Obsession

2012-01-16T19:43:00.000-06:00

But I Did Get Around To Tinkering With The Truck

2012-01-16T19:40:00.001-06:00

Meant to Rotate the Tires Today

Didn't get around to it.

2012-01-15T19:44:00.000-06:00

2012-01-14T20:26:00.003-06:00

Invited some friends over tonight for grilling and chilling. Grilled some steak, bell peppers, tomatoes. Mmmmm

2012-01-14T20:07:00.004-06:00

Got the Morris Minor out of the garage today. It seems to run better than normal in the cold air. I managed to get a few miles on it with no break downs. Life is good!

2012-01-13T22:26:00.000-06:00

The Sun Came Out Today!

2012-01-12T20:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday We Had A Flood; Today a Little Snow

Typical January around here I guess.

2012-01-10T22:00:00.005-06:00

2x4 Table: The Tuesday Night Project

What is this you might ask? Well it is a table to be. It is sized to match my dorm-sized garage fridge. Once complete, the fridge will sit atop the table and the old guys won't have to bend over to grab a soda any more. No, we don't really say "soda" in Alabama.

Tuesday Night Project

2012-01-10T21:59:00.001-06:00

What's Hop'ening?

2012-01-10T21:58:00.001-06:00

2011-12-24T21:56:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas

The kids and I spent Christmas Eve at my brothers house.

2011-12-22T23:00:00.001-06:00

Galaxy of Lights

Went to see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens. They strongly suggested we remain in the car at all times (so that we wouldn't get eaten by the dinosaurs).

Christmas Tree: Finally Decorated!

2011-12-14T17:52:00.001-06:00

2011-12-11T23:02:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas

I finally got around to putting together the Christmas tree this afternoon. Yes, it's fake, but that minimizes the number of needles I have to vacuum up right? After assembly was complete, I made a trip to the store to buy some lights and ornaments. Having waited until December 11 to get started, the lights and ornaments were pretty well picked over. I managed to acquire just enough multi-colored lights to create a nice glow. Unfortunately I forgot to get hooks so none of the decorations are hanging yet. Guess that will wait until tomorrow.

Hard to See, But It is Actually Snowing

2011-12-07T11:49:00.001-06:00

2011-12-06T22:21:00.003-06:00

Tuesday Is My Favorite Day of the Week

This is true because Tuesday happens to be woodworking night. Tonight was supposed to be our Christmas Party, but it kind of fell apart at the last minute for a couple of reasons. Regardless we are rescheduling it for two weeks from now.

One reason, well never mind that, it wasn't important. The second reason is that Danny called and said he had locked himself out of his house. Jordan and I decided to load up in the Miata and drive to Rogersville to ~~antagonize~~ help him. After breaking down his front door with a 10 lb sledge hammer, we all went out to dinner, leaving the front door hanging from the hinges for the Christmas elves to repair.

This was the second time this week a friend had locked themselves out. The other time involved keys in a minivan. Don't these things come in threes?

On the way back home, we stopped to fill up the tank. $3.03 for regular. Unfortunately the 12 gallon tank only needed 10 gallons. When was the last time I filled up the tank for less than $30?

Drove home in the rain. Dark, dark rain. I hate driving at night in the rain just like Indy hates snakes.

That is all.

2011-12-02T17:00:00.001-06:00

I found out today that my Grand Mother passed away on Wednesday. She lived in Birmingham, Alabama and was 92 years old.

2011-11-25T17:00:00.000-06:00

Pie Day II

I ended up making a total of nine pies this week. Two went straight to the trash. Here you see two pecan pies and another blackberry. Homemade crust makes all the difference.

2011-11-23T15:33:00.002-06:00

Pie Day

One peanut, one blackberry, and one lemon chess. Yum!

Another Camping Trip to Foster Falls

2011-11-06T17:12:00.000-06:00

2011-10-31T19:19:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween

A creeper!

I Have More Friends Now

2011-09-27T08:23:00.001-05:00

I Found Another Mouse

2011-09-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

This one was in my office at work.

Miata Oil Filter Relocation Kit

2011-09-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

Kit installed - check
Oil and filter changed @ 117.5k miles - check
Replaced valve cover gasket - check
Fixed leaking coolant hose to oil cooler caused by oil leak from bad valve cover gasket - check
No extra parts - check

DOHC

2011-09-21T07:06:00.001-05:00

So that is what a dual overhead cam looks like.

2011-09-19T06:19:00.000-05:00

Moontown Fly In

Bri and I attended the annual Moontown Fly-In this weekend. Had we not run out of time, she might have gotten her feet off the ground. She said she didn't necessarily feel like she was tied to the ground.

2011-09-19T06:17:00.000-05:00

2011-09-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Finally Got the Intake Manifold Off

Now I have easy access to one end of the split coolant hose.

2011-09-14T17:51:00.003-05:00

Out of Order

The Miata blew a small coolant hose a couple weeks ago. I put off working on it for over a week just to get my head right. It looks like it would be easier to pull the engine that to fix it in place.

2011-09-09T12:19:00.003-05:00

2005 C6 Corvette

Guess what I found a good deal on recently? Yeah, it is mine now. Only 41,000 miles on it. I have been wanting one of these since I first saw it in a magazine in 2004. Want to come help wash it?

There in only room in the garage for one more. What's next?

2011-08-31T06:38:00.000-05:00

Mr. Mouse, R.I.P.

I set out 8 traps at lunch yesterday baited with sharp cheddar cheese. Being a nocturnal, Mr. Mouse chose not to partake until about 11:30 pm. The sound of the trap snapping echoed through the house. Mr. Mouse, though a gentle soul, will not be missed.

The remaining 7 traps are still set waiting to see if Mr. Mouse has any cousins living nearby.

2011-08-30T06:36:00.000-05:00

At times it seems that there is nothing to blog about, but I posted rather diligently anyway. Recently there has been plenty to blog about but I haven't made the time to do it. For instance:

1) We found a small mouse in the house last night. Oddly, I had the pest control guy in the house just a few hours earlier doing and inspection. Coincidence?
2) I may have set a record this weekend for emptying the hot tub. I used 4 hoses to drain it which went rather quickly. After cleaning it, I connected 3 hoses up to fill it back up. OK, yeah, that was boring, but ...
3) I helped David replace the heater hoses on his '91 Miata last Tuesday. The next day my Miata blew a hose. :(
4) My okra plants are over 10 feet tall.
5) I made a small batch of beer last Tuesday night. It is currently fermenting and should be ready in a couple of weeks.
6) The PCV valve on the Morris broken several months ago and some on the parts disappeared on the road. I plugged the holes for a brief period, but without the valve in place the engine leaks like a sieve. I found a close replacement part of a Triumph on ebay. The housing is not the same, but the internal guts are identical. Should have Roger up and rolling in no time.
7) One of my neighbors has started a Cars and Coffee for Huntsville/Madison. The first event went well. The second is only a couple of weeks way. The proceeds from the coffee are going towards an Autism.
8) Wind damage from the Tornado back in April is responsible for several leaks I have on my roof. I will get getting a new roof and painting some ceilings in the near future.

Hop Blaster American IPA

2011-08-23T22:05:00.001-05:00

Brewing The Hop Blast

2011-08-23T19:54:00.001-05:00

Replaced David's Miata's Heater Hoses (117k miles)

2011-08-23T18:29:00.001-05:00

2011-07-31T23:04:00.003-05:00

Six Flags

This weekend the kids and I went to Georgia to visit my seester and ride the roller coasters at Six Flags. We managed quite a bit in the six hours we were in the park: (The list is not in order)

Goliath (x5) - Twice in the front, and twice in the back. I even got hit in the head by someones cell phone.
Batman (x3) - This is my second favorite roller coaster at 6F. Goliath is my first!
Mind Bender (x2) - Old school
Scorcher (x1) - This is a standing roller coaster. We should have ridden it again.
Acrophobia (x2) - I skipped this one! Fear of heights you know.
Mine Train (x2) - Old school. This one jerks so much it was almost painful.
Superman (x1) - "I am, I am superman, and I can do anything." Wow!
Monster Plantation (x1) - For the A/C!
Dare Devil Dive Coaster (x1) - This was the newest coaster so we had to ride it. Other than the first hill which is 'more than straight down', this one was a bit disappointing.

When it was over, we were all beat! Eighteen rides in 6 hours was not bad, and that includes two brief rest periods to fill up on frozen lemonade and pretzels.

The only two coasters I know of that we missed were the Scream Machine and the Georgia Cyclone; both of these are the old wooden type coasters. I would like to have ridden them both at least once but it wasn't really in the cards. Maybe next time

2011-07-31T22:12:00.002-05:00

Mmmm, Okra!

The garden is mass producing okra at this point. This evening, after dinner, I took the time to prepare a couple of skillets full of fried okra. The okra is now resting gently in the fridge awaiting tomorrows feast.

In other cooking news, earlier this week I tried out a couple of new (for me) recipes. Monday I made guacamole using 2 avocados, onion, lime juice, and fresh cilantro from the garden. I also made a big bowl of salsa using tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro (all from the garden), and onion, with a splash of lime juice.

Wednesday's kitchen experiment involved homemade spaghetti sauce. Again most of the ingredients were from the garden: about 30 Roma Tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and jalapenos. Yep - jalapenos - I removed all the seeds so they were not hot - this turned out to be roughly the equivalent of using bell peppers. The sauce turned out pretty awesome, especially after it had a chance to rest in the fridge overnight. I will definitely be making this again.

2011-07-18T23:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Captain

Jordan and I drove to Rogersville this evening to help Danny celebrate his 60th birthday. After Jordan coerced him into a boat ride, we went out for a nice steak dinner, at least I had steak. I good time was had by me. Hopefully Jordan and Danny enjoyed the evening as well. To top it all off, Jordan and I had a very pleasant trip back to Huntsville in the Miata - top down of course.

2011-07-02T08:37:00.002-05:00

Garden Update

I finally picked my first two tomatoes yesterday, each slightly larger than a baseball. It seems like someone told me I could generally expect the first tomatoes around the 4th of July. I guess they nailed it. I have also had several cherry tomatoes already but they don't really count.

Only two squash plants remain. I removed the other 3 after things started getting really crowded. I also removed one of the cucumber vines. As it was I was bringing in more cucumbers and squash than I could give away.

The peppers are still looking pityful. I have picked a few jalapenos and two banana peppers.

2011-06-09T22:45:00.001-05:00

2011-06-09T22:44:00.001-05:00

Planted Seeds On Monday - Bean Stouts On Wednesday

2011-06-09T22:43:00.000-05:00

I Fixed My Laptop

2011-05-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

Danny's Cedar Urn ( 2 of 2)

2011-05-18T09:18:00.000-05:00

Danny's Cedar Urn (1 of 2)

2011-05-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

Does The Garden Look Over Watered?

2011-04-30T09:01:00.000-05:00

Time to build a dock in the backyard!

2011-04-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Danny's Cedar Box

2011-04-27T06:43:00.001-05:00

PVC Tomato Cage

2011-04-27T06:41:00.000-05:00

2011-04-04T06:30:00.000-05:00

Garden 2011

This years garden is 24'x8'.

What is it about a couple of days of warm weather that makes everyone want to get outside and work in the garden? This same garden that is getting so much attention right now that will be the garden that is almost completely ignored come the hottest days of August.

2011-02-20T18:09:00.003-06:00

February Camping

Friday evening was my second camping trip of the year. This time we went to Foster Falls and stayed at Father Adamz campsite. The weather just happened to be perfect - near 70 during the day and low 50s at night. The group consisted of myself, Chad, Robert, and Barry.

More Snow

2011-01-11T17:10:00.000-06:00

2011-01-08T17:31:00.006-06:00

Camping

On Thursday I received an email from Chad asking me if I wanted to camping this weekend. After checking the forecast, bitterly cold - overnight low in the lower 20's but no precipitation, I commenced to obtaining permission.

Due to the limited notice (less than one day) most of the regular campers didn't make it. Many excuses were heard. The lamest was

"I can't go, I will make up an excuse later." - D.G.

In the end, the search party would have only had two campers to retrieve.

Our destination was Sipsey Wilderness. I believe we stayed in White Oak Hollow. I never can remember the name of the trailhead. We only saw two other campers on the first day. We beat them to the best spot. They were disappointed.

Because our chief fire marshall did not make the trip, I had to wear this hat. We arrived early enough this time that we had time to gather the wood before sunset. (The sun drops fast when your down between two ridges.) Most of the wood in the area was damp so it was a challenge to get the fire to 'take'. We almost lost the patient twice.

The cuisine this trip was BYOF. No steaks. No Jambolaya. No omlets. No Bacon. Yes instant oatmeal. Yes Ramen noodles. No complaints though. As cold as it was, both the evening soup and morning oatmeal were nice and hot and hit the spot.

I told Chad this was my last camping trip ever. I usually say that and mean it. I will get over it in a few days and be ready to start planning the next trip. Despite the complaints about the cold, it wasn't really that bad and I definitely prefer the cold weather camping to the hot weather alternative.

My Brother's 8 Foot Snowman Made the Evening News

2010-12-25T17:50:00.000-06:00

White Christmas

2010-12-25T07:08:00.000-06:00

The Morris, Home From a Test Drive

2010-11-21T16:32:00.000-06:00

2010-11-19T20:13:00.001-06:00

SU HS2 Carburetor

A few weeks ago I removed the carburetor from the Morris to rebuild it. Progress has been slow, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing so I didn't want to get in a hurry and mess anything up.

I have been doing a lot of reading and it is starting to pay off. I am beginning to understand how it all works, including why the gas vaporizes in a carburetor. After reading many many different sets of instructions on how to adjust it, and they seem to differ wildly, I hope to get it all figured out soon.

Last night, I successfully got the jet centered. It took several attempts, but once I got it right, it was dead on. Tonight I installed the carburetor back on the manifold. (I haven't hooked the throttle or choke cables yet.) After getting it mounted, I gave it a shot of starter fluid and attempted to turn the motor over. Unfortunately the battery was dead so after hooking up the charger I hit the starter switch again. It cranked up (and ran very smoothly) until all the starter fluid burned off. Two more attempts at cranking it before the bowl finally filled with fuel and the car started running off gasoline. I was fairly impressed with my efforts at this point because it was probably running smoother than I have ever heard it.

Tomorrow I plan to get back out to the garage and adjust the fuel mixture, idle, and fast idle. Hopefully it will all come together without much trouble.

(Dirty carburetor, before cleaning.)

Did you know that the reason fuel atomizes in a carburetor, is that when air passes through a venturi, the air speed increases thus causing the atmospheric pressure to decrease. (This decrease relative to atmospheric pressure is a slight vacuum.) The decrease in air pressure lowers the boiling point of the gasoline. The lower boiling power causes the gas to vaporize. Any extra fuel that does not vaporize at this point, will vapor due to the heat as it flows through the intake manifold.

My daughter would say this was "very interesting." This of course would mean she was not really listening.

2010-11-15T07:38:00.003-06:00

Danny is making a box for ashes. Ashes of dead people. What a strange hobby.

2010-11-15T07:38:00.001-06:00

Foster Falls

I went camping last weekend at Foster Falls. Sleet was falling from the sky as we were setting up our tents. It was cold, but we all stayed warm with the help of a _huge_ fire. Over all it was a great trip.

2010-11-02T20:04:00.002-05:00

"Whitworth" or "A Little Background Reading to Better Understand the Next Post"

The Wikipedia entry for 'British Standard Whitworth' had two interesting bits of info about Whitworth threads.

1) "The Whitworth thread that most people encounter is the quarter-inch thread on the bottom of most cameras for mounting on a tripod..."

2) "British Morris and MG engines from 1919 to 1955 were built in a factory that used metric threads but with bolts and nuts for Whitworth spanners (wrenches) and sockets."

Yes Morris, as in Morris Minor 1000.

2010-11-02T19:38:00.004-05:00

SU HS2 Carburetor Rebuild

The SU HS2 carburetor off the Morris Minor has been on hold for a couple of weeks. I had two problems that needed to be solved (without causing any permanent damage).

1) The brass jet was stuck in the jet pilot. This was keeping the jet from moving when the choke handle was pulled. I believe the strongest adhesive in the world is probably varnish made from dried gasoline. After soaking the pieces in carb cleaner for two weeks, they were still stuck. The solution to this problem turned out to be taking a propane torch to the brass for about 10 seconds and then dropping it in a bucket of water. Presto! The parts had separated.

2) The threads for the jet locking nut on the carburetor body had been cross-threaded at some point in the past. This made it impossible to put the nut back on correctly.

It was suggested to me that I could remove the first row of threads using a roto-tool. It would probably work but I was not certain I would improve the situation.

I checked the net for a tap and die set so I could clean up the threads. The problem here is that the nut has 3/8 Whitworth threads. (Three-eights of what? Not metric, not SAE. Whitworth!) I found a set online, but wasn't sure I wanted to throw $40 at the problem. I would if that turned out to be the only viable option, but I continued to search for other options.

I ended up borrowing a 3/8 Whitworth wrench from Lott. Using the wrench I was able to non-forcefully coerce the nut back across the threads. After a few twists back and forth, the threads were clean enough to hand tighten the nut.

The two problems are now behind me. Maybe I will finally get the carburetor put back together in the near future.

2010-10-30T11:59:00.003-05:00

Wood Working - Project Box #3

This is my latest WW project. The wood is Purpleheart and yes it is naturally purple. The painters tape is used to keep the wood from splintering while cutting the boards. All six boards were mitered on all four edges.

2010-10-11T01:00:00.003-05:00

Cucumbers Again

About two week ago I noticed my garden had some new growth. A volunteer cucumber vine has risen from the compost. There are several cucs on the vine right now - two are decent sized. I hope they are ready before the frost comes.

2010-10-11T01:00:00.002-05:00

Habenero Peppers

The hot peppers are ripe and abundant. Just let me know where to send them.

2010-09-26T21:18:00.001-05:00

So I meant to post some copy with those last three photos but like so many things I never I got around to it.

Weekend Update

Saturday David M. and I drove up to Scottsboro to purchase some hardwood for the next couple of projects. We ended up buying some Leopard and Purple Heart. Both should make some spectacular boxes. Danny's next project will be from cedar. I already have a stash of cedar in the room above the garage so we didn't pick up any cedar at The Hardwood Center.

For Saturday afternoon the plan had been to drive up to Colombia, TN to ride the (model) trains but that little adventure was rained out again. I believe that was the third time in a row we planned to make that trip only to have it rain.

The previous photos show a piece of white oak joined with a piece of MDF, a photo of Danny using the joint jig we purchased back in the spring. Yes, that is the Morris in the background. The last photo is a shot of a weather balloon rising from Green Mountain in South Huntsville.

GMC Update: I painted the drive shaft this week.

And the Chainsaw! There I mentioned it, but it is not really news until I finish it.

MDF Meets Oak

2010-09-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Danny Making Sawdust

2010-09-21T21:09:00.000-05:00

Range Testing With a Weather Ballon

2010-09-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

2010-09-19T20:30:00.001-05:00

Fly-In/Car Show

Saturday morning I drove over to Big Ed's Pizza. The local British Automobile club was meeting there and then driving out to the Moontown airport for the fly-in. The route was a nice scenic route over Monte Sano which included several miles of tree lined roads. The cars included several MG from various decades, the same Jag E-type I saw last week, Ernie's Fiat Spider, a Sunbeam Tiger, a Karman Ghia, a Volvo, and various German air cooled vehicles. In all there were probably about 30 and I am certain I left out a few very interesting cars.

The fly-in was pretty awesome. Lots of cool planes - old, new, single wing, bi-plane, etc. It was fascinating to watch them take-off, land, and fly by. The older planes were the most intriguing.

Last week I made the mistake of going to the car show with a dead battery in my camera. This week I did not make the same mistake. Instead my memory car was full. I wonder what my next trick will be?

I had such a great time on the drive-out, I was seriously considering joining the Brit. car club. There I was surrounded by a bunch of cool convertibles, driving my Miata! I told one of them it was an Austin. Next time maybe the Morris will be road worthy. In the midst of all this I met yet another guy from Rocket City Miata club. He attempted to recruit me for their club as well. I have been intending to join it but they meetings typically occur on a might I am busy. It turns out they are currently meeting on a night that I am free. Hmmm.

2010-09-14T07:18:00.001-05:00

2010-09-12T19:05:00.001-05:00

British Car Show

I went to a British car show at nearby Joe Wheeler state park on Saturday. The show consisted mostly of MGs but there were a few others: Triumphs, Minis, Austin Healeys, Jaguars (including an E type), and even a Lotus Esprit.

The battery on my camera died after a just a few pictures, so I made due with my phone's camera. The above shot is a boattail end of a 1930 MG. I have more photos of this car but they are still on the phone.

My favorite cars were either the MGAs or the Austins.

GMC Update

Back at home on Sunday, I finally got around to cleaning up and priming the trans-axle and transmission yoke on the truck.

2010-09-12T19:05:00.000-05:00

Labor Day Weekend

I started the long weekend with a quick trip to Florence to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel with John D. I also spent some time at has parents house visiting with his wife, kids, and mother. Great time.

From there I went by Danny's project house in Rogersville. The painting was complete by the time I arrived so I twisted his arm into taking the boat out on the Tennessee River. We were on the water no more than 10 minutes when we got hit hard by the rain. We had been watching it approach from the west but were oblivious to it also rolling in from the south. We were completely soaked by the time we got the boat back into the slip. Good times.

Because this post is a week overdue, I can't recall what I did the rest of the weekend. Something fun, I'm sure.

2010-09-12T19:03:00.001-05:00

Tuesday Night Wood Working

Got behind on posting so I will try to catch up with a few quick posts.

During the Tuesday Night Woodworking sessions, we finished up a few more boxes. The picture above is David. M displaying a Maple box with Wenge accents. Danny's and my box were also Maple with Blood wood accents. All three of the boxes were finished with tung oil. The oil really made the color accents stand out.

2010-08-31T21:01:00.002-05:00

I have been watching an interesting show on BBC America called James May's Toy Stories. (James is also a host on Top Gear, one of my favorite shows.) It is really interesting buy you need to discover it for yourself. Today it was about Meccano. At least that is the British name for it. Previous episodes have been about Lego, and electric slot cars.

2010-08-30T22:34:00.003-05:00

Yet Another Evening Of Small Engine Repair

For fifteen weeks, Monday night has became small engine repair night. I feel like I have learned a lot but knowledge is sometimes difficult to quantify. When it comes to fixing a small engine, one thing I have learned is that knowledge will only take you so far. Experience has a lot to do with it as well. The teacher has a _lot_ of experience. He certainly knows this stuff.

Tonight's challenge was repairing my pressure washer. The thing has never run well, at least until now.

This evening I removed the carb and cleaned it - basically the carb needed the varnish removed from the bowl and the main jet cleaned out. After that I replaced the spark plug and then adjusted the idle. Vrooom! Better than new.

Previously the engine would 'hunt' while running and it would only run with the choke on and the throttle wide open. The hunting was caused by the clogged jet. Running it wide open with the throttle mostly closed (aka running rich) caused the plug to build up a lot of black sooty carbon.

During the carb cleaning, I determined the way to keep this particular engine running well will be to remove the carb bowl after each us and drain it completely. This would certainly be overkill for some engines but not this one. A pain for sure, but it only takes a couple of minutes and it will keep the carb from needing to be cleaned again.

What can I learn about next?

2010-08-27T19:32:00.003-05:00

It's a Musical Journey Really

Yesterday Netflix released their app for the iPhone. This evening I watched 'This Might Get Loud' on my phone. Surprisingly the screen doesn't seem too small and the sound quality was really good using an old pair of Sennheiser head phones I have.

It is amazing what a phone is capable of today.

If you haven't seen '...Loud' it is definitely worth watching, especially if your a U2, White Stripes, or Led Zeppelin fan.

Small Engine Repair Class

2010-08-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

2010-08-17T21:58:00.003-05:00

Tonight's wood working session consisted of some time with the chisel insetting the hinges into the current box project. Working with a chisel and a hammer is very therapeutic. And of course there was a trip to Lowe's prior to the chisel time to purchase the hinges. David M. was absent tonight.

Next week we should finally begin finishing.

2010-08-16T21:53:00.003-05:00

Small Engine Repair

Tonight was the second week of small engine repair. I have learned a lot so far but it has not gone as expected. What did I expect? I guess I expected a little bit of lecture time with a few pictures on a white board or overhead projector followed by some bench time. What it has turned out to be is pretty much all bench time.

The way it works is you show up with something you have that is not working and attempt to fix it. The instructor will answer any questions you have and guide you when your lost. This style of learning works well for some but it is not my optimal method. Regardless, I have learned a lot so far and even taken lots of notes in my spiral notepad. (I will type the notes up later so that I can re-read it later when my memory is failing me - next week.)

To get the most out of this class, I just need to arrive each week with a list of questions. The instructor does a great job of answering questions, but first someone has to ask them. Sign me up to ask the stupid questions and maybe even a couple of not so stupid ones.

While in the class this evening, I helped a man remove the carb from his edger, the type with a vertical bladed mounted to a motor with a horizontal axle. The engine on the edge was a Briggs and Stratton. It turns out this motor and its carb were identical or nearly identical to the roto-tiller I worked on this summer. That was an interesting surprise. And then later in the evening while looking at a tiller which happened to be an MTD, 5 HP, I noticed it also had the same Briggs and Stratton motor along with the same carb. What are the odds? Apparently pretty high which is a good thing because I have a pretty good understanding of how this carb works, including the funky little fuel pump.

Learning can be so much fun when it is something you are interested in knowing about.

2010-08-15T09:13:00.002-05:00

Ardmore Car Show

Yesterday's excursion was to Ardmore for their annual car show. I believe the show coincides with school starting back and is a fund raiser for the football team.

I had meant to attend this one at least twice in the past. I finally made it this year and was surprised at the size of the show. I don't know for sure how many cars were present, but I estimate it was north of 400. The show is held within a park and a good bit of the cars are actually parked in the shade. The shade didn't help much though because it was just so hot.

There was a high turnout of late 50's Chevrolets as well as a bunch of late 60's Camaros and Mustangs - the usual stuff. Also several interesting trucks. I got several great pictures including the one of the previous post of James and Lisa's Firebird.

The show included a parts swap. I took a quick walk through in search of a 27 spline yoke to put behind the TH350 on the '72 GMC. (I didn't realize I even needed one until last Monday - mine is pretty well worn because the needle bearings seized on the front u-joint. When the bearing stopped spinning, the entire bearing cap starting moving which wore down the yoke.)

It was a good show. I will definitely go back next year as it is less than 30 minutes from my driveway. I ran into several people I knew. Between the chatting and car gazing, I only stayed about 2.5 hours. It was just too hot for me. I hit the Sonic on the way out of town for a Cherry Limeaide. It sure hit the 'I need something cold to drink' spot.

1969 Pontiac Firebird

2010-08-14T10:08:00.000-05:00

2010-08-11T19:12:00.003-05:00

Monday Night: Small Engine Repair

Brian, Danny and I attended our first class Monday. I learned several things during the first class. They probably did as well.

#1 Ninety percent of problems with small engines is simply bad gas.
#2 Of the other 10% of problems, 90% percent of those can be fixed by rebuilding the carburetor.

I also now know what is wrong with my pressure washer. Based on the instructors experience, its pilot jet is clogged. A carb rebuild should resolve the problem.

Tuesday Night: Wood Working

Tuesday evening's WW session consisted mostly of sanding. The boxes are nearing completion. The hinges need to be installed, a little touch up sanding, and then applying the finish. Total hours to complete: maybe 3. Total weeks until completion: maybe 12.

2010-08-11T19:03:00.003-05:00

The Horrible Squeaking Dryer

After several months of the dryer producing a horrible squeaking sound which could be heard at the far end of the house through 3 closed door, it has finally been mended. Total labor cost $4. The parts cost was slightly more.

On Monday, I hired Bri to help me take it apart so that we could determine the part numbers we needed to order. Brianna did all the dis-assembly and reassembly. Dad supervised. Total labor cost: $2.

Two days later, I hired Jordan to help me take it apart again and replace the worn out parts. Jordan disassembled and reassembled the dryer. Dad swapped out the worn drum glides. Total labor cost: $2.

Pretty good deal - I suspect the repair man would have gotten at least $80.

And the best part - no more squeaking.

2010-08-09T17:13:00.002-05:00

The kids went back to school today. I don't think either was really ready for Summer (or their vacation) to be over.

Universal Joints

I wasn't ready either. Fortunately I had already planned to be off today. I spent spent a little time working on the truck. Not much was achieved. The plan was to blast and paint the drive shaft. Unfortunately it got hot before I was ready to start the blasting. Too hot.

First I had to remove the old u-joints. This turned out to be not as difficult as it first seemed. After viewing a couple of videos online and calling in reinforcements (Capt. Dan), I finally realized that my u-joints had their clips on the inner edge, not the exterior.

So I learned a little something about my truck today also. It turns out not only is the engine out of a later model ('82), the transmission and drive shaft are as well. Because the drive shaft is from a latter model truck, it has also been modified to connect to the differential on the '72. This made obtaining the correct u-joints a considerable challenge. Fortunately my reinforcement had in a previous life worked in a auto parts house and managed to manipulate the folks at the local parts store into handing him the parts catalogs so he could find the correct part numbers. The parts numbers from the computer were all wrong. We eventually prevailed.

I never did get around to the blasting or painting, but there is always next weekend.

I really enjoyed my day off. Back to work tomorrow. The 'Small Engine Repair' class starts tonight.

On the Water

2010-08-09T16:55:00.001-05:00

The water was amazingly clear. Didn't spot any sea life though. Just a little sea weed.

2010-08-09T16:53:00.001-05:00

J - Waiting Our Turn

2010-08-09T16:51:00.001-05:00

G and B Para Sailing

2010-08-09T16:50:00.001-05:00

J Surfing

2010-08-09T16:46:00.001-05:00

Back Home - The Garden Needs Some Attention

2010-08-09T16:41:00.000-05:00

Krispy Kreme - Yum

2010-08-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

J & B on the Bumper Cars -Blury!

2010-08-09T16:38:00.000-05:00

Vacation Pics: J on the Go Carts

2010-08-09T16:36:00.000-05:00

Vacation Pics: B on the Bumper Boats

2010-08-09T16:35:00.000-05:00

2010-08-07T09:07:00.002-05:00

Destin, Florida

OK, so if the picture from a couple of days ago did not give it away, let me just tell you straight out - We are at the beach.

The kids start back to school on Monday so it was time we made our annual pilgrimage to the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite all the noise from the media, I have not seen any oil, tar, etc. Too bad because I was hoping for a free tank full for the ride home. The media has done a great job of scaring people away from the beaches. Unfortunately, the local businesses are suffering for it.

As usual, we are between Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Florida. We are even staying in the same condo as last year. We arrived Wednesday and will be heading back home tomorrow. We have hit most of our standard haunts: The Back Porch, Graffiti's, and The Track. Today we are going para sailing.

While it has been hot here, every time I have looked at the weather fore case, I have noticed the temperatures back home have been hotter. Perhaps we should stay a few more days.

Guess Who Figured Out How to Post Directly From Their Phone

2010-08-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

Wood Working

2010-08-05T12:38:00.000-05:00

This is my current project - a Maple and Amazon Bloodwood box.

2010-08-05T08:41:00.003-05:00

Made With Real Sugar

Destin, FL

2010-08-05T08:28:00.001-05:00

2010-08-02T22:01:00.003-05:00

Small Engine Repair

You can never know to much so tomorrow I am heading down to the Technology Center to sign up for an evening class: Small Engine Repair.

When it is over I will know that an engine needs three things. 1) Fuel 2) Fire and 3) Air.

I might even learn some more stuff. Maybe.