Yep, it's cold outside. Single digits in fact. I took yesterday off and hid in the house except for a short time late in the afternoon to check on the chickens and on the paint job in the shop. When I painted the hood and radiator shell I had the shop warmed up to about 55 degrees, but the heat has been off since. It hasn't gotten below freezing in there yet, but the paint is going to take a little longer to completely set up.
I've got things going on today but plan on finishing up the radiator tomorrow. It's supposed to warm up some. Hopefully it'll be a great day for radiator repair, but I wouldn't bet on it.
There's a reason they called him the King. The man could sing anything and everything - rock & roll, gospel, blues, you name it, and do it all well.
I picked up the cylinder head for the tractor yesterday and there's a station I like to listen to on the radio when I head east. Reception's iffy at home but it comes in well on the truck radio when I make it to the next county over. They've been playing Christmas music since Thanksgiving. Normally I've about had enough of Christmas by now since it's been promoted since Halloween, but this year I seem to be enjoying the season. Of course it's still early, at least by my standards.
When I got home from picking up the cylinder head, I painted the hood and the radiator shell. I didn't take it down to bare metal, I just sanded it down with the "DA" to smooth it out a little and scuff up the old paint so it would hold the primer. It came out looking OK for sheet metal that's 73 years old.
The only thing left for me to do is get the fan shroud soldered back onto the radiator without causing a leak and then it'll be in the neighbor's court. However, it's supposed to be real cold tomorrow. I've got some stuff going on early today, but I might try tackling the shroud later. If not, I'll wait a couple of days until it warms up. It'll be nice to get the tractor up and running again. It snowed again Monday night.
I did the 5Kyesterday morning - my slowest time ever - but the streets were snow covered and the snow kept piling up during the race. My goal was to keep from falling on my ass and I managed to do that in spite of having one close call.
The roads were terrible but the race started just a few miles from my house. I've done a ton of running and walking events starting with a 10 miler in 1976 and I've only failed to not show up for an event I had registered for twice in all those years. Coach Jen decided to walk with me rather than run, so we chatted and she got her steps in for the day. I was surprised by the turnout with the weather and road conditions being what they were, but the overall winner still managed a 19-minute finishing time. I, on the other hand, did 19-minute miles.
I stopped at the grocery on the way home and I heard Elvis singing the above tune on the store's loudspeaker. It's my favorite Elvis Christmas tune and really showcases his voice.
On a totally different subject, I came across this article:
Since I live in farm country and they've taken thousands of acres out of production for solar farms, this hits pretty close to home. Not a long read, but if you eat, might want to give it a few minutes of your time.
Going out this morning and see what I need to do as far as snow removal. Depending on the outcome of that, I'm planning on getting out to the shop for a couple of hours.
I got the front end back under the vintage trials bike yesterday. I still need to fill the forks with oil. The nearest I can tell they take 135cc of 10 weight fluid. Fortunately, I have some in house. I'll check that I've got all the bolts tightened up and then see about getting the motor installed.
I'm doing a 5K this morning - should be fun. 26 degrees and snowing they say. I've actually been training for this one. One of the local churches has a recreation center with a walking track - 8 laps make a mile. I've been walking twice a week for 45 minutes each time. Depending on conditions, however, I might just pussy-foot the whole course. Don't want to break a hip, you know.
The forecast is anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of snow, so I did get the snowblower running yesterday. It has a 110-volt starter, so I don't have to try and start a cold 8hp motor with the recoil. I've got a couple of snow shovels ready to go as well. Just have to see what develops. Hopefully it won't involve me throwing my back out after a lot of shoveling.
The day before Thanksgiving two National Guard soldiers are shot in the nation's capital and as I write this, they are in critical condition. Things in this country just keep getting crazier.
On the homefront, I went in search of a "MC" acetylene tank Tuesday. I thought it was going to be a long haul but about halfway I went by a welding shop that had a sign advertising the fact they are a drop point for the company my tank came from. I did a quick turn around in the middle of the road and "sho nuff", they had what I needed and saved me some drive time.
While talking to the owner he asked me if I knew Joe B. who was a high school shop teacher and a steel purveyor. As a matter of fact, I worked with him for 14 years and we had a couple of classes together at Purdue. In fact, his shop was right next to mine at the career center and we became good friends. Joe was quite the critter but burning the candle at both ends led to him having a heart attack and passing away at the young age of 42. He left quite an impression on me and I'm sure everyone else who crossed his path, just like the weld shop owner.
When I got home I went to open up the tank and the stem on the valve twisted off. Now I had two full tanks that I couldn't use. So yesterday I head back out to the welding supply. They gave me two tanks with small hand wheels on them, rather than the tanks requiring the wrench. Since I don't do too much soldering with the air-acetylene torch, these two tanks might be a lifetime supply.
The automotive machinist checked in and the cylinder head is going to require a lot of work, which translates into a lot of money, but I told him to go ahead. Again, since I'm working a five-year plan now, old Allis should be serviceable at least that long.
The next few days I plan on getting the tractor radiator finished, painting the hood and grill, and putting the front end back together on the vintage trials bike. They're forecasting snow coming in Saturday along with colder temps. Since the tractor won't be running, might just be hunkering down here for a few days and get some work done.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! I hope you're able to spend some time with friends and family and truly give thanks for all your blessings.
I got the radiator out of the shroud and went to test it but when I went to hook up the tester on the tank neck I found the neck was too long for the tester to reach the bottom and seal. After a quick couple of minutes and measurements, I hopped in the truck to get an "O" ring from the hardware store, then came home and spit out an aluminum spacer ring on the lathe. Worked just like I planned it - not that it was all that difficult.
When I got the pressure tester hooked up, I found that the leaks were along the seam where the top tank is fastened to the core. The hard part was getting the seam clean enough to get a good bond. I got one side done, I hooked the tester back up and when I got done pumping it up the tester slipped out of my hand and poked a hole in one of the tubes. I finished up the leaks on top and I'll try and solder the hole in the tube today. If I don't have any luck, I'll cut the ends of the tube and solder where they enter the tanks. I'll then tackle trying to get the shroud soldered back on the radiator without causing another leak. The place where I bought my parts has a replacement radiator listed as out of stock, so I'm going to have to fix this one.
I had another raccoon get into the shop. I heard it up on top, so I set the trap. I caught it two days later and it wasn't at all happy in there. It tore the handle off so I couldn't use it to carry the trap down the ladder. The trap has a couple of short chains I use to keep the trap in place, so I grabbed those and lifted the trap up that way. When I did the coon jumped up and tried to bite me. No harm done but made me jump and turn loose of the trap. I got it taken care of, but I need to do a walk around the shop again and see if I can figure out where they are getting in. I got the trap cleaned up and the repairs made, so I'll get it set again and then get back on the tractor job.
This one struck a chord with me, since in one of the last classes I taught at the community college, 4 out of 10 students couldn't tell time. As my dear old Pappy used to say: "Couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel."
The valve cover looks pretty good with a fresh coat of paint and the new chrome breather.
I welded up the radiator shell yesterday and I remembered I had a quart of Allis orange I bought years ago to paint the fenders after repairing them. I opened it up and it looks good, surprisingly enough, so I'll paint the shell and the hood before it goes back together.
I dug the radiator pressure testing kit out yesterday and checked to see if I had the proper size plugs to pressure test the radiator. The kit was designed to test a radiator while installed in a vehicle, but mine has some homemade gizmos using rubber balls that are inserted into the inlet and outlets and then seal the openings by squeezing the rubber balls using the big wing nut. In the photo, I stuck one of the plugs in the lower hose. The rubber plug wouldn't fit in the top but there was a Rube Goldberg fitting that was in the box that worked just fine. I'll see about filling the radiator with water today and pumping up some pressure and see what's leaking. The tractor parts are due to arrive today, so as long as I can fix the radiator, I'll be set with my end of the repair, after I paint, that is.
I replaced a deck board yesterday, so I loaded up the necessary tools in my old carpenter toolbox to take to the job. I got to thinking about the box when I was putting the tools away, trying to remember when I made it. I'm not exactly sure, but if memory serves me correctly, I was working as a maintenance man at MarBel Corporation some 50 years ago. When I made it the Missus and I were newlyweds living in an apartment and I kept all of my woodworking tools in the box. The box was kept in my little closet workshop until we got our first house and I had a garage for my tools.
