Carb Thoughts

 

I've been thinking about modifying the intake manifold on the jitney project to accept a different carburetor(s) more in keeping with the old school look. Holly has a couple of 2 bbl carbs that would offer all the performance I could expect from the Slant-Six but I'm not digging the look.

I might be convinced to change my mind if I had an intake manifold like this one, however.

Stromberg knock-offs are about $200.00. One would probably suffice, two would require a serious amount of work to make it happen. While this is a classic hot rod carb, just one's not going to do it. A pair of the stock one barrels might be in my future, however. 

While I'm thinking about carbs, I can paint the Firestone logo on the side of the tires. I bought this the other day. The tires definitely have to have the white lettering on them, regardless of the number of carbs on the rig. Now that it's getting dark earlier, I can take a tire down the basement and paint it after supper. I've got decent light, saw horses, a stool and a radio. Might as well keep busy in the evenings.

Beautiful Fall Weather - Shame it's Not Going to Last

 

Corn picking time again - that's the official end of the season by my calendar. Cold weather and snow will be here soon now. We've already had a few hard freezes and a spit of snow. It's supposed to warm up a bit this coming week again, so I'm going to try and get the stub axle on the trailer repaired before it turns cold for good.

Since it was warm yesterday afternoon and I had a bit of white paint left, I painted the bench. The legs/end pieces are castings that I bought from a former employer somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 years ago. The wooden slats have been replaced a number of times, but the cast iron should be good for at least one more lifetime beyond my own.

The trailer parts showed up yesterday, so I put the bearing races in the hubs and then painted the back sides. I'll paint the front side today. If you look closely, you can see the driver behind the new stub axle. I got lucky and I already had a driver the proper size for the races. The handle is threaded 3/4" course threads, and I've got a couple more drivers for bearings, as well as a couple of dollies I can thread onto the handle. After doing this kind of stuff for years, I've made, bought, or somehow or another accumulated all kinds of this stuff. It's gotten to the point now, however, the big question is can I find it when I want it. I've been working on improving my system, meaning actually having one. However, every time I get on a roll, something comes along to derail the progress. I picked up my veggies from the CSA yesterday and the owner asked me about welding some things - three or four little things but something else to fix, just the same. It's a curse. 

Road Trip

 I was on the road most of the day yesterday with Cuzzin Ricky. He's got a building project involving some bar joists he wanted me to check out with him. I'm going to do some engineering work and see what I can come up with. It's going to involve a bit of trigonometry and right-angle geometry, but no algebra. 

I'm not sure who is going to do the fab work on this project. I wouldn't mind doing the welding but winter's coming and I don't have a spot to work on them that has a concrete floor or heat. I don't know what his timeline is, but it'll be interesting to see how it works out.

I picked up my tires and wheels after getting back to town along with some chicken feed, a bottle of Glass Wax the hardware store ordered for me and mowed the front yard. Roofers are here today, so most all of the roof on the shack will be new now. I ordered some new windows this past week also. Getting ahead of the game on the maintenance for a change.  

What's All the Hub-Bub, Bub

 

Photo by Cuzzin Ricky

Cuzzin Ricky came by to pick up his tractor yesterday, but before he left we picked up my table saw and moved it upstairs. The tractor had just enough height to make the lift. Other than the fact I'll now have to move the material upstairs to use the saw, it'll be more convenient than moving the vehicles out of the garage area and dragging the saw out in the open to use it. 

When I finished up working the gravel last week, I parked the tractor out front of the barn. Next time I went to start it, it was no go. Turns out the ignition condenser was bad. It just had a tune-up, so it should have been good for a 100,000. Getting the correct one turned out to be a pain in the ass. Had to go to a couple of parts stores, and they had to order the part. Finally got the right one and got it installed when the temperature was just slightly above freezing, instead of when it was nice and warm.

Loaded up and going home. Glad to see it go, but really appreciate Cuzzin Ricky taking care of me. The driveway's in much better shape - check that one off the list.

After the tractor left, I cleaned up the trailer hubs. I dug out my little parts washer and got everything degreased and chased the threads. I need to get some more solvent for the parts washer. I used to use Stoddard's Standard Solvent but rather than reloading with a petroleum distillate, might be a good idea to find something a little more environmentally friendly as well as something less toxic on me as well.

Like Hogan's Goat

 

I painted the fenders while painting the wheels, so they're looking good. But then I started on the hubs and things quickly deteriorated.

I pulled the first hub off and the axle looked okay, but the bearings were shot. It had Timken tapered rollers on the 1" straight shaft, but water had gotten in there. Not only were things rusted, but the cups were galled and the spacer the bearing is supposed to butt up to spins around the shaft. That's an easy enough fix - grind down some of the weld holding the shaft into the pipe and then put a small weld onto the spacer to keep it fixed to the end of the axle and there I'll be.

The other side is a total mess. The stub appears to be bent, or maybe it was just welded in crooked. There's no spacer for the bearing to butt up against because the stub is too short as well as way under diameter due to being ground on. There's also a couple of deep grinder gouges on the bottom side you can't see in the photo. No way to properly fix that mess without replacing the stub axle.

The hub in the foreground had no grease seal and the bearing should have been pushed up against the weld on the axle. However, both hubs had quite a bit of play when I took them apart. Yep, like Hogan's goat.

 Cuzzin Ricky hipped me to etrailer.com. I ordered a new stub axle for the one side, bearings, cups and seals for both sides. The parts should be here the first part of next week. Everything is Chinese, but hard to argue with the price when you're trying to do a job on the cheap. Not sure what it's going to take to replace the stub, but I'll figure it out I'm sure.

Hump Day on the Homefront

 

I came across this one on Facebook - that's one sweet Moto Guzzi. I've always had a hankerin' to own one. I thought seriously about buying one of the V7 models before pulling the trigger on the Himalayan. 

There was one of these Griso models for sale locally a couple of years back. The price was decent, probably should have bought it. As little as I ride anymore, probably would have scratched the itch that only a big twin with plenty of torque can do, and I always liked the looks of these.

Making steady progress on the trailer project. Sandblasting the wheels was a slow process, but they look nice. The color is rattle can Garden Green from Ace. It is a one-step prime and paint. I used this paint on the motorbike a few years back and it seems to hold up well. Of course, the motorbike is stored inside, so I don't know how the paint will hold up if the trailer spends most of its time in the elements. Since there are clips for hubcaps on the wheels, I might look into coming up with a pair if I could get them cheap. So far, I'm within my projected budget but hubcaps might be gilding the lily.

As soon as things dry out, I'm going to pull the hubs off and replace or re-pack the wheel bearings. Once the wheels are back on I'll pull the trailer into the big barn and paint the frame. Install the lights after that, put the deck down and it'll be useable. I'll see if I can find replacement bushings for the suspension parts and get those swapped out later on. That's probably not really necessary, but in for a penny, in for a pound and all that. 

Last Call for Tee Shirt Tuesday

 

Here's one I like but don't hear too often. However, that's what I like about the two stations I normally listen to. Both of them play a decent variety of music and by switching back and forth I don't get the same songs all the time. It would be nice if I could get some jazz or bluegrass once in a while, but I suppose that would be asking too much. C. Crane has a radio that might allow that to happen. I don't know what kind of reception I would get in the shop, but they do have an additional antenna that might make it work. As it is, the local stations give me a decent selection of music as well as the weather. Fortunately, I don't need to commute, so I don't worry too much about the road reports. I've about got everything ready for winter, so I shouldn't have to leave the house if the weather's bad.

I'm still taking the shotgun approach to working on the projects. I worked on cleaning up the wheels for the trailer on Sunday. They're just a little too big to fit in the sandblaster, so I took a little cup wire wheel to them and cleaned up as much as I could that way, then took them to the tire shop for them to break them down. I'll blast the remaining rust and paint off, get them painted and get the tires remounted. 

Been doing some household chores as well - installed a new shower head, cleaning some windows, mowing for the final time of the season, along with all the usual suspects. I did manage to make a couple of loaves of persimmon bread. The Missus had some dried fruit in the freezer she bought that was a mix for making a fruitcake. Since it had been in the freezer a while, she said I could use that if I wanted. Since the recipe calls for brandy, or cognac, or whiskey, I soaked the dried fruit overnight in  two-thirds of a cup of Irish whiskey to plump it back up. Worked well. The texture and taste are not quite fruitcake, but not supposed to be. I did get a flyer from Gethsemani Farms the other day, coincidentally. Their fruitcake is not cheap, but the best I've ever tasted. Must be the Kentucky bourbon they use.

This one seemed to be the most appropriate tee shirt in the collection to end Tee Shirt Tuesday on. It's been a full year me pulling tee shirts out of the drawers and the tub under the bed. I've still got a few more but that's enough for me. So, from American Machine & Foundry and myself, I say Adios. And you know the rest.

Boxing Again

 

I painted the trim on the little garden shed yesterday morning. I was planning on doing that last year, but it got late in the season and I ran out of paint - convenient time to call it quits. I've been using Royal brand paint from Ace Hardware and I'm really pleased with it. It's self priming, covers well and seems to weather well. It's almost twenty bucks for a quart, but since everything has gone up in price and I don't have to make more than a seven mile drive to the hardware store. Good enough.

Went to the fights again yesterday afternoon/evening. It was a mixed card of boxing and Muy Thai. For everyone on the card it was either their first or second fight. Our guy won a unanimous decision but the other guy fought well. A real good amateur fight. Theirs was the second bout of the card. The first fight was a Muy Thai bout, and it was stopped in the second round when one of the fighters puked. That's always fun. 

Another good night out - really glad that for all practical purposes, covid is a thing of the past. Some of these young fighters have been spinning their wheels for over two years waiting to get a fight. 

Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

 

Made a couple of tools yesterday - the tee handled piece in the foreground is a spring compressor. I still need to tack the handle on. This is for one of those things that can be done without the tool, but it's just so much easier with it. Especially if I'm going to have to take the job apart several times, which I'm sure I will.  

The wooden dowel chucked up in the drill motor is to polish up a bore. It's longer than I need but the beauty of using a dowel rod is it's easily shortened. I chucked one end up in the lathe to drill a pilot hole, threaded in a screw and then cut the head of the screw off. I cut a slit in the other end to hold a couple of wraps of emery paper. Worked like a charm.

The lathe chuck had a bunch of chips that had gotten into the scroll and the teeth on the jaws. I took the jaws out, after marking them, cleaned everything up, put some white lube on the jaws and put them back together. Much smoother now.

The box of hardware showed up yesterday. I'll get everything sorted today and maybe bolt the shocks on the trailer as well. I need to pull the wheels off to get them cleaned up and painted. It'll be warm enough to paint them and the trailer frame this weekend. Be nice if I could make that happen.

I've left the intake manifold for the jitney on the horses after using it to make the exhaust header because I'm toying with the idea of adapting it for a two barrel carb or two single barrels. I've got another manifold with a carb on it, and I've already made an adapter for an air cleaner. I like the old school look. As most any old hot rodder will tell you, when it comes to carburetors, if one's good, two's better. No hurry on that. I plan on starting up the motor with what I've got to eliminate any initial headaches.

Funky, Funky Harvest Time

 

I'm not sure why but this one popped into my head the other day and has been resurfacing off and on. Click on it and you too will have a nice ear worm today.

From here

Eisenhower was the first president I was aware of, having taken office when I was three years old and leaving when I was eleven. We visited Gettysburg years ago and saw his farm from the tower on the battlefield, unfortunately, we didn't take the time to visit it. We did, however, visit his library and childhood home in Abilene, Kansas when the Missus and I followed the Santa Fe Trail out west.

I picked up an "I Like Ike" pin while I was there. Mine's not an original but one for the tourist trade. They had original ones for sale but the price was pretty salty. Since I was planning on wearing it, I went for the reproduction one. In addition to Liking Ike, I also like persimmons. Since we've had a couple of frosts, it was time to pick them. I'm planning on making a couple of loaves of persimmon bread.

I picked the wife's colored-glass corn yesterday after picking the persimmons. It was just a small patch and I got it in a little late, but she just wanted it for decorations. There were some large ears as well as the nubbins. She's got plenty for her needs. After the corn, I picked the rest of the ripe salad tomatoes. I've been covering them up at night to protect them from the frost. There're still quite a few green ones on the plant. I'll keep covering the plant up as needed to try and get a few more yet this year.

That little pile is all that's left of the 22.5-ton pile of gravel I started with. Since I don't have a roller, I saved that pile to fill in any low spots that develop after I get some traffic on the drive. I could have used some more gravel if I wanted to do the job up proper, but it's a lot better now than it was. The main thing I wanted to accomplish was to bring the level of the gravel up even with the concrete pad, so the Missus won't turn an ankle getting in and out of the car. Mission accomplished there and then some. Did a few other chores around the shack yesterday as well. Busy and productive day.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #51

 

The Scarecrow Stampede is part of the annual Scarecrow Festival. I've done both the run and the walk. Since this one is dated 2018, I'm thinking I would have walked this one. I've got a ribbon from this same event from 2006 when I was still running - age group winner. If I remember correctly, this was my fastest 5K after a long hiatus of my running career at 23:45. Not a blistering pace but I never was fast. I don't remember any of my 5K times from back in the seventies. I didn't run many. I ran more longer distances, 10K and a couple of 10.5 milers. In fact, my first event was a 10.5 miler my old boxing coach "encouraged" me to run back in '76 as part of the bi-centennial celebration. The hardest part of that one was the mental game. I'd never run anywhere close to ten miles before, so I was more than a little apprehensive. However, I've learned you can run just about any distance if you train properly. I did a full marathon in 2005 at age 55 and didn't have any trouble completing it. I did have trouble walking down steps for a couple of days afterwards, though. Same thing with my cycling. I've done several long-distance tours and a Century ride of 100 miles in one day. If you train properly and get your mind right, it's amazing the things you can do. 

I'm planning on one more 5K racewalk this year, then I might call it quits on competitive events. I'll see what my running buddy wants to do next year. Might do a few things just to keep her company and keep myself motivated to stay in shape, such as it is. Diet and exercise - the real fountain of youth.

Update

 

Pile of parts that I made over the weekend. I had a birthday party to go to late afternoon on Saturday - nothing like a 50th birthday party for your baby boy to make you feel old. Super proud of him, however. Good father and husband, talented musician and craftsman. Nice party - got to see a couple of former neighbors, as well as some of the guys he grew up with that spent time at the house when they were young. All of them turned out well, too. 

Before going to the party, I welded the safety chains, stake pockets and a gusset on the torque arm on the trailer project. I was going to weld two stake pockets on the back, that's them on the right side of the photo, but if you were going to load up a four-wheeler, the stake pockets would be in the way. I think the plan now will be bolt a couple of angles to the side boards with a gap between them slightly larger than the plywood for the tail gate. That way I can just slide the wood in and be done with it. Maybe add a stiffener to the top and bottom edge.

The aluminum angles in the foreground will be the stakes for the front of the trailer. I'll weld a stop on them to keep them at the right height in the pockets and some flat that I can bolt the wood to.

Behind the angles are a pair of aluminum spacers for the fender mounting. The fender brackets have an edge bent down, like a channel with shallow legs. That creates a gap between the fender and the flat surface of the bracket. The spacers will take up the gap, rather than distorting the top of the fenders.

Behind the flat spacers are four round spacers for mounting the shocks. I ordered the necessary bolts for mounting the shocks along with some extra stuff to replenish my hardware inventory. In the meantime, I made up a quickie bolt with some redi-rod so I could get my dimension. I'll be ready to mount the shocks as soon as the hardware comes in later this week.

Back left are the pipe couplings I'm going to use for the faux axle on the jitney project. I bored the threads out of the inside so they're a loose fit on the pipe I'll be using until the real thing comes along. The coupling on the right will thread onto the pipe axle and get welded to the wheel flange. That one has three setscrews, so when I get it screwed onto the pipe, I can snug them down and keep the wheel from coming off the car if I roll it around. 

Here's the setup for welding the threads back on the pipe. With the gap in between the two angles, I can easily put three tack welds on the joint while it's clamped in alignment. By tacking it in a minimum of three places, I stand a pretty good chance of decent alignment after it's finished welded.

And here it is after it was welded. You'll notice a little crater dead center in the photo. Normally, when welding pipe, you always want to overlap your starts and stops and depending, grind your tacks so you'll get a complete root weld all around the inside of the joint. If this was going to be put into service with pressure behind it, I would have put another pass over the top, again making sure all my starts and stops were staggered in between the starts and stops of the root pass, since that's usually where a leak will come from. Since the pipe will have to slip through the couplings later on, no point building up the weld, however, just to have to grind it back down again.

I need to drill the holes in the flange plates and get them cut out and welded onto one end of the pipe and the coupling. I've got a dentist appointment today and the weather is turning cold. I need to do a bit of cleaning in the shop to get it set up for heat, and I've got other things that need to be done prior to winter's arrival. Hope to start this week making brackets for the radius rods. 

Fight Night

 

Went to the fights in Indy last evening. We had two guys scheduled but one of the opponents backed out. Our remaining fighter fought a decent fight but was clearly out matched. The other guy was super quick for a super heavyweight and when our guy tried to close the gap, the other guy slipped away or clinched. Our guy has only had a few fights and improves with every fight but still has a way to go yet. He's got the heart and the work ethic. He'll be one to be reckoned with if he stays with it.

This had to be the nicest venue I've ever been to. The fights were held at the Columbia Club, right downtown on the Circle. Beautiful building and they fed us before the show started. Basically, it was what used to be referred to as a smoker but now the smokers all have to go outside. I don't miss those days any. It was a beautiful night when we came out. Downtown Indianapolis is a lovely city when all lit up at night. I had a good time - great to be back out in circulation again after the last couple of years.

More Trailer Stuff.

 

The D rings and the sanding discs arrived. I bought some chain and hooks, a couple of bolts for the latch, and a can of primer. I made a couple of spacer bushings for the top shock mount. The bolts were 7/16" diameter but the shocks holes are 1/2", so I need to get a couple of 6" long bolts. Once I get the top bolted, I can see what the length spacer is needed for the bottom. I also cut the rest of the stake pockets. Closing in on finishing this project. I make a trip to the lumberyard next week and I should have most everything I need to complete it. Busy day lined up today - might not make it out to the shop.

Financial & CaCo3

 I'm working on my finances and changing some providers around, getting my required distributions in order and the financial planner suggested some changes to my life insurance policies. Since I'm an old dude, lots of questions and hoops to jump through in order to qualify for the new policy. I filled out an extensive questionnaire last week and set up a date for someone to come by the house and check my vitals, etc. I pick a date and I figure I'm done for a while. A couple of days later I receive a call about setting up the day and the lady says how about tomorrow (Tuesday). Tuesday morning, yesterday, I get a phone call from the insurance company and the lady asks me 20 minutes of questions. Most of these seemed to be finding out about my mental condition, rather than medical history like the online questionnaire was. An hour later, the lady came to check my blood pressure, draw blood, have me pee in the bottle and answer another battery of questions, like where are the clocks located? I've got a lot of time invested in this process and the insurance company has both the time and money. At this point I don't really care one way or the other. I'll just be glad when everything gets squared away.

After dealing with all the insurance things, the paving outfit called and they said they could deliver my driveway stone. Apparently, the paving job got shut down due to rain. I worked on spreading it around until the rain came in earnest. I'm getting the hang of running the tractor but the job will be wrapped up before I get anywhere close to good at it. I worked for a blacktopping outfit years ago and the guy who normally ran the tractor was a real cracker jack. The tractor was basically the same as Cuzzin Ricky's - bucket and a box scraper. Yours truly ran a shovel and the roller. I can still use a shovel; just not like I did 50 years ago. It would be damn ironic if I would have keeled over while shoveling yesterday after going through all of the insurance application monkey business. 

 

Tee Shirt Tuesday # 50

 

Only two more weeks for this project. 

I got this one from my favorite musician. The band is either on a really long hiatus or defunct, I'm not sure which. However, all three of the guys are accomplished musicians and have to play music. Kind of like me and boxing - once it's in your blood, hard to give it up. And no real reason to when it comes to music. Do what you love, even if your audience is just you.

I did some more work with Cuzzin Ricky's tractor yesterday. That rig sure makes for easy-going on the driveway maintenance. I can't regulate the height on my scraper blade on the old Allis - it's either going up or down, rather than floating. I've got a load of stone ordered. It will be here next week, since they're paving this week. I get that moved around and I'll not only be good for winter, but I should be set for next year as well.

A little more progress on the trailer yesterday also. The hitch is welded on, but I still need to get some safety chains. The jack is bolted on loose. I'll put it on for good after painting the tongue. I'll need to cut the bolts off to keep from ripping my britches every time I get near them. I did prime the fenders yesterday, so they're ready for the finish color. I might run to town today to get the chain, some hardware and see what they've got for green paint. I need to decide if I'm going to make a solid piece for the front or make slats like a traditional stake side would have. Still have a few things left but every day I'm getting closer. 

More Trailer

 

Another beautiful day yesterday. The group got back together for the first time in about a month for walkies - put in four miles. I sandblasted the trailer latch and license plate bracket after changing the protective film on the blaster window. Got them primed and I sanded down the fenders. One of them has a dent along the edge. I think I might try to hammer it out to make it look a little better - might be getting into gilding the lily territory, however. I'm not looking to make this rig a show-piece, just something that's serviceable and presentable. 

Going to do a bit more on the trailer today as well as some yard work, maybe a bit of painting as well.

And since today is supposed to be another beautiful day, might as well hear from them.

Shakin' All Over

 

There's a blog I check out occasionally that posts some really good music on Saturday mornings. Yesterday he put up a cover of Shakin' All Over by Justin Johnson and Will Lee. I ran across Justin Johnson playing his shovel guitar when I was building the cigar box guitar many years ago. The above is the version from my youth. He also put up a cut from the Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band featuring a young Japanese trombone player, Haruka Kikuchi. The young lady is quite the player. If you're like me and enjoy a variety of styles of music, you should give Tacky Racoons a look.

The coupler and jack showed up for the trailer project yesterday, so I did a little more on that. I cut some angles for the stake pockets and welded those on. I also cut the tongue off. I can weld the coupler on as soon as I sandblast the latch. I should get that done today. I'll cut some more stake pockets as well. The D rings didn't show up with the rest of the order but not like that's going to keep me in the house. I started sanding the frame rails but didn't get real far. I thought I had some more sanding discs for the 7" sander but no such luck. I ordered a pack of 25 - should be here tomorrow. If the weather's decent I'll do a little scraping and wire brushing on the shed trim. I need to get that repainted before the weather closes in. 

Always plenty to do but I'm still moving in the right direction.

BTO

Good day for working again yesterday. Sun was out, temps were in the low seventies, and everything was right with the world. I started the day off with a trip to the lumber yard, hardware and auto parts store. I ordered some shocks for the trailer and picked up another coupling for the faux axle for the jitney. I found the threaded piece I had unwisely cut off the pipe. I'll weld that back onto the pipe and it will just about put me at the proper length with the coupling screwed on. You can see the coupling with the threaded piece sitting on the crossmember of the trailer. You can also see the two pieces of angle I welded in to support the wheel chock. I primered the bare metal to prevent it from rusting since I'm going to leave it outside while I'm working on it. I also painted the 1x4s I picked up to replace the fascia boards on the dormer roof. Second coat will go on today or tomorrow.

Cuzzin Ricky brought his tractor over so I can do some work on the lane and add some stone by where we park the cars out front. As a BTO (big time operator), I made a couple of trips down the lane using the box scraper and that helped quite a bit to fill in some of the holes. The scraper has scarifier teeth but I didn't want to disturb the stuff that was packed down real well. Mostly it took the crown off the middle and pushed it out to the sides to fill in the low spots. I'll still need some more stone to completely fill in the remaining low spots, but no surprise there. I'll see what my schedule looks like next week and see about getting a load.

I'm taking the dog to the vet this morning for some surgery, so that'll blow a big hole in my morning what with two trips up and back. I need to sit down and do some paperwork required for a life insurance application - might work on that today while waiting for the return run on the dog. Always plenty to do around here.

Great Day For Fabricating

Bottom left in the photo above are four 1-1/2" couplings. I'm going to bore them out for a slip fit over the piece of 1-1/2" pipe I'm going to use for my axle. Originally, I was just going to weld the wheel flanges on both ends after slipping the couplers on but I think now I'll get another coupler and weld it to the flange plate. If I had thought about it a little more, I wouldn't have cut the threads off the one end of the pipe. I could have just threaded the coupling on and off to make the axle removeable easily enough. Now I'll get another coupling, bore it out, weld it to the flange, and then fasten it to the axle with some set screws. Definitely should have thought it through a little more before I started. 

The pipe I'm planning on using is about 3" short of what I need. The little stub on the right above is the piece I'm going to weld on to stretch the axle pipe. It's sitting on the jig I made for splicing tubes, pipes and shafts. The bottom of the angles have a flat milled on them so a clamp will have something to grip. The gap between the top angles allows me to reach in and tack the two pieces together in three or four places so the splice will come out straight after welding. It's a handy little gizmo to have for this sort of thing.

I finished most of the fab work on the trailer yesterday afternoon. I still need to weld in a couple of angles to support the wheel chock. Those will get welded in between the first two crossmembers. I ordered a coupler, jack and some "D" rings. I'm heading uptown today to see about some shocks and replacement bushings. I'll be making a trip to the lumber yard in a couple of days to pick up some 1x4s to replace some trim boards on the shack. I'll get a piece of plywood and some self-tapping screws while I'm there for decking. I haven't decided on sides yet. I need to figure that out and weld some stake pockets on before painting and decking. If I was to get really ambitious, I might have this project completely finished before the snow flies. However, there's work around the shack that's more pressing than the trailer right now.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #49

I heard this one on Birdhill Radio the other night - lovely song. Obviously not blossom time of the year now but I won't remember it come springtime, so here it is. I need to put together a collection of Irish tunes to listen to when I'm out in the shop, depending on my mood. I'd also like to go back to Ireland again. I doubt that will ever happen but Canada just opened up their border to those of us without vaccinations, so there's hope. I've got a few things on my dance card already for next year but I suppose Ireland could happen. I've been extremely fortunate to have seen as much of the world as I have. But if I can stay healthy and the world doesn't burn to the ground, I might get to Ireland once more along with Spain, Scotland and the bike races on the Isle of Man. 

I got this one for helping Cuzzin Ricky out. He bought a truck from this outfit and he needed a driver to bring his other vehicle home after the purchase. Apparently, Fine Rides gives a tee shirt to anyone who buys a vehicle from them but Rick conned them out of another one to give to me for helping him out. Normally our payment system consists of buying breakfast but it's not like we put much effort into keeping score. I do have a coupon for a haul with his car trailer in the bank with no expiration date, other than one of the two of us, that is.

Did some more trimming on the trees yesterday morning as well as cleaning up the branches from the last batch. Then I moved on to the trailer project. I got the majority of the fab work done. I was just getting ready to weld down the front crossmember when the guy showed up who is going to replace the power pole that feeds the shop. By the time he left it was getting late and I was getting hungry, so I called it a day. I'll get that one welded in place and then make something up to raise the next one back up the two inches needed. I've got some short pieces of the rectangular tubing left from altering the length. Rather than running a piece all the way across, I'll make three short pieces and weld those on.

I couldn't unbolt the old lights due to the rust, so I cut the bolts off that were holding the fenders in place, then reached inside with a cut-off wheel and split the nuts. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do about sides yet, but I still need to shorten the tongue, weld on a coupler, safety chains, and a new jack. I could finish that today if I had the parts. I'm thinking about getting one of the good wheel chocks for the front. 

If I'm going to do that, I should get one before I put the plywood down so there will be some metal underneath it to bolt to. I need to get a few "D" rings as well. 'Bout time for a shopping trip.

 

Beautiful Day For Building Things

 

Beautiful day yesterday. Surly came down late morning to use my chop saw for a project he's working on. He had a driver for the trip. The oldest grandson is working on getting his driver's license. Seems the new rules require "X" number of hours of seat time chauffeuring a licensed driver around after getting your learner's permit. Now it's time for the parents and grandparents to add another worry to their lists.

After they left, I cut the piece of pipe I needed to stretch the one I'm planning on making the faux axle out of by three inches. I also made the layout for the end plates. On the left side of the photo above there are two little plates I cut out to cap off the ends of the tubing on the rear of the boat trailer project as seen in the photo below.

I cut a couple of feet off the rear end and then cut the pinch bolts off that were holding the two cross-members in place. I'm leaving them in the stock position as far as fore and aft but raising them up to the same height as the middle one that supports the springs. They'll get welded in place today. With all the crossmembers at the same height I can lay a sheet of plywood down with very little extra work. I'm going to take a foot out of the front where the latch for the tilt is and then shorten up the tongue. I might get that done today as well, since it's supposed to be a nice day again and I already have the piece of tubing cut and ground where the latch goes.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow. The office is right by the hardware store and across from the auto parts store. I want to get the header boxed up today, since the auto parts store is a UPS drop point. I want to get that sent off before it starts to rust and I have a chance to change my mind about sending it out for the Jet Hot coating. I should be able to get the pipe couplings at the hardware store so I can continue on with the axle project on the jitney as well.

The trailer is certainly not a priority, but I'd like to get the majority of the fabrication work done before it gets cold. I get that done I can pull the axle out from under it, re-bush everything, replace the bearings, etc., and then be ready to go next spring.   

Sprint Cars and a 5K Hat Trick

Cuzzin Ricky and I went to the sprint car races Friday night. This was the first time I'd been to a race since the cooties hit. Finally got out at the end of the third season. It was a good show - USAC sprints, winged sprints and Thunder cars, which are like stock cars from back in the day when rear wheel drive cars were common. No pork tenderloins, however, had to make do with a porkchop sandwich.

Did a 5K yesterday morning for the hat trick - three weekends in a row. It was a fundraiser/memorial for a young man that was murdered a few years ago. His family is going to use the funds to buy a bench for one of the city parks, so he'll be remembered. This was a non-timed event, so my running buddy and I just took a brisk stroll on a beautiful autumn morning while supporting a good cause. She has a couple of banged up ribs, otherwise she would have run the event. I'm going to try and keep training so I'll be in shape for the Thanksgiving event I usually do just in case the 83-year-old guy shows up.

I drew up a pattern for the end plates on my "faux" axle on the jitney project. I'll transfer the pattern to a piece of plate, drill some holes and then weld them to the 1-1/2" pipe I'm going to use. Pretty simple job, and it won't cost much to make it up. While I still have some things to work on at the front end of the car, I want to see where the spring and wheels will be located so I can figure out the placement of the fuel cell, the battery box and the exhaust pipe. Progress is slow, but it's progress just the same.