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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

The first day of the new month wasn't particularly remarkable or memorable. Ordinarily I would be on the road in my 1915 Ford, on the way to the Old Car Festival in Michigan, but this year there is no OCF and I'm going nowhere. This morning I took that wet sand I removed from the blaster yesterday over to the barn and spread it out on a tarp to dry. I didn't get any blasting done today, but I prepared eighty pounds of sand. The bag is marked FINE, but in the past I've found that the fine sand contained enough large grains to clog the blaster. So now I screen new sand to take out the larger grains before I use it.

One year ago today, on the road in Illinois

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

My depleted supply of clean sox said wash, so this morning I did laundry. I didn't do any blasting, as the heavy overcast threatened moisture well into the afternoon. I did work on magneto coils. Pictures are here.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

On a foggy morning with humidity near 100%, the clothes I washed yesterday were still damp so I left them on the line. Later the clouds burned off and the sun did its work. Soon the weather will cool down and I'll start cutting and splitting firewood. The first wood I'll tackle is the remains of a big tree stacked behind the shop, so this morning I mixed ten gallons of the magic elixir of death and sprayed the weeds around the pile to clear the way. I also sprayed several other places. I should have done more than spraying, but it was a hot enough day for me to take some long breaks sitting in front of a fan, and that's all I got done.

Friday, September 4, 2020

In the cool of the morning I reassembled the blaster, brought more sand from the barn, and resumed sandblasting the mag ring. Even with a bag of new sand, it was slow going. About one PM, with my air supply blowing increasingly warm air into my hood, I was ready to call it quits until tomorrow. I would estimate the ring is a little more than half blasted. I spent a couple of hours with a razor scraper removing a lot of the remaining paint, so tomorrow's blasting should finish the job.

Saturday, September 5, 2020

That work with the scraper was time well spent. Today's blasting pretty much finished the mag ring. There are a couple of little spots I need to hit, and I'll get those in tomorrow's session. I also did a little blasting on the replacement flywheel for the 1923 touring car, but it was mighty slow work. So I put the flywheel to soak in molasses to dissolve some of the rust. After a few days of that treatment it should blast a little easier. In ordinary times Saturday is my night to go to town for a restaurant meal, but in the current situation I'm avoiding restaurants. Instead it's treat night at home. Tonight's treat will be tostadas, two with tuna and three with frijoles refritos. Yummy stuff.

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Done. I finished up the mag ring and blasted the engine pans for the runabout, then prepped the ring and the pans for painting. I had planned to do some mowing, but when I finished blasting my back and neck were aching, so I lay down and took a nice nap instead. The mowing can wait for tomorrow.

Monday, September 7, 2020

The ten day forecast says today was the last day over 90º F for awhile. Most likely it will be the last this year. We're supposed to get rain tomorrow afternoon and have rainy days through Friday, so first I painted the tops of those engine pans and put them in the oven to bake, then I mowed to beat the rain. Tomorrow mornng I'll turn the pans over and paint the bottoms, then do a bit of mowing I didn't get to today. I'll also get under my truck and see if I can find a brake fluid leak. Because of the leak the truck has no brakes. Hauling yard trimmings in first or second gear at no more than a brisk walk, the lack of brakes is not a problem. But if I venture out onto a public road I'll need them working.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Well, that's odd. I crawled under the truck with a flashlight to look for a brake fluid leak and didn't find a drip anywhere. I checked the master cylinder and found it still filled to the top. Did the leak cure itself? Very unlikely. I'll wait a few days and look again. My first Model T job of the day was painting the bottoms of the two engine pans and putting them in the oven to bake. After a grocery run to town I masked the mag coil ring and shot a coat of clear insulating varnish on the back. Tomorrow I'll turn it over and do the front.

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

Customarily I open all the windows in May and leave them open until October. But they're closed now. Sunday night I was still sleeping uncovered until the wee hours of the morning when I pulled a sheet over me. By last night my feet were getting cold, and tonight I'm putting a blanket and the big winter comforter on the bed. In a couple of months a low of 50º and a high of 60º will count as a warm day, but in early September it feels pretty chilly. As rain fell outside, I turned on the heat in the shop and had a session of putting-away and cleaning up. When I went to the pharmacy for some medicine the Camry's tire pressure light came on. Of course that would happen while rain is pouring down. I'll air up the tires tomorrow while we're having a break from the rain.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Well, that was a good soak. Yesterday's and last night's rain left 2.35" in the gauge. Today was cloudy but rainless, but more is predicted early in the morning, then Saturday begins a run of sunny and warmer days with highs in the low eighties. That's more normal for mid-September. I had to go to town for diapers today, as I am in the 2% of prostate surgery patients who have a permanent drip. I think of having to change underwear once or twice a day as a minor inconvenience compared to being dead. The urologist told me that the type of cancer I had was aggressive and high risk, so I count myself lucky that seven years later there has never been any hint of it returning. I guess I can count tonight's tasty treat as a celebration of that. Last winter the big pan I've used many years for popcorn developed a hole in the bottom and I was unable to fix it. But this morning I found another pan about the same size, and had popcorn instead of peanuts with dinner tonight.

Friday, September 11, 2020

Coils with outer insulation peeled off.

Unwinding and coiling. Much of the old insulation is falling off, but some stays put and has to be stripped.

A soak in Drano will get it off.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Today's Model T magneto work was taking the copper ribbons out of their CLR bath, rinsing, and drying them. Next will be straightening them and pounding out the kinks.

Monday, September 14, 2020

Mystery solved. My truck's recently filled master cylinder was empty this morning. I figured there must be a leaking wheel cylinder somewhere, but when I checked the drums for drips they were all dry. So I refilled the reservoir, got under the truck, and extended the search. It didn't take long to find brake fluid dripping out of the master cylinder. So I'll have to get it out of the truck, open it up, and see what's wrong. I hope I won't have to replace the whole cylinder. I didn't try to remove it today because that's usually a nightmare without the proper tools. In the morning I'll drive down to the HF store in Ponca City and pick up a set of flare nut wrenches.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

So this morning I was off to Ponca City. I bought my set of wrenches, came back to Kansas and did grocery shopping, and came home to work on the truck. Maybe squirting penetrant on the nut and letting it sit overnight helped, but the flare nut wrench loosened it easily and I was able to unscrew it the rest of the way with a regular open end wrench. With the master cylinder off the truck I took it in the shop and opened it up and took a look inside. It was easy to see why all the fluid leaked out. The inside of the cylinder was so pitted that honing wouldn't cure it, so I got online and ordered a new one. We'll see if it arrives before the weekend. My Model T work today was to start straightening the copper ribbons for the mag coils and pounding out the kinks as much as I could. That's a slow job and will take some time.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020

One of today's piddling little chores was wire brushing and paintng the mounting bolts for the truck's master cylinder so they will be ready to use when the new one arrives. I got under the truck and tried to remove the brake pedal linkage, and the clevis pin was stuck fast. No amount of whacking it with a hammer would move it. So I sprayed some Kroil on it and will try again tomorrow. After a grocery and medicine run, I got back to work on straightening mag coil ribbons. That's slow work, so I do only a few at a time.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Back to the frustration of trying to remove that brake linkage. The pin still would not budge, so I finally gave up the attempt. I'm hoping I'll be able to install the master cylinder with the linkage in place. Today I spent more time than usual slaving over a hot computer. Some of my Facebook friends show what I consider unfortunate tendencies toward racism, "sharing" propaganda memes that push white supremacy, some subtly and some more blatantly than they may realize. So I made a couple of my own memes. I know they won't change anybody's opinion, but they will express mine.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Taking an inspection walk today I was glad to find a lot of dead and dying honeysuckle. That lets me see what I still need to spray. While I was at it I took some almost-fall pictures. The autumnal equinox is only four days away, and signs of fall are all around.

Black walnuts have been dropping for a few weeks.

Goldenrod gives some folks the sneezes, but so far it hasn't bothered me.

Red and gold on the trees will come in October, but Virginia creeper is turning now.

... but the insects like it.

Hedge apples (Osage orange) are all around.

Squirrels get into them for the seeds.

These don't look exactly like the puffballs (Lycoperdon curtisii) I found online,
but I think they may be a pretty close relative.

September is sunflower time in Kansas for sure. There are many varieties.

Saturday, September 19, 2020

The last time I sprayed it rained the next day. Apparently the rain washed all or most of the herbicide off the weeds and a lot of them survived, especially the johnson grass. The forecast now predicts little to no chance of rain for the next ten days, so today I mixed up another ten gallons and sprayed again. I covered all of the lane down to the wood lot. I would have done more, but I have to wait until Monday when the co-op is open and I can buy another jug of Eraser.

For many years my custom has been to go to town Saturday evening for a restaurant dinner. But when the pandemic hit restaurants were off limits, and even now I'm staying home until the covid thing is over. So Saturday is treat night at home. I alternate between tostadas and tamales. Tonight was tostada night. A can of sardines or tuna makes two tostadas, with mayo for a binder, chopped onions mixed in, and jalapeño slices on top. A can of frijoles refritos makes three, with chopped onions, grated cheese, and again, jalapeño slices on top. Such good stuff.

Sunday, September 20, 2020

On a lazy Sunday morning I got up late and spent the morning playing online. In the afternoon I remodeled my coil ribbon stretcher. Tightening it with a turnbuckle an eighth of a turn at a time was mighty tedious. So I altered it so I can tighten it by just turning a wrench on the end.

My other model T job was taking the "new" flywheel for my touring car out of the molasses, rinsing it, and prepping with phosphoric acid to prevent rust. It looks like it will clean up very nicely.

Monday, September 21, 2020

When I got home from town Shorty was barking at the Fedex truck in the yard. She barks with excitement when anybody shows up, even people she knows. The truck was here to deliver the new master cylinder for my Dodge. I had been to town for another jug of glysophate to attack more of the unauthorized vegetation that needs to go. This time I got Cornerstone, as that was the least expensive brand on offer. I figure that glysophate is glysophate, whatever the brand. I mixed ten gallons of the magic elixir of death and sprayed along both sides of the road east to the property line. Then I mixed another ten gallons and sprayed along the road by the west field, and finally resumed the war against invasive Asian honeysuckle that threatens to take over my remaining patch of pasture east of the wood lot. I ended the day with a couple of gallons unused, so I'll use that up in the morning and then wait for this spraying to take effect so I can see what else needs my attention. While I was at the co-op this morning I noticed that they sell grass seed, including buffalo grass, which is native to Kansas. When all this johnson grass and other invasive stuff is eradicated, I aim to plant buffalo grass in its place. I'm glad to find that I can get it locally and won't have to pay for shipping, and can easily buy more if I run out when I start planting.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Drat! The first day of fall dawned wet, with heavy dew, light fog, and a bit of mist in the air. I hope it wasn't enough moisture to destroy my beautiful spraying and wipe out all the work I did yesterday. Clouds remained all day, with only a brief bit of sunshine breaking through for a few minutes in the afternoon. I had planned to do laundry, but that will need to wait for a drier day tomorrow. I studied the book on transmission rebuilding, and when I went to town for groceries I bought a three foot piece of 5/8" all thread to use in repairing my twenty ton shop press. I'll need the press when I assemble the transmission for my touring car.

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Today's main project was repairing the press, replacing the two broken rods to hold the bottom end together, plus a little cleaning up in the shop, which is always needed. I also painted the new master cylinder for the Dodge, and began an experiment. A Facebook friend recently mentioned that hedge apples drive spiders out of the house. I doubt it, so I decided to test the theory. I vacuumed the spider webs out of my back porch and installed four fresh hedge apples. We'll see.

Thursday, September 24, 2020

With sun shining and breeze blowing to dry the wash, I did laundry. Except the big comforter I use during the cold months. It's too huge to fit in my Maytag, so I'll have to take it to a coin laundry where there's a big machine for big loads. While the clothes were washing and rinsing I did a search for a web page editing program that will work on my desktop computer. I've been using KompoZer on my laptop, but it doesn't work on the desktop's newer operating system. I found and downloaded Mozilla's SeaMonkey, which seems very similar to Kompozer. I'm using it for this post. If SeaMonkey proves to be as good as KompoZer, I'll continue to maintain the website with it on the desktop and use the laptop with Kompozer when I travel. I find that I'm able to post this photo from two years ago today with it. If the other features work this well, I expect SeaMonkey will be the program I use.

With the web editing question settled, I took some time this afternoon to install the new master cylinder in my truck. I filled it with brake fluid, but I'm fully confident that bleeding the lines will be an exasperating ordeal seeming to take all day even if it really doesn't. I'm leaving that chore for tomorrow.

Friday, September 25, 2020

Tonight I'm feeling like Gabe Heatter. During the war he would come one the air every evening saying, "There's good news tonight." No matter how bad things looked, he always found something positive to report at the top of the broadcast. My good news tonight is that my old truck, for the first time in months, has working brakes. I was pleasantly surprised that the job was much easier than I expected. I hooked up a shop vac to blow air into the reservoir and force fluid into the cylinder while I pumped the pedal. I didn't even have to spend a lot of time bleeding the lines. I had the brakes working in less than an hour. Next I took on the non-working fuel gauge. A few years ago the old cork float was deteriorated and I made a brass float to replace it. Unfortunately the new float leaked and sank to the bottom of the tank. So today I decided to pull the gauge, remove my home made float, and install another brass float I bought at an auction. Of course I couldn't find that float when I needed it, so I tried soldering the leak in my home made one. I have it floating in a pan of gas the see if I really fixed the leak. If it's still floating tomorrow it will go back in the truck.

Saturday, September 26, 2020

Well, the sending unit is back in the truck but the fuel gauge is still dead. Even with ten gallons in the tank the needle stays on empty and shows no sign of life. I didn't take time to investigate because cold nights are coming and I wanted to wash the big winter comforter before putting it on the bed. It's much too big to fit in my Maytag, so I took it to the coin laundry in Winfield where there are machines big enough to handle the job. In a couple of months my routine will include going up to my bedroom a half hour before bedtime and turning on the electric blanket.

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Surprise! A few days ago the ten day forecast showed no hint of rain. But last night it suddenly changed and showed an 80% chance this afternoon. It turned out to be mostly a heavy mist, enough to require windshield wipers and get the streets wet, but nowhere close to a soaker. This morning in one of the Facebook Model T groups somebody asked if he should carry a spare tire. Surprisingly this led to a lot of back and forth about whether it's necessary or not. I certainly do, or at least a spare tube, and the requisite equipment for dealing with a flat. And that got me to thinking about air sources. For a few years I carried a foot pump, and had occasion to use it twice. The first time I used it I blew up a tire to 65 psi with no trouble. The second time it wouldn't go past forty pounds. Luckily a chap who was passing by and saw my dilemma went to his place nearby and brought a tank of air. So with the foot pump a washout, I've decided to carry one of those pumps that screw into a spark plug hole. But with mechanical devices being subject to failure, I think a backup would be wise. So this afternoon I investigated the few old-time tire pumps I have hanging in my shop. Two of them are marked Ford and one is an unidentified double-tube affair that will require more fixing than the others. Neither Ford pump has a check valve, so I assume they relied on the stem valve. The Ford pump that's in the best condition is probably a reproduction, as the hose is marked Made in Germany. It doesn't say West Germany, so I suppose it's more recent than 1989. It has a modern nozzle with a center pin to depress the stem valve, so without an added check valve it won't work. I'll remove that center pin and see how it goes.

Monday, September 28, 2020

It worked. I removed the center pin from the modern hose connector so the valve in the tube stem would serve as the check valve. I screwed the connector onto the stem and started pumping. Being of the elderly persuasion I found the exertion challenging enough to take occasional breaks during the job. I started with the pressure at 5 psi and blew it up to 72 psi (had to let out a little air at the end). Having demonstrated to my satisfaction that the pump would work, I took it apart, wire brushed the cast iron top and cap, painted them, and put them in the oven to bake. I cleaned and polished the brass tube to a fare-thee-well. When I reassemble the pump it will be a lovely thing. I still need to get some proper clamps for the hose to replace the present baling wire. If I'm lucky one of the local parts stores will have the right clamps and I won't have to order them online.

With the pump project done for the day, I took care of a little unfinished yard work. I had about a gallon of weed killer left from the last spraying session, so I put it in the sprayer and used it up on some vegetation I missed last time.

For the final project of the day I got back to straightening mag coil ribbons. I put them on the stretcher and pound out the kinks as best I can. I have a few done and a bunch more to go. I hope to have the coil finished and the car back in service sometime in November. Installing the magneto and transmission and getting the engine back in the car isn't all I have to do. I still have to install the new windshield and alter the top so the sides don't flap in the wind and pull out some of the tacks.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

This morning I reassembled that tire pump. When I went to town to buy groceries and gas up the car I bought some proper hose clamps for it to replace the twisted baling wire. I took some pictures of it with an eye toward making a web page about spares and tire pumps, but I didn't care for them. I need a better background. When I go to town tomorrow I'll see if I can find some large poster board in suitable dark colors. My other work in the shop was straightening a few more coil ribbons. I think I have about a quarter of them done so far. At the rate I'm going, taking time for other jobs, it may take me another week to finish them.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

First up today was an appointment with my doc on his last day before retiring. He froze a couple of raw spots on my face to stop them from becoming skin cancer. That visit and grocery shopping used up my morning. In the afternoon I picked up trash along the road and mowed with the tractor for about an hour. I shut it off and started up the Dixon to mow around the mail box, bushes, and trees, but I didn't get very far on that. One of the casters had a flat. Going to town for a new tube, then stopping at the lumber yard to buy a roll of thirty pound felt wiped out the rest of my afternoon.