzin Ricky and I were going to be headed south for a race in a couple of weeks. However, we're all in this together, so no B&W from here.

Stay safe, stay at home if you can, and wash your hands.

Quotes

"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

When your time comes to die,

be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death,

so that when their time comes they weep and pray

for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."

- Tecumseh, Shawnee

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important
than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes. "

- Charles Swindoll

Just a couple of things to keep in mind during these difficult times. As long as the Missus and I stay home we should be OK. I did go out on Friday to pick up a few things at the grocery and to get my argon bottle. However, there have now been five reported cases in our county, so it's here. The bar/restaurant by our house is open for carry-outs but if this stay at home rule stays in effect for much longer, that'll be it for him. He just bought the business last year and I wouldn't think he has much in the way of a cash cushion built up.

I've been out on my bicycle the last few days for a short ride and the car traffic on the side roads seems to be lighter than usual but the state highway seemed to be pretty busy yesterday. People are going to have to take this seriously if it's going to get under control. I've been putting my mail in a plastic bag every day and then letting it sit for 24 hours, and then washing my hands. While I was out Friday I made sure I used my hand sanitizer between stops and stripped down right away when I got home. The clothes went into the washer and I jumped in the shower. I don't see me mixing with anyone for at least another two weeks now. 

Stay safe. BTW, the quotes above are from here - lots of good stuff there.

Up On The Horses

I put the frame rails up on the sawhorses yesterday, squared them up and then clamped them to the horses. One of the rails is about a 1/16" longer than the other one, so I need to touch it up with the grinder. I welded up the braces and the doubler on the nose. That just about used up all my argon. I called the body shop that is the bottle drop site to see if they are still open. Apparently they are an essential business - of which I am thankful for.

The local grocery store has senior only hours from 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning. The Missus has a short list for me, so I'll run in and take care of that, pick up my argon bottle, get my ass home, and wash my hands. That will be in addition to using the sanitizer I carry in my truck.

There have been three reported cases of the virus in the county now, so it's time to take every precaution. With the grocery run this morning we should be set for a couple of weeks. If the situation around here worsens, we'll just hunker down and make do. I've got plenty of parts and supplies to work on one project or another, a pile of books to read and several jigsaw puzzles. I do want to get a bit more done on the track racer project - pretty excited about this one.

Taters and Track Racer

Broke training the other night - not like I've been doing much of it anyway. I fried up a big, fat pork chop Tuesday night with some taters, green pepper and onion. I split the pork chop with the Missus, so the amount of meat was held to a minimum. I had some of the taters left over, so yesterday morning I fixed myself an omelet with the leftovers along with a bit of Mozzarella and a side of toast for brunch. Damn tasty, even if I do say so myself. However, I've got to get back on the program or this quarantine is going to have me ballooning up like a puffer fish. I did skip lunch due to the late breakfast and I put a couple of miles in on the bicycle prior to supper. So actually it was a pretty decent day, eating wise.

I worked on the nose for the track racer again yesterday. In the photo above I've got the outer piece clamped in position with the layout for the braces and the front stiffener clamped in place. After the photo I tacked the stiffener on and drilled the holes in it for the stay bolts. I then fit up the inner piece of the frame and tacked everything together.

Looks pretty good so far. I'll get all the inner pieces welded up and then I can make the top and bottom. I'll drill some holes in the top and bottom pieces where the inner pieces are so I can plug weld them to the top and bottom pieces. I'll also fishplate the inner and outer seams where the nose joins the frame rails for additional strength. It's supposed to be warm again today, so I'll probably get the frame up on the horses and get it squared up so I can tack/clamp the nose to the frame rails in the proper position. I'll be able to locate the front end when I get that done.

I'm going to split the wishbone on the old Ford front end to make them radius rods, but after I get that done I need to know the kingpin angle of inclination to get the brackets located on the frame rails properly. The brackets I purchased are designed to bolt on, so I need to get this all figured out before I weld the frame rails together so I can put them on the drill press to drill the holes for those brackets and to mount the steering box, etc. The material I ordered should be here in a couple of days. When that shows up I can finish the cowl/cab unit. I'll have to wait until I get a trans before I can locate that and that will have to wait until I'm out of quarantine. I'll go as far as I can on this one and then jump back on a couple of the motorcycle projects. No shortage of things to work on.

Retirement? is Fun

The piece in the middle of the photo with the vertical rod attached to it is a replacement part I made for a little two wheeled cart at the side hustle. The original plastic part broke, so the technician asked me if I could do anything with it. Not all that tricky to do, just a little time consuming. They're going to miss me now that I'm staying home. I don't know how long this stay at home thing is going to last, but it'll give me a chance to see how I like retirement. If I get bored, I'll continue working after the cooties go away. If I like how it goes hanging around the shack every day, I'll just continue doing it.

Tried out the new welder yesterday - just a bit of 7018 on the bending fork but it welded nicely. The machine has a knob to set the "dig" force. I set it at about the mid point and set the amperage about 95 for the 3/32" rod and away I went. I might hook the TIG stuff up to see how that part of it works. I've got my old welder sold but I don't want to move it out because I told the guy who's going to buy it he can check it out under power and I'll give him a couple of lessons on welding aluminum. Of course things have to ease up on the virus front before that will happen.

Close up of the bending fork. Nothing fancy but blacksmiths have been using tools like this for years. It worked pretty well for bending the piece for the nose. The material is 1/8 x 2-3/4 so it bends easily. The hard part is keeping the bends close together and even so it appears as if it was rolled rather than looking like it was run through a set of crimping rolls. And then when you get one side bent, you have to make the other side match.

The piece came out looking pretty nice. I'll make an inner piece and then put some extra pieces between the two to make sure it keeps its shape and to strengthen it, especially where the spring hanger is going to get welded on. I might drill through both pieces and the fishplate I'm planning on to stiffen the front and weld in a couple of stay-bolts. Maybe use carriage bolts so the outside looks like a rivet, cut the bolt so it's flush with the inside and then weld it to the inner plate.

I need to get the frame rails up on the horses, level and square and then make a couple of cross pieces that will hold the two rails at the right distance apart but are removable so I can take the individual rails to the drill press when I locate the pieces that will be bolted up.

I ordered my material to finish the cowl/dash assembly. I'll need to bend that piece in an arc as well. Because it will be made from square tubing, that'll be a little tougher to bend. I figure if they could do all of this 90-100 years ago, I should be able to. Right?

Triumph

That's one fine looking piece of machinery right there, by golly. Saw that in an e-mail from Iron & Air magazine.

Same source. If I didn't already get so many magazines and spend so much time on the computer, I'd definitely subscribe. However, Motorcyclist is now gone and I've let my subscription to Small Farm Journal lapse. I was going to let my Wooden Boat subscription lapse as well but I actually received a personal letter from them concerning my subscription so I sent them a check. While I'm no sailor, I've been subscribing for maybe 30 years. I've had a hankerin' to build my own boat and I enjoy looking at the boats and admiring the design work and craftsmanship in the magazine. Some of you may remember I was building one at the high school when I had the heart attack. All construction came to a halt then but it's still on the list - one of these days.

Got a little bit of work done in the shop yesterday. I made up a little bending fork to put in the vise to use on bending the parts for the track racer. The round stock I used is some hard stuff. After tacking one of the pieces on I whacked it with the hammer to square it up and the tack broke. It's not like that's never happened before but it was obvious from inspecting the tack that the material is not your ordinary 1020 steel. Since I wired up the new welder, I think finish weld it with some low hydrogen rods rather than TIG welding it, which is what I used to tack the pieces together. I want to try out the new machine anyway.

Looks like Indiana is curtailing travel except for essential businesses. Starting tomorrow, all of us non-essentials are to stay home until further notice. I'm going out today and fill up the gas tanks on the vehicles. I've got a couple of books to return to the library but they've closed the after hours book drop. I need to call my boss and tell him I won't be coming in any time soon. I do have some parts here at the house to work on. I'll get those taken care of and keep them here until the quarantine ends or he needs them desperately and then he can come pick them up. 

Day 3

Not the best picture but about the best my little flip phone is capable of. Regardless, the transition piece is finished. The top edge is wrapped with a piece of 1/4" round. I had my two welding students help me. Their welding skills were plenty good enough for the job but their fabricating skills leave a lot to be desired. Of course that was the idea of having them help me. We used a torch, vise-grips and a small grinder with a cut-off wheel. Not much to it, but you have to start somewhere. And making things is more fun than just welding on practice plates.

Didn't go out to the shop yesterday at all. I went outside to take care of the chickens and tend to a couple other little chores but that was it. It was cold again in the morning and then started snowing in the afternoon. All told we probably got about three inches. Nice big flakes, making for a pretty landscape outside but it could start warming up any time as far as I'm concerned. I'm planning on working in the shop some today. It's supposed to get into the forties, so if I run the furnace a bit it'll be plenty warm for my old bones. I've got a couple of little jobs for sure and then I'll see what I come up with. The main thing at this point is just stay away from people and take advantage of the free time to get some things done.

Titanic

Things are starting to get interesting. I went uptown to cash my check and go to the hardware store this morning. Drove by the grocery store on the way and the parking lot was packed to the gills. I stopped in there last evening on my way home from work and while there weren't many people in the store, the store was either out of or low on many items.

The bank lobby is now closed until further notice, so I had to use the drive-up. Not much of an inconvenience and I won't be drawing much in the way of checks for a while anyway.

The cashiers at the hardware store were wearing masks and gloves. I wouldn't even have gone in except my new welder didn't come with a plug so I wanted to get that up and running. The salesman from the welding supply dropped off my oxygen bottle yesterday. He hooked me up with another big tank with a fresh test date, so I'm good for another ten years. Since I bought the plasma cutter, this tank should last me pretty much my lifetime.

I need to get a couple of pieces of material so I think I'm going to order them online. It'll cost me a bit more but my local guy doesn't have exactly what I need anyway.

A buddy of mine needed to borrow something and I told him I'd just leave it outside on the porch for him. Usually we'd spend some time in the shop BS-ing but I told him we're doing the self quarantine thing and he understood completely. As of yesterday there were 126 cases  of the virus in the state, none in our county. So the odds of catching this thing are still pretty slim but might as well get into the proper mindset. I'm sure it won't be long and the governor will ban all non-essential travel. I think Illinois put such a ban into effect last evening.

Stay safe, stay home as much as possible, reduce the risk to yourself and others.                                       

Quarantine

I decided to take a sabbatical from work for an indefinite time period. The Missus and I will be drastically restricting our movements outside our property. As it now stands I'll still be teaching welding to my two students but only after everyone else has left the building. I can enter through a back door that no-one else uses, stay for an hour and then come home. If any cases of the virus turn up locally, that'll be it - total lock-down at that point. We can get anything we might need online but we're pretty well set. I did read that the virus can live on packaging for quite a while, so any deliveries will have to be sprayed or left out in the sunshine for a bit.

Looks like I'll be able to catch up on my reading and pursue the projects in earnest. My new welding machine is supposed to be delivered today. I am going to have to go out and get a refill on my argon bottle soon. Should be minimum risk on that. I've got a small bottle of hand sanitizer in the truck I use after every stop now. Crazy way to live but I'm afraid this is just the beginning.

Stay safe.

St. Paddy's Day

Surly and the oldest grandson came down Sunday and started working on a job. The grandson did a little wire-wheeling on some tubing, I welded a bit on a fender for Surly and Surly kept watch over the grandson. Surly also left me a couple of heat shields to repair for his Harley big twin project. I picked up some steel yesterday for the transition piece to finish that job along with some angle for Surly.

Not sure what I'm going to do about work. Staying home might be the most prudent option. What I do isn't all that important in the big picture and the Missus and I fit the profile of those most at risk from the corona virus. Might have to have a talk with the boss and see what he's got planned for the company in the near future now that lots of businesses and schools are closing.

I had a little e-mail  back and forth with my brother. He's had some medical issues that have sidelined him for a while. Fortunately, he's doing OK now but he hasn't been able to finish the family history project. I'm going to print out another hard copy and see about getting it printed. Maybe even print it in house. Printers are relatively inexpensive, so even if I wear mine out, not that big of an expense. Have to see what the local print shop quotes me. I'm not too worried about the expense as much as I just want the thing done. 

I think I'm going to break training and have some corn beef and cabbage later today. The place has carry-out only now but that's fine with me. The Missus and I didn't go out for our anniversary and now it looks like all our meals will be in-house, either from carry-out or made at home. This virus thing is going to wreak havoc on a lot of businesses and individuals. I listened to the President's and the Illinois governor's speech yesterday. Never seen anything like this before. The Missus and I shouldn't be affected much - as long as we don't catch it, that is. There's going to be a huge ripple effect that's going to have very serious consequences for many, and for a long time in the future, however. Not going to be pretty.

Stay safe everyone. Let's hope for a quick resolution with a minimum of disruption.

Weekend Update

I'm thinking the new Bronco won't be looking too much like this one but this is what I'd be looking for. I was hoping for the new Jeep pickup to be this sort of a thing only with a longer bed. Since the only ones I've seen are four doors, and the one I priced was stickered out at $55K, that went out the window. My hope now is for the Bronco to be more like one of the original Broncos. Short wheelbase with a removable hardtop.

Surly's talking about revamping an old boat trailer into some sort of utility/bike hauler. That being the case I won't need a pickup. I can haul most of my junk in the Bronco and use the trailer for long stuff. I've got the new motorcycle carrier for hauling my motorbike around and I could make/buy a carrier for the push bike that would fit in the receiver hitch since the bed would probably be too short. I'll have to check in with the local Ford dealer one of these days and get an ETA on the Bronco. I need to stop by anyway and see about getting my phone synched. Indiana's new phone law will prevent me from holding the phone while driving. Since I still use a flip phone, I never text. And because it's a flip phone, might be it can't be synched anyway.

I tacked the transition piece together the other day at work. I ground the tacks off and then let my two welding students weld it up. The boys did a pretty good job of it. I'm going to grind it and get a piece of 3/8" round stock to wrap around the top. They can help me with that and then finish the welding. The finished product will get held in place with three 1/4" screws.

After finishing up Cuzzin Ricky's job the other day, I was going to work on shaping the pieces for the track racer. However, they are a little too wide to fit in my bender. No biggie, I said to myself. I'll just run over to the high school and run them through the roller. That would be easier than bending them like I did for the ring on the transition piece anyway. Then I found out all the schools around here are going to be closed for at least three weeks. Definitely time to finish my roller.

Went shopping yesterday morning to pick up a few things. There wasn't any craziness with bottled water or toilet paper but the meat counter at the little local grocery I go to was doing a land office business. The Missus and I should be set now if we need to bunker-in for awhile. The Golden Gloves has been cancelled. Maybe the Isle of Man as well.  Looks like maybe Cuzzin Ricky and I won't be going to any races, at least this spring. The warm weather is supposed to chase the virus away but who knows how long that will take. It was snowing most of the day yesterday. Started sticking about time the sun went down. Spring is officially here next week, though. I'm ready.

Headache

I went out yesterday morning to open up the shop to work on Cuzzin Ricky's job and then walked to the back of my property to see the progress on my new neighbor. There's an industrial park bordering the south edge of my place and this building is supposed to be a warehouse. Warehouses usually make good neighbors. I looked into buying that lot myself thinking I could put up a building where I'd be able to rent half of it out and build myself a nice shop that was only a five minute walk away. However, with the cost of the property being pretty salty, I didn't want to go on the hook for $200K at my age. The pay-back was going to be too long for my comfort level.

.

The headache rack job went pretty smooth. We spent about four hours working on it but we weren't hitting it too hard. Nice leisurely pace on a fun little job. The finished product is obviously upside down in the photo - or maybe it's not too obvious if you aren't familiar these sorts of things. Anyway, in the photo it's resting on a 1/4" plate that will be a mount for a light bar over the cab. We had to trim off the channels that rest on top of the side rails. I used the new plasma. I'm still a little shaky with it. In fact, the first cut looked like it was attacked by the metal munching moon mice but I got it straightened up and it looked pretty good going out the door.

I ran some errands after Rick left - had to get some more chicken feed in case I need to self-quarantine. I still need to pick up some more cat and dog food but other than that, I should be set. I get a kick with all the people worried about running out of toilet paper. Apparently they don't remember the days of using real diapers and having to wash them out. No reason you couldn't just use a rag to wipe your fanny and wash it out when you're done. I haven't seen anyone selling out of diaper pails. They probably don't even make those anymore.

I didn't get anything of my own done after that but did finish up one job for the side hustle and started on another. They're going to miss me when I'm gone.

49 and Counting

Wedding anniversary today - 49 years. Lots of good times over the years. Hoping for a few more.

We were supposed to go to the dentist today but apparently there was a mix-up on the date. The Missus had the appointment card but when she didn't get the reminder call, she called in and we got about a month reprieve. Because of that, I'm going to do a bit of welding for Cuzzin Ricky today.

Depending on how long that takes, I might start on the nose for the track racer. The strips laying next to the one frame rail are for both the front and rear of the frame. I'll need some more material but I won't know exactly what until I bend up the pieces for the outsides. Since I have no way to bend 2 x 3 tubing, I'm going to have to make it out of four pieces and weld it together - should be fun.

I made a little more progress on the transition piece for work. This is kind of a fill-in job for me. It probably won't get used until next fall but maybe this spring. I bent up the ring on my "baby Hossfeld". It would have been substantially easier if I had my roll done. Definitely have that one on the list to complete this year.

I ordered a new welder this week. I sent off the money order, so now I wait for it to show up. I upgraded the TIG torch and the foot pedal and ordered a cover for it. The accessory items were cheaper than the price on the web, so that was a pleasant surprise. With the Corona virus going around, I might have to disinfect it before using it, however.

Anniversary Dates

Friday was my one year anniversary at the part-time gig I'm working. No cake or celebration but I was thinking about my Ireland trip I took last year and decided to look in the archives here and stumbled across the date of my start right after returning from Ireland.

I've got my 49th wedding anniversary coming up this week. That's something worth celebrating. And in typical old couple fashion, we're both going to the dentist that day. We will at least go out to eat later, I imagine. Things definitely are not what they used to be but in many ways they've gotten better. No regrets, that's for sure.

I posted the Fureys last year after returning from Ireland. I've always liked that song and they do a nice version. I wouldn't mind returning to Ireland. I was thinking seriously about going to Scotland but I think this year the prudent thing would be to just stay home and avoid any and all crowds.

I've got plenty to keep me busy around here after all. I welded up a points cover for the 900. I've got a good one on the bike and I think I've got a decent spare besides. I'd like to make a finned cover to match the clutch cover on that side of the bike, similar to the one I made for the Sprint not too long ago. Basically, just weld a plate to the top of the existing cover and then mill the slots for the fins with a ball end mill. The old Superbike racers shortened up the points cover to keep it from dragging when cornering. First off, I can't see me ever trying to lean the bike over that far. Don't know if I ever was brave enough for that. I damn sure ain't going to try it at my age now - things take too long to heal. The reality of it is, I'm probably going to have the bike connected to the sidecar most of the time so cornering clearance won't be a concern if the points cover sticks out a bit. Just looking for the cool factor.

The bottom photo shows the beginning of the cowl/cockpit for the track racer. I need to pick up some more material to finish it but it's a start. It's sitting in the position on the frame that it calls for in the plans. There's still more to add to the rear of the frame yet but I should have plenty of room for the Slant-six and a transmission up front without crowding my big feet. I'll see about finishing up the remaining frame pieces while I'm shopping for a trans. Once I've got that, fab up some motor mounts and a cross member for the trans and then hang some suspension on it. While there's no hurry on this project, I want to get the big ticket items I'll need while I'm still working. Labor Day deadline as it now stands.

Indy Trip Part 2

A few more pics from the Speedway Museum. I have no idea what the value of the inventory there is but it has to be a huge number. Most of the cars are probably in better shape than when they were raced, at least cosmetically. I don't know if the older cars would have had all that chrome on them originally but they wear it well.

When we first came in on Thursday we were only in the door for a couple of seconds before Cuzzin Ricky was grabbing my arm and pointing out a penny squashing machine. We've started collecting them on our trips, so I dug some change out of my pocket and started the gears turning. As luck would have it, my penny didn't drop. There was a guy behind us who I thought was waiting to squash his own penny but when he saw mine didn't drop, he pulled the machine away from the wall, unlocked it and gave me my penny. How 'bout that for luck? He also told us about a web site for collectors of these things - pennycollector.com. They have a listing of all the machines in the various states. There are several in Indiana here. Rick and I will have to scout locations before we travel in the future. There is one at Purdue. I'll have to contact my buddy Kevin and have him get me one from there.

Nice day yesterday. I got out and did a little walking with my running buddy and then got out into the shop for a bit. I mixed up some fresh chemicals for B&W photo work, so I want to shoot some more before the chemicals go bad. While in the shop I converted a roll of 120 film to 620 to shoot with one of my old folding cameras. I made a mandrel for doing this years ago. If you type in 620 film in the search box a couple of posts will come up, both explaining the process and displaying a photo of the Kodak Vollenda I'll be using next time I go out. I also did a bit of layout work for the track racer project. I'm planning on getting out in the shop again today. Maybe get out on the bicycle or walk a little more. Should be around 60 this afternoon.

Indy Trip

Cuzzin Ricky and I took the Himalayan to Indy yesterday. No issues with the bike carrier what-so-ever. The Speedway Museum had the "From the Vault" display going on, so we went there after dropping the bike off at the dealer. Several things on display that Rick and I had  never seen. Cool place to visit, as always.

There was a group from IUPUI there scanning in the parts from an old Offy motor. They're creating digital files of things in the Speedway museum and others, some of which will be available to the public. I don't know how much of the IMS museum stuff will be available but it's pretty cool that a mope like me would be able to have the opportunity to recreate one of the most iconic engines in motor racing history just by going online and downloading the files.

More to come.

Frame Rails

I've got the beginnings of a car now. The two frame rails are cut to length. The far ends in the photo have an angle cut which is half the total angle required for the kick up at the rear of the frame. You always need to cut half the total required angle from each side in order for the lengths of the mating edges to be the same.

The piece of cardboard in the foreground is the layout for the nose of the car. I'm going to get some pieces sheared to the correct width for the inner and outer sides. After I bend them to shape I'll cut some pieces for the top and bottom and then weld the four pieces together, grind them down and then weld it to the frame rails when I get ready to assemble the completed frame. The same goes for the tail end of the frame. I'm thinking that'll be a while. Unlike a lot of my projects, that's by design.

The piece laying on the frame rails is the beginnings of the cockpit. That piece will be the cowl. I'll weld a piece of flat to the front of it for the sides of the hood to lay against. I need to make the back frame piece that will support the dash and the steering shaft. Again, I'll get that made up and have it ready to go when I get around to needing it. The placement is specified on the plans, naturally, but I want to get the motor set in place to make sure I'll have enough leg room. I'm going to have to go in search of a transmission one of these days. I'll need to get that bolted up to the engine to determine where to place the crossmember to support the tailshaft.

As I mentioned previously, I've got plenty of other projects I want to finish and Surly and his boys have a couple of things that will require my help. However, I can make sub-assemblies and gather parts for this one, so when the time comes to actually get busy on this thing, I'll be able to jump on it.

Good Weekend

Interesting weather of late. We got some snow and cold last week. It was 22 when I came home from work Friday evening. Saturday was sunny but still a little on the cold side. I don't know that it got above freezing but as long as you were in the sun, it didn't require much more than a hoodie to be comfortable. Sunday the temps got up into the fifties as it did last weekend. I took advantage of the nice weather and loaded up the Himalayan onto the new carrier and took it for a shake-down cruise on a couple of the back roads around the shack. Seems to work OK. I'll take it for another spin before heading to Indy, however.

I did a little rough layout work for the track racer project. My plan is to make the tail end of the frame rails and the nose ahead of time. When those are done I'll tack the frame rails together with some temporary cross members and make the motor mounts. At that point I can weld all the frame pieces together and put the suspension under it. I decided to split the original wishbone. I bought a kit from Speedway that was in the last post.

There's a couple of weld bosses and Ford tie rod ends in the kit and I also bought the plates for mounting the wishbone to the frame rails. I'm not going to try and build this thing as a strict replica but I want it to look like an "updated" original. Since it'll have disc brakes, that'll be a dead give-away that it's not an original but I'm hoping most of the rest of it will look as it would have way back when.

Surly and the grandsons came down Saturday. Surly bought himself a new pickup he wanted to show me and the one grandson wanted to check out the little midget racer I built years ago. He's way too tall for it now but we can stretch it to fit. Surly also wanted to discuss the old boat trailer he pawned off on me a few years back. I debated working on that before I built the bike carrier but it certainly won't hurt to have a little utility trailer around for us to use.

I've been doing pretty good at getting out into the shop most days for at least a couple of hours. Now that it's going to start warming up, I'm going to try and spend a bit more time out there. Lots of projects, need to keep at it. And while I've got plenty of things to work on of my own, I'm looking forward to working along side my boys.