Sunday, May 2, 2021
It was a routine Sunday. That's OK. I like routine. Breakfast was rice with butter, salt, and pepper, and an apple. That's part of my four-breakfast routine rotation. I spent a couple of hours playing on the computer, a Sunday morning routine. After a routine trip to town for groceries, I fired up the tractor and mowed until chow time, part of the spring-to-fall routine. After a dinner while listening to Weekend All Things Considered, very routine, I moved to the living room to watch Sixty Minutes while I tossed peanuts to Shorty and Puff, also routine. Shorty catches most of them, while Puff sits on my lap and lets them bounce off his face. This time of year I get to see Sixty Minutes, but during football season there's usually a game dragging on so I switch over to the Univision station and watch Aquí y Ahora. The Sunday TV routine ends with The Simpsons. After thirty years or so on the air, that show still makes me laugh. Sometimes it's a big laugh, and sometimes just a chuckle, but they score with me at least two or three times in every episode. Other animated so-called comedies do nothing for me. King of the Hill, South Park, Bob's Burgers, whatever. I just don't find any of them funny. And you can just feel some of them trying SO HARD to be funny, but every swing is a ground ball to first or a pop fly to the infield. They never score. Wake me when it's over. So after The Simpsons the TV goes off, the dog and cat go out, and I move on to other things. This evening the other thing was mowing until it got dark enough to quit.
Monday, May 3, 2021
 |
 |
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Never went off the place today. The predicted overnight rain was a bust, but I stayed indoors anyway. I spent the day working on the runabout. I've been without a running Model T for far too long, and I want to get the old car going and enjoy driving it. Today I set the engine back in the frame and set about removing the rear axle to fix a leak. With the engine back in the frame I was able to move the engine stand out of the way and fold up the hoist. With those out of the way I rolled the car forward a couple of feet to make room for pulling the rear axle out the back. By quitting time I had the rear wheels off, the car up on stands, and everything on the rear axle disconnected except the speedometer cable. I should have the axle out in the morning, and the leak fixed by the end of the day. Reinstalling it in the car on the same day is probably too ambitious a goal. Everything takes longer than you think it will.
Miércoles, Cinco de Mayo, 2021 Nope, I didn't get
it back in the car. I got it out, split it open and
drained the oil, and got it cleaned up and ready to
reassemble. But when I removed the bolts they
weren't very tight. That may have been the reason
for the leak. So when I put the bolts back in I want
to add lock washers. I didn't have any of the right
sizes ready, so I stopped the project while I
stripped, prepped, and painted enough to do the job
and have two or three dozen left over for future
use. I also had to cut the wire to the speedometer
sensor when I pulled the unit out. I didn't find any
connectors in my electrical box that are suitable
for reconnecting that, so I will need to shop for
those tomorrow. Maybe I'll get the rear axle back in
the car tomorrow, but as slow as this is going
Friday is more likely.
 Thursday, May 6, 2021Not only did I not get the rear axle back in the car, I didn't even get it put back together. It seems that when I cracked the thing open one or both thrust washers inside slipped out of place. That shouldn't be hard to fix. All I would have to do would be to pull the halves apart far enough to reach inside, and put all the washers back in place with plenty of grease to hold them there. But of course nothing can be that easy. To get the halves apart I would have to remove the two hub keys from the axle shafts. The left one came out pretty easily, but the one on the right side was stuck fast. I tried various things to get it out and nothing worked. Finally I cut a slot in the end of the key, sharpened a piece of 3/16" key stock, stuck it in the slot, and whacked down on it behind the angle with a fig fat hammer. That pried it loose. So maybe tomorrow I can put the washers in place and get the rear axle back together. |
 |
| Friday,
May 7, 2021 Well, I did get it back together, but as usual it took longer than it should have. As I figured yesterday, a steel washer and a bronze thrust washer had slipped out of place as the first picture shows. All I had to do was put them back where they belonged (second photo) and bolt the two halves together. But then I found that the ring gear was immovable — stuck solid. So I had to remove the bolts, pull the halves apart again, clean off the wasted sealant, reposition a steel washer on the other side of the differential, apply new sealant, and bolt the halves together again. This time I got it right. The ring gear was free to move, and when I got the drive shaft bolted back on a turn of the U-joint made the rear axles turn. In spite of the wasted hour, I had time to also shoot some high-temp finish on the exhaust manifold. |
 |
 |
Saturday, May 8, 2021
With time out for other things I made a little progress on the runabout today. The morning time out was a drive to Winfield to check out an auction for the first time in over a year, due to you-know-what. The Defore auction usually offers something I wouldn't mind having, even if I decide it's not worth staying and waiting. Not so today. I didn't see one thing that I would want. So I came home and worked in the shop. The afternoon time out was a visit to the local junk/second-hand/antique store. The place is open by appointment now. The owner and her husband spend a lot of time going on buying trips and selling at shows, and the store fills up with more and more stuff. There was a time when you could walk around and look over the goods, but now there's so much that you can't get to some parts of the place. I did manage to get past some of it and buy a couple of lighting fixtures. One will go in the kitchen. The other will probably end up in a bedroom. I finished the day installing the engine mounting blocks and bolts in the runabout. With that activity I suffered for my art, as getting down to work under the car and then getting back up was a little painful. The other day I tripped over a radiator shell and fell against the corner of the wall under the stairs. I didn't break a rib, but I bruised one enough to hurt for awhile. It's not bad enough for me to notice it most of the time. It didn't keep me from my Saturday treat night in town. Dinner was at La Fiesta, with an old favorite meal: burrito de chorizo, tamal, and frijoles refritos. With a bottle of Yucateco verde to add a little bite, there's nothing better. This week the local theater was showing a picture I was willing to watch, so I went and saw Silo. The story takes place over a couple of days with a few flashbacks to provide some background. It's about two men sinking in corn. That may not sound dangerous if you haven't heard of it, but it's deadly. Every year a few people are killed in grain bins. This picture has no big stars, in fact nobody I've ever heard of and by a director I've also never heard of, and it is excellent. Very well done.
Sunday, May 9, 2021
Didn't get a lick of work done in the shop today. The usual Sunday morning waste of time on the internet expanded to include an update of one of my Model T pages on the website. My grocery run included two Walmart visits. The first was just to use the Pursuant machine for a blood pressure check. When I got to the market I found that there were only two cucumbers left and they looked pretty sorry. So after buying the other groceries there I went back to Walmart for the cucumbers. I get most of my food at Dillons, but I have to go to Walmart for some things they don't carry. I also go to Dillons for some things I like better than what they have at Walmart.
Monday, May 10, 2021
Two things. In the morning I went to see my doc. He renewed my prescription for blood pressure pills. They keep my pressure down to normal about half the time. He also disliked the spots on my head and referred me to a dermatologist. I spent the afternoon on overdue house cleaning in the kitchen. Tomorrow evening may be cool enough for a fire, but wood burning season is practically over and I swept up all the firewood dirt and dust around the stove. When I rolled the refrigerator away from the wall to clean behind it, some of the old asphalt floor tiles broke up and came loose, so I guess it's time to stop putting off a new floor and get the job done. Some of the old tiles are over half a century old, and time has not been kind to them. This evening I looked at ceramic tiles online and was relieved to see they're not as expensive as I had imagined.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
More cleaning in the kitchen today, plus the bathroom. I found that the water line to the toilet has been leaking and loosened a couple of baseboard tiles. I'll replace the leaky line and let the wall dry out a couple of days before I stick the tiles back in place. This afternoon the appliance repair guy came to work on my refrigerator, which quit refrigerating a few days ago. A lot of stuff in the freezer thawed and spoiled, but the tamales were OK and I had them for dinner last night. Most of the frozen vegetables were a loss. When I opened the black eyed peas and dumped them in the garbage pail on the back porch they were mighty moldy. The repair man says the parts and labor will be about $200. I don't like that kind of an unexpected expense, but it's a lot less than the cost of a new fridge.
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Breakfast was a couple of hours late today, as I had to go to the clinic to get stuck and bleed for a blood test when they opened at nine, and I was told not to eat before that. My mechanical/electric work today was trying to fix the riding mower. I looked up a wiring diagram online and was able to rule out a couple of possible problems, but I'm not good with electrical stuff more complex than simple house wiring. At the end of the day the thing was still dead. Shorting across the solenoid activates the starter, but turning the ignition switch doesn't get even a little click. I'll try again tomorrow.
One of the cats has been swelling bigger and bigger, and last night she became three cats. The two kittens are both the yellow stripe variety. My current cat population is bigger than usual, with four regulars and a couple of strays that often show up at feeding time, plus these two new ones. The number rises and falls, as new kittens arrive and attrition from owls and other predators thins the herd. I rarely know what happens to the departed. They are here, then one day they're gone. One of the crowd, Puff, is the only one with a name, so called because as a kitten he was a little puff ball. He is a pal to Shorty, who is indifferent to the rest of them and chases the strays, and he's the only one I'll let in the house because he's civilized enough to use the litter box. I don't trust the rest of them.
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Laundry day #1. Sox and overalls. While the clothes washed and during rinses I worked on the dead mower. I figured out that the starter part of the ignition switch was defunct. The question then was whether I should order a new switch online for $20+ with shipping that would put it over $30, and wait a few days for it to arrive. Nope. I went to the hardware store and bought a push button switch to activate the solenoid for $7.65 and installed that. The nice thing about that is that it works. While I was in town I bought a new supply tube for the toilet, so now that leak is no more.
Friday, May 14, 2021
Laundry day #2. Sheets, shirts, and towels. I took a picture of the wash on the line to show the very efficient blow drying we use here in Kansas. It isn't that windy all the time, but when it is those clothes dry PDQ. If you haven't seen my wash day video you can view it here. Coincidentally, I see it was made two years ago today. For many years I used coin laundries, but when the local laundry did away with hot water and raised their prices, I decided to try the old washer that has waited patiently on the west porch for a few decades. It gets the job done and costs a lot less to operate, and the solar dryer is free.
The ten day forecast shows rainy days as far as it can see, so I decided to get a little outdoor work done before the wetness arrives. I moved some old corrugated barn siding and other junk to my little scrap yard behind the old chicken house, then started cutting up some of the branches brought down by the big ice storm last October. I'm preparing kindling for next winter. It will go in paper grocery bags stored in at least one big box in the garage. Building a fire in the kitchen stove or the living room fireplace, I start with crumpled newspaper, set the bag of kindling on top of that, and then stack on the wood.
After chow this evening I brought in the laundry and then, with the riding mower back in operation, I got in a bit of mowing before darkness descended. With the coming siege of wet weather threatening to last at least a week and a half, I expect I will have some serious mowing to do when it's over.
Saturday, May 15, 2021
One of my unfavorite things in all the world is doing taxes. Running out of procrastination time, I spent several hours on it today. Even with a computer program doing the math for me, it's a PITA. I absolutely hate it. I had it mostly done by quitting time. Tomorrow I'll finish up and get the forms in the mail. Why don't I file online, the "quick and easy" way? A few years ago I tried that. I didn't find out the IRS had refused to accept it until after the deadline, and I got nailed with a late fee. No more "quick and easy" for me.
This week I skipped the restaurant meal and had treat night at home with tostadas, two with sardines and three with frijoles refritos. I did go to a movie because despite the title I wanted to see Those Who Wish Me Dead, not because of the star and the other actors, but because it was written and directed by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote and directed Wind River, one of the best films of recent years. This was no Wind River, but I didn't hate it as much as most of the reviewers. The story has some holes and improbabilities, but Sherdidan keeps things moving so you don't dwell on them.
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Today I finished taxes, then went about some very overdue mowing. I started with the Dixon riding mower, cutting around trees and other obstacles and in places that are too tight for the tractor. I was nearing the end of that when the engine started running really rough for a few seconds then stopped dead with an ominous internal clatter. I'm thinking broken rod, piston, or other major part. I'll open it up and see if it can be fixed or needs to be replaced. I finished up with the Allis mowing tractor.
Monday, May 17, 2021
Not much done. I edited/updated one of the website Model T pages, printed and mailed my tax forms, and shopped for groceries.
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
 |
 |
It seems I did a good job of fixing the leak in my runabout's rear axle. No drips after a week. So this evening I set about reinstalling the unit in the car. Sometimes that is a very easy thing, and it slides into place with no trouble at all. Other times getting the square U-joint shaft lined up to fit into the square hole in the back of the transmission is an exasperating and infuriating ordeal that seems to take forever. This was one of those other times. Even with the special tool made for the purpose, it was a struggle. But I finally got it in, and put in some of the bolts to hold it in place. Now I need to find the two cans of original Ford bolts I recently saw somewhere in the shop. I just have to remember where they were.
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Memory plays tricks on us, even recent memory. The two cans of original Ford bolts I thought I remembered seeing were actually one can about half full. There were a lot of castle nuts like the ones Ford used, but the bolts, while they were era correct with thicker heads than modern bolts, were not the ones commonly used on a Model T. Fortunately I have enough of the correct bolts ready to use. I spent the day on runabout reassembly, installing the rear shackles, brakes, rods, and wheels, and safety wiring the things that need to be safety wired. Then I took a detour. When this car was assembled some forty or fifty years ago the firewall brackets were installed with the bolts backwards. I decided to remedy that, and thought while I have the brackets out I might as well give them some fresh paint. So I have the brackets, bolts, and nuts all wire brushed clean and hanging in the paint booth. I'll buy paint in the morning, paint the parts, and work on other things while they're baking.
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Yes, paint bought, parts painted. While I was in town for paint I bought some new boots. When the old ones start going to pieces and hurting your feet it's time for a change. One of today's Model T jobs was installing the head on the engine with a new gasket. The instructions with this space age gasket say don't use any sealant, so we'll see how that works. The firewall brackets and hardware with their new paint will bake overnight, so in the morning I can install those, lower the body onto the frame, and proceed with more reassembly. Each day I'm a little closer to having a driveable Model T again.
Friday, May 21, 2021
Reassembly continued. To remove the engine and put it back in the car, the front of the body needs to be raised off the frame a couple of inches. With the engine back in, this morning I removed the blocks and lowered the body back onto the frame. I installed the spark plugs, just finger tight because I want to test them and be sure all of them are good before I wrench them in. For now they're just in there so nothing will fall in the holes. I mostly installed the newly painted firewall brackets, then took a detour. The brackets take six carriage bolts, but I only had five. So I made a trip to the farm supply and bought a couple of dozen bolts for this and future uses, and a few dozen ¼" flat washers. My afternoon project was cutting half a dozen of the bolts to the right length, stripping the cad plating off those and a couple dozen washers with muriatic acid, prepping everything with phosphoric acid to etch the metal for paint adhesion, grinding and buffing away the raised modern marking on the heads, and painting all. The bolts and washers will bake overnight, and I'll proceed with reassembly.
Saturday, May 22, 2021
Lured by the possibility of corrugated siding at a bargain price, I drove up to Belle Plain for the first Patterson auction I've attended in over a year. There was very little I wanted, but I did buy a like-new web chair for $2. When the siding came up I wasn't the only one who wanted it, and the other guy wanted it more than I did. When the price got up near retail I dropped out. Sometimes you get a good deal, and sometimes you don't. There will be other auctions.
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Back to runabout reassembly. Today I installed the steering column. That shouldn't be a big deal, but it took several hours. This is one of those famous/notorious 1915 Fords put together from parts. I believe it was assembled about 45 or 50 years ago. The guy who did it used mostly correct 1915 parts and did a pretty good job, but he got some things wrong. One wrong thing was installing the firewall bracket bolts backwards. Turning them around the right way wasn't a big deal, except for the top bolt on the left bracket. The brackets should be installed before the steering column because the top left bolt is covered by the steering column flange. The guy who assembled this thing drilled an extra hole in the flange, apparently for a bolt to go through both flange and bracket. When I acquired the car there was no bolt in that hole, and today I found out why. I installed the steering column with its four bolts, then tried to put a bolt in that extra fifth hole through the flange and bracket. After an infuriating hour trying to get a nut started on that bolt and then tighten it, I gave up and decided to do it the right way. I removed the four steering column bolts and pulled the column back with the flange out of the way, and installed a shorter bolt in that top bracket hole. I got a nut on it and tightened it, then installed the steering column with the flange covering it as I should have done in the first place. The rest of the job was less of a hassle—three bolts and nuts with cotter pins to fasten the steering bracket to the frame, a cotter pin for the ball arm nut, then bolting and cotter pinning the tie rod to the ball arm. Steering is done.
Monday, May 24, 2021
No work. I got up late, and by the time I was done with breakfast, bathing, and putting on clean duds, it was time to head for Wichita for my appointment with the eye doc. She found pressure in my recently de-cateracted right eye was only 11, which is super excellent. The left eye, which is usually lower, was at 16, not so good, so I have to go back in four months. I did get cleared to go to the optometrist for new lenses. I'll be glad to get back to bifocals. The reading glasses I've been using for close work are a PITA, taking them off and putting them on, taking them off and putting them on, etc. With a couple of stops for 김치 and diet Squirt (not available here) that used up my afternoon and I got home a little after five.
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
A little more runabout reassembly. I finished bolting the body down to the frame and hooked up the wire from the bike speedometer to the sensor inside the left rear brake drum.
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
Another trip to Wichita, this time to a dermatologist to have some keratoses on my head frozen off to prevent them from becoming cancers. I got home with enough time to get a little more car reassembly done, installing the intake and exhaust manifolds, carburetor, fuel line, and exhaust pipe. I quit a few minutes early to do some watering. Some of the seeds I planted last week are sprouting. It's too soon to tell how much of what I see is stuff I planted and how much is weeds.
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Wow! All the recent rainstorms have been rather light and gentle, but today's was a real gully washer. It started about eleven and poured for an hour, then eased up, then about two the second downpour hit. When it was all over the rain gauge had 4.35" in it. During the break I went to check out an auction at Kellogg. The flyer mentioned bricks, but there were only about half a dozen broken pieces, so I went grocery shopping and came home. In car reassembly, I took two steps back. I forgot about a little chain hanging from the oil filler cap. It dangled down far enough to get jammed in the timing gears, so I had to remove the fan and timer, take off the crank and fan pulley, and remove the engine front cover to get it out. I'll have to buy the right paper to make a new gasket before I put the cover back on and replace all those other parts I had to remove today.
Friday, May 28, 2021
I drove all day, leaving about 7:30 in the morning and getting home at 7:40 in the evening. I went to Kansas City to see a cousin who is in a bad way. He was just moved from a hospital to a nursing home. It turned out that I was too late to have a real visit. I spoke to him and got no response. I'm not sure whether he was in a sound sleep or comatose. Either way, he did not look good. In recent years a lot of our family reunions have included a walk up to the cemetery for a funeral. It looks like this year's will too.
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Back to car reassembly, I installed the engine front cover. Why didn't I get more than that done? Because I didn't have a ready-made gasket, so I made my own. Rather slow work. I could have bought a new gasket and a spare for $3.50, but I didn't want to pay for shipping that would more than double the price and then wait several days for the order to arrive. The job is done and I can proceed with the other parts that depend on it. Saturday being treat night, I dined in town at the Pizza Ranch buffet. I like most of the food, and after eating there a few times I'm learning which few items to skip. I wasn't sure I wanted to see any of the movies currently showing, but after hearing Bob Mundello's positive review I went to see A Quiet Place, Part II. I didn't see Part I, but some online reviews pegged this sequel as the better of the two. John Krasinski co-wrote, directed, and starred in this one. He and Emily Blunt are pros, and Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe as the kids are outstanding. Simmonds, being deaf, acts with her face and her body, and is wonderful at it. Noah Jupe is one of those young foreign actors (in this case English) who are convincing as Americans. Industrial Light and Magic provides the space invaders, who are suitably frightening and dangerous, but not unbelievably invulnerable. The way this movie ended (What happens next?) I won't be the least bit surprised if there is a Part III.
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Yesterday I turned on the heater in the shop, and I still have blankets and a comforter on my bed. The low this morning was 49º. The end of May should be warmer than this. Typical of a Sunday morning, I wasted way too much time playing on the Internet. With the forecast showing tomorrow as sopping wet, I walked up to the cemetery to howdy the old timers and visit the vets. I did get a little done on the runabout, putting the last couple of bolts in the front cover and installing the crank pulley, hand crank, fan assembly, and timer.
Monday, May 31, 2021
It was a wet day as predicted, with light rain, sprinkles, mist, more light rain and more sprinkles. At the end, the gauge had only .40" in it. Runabout reassembly continued with hood shelves and clips, engine pans, radiator, coil box and coils, and spark plug wires. I came up short on painted ¼" square nuts and ¼" split washers, so I took time out to strip, prep and paint 25 of each. That will give me the few I need now and plenty for future use.
HOME
BLOG LIST
APRIL 2021
JUNE 2021