Saturday, June 2, 2012
I went to an auction in Winfield and spent most of the day there. As usual, there were some items I would have bought if somebody else hadn't been willing to pay more than I was. As it turned out, I spent $3 for a pail containing two sets of block and tackle and an air nozzle. That last item was the attraction. Recently I saw one new at the local farm supply priced at about $15 and decided to wait for one to turn up at an auction. Mission accomplished. Another good deal was a pair of lawn sprinklers for $3. One of them is a Rain Bird so old that it's all metal, with no plastic parts to get brittle and break in a year or two. The other items of the day were a tray of miscellaneous stuff that included an antique monkey wrench for 50¢, a coffee can of nails for 25¢, and an antique corn popper for $1. A day well spent.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
This morning I went back to Sumner County to work on that sick tractor some more. We got some work done, then the rain started and I came home. We'll work on it some more next weekend.
Monday, June 4, 2012Today I investigated a problem with the Fordor. I ran a compression check and got zero on #1. One valve won't close. When the lifter goes down, the valve doesn't follow it all the way. I thought maybe there's something stuck under the valve that keeps it from closing. So I pried it up with a screwdriver and shot some compressed air into the sparkplug hole, hoping to dislodge the obstruction. No luck. I'll pull the manifolds, since one of them is wrong and needs to be replaced anyway, and see if I can spot anything through the intake or exhaust ports, but this looks like it's going to end with pulling the head to see what's going on.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Today I took off the manifolds and looked in the exhaust ports. That revealed the reason for zero psi on #1. A little puddle of water had condensed inside and rusted the valve stem so it wouldn't go down all the way. I squirted in a little oil and worked the valve up and down several times until it would go down on its own. That did the trick. A new compression check showed 35 psi. Unfortunately the same treatment had no effect on #3, which still had a reading of only 22 psi. I think I'll still end up pulling the head for a valve job.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
I took a break from the Fordor today to take care of some work on the touring that's been waiting a long time. I pulled out the floorboards, removed the metal trim, and threw away the Phillips screws that were holding it on. I painted the boards, the trim, and some proper slotted screws for the trim. The metal parts are baking in the oven, and the boards will sit out in the sun tomorrow to dry thoroughly before I reinstall the trim and put the boards back in the car. The guys who did the body on this car did a fair job and mostly used the right parts, but the use of all these Phillips screws was pretty lame.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
The main activity of the day was house cleaning. With reunion just a week away I want to get it done so I'm not rushing to get through it at the last minute. I did take a couple of hours to waste on the Parkerfield city website. After the city was late paying its bill, the hosting company trashed the site. Today I finally got it back up, but I still haven't figured out how to make the pictures on the site to show up. I suppose I'll figure it out eventually, but computer stuff is really annoying.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Friday's first job was reinstalling the newly painted floorboards with their newly repainted trim in the touring car. Then I drove it to town for my customary Friday morning shopping and errands. When I got home I went to work on house cleaning, vacuuming all the rooms upstairs. While I was doing that I discovered an infestation of ticks in my bedroom and gave them a nice poison shower. They probably rode into the house on Daisy. I was griping to the vet about finding ticks on her only a week after applying Frontline Plus. He said it's 92% effective. So if a hundred ticks get on the dog, eight of them will survive. I guess it's better to have eight than a hundred. At least it seems to kill all the fleas.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
I went to help Miles work on his tractor again today. We made good progress and got the PTO and transmission together and working, the drive shaft installed, and the rear axle section reattached to the torque tube. Tomorrow we should have the new clutch installed and the whole tractor back together. This evening I tried out a new dining place, an Asian buffet in Winfield that includes a Mongolian grill, which is a novelty in these parts. It's a less elaborate affair than you'd find in a large city, but a nice selection of good food. After dinner I went to see Men in Black 3. It's a good entertainment. The centerpiece is Josh Brolin's amazing portrayal of Tommy Lee Jones. He really nails it.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Success! We finished putting the tractor back together, including the new clutch, and it runs and drives the way it should. Now that I've helped somebody else get his tractor running, I need to do the same for a couple of my own. Fortunately my mowing tractor is OK, which is a good thing because I need to mow. Tomorrow will be my yard work day.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Yard work began with unloading the lumber and bricks from the pickup. They've been in there since March when I bought them at an auction, and I need them out so I can haul yard waste. Mark stopped by for a visit, so I had him help me move the back yard swing back where it belongs. It had to move last fall when I put in the new gas line. The only mowing I got done today was the area where the swing sits, so there's a lot more of that to do. Yard work continues tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Up and at 'em! I was out in the yard by six, as soon as there was enough daylight. The first job was pulling a large patch of weeds in front of the barn before mowing. Why not just mow them down? Because they grow back from the roots. I was done with that job a little after seven, and moved on to pulling weeds around the house and cutting off small trees and brush and poisoning the stumps. I had a truckful by 10:30, and took a break. I went to town to sell the wheat that was combined a couple of weeks ago. When I got home I started mowing, and spent the rest of the day on that. After dinner this evening I went out and finished up with the Dixon mower. I got all the mowing done today exept the lane down to the wood lot and along the road to the east. If I have time to do those tomorrow or Thursday I will. If not, it can wait a few days.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
House cleaning was the order of the day. I did a lot of tossing, vacuuming, mopping, and wiping. I spent all day at it and made good progress. I expect I'll finish tomorrow. Maybe I'll even get lucky and have it done by noon.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Noon was a bit ambitious. House cleaning went on and on, and I had it pretty well done by four. A few odds and ends remain to do in the morning, then I'll need to shop for tomorrow evening's back yard cookout.
Friday, June 15, 2012
This was Day One of our family reunion here at the farm. Some come just about every year, some come every three years or so, and some come as little kids and come again as teenagers. It was disappointing that some of the family who wanted to come couldn't for one reason or another, but it was fun having some young ones who were here for the first time, and they had a good time with the kittens and with mulberries. Tonight we had an evening cookout in the yard with burgers and hot dogs.
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Saturday, June 16, 2012 was Day Two, and we had some additional cousins who couldn't be here yesterday. Those who wanted to, went for a Model T ride. Today's meal was catered by a local barbecue place, and the comments were favorable, so I guess they'll get the gig next year.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Too hot! With reunion over I decided to get back to a job that's been waiting forever, sandblasting some clincher rims I want to have galvanized. The trouble was that I didn't start until after eleven, and the area where I sandblast is short on breeze. It quickly became a pretty sweaty project, so when I used up one tank of sand I called it a day. I got about half of one rim done, and there are four or five more to do after that. I need to get out there earlier in the day before the heat comes on. Instead of doing something sweaty I drove down to Ponca City and bought new entry locks for the house. I went to Lowe's instead of the local Ace because they have them in stock and they charge nothing to rekey them so all three will work with the same key as my workshop. The charge for that at Ace is $6.50 each.
Monday, June 18, 2012
After my tosaty experience yesterday, as soon as I finished my morning run and had breakfast I went out to sandblast in the cool of the morning. I had to quit to return tables rented for the weekend, but I mostly finished the rim I started yesterday. A little cleaning remains to do on it, then I can move on to the next one. After a trip to town to return the tables, I installed those new locks I bought yesterday. Of course, you don't just remove the old lock and put in the new one. There always has to be a certain amount of drilling and filing to make things fit.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Don't leave your blasting sand sitting outside on the tarp overnight. Dew will make it wet. I was out there to blast early, in the cool of the morning. I left the damp sand on the tarp and used fresh sand, and finished the first rim and started the second. When full sun started making things warm, I moved on to errands. That included a visit to the county seat to renew vehicle registrations, shopping for various small items, and five more bags of blasting sand. I ended the day sifting all the sand off the tarp and getting things ready for more blasting in the morning.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
On the first day of summer I was out to blast early, getting started about seven. It was a good day for it, with enough cloud cover to keep things cool. I was at it until eleven, and thoroughly finished the second rim and started the third. The fly in the ointment is that I found a few spots I missed on the first one. Ah well, I'll think about that tomorrow, back at Tara. My afternoon activity was a trip to town in the touring for shopping. Naturally I forgot something, so I'll have to go back tomorrow.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
A rainy morning kept me from sandblasting until noon. After nine the rain seemed to be over and a check of the radar showed nothing coming, so I chanced a trip to town in the touring. I went to the post office to get a box for returning a camera one of the cousins left here after the reunion last weekend, and I made a couple of other stops while I was at it. The cloud cover dribbled a few drops of rain on me, but it didn't amount to much. By noon the weather had dried out enough for me to blast. I was at it until about 2:30, then cleaned up and returned to town to mail the camera I packed earlier, and to buy groceries. I've been driving that car quite a bit lately. If there are any bugs in it I want them to show up on a short trip close to home so I can take care of them before I go off on a longer drive.
Friday, June 22, 2012
After my morning three miles and breakfast, clear weather found me out blasting by 7:30. I mostly finished rim #3 and got a start on #4. When I took my hood off I could see that there are a few minor areas on #3 that need a little more blasting, so that will be the start of my next session. Tomorrow is laundry day, so my next sandblasting will probably be Sunday morning. After a trip to town for shopping, I spent part of the afternoon making a new screen for sifting sand. The old window screen I've been using finally fell apart too much for me to use it anymore. The final job of the day was giving some of the sandblasted rims a good dose of metal prep to keep them from rusting. I'm a little over half done with blasting rims to have galvanized. I want to do four and a spare for the car, plus a couple for the Model T camping trailer I want to build. After I have all seven rims ready, then I have to do the lug nuts and bolts too.
Saturday, June 23, 2012 After doing laundry, I spent the day at an
auction in Oxford. I spent
$1 for an old can of Nourse oil in excellent condition, $1 for a
complete set of trowels for concrete work, $6 for an antique kerosene
can, and $5 for a grinder. The grinder was the score of the day. It's
the kind that was used in machine shops a hundred years ago, built to
run off an overhead line shaft. I opened the bidding at five dollars
and nobody else wanted it. I probably could have had it for $1, but it
was still the deal of the day as far as I'm concerned. The plan, if I
live long enough, is someday to set up an old time shop with line shaft
equipment.
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
Real summer has arrived. I didn't get up until about 6:30, and it already felt warm. By 7:30 I was done with breakfast, dressed, and setting up my sandblasting equipment. I got started a little before eight and worked until about nine, when the sun reached my blasting area. I finished rim #3 and got more done on #4. I don't need alot of sweat dripping on my work, so that was the end of my blasting for the day. I stayed in the shade and worked on things that didn't take much physical exertion, like prepping another rim and removing the rusty mounting nuts and bolts from some other ones.
Monday, June 25, 2012
I was out setting up the blasting equipment a few minutes after seven, and blasting a few minutes after that. I worked on rim #4 and kept at it until almost nine when the sun started reaching my blasting area. I made good progress on #4 and should be able to finish it next time. This afternoon I went for a drive to Wichita and bought a needle scaler to speed up my work. The scaler is supposed to knock off the heaviest rust and make the sandblasting go a lot faster. I hope it will make a difference on the inside of the clincher where the rust seems hardest to remove.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Another early start found me blasting by 6:30 this morning, when it was a cool 80º. I got rim #4 nearly done, but decided to leave the stubborn spots until I get my needle scaler ready to use. I have to install an air regulator first, so that will wait until tomorrow morning when my work area is cool again. Instead of trying to finish #4 I moved on to #5. It's a rim that's been galvanized before, so all I had to do was clean it up a bit and remove a few minor rust spots. The rest of the day, with an afternoon high of 101º, was devoted to easy, shady chores, like sorting sox, paying bills, and ordering parts.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The warmth continues. When I got up about 5:30 the thermometer read 82º. I installed a pressure regulator in the air line to my blasting area and tried out the new needle scaler. I found that it did a nice job of knocking off some of the rusty scale before blasting, but can't reach some of the area inside the curl of a clincher rim. Fortunately I have a small grinder that will reach those places. I finished the rim I was working on anyway, and got a start on the next one before the sun started to reach my blasting area around nine. Again I spent the rest of the day on calm and shaded chores. I mailed a roll of film to the lab for developing, gassed up the car, bought groceries, and sent emails to galvanizing companies to ask about getting my rims coated. I have one more rim to finish blasting, then I need to do some minor repairs to a few of them before I take them to the galvanizer. I hope to do that sometime next week.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Again, I was at it early. I started setting up the equipment at 6:30 and was blasting in a few minutes. I used up all the sifted sand by 8:30 and quit, and had tomorrow's sand sifted and ready to go by 9:15. I don't know if I'll finish this last rim tomorrow or not, as getting the rust out from under the curl of the clincher is mighty slow going. Once that part's done, the rest goes relatively quickly. After hitting the shower to wash off the sand, I spent the rest of the day on a compressor for my workshop. Actually, I bought it five years ago but never got around to setting it up for use. So today I cleaned out a space for it, moved it into place, and went shopping for some of the needed hardware. It will be nice having air in my shop so I don't have to hike over to the barn for every job which calls for it.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Ran a bit late today. I didn't get up until 6:30. But I didn't waste any time getting started, and by 9:00 I had my blasting done for the day, all the new sand I had was used up, and what was left on the tarp I had gathered up and sifted for the next session. I finished the last rim except for those stubborn spots behind the curl of the clincher. I'll go over those with the little grinder and finish the blasting tomorrow.
After a trip to town for more blasting sand and some hardware I forgot to get yesterday, I spent the rest of the day on my compressor installation. That one trip to town was followed by three more, as I kept finding more things I needed. I ended the day with the drain pipe and valve installed and the electrical connection finished. That leaves installation of a pipe to carry air into the shop. That will go through the attic, so it will have to be an early morning job before it gets steamy up there. Tomorrow I'll finish that last rim, so the air pipe installation will probably be a Sunday morning project.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Another early start. I got up at 5:50, and was dressed and busy by six. I did some grinding inside the clincher on that last rim, then fired up the sandblaster. It wasn't enough. There were still some of those stubborn rust spots left. I set the work aside and went shopping. I drove up to Belle Plaine to check out an auction there. I didn't find anything interesting enough to keep me there, so I drove down to another auction three miles east of Chilocco. That one also didn't have anything to make me stay, so I came home and got back to work. I bought some half inch pipe and fittings for the compressor setup, and cut and threaded a piece going up into the attic. I didn't brave the inside of the attic on a hundred degree day, though. Instead I ended the day with the little grinder, attacking those rust spots again. I'll hit it with the sand again and see if one more session will finish it.
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