Aluminum Work

 

It's nice having a decent collection of CDs to play in the truck, especially for someone like me who enjoys a wide variety of music. I had this one going yesterday morning and then rehab had oldies playing as well. Hard to beat "The King" on a beautiful late winter morning.

I postponed machining up the parts for the bike radiator project due to the weather. When I saw there was a 60-degree day in the forecast, I decided to wait for it and work on my taxes instead - good trade-off. I finished up the taxes and machined the parts when I could have the big doors open in the shop.

Next up is the welding. I'm not too worried about welding the plugs in the radiator, but welding the filler neck is liable to be a stretch. Wish me luck on that one.

Brain Health

 I received an email from the Michigan Brain Study group of which I'm a member the other day. Nothing much exciting in it, mostly just an update for those of us involved. However, it mentioned there was an article in Welder magazine about the study with a link. The study itself is looking for commonalities between the environmental factors in welding, fabricating and metalworking occupations and brain issues such as dementia and ALS. The study is still looking for volunteers, by the way. Read the article if you get a few minutes. It just might spur you to volunteer, which in turn may help all of us metal workers with a better future as far as our brain health goes.

Pluggin' Away

 

Harley Shovelhead with a real "peanut" tank. I'm no fan of that tank, but otherwise I like the bike. If I was going to be real nit-picky, I'd change the seat - lower it down into the angle of the frame so the fender would stop your butt from sliding back under acceleration. Beautiful bike just the same. Probably can't tell from the photo, but the frame and fender are a nice color of green. 

I put the kill switch on the trials bike yesterday. If the pigtail that came with it was just a couple of inches longer, it would have eliminated a splice. No biggie, not going to be much wiring anyway - just an ignition circuit and a couple of wires keeping the battery charged up. I'll get the coil swapped out from the tractor in the next couple of days. 

I started on the motorcycle radiator job yesterday as well. I got the two fittings cut off and took some measurements for making the two plugs as well as what it's going to take to hook up the filler neck. All of the pieces will be easy enough to make but keeping everything else cool enough while welding is going to be the challenge.

Production has slowed down lately due to the cold weather, cardiac rehab and the fact the Missus has shingles. She's been dealing with that for a couple of weeks now, leaving me as chief cook and bottle washer. She's over the worst of it, thank goodness. The old girl's been miserable.

I've got a couple of other projects I need to add to the list. One's pretty easy, just a bit of lathe work. The other will require a shovel and concrete, in addition to some fab work. No hurry on either of them, just tidying up a couple of loose ends. 

Update

 It seems the video about the safe deposit boxes was bogus. I did a bit of searching and came up with nothing in the way of confirmation. I talked to my financial advisor on another matter and then asked him about it. He hadn't heard anything. Surly sent me an email and called BS on the thing saying it was AI generated fearmongering. 

So, sorry if I sent anyone down the wrong track. However, at this point, nothing would surprise me with the banking industry.

The Time Has Come

If you have a safety deposit box at the bank, the time has come for you to watch this here, and do it before March 1st.

The video is about 25 minutes in length but definitely worth watching the whole thing. I didn't look for anything else to verify it, but I've watched a couple other videos by the author and he seems to be very well informed and legitimate. And if you're as paranoid as I am, this will take it up another notch. I try to avoid much in the way of politics, but once again I say, follow the Constitution and keep your hand out of my pocket. Simple enough.

Parts

 

My shipment came in with the trials bike parts and the heat sink putty. The kill switch is supposed to be waterproof. I don't know if that'll ever be a necessity, but for the bargain basement price of $7.00, why not? I ordered a new coil with a resistor because I'm going to put it on the tractor. The one I swapped out a couple years ago is chrome plated and a little larger in diameter. I already have the bracket made for the bike to fit the larger OD, and the chrome is a little out of place on the old Allis.

The heat sink putty isn't really putty at the present time. I took the cap off and it's not quite hard as a rock, but it's going to take a little work to get it useable. I put some water in the jar and "stirred" it up. If I can't get it pliable, I'll send it back and try something else. Regardless, I'll work on cutting off the two pieces of the radiator and make the patches and the transition piece for the filler neck.

This & That

I finished my first full week of rehab yesterday. It's run well, the people are friendly and I'm getting stronger, especially my upper body. And, since all of us clients are old farts, they play classic rock while we are working the machines. I heard this one and thought to myself it's rare that I hear a Beach Boys tune on any of the music I listen to, and I don't think I've ever posted a Beach Boys tune here on the blog. One of my favorites.

I would imagine that's a photo taken at the end of the trip after responding to a rough one. The locals came to the shack a while back after my wife fell and broke her wrist. Easy one for them - they put a temporary splint on her and helped me get her into the car and I took her to the hospital. And my recent trip from the dentist to the hospital was pretty easy for those guys also. They started a couple of IVs and took my vitals. No blood or guts involved in either trip. The crews were probably thankful that they were nothing like what the guy in the photo had just gone through. That's nothing I'd want to do for a living. I'm real thankful there are people willing to do it, however. God bless each and every one of you.

Not that it's going to make any difference, but since it's tax season, might as well vent a little. I wouldn't mind paying federal tax on wages, but on interest income and Social Security? No way. If I would have been allowed to invest mine and my employer's contributions to my Social Security account, I think I could have been a lot better off. Plus, any chunk of money left over after I died would have been able to go to my heirs. If I go first now, the Missus will get my check but will have to forfeit hers. Just one of several reasons why the Libertarian Party is looking better all the time. Follow the Constitution and keep your hand out of my pocket - simple enough. 

Yesterday would have been my Dad's 106th birthday. He only made it to 74, so he's been gone awhile now. You don't get to pick your parents, but I was lucky with who I got. Also, speaking of birthdays, the grandson turned 21 this week - gainfully employed, completed his technical certificate at the community college and is now working on getting his Associate degree. The Missus and I are very proud of him.

 

False Spring

 

Yesterday we had a "false spring" here abouts as well. Sun was shining and the temps were in the sixties. It was rather breezy, but no complaints from me. I did my stint at rehab, came home and cut some firewood and then split it. I've still got some more to split but the chunks were heavier than I wanted to try loading up on the splitter by myself. I figured my chest was going to be sore after pulling on the starter ropes on the chain saw and splitter, especially after doing some of the rehab exercises, so I'll wait until I get a little help for those.

It's looking like the weather will be more seasonable, so I'm planning on a little shop work and getting started on my taxes. I'm curious as to how much of a break I'll get this year since the Big Beautiful Bill is supposed to give those of us receiving Social Security a break. With a decent refund I'll be able to invest in more car and motorcycle parts. Progress on the Projects - needs to be the mantra for the year.

Trials & Tribulations

 

After posting the Little Feat cut the other day, I figured another one off the Waiting for Columbus album wouldn't hurt. And, of course, most anything by the Band is always good, especially if the second shooter on the grassy knoll is doing the vocals - you had to see the movie to get the reference.

I went on a search mission yesterday for a couple of items. First up was the heat absorbing paste for the motorcycle radiator job. They put up a plumbing supply within walking distance of me over the summer, so I was hoping to get lucky there. However, not only did they not have it, the counterman had never heard of it. 

Next up was the hardware store for a couple of clevis pins for the shift linkage on the trials bike. I needed two 1/4" dia. x 1" long. They didn't have any short ones, but they did have a couple 2" long that had a series of holes for the cotter keys so they could be cut to fit. That works but the little darlings were $2.99 each - ACE = Always Costs Extra.

After fitting up the shift linkage I started looking for the coil and plug wire. I couldn't find either one of them. The coil that was on the bike I put on the tractor when I was having trouble with the spark a few years back. The coil wasn't the issue, so I just left the bike coil on the tractor and put the other one heaven only knows where. Likewise, the plug wire. I'm going to take another look around for them but if the coil doesn't show up soon, I'll just order another one. I bought new plug wires for the Sportster, so I can use one of the old ones for the trials bike. It'll all come together one of these days. 

Bike Stuff

It was a beautiful day yesterday. The sun was shining and the temperature got up close to 60. Surly came down to work on a project but before he got started on his I had him give me a hand installing the motor in the vintage trials bike. While I was getting it bolted up, one of his buddies came by with a aluminum job for me to weld up. It's an aluminum dirt bike radiator that needs some remodeling. The welding should be easy enough, but I'm concerned about getting the tank so hot that it'll melt any sealer that might be between the tank and the core. Need to look into that before I screw the job up.

I scroll through Marketplace on a somewhat regular basis and came across this rag-tag Moto Guzzi. I've always had a hankerin' for one but not this one. The asking price is $1,500 but I'm thinking that's about $1,000 more than it's worth. I've enjoyed working on the two Sportsters and I'm sure I'd enjoy working on this one, but I would need to finish another 10 projects before I would consider dragging something like this one home. However, the guy with the radiator job said he's got a couple of VW fenders that I can have. Actually, it wouldn't take all that much to finish the bug.

Now that I'm enrolled in rehab three days per week, I need to pull the rag out of my ass and get myself a decent schedule. Since the rehab is in the morning, just set the afternoons aside for project work and follow through. Open weekdays and weekends for chores - dishes, laundry, outside things. Once again, the heart attack has brought things more into focus for me. Times running out if I actually want to see a few of these bikes and cars move under their own power.

Music, Medicare & Motorbikes

I haven't heard any Little Feat in a while. I had some loaded up on my MP3 player but it died a couple of years back. I've got a turntable that I can use to load up the vinyl onto my computer and then load up the MP3 player. I've got several Little Feat albums, along with lots of jazz and blues. Might be time to see about getting another MP3 player I can load up and listen to my kind of music without any commercial interruptions.

The hospital called the other day about doing cardiac rehab. Seems odd that they would wait two months to get a hold of me, but I'm going to see about it this morning. With my Medicare and my supplement policy, I should get enough sessions without cost to take me up to spring.

450 Royal Enfield Cafe bike. That's one fine looking custom. You still don't see many Enfields on the streets, but the company is doing a fine job of promoting their products and capturing market share.

I saw this one at BIKEEXIF - custom framed BSA look alike. The engine is a new production of an updated Gold Star. There are a lot of really talented builders out there these days and that's a good thing.

And that right there is a bike I would have bought back in the day if my dad would have signed for me: 500 Triumph Daytona. After my Sprint got stolen, this is the one I wanted to get to replace it. They had one on the floor of the local Triumph dealer and I wanted it bad. My dad said he'd help me out with a car but no go on the motorcycle. I definitely don't need another motorcycle, but when I saw this one my heart went pitter-pat. Of course, with my cardiac history I should probably be careful with the pitter-pats. 

A Day in the Life

 

Beautiful day yesterday - the sun was out and it was mid to high forties. 

Started the day off with a haircut and ran the truck through the carwash while I was out.

Next up, a late breakfast. then cleaned out the cab of the truck.

The wife's car had a low tire light show up last week. I had aired up that one but yesterday I went around all four and got them up to spec. Put some air in the rear tire of the Himalayan while I was in the neighborhood.

Straightened out a few things in the garage and swept the floor. 

Took the garbage can down and got the mail.

The fourth book of my order from Thriftbooks showed up. It too is a reprint from Lindsay. The title says Modern Machinist but since the original was published in 1895, don't be looking for the latest in CNC methods. However, it's interesting reading from a historical perspective, and if you don't have any truly modern equipment, there's a wealth of knowledge that I might be able to use someday for some oddball job I run across.

After checking out the mail I went out to the woodpile to load up some of the nice splits for the fireplace. While I was out there by the shop, I went in and I could smell raccoon. Sure enough, I had my first catch of the season in the live trap up topside. I still have no idea how they are getting in. I worked on making the building a bit more secure last summer, but apparently there is still someplace that's allowing them entrance. 

After dealing with the coon, I put some fresh straw in the nesting boxes for the chickens and called it quits. After doing my walkies at the rec center today, I'll pick up dog poop now that the snow has melted and see about getting something done in the shop. 

Red Dot on the Can

 

I've mostly given up on Facebook due to a difference of opinion over a post I put up celebrating my anniversary a couple of years back, but I still like looking at some of the "reels" on there. One of the outfits that posts interesting auto repair reels is Royalty Auto Service. The majority of the reels are not anything I'll ever use, simply because the newer vehicles are way too complicated for the average guy to work on. Royalty has all the required tools and equipment, including being able to pull the cabs off pickup trucks in order to be able to service the engines. 

However, on one of the reels the other day the owner, Sherwood, was talking to a distributer of PB Blaster and during the conversation I learned what the little red dot on the top rim was for. That indicates the location of the feed tube inside the can. Depending on the position of the can when spraying, position the dot so the juice will be picked up in the tube, then rotate the nozzle to spray where you want it to go. Rather clever. I'm just surprised it took me 75 years before I learned the secret of the red dot.

I was embarrassed by my buddy Kevin when he showed me his reading list for 2025. Since his life has settled down a bit with work and domestic life, he's reading like he used to. Me on the other hand, only managed to read 10 books last year. However, since most of the magazines I was subscribed to have given up the print versions or just called it quits completely, I'm planning on spending more time reading books again. 

The Swiss Family Robinson one above I bought from Dover several years ago. I started on it at the beginning of the week and finished it this morning. I took it with me to the urgent care and the emergency room visits the other day and knocked out about 100 pages. The book's been around a long time and there was a movie made on the story back in the sixties. I think it was a Disney film that was shown on Sunday nights. I read the book sometime after the movie came out, meaning roughly 60 years ago. The story was a little more believable when I was a young man, but it does show the value of having skills if you ever find yourself marooned on a tropical island. 

The other two books in the photo came from Thriftbooks. The Aircraft Welding book is a Lindsay reprint. I had an original that I inherited at my first teaching gig. The previous instructor taught welders during WWII and the book was his copy. The book came up missing over the years but it's a real good reference, especially if you're planning on welding chrome-moly tubing with a gas torch. I miss Lindsay but I understand him wanting to retire.  

The Indy book likewise is a dandy. It covers the development of Indy cars from the very beginning up to 1980. I've also got a couple of books on machining coming. Shipping cost was very reasonable for the four-book order. The two in the photo came separately, not sure if the other two will come together or individually, but no extra shipping cost regardless. I'm sure I'll be ordering more in the future.  

 

Welding, Leather Work & Medical Care

 

I went to the rec center Monday to do my walkies and the man in charge flagged me down to see if I could do a little welding job for him. He tried it with his MIG but he was running the voltage way too low for fear of burning a hole in the thin round tube. I can understand his concern - the tube is thin. I TIG welded it without too much difficulty, though. Got to keep the pickle-ballers happy!

I had talked to Surly recently about getting a new belt. Either recommending a vendor or making me one. He said he could knock one out for me. I gave him the specs and he sent me the above photo of the tongue of the finished product. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, but he personalized it for me with a welding hood. Not only is that boy a cracker jack machinist, he's turning into quite the accomplished leather worker. This one should keep my britches up for the rest of my life.

Yesterday was a day spent with medical people. I had an appointment in the morning for a medical screening. This was with an outfit that does non-invasive testing to make sure the blood's flowing like it should. After my recent cardiac event, it was mostly to just satisfy my own curiosity. If they see something life threatening, they send you to the emergency room. If not, they mail you the results in 10 to 14 days. Must not have found anything too bad since they let me walk out of there.

Later I took the missus to urgent care for her back issue. After spending a couple hours there, they recommended going to the hospital emergency room. So off we went and spent a few more hours there. We left the house about noon and finally got home about 7:00 PM. Long day but she finally got a bit of relief. Long term isn't looking so good, though. I think both of us are just wearing out.

I got the bill for my recent hospital visit the other day - just a tick over $100 K. However, my part after the Medicare and supplement insurance is next to nothing. I'm always bitching about the Feds wasting my tax dollars, but I do appreciate Medicare. Before I qualified for Medicare, I was paying $1,800 per month healthcare insurance premiums. That'll blow a big hole in your beer budget. 

Movie Day

 The weather's still too cold for me to venture out to the shop, so I've been feeding logs to the fireplace and ridin' the recliner. Yesterday the day started with Noir Alley on TCM and then it was cowboy movies (photo above is the Duke and Charlene Holt from Eldorado) until I switched back to TCM when Cooley High came on.

Cooley High came out in 1975 and I started at ECW in 1976. Lots of similarity between Cooley High and Washington High. Cooley High takes place in Chicago, Washington High was in East Chicago. Both inner-city schools. Student population not much different. 

I'd never taught before and my first day was after the students had three weeks of substitutes because the school hadn't been able to hire a full-time instructor. I didn't have a degree yet, nor had I had any student teaching. Back then you could get your teaching license based on your work experience, but you had to take some "clock hour" classes. I had one the evening of my first day - left the house at 6:00 and got home after 11:00. I was fortunate in that I'd had college classes with most of the other instructors in my department, so I had some help getting settled in. It was a great place to learn the ropes. Excellent faculty and in spite of the setting, there was a whole lot of learning that went on. Lots of good memories from that job.

 It looks like there might be a couple of warm days in the not-too-distant future. I'll see about bundling up and get out to the shop when it does.