I spent two hours in the garage today. I began stripping the interior of the truck. Out came the head liner, rear view mirror, seat belts, seat, visors, rear window, and front windshield.
The front windshield had a chip out of it. It now has a few cracks. I was hoping it would survive but it is probably not safe.
I also removed the door seals.
Jordan thinks the truck should be painted blue.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Rick's Tow Service
About 10 days ago, on a Wednesday, my friend David went to get a hair cut during lunch. As he arrived at the beauty salon, jab jab, his clutch quit working. He called and I went and picked him up. He looked very stylish with his new hair cut. Ok, that is probably enough.
Read the July 7th entry of more info on the clutch failure.
Last Friday morning I picked him up at 6:30 AM and we towed his car back to his house. I used my Dodge pickup to pull his Miata. David must be a pretty crazy driver. The tow rope he used only put about 10 feet between my truck and his car. He could not see around my truck. He said he was pretty much white knuckled the entire trip driving along at near the speed limit looking closely at my tail gate. A few times I thought he was trying to pass me. I believe he may have even ran a red light. It was yellow when I went through.
Did you know the brake lights on my truck don't work when the hazzard lights are on? He found that out pretty quickly. Did I mention the rope was kind of short. Fortunatley we both had cell phones so he called me and I turned off my blinkers.
And for the record, he was towed home with the top down. I convinced him it was way to nice to be towed around with the top up.
The car has now been at his house for a week and he has not yet looked into repairing it. He says he has been busy. I think if he is now going to fix his car, he should look into getting yet another backup vehicle. Perhaps a VW bug.
Maybe I will go over to his house one night this week and take a look at it. It is always easier to repair someone elses car because you don't have to pay for the parts and you don't have to worry about messing something up. It's not your car after all.
His new leather seats are scheduled to arrive early next week. I wonder how they would look in my car.
About 10 days ago, on a Wednesday, my friend David went to get a hair cut during lunch. As he arrived at the beauty salon, jab jab, his clutch quit working. He called and I went and picked him up. He looked very stylish with his new hair cut. Ok, that is probably enough.
Read the July 7th entry of more info on the clutch failure.
Last Friday morning I picked him up at 6:30 AM and we towed his car back to his house. I used my Dodge pickup to pull his Miata. David must be a pretty crazy driver. The tow rope he used only put about 10 feet between my truck and his car. He could not see around my truck. He said he was pretty much white knuckled the entire trip driving along at near the speed limit looking closely at my tail gate. A few times I thought he was trying to pass me. I believe he may have even ran a red light. It was yellow when I went through.
Did you know the brake lights on my truck don't work when the hazzard lights are on? He found that out pretty quickly. Did I mention the rope was kind of short. Fortunatley we both had cell phones so he called me and I turned off my blinkers.
And for the record, he was towed home with the top down. I convinced him it was way to nice to be towed around with the top up.
The car has now been at his house for a week and he has not yet looked into repairing it. He says he has been busy. I think if he is now going to fix his car, he should look into getting yet another backup vehicle. Perhaps a VW bug.
Maybe I will go over to his house one night this week and take a look at it. It is always easier to repair someone elses car because you don't have to pay for the parts and you don't have to worry about messing something up. It's not your car after all.
His new leather seats are scheduled to arrive early next week. I wonder how they would look in my car.
Punch Bug
At lunch today I spotted a Volkswagen Beetle for sale. When I decided to restore a vehicle, I had a difficult time choosing between a Beetle and the late 60's GM truck. In the end the truck won out because around here they are easier to come by and less expensive.
The VW we spotted today was a '72. It was light blue and in decent shape. A little bit of surface rust but no real dents to speak of. Cost $1150 OBO. I immediately began to try and convince my friend that he needed to buy this car. I think he actually wanted to buy this car, but then he would have one car to many. His secondary vehicle is a black Miata. (That reminds me, I forgot to tell the story about towing his car home last Friday morning.)
He had a Beetle in high school and felt some nostalgia for it. I even offered to store it for him. And do any required body work. And help rebuild the engine. No takers on this one.
Perhaps someday I will have the time/money/space for a little bug in my garage. And just by coincidence, I have been reading this guys web site. He has a 1950 sunroof split window VW and a 1957 oval window VW. Check it out, but plan on spending a few hours there reading. You have been warned.
Let me know if you need the phone number to call about the '72 (Mike). Yeah, Yeah, I know, that would be one car too many.
The car is parked in front of an old building with dusty windows. I have stopped there before to look in the windows because lined up inside are a bunch of old cars and trucks. There is a 5o-ish GMC pickup, a Bel Air, and many others I did not recognize. I seem to recall a '30s vintage Ford also.
At lunch today I spotted a Volkswagen Beetle for sale. When I decided to restore a vehicle, I had a difficult time choosing between a Beetle and the late 60's GM truck. In the end the truck won out because around here they are easier to come by and less expensive.
The VW we spotted today was a '72. It was light blue and in decent shape. A little bit of surface rust but no real dents to speak of. Cost $1150 OBO. I immediately began to try and convince my friend that he needed to buy this car. I think he actually wanted to buy this car, but then he would have one car to many. His secondary vehicle is a black Miata. (That reminds me, I forgot to tell the story about towing his car home last Friday morning.)
He had a Beetle in high school and felt some nostalgia for it. I even offered to store it for him. And do any required body work. And help rebuild the engine. No takers on this one.
Perhaps someday I will have the time/money/space for a little bug in my garage. And just by coincidence, I have been reading this guys web site. He has a 1950 sunroof split window VW and a 1957 oval window VW. Check it out, but plan on spending a few hours there reading. You have been warned.
Let me know if you need the phone number to call about the '72 (Mike). Yeah, Yeah, I know, that would be one car too many.
The car is parked in front of an old building with dusty windows. I have stopped there before to look in the windows because lined up inside are a bunch of old cars and trucks. There is a 5o-ish GMC pickup, a Bel Air, and many others I did not recognize. I seem to recall a '30s vintage Ford also.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
My 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Browning, passed away on Monday.
SANDRA ANN BROWNING -- BURLESON -- Sandra Ann Browning, 64, a retired Christian teacher for Calvary Academy in Fort Worth and Steppingstone Christian Academy in Burleson, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, July 11, 2005, in Fort Worth. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 15 at Lighthouse Church in Burleson. Burial will be at Jay Bird Cemetery in Springtown. Visitation is 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Mountain Valley Funeral Home, Burleson. Sandra was born Feb. 4, 1941, in Springtown to Orland and Audrey Dodd Williams. She was a charter member of Lighthouse Church in Burleson and also served on the board of directors. She was awarded Teacher of The Year at Calvary Academy in Fort Worth and had numerous nominations for Who's Who Among American Educators throughout her teaching career. She loved her family dearly, especially her grandchildren, and she enjoyed collecting antiques. She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by son, Marc Browning of Burleson; daughter, Sara Gillaspie and husband, Otis, of Burleson; sister, Mary Graham of Springtown; grandchildren, Lauren, Landon, Audrey, Alex and Asher Gillaspie; several nieces and nephews; and other family members.Mountain Valley Funeral Home Burleson handled arrangements. 817-426-3200
SANDRA ANN BROWNING -- BURLESON -- Sandra Ann Browning, 64, a retired Christian teacher for Calvary Academy in Fort Worth and Steppingstone Christian Academy in Burleson, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Monday, July 11, 2005, in Fort Worth. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, July 15 at Lighthouse Church in Burleson. Burial will be at Jay Bird Cemetery in Springtown. Visitation is 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Mountain Valley Funeral Home, Burleson. Sandra was born Feb. 4, 1941, in Springtown to Orland and Audrey Dodd Williams. She was a charter member of Lighthouse Church in Burleson and also served on the board of directors. She was awarded Teacher of The Year at Calvary Academy in Fort Worth and had numerous nominations for Who's Who Among American Educators throughout her teaching career. She loved her family dearly, especially her grandchildren, and she enjoyed collecting antiques. She was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by son, Marc Browning of Burleson; daughter, Sara Gillaspie and husband, Otis, of Burleson; sister, Mary Graham of Springtown; grandchildren, Lauren, Landon, Audrey, Alex and Asher Gillaspie; several nieces and nephews; and other family members.Mountain Valley Funeral Home Burleson handled arrangements. 817-426-3200
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
This evening I opened up a bag of potato chips, reached in an pulled out a pacifier. Imagine my surprise. Ginger's cousin was here yesterday with her three kids. Logan, the youngest lost something while he was here. I guess I found it. The question is how did it get there.
Yesterday afternoon I went out in the back yard with a rock rake. Where there were rocks, I raked. This is apparently some sort of rain dance because soon it began to thunder and eventually the bottow dropped out.
This morning I strolled out back to admire my work. Strangely enough everywhere that I had raked, there were now more rocks. My rock piles were still were I left them. I suppose the rocks are multiplying. Now if I could just teach them to do calculus, I could charge admission to my backyard.
Did you know a gallon of water weights roughly 8.345 lbs? Now go outside and look up at a cloud. Back already? That was quick. Now think about how much water falls out of the sky when it rains. Now think about how much a cloud must weight - it is made up entirely of water vapor after all.
Hello again to DeAnna.
This evening I opened up a bag of potato chips, reached in an pulled out a pacifier. Imagine my surprise. Ginger's cousin was here yesterday with her three kids. Logan, the youngest lost something while he was here. I guess I found it. The question is how did it get there.
Yesterday afternoon I went out in the back yard with a rock rake. Where there were rocks, I raked. This is apparently some sort of rain dance because soon it began to thunder and eventually the bottow dropped out.
This morning I strolled out back to admire my work. Strangely enough everywhere that I had raked, there were now more rocks. My rock piles were still were I left them. I suppose the rocks are multiplying. Now if I could just teach them to do calculus, I could charge admission to my backyard.
Did you know a gallon of water weights roughly 8.345 lbs? Now go outside and look up at a cloud. Back already? That was quick. Now think about how much water falls out of the sky when it rains. Now think about how much a cloud must weight - it is made up entirely of water vapor after all.
Hello again to DeAnna.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Where has the time gone? My four day weekend is almost over.
Friday we made the trip to Visionland. The amusement park was nice. The lines were short but it was pretty hot. Jordan will probably be big enough to ride the roller coasters next time we go. I didn't care much for the water park, however everyone else probably liked it better than the amusement park. Why? It was just too crowded.
Saturday morning I went to the car show. I only stayed til about noon. I probably only saw about 1/3 of the cars there. Again it was hot, and I forgot to put on any sun block before heading out. I saw a few of Ginger's relatives there. They had three cars in the show. It was an incredible show. Next year I will go prepared complete with sun block, water, and a large brimmed hat.
The last two days I have been worthless. I could get use to this.
Friday we made the trip to Visionland. The amusement park was nice. The lines were short but it was pretty hot. Jordan will probably be big enough to ride the roller coasters next time we go. I didn't care much for the water park, however everyone else probably liked it better than the amusement park. Why? It was just too crowded.
Saturday morning I went to the car show. I only stayed til about noon. I probably only saw about 1/3 of the cars there. Again it was hot, and I forgot to put on any sun block before heading out. I saw a few of Ginger's relatives there. They had three cars in the show. It was an incredible show. Next year I will go prepared complete with sun block, water, and a large brimmed hat.
The last two days I have been worthless. I could get use to this.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
"But hark, what light through yonder window breaks?"
Another long weekend has begun. Tomorrow we are heading to VisionLand.
My friend Creg came by after work. I have loaned him my sand blaster. I hope he doesn't blast away the entire truck ('53 Ford).
Saturday I plan on attending the 19th Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car and HD Show. Note to self - Charge the camera battery.
The clutch on David's Miata quit yesterday. Rather suddenly two. I sent him over to Miata.net and he did a little reading. The clutch line is hydraulic rather than a cable. It turns out the brake fluid (Dot 3) had leaked out. Yes it uses brake fluid. We tried putting more in but it leaks too fast to be useful.
Tomorrow morning I am going to tow his Miata back to his house. I convinced him to repair it himself. Obvisously I volunteered to help and even offered the use of my garage. This is his secondary vehicle so it won't hurt to much if it takes a few days to repair.
David has been considering buying new leather seat covers ever since he bought the car. He finally convinced himself to spend the money just a few mere hours before the clutch went ptheew! Fortunately the order has already been placed. Talk about a good attitude, all the money he saves repairing the clutch is going to pay for the seat covers.
Another long weekend has begun. Tomorrow we are heading to VisionLand.
My friend Creg came by after work. I have loaned him my sand blaster. I hope he doesn't blast away the entire truck ('53 Ford).
Saturday I plan on attending the 19th Greater Tennessee Valley Antique Car and HD Show. Note to self - Charge the camera battery.
The clutch on David's Miata quit yesterday. Rather suddenly two. I sent him over to Miata.net and he did a little reading. The clutch line is hydraulic rather than a cable. It turns out the brake fluid (Dot 3) had leaked out. Yes it uses brake fluid. We tried putting more in but it leaks too fast to be useful.
Tomorrow morning I am going to tow his Miata back to his house. I convinced him to repair it himself. Obvisously I volunteered to help and even offered the use of my garage. This is his secondary vehicle so it won't hurt to much if it takes a few days to repair.
David has been considering buying new leather seat covers ever since he bought the car. He finally convinced himself to spend the money just a few mere hours before the clutch went ptheew! Fortunately the order has already been placed. Talk about a good attitude, all the money he saves repairing the clutch is going to pay for the seat covers.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Someone needs to invent a new word for blogger's block. It's too easy.
Google has a lot to say about blogger's block. Well not say, per say, but say.
What do we know about blogger's block? I believe blogger's block is simply a scheme orchastrated by ones brain to keep you from writing the tripe you wrote a year ago today. Think of it as a 6 sigma continuous improvement process for you blog which you haven't agreed to participate in.
Google has a lot to say about blogger's block. Well not say, per say, but say.
What do we know about blogger's block? I believe blogger's block is simply a scheme orchastrated by ones brain to keep you from writing the tripe you wrote a year ago today. Think of it as a 6 sigma continuous improvement process for you blog which you haven't agreed to participate in.
Monday, July 04, 2005
Truck dissassembly has begun.
Today I carried a few truck parts up the stairs to the newly designated holding area. A front fender is not real heavy, but after fourI was a bit tired. A couple of grills and a bumper or two made the ascent as well. The doors are heavy and after the second one was upstairs, I began to have visions of a freight elevator.
I also swept out the garage. This had to be done due to last weeks motivation to do the same.
Yesterday evening I took the Miata out for the weekly Sunday afternoon spin. Always a pleasant experience.
Today I carried a few truck parts up the stairs to the newly designated holding area. A front fender is not real heavy, but after fourI was a bit tired. A couple of grills and a bumper or two made the ascent as well. The doors are heavy and after the second one was upstairs, I began to have visions of a freight elevator.
I also swept out the garage. This had to be done due to last weeks motivation to do the same.
Yesterday evening I took the Miata out for the weekly Sunday afternoon spin. Always a pleasant experience.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
How's the truck? Funny you should ask. I haven't mentioned it in 7 or 8 minutes.
Tuesday night I disassembed the GMC front clip. The hood has been moved upstairs into storage. The remainder will migrate up as soon as it has been cleaned good.
I am sticking with the 'down to the frame' plan. My shop has been screaming to be cleaned so storing a few parts upstairs is a good plan. As soon as I get organized, I will be removing the cab.
Live 8
I meant to watch Live 8 yesterday. I didn't get around to tuning in til the middle of the afternoon (while folding laundry). What I wanted to see I had already missed: U2 apparrently opened the show in London with some other guy singing something about a Lonely Broken Dr. Depper.
I did manage to find video on the net so I got to see it, just not on the TV.
I did get to see Pink Floyd.
I can still remember watching U2 doing Live Aid twenty years ago. I have a recording of the audio on a cassette. Twenty years. Wow.
Tuesday night I disassembed the GMC front clip. The hood has been moved upstairs into storage. The remainder will migrate up as soon as it has been cleaned good.
I am sticking with the 'down to the frame' plan. My shop has been screaming to be cleaned so storing a few parts upstairs is a good plan. As soon as I get organized, I will be removing the cab.
Live 8
I meant to watch Live 8 yesterday. I didn't get around to tuning in til the middle of the afternoon (while folding laundry). What I wanted to see I had already missed: U2 apparrently opened the show in London with some other guy singing something about a Lonely Broken Dr. Depper.
I did manage to find video on the net so I got to see it, just not on the TV.
I did get to see Pink Floyd.
I can still remember watching U2 doing Live Aid twenty years ago. I have a recording of the audio on a cassette. Twenty years. Wow.
Where is the Monkey?
Friday evening as I was driving the kids home from day care, I heard a small voice from the back seat say "There's the other monkey." I looked over to the side of the road and saw a big blow-up monkey sitting in front of a Now-You-See-Now-You-Don't fireworks stand.
I wanted to know, but I didn't ask, "Where is the first monkey?"
Friday evening as I was driving the kids home from day care, I heard a small voice from the back seat say "There's the other monkey." I looked over to the side of the road and saw a big blow-up monkey sitting in front of a Now-You-See-Now-You-Don't fireworks stand.
I wanted to know, but I didn't ask, "Where is the first monkey?"
Why Disconnect the Negative Battery Terminal First
When disconnecting the battery in my truck, the Haynes manual says disconnect the negative battery terminal (first). I recall the install instructions for the radio I bought for the Miata last year said the same thing.
Why? I have asked myself that question several times but I never think to Google it while I am at the computer. Well today I remembered.
If you disconnect the positive terminal first and you wrench happens to contact any part of the car that is grounded, you will have a short between the positive and negative terminals. (Shorting the battery could burn up some electronics or cause the battery to explode!) That makes perfect sense. I can't believe I didn't figure it out myself.
I am pleased to announce that I did not have to learn this lesson the hard way.
When disconnecting the battery in my truck, the Haynes manual says disconnect the negative battery terminal (first). I recall the install instructions for the radio I bought for the Miata last year said the same thing.
Why? I have asked myself that question several times but I never think to Google it while I am at the computer. Well today I remembered.
If you disconnect the positive terminal first and you wrench happens to contact any part of the car that is grounded, you will have a short between the positive and negative terminals. (Shorting the battery could burn up some electronics or cause the battery to explode!) That makes perfect sense. I can't believe I didn't figure it out myself.
I am pleased to announce that I did not have to learn this lesson the hard way.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
This evening the kids spent the night with my mother and Ginger is working. Sounds like a good time to go for a ride in the Miata.
At approximately 8:00 pm as the sun was dropping I hoped in the car and header towards the TN state line. Forty-five minutes later I was back home. It was very nice out. The trip should really only take 30 minutes but it was a joy ride so I took a few detours. I had to turn on the headlights on the way back. I suspect I have a few bug smears now.
The Longest Joke Setup
To I had lunch with the normal lunch crew (DM, TW). As I was pulling out of the parking lot I turned on the CD player and said "Have you heard the new U2 CD?" If you had been there you would have laughed too. As you may recall I purchased that CD back in November and it has been in the CD player since. Yep.
At approximately 8:00 pm as the sun was dropping I hoped in the car and header towards the TN state line. Forty-five minutes later I was back home. It was very nice out. The trip should really only take 30 minutes but it was a joy ride so I took a few detours. I had to turn on the headlights on the way back. I suspect I have a few bug smears now.
The Longest Joke Setup
To I had lunch with the normal lunch crew (DM, TW). As I was pulling out of the parking lot I turned on the CD player and said "Have you heard the new U2 CD?" If you had been there you would have laughed too. As you may recall I purchased that CD back in November and it has been in the CD player since. Yep.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
This afternoon I went out for a short ride in the Miata. That is the short version of the story.
The long version would include details about stopping to talk with Mr. Melberg about his truck restoration efforts. He had a very impressive shop. It was the kind of shop that makes you want to go home and sweep the floor. With lots of time and effort my garage could be that clean and organized.
After I returned home I decided to crank up the old truck again. It hit on the first try. I cruised up and down the driveway a couple of times. I had already decided this would be its final voyage in its current condition.
It is now time to strip the truck down to the frame. The tear down should go rather quickly. I expect it will be a long time before it gets put all back together again.
Mr. Melberg showed me a few products he uses that I need to remember so I thought I would make a note of them here.
First is Roloc. These are abrasive pads that go on a 90 degree die grinder or speed sander. They make a quick job of removing paint and leave the metal very smooth. It is also faster than 40 grit paper on a DA.
Second was SAIT abrasive wheels for the 4" grinder. He said they cost a little bit more but last longer and remove material faster. Material in this case being metal.
Third is POR-15. He used this stuff to paint his frame. It looked great.
The long version would include details about stopping to talk with Mr. Melberg about his truck restoration efforts. He had a very impressive shop. It was the kind of shop that makes you want to go home and sweep the floor. With lots of time and effort my garage could be that clean and organized.
After I returned home I decided to crank up the old truck again. It hit on the first try. I cruised up and down the driveway a couple of times. I had already decided this would be its final voyage in its current condition.
It is now time to strip the truck down to the frame. The tear down should go rather quickly. I expect it will be a long time before it gets put all back together again.
Mr. Melberg showed me a few products he uses that I need to remember so I thought I would make a note of them here.
First is Roloc. These are abrasive pads that go on a 90 degree die grinder or speed sander. They make a quick job of removing paint and leave the metal very smooth. It is also faster than 40 grit paper on a DA.
Second was SAIT abrasive wheels for the 4" grinder. He said they cost a little bit more but last longer and remove material faster. Material in this case being metal.
Third is POR-15. He used this stuff to paint his frame. It looked great.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
The mechanical fuel pump in the '72 got replaced today.
Before heading to the parts store I checked the pricing online. Two available. The first was $19.99. The second was $13.99.
The guy in the store tried to sell me the twenty dollar one. I asked for the thirteen dollar one. He seemed surprised that I might know that it existed. He couldn't find it but he did find one for $11.99. That is the one I bought and installed. Everything is fine now.
I bet your wondering how one determines when a fuel pump needs to be replaced. The answer is you guess. Today I made a lucky guess. I knew I should have replaced it when I was rebuilding the engine lst winter but the cheap-skate in me talked me out of it.
Before heading to the parts store I checked the pricing online. Two available. The first was $19.99. The second was $13.99.
The guy in the store tried to sell me the twenty dollar one. I asked for the thirteen dollar one. He seemed surprised that I might know that it existed. He couldn't find it but he did find one for $11.99. That is the one I bought and installed. Everything is fine now.
I bet your wondering how one determines when a fuel pump needs to be replaced. The answer is you guess. Today I made a lucky guess. I knew I should have replaced it when I was rebuilding the engine lst winter but the cheap-skate in me talked me out of it.
Friday, June 24, 2005
I think I have figured out where my lack of patience comes from.
My father has been talking about getting a new car. His plan was hold out a few more months and then bring it home. He has actually be talking about this for over a year I think.
Today he bought one. I haven't heard the story yet but I suspect it has something to do with those employee price discounts GM has been offering. Or maybe it was just a lack of patience.
The answer is a Buick LaCrosse. I was hoping for the Acura.
My father has been talking about getting a new car. His plan was hold out a few more months and then bring it home. He has actually be talking about this for over a year I think.
Today he bought one. I haven't heard the story yet but I suspect it has something to do with those employee price discounts GM has been offering. Or maybe it was just a lack of patience.
The answer is a Buick LaCrosse. I was hoping for the Acura.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
My wife is embarrassed to admit how many computers we have in the house. Don't tell her I told you so. I am a computer engineer though so I think it is simply genetic. It is not that I refuse to throw a computer away when it is no longer useful, I just usually manage to find another home for it before then. You may recall I gave one to my sister just a few short months ago. It was a screaming 300 Mhz job.
For the record, my oldest computer is a 533 Mhz Dell. It is currently my web server. Please don't hit refresh on the browser to fast, you'll take it down. Also for the record, I surveyed four of my friends last year, and two of them had more computers then me. What a bunch of geeks.
The box showed up today. All those who took the bet, need to send in the dollar your owe me.
So this evening I repaired the broken computer. New 400 watt power supply and processor fan, etc. Everything is now fine.
Last night I played the "Why doesn't file sharing on the network work?" game. I lost.
So it seems to me that I spend more time working on computers than actually using them.
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 SOS
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 In Distress.
For the record, my oldest computer is a 533 Mhz Dell. It is currently my web server. Please don't hit refresh on the browser to fast, you'll take it down. Also for the record, I surveyed four of my friends last year, and two of them had more computers then me. What a bunch of geeks.
The box showed up today. All those who took the bet, need to send in the dollar your owe me.
So this evening I repaired the broken computer. New 400 watt power supply and processor fan, etc. Everything is now fine.
Last night I played the "Why doesn't file sharing on the network work?" game. I lost.
So it seems to me that I spend more time working on computers than actually using them.
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 SOS
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 In Distress.
Package Tracking
Ain't that new fangled internet stuff just awesome? Like for instance package tracking.
I was expecting a box from FedEx yesterday. When I got home it wasn't here so I checked the tracking number. Then I said to myself, "Self, that's odd." I sometimes talk to myself when I know people are listening. The tracking history showed the package was already delivered, not yesterday, but 3 days earlier on Friday.
So I thought to myself, "Good, no more waiting". Most people can't hear me think, though I suspect that there is at least one person that can. No box in the house, no box in the garage, no box on the front or the back porch. No box mistakenly delivered to the neighbors.
Next idea. Call customer support where I placed my order. They are going to put a trace on it. It was about this point that I noticed the alleged delivery time was 10:10 PM. I thought that was odd. So did the customer service girl.
Her thought was the driver probably didn't deliver it but marked it that way to get it out of the computer. She went ahead and put a trace on it but told me if it shows up on Tuesday to give her a call back. I got a dollar says it will arrive today.
What good is package tracking if it LIES?
Ain't that new fangled internet stuff just awesome? Like for instance package tracking.
I was expecting a box from FedEx yesterday. When I got home it wasn't here so I checked the tracking number. Then I said to myself, "Self, that's odd." I sometimes talk to myself when I know people are listening. The tracking history showed the package was already delivered, not yesterday, but 3 days earlier on Friday.
So I thought to myself, "Good, no more waiting". Most people can't hear me think, though I suspect that there is at least one person that can. No box in the house, no box in the garage, no box on the front or the back porch. No box mistakenly delivered to the neighbors.
Next idea. Call customer support where I placed my order. They are going to put a trace on it. It was about this point that I noticed the alleged delivery time was 10:10 PM. I thought that was odd. So did the customer service girl.
Her thought was the driver probably didn't deliver it but marked it that way to get it out of the computer. She went ahead and put a trace on it but told me if it shows up on Tuesday to give her a call back. I got a dollar says it will arrive today.
What good is package tracking if it LIES?
Sunday, June 19, 2005
DNF
Or rather, Did Not Start. Only six cars ran in the American Gran Prix today. It was a bit disappointing.
Results: Ferrari(ms), Ferrari(rb), Jordan(tm).
I made a few predictions before the race. In a strange way most of them came true.
1. Sato (BAR-Honda) would not finish. I expected him to blow an engine or something similar.
2. Juan Pablo Montoya would not finish.
3. Michael and Rubens (Both Ferraris) would only end up on the podem if a handful of front runners fell out of the race. This of course has happened in the last couple of races, for example last week Juan got black flagged and the race before that his front suspension shattered.
The race was weird. Lots of cheering for Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi. Lots of boo'ing over the boycott. I don't think anyone really understood what was happening.
I Tivo'ed the race so later this week I will get another perspective on what happened. The article I read this evening on CNN made it sound like Schumacher got boo'ed when he won. That was not at all what happened.
Did I mention I bought a nice red Ferrari hat. It will go nicely with my little red Ferrari, er, Miata.
Maybe tomorrow I will tell you about getting a fire truck rolling this morning.
Or rather, Did Not Start. Only six cars ran in the American Gran Prix today. It was a bit disappointing.
Results: Ferrari(ms), Ferrari(rb), Jordan(tm).
I made a few predictions before the race. In a strange way most of them came true.
1. Sato (BAR-Honda) would not finish. I expected him to blow an engine or something similar.
2. Juan Pablo Montoya would not finish.
3. Michael and Rubens (Both Ferraris) would only end up on the podem if a handful of front runners fell out of the race. This of course has happened in the last couple of races, for example last week Juan got black flagged and the race before that his front suspension shattered.
The race was weird. Lots of cheering for Ferrari, Jordan, and Minardi. Lots of boo'ing over the boycott. I don't think anyone really understood what was happening.
I Tivo'ed the race so later this week I will get another perspective on what happened. The article I read this evening on CNN made it sound like Schumacher got boo'ed when he won. That was not at all what happened.
Did I mention I bought a nice red Ferrari hat. It will go nicely with my little red Ferrari, er, Miata.
Maybe tomorrow I will tell you about getting a fire truck rolling this morning.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
I am here. Here I am.
We (David M. and Troy W.) are at Indy for the Formula One American Grand Prix. Today was practice and qualifying. We had perfect weather. I managed to get a few dozen photos of cars. As usual, random pictures to follow.
Tomorrow is the actual race. I am ready!
The hotel we are staying at does not have internet access. Apparrently another nearby hotel has free wireless internet though because here I am.
Now for the useful details you have come to love and expect. Last night dinner was at Uno's. This was pretty good pizza. (I think I ate at an Uno's in Orlando last year.)
The current question is whether to provide a donation to the PowerBall lottery.
We (David M. and Troy W.) are at Indy for the Formula One American Grand Prix. Today was practice and qualifying. We had perfect weather. I managed to get a few dozen photos of cars. As usual, random pictures to follow.
Tomorrow is the actual race. I am ready!
The hotel we are staying at does not have internet access. Apparrently another nearby hotel has free wireless internet though because here I am.
Now for the useful details you have come to love and expect. Last night dinner was at Uno's. This was pretty good pizza. (I think I ate at an Uno's in Orlando last year.)
The current question is whether to provide a donation to the PowerBall lottery.
Friday, June 17, 2005
In a couple of hours I will be off to the races.
Jordan was interrogating me this morning about the schedule for the weekend. I told him he could go with me when he got a little older. He replyed, that he didn't want to go.
The kids sure get up early when they don't have to go to school. They have both been up at least an hour. If they were going to school today, they would have slept to 7:00.
Jordan was interrogating me this morning about the schedule for the weekend. I told him he could go with me when he got a little older. He replyed, that he didn't want to go.
The kids sure get up early when they don't have to go to school. They have both been up at least an hour. If they were going to school today, they would have slept to 7:00.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
This weekend is the F1 American Grand Prix in Indianapolis. I will be there. Don't look for me sitting at pole position though. I don't have a Formula One car and at approximately $14 million I am not likely to get one.
The Canadian race last weekend ended nicely. Red cars in positions two and three. Kimi got the top spot. Maybe we will see a Ferrari finish this next race first. Or alternatively we could see a Finnish finish the race first just like last week.
I am ready for summer break.
The Canadian race last weekend ended nicely. Red cars in positions two and three. Kimi got the top spot. Maybe we will see a Ferrari finish this next race first. Or alternatively we could see a Finnish finish the race first just like last week.
I am ready for summer break.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
After work today I strolled out to the parking deck to locate my Miata. A few spots over I saw an old friend sitting in his car waiting for it to warm up.
I told him he needed to put his top down. Bruce agreed and proceeded to put the top down. His car is a golden '72 Corvette. We talked a few minute before he ask me if I wanted to go for a ride. I hestitated because I was ready to go home and then said "yes".
He drove a mile or two before asking "Want to drive it". Again I hesitated before saying yes. I drove it back to the parking deck. When we pulled up next to my car, he started to get out and I said "See you later". Ha! His other car is a late sixties Mustang.
About that time another guy rolls up in his '94 Corvette Grand Sport. Another sweet car.
The Corvette was a fun drive, especially because it was a convertible. The Miata is a lot of fun also. It is amazing how much fun both cars are and how they handle so differently.
I think perhaps I will try to convince my Father his next car should be a Corvette. Think of it as transportation which appreciates in value. That might just be a good investment.
This weekend is the American Grand Prix. 18,000 RPMs.
I told him he needed to put his top down. Bruce agreed and proceeded to put the top down. His car is a golden '72 Corvette. We talked a few minute before he ask me if I wanted to go for a ride. I hestitated because I was ready to go home and then said "yes".
He drove a mile or two before asking "Want to drive it". Again I hesitated before saying yes. I drove it back to the parking deck. When we pulled up next to my car, he started to get out and I said "See you later". Ha! His other car is a late sixties Mustang.
About that time another guy rolls up in his '94 Corvette Grand Sport. Another sweet car.
The Corvette was a fun drive, especially because it was a convertible. The Miata is a lot of fun also. It is amazing how much fun both cars are and how they handle so differently.
I think perhaps I will try to convince my Father his next car should be a Corvette. Think of it as transportation which appreciates in value. That might just be a good investment.
This weekend is the American Grand Prix. 18,000 RPMs.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Technically I now have approximately 2.5 trucks. My garage can really only hold two. What to do? It is time to start stacking them. Tomorrow evening I will attempt to put the front of the '68 into the back of the '72.
Pickup Line
Last week I got to drive the Miata Monday thru Friday. It rained over the weekend and G' was at work so it stayed in the garage Saturday and Sunday. Monday was a kid pickup day, so ergo I was in the pickup. Tomorrow is not a pickup day and it appears the weather is planning to cooperate.
Have I mentioned the convertible Datsun 1100 I saw last week? Do you have any idea what that looked like? I saw one at the salvage yard. It was apparently from the early '70s and way ahead of it's time. I Googled for an image to no avail.
My friend Creg is storing the hood for his '53 Ford pickup in my shop {upstairs}. The contract says I keep it if it stays for 10 years. He will be back for it though. I offered to store it because his garage was full and he needed a nice dry place to keep it.
Saturday I helped him detach the rear axel and suspension from his frame. After that we literally pulled the frame out from under the cab on a dolly. His next step is probably sand blasting the frame. Estimate for DIY: 3 long days. Professional Job: $100. We will soon know which resource is more scarce for him - time or money. He is like me in that he will need to think/talk about it for a couple of week before any action occurs.
What is a word that means the opposite of impulsive?
Pickup Line
Last week I got to drive the Miata Monday thru Friday. It rained over the weekend and G' was at work so it stayed in the garage Saturday and Sunday. Monday was a kid pickup day, so ergo I was in the pickup. Tomorrow is not a pickup day and it appears the weather is planning to cooperate.
Have I mentioned the convertible Datsun 1100 I saw last week? Do you have any idea what that looked like? I saw one at the salvage yard. It was apparently from the early '70s and way ahead of it's time. I Googled for an image to no avail.
My friend Creg is storing the hood for his '53 Ford pickup in my shop {upstairs}. The contract says I keep it if it stays for 10 years. He will be back for it though. I offered to store it because his garage was full and he needed a nice dry place to keep it.
Saturday I helped him detach the rear axel and suspension from his frame. After that we literally pulled the frame out from under the cab on a dolly. His next step is probably sand blasting the frame. Estimate for DIY: 3 long days. Professional Job: $100. We will soon know which resource is more scarce for him - time or money. He is like me in that he will need to think/talk about it for a couple of week before any action occurs.
What is a word that means the opposite of impulsive?
Ah, yes. The dreaded Monday morning. I woke up a little earlier than normal so I went ahead and got up. Now everyone is up about 45 minutes ahead of schedule. I will surely pay for this. I was trying to be quiet but the kids don't understand the words "Shhh, quiet, Momma is still asleep."
Big news for this morning. The trash can is already out by the street. No worries about forgetting it this morning.
Big news for this morning. The trash can is already out by the street. No worries about forgetting it this morning.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
I got to see Star Wars - The Sith Movie this afternoon. I enjoyed it very much. They did a good job of tying the first two to the older three. Plenty of action. Many questions answered.
If you were looking to be critical of the movie, it wouldn't be difficult to find a few rocks to throw but I will leave that to someone else.
Yoda rocked again and the special effects were incredible.
Now I need to see IV, V, and VI again but I don't have those yet. Perhaps soon.
If you were looking to be critical of the movie, it wouldn't be difficult to find a few rocks to throw but I will leave that to someone else.
Yoda rocked again and the special effects were incredible.
Now I need to see IV, V, and VI again but I don't have those yet. Perhaps soon.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
More Sheet Metal
At lunch today I made a quick trip out to a salvage yard to purchase a few 'new-to-me' parts for the GMC. I felt like I got a really good deal. I will be making a return trip on Saturday with the help of my friend Creg to fetch the parts and bring them hither. I will enumerate my list of goodies after the retrieval is complete. Perhaps even a few photos.
Eighteen Going on Twenty
Today, out of the blue from South Carolina, I received an email from DeAnna. We went to high school together. We even went on a date once if bowling counts as a date. I wonder whatever happened to my bowling shoes. I don't think I have seen them since Auburn, but I digress. I saw 'Mr. Mom' for the first time at her house. That movie has one of my favorite lines of all time: "Two-twenty, two-forty, whatever it takes." Now that my friend is some advice you can live by.
She was checking in to see if anyone had started planning the 20 year HS reunion. I helped plan my 10 year reunion and I didn't get started til a couple of months prior. I am looking forward to seeing those folks again, but it is still a few years away. Maybe I will grow up by then.
And for the record, Imaginery Mike was mentioned in conversation at the ten year festivities.
I also received (I before E except after C) another email today from someone looking over the Miata install page I created. I am amazed at the number of emails that thing has generated. Not nearly as many as referring to an l6278 has created though. Thinking about it now I must have been crazy to take that hard drive apart. C'est la vie.
That part number is continually the number one search term on my blog. This month we had another interesting one: "pretty rick grind with me". I don't even want to know what that one was about. Norm even made a showing.
For the record, I am currently up to no good. Stay tuned for more on that.
I have taken tomorrow off! Jeehaw! (I believe that was the Finnish spelling.) I have a few errands to run in the AM and then hopefully we will be seeing that Sith movie in the afternoon. I read the abridged script (Thank you Mr. Red). I don't think it spoiled it for me. Go check it out at your own risk.
The little people are partying with Grandma tomorrow night so our plan is dinner and a movie.
These same little people were in the neighbors pool when I got home. I joined them for a while. The water was too cool.
Ginger apparrently mentioned her computer had quit last week. I apparrently didn't actually hear her til yesterday. I spent a half hour trouble shooting it this evening and guess what? It looks like another motherboard has given up the magic smoke. That is odd! Two in a month. We have had a few T-storms lately, but those things are on UPS and and and.
And speaking of Mr. Mom, not to be confused with AtHomeDaddy, have you noticed there is a new Batman movie. Hope I didn't lose you there.
And finally I will leave you with these three words: Margarita Bucket.
I am Rick Martindale and I am proud to announce that I did not proof read nor spell check this blog entry. And I am sure it shows.
At lunch today I made a quick trip out to a salvage yard to purchase a few 'new-to-me' parts for the GMC. I felt like I got a really good deal. I will be making a return trip on Saturday with the help of my friend Creg to fetch the parts and bring them hither. I will enumerate my list of goodies after the retrieval is complete. Perhaps even a few photos.
Eighteen Going on Twenty
Today, out of the blue from South Carolina, I received an email from DeAnna. We went to high school together. We even went on a date once if bowling counts as a date. I wonder whatever happened to my bowling shoes. I don't think I have seen them since Auburn, but I digress. I saw 'Mr. Mom' for the first time at her house. That movie has one of my favorite lines of all time: "Two-twenty, two-forty, whatever it takes." Now that my friend is some advice you can live by.
She was checking in to see if anyone had started planning the 20 year HS reunion. I helped plan my 10 year reunion and I didn't get started til a couple of months prior. I am looking forward to seeing those folks again, but it is still a few years away. Maybe I will grow up by then.
And for the record, Imaginery Mike was mentioned in conversation at the ten year festivities.
I also received (I before E except after C) another email today from someone looking over the Miata install page I created. I am amazed at the number of emails that thing has generated. Not nearly as many as referring to an l6278 has created though. Thinking about it now I must have been crazy to take that hard drive apart. C'est la vie.
That part number is continually the number one search term on my blog. This month we had another interesting one: "pretty rick grind with me". I don't even want to know what that one was about. Norm even made a showing.
For the record, I am currently up to no good. Stay tuned for more on that.
I have taken tomorrow off! Jeehaw! (I believe that was the Finnish spelling.) I have a few errands to run in the AM and then hopefully we will be seeing that Sith movie in the afternoon. I read the abridged script (Thank you Mr. Red). I don't think it spoiled it for me. Go check it out at your own risk.
The little people are partying with Grandma tomorrow night so our plan is dinner and a movie.
These same little people were in the neighbors pool when I got home. I joined them for a while. The water was too cool.
Ginger apparrently mentioned her computer had quit last week. I apparrently didn't actually hear her til yesterday. I spent a half hour trouble shooting it this evening and guess what? It looks like another motherboard has given up the magic smoke. That is odd! Two in a month. We have had a few T-storms lately, but those things are on UPS and and and.
And speaking of Mr. Mom, not to be confused with AtHomeDaddy, have you noticed there is a new Batman movie. Hope I didn't lose you there.
And finally I will leave you with these three words: Margarita Bucket.
I am Rick Martindale and I am proud to announce that I did not proof read nor spell check this blog entry. And I am sure it shows.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Hey, who slurred my speech?
For The Record
Scandalous lies are being spread.
Previous posts clearly state that Brianna's Cherry Bed was completed last August. While there is photographic evidence the bed was still in the garage on November 1, 2004, it was officially moved into her room on Saturday January 22, 2005. The sweet little girl has been sleeping in her big bed every night since then.
GMC
I have been give official approval to acquire the GMC front end I have had my eye on for a while. Assuming it is still there, I will go pick it up at the salvage yard on Saturday. I have already arranged to borrow a trailer to bring it home. For the record, the front end is off a '68 and it is complete with all the letters, badges, and grill.
No, it doesn't have anything to do with the 'rita bucket.
For The Record
Scandalous lies are being spread.
Previous posts clearly state that Brianna's Cherry Bed was completed last August. While there is photographic evidence the bed was still in the garage on November 1, 2004, it was officially moved into her room on Saturday January 22, 2005. The sweet little girl has been sleeping in her big bed every night since then.
GMC
I have been give official approval to acquire the GMC front end I have had my eye on for a while. Assuming it is still there, I will go pick it up at the salvage yard on Saturday. I have already arranged to borrow a trailer to bring it home. For the record, the front end is off a '68 and it is complete with all the letters, badges, and grill.
No, it doesn't have anything to do with the 'rita bucket.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Saturday, June 04, 2005
I have been completely unmotivated lately. Yes, completely.
Friday's trip to the doctor turned up nothing so far. I did hard time on the tread mill and was rewarded with orange juice. They said they would call with the results next week. Ho hum.
My sister spent the night with us last night. The kids enjoyed seeing her.
My father came by today for a few hours. The kids enjoyed seeing him as well. We all watched Star Wars - The Phantom Menace this morning. I noticed several things about the story line that I had previously overlooked. We still haven't been to the #3.
Jordan got some plastic golf clubs from Terry for his birthday. Last weekend we played mini-golf. Today we pretended we were playing mini-golf in the house. Everyone was a good sport and we played nine holes. My favorite was when we tee'ed off upstairs and the hole was in Bri's bed room. The score was very close but in the end I didn't win. It seemed like the afternoon might be a little more peaceful that way.
Friday's trip to the doctor turned up nothing so far. I did hard time on the tread mill and was rewarded with orange juice. They said they would call with the results next week. Ho hum.
My sister spent the night with us last night. The kids enjoyed seeing her.
My father came by today for a few hours. The kids enjoyed seeing him as well. We all watched Star Wars - The Phantom Menace this morning. I noticed several things about the story line that I had previously overlooked. We still haven't been to the #3.
Jordan got some plastic golf clubs from Terry for his birthday. Last weekend we played mini-golf. Today we pretended we were playing mini-golf in the house. Everyone was a good sport and we played nine holes. My favorite was when we tee'ed off upstairs and the hole was in Bri's bed room. The score was very close but in the end I didn't win. It seemed like the afternoon might be a little more peaceful that way.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
As you may or may not have noticed, my web server has been down. Actually it wasn't down so much as it just wasn't communicating with the rest of the network.
What happened? I am not really sure but it had something to do with my father-in-law plugging his laptop into the network on Sunday. For some reason, his computer ended up with the same IP address the server had. Things haven't been the same since then.
The Week In Review
Friday was Jordan's 7th Birthday.
Saturday morning I got a hair cut and drove over to Decatur for the car show.
Saturday afternoon the in-laws arrived to spend the weekend with us.
Saturday evening we all drove back to Decatur to see the Hot Air balloons. Also took a look at the old tractors on display
Sunday we went to O'Charley's for Lunch. Jordan's pick. They sang happy birthday to him. It was also my Mother's Birthday.
Sunday afternoon I put a 1.5 gallons of gas in the truck and cranked it up. Yep, it was out of gas.
Monday we played 18 holes of mini-golf. I also made a drawer front for my sister Terry. I spent a lot of time getting the stain to not match. It didn't match before I got started either.
Tuesday I called Ginger from work and told her if she would make the appointment, I would go see the doctor. I have been having chest pains for a few days. Some pain in the left arm also.
Today I went to the doctor. If you walk in the front door and say "I am having chest pain" they will have you laying flat on a table so fast it will make your head spin. They did an EKG and said everything looked ok. Lots of other tests also including chest x-rays and tapping the veins. Did I really need to know my cholesterol level was high? Friday I get to go see a cardiologist and have a stress test. Funny they call it a stress test. Well not really. The doctor said my problem was probably just stress. He is probably right, but that doesn't mean I am not in a little bit of pain right now.
As I was sitting, waiting for the test results it occurred to me that 1) I rarely get a cold or the flu, 2) all my real health problems over the last few years have either been weight or stress related. Follow me out on this limb while I claim that weight problems are probably the result of stress. They don't call them comfort foods for nothing.
Today a friend told me that getting old sucks. I told him I was glad I wasn't old like him. Or you.
The power went out this morning from 6:45 til 7:30 am. The computer needed a good reboot anyway. Fascinating. No, not so much.
What happened? I am not really sure but it had something to do with my father-in-law plugging his laptop into the network on Sunday. For some reason, his computer ended up with the same IP address the server had. Things haven't been the same since then.
The Week In Review
Friday was Jordan's 7th Birthday.
Saturday morning I got a hair cut and drove over to Decatur for the car show.
Saturday afternoon the in-laws arrived to spend the weekend with us.
Saturday evening we all drove back to Decatur to see the Hot Air balloons. Also took a look at the old tractors on display
Sunday we went to O'Charley's for Lunch. Jordan's pick. They sang happy birthday to him. It was also my Mother's Birthday.
Sunday afternoon I put a 1.5 gallons of gas in the truck and cranked it up. Yep, it was out of gas.
Monday we played 18 holes of mini-golf. I also made a drawer front for my sister Terry. I spent a lot of time getting the stain to not match. It didn't match before I got started either.
Tuesday I called Ginger from work and told her if she would make the appointment, I would go see the doctor. I have been having chest pains for a few days. Some pain in the left arm also.
Today I went to the doctor. If you walk in the front door and say "I am having chest pain" they will have you laying flat on a table so fast it will make your head spin. They did an EKG and said everything looked ok. Lots of other tests also including chest x-rays and tapping the veins. Did I really need to know my cholesterol level was high? Friday I get to go see a cardiologist and have a stress test. Funny they call it a stress test. Well not really. The doctor said my problem was probably just stress. He is probably right, but that doesn't mean I am not in a little bit of pain right now.
As I was sitting, waiting for the test results it occurred to me that 1) I rarely get a cold or the flu, 2) all my real health problems over the last few years have either been weight or stress related. Follow me out on this limb while I claim that weight problems are probably the result of stress. They don't call them comfort foods for nothing.
Today a friend told me that getting old sucks. I told him I was glad I wasn't old like him. Or you.
The power went out this morning from 6:45 til 7:30 am. The computer needed a good reboot anyway. Fascinating. No, not so much.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
What I Did On My Summer Vacation
Ok, It's not really my summer vacation.
Today I located a replacment speedometer bullet (bullit?) for the GMC. And then I came home and installed it. And then I tried to start the truck.
And then it didn't start. We have air and fire. I think there is a fuel shortage. Mainly in the tank. I hope this doesn't run up the price of gas.
I look forward to checking the garage floor tomorrow and not seeing a few red drops of transmission fluid.
Ok, It's not really my summer vacation.
Today I located a replacment speedometer bullet (bullit?) for the GMC. And then I came home and installed it. And then I tried to start the truck.
And then it didn't start. We have air and fire. I think there is a fuel shortage. Mainly in the tank. I hope this doesn't run up the price of gas.
I look forward to checking the garage floor tomorrow and not seeing a few red drops of transmission fluid.
Monday, May 23, 2005
This morning I stood on the side walk admiring my handiwork with the sprinkler. My neighbor from across the street asked if I was watching the grass grow. Sure, why not.
This evening I added a few more feet of pipe and another sprinkler head to one end of the flower bed. G' was concerned this area would not get enough water and I had one extra of everything incase I messed anything up. Fortunately I didn't
After work I made a trip to the nursery to get a couple of scoops of mulch. We put about half of in out before quiting for the day. The rest of the mulch will be waiting for me tomorrow evening when I get home from work.
Today is not really The first annual no blogging day. Had it actually been, you would not be reading this now. More than likely today is yet another example of how 365 Mindnumbing Blog Entries Make a Complete Year.
This evening I added a few more feet of pipe and another sprinkler head to one end of the flower bed. G' was concerned this area would not get enough water and I had one extra of everything incase I messed anything up. Fortunately I didn't
After work I made a trip to the nursery to get a couple of scoops of mulch. We put about half of in out before quiting for the day. The rest of the mulch will be waiting for me tomorrow evening when I get home from work.
Today is not really The first annual no blogging day. Had it actually been, you would not be reading this now. More than likely today is yet another example of how 365 Mindnumbing Blog Entries Make a Complete Year.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Heart Of Dixie Metal Meet '05
I spent most of the weekend at the metal meet. I learned a lot. The metal meet was hosted by Kerry Pinkerton of Imperial Wheeling Machines at his shop in nearby Harvest, Alabama. I would like to thank Kerry, Bennett Chapman, John Jordan, and several others whose names I can't recall for all their help.
The Martin sales guy (James Chapman) did a fabulous job teaching how to bump out dents. Note to self: Get book The Key to Bumping Metal. His explanation of the techniques was astounding.
Thanks also to Dan? of Huntsville for the stump.
One guy showed up with an old Studebakers Truck, or what was left of it. He is doing a rebuild. Looked good so far. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that those days.
Henrob Jim was working on the fenders of his '57 Ford pickup.
If you have some time and interest, check out Kerry's Chrysler Imperial restoration site.
I will post a couple of photos of the bowl I made soon.
Quick Review:
I attended Friday morning. Got started on the metal bow. Kris helped get me started. David Miller from the autobody class showed up. I had to leave around 11:00 to pick up the kids.
Saturday morning, back to the meet. More work on the bowl. I did most of the stretching using a hammer and beater bag. I also tried my hand a shrinking using tucking forks and hammer. I did some smoothing using one of the e-wheels. It was pretty sweet.
I also tried out the machine that does shrinking. It was very nice. The process is much more rapid and I felt like I had more control of the shrinking process because you could practially see it happen. I probably should not have used the machine though because I am certain I will never have one of those ($$$$). It made shrinking using a tucking fork seem to take forever.
I will try my hand at making stretching/shrinking in the near future. First I will have to make some tucking forks.
I went back again for a few hours this afternoon. Watched some guys play with a Henrob torch. The trip today involved the Miata. It was a perfect day for driving a convertible.
And finally back home to work in the sprinkler system. I believe this project is all done except for burying it.
I spent most of the weekend at the metal meet. I learned a lot. The metal meet was hosted by Kerry Pinkerton of Imperial Wheeling Machines at his shop in nearby Harvest, Alabama. I would like to thank Kerry, Bennett Chapman, John Jordan, and several others whose names I can't recall for all their help.
The Martin sales guy (James Chapman) did a fabulous job teaching how to bump out dents. Note to self: Get book The Key to Bumping Metal. His explanation of the techniques was astounding.
Thanks also to Dan? of Huntsville for the stump.
One guy showed up with an old Studebakers Truck, or what was left of it. He is doing a rebuild. Looked good so far. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that those days.
Henrob Jim was working on the fenders of his '57 Ford pickup.
If you have some time and interest, check out Kerry's Chrysler Imperial restoration site.
I will post a couple of photos of the bowl I made soon.
Quick Review:
I attended Friday morning. Got started on the metal bow. Kris helped get me started. David Miller from the autobody class showed up. I had to leave around 11:00 to pick up the kids.
Saturday morning, back to the meet. More work on the bowl. I did most of the stretching using a hammer and beater bag. I also tried my hand a shrinking using tucking forks and hammer. I did some smoothing using one of the e-wheels. It was pretty sweet.
I also tried out the machine that does shrinking. It was very nice. The process is much more rapid and I felt like I had more control of the shrinking process because you could practially see it happen. I probably should not have used the machine though because I am certain I will never have one of those ($$$$). It made shrinking using a tucking fork seem to take forever.
I will try my hand at making stretching/shrinking in the near future. First I will have to make some tucking forks.
I went back again for a few hours this afternoon. Watched some guys play with a Henrob torch. The trip today involved the Miata. It was a perfect day for driving a convertible.
And finally back home to work in the sprinkler system. I believe this project is all done except for burying it.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
I remembered to call my sister and wish her a happy birthday.
Tomorrow I am not going to work. I requested a vacation day so that I could attend the Heart of Dixie Metal Meet '05. I read about this over at the Metal Meet forums.
My primary goal is simply to learn more about working sheet metal. If things go well I may even apply a little effort to improving the inner fenders of the '72. Did I forget to mention I removed those earlier this week. It looks really cool to peer under the hood without the inner fenders in place. You get to see the tires, suspension, and the ground.
The metal meet is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Currently I expect to be able to attend Friday morning, most of Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Assuming things don't change.
I finished digging around in the flower beds this evening and started laying the pipe and installed the risers and sprinker heads. Tomorrow afternoon I will probably be able to finish it up. I need to install the valve, connect the wiring, and install about two more feet of pipe. One on each side of the valve. It will be nice to get this done. You know what comes next: Mulch.
No, I didn't go see the new Star War's movie today.
This entry was brought to you today by the numbers Sixty-two and Forty-two and by the letter R.
Tomorrow I am not going to work. I requested a vacation day so that I could attend the Heart of Dixie Metal Meet '05. I read about this over at the Metal Meet forums.
My primary goal is simply to learn more about working sheet metal. If things go well I may even apply a little effort to improving the inner fenders of the '72. Did I forget to mention I removed those earlier this week. It looks really cool to peer under the hood without the inner fenders in place. You get to see the tires, suspension, and the ground.
The metal meet is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Currently I expect to be able to attend Friday morning, most of Saturday, and Sunday afternoon. Assuming things don't change.
I finished digging around in the flower beds this evening and started laying the pipe and installed the risers and sprinker heads. Tomorrow afternoon I will probably be able to finish it up. I need to install the valve, connect the wiring, and install about two more feet of pipe. One on each side of the valve. It will be nice to get this done. You know what comes next: Mulch.
No, I didn't go see the new Star War's movie today.
This entry was brought to you today by the numbers Sixty-two and Forty-two and by the letter R.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
I got another computer tech support call tonight. Terry's computer lost its ethernet adapter driver and is shutting down when no one is looking. Fortunately I put a backup copy of the driver on the HD before it went home with her so I was able to walk her through the install.
It sounds like her power supply is on its way out also. I have a spare. She will swing thru N. AL in a few weeks I will take care of it.
Tomorrow is her birthday.
It sounds like her power supply is on its way out also. I have a spare. She will swing thru N. AL in a few weeks I will take care of it.
Tomorrow is her birthday.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
I remembered what I forgot, but I have now lost all enthusiasm for posting about it. The last two episodes of Enterprise.
The last two evenings I have been digging a trench in the flower bed to put in new sprinkers. Anyone interested can show up Friday evening to help.
This coming Friday is the last day of school for the kids. Sign me up for a summer vacation please.
The last two evenings I have been digging a trench in the flower bed to put in new sprinkers. Anyone interested can show up Friday evening to help.
This coming Friday is the last day of school for the kids. Sign me up for a summer vacation please.
Monday, May 16, 2005
The motherboard arrived a day early. It has been installed and the computer is almost back to normal. Close enough for now.
I didn't upgrade anything, I just replaced with a duplicate motherboard: $58.
Heart of Dixie Metal Meet '05
I have plans for this weekend. I hope to learn enough about shaping metal to make a patch panel for the front inner right truck fender. Hopefully I can pickup a few sheet metal welding hints also.
DW is in the progress of replacing the brake lines on his '70 Charger.
Earlier today I remember something I meant to post about this last weekend. I forgot what the topic was, but at least I remembered to write a post about it.
This last weekend there was a huge Mustang Show here in Huntsville. It was held at the Space and Rocket Center. I forgot about it til Sunday and unfortunately didn't have time to make it over there.
There are a few more car shows coming up in the near future. Both over in Decatur.
The red convertible Mustang I saw a few weeks ago is still for sale. I shopped to look at it. They guy was asking $9800. While the car had very little rust, it was not worth $9800. Quite frankly considering the lack of a paint job and the shape of the interior, I doubt it was worth half that. That guy should have had the car over at the show. Some crazy guy there with 'stang fever might have bought it.
I got a Car Crazy sticker in the mail last week. Haven't quite figured out where to put it yet.
Got more prop's on the Voodoo today. G' even noticed it a week or so back.
I didn't upgrade anything, I just replaced with a duplicate motherboard: $58.
Heart of Dixie Metal Meet '05
I have plans for this weekend. I hope to learn enough about shaping metal to make a patch panel for the front inner right truck fender. Hopefully I can pickup a few sheet metal welding hints also.
DW is in the progress of replacing the brake lines on his '70 Charger.
Earlier today I remember something I meant to post about this last weekend. I forgot what the topic was, but at least I remembered to write a post about it.
This last weekend there was a huge Mustang Show here in Huntsville. It was held at the Space and Rocket Center. I forgot about it til Sunday and unfortunately didn't have time to make it over there.
There are a few more car shows coming up in the near future. Both over in Decatur.
The red convertible Mustang I saw a few weeks ago is still for sale. I shopped to look at it. They guy was asking $9800. While the car had very little rust, it was not worth $9800. Quite frankly considering the lack of a paint job and the shape of the interior, I doubt it was worth half that. That guy should have had the car over at the show. Some crazy guy there with 'stang fever might have bought it.
I got a Car Crazy sticker in the mail last week. Haven't quite figured out where to put it yet.
Got more prop's on the Voodoo today. G' even noticed it a week or so back.
According to my tracking number, the motherboard will arrive tomorrow.
Over the last week I did a little cleaning on the Miata. First the seats got cleaned and conditioned. While I was at it, I went ahead and did the truck seats also. About a week ago I cleaned them all with saddle soap. Then I decided to try out the aloe base Meguiars leather products. One for cleaning and one for conditioning. Between the three, I am happy with the results
Second came the wax job. For this I tried the NXT tech paste wax. This stuff is incredible and produces a really nice shine. It actually make the paint appear wet.
The third step was the cleaning the carpet. This started out with vacuuming out the Miata including the trunk. While I had the vacuum out, I went ahead and vacuumed the gold fish cracker crumbs out of the car seat in the truck. Oh, and I vacuumed the rest of the truck also.
The floor mats in the Miata have had some grungy looking spots on them since before I got bought. I decided too try to clean them also. Surprisingly I got every spot out of the mats! I used some of that Oxy stuff and a stiff brush. Except for a little bit of wear, the mats almost look new.
The transmission on the '72 has been dripping. I investigated the leak on Saturday. It appeared to be an o-ring where the speed-o cable connects to the back end of the transmission. Yesterday I replaced the o-ring. No drips so far but I am not calling it fixed til it has been driven a little bit.
I finally made it to HD yesterday to buy a nice piece of wood. The plan here is to make a replacement drawer front for a night stand my sister has. Shamefully I will admit the drawer has been in my shop for over a month, though probably not two. Saturday I intended to make the new drawer front but after getting out in the shop I was surprised to discover I had no suitable wood for this project. That was about when I decided to wax the car.
Over the last week I did a little cleaning on the Miata. First the seats got cleaned and conditioned. While I was at it, I went ahead and did the truck seats also. About a week ago I cleaned them all with saddle soap. Then I decided to try out the aloe base Meguiars leather products. One for cleaning and one for conditioning. Between the three, I am happy with the results
Second came the wax job. For this I tried the NXT tech paste wax. This stuff is incredible and produces a really nice shine. It actually make the paint appear wet.
The third step was the cleaning the carpet. This started out with vacuuming out the Miata including the trunk. While I had the vacuum out, I went ahead and vacuumed the gold fish cracker crumbs out of the car seat in the truck. Oh, and I vacuumed the rest of the truck also.
The floor mats in the Miata have had some grungy looking spots on them since before I got bought. I decided too try to clean them also. Surprisingly I got every spot out of the mats! I used some of that Oxy stuff and a stiff brush. Except for a little bit of wear, the mats almost look new.
The transmission on the '72 has been dripping. I investigated the leak on Saturday. It appeared to be an o-ring where the speed-o cable connects to the back end of the transmission. Yesterday I replaced the o-ring. No drips so far but I am not calling it fixed til it has been driven a little bit.
I finally made it to HD yesterday to buy a nice piece of wood. The plan here is to make a replacement drawer front for a night stand my sister has. Shamefully I will admit the drawer has been in my shop for over a month, though probably not two. Saturday I intended to make the new drawer front but after getting out in the shop I was surprised to discover I had no suitable wood for this project. That was about when I decided to wax the car.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Welcome back my friend to the show that never ends...
I figured out what is wrong with the computer. After ruling out every single piece including the processor, I finally decided there is something wrong with the motherboard. I ordered a replacement from mwave. It should be here by Monday or Tuesday.
Hopefully things will get back to normal soon.
I have been doing a little welding practice whenever I get the chance. I hope to have developed enough technique in the next week or so to finally get to work on the fender. Welding is not a problem. The problem is getting the metal too hot. This causes it to shrink and warp.
I figured out what is wrong with the computer. After ruling out every single piece including the processor, I finally decided there is something wrong with the motherboard. I ordered a replacement from mwave. It should be here by Monday or Tuesday.
Hopefully things will get back to normal soon.
I have been doing a little welding practice whenever I get the chance. I hope to have developed enough technique in the next week or so to finally get to work on the fender. Welding is not a problem. The problem is getting the metal too hot. This causes it to shrink and warp.
Monday, May 09, 2005
Thursday, May 05, 2005
05.05.05
I apparrently have writers block today. I wanted to post just so I could use my spiffy title.
Jordan and I stayed home yesterday. He was not feeling well. He took several naps which is uncharacteristic for him. He stayed home again today, but I had to go to work. G was off today. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind stone for him.
I have a few more drops of transmission fluid on the garage floor under the truck. I guess I need to tighten a few more bolts.
...
I apparrently have writers block today. I wanted to post just so I could use my spiffy title.
Jordan and I stayed home yesterday. He was not feeling well. He took several naps which is uncharacteristic for him. He stayed home again today, but I had to go to work. G was off today. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind stone for him.
I have a few more drops of transmission fluid on the garage floor under the truck. I guess I need to tighten a few more bolts.
...
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
In You Window
Brian has a new blog. It is hard not to laugh at this one. It is a thrilling read. Every blog entry is exciting. You just can't get enough of this one. Hope blogger's servers are running at peak performance. Everyone will want to hit this one.
Now go back and read the title of this post again.
Brian has a new blog. It is hard not to laugh at this one. It is a thrilling read. Every blog entry is exciting. You just can't get enough of this one. Hope blogger's servers are running at peak performance. Everyone will want to hit this one.
Now go back and read the title of this post again.
My order from Chevy Duty arrived today just as promised on Friday. Photos to follow.
The order included the patch panel for the fender bed side, and all the necessary fasteners and springs to hold the head lights in place. The springs, screws, etc for the lights were about 50% present when I bought the truck.
It turns out I could have gotten the screws and springs at the local parts store. I probably paid an extra dollar tacking them onto this order. Not so bad. It could have been much worse.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
Diet Progress
Eleven days, 9 pounds. I certainly did not help that we went to the Outback tonight and I had a Wallaby Darn (or two).
Parts is Parts
Back in February I ordered some parts from my truck from ChevyDuty. Earlier this week I checked on the order, and the parts were still on back order and the arrival date had slipped again. Yesterday I received a coupon in the mail from YearOne for 20% off my next order (if placed within 10 days).
I decided to call up Year One and if the parts I wanted were in stock I would cancel my previous order. Today I called Chevy Duty to cancel. Fortunately for them, they were unable to cancel the order because they had shipped it out earlier in the afternoon. A little bit later I even received a UPS tracking number in the mail. I guess I can use the coupon to buy the patch panel for the other side.
More L6278
This is the message that reminded me I never finished up the post on the harddrive controller chip swap.
Hi Rick,
I found your blog while doing a search for an L6278. I laughed when I read your story about what happened to you and your hard drive. Not because you lost data, but because it’s the exact same story as mine (I feel your pain). I own a Western Digital 80 Gb drive manufactured in 01 that smoked the L6278. Similarily I don't care about the drive, but stupid me, I had 3 years of digital memories on it.
Before searching the internet and finding your blog, I'd gone through the same excersise of locating similar drives with the L6278 chip and swapping drive controllers. Same as you, it didn't work (same drive with different dates = no good). Thankfully I didn't ruin any other drives in the process.
So anyways, you never posted a follow up to your blog after you tried soldering the new IC. I'm very curious to know if it worked and if so, I'll be wanting to try that too! Please let me know your findings as I'd be a very happy person if I could recover my digital photos.
Sincerely,
Drew K
Eleven days, 9 pounds. I certainly did not help that we went to the Outback tonight and I had a Wallaby Darn (or two).
Parts is Parts
Back in February I ordered some parts from my truck from ChevyDuty. Earlier this week I checked on the order, and the parts were still on back order and the arrival date had slipped again. Yesterday I received a coupon in the mail from YearOne for 20% off my next order (if placed within 10 days).
I decided to call up Year One and if the parts I wanted were in stock I would cancel my previous order. Today I called Chevy Duty to cancel. Fortunately for them, they were unable to cancel the order because they had shipped it out earlier in the afternoon. A little bit later I even received a UPS tracking number in the mail. I guess I can use the coupon to buy the patch panel for the other side.
More L6278
This is the message that reminded me I never finished up the post on the harddrive controller chip swap.
Hi Rick,
I found your blog while doing a search for an L6278. I laughed when I read your story about what happened to you and your hard drive. Not because you lost data, but because it’s the exact same story as mine (I feel your pain). I own a Western Digital 80 Gb drive manufactured in 01 that smoked the L6278. Similarily I don't care about the drive, but stupid me, I had 3 years of digital memories on it.
Before searching the internet and finding your blog, I'd gone through the same excersise of locating similar drives with the L6278 chip and swapping drive controllers. Same as you, it didn't work (same drive with different dates = no good). Thankfully I didn't ruin any other drives in the process.
So anyways, you never posted a follow up to your blog after you tried soldering the new IC. I'm very curious to know if it worked and if so, I'll be wanting to try that too! Please let me know your findings as I'd be a very happy person if I could recover my digital photos.
Sincerely,
Drew K
Thursday, April 28, 2005
L6278
This is a follow up to a prevous post at the request of a reader (Drew K.) who found my blog while searching for information on the L6268 chip.
After having the L6278 swapped out from the good controller to the one that burnt up, I installed the repaired controller back in the driver. Click click click went the harddrive. But alas, the drive did not work.
My suspicion is that more that just the L6278 was fried. It was not obvious to me what other parts might be damaged.
In the end I had the good chip put back on the good controller. When all was said and done, the good drive was still functional and all my data on the fried drive was lost.
I suspect one of those data retrieval companies could have recovered it but it just wasn't worth the estimate I got.
Today I don't even remember what was on the harddrive. It must have been good stuff though because I spent many hours attempting to get the drive to operate just long enough to back up the data.
While this technique didn't work for me, I have seen a story where a guy swapped controller boards and recovered his data. Good luck.
For the record, quite a few people end up on my site looking for information about this part. L6278 has been in the Monthly Top-10 list of words my site is searched for every single month since I posted that entry.
This is a follow up to a prevous post at the request of a reader (Drew K.) who found my blog while searching for information on the L6268 chip.
After having the L6278 swapped out from the good controller to the one that burnt up, I installed the repaired controller back in the driver. Click click click went the harddrive. But alas, the drive did not work.
My suspicion is that more that just the L6278 was fried. It was not obvious to me what other parts might be damaged.
In the end I had the good chip put back on the good controller. When all was said and done, the good drive was still functional and all my data on the fried drive was lost.
I suspect one of those data retrieval companies could have recovered it but it just wasn't worth the estimate I got.
Today I don't even remember what was on the harddrive. It must have been good stuff though because I spent many hours attempting to get the drive to operate just long enough to back up the data.
While this technique didn't work for me, I have seen a story where a guy swapped controller boards and recovered his data. Good luck.
For the record, quite a few people end up on my site looking for information about this part. L6278 has been in the Monthly Top-10 list of words my site is searched for every single month since I posted that entry.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
The dirt is still in the back yard. The truck is still in the garage. The hole is still in the flowerbed. The pipe is still in the hole. The top on the Miata is still down. It is still to cool to be driving with the top down. I am still driving with the top down. Jordan is still playing Age of Empires.
I still don't have anything interesting to post.
I still don't have anything interesting to post.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Sunday, April 24, 2005
This afternoon I replaced the sprinkler pipe I cracked on Wednesday. There is still a lot of work to do in the flower beds on the sprinkler but it will wait.
I was hoping to get the garage cleaned up this afternoon but just as I got started Jordan asked me to come inside and play Age of Empires with him. This computer game is his obsession of the week. I told him earlier today that I would play it with him, so I dropped everything back on the bench and closed up the shop. Cleanup can wait til tomorrow.
MRC Command 2000
I purchased a used MRC Command 2000 on ebay this evening. For those not in the know, this is an entry level DCC system for model railroading. If you still don't know what I am talking about, go learn about it somewhere else.
I have been thinking about designing and building my own DCC system for a few years and just recently I got motivated enough to resume doing some of the research. I decided it would be prudent to play with a real system before building my own. I got a pretty reasonable deal on ebay so I can probably resell it later and break even. I am currently working on obtaining a factory equipped DCC loco also. These should get some good run time. I expect the kids will enjoy playing with these almost as much as myself. I guess you can call this the obsession of the week.
What's Next?
What's next for the truck? I am considering installing trailer lights on the back of the truck so it can get back on the street. Technically this would not be much of a challenge. There is a lot of wiring work that could be done. I am still considering replacing it all. And building the new harnesses myself. I am amazed at the prices of the aftermarket stuff. After all, stranded 14 gauge wire is only 11 cents a foot at Home Depot.
Today I was going to replace the ignition switch. I gathered it up will all the surrounding parts to head to the parts store. Before leaving I gave it a good once over. My inspection actually shows it to be in pretty good shape. I am not certain that it is original. It appears not to be 30+ years old. What I really need to replace is the wiring connector that mates up to the ignition switch. I don't know if I can find one of those, but I can just connect the individual wires using crimped connected to the spades on the switch. If I go this route I would put heat shrink on each of the wires to protect against shorting. It will be nice to actually be able to start the truck from inside the cab.
The next area really needing work is the bedside fenders. I have been ignoring them since I declared my independence from auto-body collision school. This will give me the opportunity to do a little more welding!
I don't really know what I will do next. We'll just have to wait and see what hits me next time I head out to the garage.
Repairing Terry's dovetailed drawers are probably what I need to be working on.
I was hoping to get the garage cleaned up this afternoon but just as I got started Jordan asked me to come inside and play Age of Empires with him. This computer game is his obsession of the week. I told him earlier today that I would play it with him, so I dropped everything back on the bench and closed up the shop. Cleanup can wait til tomorrow.
MRC Command 2000
I purchased a used MRC Command 2000 on ebay this evening. For those not in the know, this is an entry level DCC system for model railroading. If you still don't know what I am talking about, go learn about it somewhere else.
I have been thinking about designing and building my own DCC system for a few years and just recently I got motivated enough to resume doing some of the research. I decided it would be prudent to play with a real system before building my own. I got a pretty reasonable deal on ebay so I can probably resell it later and break even. I am currently working on obtaining a factory equipped DCC loco also. These should get some good run time. I expect the kids will enjoy playing with these almost as much as myself. I guess you can call this the obsession of the week.
What's Next?
What's next for the truck? I am considering installing trailer lights on the back of the truck so it can get back on the street. Technically this would not be much of a challenge. There is a lot of wiring work that could be done. I am still considering replacing it all. And building the new harnesses myself. I am amazed at the prices of the aftermarket stuff. After all, stranded 14 gauge wire is only 11 cents a foot at Home Depot.
Today I was going to replace the ignition switch. I gathered it up will all the surrounding parts to head to the parts store. Before leaving I gave it a good once over. My inspection actually shows it to be in pretty good shape. I am not certain that it is original. It appears not to be 30+ years old. What I really need to replace is the wiring connector that mates up to the ignition switch. I don't know if I can find one of those, but I can just connect the individual wires using crimped connected to the spades on the switch. If I go this route I would put heat shrink on each of the wires to protect against shorting. It will be nice to actually be able to start the truck from inside the cab.
The next area really needing work is the bedside fenders. I have been ignoring them since I declared my independence from auto-body collision school. This will give me the opportunity to do a little more welding!
I don't really know what I will do next. We'll just have to wait and see what hits me next time I head out to the garage.
Repairing Terry's dovetailed drawers are probably what I need to be working on.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Another GMC Update
Today I hooked the transmission lines to the radiator, added a few boths to the fenders, and bolted the bed floor on. I also adjusted the timing. Initially I set it it to 4 degrees BTDC but then I remembered I probably have a high performance cam and solid lifters. My neighbor Lott showed me how to set it by listening to the motor when it cranks. I now have a lot more power! Just look at the two black tire marks in the driveway. We tweaked on the idle screw a little too. It is now able to idle at a lower rpm since the timing is closer to perfect. I was told I could back it off a little bit if I wanted to but I would lose a little bit of power.
Before adjusting the timing, I climbed into the engine bay, removed the distributor and adjusted its position. That requires one to turn the oil pump with the distributor removed. This had to be done so that I could twist the distributor further. The vacuum advance thingie was pressed against the intake manifold. Once the oil pump shaft it twisted, the distributor can be reinstalled in an alternate postion without modifying the timing. Perfection.
Last night I installed the hood, front bumper, and outer grill. Today while twisting the distributor I wished I hadn't put the hood on, but all is well that ends well. I also removed the ignition switch. It is messed up (part of the plastic is melted) and needs to be replaced. The local parts store has them for about $15. I will probably keep the same key cylinder in it.
My current plan is to get more of the wiring functional. I am planning on building my own wiring harnesses. The '72 Chevy Chassis Service Manual has a nice schematic of all the trucks wiring.
Diet
Now that is an ugly four letter words. I have been thinking for a few weeks that I should try to lose a few pounds. Each week I would think next week. Sunday I thought next week. Monday morning I decided today is the starting day.
I decided to go the high protein route (low carb). This method was very successful for me about three years ago. Things are going well so far. I have seen the scale drop 9 pounds this week. My orignal goal was only 7. I figure I will probably continue for another week or two. The second week is never as easy or as successful as the first.
And don't forget to drink lots of water. That is the real trick. Just imagine how much extra exercise you get if you have to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
Today I hooked the transmission lines to the radiator, added a few boths to the fenders, and bolted the bed floor on. I also adjusted the timing. Initially I set it it to 4 degrees BTDC but then I remembered I probably have a high performance cam and solid lifters. My neighbor Lott showed me how to set it by listening to the motor when it cranks. I now have a lot more power! Just look at the two black tire marks in the driveway. We tweaked on the idle screw a little too. It is now able to idle at a lower rpm since the timing is closer to perfect. I was told I could back it off a little bit if I wanted to but I would lose a little bit of power.
Before adjusting the timing, I climbed into the engine bay, removed the distributor and adjusted its position. That requires one to turn the oil pump with the distributor removed. This had to be done so that I could twist the distributor further. The vacuum advance thingie was pressed against the intake manifold. Once the oil pump shaft it twisted, the distributor can be reinstalled in an alternate postion without modifying the timing. Perfection.
Last night I installed the hood, front bumper, and outer grill. Today while twisting the distributor I wished I hadn't put the hood on, but all is well that ends well. I also removed the ignition switch. It is messed up (part of the plastic is melted) and needs to be replaced. The local parts store has them for about $15. I will probably keep the same key cylinder in it.
My current plan is to get more of the wiring functional. I am planning on building my own wiring harnesses. The '72 Chevy Chassis Service Manual has a nice schematic of all the trucks wiring.
Diet
Now that is an ugly four letter words. I have been thinking for a few weeks that I should try to lose a few pounds. Each week I would think next week. Sunday I thought next week. Monday morning I decided today is the starting day.
I decided to go the high protein route (low carb). This method was very successful for me about three years ago. Things are going well so far. I have seen the scale drop 9 pounds this week. My orignal goal was only 7. I figure I will probably continue for another week or two. The second week is never as easy or as successful as the first.
And don't forget to drink lots of water. That is the real trick. Just imagine how much extra exercise you get if you have to go to the bathroom every 15 minutes.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Idle Speed
I took the afternoon off to work on the sprinkler system. I managed to get most of my hole dug when I (surprise) it the water line with the shovel. By the time I got the water turned off, my hole was more of a pond. While waiting for the flood to receed, I decided to work on the truck.
I installed the battery tray, heater hoses, and radiator hoses. After filling up the radiator, I cranked it and let it idle in the driveway for an hour. During this time I topped of the transmission fluid, adjusted the timing, topped off the radiator, and eventually cruised up and down the driveway.
After running a few minutes I noticed some smoke. This didn't happen the last two times I cranked it. After a little investigation I found the smoke was coming off the exhaust pipes. After a few minutes it stopped. Theory is that I got some oil or tranny fluid on them at some point and the heat was just burning it off. The smoke is now gone. I guess it didn't get hot enough to smoke the first couple of times.
I also noticed a little water leak on the top radiator hose where it connects to the intake manifold. I tightned the clamp a little. Nope it appears to be coming from between the thermostat housing and the gastket. I will check on that one latter. The leak is just a trickle and it only leaks when the thermostat is open.
Tomorrow is dirt day. I believe that fell in May last year.
And for the record, the truck is actually running in the picture above. After it warmed up, it cranked very easily. Just hit the starter for about a 1.5 seconds and vaaarooom.
I took the afternoon off to work on the sprinkler system. I managed to get most of my hole dug when I (surprise) it the water line with the shovel. By the time I got the water turned off, my hole was more of a pond. While waiting for the flood to receed, I decided to work on the truck.
I installed the battery tray, heater hoses, and radiator hoses. After filling up the radiator, I cranked it and let it idle in the driveway for an hour. During this time I topped of the transmission fluid, adjusted the timing, topped off the radiator, and eventually cruised up and down the driveway.
After running a few minutes I noticed some smoke. This didn't happen the last two times I cranked it. After a little investigation I found the smoke was coming off the exhaust pipes. After a few minutes it stopped. Theory is that I got some oil or tranny fluid on them at some point and the heat was just burning it off. The smoke is now gone. I guess it didn't get hot enough to smoke the first couple of times.
I also noticed a little water leak on the top radiator hose where it connects to the intake manifold. I tightned the clamp a little. Nope it appears to be coming from between the thermostat housing and the gastket. I will check on that one latter. The leak is just a trickle and it only leaks when the thermostat is open.
Tomorrow is dirt day. I believe that fell in May last year.
And for the record, the truck is actually running in the picture above. After it warmed up, it cranked very easily. Just hit the starter for about a 1.5 seconds and vaaarooom.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
GMC Update
Tonight I had two helpers in the garage: David M. and Dwayne "Mr. Goodwrench" W.
We did a little work on the battery box. It was previously held together with parts of a clothes hanger and miscellaneous bits of wire. Now it is held together by a couple of well placed but amateurish welds. We are getting better, slowly.
Besides the battery box welding, we also installed the radiator support and hung the front fenders. I say hung because they are each being held on by 4 bolts apiece. There are still many bolts left to install but four is enough to keep them in place. The radiator is in also.
The next trip to the part store will be to retrieve heater hoses. Hopefully that will be the last of the required parts before I can cruise up and down the driveway.
Oh yeah, just for fun we cranked it again tonight. Thirty more seconds of run time.
Tonight I had two helpers in the garage: David M. and Dwayne "Mr. Goodwrench" W.
We did a little work on the battery box. It was previously held together with parts of a clothes hanger and miscellaneous bits of wire. Now it is held together by a couple of well placed but amateurish welds. We are getting better, slowly.
Besides the battery box welding, we also installed the radiator support and hung the front fenders. I say hung because they are each being held on by 4 bolts apiece. There are still many bolts left to install but four is enough to keep them in place. The radiator is in also.
The next trip to the part store will be to retrieve heater hoses. Hopefully that will be the last of the required parts before I can cruise up and down the driveway.
Oh yeah, just for fun we cranked it again tonight. Thirty more seconds of run time.
Monday, April 18, 2005
One More Time For The Road
Did I mention I got the 305 CSB running yesterday. Last night using the fabulous internet, I determined the correct wiring for the alternator. Tomorrow night I will get it wired in assuming I can to locate some 10 gauge wire. Perhaps a trip to the Home Depot is in my near future.
Did I mention I got the 305 CSB running yesterday. Last night using the fabulous internet, I determined the correct wiring for the alternator. Tomorrow night I will get it wired in assuming I can to locate some 10 gauge wire. Perhaps a trip to the Home Depot is in my near future.
I was just checking out the message board on the Choirs site. According to a post there, they shipped the first 162 albums on Saturday. Since I received mine today, mine was one of those. I bet the last u2 cd I got was not even one of the first 162,000 shipped.
No wonder CDDB couldn't tell me what the CD was.
No wonder CDDB couldn't tell me what the CD was.
Nobody Gets a Smooth Ride
The new Choir CD, "o how the mighty have fallen", arrived by mail today. Autographed by the band no less. I can actually make out a few of the sigs. Let's see: Tim Chandler, Dan Michales, Marc Byrd . Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong need to work on their penmanship.
The CDDB music database had no idea what the CD was. I think this is the second time ever this has happened. The last time it was a more esoteric album. More esoteric than The Choir.
At this point I would say my favorite song will be We Give, We Take, but there are definitely several other contenders.
This is a good album. Good job guys! It's a fine fun time.
So is it a coincidence that on this album the song "We Give, We Take" starts with "Hello One Two", where as U2's Vertigo started out "Uno dos tres catorce, Hello, Hello". See #14 of 15 Things You didn't know about The Choir. What do you think?
This album just keeps getting better and better. I have been a fan of these guys since '87 when I discovered Chase the Kangeroo. Shovel go deep!
The new Choir CD, "o how the mighty have fallen", arrived by mail today. Autographed by the band no less. I can actually make out a few of the sigs. Let's see: Tim Chandler, Dan Michales, Marc Byrd . Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong need to work on their penmanship.
The CDDB music database had no idea what the CD was. I think this is the second time ever this has happened. The last time it was a more esoteric album. More esoteric than The Choir.
At this point I would say my favorite song will be We Give, We Take, but there are definitely several other contenders.
This is a good album. Good job guys! It's a fine fun time.
So is it a coincidence that on this album the song "We Give, We Take" starts with "Hello One Two", where as U2's Vertigo started out "Uno dos tres catorce, Hello, Hello". See #14 of 15 Things You didn't know about The Choir. What do you think?
This album just keeps getting better and better. I have been a fan of these guys since '87 when I discovered Chase the Kangeroo. Shovel go deep!
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Nothing Like The Sun
Today's goal for the truck was to get it running. And I did.
It has been the plan for a few days to verify it would crank before I put the front end back on. Why? Just in case I needed to pull the engine back out.
Why the hoop-la? Because I have been working on it since late October?
At first I just wanted to see the engine turn over. Three wires are all you need. Negative battery terminal to the alternator bracket for grounding. Postive battery terminal to the starter. And one more wire from the switched input on the starter. The third wire when connected to +12V causes the starter to engage. {After the engine starts, don't froget to disconnect the starter wire}
The engine turns over. Good enough. This was basically a repeat of yesterday.
Next I hooked another wire from the battery to the the (BATT) input on the HEI distributor. This is the wire that provides power to the distributor. The distributor cranks up the voltage and directs it to a plug. Cool, now the plugs are sparking.
Next, fuel. To get fuel to the carb, I had to prime the fuel line from the tank to the pump. To make this a little easier, I added a few gallons to the tank. A little gas was pump in the carb to help turn the engine over. After a few spins the pump was supplying the gas.
During all this time, the timing was close but not quite right. I had set the initial timeing using my best guess. Considering this was first attempt things worked out well. My neighbor Lott played with the timing a little bit. We managed to advance the timing too much. That means a ball of fire comes shooting out of the carb. Fortunately he had some experience with this and new to put the lid on the air filter before attempting to start it. This causes the fire to go back out due to a lack of oxygen.
We saw fire 3 times. The first time when we had the time advanced just a little bit. He adjusted it a little be more {in the wrong direction} and we saw more fire. Working in the other direction, we eventually found that we had retarded the timing so much that we found flame again.
It turns out my initial timing was probably pretty close, but it didn't crank, probably because we had it flooded.
When it did finally start, it ran very smoothly. Lott was very impressed. I was ecstatic.
I only let it run for about 30 seconds. Here is why. First we were running off a weak battery. I have not yet hooked the alternator back up. We were not using any of the stock wiring, just the four wires I described above. The old wiring is in really bad shape and needs to be replaced.
Second, I have not installed the radiator yet. Without the radiator, there is also no coolant, or hoses, etc. I had been advised that this would be safe as long as I kept runtime under a minute.
It turns out I need to hookup two more wires to get the alternator hooked in. I found the information I needed here. The great thing about these old Chevys is that when I need some info, there are lots of sites providing technical details. These sites include pages devoted to Chevelles, Cameros, Corvettes, Impalas, Nomads, Bel Aires, and even old trucks. Some of these may not have started out with a small block, but someone is always busy dropping one in.
Today's goal for the truck was to get it running. And I did.
It has been the plan for a few days to verify it would crank before I put the front end back on. Why? Just in case I needed to pull the engine back out.
Why the hoop-la? Because I have been working on it since late October?
At first I just wanted to see the engine turn over. Three wires are all you need. Negative battery terminal to the alternator bracket for grounding. Postive battery terminal to the starter. And one more wire from the switched input on the starter. The third wire when connected to +12V causes the starter to engage. {After the engine starts, don't froget to disconnect the starter wire}
The engine turns over. Good enough. This was basically a repeat of yesterday.
Next I hooked another wire from the battery to the the (BATT) input on the HEI distributor. This is the wire that provides power to the distributor. The distributor cranks up the voltage and directs it to a plug. Cool, now the plugs are sparking.
Next, fuel. To get fuel to the carb, I had to prime the fuel line from the tank to the pump. To make this a little easier, I added a few gallons to the tank. A little gas was pump in the carb to help turn the engine over. After a few spins the pump was supplying the gas.
During all this time, the timing was close but not quite right. I had set the initial timeing using my best guess. Considering this was first attempt things worked out well. My neighbor Lott played with the timing a little bit. We managed to advance the timing too much. That means a ball of fire comes shooting out of the carb. Fortunately he had some experience with this and new to put the lid on the air filter before attempting to start it. This causes the fire to go back out due to a lack of oxygen.
We saw fire 3 times. The first time when we had the time advanced just a little bit. He adjusted it a little be more {in the wrong direction} and we saw more fire. Working in the other direction, we eventually found that we had retarded the timing so much that we found flame again.
It turns out my initial timing was probably pretty close, but it didn't crank, probably because we had it flooded.
When it did finally start, it ran very smoothly. Lott was very impressed. I was ecstatic.
I only let it run for about 30 seconds. Here is why. First we were running off a weak battery. I have not yet hooked the alternator back up. We were not using any of the stock wiring, just the four wires I described above. The old wiring is in really bad shape and needs to be replaced.
Second, I have not installed the radiator yet. Without the radiator, there is also no coolant, or hoses, etc. I had been advised that this would be safe as long as I kept runtime under a minute.
It turns out I need to hookup two more wires to get the alternator hooked in. I found the information I needed here. The great thing about these old Chevys is that when I need some info, there are lots of sites providing technical details. These sites include pages devoted to Chevelles, Cameros, Corvettes, Impalas, Nomads, Bel Aires, and even old trucks. Some of these may not have started out with a small block, but someone is always busy dropping one in.
For several hours I have been trying to decide which title I would use for this entry. Here are a few of my options:
1) Sweet
2) It's Alive
And here is the one I decided to go with:
Great Balls of Fire
At approximately 4:00 pm today I successfully cranked the '72 GMC. Yep, you read it right. More details to come.
This was a huge event for me.
1) Sweet
2) It's Alive
And here is the one I decided to go with:
Great Balls of Fire
At approximately 4:00 pm today I successfully cranked the '72 GMC. Yep, you read it right. More details to come.
This was a huge event for me.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
It's A Muscial Journey Really
I got a chance this morning to watch my new DVD from Amazon. I have probably only seen this movie once in the last ten years. It is still very engaging. Makes me want to get out my guitar and pretend I can play for a while.
It still gives me chills when the screen turns red at the beginning of Where The Streets Have No Name. I want to run...
During the song When Love Comes To Town, I believe I spotted my Sister and iMike in the audience.
Now I need to watch the Elevation Tour and U2 - Go Home, Live At Slane Castle again DVDs again. I last watched both of these in November.
There are a few more U2 concert videos I would like to have but they are only available on VHS. I sure wish they would release Under A Blood Red Sky on DVD.
Now where is that new Choir CD I ordered last month? They must be busy autographing it for me.
I got a chance this morning to watch my new DVD from Amazon. I have probably only seen this movie once in the last ten years. It is still very engaging. Makes me want to get out my guitar and pretend I can play for a while.
It still gives me chills when the screen turns red at the beginning of Where The Streets Have No Name. I want to run...
During the song When Love Comes To Town, I believe I spotted my Sister and iMike in the audience.
Now I need to watch the Elevation Tour and U2 - Go Home, Live At Slane Castle again DVDs again. I last watched both of these in November.
There are a few more U2 concert videos I would like to have but they are only available on VHS. I sure wish they would release Under A Blood Red Sky on DVD.
Now where is that new Choir CD I ordered last month? They must be busy autographing it for me.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Several months ago when it seemed to rain for forty days and forty nights, the water from the creek behind our house rose. This year due to my previous dirt obsession, the water did not cover as much of the yard.
As usual, when the water is up, all sorts of junk gets washed into my back yard: milk jugs, bits of syrofoam, plasic soda bottles, and the neighbors fence.
Thats right, part of the neighbors fence. The year before when it flooded part of this particular fence was pushed over by the rushing water. It was damaged so they decided to replace it. The folks upstream from them decided the fence panel would make a nice bridge and proceeded to do so. They even added some nice steel cables to reinforce it.
This year it showed up in my backyard. No one ever came looking for it. After a couple of weeks, I pulled it out of the trees. After setting in the yard for a few months I finally decided they weren't coming for it. This evening I dismantled it and placed the boards in the back of my truck, rusty nails and all. This weekend I will find a final resting ground for it.
If you have any junk in your yard, and it rains really hard and get washed away, please be considerate and go retrieve it.
In other news, the bull dozers are working on the lot behind us. From what I understand we will soon be infested with a bunch of new Town Homes. I am hoping for some in the $500,000 dollar range. That should keep the rif-raf out and raise my property value. Personally, I have never seen a 500k town home, but it could happen.
Zoom, zoom, zoom went the Miata with the top down.
As usual, when the water is up, all sorts of junk gets washed into my back yard: milk jugs, bits of syrofoam, plasic soda bottles, and the neighbors fence.
Thats right, part of the neighbors fence. The year before when it flooded part of this particular fence was pushed over by the rushing water. It was damaged so they decided to replace it. The folks upstream from them decided the fence panel would make a nice bridge and proceeded to do so. They even added some nice steel cables to reinforce it.
This year it showed up in my backyard. No one ever came looking for it. After a couple of weeks, I pulled it out of the trees. After setting in the yard for a few months I finally decided they weren't coming for it. This evening I dismantled it and placed the boards in the back of my truck, rusty nails and all. This weekend I will find a final resting ground for it.
If you have any junk in your yard, and it rains really hard and get washed away, please be considerate and go retrieve it.
In other news, the bull dozers are working on the lot behind us. From what I understand we will soon be infested with a bunch of new Town Homes. I am hoping for some in the $500,000 dollar range. That should keep the rif-raf out and raise my property value. Personally, I have never seen a 500k town home, but it could happen.
Zoom, zoom, zoom went the Miata with the top down.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
GMC or Chevy?
I have made a decision. I have been thinking about this for several months. As I have said before my truck has a bit of an identity crisis. It was orignally a GMC but it currently looks to be a Chevy.
At some point the truck was involved in a collision. The front end must have been pretty well smashed up because the entire front end was replaced. The front cross member was not replaced but it is pretty well banged up. When I say the entire front end I mean the inner and outter grill, the radiator support, the left and right inner and outer fenders, the front bumper, and the front bumper brackets. {Technically the front bumper brackets were removed and never replaced.} Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, the hood.
So what did I decided? I decided to acquire a front end from a GMC truck to put on my truck. The current front end is part 71 and part 72 Chevy. What will I get? Well it depends on what I can find at the salvage yard. The price will probably run between $200 and $250 based on a quote I got a few months ago. That included the salvage yard workers removing the parts from the old truck. Imagine what it would cost to replace all that on your car.
I suspect I will put this off for a few months but it is never to early to start planning.
If my memory serves me correctly, any GMC front end from 67-72 should fit ok. I am torn between trying to find a 67-68 because of the sloped hood or looking for a 72 because that is what it came with. I will let you know more once I decide or whenever fate makes the decision for me.
Plenty of Fluids
As for the list below, I forgot to itemize pouring in the transmission and power steering fluid. The oil has already been introduced and the oil pump has been primed. For the record, I decided to try out a synthetic blend oil. I think it was Castrol. I am also considering switching the Miata to Mobile 1 when the next change rolls around. My neighor speaks very highly of it as do a few others I know.
I have made a decision. I have been thinking about this for several months. As I have said before my truck has a bit of an identity crisis. It was orignally a GMC but it currently looks to be a Chevy.
At some point the truck was involved in a collision. The front end must have been pretty well smashed up because the entire front end was replaced. The front cross member was not replaced but it is pretty well banged up. When I say the entire front end I mean the inner and outter grill, the radiator support, the left and right inner and outer fenders, the front bumper, and the front bumper brackets. {Technically the front bumper brackets were removed and never replaced.} Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, the hood.
So what did I decided? I decided to acquire a front end from a GMC truck to put on my truck. The current front end is part 71 and part 72 Chevy. What will I get? Well it depends on what I can find at the salvage yard. The price will probably run between $200 and $250 based on a quote I got a few months ago. That included the salvage yard workers removing the parts from the old truck. Imagine what it would cost to replace all that on your car.
I suspect I will put this off for a few months but it is never to early to start planning.
If my memory serves me correctly, any GMC front end from 67-72 should fit ok. I am torn between trying to find a 67-68 because of the sloped hood or looking for a 72 because that is what it came with. I will let you know more once I decide or whenever fate makes the decision for me.
Plenty of Fluids
As for the list below, I forgot to itemize pouring in the transmission and power steering fluid. The oil has already been introduced and the oil pump has been primed. For the record, I decided to try out a synthetic blend oil. I think it was Castrol. I am also considering switching the Miata to Mobile 1 when the next change rolls around. My neighor speaks very highly of it as do a few others I know.
Chevy II Duty
Way back in February, I mentioned that I had ordered some sheet metal for the GMC from Chevy Duty. I am still waiting. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the million dollars showed up in the mail first. Fortunately I have wireless connectivity so I can blog from the curb.
Way back in February, I mentioned that I had ordered some sheet metal for the GMC from Chevy Duty. I am still waiting. At this point I wouldn't be surprised if the million dollars showed up in the mail first. Fortunately I have wireless connectivity so I can blog from the curb.
Yellow
The pollen is very heavy this year. My truck is changing colors and the Miata dash has to be dusted everyday.
GMC Update
Tonights shop time seemed productive. We hooked the second exhaust pipe up to the exhaust manifold. Also tightened the carb down and hooked up the vacuum lines and accelerator cable. Put the engine at TDC (top dead center).
Whats left?
1. Install the distributor cap.
2. Put the belts on.
3. Radiator support, radiator, hoses, and transmission coolant lines.
4. Connect fuel line to pump.
5. The secondary vacuum thingy.
6. Connect switched starter wire.
7. That other wire that goes to the distributor cap.
8. What else am I forgetting?
So here is a question. How long can an engine run with out any coolant/water with out causing damage to the block? Assuming this is possible, I could delay step 3 until after the engine has cranked.
David M is certain that it will run, just not sure how smooth it will be running. I suspect my neighbor can help resolve that.
The pollen is very heavy this year. My truck is changing colors and the Miata dash has to be dusted everyday.
GMC Update
Tonights shop time seemed productive. We hooked the second exhaust pipe up to the exhaust manifold. Also tightened the carb down and hooked up the vacuum lines and accelerator cable. Put the engine at TDC (top dead center).
Whats left?
1. Install the distributor cap.
2. Put the belts on.
3. Radiator support, radiator, hoses, and transmission coolant lines.
4. Connect fuel line to pump.
5. The secondary vacuum thingy.
6. Connect switched starter wire.
7. That other wire that goes to the distributor cap.
8. What else am I forgetting?
So here is a question. How long can an engine run with out any coolant/water with out causing damage to the block? Assuming this is possible, I could delay step 3 until after the engine has cranked.
David M is certain that it will run, just not sure how smooth it will be running. I suspect my neighbor can help resolve that.
Monday, April 11, 2005
MPG
Yesterday on the way home from church, G said something like "Perhaps I should get a car that gets better gas mileage." She drives a Tahoe. It gets better MPG than my truck, but not much better.
(I am betting gas will hit $3.00 per gallon before long).
About a block later, I had the solution. There on the side of the road sat a mid-60's Mustang convertable, for sale.
It probably doesn't get better gas mileage but unlike most cars, you could drive it and it would appreciate in value. We didn't stop and look at it. How could I? She was absolutely right when she said "Where could you park it?" I bet I could get it in the garage if we parked it sideways in front of the Miata. I wonder if it is still there? Surely it couldn't be any worse of an investment than QQQQ or VFIN.
Yesterday on the way home from church, G said something like "Perhaps I should get a car that gets better gas mileage." She drives a Tahoe. It gets better MPG than my truck, but not much better.
(I am betting gas will hit $3.00 per gallon before long).
About a block later, I had the solution. There on the side of the road sat a mid-60's Mustang convertable, for sale.
It probably doesn't get better gas mileage but unlike most cars, you could drive it and it would appreciate in value. We didn't stop and look at it. How could I? She was absolutely right when she said "Where could you park it?" I bet I could get it in the garage if we parked it sideways in front of the Miata. I wonder if it is still there? Surely it couldn't be any worse of an investment than QQQQ or VFIN.
Three-Oh!-Eight
This morning as I was driving up my street, I yielded for a red car to pull out in front on my red car. My red car has the top down. This red car had the top open, though I wouldn't say it was down. It was kind of a t-top though not necessarily T.
At first I thought this car was an Acura NSX. A guy on the next street over has a red NSX. This was not the NSX. Another guy on the next street has a 2005 triple black Viper. This definitely wasn't a Viper. Nor was it one of the local Corvettes.
This one was a Ferrari 308 GTS. Who are all these guys and where do they work?
More Network Problems
How is this for a little variety. Tonight I had network connectivy, but I couldn't access Blogger's site. This is not the same as not having internet access or internet access with blogger but being unable to post. What's going on?
Plain White Toast
A friend of mine says he likes Cracker Barrell alot! So much so that he always orders the same breakfast when he is there. I don't recall if it is Uncle Hershels or the Old Timer but you get the idea. I have mentioned to him in the past that they have a pretty good Burger and reasonable onion rings. He is a big fan of onion rings also. Today he said he would have to go to CB several times in a single week if he were ever going to be able to try the onion rings. Sounds like a challenge.
Tomorrow we planning a trip to the local CB. I will be having the burger perhaps. He will be having his usual breakfast with plain White toast.
The Wednesday plan is another trip to CB. I will perhaps have ham and biscuits or possibly the meat loaf. He will probably have his usual breakfast with plain White toast.
For Thursday we are planning a trip to CB. Perhaps I will have bacon and eggs or maybe Chicken Fried Steak. Perhaps he will finally have some onion rings. And plain White toast.
One time at CB when they asked for a name to put on the list, I responded "White".
"White like the color?"
"No white like the trash." He is fortunate enough to have the last name White and gets to be the butt of the joke often enough.
Plans for Friday do not include a trip to CB. That would be crazy. It would take forever to get a table at the Cracker Barrell on a Friday. Perhaps we could get some food to go and take it to the park. The trailer park.
And then next week we will all go on a diet.
Rattle and Hum
I received a package in the mail today from Amazon. I ordered a book and a DVD. The DVD is U2's Rattle and Hum. Not the album, but the DVD. I just happened to notice Amazon had it for $11.24. I couldn't resist.
The first time I saw the movie was the summer it was released. The theater was not packed when I saw it. Let's just say I knew almost everyone there. I was there with my girlfriend. Her name was Kim. There was only one other couple in the theather. While sitting waiting for the show to start I realized I recognized the laugh of the other guy. It was Wade T of Presence Fame. He was a big U2 fan also. (His car tag "U2 WAR" named after the U2 album of the same name.) I didn't know his date. That was the entire crowd. I thought it was a great show. I don't think my girl friend really cared for it. Probably not his either.
Just in case you didn't notice, the book has a fairly long name: Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity. Say that three times fast.
I started reading the book. Sounds pretty interesting huh? Two chapters already, so far two thumbs up.
This morning as I was driving up my street, I yielded for a red car to pull out in front on my red car. My red car has the top down. This red car had the top open, though I wouldn't say it was down. It was kind of a t-top though not necessarily T.
At first I thought this car was an Acura NSX. A guy on the next street over has a red NSX. This was not the NSX. Another guy on the next street has a 2005 triple black Viper. This definitely wasn't a Viper. Nor was it one of the local Corvettes.
This one was a Ferrari 308 GTS. Who are all these guys and where do they work?
More Network Problems
How is this for a little variety. Tonight I had network connectivy, but I couldn't access Blogger's site. This is not the same as not having internet access or internet access with blogger but being unable to post. What's going on?
Plain White Toast
A friend of mine says he likes Cracker Barrell alot! So much so that he always orders the same breakfast when he is there. I don't recall if it is Uncle Hershels or the Old Timer but you get the idea. I have mentioned to him in the past that they have a pretty good Burger and reasonable onion rings. He is a big fan of onion rings also. Today he said he would have to go to CB several times in a single week if he were ever going to be able to try the onion rings. Sounds like a challenge.
Tomorrow we planning a trip to the local CB. I will be having the burger perhaps. He will be having his usual breakfast with plain White toast.
The Wednesday plan is another trip to CB. I will perhaps have ham and biscuits or possibly the meat loaf. He will probably have his usual breakfast with plain White toast.
For Thursday we are planning a trip to CB. Perhaps I will have bacon and eggs or maybe Chicken Fried Steak. Perhaps he will finally have some onion rings. And plain White toast.
One time at CB when they asked for a name to put on the list, I responded "White".
"White like the color?"
"No white like the trash." He is fortunate enough to have the last name White and gets to be the butt of the joke often enough.
Plans for Friday do not include a trip to CB. That would be crazy. It would take forever to get a table at the Cracker Barrell on a Friday. Perhaps we could get some food to go and take it to the park. The trailer park.
And then next week we will all go on a diet.
Rattle and Hum
I received a package in the mail today from Amazon. I ordered a book and a DVD. The DVD is U2's Rattle and Hum. Not the album, but the DVD. I just happened to notice Amazon had it for $11.24. I couldn't resist.
The first time I saw the movie was the summer it was released. The theater was not packed when I saw it. Let's just say I knew almost everyone there. I was there with my girlfriend. Her name was Kim. There was only one other couple in the theather. While sitting waiting for the show to start I realized I recognized the laugh of the other guy. It was Wade T of Presence Fame. He was a big U2 fan also. (His car tag "U2 WAR" named after the U2 album of the same name.) I didn't know his date. That was the entire crowd. I thought it was a great show. I don't think my girl friend really cared for it. Probably not his either.
Just in case you didn't notice, the book has a fairly long name: Joel on Software: And on Diverse and Occasionally Related Matters That Will Prove of Interest to Software Developers, Designers, and Managers, and to Those Who, Whether by Good Fortune or Ill Luck, Work with Them in Some Capacity. Say that three times fast.
I started reading the book. Sounds pretty interesting huh? Two chapters already, so far two thumbs up.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
Monday I decided that I had graduated from the auto-body class. Four class sessions remained but it was going to be all shop time. Given that the learning curve had flattened out, I decided Tuesday evenings would be better spent at home working on the truck in my garage.
Tuesday evening David M came by to loosen the lugs on his Miata. They had been over tightened the last time they were rotated. Using a 4' pipe on the end of the lug wrench solved the problem. He had other commitments, made by his wife, so he couldn't stay for the evening session.
Mr. Dwayne W., aka Magic Hammer, aka Mr. Goodwrench, came by. I believe he and Creg have both graduated as well. I offered to let them take my fenders with them if they wanted to continue to go to class.
Tuesday I sand blasted the 2nd exhaust manifold and then painted it. After Dwayne showed up, we connected the first exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipe.
Next we began working on getting the initial distributor timing set. Unfortunately we were unable to turn the crank shaft. Deja vu! The first problem found was that the started seemed to be installed crooked. The starter housing was somehow pressed against the flex plate. The started was removed and about that time we called it a night. The clock in the garage said 8:10 pm but it hadn't been adjusted for DST. I had forgotten about that so I was surprised to see it was almost 9:30 pm when I got inside.
Tuesday evening David M came by to loosen the lugs on his Miata. They had been over tightened the last time they were rotated. Using a 4' pipe on the end of the lug wrench solved the problem. He had other commitments, made by his wife, so he couldn't stay for the evening session.
Mr. Dwayne W., aka Magic Hammer, aka Mr. Goodwrench, came by. I believe he and Creg have both graduated as well. I offered to let them take my fenders with them if they wanted to continue to go to class.
Tuesday I sand blasted the 2nd exhaust manifold and then painted it. After Dwayne showed up, we connected the first exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipe.
Next we began working on getting the initial distributor timing set. Unfortunately we were unable to turn the crank shaft. Deja vu! The first problem found was that the started seemed to be installed crooked. The starter housing was somehow pressed against the flex plate. The started was removed and about that time we called it a night. The clock in the garage said 8:10 pm but it hadn't been adjusted for DST. I had forgotten about that so I was surprised to see it was almost 9:30 pm when I got inside.
vsftp
Note to self: Things to check next time Blogger quits working with my FTP server.
vsftp - Ok the problem was that my public IP address changed earlier this week.
It was xx.xxx.xxx.183 and it is now xx.xxx.xxx.155.
Vsftp requires my IP address to be in
/etc/vsftp.conf
pasv_address = xx.xxx.xxx.155
Also make sure the passive port range is being forwarded correctly by the firewall.
pasv_min_port=
pasv_max_port=
Find out more about vsftp here.
Note to self: Things to check next time Blogger quits working with my FTP server.
vsftp - Ok the problem was that my public IP address changed earlier this week.
It was xx.xxx.xxx.183 and it is now xx.xxx.xxx.155.
Vsftp requires my IP address to be in
/etc/vsftp.conf
pasv_address = xx.xxx.xxx.155
Also make sure the passive port range is being forwarded correctly by the firewall.
pasv_min_port=
pasv_max_port=
Find out more about vsftp here.
Hi Rick
Today I got an email from another Rick A. Martindale. This guy is the CEO of Wunderbar. He mentioned that he found me while Googling himself. It turns out I am once again showing up on Googles search results.
Patent Search
While looking at the search results I noticed something interesting on Fresh Patents.
What is it you ask? A Patent Application Description for some stuff I worked on while at Teracruz. The application was for Patent for "System and Method for Query Result Caching". And yes, that is me listed on the inventors list.
The link is here.
Today I got an email from another Rick A. Martindale. This guy is the CEO of Wunderbar. He mentioned that he found me while Googling himself. It turns out I am once again showing up on Googles search results.
Patent Search
While looking at the search results I noticed something interesting on Fresh Patents.
What is it you ask? A Patent Application Description for some stuff I worked on while at Teracruz. The application was for Patent for "System and Method for Query Result Caching". And yes, that is me listed on the inventors list.
The link is here.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Monday, April 04, 2005
Instant Gratification
Or rather, a lack thereof. I signed up with Gravatar. Who knew I would have to wait to have my image approved?
Or rather, a lack thereof. I signed up with Gravatar. Who knew I would have to wait to have my image approved?
Sunday, April 03, 2005
More Sand Please
This afternoon I sandblasted all the surface fust off of one of the exahaust manifolds. Next I welded up one a hole. This hole was for heat risers and had previously been welded shut but I opened it back up last week while grinding off some excess metal.
After welding it shut and grinding it smooth, I put a couple of coats on high temperature silver paint on it. Looks pretty good. Unfortunately I ran out of play sand so I only got the one side done. I went ahead an installed it with some new grade 8 steel bolts.
Earlier in the day I spent an hour learning a little bit about metal shaping from a guy who lives a few miles away. He makes english wheels for a living. He had a very impressive setup. I learned a lot.
Yesterdays wind has ended. Today it was calm and warm, until I hit third gear. Then it was just warm.
The dishwasher over flowed yesterday. The kitchen floor was soaked. Unfortunately the carpet in the hall got its fair share too. The dishwasher repairman has already made three trips. It looks like we will be seeing this guy again.
This afternoon I sandblasted all the surface fust off of one of the exahaust manifolds. Next I welded up one a hole. This hole was for heat risers and had previously been welded shut but I opened it back up last week while grinding off some excess metal.
After welding it shut and grinding it smooth, I put a couple of coats on high temperature silver paint on it. Looks pretty good. Unfortunately I ran out of play sand so I only got the one side done. I went ahead an installed it with some new grade 8 steel bolts.
Earlier in the day I spent an hour learning a little bit about metal shaping from a guy who lives a few miles away. He makes english wheels for a living. He had a very impressive setup. I learned a lot.
Yesterdays wind has ended. Today it was calm and warm, until I hit third gear. Then it was just warm.
The dishwasher over flowed yesterday. The kitchen floor was soaked. Unfortunately the carpet in the hall got its fair share too. The dishwasher repairman has already made three trips. It looks like we will be seeing this guy again.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Creg and I went to get a Ford 5 liter engine and transmission to test fit into this truck. I loaned him the hoist. Good to see it getting some additional use ($$$ well spent).
After we got back to his house, we hung the engine and dropped it in. It looks like he will probably be removing frame cross members and replacing them with two new members in alternate locations. It looked like a good fit.
While picking up the engine this morning, I met a real nice guy with a Porsche Cayenne twin turbo. He happened to mention that its cost was just $140 (k). The just is what tickled me. It was a nice vehicle, but I think I would probably find several others I would rather have for that amount.
After we got back to his house, we hung the engine and dropped it in. It looks like he will probably be removing frame cross members and replacing them with two new members in alternate locations. It looked like a good fit.
While picking up the engine this morning, I met a real nice guy with a Porsche Cayenne twin turbo. He happened to mention that its cost was just $140 (k). The just is what tickled me. It was a nice vehicle, but I think I would probably find several others I would rather have for that amount.
Friday, April 01, 2005
The Voodoo arrived on Tuesday. As I was driving to work on Wednesday, I remembered that I had forgotten about it. Thursday evening, I put it in. I even snapped a few shots.
Today there was only an 80% change of rain. Since it was only misting, I went ahead and drove in to work with the top down. Am I imagining things or does the Miata have better traction in the rain now?
The car has been running very nice since the exhaust leak was resolved. I think the only real problem right now is that the tires seem to be getting square. Perhaps more time on the road would solve this.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again on Monday.
Tomorrow morning I am going with Creg K. to see Kevin S.'s shop. Creg is borrowing a Ford V8 5.0L engine and transmission from Kevin. His plan is to test fit the modern setup in his 1953 Ford pickup. He is currently trying to work out the details of what needs to be done to the cross members and check the clearance with the firewall.
Today there was only an 80% change of rain. Since it was only misting, I went ahead and drove in to work with the top down. Am I imagining things or does the Miata have better traction in the rain now?
The car has been running very nice since the exhaust leak was resolved. I think the only real problem right now is that the tires seem to be getting square. Perhaps more time on the road would solve this.
Rain, rain, go away,
Come again on Monday.
Tomorrow morning I am going with Creg K. to see Kevin S.'s shop. Creg is borrowing a Ford V8 5.0L engine and transmission from Kevin. His plan is to test fit the modern setup in his 1953 Ford pickup. He is currently trying to work out the details of what needs to be done to the cross members and check the clearance with the firewall.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)