Today's first job was finishing up the spare carrier. I had it finished by ten and all the parts painted and hung up to dry by eleven. I'll give it a couple of days to cook in the sun, then put it together and see if it works. After a shopping trip to town, I spent the afternoon on that leaking tire. I found that the tube was OK, but air was leaking out around the metal valve stem. Tightening the bridge washer and nut solved that, and when I reinstalled the tire it seemed to hold air the way it should. I'll see what the pressure is after it sits overnight.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
I never went off the place today. Two tire flaps were delivered, so I mounted the tires on two more rims, installed the other new wheel on the car and put a new tire and rim on it, and mounted a tire on a fifth rim as a spare. Tomorrow I'll assemble the spare tire carrier that's been hanging outside to cook the new paint in the sun. That will end a few months of blasting rims and other parts, galvanizing rims, making two new wheels, etc. I guess the next big project on this car will be installing a top.
Friday, August 3, 2012
The new tires pretty much held their pressure overnight. This morning I assembled and installed the new spare tire carrier, drove the car over to the water district office to pay the bil, a round trip of about five or six miles, and took pictures. Here are a couple of shots.
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Saturday, August 4, 2012
After doing laundry I wasted time online, then did a little research on Model T generator repair. Wally dropped by for a visit, and after he left I got back to considering that generator. I decided that I want a remote switch I can use to bypass the cutout while reading the ammeter inside the car, so I went to town and bought a switch, four feet of wire, and some alligator clips. Tomorrow I'll assemble my remote switch and get busy on the generator. Working conditions tomorrow should be a little better. This evening I went to the Mongolian grill in Winfield and then to a movie. After another day over 100º, when I came out of the theater a little before nine I could feel a big difference in the breeze from the north. When I got home I found the living room thermometer reading 90º, the one on the front porch at 87º, and the one on the north side of the house at 83º. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be only in the high nineties, so that will be a nice change from what we've been having.
Sunday, August 5, 2012The cooler evening brought the bonus of a nice rainstorm about half past midnight. I was in my customary high summer sleeping spot, the front porch swing, and Daisy and Miss Kitty joined me there to get out of the weather. The day turned out to be a welcome break from the recent heat, with a high of only 95º. I'm looking forward to the coming days with lows in the low seventies and high sixties. That will make the 100º highs easier to take. Today after driving the touring to town for groceries, I went to work on its non-working generator. Cleaning up the commutator got it working, sort of. It ended up jumping back and forth between charging at six amps and not charging at all. It's time to get busy with the Electrical System book, get the thing working properly, and install the voltage regulator I have for it. I want to get the car in shape for touring, which includes a working generator in case I have to do any night driving.
Monday, August 6, 2012
I spent most of the day on little piddling chores like paying bills, researching online info, and planning a trip to Illinois. A parts dealer there is holding a big sale on used parts, and I plan to get in on the goodies. The plan is to get a cheap pile of carburetors and rebuild them for obscene profits.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
This was a day for family, not for getting anything done. I did do a little vacuuming in the house and did a little grocery shopping, then I spent the rest of the day going to my cousin Irene's funeral and visiting with relatives. Tomorrow I'll get back to the everyday humdrum.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012 Well, not exactly humdrum. I set out on a road trip to Rockford, IL, for a sale of Model T parts. There was a nice big rainstorm east of Des Moines. Thursday, August 9, 2012 I made it to Rockford in the morning, bought about 500 pounds of carburetor bodies and other parts, and headed home. At Creston, Iowa, I found the Frank Phillips Visitors' Center, a 1931 Phillips station. |
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Friday, August 10, 2012
On the way home I stopped in Mound City, MO, to visit with Dave stroud, a fellow Model T fan. After leaving Mound City I found that a new bridge is being built to replace the old US 159 bridge over the Missouri River.
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I took a shortcut along the state line. Kansas is on the left, and Nebraska on the right.
Saturday,
August 11, 2012
I spent the morning at an auction where I was tempted by some big old shop machinery. It was big enough to make me exercise some auction discipline and take a pass. It would have taken more time and space than I have to spare right now. This afternoon I started looking through the carburetor bodies and other parts I bought Thursday. I put them in smaller boxes so each box would weigh less than a hundred pounds and be a little easier to handle.
I spent the morning at an auction where I was tempted by some big old shop machinery. It was big enough to make me exercise some auction discipline and take a pass. It would have taken more time and space than I have to spare right now. This afternoon I started looking through the carburetor bodies and other parts I bought Thursday. I put them in smaller boxes so each box would weigh less than a hundred pounds and be a little easier to handle.
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Sunday, August 12, 2012
Today's
main activities were more putting carburetor bodies into smaller boxes
and shelving them, and driving to Oxford to see what Ken and Rick were
selling at the auction. I spent $3.24 on a bunch of miscellaneous stuff
to get some galvanized steel flashing. The stuff included a scythe
blade, but I haven't looked through all the pile to see what else is
there. There wasn't much to keep me at the auction, so I came home and
did more carburetor sorting.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Today I finished boxing and shelving carburetors and parts, then worked on the touring car a little. I found one spark plug had a broken insulator, which I replaced. I packed the timer with grease, as one Model T expert recommends, and found that the car ran rough. I'll clean out the grease and just use a little motor oil, and see if that gets the car back to running normally.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Wow! A fall day in the middle of August! The day dawned cloudy and cool and stayed that way. A light rain started around 11:00 AM and kept up through most of the afternoon. It wasn't a lot, but enough to make puddles in the driveway and soften the ground. The high was only 77º. The first job of the day was cleaning the grease out of the timer on the touring car and lubricating with a few drops of oil instead. That got the car running a lot better. I spent most of the day filing receipts that have been piling up since June. On a cool day I could sort receipts without a fan blowing them around the room.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
After doing laundry I drove over to Wellington for an auction. There were a lot of good tools, but I didn't buy any because the big spenders were out and the bidding was way too high to suit me. I didn't come away empty-handed, though. Aluminum web chairs are no longer made, so I was happy to buy five of them for $4. After the auction I stopped at the fairgrounds in Winfield where the antique tractor show is going on. I've always enjoyed watching the old machinery work.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Today I drove the touring up to the fairgrounds again for the last day of the antique tractor show. The tractor parade included old cars, so I drove my car in it too. Coming home I drove through town and stopped for grocery shopping. Something I've noticed in all this driving is a high frequency vibration at cruising speed. I don't think I'm going to trust this car on any long trips away from home until I see what's inside the engine and transmission.
Monday, August 20, 2012
School day. I spent the morning getting tools together for my machine shop class, and I spent the afternoon in the class. The main lesson of the day was that shopping for tools locally is an annoying waste of time. Looks like I'll be driving up to Derby to shop at a real tool store.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The cooler weather with daily highs down in the low nineties means it's time to get back to work on the roof. Since last fall when I quit roof work for the winter, trash bags of old roofing have been holding tarps in place. But weather has deteriorated both bags and tarps until they're going to pieces, so I spent most of today putting that old roofing and the defunct tarps into new bags. A little of that cleanup remains, then I'll be ready to start removing more old roofing.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
It was a school day, but before going to class I spent the morning finishing the roof cleanup and buying new tarps and plastic sheeting for the predicted rain Friday and Saturday.
Friday, August 24, 2012
The threat of rain sent me to to work under cover this morning. Prompted by weak compression on one cylinder, I pulled the head on the Fordor to take a look. I found lots of carbon, a pile of dried cooling system crud, and a little piece of some mystery substance sticking out from under the intake valve on #3. Maybe that explains the low compression on that cylinder. I had to go to my class this afternoon, so taking off the head and taking pictures was all I got done on the car today.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Today I finished boxing and shelving carburetors and parts, then worked on the touring car a little. I found one spark plug had a broken insulator, which I replaced. I packed the timer with grease, as one Model T expert recommends, and found that the car ran rough. I'll clean out the grease and just use a little motor oil, and see if that gets the car back to running normally.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Wow! A fall day in the middle of August! The day dawned cloudy and cool and stayed that way. A light rain started around 11:00 AM and kept up through most of the afternoon. It wasn't a lot, but enough to make puddles in the driveway and soften the ground. The high was only 77º. The first job of the day was cleaning the grease out of the timer on the touring car and lubricating with a few drops of oil instead. That got the car running a lot better. I spent most of the day filing receipts that have been piling up since June. On a cool day I could sort receipts without a fan blowing them around the room.
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Wednesday, August 15, 2012 I went to town in the touring to shop and
pay bills, and coming home I
suddenly heard the telltale tick-tick-tick of escaping combustion. As I
suspected, the problem was a leaking spark plug. The discoloration on
the insulator shows that exhaust was escaping through the plug. When I
opened it up I found the
insulator broken. I hope the problem was just because of a need for
better gaskets. And I hope I actually have some better gaskets.
Thursday, August 16, 2012 Today I installed a new insulator and a copper gasket in that spark plug and put it back in the car. I drove to town for groceries and it was fine, so we'll see how long it lasts. My other project of the day was study. I spent a good chunk of the afternoon reading Murray Fahnestock and Bruce McCalley on transmission bands, as I'm going to need to install new ones before long. Friday, August 17, 2012  This morning I drove the touring up to the fairgrounds to help with registration at the antique tractor show. Coming back to town, once again I heard the telltale sound of a broken spark plug. Running on three cylinders the car didn't have enough guts to make it up the hill to home. A neighbor was driving by and gave me a ride home. I had just enough time to get a good plug to take back and install before I went to the first session of my machine shop class. By the time class was over at 3:00 the touring was rested and ready to run. I drove it home and walked back two miles to get the Camry, and that was my day. |
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After doing laundry I drove over to Wellington for an auction. There were a lot of good tools, but I didn't buy any because the big spenders were out and the bidding was way too high to suit me. I didn't come away empty-handed, though. Aluminum web chairs are no longer made, so I was happy to buy five of them for $4. After the auction I stopped at the fairgrounds in Winfield where the antique tractor show is going on. I've always enjoyed watching the old machinery work.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Today I drove the touring up to the fairgrounds again for the last day of the antique tractor show. The tractor parade included old cars, so I drove my car in it too. Coming home I drove through town and stopped for grocery shopping. Something I've noticed in all this driving is a high frequency vibration at cruising speed. I don't think I'm going to trust this car on any long trips away from home until I see what's inside the engine and transmission.
Monday, August 20, 2012
School day. I spent the morning getting tools together for my machine shop class, and I spent the afternoon in the class. The main lesson of the day was that shopping for tools locally is an annoying waste of time. Looks like I'll be driving up to Derby to shop at a real tool store.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
The cooler weather with daily highs down in the low nineties means it's time to get back to work on the roof. Since last fall when I quit roof work for the winter, trash bags of old roofing have been holding tarps in place. But weather has deteriorated both bags and tarps until they're going to pieces, so I spent most of today putting that old roofing and the defunct tarps into new bags. A little of that cleanup remains, then I'll be ready to start removing more old roofing.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
It was a school day, but before going to class I spent the morning finishing the roof cleanup and buying new tarps and plastic sheeting for the predicted rain Friday and Saturday.
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Thursday, August 23, 2012 I never went off the place today. I spent almost all my time on the roof. First I put up new plastic sheeting on the northeast wall to keep out the weather. I hope it will last until spring. That's when I hope to install a new roof over the living room and reshingle that wall. With the new sheeting installed, I graduated to the front slope of the top roof. I spent the rest of the day taking off old shingles and pulling nails. The last chore was fighting the wind to get tarps in place in case of rain. The forecast shows a chance of more than 50% a few times in the next couple of days. I stopped to eat at five, then fell asleep and woke up about 8:30, so I finished the tarps in the last of the fading light. Putting up the tarps is the part of this work I really dislike. |
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The threat of rain sent me to to work under cover this morning. Prompted by weak compression on one cylinder, I pulled the head on the Fordor to take a look. I found lots of carbon, a pile of dried cooling system crud, and a little piece of some mystery substance sticking out from under the intake valve on #3. Maybe that explains the low compression on that cylinder. I had to go to my class this afternoon, so taking off the head and taking pictures was all I got done on the car today.
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It was another day with a big chance of rain, and I spent it working on the Fordor. I removed and cleaned all the valves, cleaned all the carbon from the pistons and block, and wire brushed the carbon out of the head. With everything cleaned up, I checked the cylinders for wear and found them not just OK, but excellent. I didn't find more than .0005" taper anywhere, and all cylinders were 3.80", exactly right for the .30"-over pistons. While all this was going on there were occasional sprinkles that barely got the ground wet. But late afternoon brought one of those famous Kansas thunderstorms with lots of spectacular lightning and thunder and a real downpour. In those storms the rain is like a tropical monsoon for awhile, but that typically lasts less than half an hour, and the storm is over in an hour. This evening's rain continued off and on until early morning, so it all added up to a good soaking. But after no rain for so many weeks, almost all of it had soaked into the ground by dawn. There was just one puddle out by the road, and none in the usual places in the driveway.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
I spent most of the day seating valves. In the morning I'll order some parts so I can start putting the engine back together.
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Monday, August 27, 2012
After a morning run and a shower, I spent most of the morning making up a list of needed Model T parts and ordering them. Then I was off to my afternoon machine shop class where I practiced running a lathe. I turned a piece of aluminum down to .900", .800", .775", .750", .725", .700", and .675"; I got all of them within .001". So far, so good.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2012 With the forecast predicting over a week with zero percent chance of rain, it's time to get back to work on the roof. Except for an hour break at noon, I spent the day removing old roofing. That old roofing is two or three layers of asphalt shingles applied over the past fifty years, and under that the orginal wood shingles that were put on eighty or more years ago. The idea of starting early in the morning cool is good, but it's still summer, and when those direct rays of sunlight hit you the job becomes a pretty sweaty affair. Fortunately there was an occasional breeze to keep the heat from driving me off, and in the afternoon I was working in the shade. |
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Wednesday, August 29, 2012 The
roof project continues. I spent the
morning taking off more of the old asphalt shingles. The picture
on the right shows why this job isn't just a simple matter of
removing old roofing and installing new. This may be another
place where I have to replace not only the rotten sheeting, but also
the rafters and braces underneath. When I got home from my
afternoon class, a little after three, I went back to the roof.
By 4:15 I had about two thirds of the old asphalt shingles off,
and working in full sun without a breath of breeze I decided that
was enough for today. In the morning I should get the asphalt
off, and then I'll see how far I get on the wood shingles
tomorrow.
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
Today I started before seven and had nearly all the asphalt shingles off by eleven. The few that remain are under a roof overhang and getting them off will have to wait until I remove some boards. I worked on wood shingle removal until about one, then went to town to buy lumber. When I got home it was back to the roof. I removed shingles for awhile, but 92º in the shade translated to a lot more up there in the direct sunshine, so I called a halt. I'll get back to it tomorrow morning.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Excellent progress! I was on the roof a little before seven and I had all but about a quarter of the wood shingles off by 11:30. I was home from my afternoon class a little before three, and removed more. One more session should finish off the shingles, then I can start removing old boards and see what's underneath. Maybe I can just put on new boards, or maybe I'll have to replace some rafters too.
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