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Friday, August 3, 2018

No blasting today. I prepped and painted the drive shaft tube, and brazed the crack in the steering column. I slopped on lots of brass, then spent quite a bit of time grinding to get it even and smooth. I added more pictures to yesterday's link.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

It's a scenic drive to Cedar Vale, about 25 miles east, and I went there to check out an auction this morning. There were a couple of small items of interest, but not enough to keep me there. While I was in the area I drove down to Hewins, a few miles southeast, where I had a blowout last September. After that adventure my Swiss army knife came up missing, and I suspected that I had dropped it when I was changing the wheel. So this morning I walked along the road where that happened to see if I could spot the knife. If it was there, the grass and weeds kept it well hidden. So I have to declare it officially lost.

Sunday, August 5, 2018

The only real work I did today was more spraying. Since the last time I attacked the inconvenient vegetation it's died enough for me to see what I missed. So I mixed up five gallons of my magic death potion and waged war on some of the surviving johnson grass and other weeds.

Monday, August 6, 2018

Done. I got an early start sand blasting in the cool of the morning. Even taking an hour out for equipment repair, I was done with all the pieces I had to do and had the equipment put away by 11:00 AM. Then came an online search for a shop to do some brass plating. I was hoping for a place close enough that I wouldn't have to ship the parts, but I didn't find any in Wichita. It looks like I'll have to send the work to Kansas City.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

First on today's agenda was painting small parts. Shorty rode with me in the runabout to go pay the water bill, and on the way home I stopped at city hall to vote in the primary. Next was work on my new steering column. A coat of primer revealed a dent. So I removed the primer from the dented area and applied some body solder. Next comes filing, grinding, and sanding to get it even and smooth.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

This morning the tree service guy came to start taking down the big dead trees by the shop. He was at it for lonly about an hour until he damaged his equipment and had to quit. He says he'll be back Tuesday. I worked in the shop, first painting the new steering column and then making a bracket for installing a phone charger in the runabout. With time out for a trip to town for parts and groceries, that was my day.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

More steering column work. Even after a good wire brushing, the post wouldn't turn in the gear case without getting stuck. So I slathered on some Clover and worked it first with a wrench and then by hand until it would turn freely. I started cleaning up the case, but the barn where I have my buffing wheel got too toasty to suit me. I'll finish that job in the cool of the morning.

Friday, August 10, 2018

The big deal today was pulling the rear axle out of the runabout. I have to fix a leak, and while I'm at it I'll ditch the stepped drive shaft tube and install one that's correct for 1915. I'll dismantle the thing this weekend and see what it needs, order the parts on Monday, and if I'm lucky I'll have it all back together next weekend. I'm afraid it may need new axle shafts. Those don't come cheap.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Nothing in the advertising attracted me to today's auction, so I stayed home and continued workng on the rear axle. Most of the parts are good, but I will be getting new shafts. When I had this axle apart four years ago I gambled and kept the old shafts. But they're too worn for the seals to prevent leaking. I don't want oil all over my brakes, so the old shafts will have to go.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Another day on the rear axle. The inner felt seals that were on the left shaft are almost completely chewed up, and I can't figure out why. The ones on the right side are perfectly intact, and the shaft on the left side is no rougher than the one on the right. Now I'm wondering whether I should install new felts with the new shaft. I still have to remove the drive shaft from its tube and put it into the correct 1915 tube I'm going to install. I'll ponder the felt seal situation while I work on that. As I dismantle things I'm making a list of what needs to be replaced. I hope I can get everything apart tomorrow morning early enough to order parts and have them shipped the same day.

Monday, August 13, 2018

First thing this morning I cleaned up the drive shaft tube and removed the shaft and all the other parts. I was glad to find that the only thing I have to replace in it is the bushing. I added that to my parts list and phoned the order to Chaffin's Garage. That was a little after eleven, which is a little after nine in California, so the parts should be on their way this afternoon. After time out for grocery shopping I spent the afternoon doing more parts cleaning.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

I rigged up a bottle brush on a broom handle and scrubbed out my new 1915 drive shaft tube, and finished cleaning all the rear end parts. Now they're waiting for the new parts to arrive so I can start reassembly. With that out of the way I put away tools and cleaned up in the shop. Next, while I'm waiting for those parts, I'll start installing an outlet for a phone charger in the runabout. My silly phone won't charge on house current anymore, but will still do it on a car charger.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

An hour of pulling weeds in the cool of the morning seemed like a good idea, so that's how I started the day. In that time I cleared most of the weed patch in front of the barn. I think one more session, perhaps half an hour, will finish it up. I spent the rest of the day installing the phone charger outlet in the runabout. It's a pretty simple thing in theory, but in actual practice it took all day, plus another hour in the evening after dinner. But it was worth the time. When I turned on the charger and plugged in the phone it started charging right away. It's always gratifying when you finish a project and it works on the first try.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

First thing in the morning I finished pulling the weed patch in front of the barn. Then I mixed up five gallons of magic potion and attacked the johnson grass and other weeds across the road. I noticed a vine I hadn't seen before spreading in a few places. I looked it up online and found that it's kudzu. Looks like I'll be doing a lot more spraying to keep that stuff in check. Next I was going to mow, but I didn't get very far. Flat tire. Taking the wheel to town for a new tube and doing some other shopping ate up the rest of the day. After dinner I did get in an hour of mowing. The cool of the evening made it pleasant work.

Friday, August 17, 2018

Today's project was getting the rear wheels ready to go back on the car after I get the rear axle reassembled and installed. First came washing off the oily dirt from the leaking inner seals. Next was replacing a rubber valve stem with metal. The stems I use are bigger than the ones Ford used, because they're the right size for the new brass covers to fit. Next came tire mounting. Now they're aired up and ready to put back on the car. My other job didn't go as well. Trying to put a gear on an axle shaft I broke my press. If I can't find a machine shop open tomorrow I'll have to wait until Monday to finish.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

It occurred to me that the press I broke yesterday isn't the only one I have. Out in the barn is another I made many years ago, so I decided to see if I could use it and get the job done. I removed the eight ton jack from it and installed the twenty ton jack from the broken press. It worked to finish putting the gear on one shaft. But the shaft and gear which broke the other press remained stuck. I was afraid to apply any more pressure when the shaft started to flex. I don't want to break a $115 item. I'll have to take the gear back off the shaft and take some material off one or the other.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

The storm this mornng left 1.6" in the rain gauge. That's good. I forgot to put the cover on my sandblaster, so rain blew in through the open barn door and now I have a blaster full of wet sand. That's bad. I worked on my old home made press today and got it to operate the way it should. That's good. When good things outnumber bad things two to one, it's a good day.

Monday, August 20, 2018

Yesterday's rain made this a perfect morning for weed pulling, so I attacked the patch of big ones across the road from the house. Along toward nine the work started to get sweaty, so I called a halt to my fun with weeds. I got most of the patch pulled, so finishing the job shouldn't take long. After taking that axle shaft and gear to a machine shop, I was off to Wichita for an appointment with the eye doc. She found that the pressure in both eyes was 13, which is good. When I returned from the big W, I picked up the assembled axle shaft and gear then did my grocery shopping. I finished the day cleaning up axle housings, getting them ready for reassembly.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

As planned, I finished the weed patch across the road in short order. Then I got started on reassembling the rear end for the runabout. I cleaned up the axle tubes, wire brushed and painted a couple of plugs, and consulted the axle book. But I spent the most time on the drive shaft. I'm not about to spend eighty bucks on a seldom-used facing reamer, so I faced the new bushing with coarse sandpaper. Everything takes longer than you think it will, but I hope to have the car running again in a couple of days.

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

With time out for a trip to town for a can of lacquer thinner, I spent the day mostly working on rear axle reassembly. With any luck I should have it back together and back in the car tomorrow.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

"Get this thing back together. I want a ride."

Almost done. I finished reassembling the rear axle and nearly finished installing it in the car. The tricky part, lining up the U-joint shaft and shoving it into the transmission, is done. Tomorrow I'll do the shackles, brakes, and wheels, add grease and oil, and go for a test drive.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Well, almost. I had to do laundry. That and grocery shopping used up enough of my day to keep me from finishing. I still have to hook up the brakes, put the wheels on, and apply some grease and oil. Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow morning.

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Well, I got it back together, but no test drive. After I finished reassembly and got to greasing and oiling, I found that I installed one of the shackles upside down with the oil holes on the bottom. I'll have to fix that tomorrow. Instead of working on that today I made a bracket to mount an oil can on the firewall so I could get it painted and let the paint dry while I work on the car. At 3:30 I headed for Wichita for dinner and a movie. The dinner was a tasty meal at Mexico Viejo, and the movie was 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Imax theater. The last time I saw it in a theater was fifty years ago. If I keep up that schedule, the next time I'll be 127.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Today I corrected that upside-down shackle, adjusted the hand brake, and installed the engine compartment oil can. So Shorty finally got her ride when I drove the runabout to town for shopping.

Needing to aim my headlights, I spent much of the day setting up the aiming arrangement in my shop. I had to fix the focusing apparatus on one of the lights, and I was at it until after midnight. When I drove outside I found that I still need to spread out the focus so I can see more of what's in front of me. Having the lights aimed straight doesn't do much good if you can only see a small spot of light.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Some of the lawn was getting mighty shaggy, so this was mowing day. While I was mowing one of the neighbors came by and pointed out that there were cattle coming across the west field. A cattle truck had overturned on the highway a half mile north, and now they were fleeing and trampling the soy beans. It took a couple of hours for some cowboys (and girls) to arrive and round them up. My farmer went to the scene of the wreck to be sure both our names were on the accident report, so maybe we'll get some compensation for the crop damage.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

We've been having animal entertainment. The cicada's song is the sound of summer. You hear them singing in the trees on warm evenings. This one was on the back porch screen.

Frantic barking yesterday afternoon was the tipoff that Shorty had cornered a woodchuck. She grabbed it and ran into the shop with it. I was about to take a picture when it ran up the stairs into my office and hid. I couldn't find where it was hiding, so it spent the night there. This afternoon I heard it moving down in the shop, so I opened the door and let it out.

Friday, August 31, 2018

I worked on a home made road atlas for my drive to Dearborn, washed the car, and started gathering stuff I need to take.