Ain't Misbehavin'

 

I was at the dentist yesterday and they asked me what type of music I listen to. The answer was jazz, blues, classic rock, and older country stuff. Some how it got settled they'd put on Hank Williams Jr. Two of the young ladies working there came in and thanked me for playing some country music which I thought was pretty funny. Hank does a real nice version of Ain't Misbehavin' himself. I've got an LP or tape or CD of Leon Redbone stuff around here somewhere that I need to find. Now that I'm gearing up to spend longer hours in the shop, I need a better variety of music out there. If Sirius XM hadn't pissed me off I'd get that rigged up out there to have a better selection than commercial radio. I've got a record player that I can use to burn CDs. I need to make a bunch of those up - "music to soothe the savage beast" and all that.

I got a little more accomplished on the roller after coming home from the dentist - would have got some more done but ran into a snag. First off, I bought my "black" pipe from Menards. It's sourced from over seas and it's black pipe because it's covered with black paint rather than the varnish pipe is usually coated with. I sanded the paint off and then was going to weld the hubs into the ends. According to the plan book, the hubs should be slightly larger diameter than the inside diameter of the pipe. Not with this pipe. I looked up the specs for 1-1/2" sch 40 pipe and the ID on this one is about .040" large, meaning the hubs won't be on center when welded in. Also, the welded seam running the length of the pipe is a little under sized causing a slight flat spot. I got one of them running pretty true - only about .005" total run out. I might take a skin cut across it to eliminate the flat spot on the seam. Much more work than I'd figured on but it will probably be worth it in the long run. 

Back On The Roller

 It was a little chilly yesterday but not a bad day for a little lumberjacking. I've got quite a bit of brush and tree branches that need trimming. I can do that throughout the winter. I might call the tree guys back for a little professional help on a couple of the big branches that are over hanging the barn. I'll keep picking away at things and see how it goes. They cut down the stuff that I was really concerned with this summer. I don't think there's any panic on the rest of it.

After the lumberjacking I drug out the parts for the roller. There's not too much left to do. The rollers are made by pressing a sprocket hub into a piece of 1-1/2" pipe. They're a snug fit but I'll tack them in. After I get them tacked I'll put them in the lathe between centers and polish them up. The sprocket hubs have two set screws each that will keep them attached to the 1/2" rod that they will spin on. I need to put a couple of flats on the rod so the screws will hold better. Maybe just spot drill the rod so the screws will drop into a shallow hole. 

The roller shafts run in brass bushings that are pressed into the adjusters. I had to ream the adjusters, press the bushings in and then ream the bushings. I need to weld the drive sprockets to the hubs as seen in the lower photo. Nothing to that. I still need to make a couple of keepers for the bushings for the top roll. I thought I had made those already but since they weren't in the box of parts, I guess not. I also need to make the handle and cut the three roller shafts to length. Only thing after that is clean and paint. Depending on what else comes along in the next few days, might have it finished up next week.  

Pattern Progress

 

I was out running some errands yesterday and had my cowboy music playing in the truck. It's been quite a while since I've been in the heart of Texas, or anywhere for that matter. But we're having a beautiful fall here in Indiana. The trees are having one of their better years for color. Of course in a week or two you won't be able to go out of the house due to all the smoke from people burning their leaves. Apparently the "Green" memo has made it around to everyone in my neck of the woods yet. But a beautiful day yesterday to be out in the country blasting some old cowboy tunes just the same.

I finished repairing the part for the bender. There's a 1/8" strip welded on to each side now for reinforcement. I didn't have any gray spray paint so went with blue. I don't really care what color it is, just don't want it rusting. The paint is Rust-Oleum that's primer and paint in one application. The label mentions priming prior to painting, however. Have to see how well the paint holds up.

Half pattern for the dash hood - at least that's what the auto sheet metal book calls it. Since that book has now become my bible for skinning out this rig, that's what this piece will be called from this date forward. It also has a bit of the side attached where yours truly will be climbing in and out.

Half pattern for the seat back. In the auto sheet metal book, most of the seat backs are listed as having an angle of 78 degrees. I used that as my number as well and it looks good . The seat will actually line up with the back edge of the particle board and I'll have a seam on the sides where it will over lap the sides of the dash hood. I'm debating if I should rivet the two pieces together, use some Dzeus fasteners or weld it. It might be prudent to be able to remove the dash hood to access the wiring, etc. 

My plan is to roll a bead near the top edge of the seat back and the top edge of the dash hood then trim the sheet flush to the outer edge of the bead. The bead will be bumped to the outside. I can then drop a piece of aluminum round bar into the inside of the bead to reinforce the edge and eliminate the safety hazard of having an unprotected straight edge. I need to make a sample piece to see how it works but I think it will work just fine. I'll probably make the dash hood out of two pieces since that will be a bit trickier to get to fit snuggly on to the frame. Especially since I want to curve a bit of a lip along the top edge. The seat back I should be able to make out of one piece. However, I need to finish making the roller. I dug the plan book out. I'll figure out where I left off on that and see about finishing it up. Between the roll and the motorcycle project, I've got enough to keep me busy for a while. 

The auto sheet metal book and the plans for the slip roll both came from Lindsay. He retired several years back but the business was taken over as Your Old Time Bookstore. According to their website, they were going to call it quits as well but have continued operations. I checked out a few of the offerings and most things seem to be on sale. I'm guessing they aren't going to stay around too much longer. I'm going to see if they have anything that I didn't already purchase from Lindsay and place an order if I find something that catches my eye. If you're a tinkerer like I am or just interested in how it used to be done, you might want to check them out while you still can.

Time To Start Thinking Pattern Development

I got the pieces cut out to reinforce my tubing bender and some pieces for the side hustle yesterday. I was going to do a bit more in the shop but I discovered there was a MotoGP race on television - about the last chance to watch racing of any kind this season. And since it was an international event there wasn't any of the political BS like NASCAR or sportsball, just racing mano y mano. Franco Morbidelli was the winner by the way.

 I took a quick look at the jitney after cutting out the parts. I wanted to give some thought to changing the cockpit design a bit. One of the things I was concerned with following the original plan was mounting a decent roll cage. If I make the cockpit/tub more like the car in the previous post, I can still make a boat tail rear but narrow it up a couple of inches on each side so I can mount a hoop behind the tub directly to the frame rail as well as a couple of braces to the rear without having to poke holes in the sheet metal. 

Regardless of what I settle on for sheet metal, I'm going to need a layout/template for the skin. I got out my book on making automobile sheet metal that I bought some years ago from Lindsay before he retired. The book is a reprint of a 1912 edition so all of the cars featured are some of the earliest examples of automotive coach building. And that's a good thing for a one off builder like myself. There is a lot of info on the process of building panels including, which is why I dug the book out, pattern development. It runs you through the process of drawing out two views and then developing the true length lines required to make a flat pattern. 

I used to teach a little bit of this at the high school. To be honest, I was never real good at it. I always had to work through all the problems before the students so I wouldn't look like a dumb ass but I did have a fall-back if needed. Our department head was a whiz-bang with this stuff and if I needed some help he could answer any question I could come up with. Fortunately, I could answer most any question the students might have had, so it was all good. I'm going to start drawing up a couple of options for the cockpit and make a full size half pattern to see which one I like best. I'm starting to develop an image in my mind's eye that I think will work for me. It's about time to sweep the floor and bust out a new piece of soapstone. 

High Noon

 

High Noon was on last evening just long enough to catch the opening tune before the Missus changed the channel. Not like I don't know how it ends but Tex Ritter was stuck in my head until I fell asleep later.

I saw both of these on a Facebook group that appeared to be Dutch. They had some pretty neat cars and bikes posted but I couldn't decipher much of anything of the captions. However, a couple of really interesting things caught my eye with this rig. Looking at the side view, I like the look of the screened- in sides of the hood. Not just the screen but the rolled bead framing it. Likewise the rolled edge around the cockpit opening. The cockpit itself has a shape that's similar to a T bucket - looks good. I'd like to have a good look at the rear of the car to see how that was finished off. I was planning on doing my build according to the blueprint I've got but after seeing this, I might change things a bit. Probably won't be going with a headlight in the nose but I like the look. I'm diggin' the muffler/collector too. Cool looking car.

Didn't get any shop time in yesterday but got some more done outside. I've neglected some things the last couple of years, but I'm catching up with it. There's always plenty to do around here even if I'm staying on top of it. Most of what I need to do now I can do over the winter - assuming of course winter isn't going to be brutally cold with a blizzard every third day. It is 2020, however. Maybe a bit more outside work today and a little plasma cutting. A couple of pieces for me, a couple for the side hustle. 

Saddle Up

 

Back in the fabricating saddle again, not like I haven't been doing some, but I'm working on the soccer goal repair and the boss has a bunch of material on order for future work. 

Actual saddles made from a 2" sch 20 pipe I split. The saddles need to fit over a 2" tube. The ID on the pipe before splitting was 2-1/16" so they should bolt up nicely. I used the plasma to split them. I used a straight edge to guide my cut and was able to cut quickly enough to get a nice cut without wandering all over - hardly any clean up. Now I need to figure out how to free hand cut some more pieces for the side hustle without a bunch of grinding.

Note the shop math on the plate. Since I needed to get the holes spaced equally on the saddles, I worked out from the center line an equal distance - nothing new here - but to find the distance from the center, instead of multiplying the denominator times the whole number and adding the numerator and then dividing by 2 like they teach you in math class, just find half of the whole number, half the fraction and then add them together. Remembering of course anytime you want to find half of a fraction, just multiply the bottom number (denominator) by 2. And since every self-respecting welder/fabricator will have a piece of soapstone, finding half of 3-3/8 shouldn't take longer than about 5 seconds. For those of you who've been doing math with your young-uns, give them a couple of fraction problems and see how they solve it. If they do it the long way as normally taught, show them the easy way. You never know, they may have to find half of 17-5/8 some day without taking all day.

Took a good look at the front end on the Rickati project. I loosened up the fork legs and the axle nut and spun the legs by hand and the tubes appear to be bent. Normally they bend just below the bottom clamp but if not too bad they can be straightened. I've done a couple of these in the past with satisfactory results. I'll take these apart and see if I can do some good. If I can get them close, just put them back together so they're parallel and they should work. The trail might be off a bit but this is going to be a slow speed rig - that's what vintage trials is all about anyway.

Speaking of which, I went to the AHRMA website the other day to check on the vintage trials rules and they have a beginner's class. The results don't count for the championship and the course is the "easy line". I saw that they are going to have an event this weekend in Illinois. I didn't bother to look up how close to me it is but I did note they are running a cross country event as well. My original plan with the Rickati was to take it to the AHRMA events and compete in the trials and then spectate the road racing events. Plans haven't exactly worked out that way but they might still. I just need to finish up the frame and then send the motor out to my buddy. Paint the frame while he's got the motor and then button it all back up when he's done. Simple enough.

 

I'm A Big Fan

 

The big brown truck showed up yesterday morning - fan, spacer and radiator cap. The cap is a threaded item to work with the Model T radiator I bought. The box the fan came in has some instructions to determine the length of the spacer required and the length away from the radiator, belts and hoses. 3/4" is the magic number they say. Now that I've got the parts, I'll locate the radiator and then adjust the engine placement accordingly. One of the mounts has a couple of tack welds that will have to be ground off but I tacked it where it would be easy to remove. 

I made the fender mount yesterday. It looks crooked in the photo but there's two things at work here. One is the camera angle, the other is the fork legs are not in alignment top to bottom. I need to check the forks to see if the legs are bent or what ever else that could be causing the problem. It seems to be quite a bit of mis-alignment but I'll loosen up the pinch bolts and see if I can get the front wheel pointed straight first thing. I don't think I replaced the fork seals, so I'll have to pull the front end apart at some point anyway.

The fender bracket is all set other than a final polish. When I held the fender up to it while checking the fit, it appears the fender was designed for high mounting with the larger radius, rather than a smaller radius to fit snug over the tire with a low mount. I'll have to trim the fender but I won't do anything until I make sure I can get the front wheel pointed straight.

I need to remake the rear loop and get the rear fender fastened and then do something about a rear wheel. I'll need to buy some shocks as well but I've used up my allowance for the month and I can work on the jitney while I solve the wheel problem. I still need to find a tranny for that thing, but I'm moving forward and enjoying myself.

ER1100 For The Skin

 

The TIG filler rods came in the mail yesterday. Since they are too long to fit in the mail box, the mail man brought them up to the house. The mailman is a cool young dude. The Missus grabbed the package of rods from him and the mailman said he couldn't figure out what I was up to with this package. He knows I'm into all kinds of things but this one was not my usual fare. Good to keep him guessing. 

I dropped off the pieces for the side hustle and the boss man set up an appointment to meet him later in the day to check out the soccer goal job. Not much to it. We're planning on working on them later on this week.

When I got back home I filed the spacers for the fender mount that were in the last post. I'll give them a final sanding when I'm ready for the final installation. 

The idea is to have the fender looking something like this once it's installed. The leading edge of the fender has a rolled edge like the sides but the rear doesn't. They must of figured everyone will shorten it up to work with their installation. I'll get the mounting bracket made up and see how it looks and then shorten as I see fit.

I finished off the afternoon with a little heavy bag work. I haven't been doing much of anything exercise wise but it's time to get back after it. My Sunday walkies got rained out and now that winter is closing in, I'm going to have to get things set up here at the shack. I've got a bike on a trainer down the basement but I really don't care for stationary anything. However, since I no longer go to the boxing gym I can't just ride the recliner. I'll set myself up some type of program and talk to my running buddy and see if we can find something to keep me motivated. Last year at this time I was training for the ruck march. I'd like to do something like that again. The one Thanksgiving run I've done several times has been cancelled. I imagine the other one I normally do will be cancelled as well. Just need to suck it up and figure it's all on me. 

This, That and Some Corn

 

I was right about picking the corn. The farmer was here about 7:30 on Saturday morning. He does a couple other small holdings around here, so he picks them all and then moves on. I don't know what corn is going for these days but I would hope the farmers are going to have a good year. Something needs to go right this year.

I got a text message from HQ at the side hustle Friday - need more parts. I had these cut out already so it was grind, drill, bend, and weld. The boss said they're going to need a lot more this winter. That won't be a problem but I'm going to have to improve my plasma cutting. There was way too much grinding required. Might need to adjust my settings and I definitely need to try and get steadier when I cut. The plasma cuts faster than I can keep up. Not sure what I can do about that.

I ordered a couple things for the jitney project. While I'm waiting for those to show this week, I thought I'd pull the cover off the Rickati project and see about making a little progress on that thing. The photo above was taken at the high school at least eight years ago - not much progress since. However, I do have some aluminum fenders for it. I need to make a new rear loop and I thought I'd start figuring out how to mount the front fender. 

The front wheel on the bike is a 21" and the fender I ordered was for a 21" but it's more like a 28". The piece of cardboard measures 24" outside so you can see the radius of the fender is much larger than than it should be. If I set the fender on the tire it's obvious that it's not going to work bolting it onto the fork legs, so that leaves mounting it under the bottom of the lower triple clamp. The two little pieces on the cardboard are spacers. I'll make an aluminum piece that will bolt to the fender and the spacers and hopefully it will be acceptable. 

My first thought was to shrink the edge of the fender to tighten up the radius but the fender has a wired edge. I doubt seriously I could take that out and shrink the edge without seriously screwing up the appearance of the lovely polished fender. The rear fender looks like it should, just need to make a better loop to hang it from. 

There's an upholstery guy by me now. I talked to him the other day about making a seat and he said no problem. I've got a seat pan made already - might double check to make sure it'll work and if so, run it by him to see what he can do. He told me the other day he did a car similar to the jitney. I've seen the car. I've even got a photo of it somewhere. I need to dig it out and take a look-see.  

Birthday Boy

 

Surly came down yesterday for a quick visit. He had a vacation day and wanted to get out on the bike before it gets too cold. He's put a lot of time in on this rig since he got it. There were quite a few things that had to be rectified due to the previous owner's ham-fistedness. I have to say he did a nice job. His birthday's today. No birthday celebrations for any of us this year, unfortunately. We were able to have a cup of coffee together at least. Wishing you a happy birthday all the same, Surly.

Later in the day the weather changed a bit and there was some beautiful light out on the cornfield and beyond.

A few minutes later the light changed and the rainbow that is just barely visible in the top photo popped out pretty as can be. Shortly after that the setting sun got clouded out and it started sprinkling a bit. Actually, not a bad ending to a beautiful fall day.

Depending on the weather, the corn might be gone today. The farmer brought his grain truck in and has it parked out back. Since I'm a mid-western boy thru and thru, I love the look of the fields, especially with the fall foliage for a backdrop but when the corn gets picked, it'll be six months before spring gets here and the farmers will be working the fields again. It's a long time to wait but always worth it. 

Boots

 

From Here

Kind of a wasted day yesterday. After being in the dentist's chair with my mouth propped open for two hours the previous afternoon, I didn't sleep well that night. The tooth was hurting prior to my retiring so I took a couple of acetaminophen before hitting the sack. They didn't seem to help much and it took me a while to go to sleep and then I woke up a few hours later with the tooth throbbing. So with the sore tooth and the cool down with the weather, I caught up on some reading, a few inside chores and a couple of things outside including covering up some plants to protect them from frost. That time of year I guess. 

Even though I've not got much to show for the day, except for the magazine pile shrinking substantially, I did run across an item of interest in the Welding Journal. The band Metallica has teamed up with Wolverine boots. "They are providing trade school students scholarship funding while teaming up to launch two special-edition boots inspired by the legendary rock band." Info on Metallica's All Within My Hands nonprofit can be found here. Info on the boots can be found here.

Cartography

 

I got the map hung up for the Missus - 1950 world map. Not your normal living room décor but there's only two people that need to be pleased here and that's been done.

I decided to paint the remainder of the front of the house. The top looked really good after I got it painted. Since I had the paint and the weather was co-operating I painted the bottom section as well. Glad I did. The railing on the back steps needs some fresh paint as well. I'll look and see if I have any paint. I also want to paint one more window - that paint I've got. I'll get that done this morning. I've got round 2 of the root canal at the dentist this afternoon so probably won't get much else done today.

I ordered some 1100 TIG filler rod. It should be here in a week or so. I ordered some bandsaw blades from a company I've never used before: Detroit Band Saw. They have most anything you could want in saw blades. Wood or metal cutting made to order. I ordered a few bi-metal rather than the carbon steel I usually use. They should hold up better since I've been cutting some stainless for the side hustle. Since these are a better quality than what I usually get and I haven't ordered any blades in a long time, I can't say how good the pricing is but the service was top notch. Only a couple days after placing the order the big brown truck was dropping them off.

Be good and stay safe!

Good Weekend

 

Saw this on a Facebook group for Silver Crown/champ cars. The caption said it was Buck Baker from '52. That should be close to what I'm trying to come up with. I was thinking more of a boat-tail on the rear end but that's subject to change. I'm planning on a roll cage that will fasten to the outside of the frame rails. Have tubes welded to plates that are bolted to bosses welded into the frame. I'm not near as brave as those old dudes were.

Surly took the little Rebel home a few weeks back to sell it but the deal fell through. He's thinking now about turning it into a scrambler. His youngest boy wants to ride, so this might be a good solution. Surly was here Saturday and picked up a battery I had to see if he could get it running. If he decides to go the scrambler route rather than selling it, yours truly will probably be involved in making some pipes. That'll be fine by me - I like doing that sort of work, especially if the grandsons are involved.

I got my house painting done over the weekend. It wouldn't hurt to do a bit more but I finished what I was hoping to accomplish. Looks like we'll get a few more decent days yet so I might try and paint a bit more trim. That's pretty much a never ending job but I don't want to fall too far behind the curve.

Going to finish the job for the side hustle today and then maybe a little something on the jitney. I'll see how things go.

Sidework and Homework

 

I bought some cheapie saw horses from Harbor Freight a while back and needed something to lay across the top of them for painting parts and working on things. I had this pallet out in the barn so I took the pieces off the bottom and nailed two of them across the ends. Got myself a decent work surface now. A solid top would be nicer but can't beat this for expediency or price.

Hardware order came in. I should have most of what I need to bolt the engine and the frame pieces together. I'm sure I'll need some more but I'll have to get a bit further along on the assembly process to figure that out.

Bag of parts for the side hustle. Not real difficult to make but there's some time invested. I delivered them yesterday and the boss sent me home with a couple other pieces to be repaired. Both parts need welding, one needs to be straightened out as well. Thin stainless so I'll TIG weld them. I asked him about the soccer goal job coming up and he showed me the material and explained the run-down. I should go take a look myself before I start and double-check that the measurements are correct and the design will work as he explained it to me. From what I understood, I don't think it will.

I cut a sheet of plywood and bolted it to the jitney to get an idea of the seat location and height. I think I'm going to have to move the engine back a little and I want to have an idea how much room I'm going to have for my big feet. Looks like everything is going to work OK. I've got the engine set in the frame level right now. If I lower the rear a bit I shouldn't need much of a tunnel to clear the tranny and driveshaft. Until I come up with a tranny I can work on hanging the front end and maybe start on some of the sheet metal work. I'll have to get some of the correct filler rods before I can weld any panels, though.

Politics

 I don't normally get too involved in politics here but since 2020 has been such a train wreck, might as well throw my two cents in. I've already cast my vote so watching the debates wasn't going to decide how I was going to fill out my ballot. However, in the interest of being an informed citizen, I'd figured I should watch them. I watched a little over an hour of the presidential debate and concur with most of the reviews I saw that it was a shit show. Trump was a bully and paid no mind what-so-ever to the rules of a debate. I assume some of this was by design, trying to rattle Biden so he would make some serious miscues but I was not impressed. And after Trump left the hospital the other day he fired off a plethora of Tweets making him look like a complete buffoon in my estimation. More like some of the goombahs I had in high school than the president of the United States. Biden was nothing to write home about either. Seems like everyone in the US knows that he's suffering from some type of dementia and that at the advanced age of 78, this is not going to work out well if he's elected. Shit show indeed.

Not having learned my lesson from the Presidential debates, I tuned in to the Vice Presidential debates. I didn't last long on this one. The moderator had better control but the performances of both of the candidates was insulting. Sen Harris started out giving the story of her life rather than answering the question that was posed. Vice President Pence followed Trumps lead and kept talking after his allotted time was up. He too for some reason didn't respond directly to the questions. And these weren't tough questions. Maybe it got better after I tuned out but from what I read, I don't think so. I doubt anyone trying to decide who to vote for would have gotten much out of it. I personally was disappointed in Pence's performance - God fearing man from my home state, supporter of vocational education, decent record as a politician in Indiana and has been able to tolerate Trump for almost four years. But his debating skills were certainly not on display the other night. If they give you two minutes, stop talking when you're time's up. You have a one minute time for a rebuttal, not while the other person has the floor. 

When the elected officials holding the two highest offices in the land can't follow the simple rules of a debate, why should I vote for them? In fact why should I vote at all anymore? I've had enough of voting for the lesser of two evils. I've done my civic duty and voted in every election since I turned 18 and this is where we've ended up just the same. I don't know what's going to happen with the remaining debates now but it doesn't matter to me. Rome's burning and the politicians are fiddling. End of the empire I'm afraid.

Epidermis

 

I picked up the aluminum sheets for the skin on the jitney yesterday. The guy at the supplier did me a real solid on the price. He put in a large order to replenish his stock which brought the price down substantially on the individual sheets and he passed the savings along on mine. Can't beat that!

I went to the dentist in the afternoon for the root canal. After they pulled the crown off they found some more decay so they shot some more Novocain in me. This is the first time I've been to this dentist and he's pretty liberal with the anesthetic. I've had a root canal done without any before and I can damn near hypnotize myself to the point where I can block out most of the pain. I'm not as good at it as I used to be but between my skills and his anesthetic, I actually fell asleep in the chair while he was working on me. I'll have to make a couple more trips back before this thing is finished, unfortunately. It's a shame to burn a really nice day for a visit to the dentist. I did ride the bike, however. A most enjoyable jaunt. Just have to be extra careful - harvest season now. Lots of slow moving vehicles and stuff on the road surface.

The dentist visit shot the majority of the day but I did work a little bit on the job for the side hustle. I got everything fixtured, all the pieces cut to length and about half of them drilled. I'll finish them up today and see about doing a little painting also. Great weather for it.

Radiator

 

Radiator showed up - looks like it was made for it. I thought I might have to move the mounting brackets on the sides but it looks like it'll work just fine as is. There's about a 2" drop from the top of the firewall to the top of the tank on the radiator. That should give a nice nose down attitude.

Offenhauser oil filter cover. Not necessary but will look good with the Offy valve cover. I got an e-mail from Jegs the other day concerning the remote oil filter kit I ordered. It's backordered again. This time it has a shipping date of November 2nd. It's not holding me up and Jegs has a couple of alternative kits but the one I ordered is CNC machined and it's cheaper than a similar kit with die castings. I don't much give a hoot about the CNC work but I'm assuming they are using better material with the machining process than a cast part with a lot of zinc in the alloy.

I'm picking up the aluminum sheets this morning and my hardware order should be here Friday. I'm heading to the dentist after picking up the aluminum for the root canal, so that'll take care of the rest of the day. I have to make some parts for my old boss. If I feel ambitious after the dentist, I'll work on those. The nice weather is supposed to continue for a while so I'll try and get some more painting done this week as well.

World Teacher Day

Cockpit for the jitney finish welded and primed. The bolts to hold it to the frame are on order - stainless 10-32 button heads. There are five on each side, so that should hold it.

The Missus bought an old world map like would be mounted in a school house. It's about six feet wide and diameter of the map was too large when it's rolled up for the store bought brackets. I knocked some out earlier today that should work. I might have to wait until I have an extra set of hands to get it installed, however. I'll probably try to go solo. Measure the length and height, get one bracket screwed to the wall, stick one end of the map in the bracket and then try to fasten the second bracket while holding a level on the map with one hand and get a screw in with the other. How hard can that be?

Here's a blast from the past on World Teacher Day. Three of my former students posing with some of their handi-work for the school newspaper in 1984.The one guy in the photo posted this over the weekend on Facebook and it got back to me. He paid me a nice compliment as well, which gave me a warm and fuzzy.

I've had a lot of good teachers over the years, both in public school and college. I worked with a lot of them as well. My high school geometry teacher was probably the best I ever had. Besides knowing his subject well, he had a delivery that sucked me in and made me want to learn. He probably had the most influence on me becoming a teacher. There was also another teacher at the high school who had a big influence on me even though I never had him as a teacher. He was a shop teacher who raced motorcycles and I was all about motorcycles when I was in high school. He called off work for a week to take his Bultaco Metralla to Daytona to race. I was fortunate to be able to do the same thing myself some years later - not once, but twice. He quit teaching and opened up a motorcycle dealership later on. You need to follow your passion.

To all the current, past and future teachers, you have my respect and appreciation. It's not an easy job if you do it correctly. It's has to be even tougher now trying to carry on while dealing with the virus. Regardless of how difficult it is, keep your head up. The guys like those three hooligans in the photo need you now more than ever.

 

Painted Head

 

I painted the cylinder head for the slant-six yesterday. I also ordered some parts and a couple of sheets of aluminum. Both orders should be here next Wednesday or Thursday. I ran a tap through most of the threaded holes in the head and block and got a list of hardware I'm going to need to assemble this rig. The intake and exhaust manifold use studs with thick steel washers to fasten them to the head by "pinching" them. There are only two actual mounting holes, one on each end of the head. I bought the metal plates to build my own header and they work the same way. I need to find new studs, washers and nuts now. I'll see about locating those while waiting for the other things to arrive along with some more work around the shack.

This is from a metalshaping group on Facebook I belong to. This is the look I'll be shooting for when I get to the rear end. That's also the type of header I'm planning on - six into one on mine. That's one fine looking automobile. Hope I can come up with something equally as nice.

Diggin' Out the Parts

 

I set the cylinder head and valve cover on the engine yesterday to check clearances and get a visual of how things are going to look. I need to go through the boxes of parts and see what I need for hardware to get this thing assembled and paint the cylinder head. There's not much space between the valve cover and where the side of the hood will be. I'm going to move the engine over a bit - won't take much to modify the mounts.

I went by the high school yesterday and took a look at the malfunctioning machine. My guess before showing up was the knife switch for the current selector. We checked everything else but since the lid was still on the machine, no way to check that. I got a call shortly after I got home and the instructor had pulled the lid off and it was the knife switch - got one right there.

I stopped at the place I buy my metal after leaving the high school and got a price on the aluminum sheets I'm going to need to skin out the jitney. He doesn't have them in stock but will be placing an order soon. I'm going to have him get me a couple of 4'x8' sheets which should give me enough to cover everything from the cockpit forward.

Went to Walgreens after that and got a flu shot and a pneumonia shot - first time I've ever had a pneumonia shot. Both arms were a little tender the rest of the day and I felt just a little punk later that evening. It could have been the shots or it could have been from watching the news. We've still got another month until the election and a couple more debates. I watched most of the first one and I doubt that I'll watch any more. I've voted already so no sense putting myself through anymore of that insanity. Brother Johnny was right, we're boned. 

Blast It!

 

I bead blasted all the burnt paint off the lever arm for the tube bender. It started rusting over night, so I'm going to make up a couple of pieces to strengthen the sides today and get some paint on it. I didn't get much done yesterday due to driving the Missus to the hospital for some blood work, but like the trip to the dentist the other day, we stopped this time on our way home at the Amish bakery for some goodies. I've been missing being able to get out with the old girl.

Heading over to the high school today while the instructor is on prep - minimizing contact with the students and all that. He's having trouble with one of the welding machines and can't figure out what the problem is. He ran through the things that he's done to trouble shoot it and he's done exactly what I would have done except for one thing. I didn't think about it until after he hung up the phone but it just might be a real easy fix. If it's what I think it might be, I'll look like a hero. Let's hope that's how it goes.

I also received a text from my old boss. The soccer goals where his boys attend school need some work and he wanted to know if I'd work with them on the repair. I'll be doing that in a few weeks when the boys are on fall break.

I also got a message on Facebook from a former student. He'd like to meet up along with another student one of these days. Now that businesses are open again, maybe a lunch meeting. I'd like to see these guys again. They graduated almost 30 years ago. Probably the most gratifying part of being a teacher, especially a shop teacher, is knowing the role you played in turning out not only craftspeople but also decent young men and women. Even more gratifying than having access to a big shop and nice tools! 

I sent a message to the guy with the tranny for the jitney project but haven't heard back from him. I'm going to start shopping junkyards and see if I can find something. I need to locate one before too much longer. Get it in house before the weather gets bad.