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 |  "Putting on the Game Face" |
  This blog is a doorway into the mind of Percy Goodfellow. Don't be shocked at the lost boys of Namby-Pamby Land and the women they cavort with. Watch as his caricatures blunder about the space between audacious hope and the wake-up calls of tomorrow. Behold their scrawl on the CRT, like graffitti on a subway wall. Examine it through your own lens...Step up my friends, and separate the pepper from the rat poop. Welcome to my abode...the armpit of yesterday, the blinking of an eye and a plank to the edge of Eternity. Note: This blog is my journal. I've no interest in persuading anyone to adopt my views. What I write is whatever happens to interest me when I start pounding the keys. |
| Giving the “Beater” some Respectability I found out my lift had another good use….body work. I hate working on a concrete apron on my knees. With the lift the work is brought to a comfortable, shop stool level. I picked up another S-10 cheap because there were some holes rusted out and some rust along the rear box wheel wells. Not an uncommon problem. The truck had 140 K miles but had been well maintained and otherwise everything worked. It is a very nice little truck, not withstanding the body issues. There was also a deep dent in the passenger’s side door that had stretched the metal. I‘m a self taught body worker and use a technique for replacing rusted out and bad dings that I will share with you. It is based upon the premise of why spend 30 K for a new vehicle when the old one, despite some issues, is only halfway through it’s service life? If it has rust holes and bad dents, the trade in value will fall to next to nil. If you can double the life of the vehicle with a little simple body work you can keep that $30K in your pocket. There are several techniques that could be used but the one that I favored in this instance is using an industrial bonding agent to make the repair. Some call it gluing in a patch, some call it using epoxy and some purists call it “Bull-Poop”. I wonder how many body shops weld in patch panels or still hammer out dents these days. Not many would be my bet…. They buy new panels and bolt them in or use epoxy.. Its like the glass guy that only replaces windshields he can order from the wholesale house and charge you or the insurance company $300 a pop. Phase 1 The way the repair works is to cut out the offending rust or dent using an air tool with a cutting disk. You take a sharpie pen and draw the square or rectangle of the area you want to remove, making sure you encapsulate all the offending material. Phase 2 Once the blemish is removed cut three ( or more) sheet metal strips that will be glued behind the hole you just cut. The size of the strips depends on the hole, however, there are several considerations. First, these strips will be a backing for the patch you cut later to the full size of the hole. Thus, they must provide a backing for the shoulders of the hole and a strip down the middle. As a rule of thumb, half of a given strip should be underneath the hole and concealed with about one half showing. Next the strips must be small enough to fit in the opening and not so large that they will prevent clamps (Small C-clamps) from holding them in place. Cut the strips from a piece of sheet metal using snips, a nibbler or a shear and use the clamps to make sure everything will attach smooth and tight. Phase 3 Now you need to mix the 2 part epoxy. I use a product called Fusor 108B made by LORD. It uses one of those metal ratchet guns specially made (and priced) for the “Goop. ” When you get it loaded take off the tips and squeeze out what you need….normally two or three squirts. (Note, there are long mixing tubes if you want to do a big repair but for little ones, set these aside) Then put the tips back in the proper nozzle hole they came out of. (If you reverse them up they might not want to come back out for the next application) Anyway mix the two parts thoroughly. With this version of the epoxy you have about 15 minutes before it sets so make sure you have all in readiness at the repair site. Phase 4 Put on the glue to the underside of the repair and the adhering part of the repair strip. (The part underneath the hole) Clamp the strip in place underneath, leaving room to drill in a pop-rivet hole or two. Once the hole (s) is drilled, put in the rivet. It will hold the strip tight while it cures overnight. Put in the other strips in the same manner. When you are finished you will have the strips riveted in place with a space between the three strips that lets you get the clamps in and out. Wear disposable hospital latex gloves or some equivalent and clean up with acetone or mineral spirits. Phase 5 The following day cut a patch to the square or rectangle that fits as precisely as possible. Apply the glue to the backing strips and the underside of the patch and again pop-rivet in place. (Note it is probably best to use steel rivets for steel sheetmetal and aluminum for non-ferris sheet metals (aluminum)) Phase 6 Let things cure for a day…. Grind down the rivets and finish using a skim coat of BONDO or a similar compound. Paint with a “Rattle Can” matched to the color of the vehicle. There you have it… It is about as quick, fast and good a repair as you can ask and involves no welding or buying expensive replacement panels. It might be a bit time-consuming but no more so than the other alternatives. With a little practice you can complete a phase in an evening on five or six bad spots. |
The Acid Test Yesterday after writing my blog I went out to the shop and checked out my new lift. It is a portable scissors type with a 6K lb. capacity. When I first plugged it in I wanted to use my 110/30 amp service plug. It didn’t like that so I tried the 110/20 amp plug and that worked. I haven’t really used that plug much since I installed it for a plasma cutter I never used and maybe there are some problems in circuit. I don’t have an appliance that uses 30 Amps. Anyway the lift decided to start working and that is the important part. Next I found that the safety lock was not working correctly. I greased the bar and oiled the “Clicker” and that made a difference. It also taught me to “tap” the lock to make sure it is in place and test it by releasing the hydraulic pressure and make sure it stays in place. I am a bit squeamish about going under anything that lacks a working “fail-safe” even though the hydraulic pressure lets the lift lower slowly in a worst case, giving anyone underneath plenty of time to scoot out of the way. Then it was time for the “acid-test”… A real pick-up…(If you call an S-10 a real pickup.) I do, but there are those who make disparaging comments about the smaller trucks. After a little “jockey about” it was time to do the raising and the lift worked perfectly and locked firmly in place. I proceeded to change the oil. A scissors lift is not perfect for this task as the lifting portion is in the way of getting to the drain plug out but there is enough access and it beats the heck out of crabbing about under a dolly that has to be raised onto jack-stands to begin with in order to have enough room to work underneath. The salesman who “demoed” it said this would be a “workaround” and he is right….it is a bit of a pain. One of the problems came with the oil filter and getting it off. I had the old type strap and the filter was way up there, tight and a real pain to get off. I resolved to get a set of the plastic ones that fit over the serrated end of the canister and are removed with a ratchet and an extension. Then I raised it up a little and pulled in the motorcycle clutch handle that releases the locking mechanism. This works just like a motorcycle hand clutch release and is remotely located on the control unit of the remotely positioned dolly component. It connects by a hydraulic release valve and also what might be compared to a lawnmower connecting cable. It looks weird but it’s safe and simple to understand. Last night I welded for an hour and then listened again to the demo tape. It came with the welder is very good and informative. The instructor covers a lot of ground and sometimes talks a bit fast. I wanted to get the presentation down into writing so I had two laptops working… one playing the DVD while on the other I typed furiously…. about 30 words a minute… trying to keep up. When I finished the first iteration I had about half which is in bad need of a clean-up. Then tonight I will continue the process filling in the voids. I am told that the same basic process was used to steal Shakespeare’s plays as rival companies sent stenographers to the sit in the galleries and copy the lines to a new play. Fortunately for us the thievery took place because it is these plagiarized scripts that have survived. I am not interested in plagiarizing but rather I need a written manuscript in order to really learn what I see on a video. Then I add my own material and what I have in the end is all the ideas of the original plus all the things I would have done differently had I been the producer. Once I have the manuscript I can begin to practice the words I will be using as I demonstrate the process before a live audience. Getting a franchise, which requires very little in up front expenditure, requires that the candidate is not only technically skilled but also has a glibness that comes from a thorough understanding of the welding torches’ capability. When the time comes to prove myself, I want the flow to be seamless from showing to telling…. Sound familiar? We do the same sort of thing trying to get a novel published and it’s an aspect of writing that is often neglected. I might write a blog in the future to explain better how this particular analogy works. |
| Picking up the Lift Well Yesterday I went and picked up the new portable lift for the Garage. It was a typical farm project… You have to do three things first before you can do the one you want to. First off I had to get a wiper on the truck because it was forecast to rain. Last year I installed an electric windshield wiper unit to replace the old vacuum driven one, however I had not replaced the blade. Rummaging through my order box I found one. Now all I had to do was install it. The problem was that to put it on I needed the grooved barrel it attaches to. No problem I reasoned, I have three period trucks sitting out back I can get one off one of those. Well the barrel fit but it was the wrong part to go on the ’53 and needed to be drilled out to fit. This I did and used a bit that was too big and it just freewheeled when the wipers turned on. “Shucks!” I muttered. Finding a small washer I used my new welder to weld it in and predrilled to the proper diameter. This worked and I was in business. At two we set out for Marshfield and the trip up there was uneventful. At the grounds everyone was trying to break down and leave at the same time and the traffic was horrible. I had to park and walk in and when I did everything had changed so much I had trouble finding the vendor’s location. Eventually I did and we coordinated the pickup. By this time the traffic had thinned and getting to the booth area was without incident except that the truck began to run a little hot. The return home was uneventful. Upon arrival came the challenge of getting the half ton unit and control dolly off the back. They were still hooked together. First I put the dolly in the bucket of the tractor and lowered it off and next took a strap and attached it to the lift and the bucket and off it came too. Then it was easy to scoot it into the shop where it is now prominently displayed. When I think about all the things that could have gone wrong that didn’t I consider the whole effort extremely successful. Living on a farm teaches you to do things in a systematic manner and often alone. I say alone but that is not exactly true….Linda and I do many things together like fixing the wood stove, moving dead vehicles around, cutting wood, mowing grass and feeding the dogs and cats. I will have to let everyone know tomorrow how the lift works and pick up on my discussion of fixing rusted out vehicle panels using the welding vs. the gluing technique. I know my army of readers is terribly excited to hear about all that. Perhaps instead I’ll describe what we saw and all the interesting people that were wandering around the Farm Tech show… maybe both  |
| Making plans for tomorrow The first truck I “Restored” is a 1953 “Better Built” dump truck without the dump box. I found a duelly box off a late model GMC and adapted that and added the side panels from an old nine foot pick-up box. The tail gate of the Ford had to be widened to accommodate the box. I had a 351 Windsor rebuilt that sucks gas like a wine-O. It drives like an old truck without power steering and bumps along with rattles and shakes. Still I use it a lot because it can carry some really heavy stuff but I am sure it never drove that smooth to begin with and age has not improved upon its handling. From this experience I learned a valuable lesson. Mock a truck or car up and drive it some before you go on to phase two of a restoration. That is to say make sure you really like it before you go spending a whole lot of money on it. For those who have been following my restoration of the Stude you will know that I put an old body on a newer S-10 frame and to my tastes that is the only way to go. Not only is it an affordable approach, but it drives like a modern truck and parts are readily available. I have spent more on the glass replacement than I did on all the rest combined. Anyway I bought this hoist at the Farm Tech Show and will be going to pick it up and will be taking the ‘53. I have some smaller pickups but I need the wide bed for the lift. It’s missing a few things like the wiper blades, however I did install a 12 volt wiper unit but haven’t put on the blades. Linda does not like the 53.… calls it a “Rattle Trap.” and wants me to pull the utility trailer up there. Right now the lights aren’t working and I think the ‘53 is going to get to do the job. She will follow me up to Marshfield and we will keep in touch via the cell phone…. She’ll be spending the weekend up there at the Hospital. As I write this blog she’s scowling at me to get up and put the wiper on the truck. The little gas welder I ordered came in the mail with a video and I have been watching it. This weekend I will be practicing in the shop and in the evening I will be writing down the words in the script so I have a manuscript of the video. This is so I can practice my words if I decide to follow up on the franchise offer. I know the product will sell, I know a bit about gas welding and it is an affordable and neat little unit to have. I better get up and get my butt in gear. We have lots to do and that wood pile is not going to cut itself. |
| A Woman’s Love I love Tuesdays and Wednesdays. My wife Linda has decompressed from the job….she is a weekender in the cardiac unit at Marshfield, one of the top hospitals in Wisconsin. On Thursdays she starts putting her game face back on...however I received indisputable proof that after forth-five years she still loves me. Earlier this month the son of the Organist in our church was working under her car when the jack failed and the car crushed him to death. I know, I know he should have been using Jack-Stands, second rule you learn up here at your father’s side….right after turn off the tractor engine before going back to monkey with a PTO driven farm implement. Anyway Linda was appalled, and I must admit envisioning a car crashing down on your skull tightens your butt-hole up a bit. Anyway yesterday we were at Farm Tech, which is an annual show that features a farm in Wisconsin and all the farm vendors show up. Its like Iola is for cars but this is for farm stuff. It is a great show. It was also over cast and we went late… three-thirty to five. That meant we wouldn’t be walking around for six to eight hours in the sun. As we were walking among the displays I saw one for a vehicle hoist and was drooling over it. Linda asked some questions about the safety features and we bought one… now that shows she loves me…that is tangible proof of the highest order….If I croak, she’s going to be well taken care of and could afford one of those good looking MDs. She says,” forget that” and buying the lift is proof she doesn‘t want anything bad to happen to me… Actually I understand her point of view because I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her either. Sure, I’m a man and look from time to time at the pretty girls but quickly comes the sobering reality of what it would be like to live with a young woman again…Forget that! Earlier in the day we went to Stephen’s point to see how things were coming on the Studebaker. Without all that weathered, frosted, cracked and bee-bee gun holed glass it really looked different and I can’t wait to get it back. The welding guy called and wants to talk with me at the Air Show in Oshkosh that is coming up. He will be teaching a welding class and wants to talk to me about some franchise areas. I ordered one of the small gas welding kits and will be practicing between now and then to make sure I have a little proficiency with the unit. We have a new walk on cat that Linda has called Felix. He is auditioning to become the “Inside Cat” and can’t understand why the dogs get to come inside and the cats don’t. All these cats seem to come from the same gene pool and are very affectionate, and love to be picked up. While we were painting the deck Felix got in the paint and I picked him/her up for the first time and cleaned him up with a soapy dish cloth. I’m planting shrubs tomorrow as part of the ongoing landscaping project. I’ll let you know how that goes. |
| Stream of Conscious I don’t remember exactly when I wrote my first poem. It must have been in the fifth grade because I remember a Chiquita Banana contest where the entrant was required to write a “Banana-Gram.” I’m trying to remember what the prize was and for the life of me can’t. I do however remember the winning entry. “Be like the Bunch…Have a Banana” My entry was…. “Banana Peels are slippery as eels.” Pretty good don’t you think… Why would any guy want to be just like all the other Bananas? Oppps, I didn’t mean that the way it sounds… Mine was fraught with hidden meaning for example…. Just because a fruit is good and full of potassium doesn’t mean it is totally good all the time…. ever eat one that was overly ripe and gag? Remember that saying…. “In every silver lining there's a bolt of lightening!” How did I get on this subject? No wonder I only average six readers a day and if you throw in the non-members it rises dramatically to seven. I can see that in my resume…. “Writer of a highly successful blog Percy Goodfellow commands a readership of seven viewers a day.” My wife says, I’m Goofy but that she loves me anyway. Am I lucky or what? Her sister called (my sister-in-law) and my brother in law by marriage…. Don’t you love these convoluted relationships we have with and family and relatives? This is another thing that is hard for me to grasp….That is the difference between second and third cousins and those who have been “removed” a couple of times or more. And what for heaven’s sake constitutes a “Kissing Cousin?” Anyway my brother in law (once removed) was out at his bird feeder putting in some more feed and a wasp was buzzing about his face. He tried to shoo it away, it got under his glasses and it stung him in the eyelid…ouch! He started swinging the food sack and pulled a muscle in his back….He is one hurting puppy! I hear sometimes people get stung in the mouth... you know when they drink a soda or in extreme cases they get up someone's nose and get stung in the nostril. Can you envision that? Does your spinchter tighen...? Do you think OH MY GOODNESS? I remember coming out of church once and getting stung by a wasp. Several hundred people were around me and that wasp chose me to sting. Is that a message or what? This blog is going nowhere this morning…. It’s one of those days I should have skipped…. I was planning on writing about patch panels and how the “purists” butt weld them and the body shops glue them. I won’t even attempt that today… sorry you had to catch me ping-ponging around the room like my blond daughter. She’s the math teacher… I don’t know where the math came from… no gene of mine…my daughters used to play those puzzle games on trips…. Like the questions people send to the savants… like word problems in a math book…. Pretty soon it would deterioriate into the "Stupid" game.... You know the one that goes, "II'm the smart dauthger and you're the stupid one." How I hated it when the started in on each other.... it was one of their favorite games.. Am I rambling…? Think I’ll take the dogs for a walk. |
| A little "Fire Axe." After retiring from the Military I had some time on the GI Bill and went back to Tech School. I was the only “Old Geezer” in the history of the Diesel Technician Course to ever finish it. When I was in the last phase the Instructor made me promise never to use him as a reference. I suspected that was a prerequisite to graduating and swore I would never seek employment in the professsion. This is a personal example of how we often have a passion for something but little aptitude. That runs in my family… another notable example being my cousin who is passionate about art and can’t draw… well I’m passionate about automotives and associated processes and my natural abilities are often remarked upon disparagingly by others. This also refers to my writing skills at times. I took a class in Welding while at Mid State Tech and the instructor asked first if I had cataracts, next if I had Parkinson’s and finally if I was afflicted with Alzheimer’s. When I denied all three he concluded I must have some undiscovered sort of learning disability or an attitude I kept well hidden. As often happens in academic learning I have a lag of about six months while the little people in my mind sort out the learning experience. So if I keep thinking about it and practicing after a course ends, I eventually acquire an understanding or skill. It just takes a while longer than most. This happened to me in a Statistics Class which I almost flunked and it wasn't until I woke up on morning almost a year later that the light finally came on. Standard Deviation is a pretty cool statistical tool. The same happens to me in learning languages.... Struggle struggle.....nothing nothing... and then bango! success. After graduating my welding skills began to improve markedly and I got the hang of the gas process. Then I began to develop an affinity for stick welding…, wire feed was a snap and I am still struggling with TIG Welding and keep contaminating the Tungsten in the puddle. However despite all my improving I am still not at the same level as some of my classmates or experienced welders I know. Because of my welding challenges I turned to another processes for replacing rusted out places on fenders and cabs of autos and trucks. One I particularly like is a technique is being used more and more in body shops and does not require any welding experience. It is the use of industrial adhesives, more commonly known as epoxies. Instead of welding in a panel you “glue” it in. Hold that thought… At the car show was a “Marketeer” demonstrating a small gas welding unit. The design was really compact and nice and as I watched, noted that demonstrator was someone whose welding skills were not much better than mine. The unit was making him look good as he cut and welded mild steel and aluminum. I will be ordering one next week but the point is that it had a design feature that allowed the bottom of the gas tube to slide along the work piece and then come up and over like a tea spout. The acetylene nozzle pointed straight down and the combined features allowed the welder to steady the tip and keep it uniformly distanced. I can certainly use one of those,I because in the shop the “Fire Axe” (oxygen/ acetylene unit) is one of my standbys for loosening stubborn rusted bolts, cutting and welding mild steel. Anyway this Salesman was looking for someone interested in a franchise and I think I will explore this possibility further. I think I will talk in the future on the differences in installing patch panels using the welding and epoxy processes. Won't that be a delightful learning experience? |
| Day Two at the Iola Car Show What a glutton for punishment. I was still sore from yesterday when I drove back to Iola for a second day of it. Having only seen half I was determined to see the rest. After looking at all the show cars I was disappointed that there were no old Studebaker trucks. I had hoped to see at least one. Most of the vendors who bring stuff are regular people and bring a canopy of some sort which they sit beneath in the stifling ninety-degree weather… with their wares laid out on the ground or a table before them. I can see why they might be a bit cranky, however this year many seemed down-right rude. At one booth I saw a dash panel off an old semi I am particularly fond of. “That’s from a 1940’s Diamond T,” I remarked more as a statement than a question. “That’s what the LOGO says,” he countered sarcastically. Ordinarily I might have bought it … “Have a nice day,” I replied moving on. But for every grouch there’s an enthusiast who despite the harsh conditions loves being there and talking about all the treasures he has displayed. I think many are just nice folks and come to talk to others who share their passion for things automotive. One guy who had trouble hearing (Like me) was sitting quietly. He had an old Tachometer. After an exchange of words that might be loosely termed a conversation I bought it. When I’m tired and after walking about, up and down, for four hours the food sure tastes good. Dried out hamburgers and soggy french-fries and a bottle of local water sure taste good and goes down cool. The booths that attracted the most interest were the ones that showed the passerby’s how to do something… that was naturally related to the product they were trying to sell, no surprise there. It was like the carnival where the hawker tries to draw in the customer and get them to buy something they didn’t otherwise have in mind. I am still thinking about that welding set but had an idea for a booth that would sell the body shop epoxies that are being used to glue in patch panels for body parts that are all rusted out. I use them extensively in my repairs and if somebody doesn’t like to weld they work fine. I envisioned myself cutting out a rust spot, making a cardboard template, spreading the glue and pop riveting the sheet metal cut-out into place… Hmmmm, maybe there’s a nitch for my creative energies and all the extra time I have on hand. |
| I went to the car show and arrived around 9’AM. It was even bigger than last year. At 3PM I was beat and had to head home only seeing the half of it. Today I will go back and try and see the rest. It was hot, in the 90 degree range and humid. There are some steep hills that a visitor has to keep climbing but the diversity of booths and vendors was amazing and there was everything under the automotive sun that one could imagine. I spent $11 dollars on a couple of antique gauges but saw a small gas welding outfit that was perfect for sheet metal. At $360 it was out of my price range…here I go wringing my “Poor House” hands. Getting to talk to the vendors and other visitors was an additional treat, not to mention the people watching and listening. I felt like a kid at the circus. In the Car Show Area were a range of restorations, rat rods and street rods on display. Most were beautifully rendered and those that had been left in patina or turned into Rat Rod’s also showed some impressive workmanship. Visitors get to talk to the builders and that is always informative and fun to do. I saw one old truck that had been built like I am doing my Stude. There was a shop logo painted on the door and I asked a girl in the tent where she got the “Logo Decal” She laughed and said …“That isn’t a decal that is original artwork, that is hand painted… the old fashioned way.” I was stunned and couldn’t believe my eyes. They were works of art … “Who painted them?” I asked. “Yours Truly,” she replied. As we talked further I found out she lived in Ripon which is just up the road. I 'll be getting her to paint a couple on my truck. There was another vendor who provided some interesting insight on air testing a flathead engine for cracks. What a font of experience and knowledge that fella was. I hated leaving the dogs but taking them was out of the question in the heat. When I returned home I took them for a walk… like I really needed that and went for dinner to the Cracker Barrel. They have the best vegetables and some good selections for someone on a diet. I'm trying to limit my carbs and quit soda’s. Talk about sugar withdrawal. Linda and I were snapping at each other all last week. It is amazing how something like a change in diet and having a slight edge of hunger can affect your personality. |
| How the One Act Play Course Went I finished my One Act Play course for the semester and two students completed the class. Like most students they brought different talents and skills to the table but given that I was impressed with what each was able to accomplish. I started out with six (6) and thought the attrition was a bit severe however I am told that in On line Courses this is not uncommon… That drop-outs are more the norm than the exception. Despite this reassurance, I still wonder what I might have done to keep more of them in the chase. You would not believe all the prep work that goes into a course at New Horizon’s Academy. The Course Pages have to be written in “ML Write” which is a print formatting language that allows the writer to change fonts, sizes and colors and enhance the visual presentation of the page. Becoming proficient with this software, available at WDC, is a learning curve and a lot of effort. I had around eight course pages to develop as well as eight lesson plans…. (I only used seven) All that work paid off, because the “Rules of Thumb” “Example Play” and “Dictionary of Terms” and some of the other aids I wrote made the course easier to teach because they anticipated questions like a sort of FAQ device. This was an advanced workshop type of course and it focused on structure and insuring that the dramatic elements were included in the Play. Also it got heavily into dialogues and monologues. It was not a course in history, grammar, and word choice. It built on the foundation of other courses at NHA which help writers improve on fundamental writing skills. In reading back over the Course Pages I see a lot of stuff I anticipated but didn’t use but might have under a different set of conditions. The biggest benefit the course offers is a structured approach to writing, a way to make sure all the essentials are included, such as building momentum, character development and practice in monologues and dialogues. I saw in the two plays improvements over the six weeks that went well beyond what I anticipated. It was an experience that benefited both students and will no doubt spill over into the other areas they will be writing in the future. New Horizon’s Academy offers a great opportunity at WDC and I recommend it highly to everyone. Take a moment and visit the site and see what the program has to offer. Then take one of the courses. You’ll be glad you did. |
| The Iola Car Show I went to four different glass franchises before finding one that would even attempt to do the glass on my Studebaker. Can you imagine that? Most glass franchisees are insurance chasers and specialize in windshields. They do late model cars and buy the glass and install it. They make about three hundred dollars a pop. I drove around all morning and finally came back on one I checked out earlier at Stephens Point. The technician said his boss is a glass virtuoso and does classic cars. The rate is not cheap but he guarantees a good job. I was glad there was someone out there with the skills and willingness to take on the project. It seems that everything is throw-away these days. To heck with fixing anything. If it breaks, throw it away and get a new one. That seems to be the prevailing attitude. It’s cheaper to replace something than fix it. I have a two stroke roto- tiller made by Still. That is a good company, however, I couldn’t get mine to start in the spring and after trying everything I could think of took it back to where I bought it. The owner told me that the ethanol gas destroys the carburetors and rather than fix them they swap them out. Cost me a hundred bucks… Linda says I have the farm looking like a salvage yard. I do have a lot of old equipment but just because the place doesn’t look like “Farm Beautiful” on Better Home and Gardens she gives me a hard time. As in most things there is a shred of truth in her arguments and when I finish this blog I intend to work this evening on a little clean-up. That is a never ending task with keeping the yard cut, the fences mended and the wood cut for winter. Where do I find time to write and work on my trucks? With the Stude in the glass shop for the next week I will be able to turn to some other things. This weekend is the biggest car show in Wisconsin. It is held at Iola which is about an hour from my place. You can’t see everything in one day. The swap meet goes on for acres and acres. The parking lot consists of fields that go on for ever. The show grounds are also huge along with all the concessions. It is the biggest automotive event I have ever seen. There are six gates to get in and you have to have a map to find your way around and not forget your lot number and location thinking you can just walk around and find it later on. This is one gigantic spectacle and walking up and down the hills in all that heat leaves you all pooped out for the next week. Heaven help you if you buy something heavy and have to tote it out. I have been to car shows all over the country and nothing I have ever seen matches the scope of the Iola extravaganza. Maybe I should take some pictures and show you what I mean. |
| Girding for the Future In financial terms the wolf is no longer snarling at the door. Don’t get me wrong we’re not on easy street or even close but the days when the end of the month rolled around and we had $10 in the checking account, not to mention credit card bills, house and car payments are gone. I mention this because our life style has not changed from what it used to be. Linda came from a lower middle class family that didn’t have much. My family was middle class and we had a bit more. When we were off serving in the Military I can assure you we lived from month to month and carried a lot of debt. Now that we are a little better off do you would think we can change the behavior patters of a lifetime. No way. We have structured our cash flow into four checking accounts One for me, my wife, for a General fund and Taxes. We still pinch pennies like we always did and agonize over major expenditures. Still the times are changing and we have to look at things a little differently. No longer do we keep CDs like my parents did that the government devalues at the rate of about ten percent a year. What they are doing to soak the wealth from senior citizens who don’t realize what is happening is a travesty. Now we have turned to investments that put tmoney into things that have “Real Value” like conservative mutual funds and precious metals. These funds survived the recent meltdown and are doing OK….certainly better than 1% a year. We can live on our pensions, and social security, although how long that will last is hardly certain. Commitments made by our Government under the stewardship of the current administration are no longer the certainty they once were and you have to ask yourselves how bad can things realistically get? In a worst case scenario without worrying about the sky falling I can envision more aggressive inflation (devaluation) and perhaps some percentage decreases in pensions. These could range from 10 to 25 percent and that is probably a realistic projection. On the one hand pensions can be reduced by the Government and legislation enacted to allow corporate enterprise to do the same thing… and on the other run the printing presses wide open and hope there isn’t a shortage of ink. That is the way the “Great Redistribution of Wealth” is designed to work under the progressive political philosophy that is designed to bring American down to the same level as the rest of the world. There are forces in this country, and the world at large, that are working aggressively to make this happen and from Glenn Beck we got a glimpse of who and what they are. We owe him a debt of eteral gratitude. Those faces he kept flashing on the screen are real people committed to bringing this country to its knees. Now that he has been sent packing the country can go back to being fat, and clueless. There are no easy solutions but the slope we are gliding on is the same path taken by Europe who have followed economic policies that stifle the entrepreneurial spirit of those who are creative and willing to work and allow government to make everyone else into the lowest possible common denominator. If you are paying attention you need to manage your finances in a manner that views "Big Brother" with extreme skepticism and private enterprise as the only long term hope a citizen has left. |
| Talking to my wife When my wife gets back from a weekend as a cardiac nurse she is wound tight as a bow string and needs to unwind. She does this by discussing her patients and all the meds and procedures and conversations she shared in the course of her three shifts. Some of it is a bit gross but in an earlier life I was an infantry soldier and it has to get pretty gross to penetrate my defensive mechanisms. Still some of the things they do to a patient makes my spinchter tighten up just a little. Now it isn’t the first rendition that I object to but when she starts in on the reruns I have to get her to stop. I do this by telling her things about the cars I worked on while she was away in the same manner that she does her patients. I do this all the time and she doesn’t seem to really catch on and is so smart that she actually understands what I am explaining to her. My daughters are very different but still like her in this regard. When they used to go to the movies I used to get to hear an almost word for word rendition of the dialogue. He said this and she said that they would intone as they explained what was said in the movie from beginning to end. Their grandmother had an almost photographic memory and perhaps they got some of this from her, however my mother had a memory for languages and quickly learned to speak wherever my father was assigned overseas. One of my daughters in particular is adept at languages and virtually learned German, (fluently) in the year we lived in a woodcutters village outside Kaiserslautern. The Other daughter is more inclined to numbers and symbols and teaches math. Both however have a knack for recall shared by their mother. Why are you boring me with this you ask. This blog is worse than being asked by friends to watch home movies of their vacation. The reason I bring it up is because when I can’t think of anything else to write in my blog I regurgitate what I told Linda going into much more detail than is really necessary to send a sort of subtle signal and not hurt her feelings or make her feel she has to bottle those experiences up inside. Part of being a husband is to get emotionally abused and beat up from time to time when the frustration level in a woman gets too high and they have to blow off a little steam. Tomorrow I think I will talk about installing my electrical guage and relate it to volts, Ohms and resistance. This is something a writer should be able to relate to even if they don’t know anything about cars or electricity. It will also give me a run through on what to tell Linda when she finishes telling me about her experiences next weekend. “So how did your weekend go,” she will ask… And I will reply, “Why honey I installed an electrical meter. Devilishly clever instruments they are….do you know there are actually two types…. Volt meters and Amp meters. Would you like to know the difference?” |
| Undercurrents. A person would think that working on cars and writing are two entirely differently things. I am finding more and more that they are more closely related than I ever expected. Plus I have a friend named Karen and to her the garden is what my shop is to me. There is an undercurrent to what we do in the garden or the shop that spills over into how we think and what we write. That undercurrent is what we are thinking about concurrently with the mundane task we happen to be performing. Others often say…. Why do you spend all that time working on that old junk, just the same as I’m sure they say to Karen, “A garden is a whole lot of work and it costs you in the end as much as you would pay in the store. This is simply not true however I think the point being missed are the undercurrents. For example I am installing aftermarket gauges in my Studebaker. I just found a port to put my mechanical temperature gauge. It is right next to the port that sends the same information electrically to the ECM which monitors and makes adjustments to the fuel injection. So in installing this gauge I get to see what the engine temperature is and the computer can still do its thing in metering the fuel. In writing I am a great believer in structure and outlines and an author needs to have his literary creation wired and organized before he/she starts writing. This allows the brain to write in “Baby Steps” without digressing into the huge world that borders the constraints of the outline. Hold that thought. Meanwhile inside the cab of the truck I cut a strip of thick sheet metal with inch and a half holes to accept the gauges. Now I didn’t want to butcher the dashboard and wanted to retain that classic look. The original gauges are still beneath a two inch glass strip behind the steering wheel and while they no longer work they look cool, lying dormant, after all these years under the scratched glass, still showing their functions etched in a beautiful patina of rust speckles. So its not just the utility of the restoration I'm concerned with but the look and the ambience that surrounds it. As I write and particularly rewrite I want to keep the good and make the rest better. In building a street rod the same philosophy holds. Next to the original glass gauge panel is an opening that was designed to hold a radio that was never installed. I used this space for the three new gauges. So I kept the cool vintage part and made a new fixture giving a mixture of the old and new… In writing I try and do the same thing, blending the rewritten parts into the context of what I wrote earlier. Now this is not as easy as it sounds because there are a lot of new transitions that have to be made in going from the original to the “improvements.“ I'll be talking about this process more in the days ahead. So for those out there who could care less about cars or gardens be advised that there are undercurrents to the things we do outside the box, that apply directly to the continuing struggle to become a better writer. |
| Aftermarket Gauges When I have an interest in something I buy a “how-to” book. Since I’m working on my S-10/Studebaker project and I am doing electrical work I bought a Haynes manual on the S-10 and their generic wiring manual. In the wiring manual they discuss installing aftermarket gauges and I read that chapter with interest and like so many of these publications it fell short of telling me what I needed to know. Do other people read this stuff like I do and discover that you get told everything but what you need to know? These Haynes manuals are chock full of information I could care less about and one would think they would be geared to the remedial reader… given that experienced mechanics are not going to be buying one technical manuals given that they already know most of this stuff. It’s like a Catch 22. A “How To” manual has to be written by an expert but an expert already knows all this and makes huge assumption about matters that are self evident after years of experience in the field. For example the Book on the S-10 tells the reader how to use plastic-gauge to determine bearing clearance in rebuilding an engine. Now let me ask, how many novice automotive readers are going to be scratch rebuilding a worn out engine. Not many yet the manual goes on and on about doing a rebuild. Students spend two years in technical school learning to do that and they still only scratch the surface… So what should these publications focus on. Most shade-tree mechanics install after market gauges at one time or the other and yes there is a chapter on that. In this chapter the writer talks exclusively about electrical after market gauges. No mention is made of mechanical gauges and there are an abundance to these hanging in the parts stores. Here’s the problem… If you buy mechanical gauges and use the engine ports to install them you have to remove the sending units that have wires coming out of them. If you do this then the information they are sending to the ECM computer is no longer sent and by the way that computer uses the data to make adjustments to fuel injection and a host of other functions in newer cars. So one would think that the explanation would start with words that explain the difference between mechanical and electrical gauges and the dangers of stealing a port dedicated to the ECM by substituting an older style gauge sender. Next would come finding a port for a mechanical gauge, followed by a discussion of electrical gauges and how they can be used to supplement the ECM gauges. Now this type of logic is lost on experts who assume way too much and wind up wasting the space in a how too manual for processes that are light years beyond what the novice mechanic is ever likely to try on their own. Having gotten this off my chest I feel much better and apologize to my readers who couldn’t give a Rat’s Petotti about after market gauges and automotive How to manuals |
| For every joy a sorrow, for every laughter, a tear… Didn’t make that up but it sprang suddenly to mind. It is so true. Whenever we get on a spike of happiness there comes a down turn of sorrow. Something always comes along to spoil the joy and the more euphoric the high the more ruinous the low. If that isn’t a state of nature or a fact of life I don’t know what is. I see it all the time here at WDC and it isn’t something the site can legislate away. You write something you think is good and somebody takes a dump on it. You do something you think is good and it turns to poop. Not just on WDC mind you but in everything we do in life. Like there is an equilibrium out there that is forever establishing a mediocrity of blaughs. We get up and somebody knocks us down…. Somebody gets down and we try and pull them up. I was thinking about all the things that went well last week and for every one that did there was another that went South. Makes you appreciate the happiness and joys I suppose if one has to contrast them with the pains and sorrows. For example I went to the parts store to buy some gauges and found exactly what I was looking for and on top of that a mirror so I can see what is coming up behind me. When I went to get the part off the wall a socket set of wrenches fell and hit me in the head. When I went to get the mirror the same thing happened again. That wasn’t enough for equilibrium however, In the process the key I was holding disappeared and I just happened to need it to drive home…. The owner took me home to get a spare key and I filled up his truck with gas…. A fair exchange but that involved time and money and a whole lot of frustration. Linda, my wife says that if you don’t get beset by a constant stream of little things you are destined to kiss the hot rock….that is a euphemism for something bad is going to befall you. She comes up with those things and I hesitate to call it so much superstitious nonsense because she comes from a long line of strange women, that make X’s when they see cats and throw salt over their shoulders. I wonder sometimes how men and women manage to do some of the things they do together. Like make babies. Do you ever look at a couple and try and imagine what it looked like when they were getting it on. Sometimes I wonder, not to be titillated but to elicit a mind-boggling sense of wonder. The weather alert just went off. |
| The influence of other things on what we Write. I have one more little hole to patch beneath the seat of the Studebaker. Then I have to lower the metal pedestals on which the roadster seats sit. Right now they are too high and I am looking half window and half roof of the truck. That will be a pain. Next week I will get the front windshield replaced. The drivers side has a big crack and is full of BB gun holes from a previous life. I was reading “Ups and Dows,” and was amazed by the analogies between what we do when we are not writing and what we do when we write. Karen was talking about her garden and all the things she must do to prepare and nurture the plants and they were the same sorts of things we do to prepare and nurture our writing. I find myself doing the same things when I write and trying to explain to myself why I do certain things the way I do. In doing the final assessment on a One Act Play submitted by one of my students I noted that in the end he digressed from the outline and got to heading off on a tangent. When I write novels I often do the same thing as I follow my characters on unexpected twists and turns. Now don’t take this wrong…. You can certainly discover some new and exciting things by following new and exciting threads as you write, however once a writer has a comprehensive outline for a book or play it is my view that they need to stay within the constraints it provides. By this I mean the central characters should stay the central characters and the supporting characters should be contributing to theme of the work. I don’t have a problem with twist endings if they are “Telegraphed” subtly as the work proceeds and give an unexpected but wrap-up that has had some foreshadowing, but this is a technique that requires some thought, talent and technique… Once a writer has a comprehensive structure it enables them to focus their energies in keeping a lid on where the story is going and how it is going to wind up. So what do you do with these tangential thoughts that ignite your imagination and compel you to expand the back-story that digresses away from the tightly wrapped story you have envisioned and structured. Keep it in a separate journal I suppose and when you finish the work ask yourself if the original was deficient and would be improved by the tangent thread. If yes then rewrite the structure and yes a portion no doubt of the novel or play because when you change one thing it usually requires that you change a whole bunch more. If that is what it takes then suck it up and do a major rewrite… otherwise leave it out as a part of the back-story that is interesting but offers nothing to move the plot and is more a distraction than a help. |
| A True Story I went to the doctor who treats me for my bladder and kidney stones and he gave me “Old Ned.” He noted that I had gained ten (10) pounds in the last year and exploded. “How much do you weigh?” he asked, reading his lap-top. “One-ninety,” I answered, defensively. “You simply have to do something about that paunch.” You didn’t used to have it.” I cringed. “Not my fault, my wife’s a good cook.” “Does she spoon feed you?” “No….“ “Drink a lot of beer…. “Ahhhh…” “This is Wisconsin.” “A six-pack a year.“ “Hmmmm… Do you eat beef, corn, white bread, chips, starchy foods and drink a lot of soda-pop?” “You’re getting warmer…” “If you want the last ten years of your life to have some quality you need to lose forty lbs.” “Forty Pounds,” I exclaimed! “How much do you think your ancestors weighted a hundred years ago, with your same height and morphology?” “They were all dead before they reached sixty,” I countered proud of my smart-assed retort. “They died of farm accidents, appendicitis’s and a host of other things that are treatable today.” “….now that you mention it.” “How long did your father live?” “Ninety-three…” “Did he lead a disciplined exercise life, follow a nutritional diet and refrain from the abuse of tobacco or other drugs?” “Not exactly. He smoked, drank, ate a stack of syrupy pancakes for breakfast and chased women.” “You inherit that "active" life style and propensities for eating?” “I was more a flake, like my mother.” “How long did she live?” “Into her nineties…” “Your PSA is borderline elevated….See if you can’t get your diet squared away and your bowel to firm up…” “Thanks Doc.” “Any more questions….” “Well I was wondering….“ “What?“ “….. You see a lot of peckers… what was the longest one you ever saw?” “Over seven inches…. A black guy in Chicago…." “Fancy that.” “See you next year, Bob.” |
| Look and Utility One of the things about the automotive restoration hobby that amazes me is the diversity of the automobiles that get restored. This can be an expensive undertaking and one would think that the builder would give a great deal of thought into what he/she plans on sinking their time, treasure and talent into. Now some readers will take this wrong but I will say it anyway. There are some cars that were ugly when they were built and the passage of time has done little to improve their appearance. Still I continuously see beautifully rendered work done on machines that do not warrant the time and effort. This begs the question, if you are going to go to all the trouble why not focus all that work on something worthwhile? I can hear it now…. “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder…” but if you truly believe that nonsense I might as well be talking to a tree. My first big restoration projects involved trucks. I like trucks and I restored trucks that had classic lines and that looked good. However when I finished one they still drove like old trucks, got lousy gas mile and clunked along at thirty miles per hour. They were nice to look at but not really fun or practical to drive. Now the response I am likely to get goes something like this. “You just don’t get it. Many people restore what they can get. It doesn’t seem to matter as long as they have a project to occupy their time….you know get out of the house, away from the wife and tinker around in the garage…" My response is tinker on something worthwhile… so when you finish you have something someone will want to buy if you ever get desperate for cash…. Like losing your job. I’ll say more about this one later. Another response is that maybe a some point in the builder’s life they fixated on a particular vehicle, perhaps one their parents drove. That they have many happy memories of that car or truck and restoring one like it helps bring back those memories. Who can argue with that? Except to say “get real!” Someday, when priorities change, having something you can unload will begin to outweigh all that nostalgia. There are other factors that weigh into the what to restore equation, like the “Purists.” Many find in the hobby an opportunity to take the quest for perfection to the edge of insanity. Where everything has to be original down to the casting marks and manufactures etching on the glasswork. I know some builders who equate their skill with forgoing altogether more modern materials like body filler and adhesives, disdaining to use epoxy or body fillers or anything that was not in existence fifty years ago. There is a joy to driving a vehicle that operates well and looks good. My advice is to think hard before starting a project and give thought to the look and utility of the end product. |
| New Direction I have decided to expand my blogging, by posting concurrently on two sites, (writing.com and wordpress.com) Will keep everyone here com posted on how that initiative is going. Yesterday Pfeiffer, the manager of the local auto repair shop, told me to come over and paint the drive shaft and frame cross-members before the body gets put back on the 1940 ford. I did and while on the subject let me provide some background on that project which is one of two that I am currently involved in. I found the 1940 Ford at the car show in Iola last year. The previous owner found a different project and was unloading the Ford at a reasonable price. He also provided an extra parts body at no extra charge. Since I am getting on in my years I farm out the heavy work and tend to do most of the wiring and body work myself. That keeps me interested in the project, it moves along quicker and gives me time for the chores, my wife and a host of other interests that occupy my time. Anyway last week he told me to bring in the extra body because he wanted to show them both to the body shop guy. When I arrived to do the painting he told me he thought we should combine the best of both into a single unit. One has a good roof and firewall, the other has good quarter panels and neither has a good floor. That is the general plan for how the body is going to take shape. Regarding the chassis, it has a Mustang 2 front end and has gotten a new gas tank, transmission, drive shaft and rear differential. That phase is nearing completion which is the reason to get going on the body. I am currently writing a novel about the 1940 Ford and will use it as a thread in my novel, Acorns. Readers will be able to follow as an undercurrent its evolution as a preacher’s daily driver, his sons racecar, his grandson’s street rod and finally a great-grandson finds it out in the barn…. These characters will appear different but will show many of the same traits and qualities. Having the actual car while I write about the transitional periods between fathers and sons will add to the authenticity of the story. Also I am working on a 1946 Studebaker and for the next few months that will be a central focus of my automotive interest, while my wife and the chores compete for the rest of my time. I hope this new direction yields some additional interest and I hope to keep my other balls in the air while |
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Love it! Especially the safety measures for us homo sapiens...
