blog218

Thursday, February 1, 2018

The plan for today was to assemble a new wheel for the touring car. I had no trouble assembling a couple of rear wheels a few years ago, but this front wheel was a different story. As the hub was pressed down it leaned at an angle, so I quit pressing. I don't need a cockeyed wheel. In the morning I'll make an unscheduled run to Wichita and buy some aluminum to make a pair of fittings to keep the hub straight. I hope I can make it to Wichita and back in the morning so I can make the fittings in the afternoon, and if I'm lucky have the wheel finished and back on the car this weekend.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Mission partially accomplishd. I went to Wichita and bought a big piece of aluminum, and picked up a couple of rolls of film. When I got home I went to the machine shop at the juco to make the pieces I need, and found that my big piece of aluminum is too thick to fit into the lathe. I'll have to take it back tomorow and trade it for a piece with a smaller diameter. I had a smaller piece that did fit, so I was able to make the smaller of the two mandrels I need. With any luck I'll be able to get back to the shop Monday and make the bigger one. After shopping for groceries and other items I hauled some wood up from the wood lot and split it. By the time I finished with that, the day was spent.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Another trip to Wichita ate up my morning. I exchanged the too-big chunk of aluminum for another, small enough to fit the lathe. It's in the car waiting to go to the machine shop Monday. At home I started rounding up top sockets for the touring car. I've ordered a top, and will need the sockets and bows to hold it up. I have a lot of sockets, but not yet a complete set of undamaged ones. All the good ones are attached to others that have pieces cut off, are rusted through, or are damaged in some other way. I'll have to remove the rivets to separate the good ones from the bad ones and make new rivets to assemble a complete set of good sockets. Then comes setting up a steam-bending operation to make the bows and tack strips.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

I gathered up all the top sockets I have and determined which ones are correct for my car, and started removing old rivets to detach the top bows. I'll have to replace two of the sockets, one on each side of the car, and all of the wood. It was a good day to stay inside, with a cold north wind driving the temperature down into the upper teens. I'm counting the 44 days until spring.

Monday, February 5, 2018

Much of the morning I worked on removing a rivet from a spare top socket I want to use. I'm taking my time with the grinder to be sure I'm removing only the rivet and nothing else. In the afternoon I went back to the machine shop and made the other mandrel for my wheel press. But I found that the cockeyed hub wrecked some of the threads of the threaded rod on the press. So tomorrow I'll have to go to town and get a new rod. Meanwhile, I finishd the afternoon hauling and splitting firewood. Tomorrow is supposed to be another cold one, with a high of only 32º, but if it's not too windy I may bring up some more wood.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Today I finished unriveting the replacement top socket that will go on the right side of the car, and unriveted the mangled one shown in the left picture above. I still have to do the same for the left side and get all the sockets ready to be blasted when the weather permits. I also got the new rod for the wheel press and dismantled that cockeyed wheel. I hope to get it assembled tomorow.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Creeping along toward actually finishing something, today I unriveted the replacement socket for the left side of the car. Maybe tomorrow I can detach the mangled one it's going to replace. I spent a couple of hours working on my wheel press. Originally I padded it with foam rubber, but the felloe should be free to slide so it will be centered. So today I removd the foam rubber and replaced it with masonite. As it turned out, in the end I had to put blocks under the felloe so the hub could be pressd down far enough to make the wheel straight. Next will be drilling the holes ahd bolting on the hub plate.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

A little more done today. I unriveted that mangled top socket, made a drill guide to use with the wheel press, and fetched enough firewood to get through the weekend. The drill guide works nicely, and I got all the bolts in. The problem is that two of the nuts stripped their threads, and I had to cut them off. So painting and installing new bolts and nuts will add a few days to the wheel project.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Running out of clean sox meant that this was laundry day. Other work was in the shop. Part of that work was hunting up and painting a set of RV Anderson wheel bolts. I wasn't thinking when I assembled that new wheel, and just grabbed some unidentified bolts out of a drawer. The result was what you see here. Why is the end of the bolt flat on the side? Because I had to cut off the nut after the thread stripped. Lesson learned. Only two of the bolts failed (so far), but Anderson bolts will replace all six. My other shop work was a little more preparation of top sockets for sandblasting. The ten day forecast claims next Wednesday will be a good day for outdoor work like that.

Saturday, February 10, 2018

In the morning I drove up to Winfield to check out an auction. There were a couple of 8 x 10 rugs I wanted, so I stuck around until they came up for sale. It turned out that somebody else wanted them more than I did. When I got home I did a little more work on top sockets. They have wooden strips to hold tacks, and there are little tabs bent over to hold in the wood. I have to heat the tabs to orange so they won't break when I bend them straight. The trick is doing that without burning up the wood. I managed to get one left side socket done, leaving three to go. I should be ready to blast all of them when good weather arrives next Wednesday.

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Today I got those top sockets all ready for blasting when decent weather arrives. Pictures are here.

Monday, February 12, 2018

I finished my new wheel and made a new web page about it. In the afternoon I drove the runabout to town for shopping. At 4:00 PM it was 42º, 46º, 48º, or 51º, depending on which bank sign you believed.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Odds and ends. I finished painting the spare tire carrier for the touring car, and the new splash apron. I ground smooth some gouges inside an axle housing, and cut a slit in a top socket where it was a bit thin. The slit will be MIG welded and ground smooth to strengthen the thing. I went to town in the runabout to mail a couple of hubs to a T guy in New Jersey. He plans to use them for a pair of new front wheels for his 1914 touring.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Blasting day. I set up the equipment and got a good start, finishing that right side replacement socket and part of the full set. A little after two I reached the point of having to retrieve and screen all the sand off the tarp. Then the choice was whether to keep blasting or stop and fix the equipment, and I decided on the latter. Years of passing sand had worn enough of a hole in one of the hose fittings to make it leak, so I replaced it with a new one. The old blasting hood I made years ago is in pretty desperate shape, so I'll make a new one before the next session. I plan on that being tomorrow, as the forecast is for another warm day.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Half done. I finished blasting the right side top sockets. The forecast for tomorrow predicts a plunge back into the icebox, so blasting the left side will wait a few days until we get another good day for outside work. Meanwhile, I'll work on getting the right side prepped, repaired where necessary, and painted. The 1915 runabout got another drive to town this afternoon for a few cans of paint for the shop and some nuts for the kitchen. Days warm enough for driving an open car are an infrequent treat this time of year.

Friday, February 16, 2018

More variety. I cut a replacement running board bolt to the proper length and painted it, salvaged some top mounting hardware from junk top sockets, and did some cleaning up and tool-putting-away in the shop. In the afternoon I cleaned ashes out of the kitchen stove and the fireplace, fetched a load of wood from the wood lot, split it, and put it away. That load will be enough to last several days.

Saturday, February 17, 2018

In the morning I did more shop cleanup and putting away, and did the last painting on the new wheel, and did some reading on original speedometers. In the afternoon I hauled and split more wood, then I was off to Wichita to see a movie unlikely to ever be shown here. Winchester was worth the trip. Helen Mirren is as good as you'd expect, and the story of the Winchester house makes an entertaining film.

Sunday, February 18, 2018

With thirty days left until spring I'm still fetching firewood. Hedge wood (Osage Orange) is especially hard, and burns slow and long. That's the one that's yellow in the picture. The softer woods burn faster. The hard and soft make a good combintion in the stove and make the room nice and warm. Whatever you're driving, backing up a trailer can be tricky. Will this be anough wood to last the rest of the season? We'll see.

Monday, February 19, 2018

At last the forecast is showing good chances for some moisture during the next several days. The rain gauge had only about .07" in it this morning, but I'm hoping for considerably more. I did put tarps over the mower and the splitter, so I hope that doesn't scare it all away. My work in the shop today was rubbing that new splash apron with polishing compound. I was dissatisfied with the results, so I'm going to sand it and give it another coat of paint. I wish I had a big oven where I could bake the paint, but I don't, so I'll just have to let it cure a long time.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Oh boy, here we go again. I have my new wheel finished, and I polished it today. All I have to do before I put it on the car is find the cups and bearings. Where did I put them? I have absolutely no clue. Obviously, they should be in an easy-to-find place that makes sense. And where is that? Beats me. Meanwhile, outside, the walking was a bit slippery in places. Overnight freezing rain put a coating of ice on some of the grass. It didn't really amount to a lot of moisture, but it's a start. There are more chances of rain in the forecast, so maybe we'll get lucky. Other work in the shop, besides looking for the missing wheel bearing and cups, was sanding the new splash apron and giving it a new coat of paint. I believe I'll let it cure for at least a week before I do anything else with it.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

This was my day to rest at the dentist's office for a tooth cleaning. While I was in town I took the Camry to the body shop for an estimate. Sunday it sufferd a mishap when a guy ran a red light and I applied a moving T-bone to the side of his Buick. His car was disabled, but fortunately the damage to mine was mostly cosmetic. As Dude Lester said, "It don't hurt the runnin' of it none." The damage to the Camry is almost $1000, but that's all on the other guy. One of the witnesses said he ran two other red lights before he got to me.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

On this cold, drizzly, icy day, the mystery continued. I still haven't found where I put the missing cups and bearing. But looking for them wasn't a total waste of time, as I did find a few other things. I finally gave up looking and worked on switch repair. I have a couple of old time pushbutton light switches, both with different parts broken, so I'm trying to make one good switch out of the two. I had to quit for a run to the grocery store, so maybe I'll finish that project tomorrow.

Friday, February 23, 2018

An appointment with the eye doc took me to Wichita today, and I stopped at the Asian markt to stock up on 김치. The more you buy the cheaper it is, so I get the gallon jars that last a month or more. That trip took up most of the day, but I did manage to finish the switch I was working on yesterday. I even put the tools away when I finished.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

At last I figured it out. After looking everywhere for the missing front wheel bearing, seal, and cups, I realized that after the wreck I had to replace the broken wheel with a spare to roll the car into the shop. So all those parts were in the spare wheel. All the time I was looking for them they were sitting in that wheel in plain sight. So now I have both front wheels ready to put back on the car. But I'm going to wait on that until after I reinstall the splash apron, running board, and front fender. That will be easier with the wheel out of the way. Meanwhile, outside, yesterday's rain was .42" and today's was .47", so we're almost up to an inch. That should be enough to get all the plants off to a good spring start.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

With the outdoors dry and above freezing, I worked on the trailer. I got the loading ramps finished, then addressed the tongue. The problem was that it was just sitting on the hitch. When a car was driven onto the trailer, that weight at the rear would lift the tongue off the hitch. I had to fix the latch so it would grab the ball and stay attached. I think I've got it fixed now, but I need to try it out and be sure before I try to haul a car or any other heavy load anywhere.

Monday, February 26, 2018

With the Chickasha swap meet fast approaching, just two weeks away, this morning I rounded up more stuff I want to get rid of and put price tags on it. Sometime this week I'll start loading it all in the Suburban. The afternoon was pleasant enough for driving an open car, so I drove the runabout to town for groceries and Shorty rode along.

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Since December 16 my truck has been sitting outside the shop unable to move. This morning it was warm enough for a little outside work, so I decided to find out where the problem is. I disconnected the drive shaft at the U-joint, started up the truck and put it in gear. When I let out the clutch the transmission turned the drive shaft, so my suspicion was confirmed. Something in the rear end is broken and jammed. I jacked up the rear end and removed the wheels, and tried turning the drums. Turning one drum makes other turn in the opposite direction, which is normal. Apparently the differential gears are OK. But the pinion is absolutely stuck solid. I believe I'll drop the rear axle and take it out rather than try to work on it under the truck. That's probably going to be an ongoing project for several weeks. My other chores today were tagging more stuff to sell at Chickasha and prepping the right side top sockets for the touring. I still have to blast the left side.

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Taking advantage of a balmy day near 70º, I set up the blasting equipment and got started a little before noon. By the time I finished about four hours later I had all the top sockets for the left side blasted. The first one was slow going because of deep rust pits, but the other three weren't bad. That first socket has some rust holes in it, so I think I'll look for a better one when I go to Chickasha. After blasting I went to town to buy celery and pick up a new brake hose for the Suburban. While I was at it I bought a tail light socket for an experiment. I have some trailer lights I want to adapt for Model T tail lights and I hope to make them work with LED bulbs. I don't know if I'll have them done before Chickasha. That's only two weeks away.

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