Year In Review

This has been an interesting and, for the most part, productive year. The big thing, of course, was dealing with the wife's cancer - several surgeries to drain fluid from her lung as well as lymph node removal. Then came the chemo. Just about the time she was recovering from one round, here came another. Not an easy thing to go through. Fortunately, it's behind us now and things are pretty close to normal again.

I finished putting the Sportster together. It shouldn't take more than a quick once-over, gas, oil, and a battery to make it go come springtime. I'm real happy with how it came out.

Finally finished the concrete in the back of the shop and got everything moved back in. I've still got a few things to set up but this was a huge step forward.

Read 53 books this year and kept the pile of mail and magazines in check as well. The wife's illness had a lot to do with that but never a bad thing when you're able to read a good book.

Cut back on the exercise this year so I could stay closer to home and help out more. Pretty much retired from coaching at the boxing gym until Jimmy got hurt. I'm helping out again, which I enjoy, I just don't want to get spread too thin again. However, I've been contemplating participating in the Senior Games this Spring. They've got both a 5K and a 1500M racewalk. Plus a 20K bicycle race. I don't know if I would need to do a qualifying event or not but the games are in May. Plenty of time to train and lose a few pounds. I need to get back on some type of regular schedule. Since the wife is better and I won't be teaching any morning classes at least until Summer, should be able to fit in a morning workout 3-4 days a week. That'll be hard for me to do unless I've got a specific goal to train for.

Even though the To-Do list is still a mile long, I made some progress around the shack and on a few of the wheeled projects. I ordered up some clutch discs for the 900 and a back brake caliper the other day. That's becoming a high priority project. The little orange Sprint has become the fill-in bike project. The goal from now on is the completion of two of the wheeled projects per year at a minimum.

I need to decide if I'm going to continue to work at the college. I told my boss he can schedule me for the summer session but I'll have to see after that. I like the job and the money's good, but it does cut into my playtime. If I'm going to continue to work I'll need to renew my Certified Welding Inspector license. I think I'm up for a three year renewal. If it's time for a re-exam, I'll just hang it up.

All in all, a pretty good year even with the cancer scare. I'm in a real good place right now - got everything one man could possibly ask for. Very much looking forward to the upcoming year - playing with the toys, getting some things done, maybe traveling a bit.

Here's to a happy and healthy New Year to all of you out there. Let's all be good to one another in 2016.

Pic Dump

Photo From Here

That's quite the rig - makes my little teardrop look rather utilitarian. But in reality, I suppose it is. It's fun though. I need to drag it out and take a little trip one of these days. 

Photo From Here  NSFW

This on the other hand is anything but utilitarian. Man I dig those Italian sports cars. I would have liked to have seen them make that dashboard. And the rest of the car for that matter.

Photo From Here

MV 125 single - form follows function. Beautiful castings, precision machine work. There sure was some beautiful machinery produced in the 50's and 60's.

Power Tools

I put a 1/4 sheet pad sander on my Christmas list thinking that with the old Milwaukee repaired, If I got a new little sander I'd be golden in the sanding department. I got a nice DeWalt so I was going to toss out the little Makita with the broken wire in the cord. Just couldn't bring myself to do it, however. I went ahead and repaired it. As you can see from the photo, you have to dig pretty deep to be able to remove the cord. It was a pretty easy fix once it was apart. Only about five minutes to put it all back together but since it's at least thirty years old, one of the bearings will probably go out the first time I use it. I'll keep it down the basement so if I need a little sanding I'll save myself a trip out to the shop.

The Missus got me one of these Switchdrivers for Christmas. I saw an ad on TV for this thing and thought it was a pretty clever idea. Instead of swapping out drill and screwdriver bits all the time, just flip twist the head around. It came with two 20 volt lithium-ion batteries and uses 1/4" hex drills and drivers. I should of had one of these when I was putting up the new barn a few years back. It would have come in real handy since I screwed most everything together to make sure it would never come down again. I got a recall notice on my cheap Harbor Freight cordless. I'll do like the sander and keep the replacement drill down the basement for household chores.

Spent a couple of hours working in the shop yesterday on some odds and ends like the sander. Put the battery charger on the tractor to make sure it's up to snuff, brought some firewood in and made sure I had everything in place for an emergency power outage. Freezing rain and big winds are in the forecast. A few years back a similar storm knocked power out for four days. We did OK but were running out of water. I think I'm prepared for just damn near anything short of a nuclear attack now. I still need a transfer switch to hook up the generator but I can rig something up in a pinch if I need to. No reason not to do it properly for convenience and safety sake, though.

I've still got a couple more weeks of vacation left. Planning on working on things at a nice leisurely pace. Just make sure I get a little something done every day and start planning for the new year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to one and all from Shop Teacher Bob.

Dreaming Again

Photo From Here

Forget the black falcon, when you're 16 years old this is stuff dreams are made of. Real deal Aermacchi racer. I think that's one of those Campagnolo brakes on the front. Fifty years later, here's what I'm looking at:

Photo From Here

Ford C900. There's one similar to this in the Indiana Auto & RV paper. The one in the paper looks to be a farm truck with a grain box. The blacktopping crew I worked for a couple of summers had one like this one here but with a regular dump bed. Like most of their rigs it was past it's prime but on the couple of occasions I drove it, it was fun. Like a scaled down big-rig.  Wouldn't be as cool as the big Mack but they're only asking $2950 for the one in the auto trader. $2500 would probably buy it. Since it has a gas motor, nothing on it I couldn't fix.  

The weather has been unseasonably warm - record warm in fact. However, it's been pretty dreary. Big rains yesterday so not like you can do much outside. That's OK. I'm about ready to burrow in out in the shop for the winter. I've got to get some things finished if I ever hope to bring that truck home.

Photo From Here

Dream List

I mentioned a couple of posts back that if I won the lottery I'd build myself a big shop and get started on an Indy roadster replica. If it was big enough, and the lottery prize was big enough as well, I'd get a few others that I've lusted after over the years. Here's a few that quick came to mind:

'63 Buick Riviera

Aston Martin DB5

While I'm never going to be as cool as James Bond, I'd still like to have one. I don't know what a decent DB5 is going for these days but a new Vantage starts around $120K. Not unreasonable if you're a millionaire. Only twice what a decked out pickup truck goes for. Besides, I've already got a pickup.

Maserati Bora

'62 Chevy

I had one of these - same color and everything. 327 with a 4 speed. Nice car - lots of good memories.

Jaguar E-Type

You knew there had to be an E-Type make the list. I'd probably opt for a convertible, however. Maybe in the light blue metallic paint or British Racing Green. A new F-type with all the bells and whistles is about the same as the new Aston Martin. Maybe opt for the E-type and then get the Aston Martin. Or, something a little more practical for around the farm. Something like this Mack:

Mack B-61

Thermodyne diesel and a twin stick tranny. Dual air horns. Maybe get one of those sun visors that go on the outside of the cab. Probably be more fun than any of the sports cars. Don't know what the attraction is with these things but I've definitely got a Jones for them.

I'm on vacation for a few weeks now. Hoping to make some progress on the fun projects, unlike the toilet repair the other day. Actually went pretty smooth for plumbing, though. Nary a single swear word was uttered. Might be a record for me. Flush toilets. Right up there with move-able type and cordless drills on the list of the greatest inventions of all time.

I've still got a bit of Christmas shopping to finish up and I need to go into the college to lend a hand moving some things around prior to the start of the next semester. I should be able to do both in a morning then I'm free for a while. The boxing gym is going to be closed for a couple of weeks also so nothing on my agenda besides working on whatever I feel like working on. Almost like being retired.

Coachwork

Surly sent me a comment on the last post about an outfit that does auto restoration work on top end sport cars. I looked around the link he sent me and they definitely do some top notch work. My buddy Jimmy has a Jaguar XK120 that needs quite a bit of TLC. It's got a Chevy straight six with a Powerglide transmission in it rather than the correct Jaguar powerplant. It's also missing the doors. Looking at the photo above, seems they've fashioned one up. Looks pretty straight forward in the picture but I know there's a lot more to it than just rolling the outer skin and punching a few holes for the door handle. If I ever get remotely caught up on my stuff, I might tackle a pair of doors for him. I might just be good enough to pull it off.

I mentioned to Surly in the comments that I've no regrets for my career choice as a shop teacher but I do wish I could have worked with some of those master fabricators on the Champ cars. The drivers usually get the glory but it's the mechanics and the builders that make it all possible. Now the Indy/Champ dirt/sprint/midget all use carbon fiber or fiberglass for the body work. There's still plenty of work for a first class panel beater doing restoration or custom work but growing up in the 50's & 60's reading Rod & Custom, Hot Rod and all the rest, I was really impressed with the race cars and the true customs of the time. Forget the billet and the rat rods. Look at the work that was being turned out by the custom guys like Barris, Jefferies, Alexander, Roth, Starbird, Cushenberry, and all the rest. Those boys had it going on.

Life is just too short to be able to do everything you want to do, it seems. Of course sometimes talent is the limiting factor. That's why I was never a left-handed reliever but I'm hoping I've still got some time to learn a bit more metalworking, however.