blog411.html

Friday, April 1, 2011

I sanded the plate with 800 grit and gave it another coat of paint. If that looks OK when it's dry I'll be ready to put black on the numbers.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

This was the day for serious barn cleaning. I did a lot of moving, tossing, sweeping, and sorting. I ended up with three large contractor bags full of trash, and a big, dead, old air conditioner which went to the recyclers and brought $10.50. Now I have room to move in the dead Allis Model C, which will make space in my shop for the new roadster. With any luck I should get that all done tomorrow.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Done. I took the Suburban to town, hooked up the trailer with the roadster on it, and brought it home. Shane and Bristy came over to help me move the Allis to the barn, then we got the roadster off the trailer, pulled it in front of the house for pictures, and rolled it into the shop. So far it hasn't wanted to start, not even a cough. Shane helped me check out the ignition system, which seems fine. The carburetor is another story. I found it full of some kind of debris, so I cleaned it up and blew out the passages. This is a Holley NH, which is wrong for the year of the car, but will work on any year Model T. It's a very simple and very reliable carb. All that remains is getting one small fitting for a fuel line shutoff valve by the carburetor, then I'll give the old chariot a crank or two and see if it wants to start.

Monday, April 4, 2011

I spent most of the afternoon reinstalling the fuel line. When I got it all back together and tried to start the car, the battery was down. So I put a charger on it, and I'll try it again tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

With the battery recharged, the coils buzzed briefly but soon quit. I'll have to examine the ignition system and find where there's a broken circuit.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

After paying the water bill and shopping for groceries, I spent a little more time working on the roadster. I found that current was getting into the coil box but the coils weren't firing, so I decided to open up the switch and see if the trouble was there. Getting the cover off became quite a project because of a couple of stuck screws. That used up my time, so cleaning up the switch will be a job for tomorrow or Friday.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

This was my day to take care of business. I picked up the appraiser's report on the new roadster and took it to the insurance office to get the car insured. Then it was off to the court house in Winfield to get the car registered. I got a year of manufacture registration, so I can use a 1915 plate on the car.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Time out. I had an appointment with the eye doc for a checkup. That pretty much used up the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually accomplish something.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

After doing laundry I drove over to Caldwell for an auction, and got a few good deals. Today's haul included a good ax, like new, for $4, an antique kerosene lamp for $4, three hacksaws for $5, a pipe vise for $1, a box of antique wrenches, including a pair of Model T wrenches, for $5, a nail puller and box of wrenches for $1, a pair of Edison records, circa 1910, for $1, a drop light for $2, and an air regulator with several gauges and other odds and ends for $3. The deal of the day was an anitque pump jack. The auctioneer started at $100, had no takers, went to $50, then $20, then $10. Nobody else wanted it, so I got it for $1. Back at home, I used part of the afternoon for some Model T work. I installed new perch bushings on the rear axle housings of the touring, and tinkered with the balky ignition on the runabout. It seems there's an intermittent circuit in the coil box, so I'll need to take the box out and find the source of the problem.

Sunday, April 10, 2010

This was an old car day. I spent most of the day removing, dismantling, and working on that coil box. I'm soaking parts of it overnight in rust remover. To be continued.

Monday, April 11, 2011

All I did on the coil box today was wash and dry those parts that spent the night in rust remover. I spent most of the afternoon putting away wheels and other car parts that I brought home from work. I had all that stuff in town so I could work on it in a heated building during the winter. Yesterday I ordered a kit to replace the water-damaged old wood in the coil box, and today I got an email notice that it had been shipped, so maybe I can get that box finished sometime in the next week or so.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spent the whole evening on federal taxes. Tomorrow I'll take on the state.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Done. Now I can get back to something useful.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

I need to get the roof done. This afternoon I went up to make sure the tarps were all in place before possible rain arrives. No matter how secure you think the tarp coverage is, the wind will rip them to shreds. The way I left them today might be OK in a brief light rain, but I really need to finish the job and get rid of them altogether.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Today I dodged the weather bullet. Despite the high winds, those rearranged tarps stayed in place well enough to keep the light rain from getting into the house. I'm just glad it wasn't heavy rain with stronger wind. The old saying is "If you don't like the weather in Kansas, just wait awhile." A couple of days ago the high was over 80º. Today it never got up to 45º.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

This was a school day. I went to steam class. The Kansas & Oklahoma Steam & Gas Engine Association had a class on steam traction engines, and I went to learn about them. Before and after class, I worked on the coil box project. I hope to have that finshed sometime in the next week.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Work on the coil box used up most of the day. I took about three hours off during the afternoon to drive over to Oxford for the Patterson auction. I was after a box of piano rolls, but they went for more than I was willing to pay. All I bought was a Third McGuffey's Reader and an 1887 speller for $5.39. After that I went back to the coil box. I finished rebuilding the switch and got started on the rebuild kit for the box itself. I should have the whole box done in a day or two.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Success! I finished the coil box this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll put it back on the car and see if it works.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

So I got the coil box back on the car. It works perfectly, delivering good spark to all four plugs. But all I could get from cranking was a couple of coughs and a brief start for a few revolutions, then nothing. So now I have the carburetor off, and will look into that.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I blew out the carburetor passages, put it back on the roadster, and cranked. The car started up and ran normally for a few minutes. I shut it off while I opened the doors to let the breeze carry the exhaust fumes out, and the car wouldn't start again. I suspect a fuel problem from debris in the line. Looks like I have some cleaning out to do. The touring is still up on stands with the rear end out for rebuilding, but I started it up just so I can say I have one T that runs, even if it's not going anywhere.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Today's work was draining the gas out of the roadster's tank and removing the shutoff valve and sediment bulb for cleaning. As the gas drained out I ran it through a wire straner and a piece of cloth, both of which collected some debris that could clog a carburetor. I'll be ordering an in-tank screen to keep that stuff out of the fuel line.

Friday, April 22, 2011

This afternoon I made up a shopping list and ordered a fuel strainer for the roadster and a bunch of carburetor parts so I can rebuild a couple of spare carbs.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

After doing laundry I checked out an auction at the fairgrounds and found nothing of interest. I spent a big chunk of the day moving stuff around and rearranging. I have a lot of sorting and organizing to do before I'm able to find what I want when I want it, and without tripping over piles of stuff I bought at auctions and haven't had time to put away.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I didn't do much on a lazy Sunday. I did go up on the roof and tack a piece of tarpaper in place and do some tarp arranging to try to keep some of the predicted moisture out of the house. Rain is pedicted tonight and tomorrow, but later in the week a dry spell is supposed to arrive. That looks like a chance to get some real roof work done. One other little chore today was to pot some seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation. Out of the six kinds of seedlings, four are ones that don't come up volunteer all over the place.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Cat drama. Miss Kitty has gotten huge, and this afternoon went running into the house when I came in. I found her upstairs in my sock drawer. I took her out, but later she made it inside again. I took her out again, and this time I went out and opened the door of the old dairy barn. She went in and climbed into an empty box, and that's where I left her. She's not going to deliver a litter of kittens in the house if I can help it.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

This afternoon I visited at my cousin Irene's. I was looking through some old pictures and found this.

I'm the guy in the middle.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Today's afternoon job was installing the roadster's license plate. I also looked in that box where I left Miss Kitty Tuesday afternoon. That's where she had her litter. There are five. One yellow tiger stripe and four gray and black.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

This has been clean-up week at the sign factory. We made the final signs last week and packed them on Monday, and since then we've been packing up equipment and I've been bringing my things home. Today I brought home some shelves that will go in my shop to provide some much-needed storage space.

Friday, April 29, 2011

My final day of work was a short one. We had the last of the equipment packed up and stored, and the place swept, by 11:30. I was home by noon, and spent the afternoon putting things away. I began the long chore of sorting and organizing that awaits in my shop. The first part is clearing space so I can move in the shelves I brought home yesterday, and just that part of the job may take a couple of days. I won't be ble to spend all my time on that, because I need to check out auctions on Saturday and Sunday that both have advertized items I may want to buy.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

The auction near Blackwell featured a lot of antique farm equipment. Unfortunately, most of it had sat out in the weather for decades and was in mighty poor condition. I did pay $3 for a sheller. The wood frame and body are falling apart, but the steel works appear to be quite restorable. Despite its bad condition, the wood is just about all there, so I can refer to it to make replacement parts. The machine should be a fairly easy restoration. I didn't stay long after buying the sheller, because there wasn't anything I considered worth hauling home. I was home by one, and spent the afternoon doing more sorting, arranging, and cleaning in the shop. This evening I went to see Water For Elephants. It's a movie for adults, with no car chases, explosions, or flying people. Very good.