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Monday, August 1, 2022

My morning was a trip to Wichita. At the dermatology office I had more keratoses, mostly on my head, obliterated with nitrogen. Those aren't cancerous, but it's good to get rid of them before they go that way. After the dermatological adventure I went shopping. I stopped at a Dillons store for diet Squirt. Out of stock. I went to Grace Market for 김치. A sign in the window said CLOSED MONDAY. I went to Harbor Freight for a tow strap. I didn't care for what they had. I stopped at Mercado Rio Bravo for tostadas. They didn't have the large ones I got there last time, so I settled for some of the usual smaller ones. They taste the same. After the failed shopping, I drove down to Belle Plaine, loaded another ¾ ton of bricks, brought them home and unloaded them, and spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of some online correspondence, making a few posts, and doing a little more work on spark plugs. After chow this evening Shorty rode along on another brick run. I'm beginnng to see the light at the end of the tunnel on the brick project. I should have them all home by Wednesday evening, or maybe before that.


Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Almost done! Even taking time out to vote and make a couple of other stops, I made three brick-fetching drives to Belle Plaine today, and one more tomorrow morning should be the last. When I get all the bricks home and stacked, I'll figure approximately how many there are and take a picture. One of my stops today was at the co-op to buy a different type of weed killer. Tomorrow I'll try it on the weeds that seem immune to glyphosate.



Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Done! But first, I sprayed. As soon as I was dressed, before breakfast, I mixed five gallons of 2, 4-D weed killer and attacked the forest across the road. I used only about two gallons before the sprayer started blowing mixture back through the pump and losing pressure. So the sorry piece of shoddy crap didn't last through even five gallons. I went and had my morning oats, then drove to Belle Plaine one more time and brought home the last of the bricks. I had them unloaded and stacked about ten after noon. It happened that the last brick fit into the last open space at the end of the pile. Tomorrow I'll get an approximate count of how many there are, and take a picture of the finished stack. In the afternoon I went shopping for another sprayer. I wanted the three gallon one. The Orscheln website said there was one in the store, but the website lied. Do I buy it online and pay shipping, or do I harass the local store into restocking? I think the latter. About 4:30 I looked at the weeds I sprayed this morning and found them already seriously drooping. Good news. As soon as I have a working sprayer I'll attack the rest of them with the same stuff. 


Thursday, August 4, 2022

This morning I figured up how many bricks I brought home. The total is about 2850. That's 22,800 pounds, or 11.4 tons. The $120 I paid for them works out to a little over 4¢ each. Of course, when you figure in the gas I burned getting them home that makes the cost a bit higher. But even if it doubles the cost, it's still dirt cheap. Finding that many street bricks together in one place, and getting them at that price, was quite a stroke of luck. Today I worked some more on  restoring spark plugs, and received some good news. The new engine for my Suburban was delivered to the auto shop today, so the installation will start tomorrow. I phoned the local Orscheln farm supply and asked about the three gallon sprayer that didn't seem to be there yesterday. Later the manager called me back and said they found it, so I will pick it up tomorrow morning and resume the weed war. I hope this one will last more than a week or two.


Friday, August 5, 2022

Well, I did go and get that sprayer. But by the time I did that, took glass and plastic to the recycling center, paid the property insurance, and did the grocery shopping, the heat was on. I'll spray in the cool of the morning. The dry 100º+ continues and I left a hose trickling all day on various trees and bushes that would be dying without it. Most of the time this afternoon I worked on restoring spark plugs. I hoped to have that job done by now, but the old rule still applies: Everything takes longer than you think it will.


Saturday, August 6, 2022

Auction day. I was up early to do a little spraying , then drove up to Rose Hill to see what Ken Patterson and company were selling. It was a whopper. There was so much stuff that they started selling at nine, an hour earlier than usual, and ran two rings most of the day. Most of the stuff was of no interest to me, but a few items persuaded me to stay.  I ended up with a pair of 1939 Kansas license plates for $40, two 50' rolls of 12/2 electric wire in flexible conduit for $17 each, a box of machine oil and little cans for $1, and a box of wooden cigar boxes for $1. My original plan was to go on to Wichita for dinner and a movie. But the auction went on so long that I changed that to movie first and dinner afterward. In the end I didn't get out of there until after the movie started, so I skipped the show and just had dinner. On the way home I stopped to fill up at the Jump Start station, where the prices are backwards. The 93 octane has the lowest price, and 87 octane has the highest.    



Sunday, August 7, 2022

Never went off the place today. First thing after breakfast I mixed ten gallons of new weed killer. I used up 2½ gallons before the sun's rising heat suggested that I quit. I'll spray more tomorrow, of course. I spent most of the day in the shop finishing up the spark plug restoration project I've been working on lately.


Monday, August 8, 2022

Again, I never went off the place. Again I sprayed another 2½ gallons of weed killer. Tomorrow and Wednesday will use up the remaining five gallons, and I'm hoping that will cover everything I need to spray. In the shop I tested all those restored spark plugs one more time, regapped a couple of them, and stashed them all in a small box which will ride in the car. I even remembered to put away the spark plug tools so I'll be able to find them the next time I need them. I intended to do some carburetor repair, but spent too much time online, so that's on the schedule for tomorrow.


Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Awakened by a cramp in my foot, I got up early and used up all five remaining gallons of mixed weed killer before the heat of the day arose. It didn't cover all I need to do, so I'll wait a day or two until the sprayed stuff is drooping and I can see what I missed and still need to do. Inside I spent so much time on correspondence, reading, and schmoozing online that I never did get around to my carburetor work. Maybe tomorrow. This was one of my late TV nights. On Saturdays I don't even turn it on. Some other evenings I shut it off after the News Hour, at seven. On Sundays I leave it on until 7:30 to watch The Simpsons, the only animated show that I find the least bit funny. After more than two decades, most episodes still bring me a good laugh, or two, or three. On Thursdays the TV stays on until 7:30 for Hatteberg's People,  with retired local news anchor Larry Hatteberg presenting his profiles of Kansas people from the past forty years. On Fridays I watch Washington Week and Kansas Week until eight. And tonight, Tuesday, the set stays on until eight for Finding Your Roots, where Skip Gates tells guests about their ancestors. Those stories can be sad, funny, uplifting, inspiring — nearly all completely unknown to the guest until now. In the summer, after the TV goes off I often go out to the front porch swing for a nice nap for an hour or two.

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

In the morning I blued and tested three spark plugs I missed in my recent plug work, then oiled all the finished plugs to keep rust away and sealed them in plastic bags by sets. In the afternoon I had a dental appointment, specifically a cleaning. A new person did the work. The hygienist who has done my cleanings for the past thirty years or so, apparently is old enough to cut back to one day a week now. When I got home I went to work on a carburetor. Suspecting that it was sucking air through a loose throttle shaft, I set about fixing that. I removed the throttle, drilled the hole to ¹⁷⁄₆₄", reamed it to ⁹⁄₃₂", pressed in a piece of brass tubing, reamed that to ¼", and reinstalled the throttle shaft. That's where things bogged down. Installing the throttle plate in the shaft requires two little holes in the plate to line up exactly with two little holes in the shaft. I tried that so many times that the plate ended up with a lot of deep scratches from locking pliers. On my own carb I don't care about the marks. As Dude Lester says, "It don't hurt the runnin' of it none." But if I do a carb for somebody else I don't want it to look like it was done by a fool. So I went on the Model T forum and asked for suggestions.


Thursday, August 11, 2022

Starting at 6:15 AM, I walked down to Topper Auto to get the Suburban. I think it was a walk of about six miles, but the first hundred feet showed me how out of walking shape I am. I need to be in much better shape for Hershey in October. That's estimated to be about 25 miles of walking over three days, plus a mile in and a mile out every day. After I got home and had breakfast I went back to work on that carburetor. Using a suggestion from the forum, I finished putting the throttle plate in the shaft. With the carb back together and any air leak at the throttle gone, I installed it in the car and tried starting. I choked three times, turned on the ignition, and pulled the crank twenty times without getting even a cough. Damn! I know I'll solve it eventually, but this no-start/hard-start thing is really maddening.

Friday, August 12, 2022

First up today was a short walk down to Country Club Road and back, a total of about a mile and a half. I wasn't as sore as I expected after yesterday's hike to Topper's. The main project of the day was carburetors. I dismantled a Holley NH, and found that the hole for the throttle shaft is not worn enough to need a sleeve. I also started work on a Holley G. It did have a loose throttle shaft, so I proceeded to sleeve that hole. In the afternoon I took time out for a grocery run to town, then worked on carbs some more.


Saturday, August 13, 2022

For today's entry I'll use my Model T forum post.

I did two things. 1 I left a charger on the battery overnight. 2 I dismantled the NH I was running until this week, found that the throttle shaft didn't need sleeving, checked the float level, reassembled, and put the carb on the car in place of the complete non-starting one that began this discussion. I set the spray needle open two full turns, put the throttle lever down about ¼, choked four times, and started on the seventh pull. Two turns out was too much, of course. After I smoothed out the running the NH was open one full turn. I shut off the engine, flipped the switch, and got an instant free start. I shut off the engine, flipped the switch, and got an instant free start. I shut off the engine, flipped the switch, and this time caught it between buzzes. With one pull of the crank it was running instantly.

A few minutes ago I got home from dinner/movie night in Wichita (Buffet City, E.T. 40th anniversary in IMax) and tried it cold, or as cold as it gets this time of year — about 87º in the shop. I left the carb at 1 turn, set the throttle about ¼ down, choked twice and flipped the switch. There was a little chuff, then I pulled three times and got a start on the third pull. If it stays that easy I'll be happy.

So what did it? The battery charge, or dismantling and reassembling the NH? I can't say for sure, but I suspect my fuel problem was electric.


Sunday, August 14, 2022

Before breakfast Shorty and I walked around the block (2½ miles). Since a neighbor down the road told me about her attacking one of his dogs, she now wears a leash when we go for a walk.  We started a little after 7 AM, and by the time we were almost home about eight the day was already heating up and walking in the direct sun was getting sweaty. The ten day forecast claims tomorrow and Tuesday will be our last 100º+ days. Beginning Wednesday the highs are supposed to be ten to fifteen degrees lower. I'm ready.    In the shop I removed the NH carburetor that gave me an easy start and reinstalled the one that didn't work last Thursday. It took a slightly different adjustment, but the car started normally. Apparently the hard starting and non-starting had more to do with a low battery than with a fuel problem. Tomorrow I'll go shopping for a piece of steel to make my version of the 24-Z-2393 tool for setting the float level in a Holley G, set the level in a G, and try it on the car.

Monday, August 15, 2022

This morning I went to Winfield and bought steel to make a spare tire carrier for the runabout and a float setting gauge for Holley G carburetors. I spent the rest of the morning online shopping. I checked out pet feeders and found that they all cost more than the one at the local farm supply. I spent the most time trying to find strap buckles. I only need two, and all the ones that would be right for my project are sold in bunches that would leave me with lots of useless extras. I did buy something, a portable hot spot to use with a laptop when I travel. Now I need to buy the laptop. In the afternoon I made the gauge and used it to set the float level in a Holley G carburetor. To do that you have to take the top cover off the carb, feed gas into the bowl, and check the level with the gauge. If the level is too high or too low you have to drain the gas, remove the bowl, adjust the float up or down, put the bowl back on, run in more gas, and check again. If you didn't get it right, you have to go through the same process again. I don't know if it was luck or skill, but I got it right with the second adjustment. This evening after chow and a nice nap I finished reassembling the carburetor and installed the air filter on it. Tomorrow I'll put it on the car and see how it runs.    


Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Is it over? The ten day forecast says so. Today was the last day predicted to reach 100º+. Tomorrow is supposed to top out at about 80º. I'm not complaining. My depleted supply of clean sox determined that this was laundry day. I finished hanging wash on the line at 12:20. I was planning to try that Holley G on the runabout today, but this morning the car had gone back to hard starting again. I put a charger on the battery for several hours, and it was again an easy start. Apparently this battery, less than a year old, isn't holding enough of a charge to fire the plugs for starting. Maybe I'll try a car battery. When I went to town this afternoon for bananas and celery, I stopped at the farm supply and bought a fifty pound feeder for the cats. My cousin won't have to come and feed them every day when I'm gone.


Wednesday, August 17, 2022

On the first cool day I got up late and walked around two blocks (three miles). By the time I got home it was 77º and I was"glowing". I finished breakfast about ten, went to the shop, and got to work. I put away the carburetor tools, spark plug tools, and various non-specific tools I had been using. I removed the NH carburetor from the runabout, installed the G, and tried it out. It ran rough and surged at first, but smoothed out with adjustment. Oddly, the car ran a little better on battery than it did on magneto, exactly the opposite of usual Model T behavior. I was going to get started on making a spare tire carrier, but spent a lot of time online researching batteries and trying to find 12 x 1 blades for my Keller reciprocating hacksaw. I did find some blades, but shipping and handling was more than twice the price of the product. I'll keep looking.


Thursday, August 18, 2022

Rarely am I afflicted by insomnia, but this morning I woke up before six and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up. I spent most of the day making a spare tire carrier for the runabout, with time out to shop for and buy a "new" (refurbished) laptop to take traveling. I hate spending so much in one month, but I need to have the computer and some of the other stuff before I hit the road to Michigan in a couple of weeks. I made good progress on the carrier and should have it mostly done tomorrow.


Friday, August 19, 2022

Except for a trip to town for groceries and blasting sand, I spent the day working on the spare carrier. The slow part was making the clamp that will anchor the strap around the two tires at the top. That took heating a piece of ⅛ x 3 flat stock orange, bending it, cooling it, trying the fit, and repeating the process several times until it was right. I have a little more welding to do on it, sand blasting, painting, and a few little details. I'll be able to try it out when the strap material and buckles I bought yesterday are delivered. Thinking of all the things I need to do to this car before I hit the road to Michigan, I may not have time to get much else done in the next couple of weeks.


Saturday, August 20, 2022

Drat! I was starting the last bit of welding on the spare carrier when I ran out of acetylene. I'll have to wait until Monday before I can go get a full tank and finish up. That didn't leave me with nothing to do. I cut slots for straps, which takes drilling pairs of holes and cutting out the steel between them with a miniature cutting wheel, and dressing the opening between the two holes with a file to make a smooth slot. Other parts of the job were rounding off some square corners with the big grinder and a wire brush, shortening some machine screws that were too long, removing the cad plating from the fasteners with muriatic acid, and drying and painting the fasteners. Treat night in town was Chinese at East Buffet. The movie was Bullet Train. It's well made and mildly amusing, but not not one I'll go see multiple times.


Sunday, August 21, 2022

Never went off the place today. I finished painting tire carrier fasteners and put them in the oven to bake. Then I got started on the 1916 speedometer I will be using on my 1915 car. Isn't that"incorrect"? By the time this car was made Ford was no longer supplying speedometers. Any new aftermarket speedometer installed on it in 1915, 1916, 1917, or later would have been equally "correct". Taking this one apart reminded me of an old question. Why do tool makers assume that the little screwdriver you need for teeny-tiny screws must have a teeny-tiny handle you can't grip? Anyway, I got the works out of the case and cleaned the tarnish off the brass bezel. Sandblasting and painting the case will wait until I  finish making carrier parts and blast those at the same time.


Monday, August 22, 2022

First thing after breakfast was a trip to town to trade an empty acetylene cylinder for a full one. I then finished up the welding on the last spare carrier part. Next will be sandblasting the parts, which I'll do in the cool of the morning. In the afternoon I went to see my doc to see if I have one foot in the grave. Apparently not yet. She gave me a prescription for pills that may reduce the steady drip that's had me wearing diapers since prostate surgery years ago. The diaper thing is a minor inconvenience, but if I can reduce or even eliminate it I'm all for that. While I was in town for the doctor's appointment and shopping I stopped at Auto Zone to pick up a two-pack of #1129 light bulbs. When I set them on the counter the guy asked, "What are you working on?" I replied truthfully, "A magneto battery charger for a 1915 Ford." When he started trying to find the vehicle in his computer, I explained that he really didn't need to do that. A woman behind the counter asked if I needed a charger and I told her no, that's what I was making. I then explained to one and all that the bulb was to act as a limiter to keep too much voltage from going to the battery. I paid for the bulbs and left, no doubt leaving all with no clue what I was talking about. 


Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Oops! I drilled the two holes but forgot to cut out the material between them to make a slot (at the bottom in photo). Ah well, it won't take long to do that after the paint is baked. I started blasting about ten and finished up at 12:20 PM. I had to go to town for paint and to pick up a prescription, then I painted all the parts. So now I have all the parts and fasteners painted. After I cut that slot and paint it, I'll be ready to start assembling things. I should have the carrier finished and installed in a day or two. Meanwhile, the drought continues.  The grass is getting crunchy, some bushes are dying, and some of the trees are dropping their leaves to conserve moisture. The forecast shows a 50% chance of rain on Sunday and Monday, but if it happens I doubt that it will amount to much. On the culinary front, I can report that I cooked this evening, something I don't often do. I wanted to use up half an onion in the fridge before it could go bad, so I cut it up along with a whole onion, fried it all in olive oil, and grated in some jalapeño cheese. Pretty tasty stuff.


Wednesday, August 24, 2022

It was another of those days when I never went off the place. Again I spent most of my time on the spare tire carrier and the speedometer. I got the carrier mostly finished and this evening I installed it. All I have left to do on it is make the straps and paint a couple of bolts. I'll show you some pictures when it's done. On the speedometer I removed the odometer and studied how things are supposed to work, took a couple of pictures, and posted them with questions on the Model T forum.    


Thursday, August 25, 2022

This morning I made the straps for the spare carrier, so it is officially finished. I spent the afternoon working on the speedometer. The MPH part seems to work, but so far I can't get the worm gears to turn the odometer. Not good news. A speedometer is nice, but I want a working odometer.


Both carrier parts installed.


The bottom part attaches to the inboard side of the running board can carrier.


The carrier top part clamps over the false door.
Rear spare, front spare, and seven gallons of gas.

Friday, August 26, 2022

Despite spending way too much time online, I made good progress on the speedometer. I fixed the speed drum's tendency to stick before getting down to zero, and the odometer is back on the frame and working. The cable appears to be in good condition, needing no repair, and the swivel works properly. I think all I need to do is reassemble the head and install all the parts in the car. I have a week to get the car and myself ready before hitting the road next weekend.


Saturday, August 27, 2022

First up was a drive to Winfield to check out the Defore auction. I didn't find anything of enough interest to keep me there. In my office I did a little more to set up the new laptop for travel, but I still can't get it to open my Libre Office files. That's a problem. I want to use a couple of those files when I'm on the road. In the shop I assembled the speedometer head and worked on gathering spare parts to keep in the car. Dinner in town this week was at a new place, Candiles in Winfield, which opened just this year. The food wasn't bad, but it was high priced. I can get a better dinner for a lot less at La Fiesta in Arkansas city. Tonight's movie was Fall, in which two young women are stuck atop a two-thousand-foot radio tower in the Mojave Desert. Some of their physical feats stretched credulity, but the picture sure held my attention.


Sunday, August 28, 2022

The main project of the day was installing the Stewart 100 speedometer in the runabout. Mounting the head inside the car was the hard part. It should have been easy, and would have been a few years ago, but my poor vision and elderly clumsiness made attaching the thing to the firewall with three little screws a slow, exasperating ordeal. With that done, making holes for the cable in the floor board and mat was relatively easy, as I could take both the board and the mat out of the car to work on them.  I installed the swivel and drive gear at the right front wheel, and when I spin the wheel it turns the swivel. But only if I spin the wheel backwards! I've sent a message and a photo to speedometer guru Russ in Arizona, hoping he can figure out what I've done wrong and what I need to do to make it right.


Monday, August 29, 2022

Well, my new laptop refuses to send emails to Russ. It puts them in an "Outbox" and there they stay. I tried to phone him at two listed numbers and got "cannot be completed as dialed" messages. I left a message on the Model T forum for him to call me, but haven't heard from him. This speedometer swivel is defective, and I was hoping to buy a better one from Russ. But I'm afraid it's too late now. I need to be ready to hit the road this Friday, and even if he has a good swivel it probably can't get here in three days. I'll have to use the NavPal GPS device for a speedometer, but it has no cumulative odometer function. Maybe I can write down each day's mileage if it shows that. Aside from the speedometer struggle, I spent the day gathering things that are on the What to Take check list. I've also discovered that I never installed the dash shield that's supposed to cover a small opening into the engine compartment. I would do that if I knew where to find it, but of course it's not in any place that makes sense. Fortunately it's not so vital that I can't get along without it.


Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Speedometer man Russ called me this morning and we discussed my poor swivel. I asked if he had a good one he could sell me. His answer was yes, but it would be ungodly expensive. He suggested that I send him mine and have him install new gears. That would cost a lot less than buying another one. So that's the plan. I'll pack it up and ship it off to Arizona and hope the postal service doesn't lose it. When Russ called I was in town buying a new flasher. The one in my turn/brake/tail light control panel went south on me. The new flasher restored the left turn signal but the right signal and the emergency flasher still don't work. With departure three days away I'm  not going to try to fix it now. I'll use the tail and brake lights, and resort to hand signals for turns as I've always done. Today I also robbed a tire off the touring car and strapped it on the runabout for a rear spare. I hope I won't have to use either spare on this strip. I have made some trips where I didn't have to change a tire.


Wednesday, August 31, 2022

The month ended with me working on getting the runabout ready for this year's drive to Michigan. I took time out to ship that speedometer swivel to Russ in Arizona for repair, and I bought a deep cycle marine/RV battery and installed it in the car. My other shopping today was for dog and cat food so I can leave both feeders filled to the top when I go. The mail brought the spare camera I bought last week. I don't intend to have one stolen like last year, but I didn't intend that one either. In any case, I want a backup if one goes haywire.

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