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Wednesday, February 1, 2023 48 days to spring Today I got started on carburetors. I put half a dozen Holley NH bodies to soak in Evaporust. I let them derust all day, then after dinner this evening I washed and prepped them with phosphoric acid and put another half dozen to soak overnight. My trip to town today was to pick up some blood pressure pills at the pharmacy (they work — 108/66 tonight), return a pack of Dr. Pepper, and buy bananas. The 24 pack of soda had two empty cans in it, thus the return. I took the refund on that and bought one that I hope has 24 full cans. For the bananas I followed my new strategy of buying three that are closest to ripe at Walmart, then a few at Dillons that are closest to ripe there. Meanwhile, I have a couple at home that are ripe. Those will give the new ones a couple of days to ripen. It would be nice if the produce guys didn't toss all the ripe ones and have nothing on the shelf but neon green, but I guess that would be too hard. Thursday, February 2, 2023 47 days to spring Day Two of the carburetor project was the same as the first, rinsing and prepping the second half dozen NH bodies. Next will be drilling out the brass plugs and cleaning out the unplugged passages. My office work was looking up a how-to video on replacing the valve cover gasket in a 2008 Camry. The one I found suffered from the usual flaws: a guy talking off-mike making much of what he says inaudible, views of arms and backs of heads blocking what you need to see, some parts of the job completely off-camera, etc. I think I saw enough to let me do the job myself. When I went to town today the check-engine light came on, so I stopped at O'Reilly for a diagnosis. The machine said I need to replace an evaporative canister. I'll have to hunt up a video on that and see if it's something else I can do myself. Meanwhile, at the market I had a coupon for a discount on two boxes of cereal. Both cereals I wanted were out of stock. All things being equal, you lose. |
Friday, February 3, 2023
46 days to spring
If you've seen the internet cat videos, you know the precious adorable kitties love to launch items from high places and watch them fall. A few weeks ago I found the cat feeder on the floor in the garage. They had dislodged it from its perch on the rafters where no dogs could get to it. Then last week I found it still on its lofty platform, but lying face down. So today's feature project was attaching the feeder to a 1 x 4 board, and screwing the board to an upright. With the feeder anchored to the building, I don't think they'll be able to move it. In my internet play today I found a post by my cousin Cassey about a romance novel featuring a telephone. When you're old, everything reminds you of something else, usually something long ago. I was reminded of a famous episode of Suspense (1940-1962) featuring Agnes Moorhead. The story by Louise Fletcher, Sorry, Wrong Number, was so popular that Moorhead was brought back to repeat the performance seven times in following years.
Saturday, February 4 2023
45 days to spring
This morning I started adding all the Pennsyvania counties to my digital atlas. I downloaded about a third of them. That's 22 down, about 44 to go. I took a look at Ohio and found that along with each county map, they also have a map of the towns in that county. Very nice. I spent the afternoon with the saw and the splitter. I have a baker's dozen boxes I use for firewood. Two were in the house mostly full. I filled ten and brought them inside. The one left empty will get small pieces and bits of bark that are waiting to be boxed. I worked right up to five, then went to town for Saturday treat night. Dinner was tasty carnitas at La Fiesta. This week's movie was M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin. His debut film, The Sixth Sense, was a great movie. His subsequent works have been very good, or downright silly. I'm sorry to say this one is of the silly variety. It's well directed and photographed, the actors play their parts very well, and I love the score, especially during the closing credits. The problem with it is the premise. Four strangers (Apocalypse anyone?) show up at a remote cabin and inform the family of three that they must choose one of their number to be sacrificed, or all the other people in the world will be killed. There's a lot of mumbo jumbo about seeing things in visions, but no explanation of who or what is threatening to obliterate humanity. God? Space aliens? Trump? Dunno. Out of the billions of people on earth, why this family? I guess there are some things we mortals just aren't meant to know.
Sunday, February 5, 2023
44 days to spring
Taking advantage of mild weather, I spent the afternoon on wood. Yard work is like farming. You often have to stop a job and fix the equipment. In this case the equipment was the old Dodge truck. When I started it up, I found gas running out of the fuel filter and onto the manifolds. This was not the first time. That has happened several times before, and each time I've made a new gasket for the old time glass bowl filter, and every time the gasket has eventually failed. So this time I decided to try a different filter. But for that I needed an adapter to connect the fuel line to the different filter. So I went to town for the adapter and found it at O'Reilly, and that little piece of brass cost me $6.17! Sticker shock comes in small packages as well as big ones. So I installed the filter, started the truck, and fuel ran out onto the manifolds. So I ended up doing the job I tried to skip to save time — making a new gasket. I finally got the filter to stop leaking, so I put the chainsaw, gas, and oil in the truck, and went to work cutting up fallen trees that have been blocking wood lot roads. I cleared one obstruction completely and got another one nearly done. You may have seen this video from December, but if you haven't it will show you the fallen trees I was cutting up today. I had got quite a bit done when the chain worked loose and came off the saw. Rather than take time to fix that I put the saw in the truck, piled in a lot of the wood I had cut, and hauled it up the the back yard. I piled it all near the splitter and tarped it to stay dry when the rain arrives later this week. It's very nice to have all the boxes in the house filled and a good pile of wood waiting by the splitter. I hope to bring up another load tomorrow. This evening's office work was more maps. I now have all Pennsylvania counties downloaded into my digital atlas.
Monday, February 6, 2023
43 days to spring
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Tuesday, February 7, 2023
42 days to spring
Thinking I might at some point want to venture into Canada, today I stopped at the post office and picked up a passport application. My old one expired long ago. It used to be we didn't need a passport for Mexico and Canada, but that was a different world. Like many things these days, applying for a passport induces sticker shock. The various fees add up to $210. That's worse than driving into New York City. The bridge to Staten Island cost me "only" $17. My outdoor work today included unloading wood from the truck, stacking it near the splitter, and tarping it. I set out to prepare ten kindling bags to stash in the garage, but ran short of time and settled for six. The rain in tomorrow's forecast is supposed to arrive after 9:00 AM, so I may bring in some kindling from the yard before it gets wet, and not have to use any of those bags.
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 Wednesday,
February 8, 2023
41 days to spring Yes, I did bring in kindling first thing after breakfast. Office work today was filling out the passport application, indexing January photos, and posting an inquiry on the Model T forum seeking identification of a carburetor bowl I don't recognize. In the shop I went through a large box of carburetor bowls, sorting them by carburetor — Holley G, early Holley NH (2), later Holley NH (1), Kingston L-4 (3), and that mystery bowl (4) that doesn't fit any of those carbs. I picked a dozen NH bowls and put them in Evaporust to soak overnight. I've restored only one Holley G so far, and it's on my runabout because it's the correct carburetor for that car and because it's so pretty. I'll do more of those eventually, but for now I'm concentrating on NH carbs to sell. |
Thursday, February 9, 2023
40 days to spring
Today's shop work was cleaning and wire brushing carburetor bowls, soldering one that had a couple of pin holes rusted in it, and putting two more to soak in Evaporust when I realized that I had only ten out and needed a dozen. Office work included sending and answering emails, some research on possible travel routes, and sorting and filing receipts. When I see the day typed out in a couple of lines it looks like I didn't do much at all, but it took all day to do it.
Friday, February 10, 2023
39 days to spring
Another day of not much done. I did finish filing receipts, and got the photo index up to date. Last week a tiny screw fell out of my glasses. Luckily, I didn't lose it. I didn't try to put it back in, as fine work like that calls for more dexterity and finesse than my geriatric clumsiness allows. I put the wee screw in an envelope, and when I went to town Monday I stopped at the optometrist's office to ask for reassembly. The lights were off and the door was locked. Out to lunch. I noted that the hours were posted, with lunch from 1:00 PM to 2:00. So today I went to town after 2:00. The lights were off and the door was locked. When I looked at the hours on Monday I missed the part about Friday being different: Open 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Oh, well. I'll try again next week.
Saturday,
February 11, 2023
38 days to spring
Today I fetched those two carburetor bowls out of their derusting bath, treated them with metal prep, and gave them a good wire brushing. While I was at it I also wire brushed four derusted Champion X spark plug bodies. A couple of the bowls have minor dents I'll need to fill with body solder, then I'll get started on painting the whole dozen. For this week's treat night it was the buffet at Pizza Ranch. The movie was going to be Titanic in 3-D, but when I came out of the restaurant and got in the car the key came out of my coat pocket and fell down between the seat and the console. I thought I would use my spare key and retrieve the dropped one later, but no, the spare only unlocks the doors. It won't start the car. So I spent the next half hour locating the lost key and extracting it. Arriving at the theater twenty minutes late, I decided to see Women Talking, which was about to start. It was a picture I wanted to see. With Frances McDormand in it I knew it was likely to be a good one, and I was right. McDormand and the rest of the cast are excellent, the cinematography is beautiful, and the script is, in parts, poetic. I didn't waste my time or money on this one.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
37 days to spring
After getting a wash on the line I took advantage of the relatively mild day to crawl under the Suburban and remove the speedometer cable. When I removed the speedometer itself I found that it works, but the cable wasn't turning it. I removed the housing and the cable that's supposed to turn inside it, and found that the cable was somehow stuck in the housing and would not turn. When I pulled it out of the housing it appeared undamaged, but I couldn't get it back in all the way. Next will be checking the little gear box on the transmission to see if it's OK.
Monday, February 13, 2023
36 days to spring
Best laid plans. That little gear box looks like it screws into the side of the transmission, but no amount of turning would bring it out. So when I went to town for groceries I stopped at Topper's and made an appointment for him to put the beast up on a lift and remove the thing. He won't be ready for it until March 1, so I may get the thing figured out before then. If I can get a close look maybe I can see whether the little square hole that receives the end of the cable is wallowed out. If it isn't, I may just get a new cable, put everything back together, and see if it works. I'm afraid the stuck cable refusing to turn may have damaged the square hole in the drive shaft. We'll see.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
35 days to spring
It was definitely not my choice, but today was pretty much of a waste. The first sign of trouble was when I did my morning crunches (sit-ups). Lately I've been doing 50 to 60 every morning, but today I couldn't get past 34. A little later I was walking in the shop and felt dizzy, like I had a faint coming on. Sitting down for a few minutes seemed to take care of that, and I went and had breakfast. After that I didn't feel dizzy again, but did feel weaker than usual. I checked email, deleted the sea of spam, and played on the internet. A little after twelve I decided to do a blood pressure test. My pressure was fine, 113/75. But my pulse rate was 121! For over three years I've been keeping a record of pressure and pulse, and in all that time my average pulse has been in the seventies. Four minutes later I tested again, and this time got pressures of 88/77 and pulse 125. Two more readings a few minutes apart were similar. So I went to the clinic. There an EKG confirmed that yes, my pulse was high. The doc prescribed some pills that may help, and will call the cardiologist tomorrow for a report on my stress test last fall. This evening after chow I took the first of those daily slow-down pills. An hour later I was still beating away at a rate of 121. I hope the pill and a good night's sleep will bring it down. I hope I'll wake up. I have too much to do to check out anytime soon. I don't want to leave my brother with several buildings crammed full of a disorganized scramble of stuff to sort out.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
34 days to spring
Today I felt much better. Perfectly normal, in fact. But this was my second evening taking a metoprolol pill after dinner as recommended, and a little while ago my blood pressure monitor read 101/78 and 124. The pressure is fine, but the pulse is still crazy high. I wonder if the medicine takes awhile to kick in. If I don't see an improvement tomorrow I'll ask the doc. Meanwhile, in other news, today was my scheduled dental hygiene session. My dentist suggested implants to replace the two teeth I recently lost. Maybe I'd go along with that if the lack of those two teeth was giving me any trouble, but it's not, so I don't see any reason to spend big bucks for something I don't need. In the world of Facebook this morning I posted a piece mocking Q-anon and other loony conspiracy theories. A few of my FB friends didn't like that. If I didn't say anything would that make all that stuff any less crazy? I don't think so.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
33 days to spring
Saw the doc again today. I reported to him that I'm still gettng pulse readings of 120 or more, and he said we'll give the pills a week to start working. If there's no change he'll increase the dosage. In the shop I labeled boxes of carburetor bowls that will go into storage in the next room to make a little less clutter in the shop. I thought I was going to split wood today, but the splitter refused to start. There was not even a feeble little cough like it wanted to start. Fifteen minutes of that was more than enough. A cutting north wind in the thirties persuaded me to try again tomorrow, when it's supposed to warm up to 50º without the strong wind. I hope I don't have to resort the wedges and a BFH. I've had more than enough of that.
Friday, February 17, 2023
32 days to spring
Tonight's BP check was par for the course since Tuesday. 104/76, pulse 123. When I took a treadmill stress test a year and a half ago I couldn't get my pulse up past 113, and now it's over 120 even when I'm resting.What seems strange to me is that it didn't climb slowly over days or weeks. One day it was 75, then BAM! The next day it was 121. I wasn't very strong before, but now I'm even weaker and tire quickly. I don't like this. I don't like it a bit. Today I set out to split firewood. I got the machine running and was about half done with the first big piece when the splitter died and wouldn't restart. Ten pulls of the rope wore me out. After sitting to rest awhile I tried again, and was winded after another ten pulls with no start. I gave up on splitting for now. I loaded the chainsaw and some empty boxes in the truck, drove down in the wood lot, and cut up three boxes of dead branches small enough to not need splitting. There are enough dead branches like that to keep me in firewood for awhile, but on one of these coming warm days I'll dig into that splitter and see if I can figure out what's wrong with it.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
31 days to spring
First up today was a drive to Belle Plaine to check out the auction there. It was a bust. There was not one thing that tempted me to stay. A strong wind persuaded me that this would be a good day to work inside. Of the dozen carburetors I'm working on, five of the bowls had little dents in them. So today I filled the dents with body solder, ground the fillings as even as I could get them, and painted all the bowls with black primer. Another job was starting work on a new web page. I was answering a question about gaskets on a Facebook Model T page and, knowing that the question would come up again, decided to make a page about it so I don't have to repeat myself. This being treat night, dinner was at La Fiesta. The movie was a second viewing of Avatar — the Way of Water. Some directors know how to use 3-D well, and some don't. James Cameron does. Seeing the picture a second time, I was aware of some things I hadn't noticed the first time. The score backs up the action without being obtrusive. The sound effects are complex and well executed. When the camera perspective changes, the sound perspective changes with it. Obvious in this film and the first Avatar are the beauty of many of the shots and the consistent realism. It's not easy to make imaginary places and creatures seem real. Cameron and his crew of hundreds do that very convincingly and in great detail. The final shot in this film tells you that the story will continue. I expect the third film will be excellent too.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
30 days to spring
The forecast shows a Wednesday afternoon high of 76º followed by a Thursday high of 42º and a Friday morning low of 19º. That's a pretty quick dive into the ice box. I worked on that new web page a bit today, but I spent a lot more time in the shop sanding primer on the dozen carburetor bowls. That's a job where the adage applies: Everything takes longer than you think it will. I still had two more to do when I had to quit and lay the evening fires. I came back after dinner and finished sanding the last two bowls, then shot more primer on the few bowls that needed it.
Monday, February 20, 2023
29 days to spring
Well, that's better. I actually got some work done today. I started with the dead splitter. When it suddenly died while running I suspected electric trouble. So today I started by removing the magneto cover to see if the spark plug wire had worked loose or was grounding out somewhere. No, and no. The wire was OK. The next suspect was the spark plug. I took it in the shop, stuck it into the plug tester, and pushed the button. The plug sparked, but only intermittently. Not good enough. So when I was in town I stopped at O'Reilly and got a new plug. With a new spark plug in place and the mag cover back on, I squirted a little ether in the air filter and pulled the rope. It took a few pulls, but the motor started up and ran just fine. Since the last time I used the splitter two weeks ago I've used up nearly all the wood in the house, so this afternoon I split enough to fill nine boxes and brought them inside. Some is stove wood, and some is fireplace wood. What's the difference? Stove wood is short enough to lie down in the kitchen stove. Fireplace wood is long enough to lie across both andirons. By the time I hauled in the last box I was pretty well pooped and happy to sit down to dinner by a warm stove. This evening after chow I finished sanding my dozen carburetor bowls, wiped off all the dust with a tack cloth, and gave them a couple of coats of satin black Rustoleum. They will bake overnight. I'm pretty pleased with actually accomplishing something today. Maybe tomorrow will go just as well.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
28 days to spring
Taking advantage of another mild day, I loaded the chainsaw and a ladder in the truck and drove down to the wood lot for a bit of road maintenance, cutting some branches that were hanging too low. While I was there I cut up some previously trimmed branches, enough to fill a couple of boxes, and brought them up to the house. Finding one more empty box, I started up the splitter and filled that, and brought it into the house. I'm now fully stocked with enough wood to take me through the next siege of winter and into March. Meanwhile, I have carburetors to rebuild. When I took those twelve NH bowls out of the oven today I found that most of them needed another coat of paint, so I did that this evening. I was hoping to have some of those carbs ready to sell at the Chickasha prewar swap meet, but that's only three weeks away now, so I don't know if I'll make it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
27 days to spring
Here it comes. When I was in town this afternoon about three, a cold northwest wind was bringing the next dose of real winter. The forecast is showing lows of 19º tomorrow morning and 18º Friday, with highs of 40º both days. A high of 40º isn't bad unless there's wind with it. I hate being out in cold wind. Fortunately I have plenty of wood in the house plus a tarped pile ready for the splitter. My indoor work in the office today featured research on the Holley NH carburetor. Checking the twelve carbs I'm working on, I find that the throttle shaft hole on every one of them is worn and will need to be sleeved to keep a lot of air from leaking in. Air leaking in at the throttle leads to hard starting and erratic running. I have the reamers needed for the job, but need a couple of drill bits. I doubt that I'll find the right ones locally. It will probably take a drive to the Big Tool Store in Derby.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
26 days to spring38 days to spring
Today I fetched those two carburetor bowls out of their derusting bath, treated them with metal prep, and gave them a good wire brushing. While I was at it I also wire brushed four derusted Champion X spark plug bodies. A couple of the bowls have minor dents I'll need to fill with body solder, then I'll get started on painting the whole dozen. For this week's treat night it was the buffet at Pizza Ranch. The movie was going to be Titanic in 3-D, but when I came out of the restaurant and got in the car the key came out of my coat pocket and fell down between the seat and the console. I thought I would use my spare key and retrieve the dropped one later, but no, the spare only unlocks the doors. It won't start the car. So I spent the next half hour locating the lost key and extracting it. Arriving at the theater twenty minutes late, I decided to see Women Talking, which was about to start. It was a picture I wanted to see. With Frances McDormand in it I knew it was likely to be a good one, and I was right. McDormand and the rest of the cast are excellent, the cinematography is beautiful, and the script is, in parts, poetic. I didn't waste my time or money on this one.
Sunday, February 12, 2023
37 days to spring
After getting a wash on the line I took advantage of the relatively mild day to crawl under the Suburban and remove the speedometer cable. When I removed the speedometer itself I found that it works, but the cable wasn't turning it. I removed the housing and the cable that's supposed to turn inside it, and found that the cable was somehow stuck in the housing and would not turn. When I pulled it out of the housing it appeared undamaged, but I couldn't get it back in all the way. Next will be checking the little gear box on the transmission to see if it's OK.
Monday, February 13, 2023
36 days to spring
Best laid plans. That little gear box looks like it screws into the side of the transmission, but no amount of turning would bring it out. So when I went to town for groceries I stopped at Topper's and made an appointment for him to put the beast up on a lift and remove the thing. He won't be ready for it until March 1, so I may get the thing figured out before then. If I can get a close look maybe I can see whether the little square hole that receives the end of the cable is wallowed out. If it isn't, I may just get a new cable, put everything back together, and see if it works. I'm afraid the stuck cable refusing to turn may have damaged the square hole in the drive shaft. We'll see.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
35 days to spring
It was definitely not my choice, but today was pretty much of a waste. The first sign of trouble was when I did my morning crunches (sit-ups). Lately I've been doing 50 to 60 every morning, but today I couldn't get past 34. A little later I was walking in the shop and felt dizzy, like I had a faint coming on. Sitting down for a few minutes seemed to take care of that, and I went and had breakfast. After that I didn't feel dizzy again, but did feel weaker than usual. I checked email, deleted the sea of spam, and played on the internet. A little after twelve I decided to do a blood pressure test. My pressure was fine, 113/75. But my pulse rate was 121! For over three years I've been keeping a record of pressure and pulse, and in all that time my average pulse has been in the seventies. Four minutes later I tested again, and this time got pressures of 88/77 and pulse 125. Two more readings a few minutes apart were similar. So I went to the clinic. There an EKG confirmed that yes, my pulse was high. The doc prescribed some pills that may help, and will call the cardiologist tomorrow for a report on my stress test last fall. This evening after chow I took the first of those daily slow-down pills. An hour later I was still beating away at a rate of 121. I hope the pill and a good night's sleep will bring it down. I hope I'll wake up. I have too much to do to check out anytime soon. I don't want to leave my brother with several buildings crammed full of a disorganized scramble of stuff to sort out.
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
34 days to spring
Today I felt much better. Perfectly normal, in fact. But this was my second evening taking a metoprolol pill after dinner as recommended, and a little while ago my blood pressure monitor read 101/78 and 124. The pressure is fine, but the pulse is still crazy high. I wonder if the medicine takes awhile to kick in. If I don't see an improvement tomorrow I'll ask the doc. Meanwhile, in other news, today was my scheduled dental hygiene session. My dentist suggested implants to replace the two teeth I recently lost. Maybe I'd go along with that if the lack of those two teeth was giving me any trouble, but it's not, so I don't see any reason to spend big bucks for something I don't need. In the world of Facebook this morning I posted a piece mocking Q-anon and other loony conspiracy theories. A few of my FB friends didn't like that. If I didn't say anything would that make all that stuff any less crazy? I don't think so.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
33 days to spring
Saw the doc again today. I reported to him that I'm still gettng pulse readings of 120 or more, and he said we'll give the pills a week to start working. If there's no change he'll increase the dosage. In the shop I labeled boxes of carburetor bowls that will go into storage in the next room to make a little less clutter in the shop. I thought I was going to split wood today, but the splitter refused to start. There was not even a feeble little cough like it wanted to start. Fifteen minutes of that was more than enough. A cutting north wind in the thirties persuaded me to try again tomorrow, when it's supposed to warm up to 50º without the strong wind. I hope I don't have to resort the wedges and a BFH. I've had more than enough of that.
Friday, February 17, 2023
32 days to spring
Tonight's BP check was par for the course since Tuesday. 104/76, pulse 123. When I took a treadmill stress test a year and a half ago I couldn't get my pulse up past 113, and now it's over 120 even when I'm resting.What seems strange to me is that it didn't climb slowly over days or weeks. One day it was 75, then BAM! The next day it was 121. I wasn't very strong before, but now I'm even weaker and tire quickly. I don't like this. I don't like it a bit. Today I set out to split firewood. I got the machine running and was about half done with the first big piece when the splitter died and wouldn't restart. Ten pulls of the rope wore me out. After sitting to rest awhile I tried again, and was winded after another ten pulls with no start. I gave up on splitting for now. I loaded the chainsaw and some empty boxes in the truck, drove down in the wood lot, and cut up three boxes of dead branches small enough to not need splitting. There are enough dead branches like that to keep me in firewood for awhile, but on one of these coming warm days I'll dig into that splitter and see if I can figure out what's wrong with it.
Saturday, February 18, 2023
31 days to spring
First up today was a drive to Belle Plaine to check out the auction there. It was a bust. There was not one thing that tempted me to stay. A strong wind persuaded me that this would be a good day to work inside. Of the dozen carburetors I'm working on, five of the bowls had little dents in them. So today I filled the dents with body solder, ground the fillings as even as I could get them, and painted all the bowls with black primer. Another job was starting work on a new web page. I was answering a question about gaskets on a Facebook Model T page and, knowing that the question would come up again, decided to make a page about it so I don't have to repeat myself. This being treat night, dinner was at La Fiesta. The movie was a second viewing of Avatar — the Way of Water. Some directors know how to use 3-D well, and some don't. James Cameron does. Seeing the picture a second time, I was aware of some things I hadn't noticed the first time. The score backs up the action without being obtrusive. The sound effects are complex and well executed. When the camera perspective changes, the sound perspective changes with it. Obvious in this film and the first Avatar are the beauty of many of the shots and the consistent realism. It's not easy to make imaginary places and creatures seem real. Cameron and his crew of hundreds do that very convincingly and in great detail. The final shot in this film tells you that the story will continue. I expect the third film will be excellent too.
Sunday, February 19, 2023
30 days to spring
The forecast shows a Wednesday afternoon high of 76º followed by a Thursday high of 42º and a Friday morning low of 19º. That's a pretty quick dive into the ice box. I worked on that new web page a bit today, but I spent a lot more time in the shop sanding primer on the dozen carburetor bowls. That's a job where the adage applies: Everything takes longer than you think it will. I still had two more to do when I had to quit and lay the evening fires. I came back after dinner and finished sanding the last two bowls, then shot more primer on the few bowls that needed it.
Monday, February 20, 2023
29 days to spring
Well, that's better. I actually got some work done today. I started with the dead splitter. When it suddenly died while running I suspected electric trouble. So today I started by removing the magneto cover to see if the spark plug wire had worked loose or was grounding out somewhere. No, and no. The wire was OK. The next suspect was the spark plug. I took it in the shop, stuck it into the plug tester, and pushed the button. The plug sparked, but only intermittently. Not good enough. So when I was in town I stopped at O'Reilly and got a new plug. With a new spark plug in place and the mag cover back on, I squirted a little ether in the air filter and pulled the rope. It took a few pulls, but the motor started up and ran just fine. Since the last time I used the splitter two weeks ago I've used up nearly all the wood in the house, so this afternoon I split enough to fill nine boxes and brought them inside. Some is stove wood, and some is fireplace wood. What's the difference? Stove wood is short enough to lie down in the kitchen stove. Fireplace wood is long enough to lie across both andirons. By the time I hauled in the last box I was pretty well pooped and happy to sit down to dinner by a warm stove. This evening after chow I finished sanding my dozen carburetor bowls, wiped off all the dust with a tack cloth, and gave them a couple of coats of satin black Rustoleum. They will bake overnight. I'm pretty pleased with actually accomplishing something today. Maybe tomorrow will go just as well.
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
28 days to spring
Taking advantage of another mild day, I loaded the chainsaw and a ladder in the truck and drove down to the wood lot for a bit of road maintenance, cutting some branches that were hanging too low. While I was there I cut up some previously trimmed branches, enough to fill a couple of boxes, and brought them up to the house. Finding one more empty box, I started up the splitter and filled that, and brought it into the house. I'm now fully stocked with enough wood to take me through the next siege of winter and into March. Meanwhile, I have carburetors to rebuild. When I took those twelve NH bowls out of the oven today I found that most of them needed another coat of paint, so I did that this evening. I was hoping to have some of those carbs ready to sell at the Chickasha prewar swap meet, but that's only three weeks away now, so I don't know if I'll make it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
27 days to spring
Here it comes. When I was in town this afternoon about three, a cold northwest wind was bringing the next dose of real winter. The forecast is showing lows of 19º tomorrow morning and 18º Friday, with highs of 40º both days. A high of 40º isn't bad unless there's wind with it. I hate being out in cold wind. Fortunately I have plenty of wood in the house plus a tarped pile ready for the splitter. My indoor work in the office today featured research on the Holley NH carburetor. Checking the twelve carbs I'm working on, I find that the throttle shaft hole on every one of them is worn and will need to be sleeved to keep a lot of air from leaking in. Air leaking in at the throttle leads to hard starting and erratic running. I have the reamers needed for the job, but need a couple of drill bits. I doubt that I'll find the right ones locally. It will probably take a drive to the Big Tool Store in Derby.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
How did I get so little done today? Well, to start I didn't get up until nine. By the time I had breakfast, deleted today's mountain of spam, checked in on Facebook and the Model T forum, and filed some receipts, the morning was pretty well shot. In the afternoon I stopped at the clinic to make an appointment for tomorrow, looked for those lettered drill bits and didn't find them, and drove to Derby for them. While I was in Derby I bought some of the zero calorie Squirt that isn't sold here. Back in town, I returned the wrong size tubing I bought yesterday at the hardware store. When I got home it was time to light the evening fires and rustle some grub. I burned up more than half a box of firewood tonight, and the forecast calls for teens in the morning, but before long we'll start getting an occasional evening when I don't need to light a fire.
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Friday, February 24, 2023 25 days to spring We were "on the
road" all morning. First up was a stop at the
clinic. When the doc found that my pulse is still
crazy high (122 last night) he ordered a stress test
at the hospital. The nurse will call me when it's
set up. Next was a drive to the recycling center
north of town to dump a couple of boxes of plastic
jars and bottles. From there we went to the gasino
across the state line to fill up where the gas was
29¢ a gallon less than in town. Then back into town
for groceries, and finally to the pharmacy for
vitamin C tablets. We got home about noon. After
putting away the groceries and laying the evening
fire in the kitchen stove, I got to the afternoon
project: making a permanent carburetor gasket on the
1915 runabout's intake manifold. That's a layer of
Ultra Black sealant, then a thick paper gasket, then
another layer of Ultra Black, and finally a piece of
greased Masonite to flatten the sandwich. I'll
let it set up overnight, then reinstall the
carburetor and try it out. It should seal better
than a paper gasket by itself, and I won't have to
line up the holes of a loose gasket every time I
install a carburetor.
Saturday, February 25, 2023 24 days to spring I found that gasoline seeping out of the runabout's carburetor had ruined the paint on the bowl. The first Holley G carburetors had brass bowls. Later bowls were steel, like this one. I thought why not use a brass bowl? I wouldn't have to paint it. So I looked through my box of Holley G bowls and found a brass one that looks OK. But it didn't want to clean up. Usually CLR will remove tarnish from brass, but it had no effect here. I wonder what's on this bowl. I poured paint remover on it and will let it sit overnight, and see what happens. Quitting time came early today. About 2:30 I headed for Wichita for a 25th anniversary screening of Titanic in 3-D. On the way to the theater I stopped at Grace Market for a couple of gallon jars of 김치. Those will last well into spring, and maybe to summer. The choice of shows was between a 4:25 start time getting out around 8:00, or a later show getting out after midnight. I took the early show. Seeing this picture again reminded me what a great movie it is, both technically and artistically. The leading and supporting actors all played their parts well. Leo and Kate were attractive young folks, and they worked beautifully together. Billy Zane as Rose's creepy fiance is outstanding, and Frances Fisher as her mother is excellent too. Kathy Bates as Molly Brown is a hoot. Technically, the picture is classic. From the bridge to the ballroom to the engine room with its giant steam engines, the sets are wonderfully authentic and convincing. James Cameron both wrote the script and directed, and his attention to detail is impressive. As the ship goes down, you can see the people's breaths in the cold north Atlantic air. The picture's eleven Oscars, including best picture and best director, were well earned. Getting out of the theater about 8:00 PM, I stopped for dinner at Buffet City. Being a slow eater, I was still stuffing my face when the 9:30 closing time rolled around, but they didn't chase me out. I finished up as the floors were being mopped. |
Sunday, February 26, 2023
23 days to spring
Late to bed, late to rise. Last night I got home after midnight, and lazed in bed this morning until nine. By the time I had breakfast, deleted spam, and visited Facebook and the Model T forum, it was mild enough outside for me to work without winter overalls and a coat. I took advantage of that by splitting and bringing in five boxes of wood. Some of it, while not completely rotten, was halfway there and tended to break into chunks rather than split. That doesn't keep it from burning just as well as the split wood. In the weather department, the predicted rain arrived a little before ten this evening. It came down pretty hard for awhile and was over by eleven. It left about a quarter inch in the gauge. The wheat and the other plants will appreciate it.
Monday, February 27, 2023
22 days to spring
Letting that carburetor bowl sit with paint remover on it did nothing, so I resorted to wire brushing. It turned out that the dark discoloration was corrosion, and the wire brush took it off. I followed that up with a coarse buffing wheel, then a fine buffing wheel, and it turned out looking pretty good. I was going to put the brass bowl on the carburetor and reinstall the carburetor on the car, but the air filter came loose when one of the mounting screws pulled loose from the thin metal of the flange it was attached to. I tried fixing that this evening with fine welding and had no luck, so tomorrow I'll try fixing it with soldering.
Tuesday, February
28, 2023
21 days to spring Soldering did the trick. Where sheet metal screws had pulled loose from the thin metal of the filter mounting flange, I soldered on a pair of #6 flat washers. Those should hold the attaching screws well enough. I painted the work and will bake it overnight. That's one more step in getting the runabout ready for the coming touring season. Let's see now. What else do I need to do? Replace missing rivets and leather hood pads. Stop leaking casting plugs. Solder radiator leaks. Buy and install four new tires. Fix dead right turn signals (left still OK). Fix intermittent magneto. Make a carrier for laptop and atlas. Make a carrier for drink bottle, tissues, etc. Paint left front fender. Fix cracks in both rear fenders and paint. Rebuild and install a Ruckstell rear axle. Install AC brakes. Buy and install a Garmin. Stabilize the speedometer swivel and drive gear that don't want to stay put. Have the speedometer calibrated? That's a question because I'm not sure I want to do it. If I could hand deliver the head to speedometer guru Russ and pick it up from him in person, there would be no question. But trusting USPS not to lose it is another story. I got burned once before. They lost an $80 cable I was sending to Russ, and the so-called insurance was worthless because the lost cable wasn't a store-bought item with a receipt. A 1916 Stewart speedometer head is not easily or cheaply replaced, and considering my previous experience I don't trust the postal service with it. The thing is slow by about 6 mph. When it reads 25 I'm actually doing 31 mph. Maybe I should just live with that. |
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