Business As Usual

 

I took a run over to the side hustle yesterday. The sink in the above photo needs to go where this one is:

That's going to take some head scratching and a couple of Saturdays. I also talked to the boss about the other job he wants done. No time line on either of these yet. 

I finished removing the bushings from the axle and the spring. Took more than a hammer - but nothing a welder with an oxy-acetylene torch couldn't handle.

Here's the bits and pieces. The ones in the foreground came out of the axle. I assume the pivot bolts had those ridges from the factory as even as they are. You can see where they wore through the rubber they were bonded to and were eating away the outer steel shell. The pieces on top came out of the spring. They just bounced when I hit them with the hammer, so I got the torch out and burned some of the rubber out. The bolts came right out after that but the steel shell was stuck in there pretty good. I split the shell with the torch in a couple of places and then I could drive them out. On these kinds of jobs the rust actually works in your favor. The thin shell heats up hot enough to cut before the heavier section gets hot enough to cut into and the rust layer between the parts helps to prevent cutting into the spring or whatever it is you're working on. As long as you've got a clean tip and a steady hand you can burn thin parts out without damaging the other piece.

The second hollyhock is starting to bloom - different color this time. There's still one more to bloom. No idea what color that one will be. Things are looking pretty nice around here now. The grass had started to get brown and the corn wasn't doing much but the recent rains have really perked things up. You can hear the corn growing now.

I'm planning on some more work on the jitney again today - maybe a little on the Rickati to stimulate the brain cells enough to finalize the brake and shifter arrangement.