Memory & Mammary Lane

 

I checked my stats the other day and was amazed at the number of hits here on the old blog the last few days. Friday I had over 5000 views which is about twice the number I get in a normal month. Don't know what prompted the radical increase but it's all good. I scrolled down on the stats page to maybe get a clue as to where all the activity was coming from and while I didn't really come up with an answer, I did take a look at several of my posts from back in time that showed up.

The photo above was when I "raised the roof" on the partially completed new barn that went down in the 80-90 mph straight-line wind storm that came through ten years ago. I've been plying my trade for well over 50 years now and have built and or repaired a little bit of everything. Most of it was just run of the mill stuff that most welders with a bit of machining skill could have done equally as well or better.

However, rebuilding that barn is one of the jobs I'm most proud of. I got a bit of help with some of the muscle work, like raising the new walls and the door header, but engineering the job, moving the roof section out of the way, building the lifting cradle and the spreader bar was all me. And I can guarantee you that that building won't be coming down in my lifetime. A tornado might pull the skin off of it but if one does come, more than likely the barn will spin off the foundation like Auntie Em's house and be set down somewhere in a farmer's field. 

Since I was employed as a high school teacher much of the time while blogging, I never posted much "Rule 5" stuff but I did sneak in a little something every once in a while. Now that I'm no longer employed, I suppose I could post a few more photos of a mature nature. Might help the page count but that's not all that important to me. I do enjoy seeing B&W photos of the classic beauties, though. And Sophia defines the term classic beauty in my book.

This was also in one of the posts that came up in my perusing of the post list. I had forgotten all about this shirt - must have worn it out since it's not around here anymore. Special 79 used to have a blog I enjoyed reading. The blog is gone but he does have a page of merchandise now. The tee shirt is on the page but it's sold out. However, that shirt got me looking in the "tee shirt tub" to check the inventory. Most everything in the tub has never been worn, with a couple of exceptions. Most of them are from a walking, running or cycling event I participated in but I do have some others that should bring top dollar when the grandsons set up the tee shirt stand at my funeral. I'm thinking of running a Tee Shirt Tuesday feature here on the blog. I imagine I can come close to stretching it out at least until next summer, maybe a year. 

I also took the time to read several of the old posts on the topic of education. While I'm still a staunch defender of education in general and technical education in particular, I'm no longer involved so I don't feel qualified to comment on what's going on currently - in spite of the asinine nature of what's actually transpiring that I am aware of. I'm going to get in touch with my buddy Kevin and offer him the opportunity for a guest post occasionally since he's back in the classroom again. I do miss being informed but I don't miss the job. I still have nothing but respect for those that are in the trenches fighting the good battle day in and day out. God bless each and every one of you. 

'Nother Bung

 

Finished machining the bungs for the rear radius rods. Like always, the second one went quicker than the first, even with checking my phone a dozen times. Thursday I must have gotten about 10 phone calls that were from numbers not in my directory. Yesterday that number was more like 20. When the shooting starts, after they clean up Washington, they need to move on to the telemarketers. I went north yesterday and the phone rang four times on my way up. It's against the law to talk on a cell phone while your vehicle is in motion on the highway. I'll be really pissed if I take my phone out of my pocket to check to see who's calling and get a ticket. I normally get maybe 3-4 calls per week, if that. If this keeps up I'll have to figure out how to get them to stop or just turn my phone off and tell the few people who I actually wish to talk to to call at a specific time and I'll turn the phone back on then. 

One of the calls was a text from Fed-Ex about a delivery - be nice if my tires showed up a month ahead of schedule. I'm not holding my breath, however.

It's been chilly and rainy the last couple of days so I got the shop ready for heating. Supposed to have some days at the beginning of next week with the high temps in the forties. Might need to fire it up. I've already broke out the long johns. I'm too old to work in the cold.

Making Bungs & Photos

 

I took the wife to the hospital yesterday for a blood test and a port flush. She didn't have it marked on the big calendar, so it caught me off guard. She said she didn't put it on the calendar because she was planning on going by herself but no reason I couldn't drive her. It was a beautiful fall day and we took the long way home out through the country. 

When I got home I made one of the end pieces for the rear radius rods. In the photo, it's sitting in the threaded end of the 1" pipe I cut off. I don't need the thread as I'm going to weld the bung into the pipe and thread the Ford tie rod end into it just like the front radius rod is. I'll make the second one up today. 

I had to buy a tap to thread the bung. The standard 11/16" fine thread is 16 TPI. The Ford tie rod ends call for 18 TPI. I bought it from Speedway Motors and the price was actually pretty reasonable. At that price I was expecting something made in China but it's a USA made item and it cut the threads slicker than a whistle. I'll probably never use it again after finishing the radius rods but it'll be here if I need it.

I dropped the motorbike off at the storage space yesterday, got a few groceries and loaded the roll of film in the can before taking the Missus to the hospital. Seems that the film is Bergger Pancro 400. I shot the roll in an old twins lens with out any metering device. I'm a little rusty at estimating exposure levels and since after I shot the first couple of frames I could no longer remember what the film speed was, I'm surprised I got any printable negatives at all. This was the first time using this brand of film so it was basically just a trial run. However, if you're going to experiment, you should really control the variables like the film speed. 

I normally mix my own film developer that's similar to Kodak D-23, which has close to the same development times as D-76, one of the most common B&W developers. The times listed inside the film box called for 17 minutes when mixed 1+1 for D-76. That's unusually long but that's what I did. The development seemed to be OK judging by the first few frames on the roll where I actually knew what the film speed was and exposed it accordingly. I might try printing a couple of them just to see how the grain looks when enlarged. I've got another roll of this same film - maybe load it up in my better twin lens and try a few low light shots and a couple of flash photos. 

I want to try making some tintypes one of these days. Freestyle photo, where I usually buy my photographic supplies, sells the Rockland kit. It comes with 4x5 plates and it just so happens I've got two cameras that take 4x5 film. I've got some film holders already loaded with film. I should shoot those up and then see about making some tintypes. It's been awhile since I've done any photography work. Now with the time change coming and the days getting shorter, I can work in my "darkroom" without having to wait until 9:00 at night.  

Sportin' Wood

 

The walnut my brother sent me for the jitney dash arrived yesterday morning. Really good looking pieces of wood. Should look great with the white gauges, especially after a couple of coats of varnish. Maybe use a couple of the drops to make scales for a knife. I've made a few over the years but they never turned out quite as good as I would have liked. Probably shouldn't even think about making something else right now - there's plenty on the plate already. Big thanks to my brother.

I received a text  from UPS as to the day the package would be delivered, nothing new there. However, I received another one yesterday morning that allowed me to follow the drivers route and it gave me a relatively small window as to when the package would be here. Much nicer than the generic e-mail the shippers usually send out stating that it will be there sometime before 7:00 pm.

I got the bracket for the jitney motor sandblasted and painted, finished cleaning up the chopper motorbike and got it loaded in the back of the truck for delivery today. Did a bit more work in the back of the shop so I've got more room to work around the bead roller and the "baby Hossfeld".

I talked to my running buddy and the trip to see Bazooka Joe is officially cancelled out. I don't know how many fights Joe signed to fight with this promoter but I'm hoping to get out there and see one of his fights at least. My buddy tells me there's an amateur fight in Terre Haute coming up. Might be a couple guys from the gym here on the card. If so, I'll probably go down for that one. Wrap some hands, get some pie - always a good day. Especially since I've been mostly home bound for what is fast approaching two years.

Another day of piddlin' around on the schedule. Nothing specific lined up but I'll get out to the shop and tackle something. 

Jitney Stuff

 

Spent a little time in the shop yesterday after going to the boxing gym. Bazooka Joe had called me earlier in the day about my going to his fight Saturday night. I don't think I'm going to make the trip, much as I'd like to. He'll be fighting about 6-1/2 hours away, the hotels that are close by are already full-up, and I'm still trying to avoid crowds. I did go to the gym to watch Joe spar but only because it was just him and his sparring partner. His weight is good, he's always in good shape, the guy he's fighting is shorter than him, so he should be set. If he gets a clean shot at the guy, he'll go down. Joe hits hard.

After coming home I took the gas tank off the motorbike chopper, took a link out of the pedal chain and polished the chrome. I'm going to take it over to my storage space for the winter. 

I also did a little work on the jitney. The bracket in the above photo bolts on the side of the block and to the bellhousing of the transmission. I don't have one with my original engine, so this one will get sandblasted and painted. I'll probably do that today. If I wait much longer it'll be too cold for painting unless I run the heat and I'm not quite ready for that yet.

I managed to loosen up all the nuts on the studs holding the manifolds on. I've been spraying them with Blaster off and on. Seems to have done the trick. I want to separate the intake from the exhaust so I can start toying with how I'm going to make the exhaust header. It's going to be a little tricky dropping the tubes down under the intake runners but there's nothing else in the way after that. I'm planning a 6 into 1 with all the tubes dumping into a single long tube that runs almost the length of the car just below the "door". Not the most efficient as far as gas flow goes but it's the look I want.

The dash wood should be here today - looking forward to seeing what it looks like. I also made a couple of temporary cross pieces to set the seat on to get an idea where I should place it. I moved the cab sheet metal back to give myself some more leg room but I need to be able to sit down and check the fit.

Kind of all over the map yesterday but moved forward a bit just the same.

Energy

 

Old John Prine  song about Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Muhlenberg is southwest from where my people come from. Not a happy subject that strip mining. A lot of the mining property has been reclaimed in the eastern part of the state and is used for recreational purposes. There's a pretty sizeable elk herd over that way now and West Virginia has introduced a herd also. You can hunt them now in Kentucky and I would imagine that will be the story in West Virginia in a few years. Hunting and other recreation uses bring in a lot of money but it can't replace the money the miners were making. Quite a few communities fell on hard times when the mines closed. 

The climate change, green energy issue, whatever you want to call it, won't be resolved easily. Things easily fixed like LED lighting, better insulation, programmable thermostats. and heat pumps can help all of us save money and energy around the house but some of the other solutions are trading one problem for another. Solar fields, windmills and electric vehicles being prime examples. The railroad tracks that run by my place service a coal fired generating station that was scheduled to close soon. Last I heard they're going to delay the closing since there's already a shortage of electricity and the big solar fields that are being built around here are still a couple of years away from coming online. 

I don't have the solution other than trying to keep my usage to a minimum. Mostly because I'm cheap - running the furnace is literally money that just goes up in smoke. I've made some noticeable changes to the old shack since I moved in years ago that have cut down on my energy consumption. I need to replace a few windows next - something I should have done years ago. They would have paid for themselves by now. Of course, since you get no return on money in the bank these days, the pay back schedule on the windows has probably accelerated. 

Since the temperatures are more seasonable than they have been, meaning chilly, time to get the shop ready to go for the winter, get the tractor and the snowblower ready to go and make sure I've got some ice-melt. I'll mow at least once more, maybe twice, and then see about repairing the one spindle, change the oil and have it ready to go for next spring. Regardless of the weather or propane cost, I'm going to have to spend some serious time in the shop this winter if the jitney is going to be a runner next year.

I saw that Wes Cooley passed away a week or so ago. Great motorcycle racer - Superbike champion a couple of times. I had the opportunity to talk with him once. Seemed like a nice guy and very friendly to his fans. I saw him race at Road America where he had to start at the back of the pack. I don't remember if he won the race but he rode that Suzuki like a man possessed. RIP Mr. Cooley.

Gauges

 

Fit all the gauges and switches in the mock-up dash. Things look good - the crappy photo from the flip phone doesn't do it justice. The carb on my motor was set up with a manual choke when I got it, so that's what I'm going with. The gauges are backlit, so I need a switch for them and any other lights I might add. I'll get a switch and the choke cable so I know what size holes I need to bore. I might need to counterbore the backside of the walnut dash to accommodate the short stem on the switches. I also need to come up with a way to cover the backside of the tach and fasten it securely to the dash. It's designed for mounting on the steering column or externally on the dash rather than being sunk into the dash. 

I took a look at mounting the seat and figuring out the placement of the fuel cell and the battery. I haven't had to re-do too many things yet but there's some head scratching still to come. That's OK though. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. 

Good News

With all the bad and/or idiotic things in the news these days, I've got some good things going on here on the home front. I received a missive from a cousin of mine the other day. Seems she and her husband were planning on a trip to the great Commonwealth of Kentucky and wanted some info on where our grandparents were originally from. I called her and we had a nice catch-up chat and I filled her in on the short version of the story. Since they were heading to another destination farther east to meet some of the husband's relatives, I steered her towards Claudia Sander's Dinner House in Shelbyville. 

Claudia was the Colonel's wife. The Missus and I went to her original location years ago which was just a big two-story house that later burned down. We also have visited the new location a couple of times. The food is just like Grandma used to make. I'm not a big fan of cooked spinach but the creamed spinach is probably the best anywhere. The cousin sent me a photo of her lunch and on my recommendation and in memory of her father, she ordered the spinach. Don't know if she had any dessert, but if she didn't, that was a mistake. I'm more than a little bit jealous now. I'm going to have to get down that way next year come hell or high water.

 That's good eatin' right there.

I got a call from my brother yesterday. He got me a couple of pieces of walnut for the jitney dash sent out. They're already planed to thickness and cut to width. He sent me two in case I screw one up. Can't beat that.

I took a closer look at the gauges and switches for the dash yesterday. The on/off switch is a big, heavy duty thing. The large diameter on the bottom is 2-3/4" so I needed to change my layout on the dash a bit.

The left side is as the original layout, the right side moved around a bit to accommodate the large diameter  of the ignition cut-off. The three small circles represent the starter button, choke cable and provision for another switch for lights, an accessory or indicator light. I'm going to cut all the proper holes in this one to see how I like the layout prior to cutting on the walnut piece. I might even put some stain on the luan to darken it up to see how the dark wood and the white face gauges get along.

I also mixed up some film developer. I've got a roll of film in one of my old twin lenses that still has a couple of shots left on it. However, it's been in the camera so long I can't remember the film speed. It's either 100 or 400. While black & white film has some latitude with proper exposure, a couple of stops is asking a lot.  Not exactly the Zone System as used by Ansel Adams. I'll shoot up the last couple of frames on the roll and get it developed and then load up some fresh film in one of the cameras. The digital stuff like I shoot on here is handy but I like B&W and print making.

Harvest Day

 

As predicted, the farmer showed up yesterday to pick the corn. So it's official, winter's on the way. You could feel it in the air yesterday as well - temperature's low to mid-fifties, cloudy and gusty winds. About time to break out some warm clothes.

This will be my view looking from the porch now until spring, unless it's snow covered, that is.

No frost warnings yet but it won't be long. The few peppers and tomatoes I planted this year still have a little produce I can harvest but with the colder temperatures and the shorter days, can't count on much more. The chickens have already started to throttle back on the egg production. As long as I don't have to buy any, I'm good. 

I bought into the CSA this year and was happy with both the amount and quality of the produce, however, the Missus didn't care for some of the offerings. I think next year I'll sign up again but get the smaller quantity, rather than the middle amount every week, since we had some go to waste. Knowing now what the offerings on tap are, I'll think I'll plant a few more things in my garden to get a selection more to the liking of the Missus and to get some things to preserve. Food prices are probably going to remain high. Seeds might be hard to come by also.  

The Missus and I went to the dentist yesterday - I needed to have an old filling replaced and the Missus was scheduled to have a tooth pulled. There was another patient having some troubles, so an ambulance was called and my appointment got put back about an hour, with the Missus rescheduled. Didn't do diddly after getting home. I figured taking the afternoon off rather than working in the shop would give my chest a chance to heal before I did something stupid again. If the truth were known, a visit to a thoracic surgeon is probably what I need. I went to several doctors years ago and got no where. After falling on my back while loading up the motorcycle a couple years ago, that seemed to help the situation, as crazy as that sounds. In the meantime, I'll just watch my Ps & Qs and get a few light duty things done.

Update

 

I read a very interesting article the other day at Running Cause I Can't Fly2. The article titled "When a Train Wreck is No Accident", is from here. It's not an article dealing with covid for a change but about the financial mess we're in and how we got here - short, concise and scary. The same day Running Cause I Can't Fly also had an article from Natural News about the difficulty farmers are having getting tractor tires and repair parts. When I stopped at the tire place to check on inner tubes for my project the counterman alluded to having trouble getting tires - might be what he was referring to. I've never looked at Natural News prior to reading this article but I might have to add it to my daily reading list. If you're not prepared for what's coming, might need to get on that chop-chop.

I talked to my brother again yesterday and he's got a piece of walnut that will work for the dash. I also talked to my cousin and he has a planer that I can use to get the piece cleaned up and planed to thickness. So that decision has been made - just need for the board to show up. No hurry, still have the steering to hook up and get some welding done on the trials bike. Plus, when I changed the mower blades the other day, one of the bolts didn't want to tighten up. 

I don't know how it could have possibly stripped. It's a fine thread 5/8 bolt that has at least an inch of thread engaged when it's all the way in the spindle. I always run the bolts in by hand until the lock washer is making contact, so no way I could have cross-threaded it. I tighten the bolts up with a breaker bar but it's only about 16" long. I snug the bolts up but I can't imagine I torqued it enough to strip out the spindle threads. It cut the grass OK as long as I went slow through the tall stuff but I could tell it was slipping some. One more thing to add to the list.

New Word

 

From Here

débrouillard(e): noun [dey-broo-yar]

A resourceful problem solver, self-reliant yet trusted by others to create solutions through action and ingenuity, particularly under difficult circumstances.

I learned a new word the other day - debrouillard. I'd like to think I'm a pretty resourceful , self-reliant problem solver at least as far as things go in the welding and related fields. I don't know that others would want to place their trust in me in any other types of situations but I'm good with that.

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I got a phone call from my older brother yesterday. He saw my post about the dash for the jitney and let me know he's got some walnut that would be just jim-dandy for that. He's going to check the size of the boards he has and get back to me. I told him I needed one about 12" wide but after talking to him I went out to the shop and measured it exactly and it's only 10-1/4". I checked with my cousin and he's got a planer I can use to clean it up and reduce the thickness to what I want. I had just gotten home from the lumber yard when he called and had unloaded a piece of birch plywood I had bought. The walnut would be much nicer and I can always take the plywood back or keep it for another project.

Besides the lumber yard, I went to Tractor Supply to get some new mower blades. While walking through the parking lot I came across the above. Nice of them to give you fair warning.

My gauges and ignition parts came yesterday. The switch is larger than I thought it would be but it's heavy duty. Now that I've got all the parts, I'll get them layed out and fit-up on the temporary dash and see how they're going to look. The white faces would definitely look good with a walnut dash.

I managed to screw up my chest again. I've been dealing with this on and off for at least ten years. I got caught in the rain last week while mowing and jogged from the barn to the garage and from the garage to the shop and then from the shop to the house. No pain or issue when I was running but about two hours later I started to feel it and it's been aggravating me ever since to some degree. I've been to several doctors and physical therapy but it's never been properly diagnosed or remedied. It usually takes a week or two to settle back down as long as I avoid certain things - the kind of things I'm normally doing, of course. That'll slow me down for a bit but I'll keep pecking away at some of the light duty ones.

Tonight's the Hunter's Moon rather than the Harvest Moon but harvest is in full swing around here. I imagine the farmer will be showing up around here in the next week or so, signifying that winter is just around the corner. The older I get the more I dread it and the faster it comes around. As long as I'm around to see the changing of the seasons, I guess I don't have all that much to complain about.

More Dash

 

I tinkered around a bit with the dash layout. The horns on the bottom corners really help the look. I cut out some circles to represent the three gauges, tachometer, ignition switch, starter button, and one other for a choke cable or light switch if I decide to add them. TVI left a comment on my last post. He mentioned perhaps incorporating the engine turned aluminum as a gauge cluster on a wooden dash. Not a bad idea but since space is at a premium, I don't think that'll work. However, if I could figure out how to make that happen, I think I'd use brass rather than aluminum. The brass would compliment the wood finish nicely. 

I'll keep working on the steering and shop for gauges. I was planning on using the classic Stewart Warner black face gauges but white faces would look good with a wood dash. Decisions - decisions. 

I bolted in the bearing on the inside of the plywood to start on connecting the actual steering shaft. The quick disconnect will make it easy to align the spokes into what ever position I want to make it easy to read the gauges. 

Happy birthday today to Surly. He's starting to get up in years but I suppose that's what happens when his old man is 71. Enjoy your day, buddy! 

The Triplets of Bellville

 

I watched the Triplets of Bellville yesterday - I hadn't seen it in at least five years and I was thinking I needed something bicycling oriented beside Breaking Away. The Triplets of Belleville is probably one of the best animated films I've ever seen. The above trailer has Django Reinhardt style guitar work and will have humming along to it later. Not really an ear worm, unless you speak French. Then it might get to you. You can watch the whole thing on You Tube if you want to spend roughly 81 minutes watching an adult cartoon. Most entertaining.

Parts and materials came in yesterday for both the rear radius rods and the steering. 

I worked on making a pattern for the dash after taking the Missus to the doctor on Tuesday. I started with a piece of cardboard to get the shape and then transferred it to a piece of luan. My original thought was to make a piece I could fasten the steering parts to and make the layout for the gauges and switches. When I'm happy with that, transfer the layout to a piece of engine turned aluminum. However, there's no reason I couldn't go with a wooden dash. Get a piece of nice looking 3/8" plywood with a couple of coats of spar varnish on it. I'll see how the luan looks after I get the steering connected and the gauges layed out. Whether I go with wood or aluminum, I need to add a couple of curved horns on the bottom corners.

Progress is slow but it's still progress.

Let's Work Together

 

Looks like a few people are actually starting to work together by taking a stand against the jab mandates. Southwest Airlines had to cancel a bunch of flights, American Airlines cancelled many flights, Amtrak had to cancel a few trains, and it looks like more outfits are going to push back against firing their employees for refusing the "vaccine", especially since people are finding out that the shots aren't really a vaccine and people are dying or suffering very serious side effects after taking them. If it could kill Marvin Hagler, that's reason enough not to take it. 

Thanks to all of the employees at Southwest and the others for standing up. And while the flight cancellations are an inconvenience for a lot of people, remember who the people are who brought this about. And it ain't about a pandemic anymore, if it ever was. 

Making Whoopee

Not making any whoopee but I did make it to level 1000 on my favorite time-waster.

I was hoping I would go up to a platinum grandmaster or something when I hit level 1000. I moved from the bronze and silver to the gold grandmaster fairly quickly but I've been on it for what seems like forever. I guess there is no platinum or I'll have to play a million games to get there. I'm thinking that's not going to happen. I need to get back to reading more books and exercise more rather than spending so much time on the computer. I've pretty well weaned myself off social media but I still read quite a few blogs, mostly for financial, covid and political updates and opinions. 

I spent a little time polishing up the spokes on the jitney steering wheel. That's a little bit of getting the cart before the horse perhaps but I wanted to see how it was going to clean up. I ordered a u-joint for the steering shaft along with another piece of shafting. When that comes in I should have everything I need to hook the steering up. I also ordered some parts and materials for the rear radius rods. I've got some design/engineering work to do on the steering. I'm hoping to have it figured out by the time the parts all show up.

I received another update from my buddy on the Rickati motor. He took some vacation time, so he's spending some of it working on my motor. I made the gear gazer show casing the bevel gears years ago when I worked at the vocational school. We got a CNC mill just before they closed the machine tool program down. I taught myself how to program the machine, I also took a night school CAD class. It became painfully obvious that figuring out where two intersecting arcs meet to four decimal places using geometry and trig longhand was a fool's errand. There've been plenty of times I wished I still had access to that mill. However, on the jitney era machines, they never had any of the fancy CAD or CNC stuff at their disposal. I'll be happy if my machine work comes close to comparing with what they used to turn out.

I'm taking the Missus for another doctor's visit today. That'll take up a good portion of the day but I've started on another book. My buddy Kevin is going to be real disappointed with my book count this year. 

 

Valve Job +

 

I went to the memorial service for my old neighbor yesterday. I went by the old neighborhood and farm house I lived in growing up on the way to the cemetery. Lots of good memories there. The neighbors had three children, two girls and a boy. I was just a bit older than the oldest girl and our families were pretty tight. I've seen the youngest of the clan every couple of years but haven't seen the other two children in about thirty years. Really good to get a chance to see them and a few others from the old neighborhood. The minister did a fine job with the service also - RIP Eloise.

I received the above photo in a text from my buddy whose working on my motor for the vintage trials bike. Looks like the cylinder head is about done. I've got a couple of things to do but it looks like I should get busy on finishing up the frame.

I found another bike ride yet this year - a 62 miler in November. It's being put on by the Indiana Randonneurs. You have to be a member of the National group to ride due to insurance regulations. I was a member of the group years ago but never did any of the rides. The rides are typically progressive from 100km to 600 km by 100km increments. There's also 1200km events every couple of years. I can't see me riding anything more than the 100km (62 mile) rides so joining again might be mostly a donation to the cause but I'm going to look into the November ride a little deeper. 

Taking It Easy

The three of us who did the bike ride on Saturday did our walkies yesterday - 3 miles. All of us were a little stiff in the morning but none of us were really sore. We discussed a few options now that the biking season is pretty well over to keep getting out and exercising. Along with our Sunday walks we're thinking about doing some hiking. We need to look into some places that are within a couple hours drive, where we can hike for six or seven hours and then head back home. I totaled up my biking mileage for the season and I'm at 913. I'm going to try to work in the remaining miles to get to an even 1000 yet this year. Maybe get the back pack out and put a little ballast in it for my walkies if I'm going to do some hiking.

I didn't do much else besides the walkies yesterday. I did make the lower strap for the steering wheel spinner and I opened up the box of parts to hook up the steering. I gave them a quick stare to get the wheels turning a bit. 

I'm going to a memorial service today for my former neighbor. Lovely woman - made it to 97 I believe. She was living in Kentucky but is being buried up here next to her husband and my mother. I've been taking care of the husband's grave for years since he's neighbors with my mom and the rest of  their family and mine are spread all over the country. I'm sure they'll want me to keep doing the Christmas decoration, so we'll get that hashed out today.

I'll see what strikes my fancy on the project front in the next couple of days. Because there's so much to be done, doesn't really matter what I work on. Just need to keep pecking away at it.

Bike Ride

 Did the 50 miler yesterday - pretty warm for an October day. Temps in the low eighties about the time we finished. I took my old Motobecane that I gave to my running buddy a few years back that has been in my garage since our last ride for her stepson to ride. I had raised the seat up for him but I had forgotten the clamp didn't work as designed. As soon as he sat on it the first time it bottomed out against the seat tube. My running buddy is short legged, so that's where it worked well for her. I tried tightening it up again but no go. I had a pair of vise grips in the truck so I fastened those around the seat post to maintain the proper height. He got some interesting comments at the sag stops. He also had a flat tire on the ride - the back tire of course. I got it patched up pretty quick like and we were back on the road.

One nice thing about the cycling community, just about everyone who rode by us asked if we needed help. That's always comforting, especially since neither of my companions could have fixed it on their own. Since the ride was sponsored by the fire department, they had one of their vehicles touring the route and the number to call them was written on the route sheet. 

I saw a pair of Rivendell bikes at one of the SAG stops. Don't see many of these or any steel frame bikes any more. Other than these, my old Raleigh and the Motobecane, that was it that I saw. Lots of aluminum and carbon fiber. A couple of guys commented on our downtube shifters. Old school tech, no doubt about it. 

It was great to be out in the country on a sunny day. Looking forward to some more rides next season, especially since my running buddy bought herself a new bicycle. Maybe work up to a century ride.

STB Does A Selfie!

Instead of wearing the top layer of tee shirts in the drawer, I decided to dig deeper and get a few others into the rotation. When I ran the marathon I actually got two shirts - one when I picked up my race packet and one they handed to me when I crossed the finish line. Pretty proud of running and finishing a race of 26.2 miles, especially one that had a couple of serious hills. The 15 years that have passed seems like a lifetime ago now. While my running days are long gone, I'm doing 50 miles on the bicycle today.

The odometer reading just shy of another 100 miles of training. I would have made it if it wasn't for the rain on a couple of the recent mornings. The ride today is mostly flat ground so it should be easier than the 41 miler I did about a month ago. My running buddy bought herself a new bicycle, so she should have an easier time of it today.

Had a nice day of knocking around yesterday - bicycle ride, chiropractor, gas station, grocery store, Dollar Store and the library. Got my bicycle checked out and loaded up and made the bracket for the steering wheel spinner. It's made from 1/8" stainless and shining like a diamond in a pig's ass. I still need to make the piece that goes on the bottom of the spoke but nothing to that.

The parts for hooking up the steering were supposed to show up yesterday according to the tracking number but that didn't happen. Maybe they'll be here when I get done with my ride. I don't plan on doing anything else today but it would be a good afternoon for staring at the parts and the car since I don't have all the details worked out yet. 

Every Day A Little Something

 

Two very complimentary voices on an Orbison classic. Just glad I've got nothing to cry about. I have been doing some bitchin' about the current state of affairs but as the Missus keeps reminding me, just give it up since you can't change it. 

I went to the Tractor Supply yesterday to get some new mower blades - which they didn't have by the way - but they did have a steering wheel spinner. I didn't figure it would fit real well due to the shape of my wheel but it's a Bakelite spinner which is in keeping with the look. The white pattern I had already cut out thinking I'd make my own. Instead, I'll just cut the pattern out of a sheet of stainless and weld the pin in. I'll have to make a new clamping piece for the bottom as well but that's all part of the fun. The parts to get started hooking up the steering are due today.

I did a little research on mounting the rear end in the jitney. I'm leaning towards the more traditional radius rod to match the front. The pattern above will weld to the differential and the square section at the top left corner represents the spring perch. Since the radius rods will be installed at an angle, I'm not sure a panhard rod will be required. However, an additional set of rods off the top of the differential at an angle to the frame rails would insure the side to side play would not be an issue and take the pressure off the spring perches as far as wanting to pivot off the 3 degree angle needed to match the angle of the transmission necessary for good performance of the drive shaft. 

I could also go with a ladder bar set-up. That way I wouldn't need the other two top bars but I would need a panhard bar or a track locator to keep things aligned. There's a similar set-up that uses the old GM pickup truck parts. The differential is bolted on top of the long arms that run to a crossmember up front at an angle. I don't know what the current NASCAR cars run but that's the set-up they used along with coil springs and jack screws for many years. Those cars handled well on both the ovals and the road courses.

I'm going to think on things a bit more and then dive in

Thinking About My Rear End

 

Just a little something to think about since there's more than a few people contemplating just such an operation.

I went rummaging around out in the barn to see what I had to allow me to mock-up the rear axle on the jitney and found a piece of 3" stainless tubing. That should be about the same size as the tube on the rear I'm planning on using. I took the adjustable lower legs off the saw horse and set the tube on a couple of pieces of 2x4 that had a vee groove in them left over from some other job. The height from the floor to the center of the tubing is right at the same height as to the center of the front hubs. 

I'm thinking since the radius of the rear tires will be about 2-1/2" larger than the fronts, I should raise the rear up just a little. I'm thinking a little rake toward the nose will be OK but when the weight gets on the car the front will settle more due to the weight of the engine, so I need to keep the frame close to level.  

This is the quick change as it's set-up in a T-Bucket chassis from Speedway. This set-up has two additional bars from the top of the differential center section to the top corners of the frame rather than a panhard bar. Fitting a panhard bar would be difficult with the quick change gear housing sticking out the back. I seem to recall a track locating bar being installed on some drag cars with coil-overs. That triangulates the radius rods so the rear end can't shift from side to side as a result of movement from the spring shackles. I'm going to do a little more digging on that. I need to get a panhard bar figured out for the front end still along with some shock absorbers. Lots of  engineering for a guy who has never done anything with transverse spring suspensions. 

Fungi & Subframes

 

These popped up at the end of the lane the other day. We get quite a variety of fungi around the place - occasionally some morels pop up but since those are the only mushrooms I can recognize that are edible, I steer clear of everything else. I was surprised to see these but we've had a bunch of rain lately. 

I welded on the rear subframe yesterday. I'm about 90% certain I'm going to get the old Ford style quick change rear for it. Last I checked with Speedway it was on back order. If it's going to be a while until it's available, I think I'll get a piece of pipe and use that to figure out the spring hangers and radius rods I'll need. I can get everything tacked together on the pipe and when I get the rearend, just swap everything from the pipe mockup to the rearend and a way I'll go.

My Wife Thinks You're Dead

 

I've been listening to some Junior Brown out in the shop lately - helluva guitar player.

I received a text yesterday from my buddy with the Rickati engine. Looks like he's making some progress. I'll have to get busy and get the frame finish welded.

I didn't get anything done in the shop yesterday but I did order some parts for the jitney steering. I'm planning on running a chain and sprocket set-up. The parts should be here in a week or so. In the meantime I'll get the frame extensions tacked in place along with the rear frame assembly.

I did do a few chores around the house since it was raining. The missus cut my hair, I put up a new shower curtain and took a look at my preps. I usually take care of that when the time changes along with changing the clocks and the batteries in the smoke alarms, squirting some WD-40 in the outside locks, getting all the snow removal stuff ready to go. With the problems with the supply chain and rising prices, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a head start on a few things. 

Beezer Sidecover

 

I welded up a sidecover for one of Surly's buddies. It's somewhat of an oddity. It's to allow the use of a magneto instead of the conventional points ignition. If you look closely you can see where I welded up a crack in the left side of the photo between the bolt and shifter holes. I also filled up a couple of divots. Filing it down and making it pretty wasn't part of the deal but I filed the welds down to make sure there wasn't any porosity. When you weld a crack in an aluminum case like this, there's usually oil in the crack that turns to carbon when you weld over it. That prevents the weld bead from flowing together. I sandblasted the inside of the case and cut a slight groove with the die grinder on the outside but there was still a little bit of carbon formed when I welded the crack. I filed it down, put another pass on it and then filed it again to be sure it would clean up. 

You'll notice there aren't many screw holes on the cover. There are bosses cast in for them you can see on the inside but they were never drilled and counterbored. Might be why it cracked. I wonder how they ever got it to seal up oil tight. Those old British bikes were famous for dripping oil straight from the factory.

I cut the pieces to stretch the frame on the jitney yesterday. After finishing the steering wheel adapter, I sat down in the cab to see how I would fit and I definitely need some more leg room. The pieces in the photo are about 11" long - should give me what I need. 

I made a cardboard pattern for the firewall. I already have the aluminum one made but didn't have it trimmed around the transmission. Now I can do that and get a better idea about hooking up the steering. I think I've got it fairly well figured out. I'm going to order some parts in the next few days and it shouldn't be long after that when I find out if it's going to work or not.

Keyway

 

I cut the keyway in the adapter for the jitney steering wheel. The keyway in the hub on the wheel follows the 2 degree taper. If I chucked the adapter at 90 degrees to the axis of the end mill, I'd end up with a keyway that would be deeper on the bottom than on the top. Making a tapered key is no problem but I wouldn't be able to drive it in once the adapter is mated to the quick disconnect. I made a quickie fixture to hold the adapter at a 2 degree angle so the keyway would be the same depth the length of the two parts. 

The fixture consists of a handle I use for some bearing and oil seal drivers along with a couple of metal working dollies. I drilled and tapped the piece I used to check the bolt circle diameter of the disconnect and threaded it onto the handle. I then cut the top surface at the two degree angle after making sure the bolt holes were properly oriented. I then bolted the adapter to it and cut the keyway per usual practice.

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I had to take the Missus back to one of her several health providers yesterday morning. I stopped at the tire shop on the way home and checked on the availability of tubes. He assured me tubes shouldn't be a problem but he did say he was having trouble getting some tires. Not totally reassuring but I've always had good service there, so I'll respect his judgement.

Did a few other things around the shack the last couple of days - met with a guy who's going to replace a power pole in the back yard, sharpened the mower blades and mowed the front yard, and baked an apple pie. I need the Missus to show me how to make a pie crust from scratch. The store bought crusts I've used for the two pies I've made just can't compare to what she makes. The apple filling is first rate, however. I really should have made some cider this year since I had a bumper crop of apples. I still might try my hand at making a cobbler or apple slices.