OWIE!

There are some lessons we have to learn more than once, or at least some of us do.

I guess I am one of those.

I learned a long time ago that when you are working on a car, you take off your jewelry. I have been pretty faithful about his. There are lots of things that can go wrong if you wear jewelry while you are wonking on the car, and absolutely no benefits.

I was working on Frankenhealey the other night, and because I was just replacing the carbs with the newly rebuilt cars, I didn't bother to take off my watch. Since I was not running the engine or dealing with moving parts, it should be OK, right?

Wrong.

While tightening the bottom rear carb bolt, I got my watch band between the two terminals of the starter solenoid, causing a direct short. It instantly heated the watch band red hot. Thereby melting the skin under the watch band.

I was dancing around, saying impolite things while trying to get the watch off.

That smell of cooking pork? That was me. When I got the watch band free, the skin sluffed off. I now have a very nasty looking spot on my left wrist.

It is going to leave a scar, which will be around for a long time to remind me of a lesson I supposedly learned a long time ago.

Changes

It was a long day on Saturday, going with the band. I guess it was about a 20 hour day, all told. So Sunday we just took it easy.
I am still sore from humping around 300 pound speakers, loading and unloading the truck, setting up the stage. Mrs A is getting to the stage where she is about ready to give up job of crewing for the band. I'd still like to do it now and then. Oh well, we'll see what happens.
Mrs A got offered another job today, and I think she is going to take it.
One of the women that she has become friends with is a partner in a local law firm. They want to hire her to work in the office. Part time at first, but with the option of maybe going to full time eventually. She told her friend she would have to think about it, and she did.......for all of five minutes.
I have met the lady a couple of times, and we got along just fine.
It should pay a lot better than Curves, and more important, I think Mrs A will be happy there.
I just hope she doesn't overdo.

Road Trip

Tomorrow we are off with the band ML3 to do a gig in Cenralia, at Maple Lane, a Youth Facility. It will be the first time we have done a road trip for a while, with me working seven days a week. We have sure missed everyone.
In case you are new around here, ML3 is a Christian Rock band we crew for. They have a semi and 20,000 lbs of gear. Full sound system and light show. It takes around six hours to unload the truck and set up the stage. A couple of hours for sound check. two one hour shows, break it all back down and load it back in the truck. We will get home around midnight, exhausted and felling like we have done something worthwhile.
The message from the band is directed more towards "You can have a whole lot of fun without drugs and alcohol" than an altar call. Since we are dealing with incarcerated youth, and about 80% of them are in for drug and alcohol related offences, I really believe it is the right message to the right audience at the right time.
We feel strongly enough about this that we have been road crew for the band for over six years now.
So, tomorrow night we will come dragging home tired, sore and fulfilled.

A Time of Change

Mrs A works part time at the Curves in Renton. She goes in and opens the place up at 6:00 in the morning, and works until 10:00. She likes doing this for a couple of reasons. One it provides her with a little extra money, plus she gets to work out every day.
I make enough money that we could get along just fine without her working. I have told her she can quit and be a stay-at-home mom any time she wants. She has always worked and supported her family, almost always as the single source of income, struggling to make it day to day.
She feels a little guilty about not working full time, feels she is not pulling her weight. Nothing I tell her seems to make a lot of difference. Her attitude as a working mom is so ingrained into her behavior that she doesn't know any other way to be.
Well, she will soon get to experience staying at home.
The Curves in Renton is closing on September 25th. I have told her she should take some time off and just take it easy for a little while. Collect unemployment for a couple of months. She has a job lined up at another Curves, but I think she ought to just wait and see what shakes out of the tree.
At any rate, it will be a time of change for her. I just have to remember to keep telling her that no matter what she chooses to do, she has my support.

Two Steps Back

None of my bright ideas to remove the broken jet from Frankenhealey worked worth a damn.
First I tried using an easy-out to try to lift the jet out. That didn't work at all.
Then I tried tapping threads into the bushing and pulling. That didn't work. Then I tried drilling it out. That removed most of the jet, but there is still a little at the bottom of the hole that will have to be removed before the new jet will fit in. In order to do that I will have to remove the carb fron the engine.

I have a spare set of carbs, so I spent most of the day yesterday tearing down the spare carbs and cleaning everything up and checking them out. Everything looks very good, so I will try swapping the carbs. Then I can work on the screwed up carb at my leisure.

I am crossing my fingers that the car will start when I put the spare carbs on. No reason why is should not start. That doesn't mean it will.

Frankenhealey

Yeah, I see that glazed-over look in your eyes. There goes Al Again on that stupid car.

It's true.

Yesterday I went out to work on the carbs and tweak the timing. One of the things I need to do is charge out the accelerator jets. This should be a simple drop-in. Unfortunately I broke off the first one I tried to remove, and the second one also seems to be stuck. I am sitting here trying to figure out how to get it out without destroying the carb. I may have to drill it out, which would be a very delicate operation.

Oh well, I will figure out something.

R came by with "i" yesterday. It was sure great to see them. I hadn't seen "i" in a couple of months. and they change so quickly. when he last by he was pulling up on things and taking a step or two. Now he is toddling around everywhere. He's not quite talking yet, but jabbers a lot. It makes sense to him, we just can't understand what he's saying.

Hmmmm

Maybe if I drill a small hole in the jet and use an easy-out I can loosen it up. Or Maybe tap some threads and use a screw as a puller.

It's Just A Shot Away

Just to be the antithesis of The Stones, who on Give me Shelter screamed "War, children, it's just a shot away" I give you:

Peace, Children, It's just a Shot Away.

A shot of Tanqueray, that is. After some negotiation, we settled on an apollogy and a bottle of Tanqueray. More expensive than your average bunch of flowers, but less than dinner.

Negotiation hell, she just called me up and said "Instead of Flowers, I want a bottle of Tanqueray". I was not in a position to negotiate.

So all is peaceful in Latteland.

Tonight I am signing the contract to put new siding on the South side of the house. Mind you that side of the house is 40 feet by 40 feet, and covered with 10" lapped cedar siding. Decent tight knot 10" cedar siding is getting mighty hard to find, and when you CAN find it, it is expensive as hell.

I wanted to do the work myself, but Mrs A has a conniption fit if I get anywhere near a ladder. Last time I got up on a ladder to repair a downspout, I had to give her three drinks before I could go up on the ladder.

I haven't seen the breakdown, but the estimate is $3800.00, which seems about right to me. I still don't like paying someone to do something I could do myself, but what the hell.

In Trouble

I'm in trouble with Mrs A today.
I didn't do anything wrong, mind you, it's something I DIDN'T do.
I didn't give her a good-bye kiss when I left this morning.
She called me on the cell phone before I even got to work, in tears. "Seven years together, and this is what it has come to!"
Sh!t.
No way out, no amount of fancy talk is going to change it. Guilty as charged. Sure I have a (to me) legitimate excuse, but the facts is the facts. The question now becomes "How much is this going to cost me?" Flowers at the very least. I don't think this is a flowers and dinner offense.
First of all there is the fact that I do not wake up well in the morning. I stumble, I grunt, I bump into things. I get by by ritual. Things are always done in a certain order. Anything that breaks the ritual or order is likely to end up with the whole morning in chaos.
First of all. V has a zero hour class, so for the time being, I am giving him a ride to school, something I have never done before.
This morning when I came down from upstairs there was a whole pile of papers on the seat of my chair. Papers that needed to be signed and dated. School stuff, field trip, science class, legal release. Stuff that I would like to at lease peruse before I sign it, but no time to read. Glance at it, sign and date.
V. forgets something at the last minute, so I am running late. Rush out the door.
Halfway to work, the cell phone rings and it is Mrs A.
Busted.

TSO!!!

For the last several years, one of the things I have done for Christmas is take Mrs A and Vinnie and my cousin Lynn to see TSO (Trans Siberian Orchestra to you Troglodytes).
Tickets went on sale yesterday at 10:00 A.M. A pre-sale for fan club members only.
Unfortunately I had to be at a meeting at 10:00. I really couldn't blow the meeting off, since I was to receive an award at said meeting.
I left as soon as possible and ran back to my desk, got on line to order tickets.
Floor tickets, eleven rows back from the stage, center of the floor.
Oh yeah!
Screaming electric guitar pyrotechnic light show laser extravaganza Christmas music!
Ho, Ho, HO!

Lost weekend

Or maybe Blogging on Percocet.

I had three teeth pulled on Friday. I'm only in it for the drugs.

I have been fighting bad teeth for about ten years now. One of the past conversations with the periodontist, and dentist concluded that I had about a 75% chance of losing those particular teeth. We tried to save them, but it was a losing battle. Everything we tried failed.
So the last resort was to have them pulled and have inserts put in, a long, painful and expensive process, which includes a bone graft using vacated bovine bone matrix. Yeah, you saw that correctly. Bull Bone. I will truly be part animal when this is over. Jokes could be made about being full of bull, but in reality I will be only a very small part full of bull.

I have been alternately napping on the couch, trying to read and watching the boob tube. I have accomplished exactly nothing, and this short post will be about as ambitious as I will get.

Time to go take another Percocet.

Under pressure

After we got home from the ocean, I figured it was time to break in my birthday present, the pressure washer.
It's a manly tool. Gasoline powered 2500 PSI three pages of warnings and dangers, may result in serious injury or death. Oh yeah!
I pressure washed 420 sq ft of deck. The pressure washer did a great job.
That still leaves the patio and the driveway.

Vacation? What Vacation?

We spent most of a week at the ocean. It will not go down in our personal history as one of the best vacations ever.
Where to start?
I guess I should start by saying that the number one objective was to quit smoking. I have a round of oral surgery coming up, and I need to quit smoking to increase the odds of success. I really don't smoke a lot, usually three or four cigarettes a day, so you would think it would be easy to quit. You would be wrong.
Mrs A also smokes, so if we are going to quit, we need to do it together.
Two people in a small room, both quitting smoking. Yep.
Throw in the fact that the matress on the bed was made out of bricks wound in barb wire, so neither one of us was getting much sleep.
Plus, one of the reasons we chose the Chateau Westport was that in April we spent a weekend there and the complimentary breakfase was exceptional. Fresh waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, juice, toast.
Gone. All gone.
Instead of fresh waffles, previously frozen pancakes.
Instead of scrambled, something that might have at some time approximated an egg, except harder and tasteless. Kinda sunny side petrified.
No biscuits and gravy.
We came home early.

Oregon Trip

We packed up ourselves, the dog, and my mom on Saturday and set off for Coberg Oregon, Population 996. My cousin Ginger and her husband Pat live there.
The occasion was a family reunion of sorts. My Uncle Ben and his new bride Virginia were up here on their honeymoon from Morelia Mexico. The special occasion has reeled in a couple of my cousins that I had not seen for over 40 years.
It was a wonderful time. Lots of food and remembering and storytelling. And food. And storytelling. And food. Not just any food. Grilled beef, fresh salad, Uncle Ben's special guacamole (secret ingredient: top drawer tequila) home made huckleberry pie, berries from Idaho. Marionberry pie, home made pickles. I provided egg rolls and Jambalaya. Microbrews, special wine, and a few shots the Mexican firewater.
The new addition to the family is a vivacious, outgoing, intelligent woman who we are more that happy to welcome to the family. She doesn't speak a lot of English, but we managed to communicate with our little Spanish, and her little English.
What a wonderful weekend.

Car Show

My car goal for this year was to get Frankenhealey to the annual Boeing Employees car show. I have talked to boring lengths for a year and a half about my journey of restoration to anyone who looked remotely interested.
I promised people that it would be there for the show.
Sunday, I rebuilt the brake system. The first time I have had brakes that actually worked, except for the emergency brake.
Monday I got the car running. To the point that it would start and continue running. I was having problems with the throttle linkage sticking. Worked until dark
Tuesday, got the plates on the car and took it for a drive. The timing is off and the carbs are not synced. The throttle linkage would stick. It would stick at 3000 rpm and you would have to blip the gas pedal to get it to go back to idle. But some times it would stick at 6000. This is the farthest I have driven it since I bought it. I finally figured out that the cable was binding because the mounting bracket had been bent, causing the cable to bind up. Worked until dark
Wednesday, installed the hood holding rod and latch mechanisms, the top closeout cover, the badges and cleaned up some areas. Worked until dark.
Today, started it up and drove it to work for the car show. It is still not running right. The carbs have not been synchronized, the timing is still off, the wipers don't work, I have no turn signals, the marker lights are not installed, the interior is a shambles, and only one headlight.
But I won a trophy for third place.

Jensen Healey Pictures

Here are some pictures of Frankenhealey, reassembled, and looking good.

I still have lots to do, but it is now running and licensed. I drove it around a little yesterday, but was having problems with the throttle linkage sticking. It would rev up to about 3,000 RPM and stick there. I'd have to blip the pedal to get it to return, and a couple of times, it revved up to 6,000 RPM and stuck there. Very nnerving, but I sorted it out by the end of the evening. The timing is still off and the carbs are not in sync yet, but it is driveable.

The wipers don't work, and it has only one headlight, no turn signals. But it is good enough to take to the car show tomorrow. It is entered as a "work in progress".

Seconf Step

Frankenhealey runs!

Well, it starts and continues to run after it starts. It idles real rough, but will spool up to 5,000 RPM real good. I will have to get it on the road to see how it does under a load. But indications are positive.

Tonight I need to install the bumpers so that I have a place to hang the license plates. Then I can actually drive it. Sure, I have driven it around the block, but never on the road. If I want to take it to the car show on Thursday, I will need to get the windshield wipers working, as there is the possibility of rain, and need to get the top checked out, both do-able.

I am starting to get excited about the possibility of having it on the road, and a bit anxious. There are still a thousand things that can go wrong.

Soon. Soon.

One Step Forward

Frankenheakey has brakes!

It took me all day and a series of setbacks, but I was determined to get the brakes done today. The weather was fine, except it did get up to 89, a little warm for manual labor. One of the wheel cylinders I cleaned and reinstalled proved faulty. It leaked hydraulic fluid like crazy, so I had to salvage a part off of the parts car and clean it up and install it.

But it works.

Mrs A spent most of the day Friday, and all day Saturday down at her sisters, taking care of her. She is getting better rapidly, but they still don't have the results from the tests, so we won't really know her prognosis.

Rs significant other is still in the hospital. He will require extensive face reconstruction surgery once things settle down enough they can do something. I don't have any idea when that will be. He is young and healthy and will most likely recover fully. Meanwhile I will remember him in my prayers.

Next weekend we are going down to Coberg, Oregon to see my Uncle Ben and his new wife. I will get to see a bunch of my cousins I haven't seen in many years. I am really looking forward to the trip, and to getting away for a couple of days.

Then the following Friday, we will be leaving for a week at the ocean.. I REALLY, REALLY need to get away and recharge my batteries.

A Little Relief

Wednesday, the temperature on my deck in the shade was 105, Thursday 99, tonight 83.

I can live with 83. Because I had a heat pump installed a couple of weeks ago, the temperature inside was a mild 74 degrees. I don't want to think of what the electric bill will look like for the month, but no matter what it is IT WAS WORTH IT!

The down side is that I accomplished nothing on Frankenhealey. I had hoped to have the weekend to work on it, but I have to work Saturday, and it just doesn't leave me enough time to get the braking system rebuilt. That is, unless everything goes perfectly. It is to laugh. Nothing ever goes perfectly, especially with a 36 year old British sports car. If you own a vintage British sports car, you are at some level a masochist.

R's significant other had a bad accident on Wednesday. They were at a lake, and he was using a slide to go out in the water, when it tipped and threw him off. He fell face first on a piling, and shattered all of the bones surrounding his eye. When they pried everything apart, he still had vision in the eye (thank God), but will require reconstructive surgery to rebuild the eye socket.
Sure hope everything turns out all right.

Mrs A's sister had surgery on Wednesday for uterine cancer. They released her from the hospital yesterday, and Mrs A is spending the day with her today, watching after her. I really don't know what her treatment plan is. Guess I'll find out when Mrs A gets home tonight. Mrs A has been real upset by this, as both of her parents died in their 60s, and her sis is 59. Mrs A has always felt that her life span will be limited because of the family history, but I think she is being fatalistic. They were both very heavy and didn't take care of themselves, while she works out every day and takes good care of herself.

I am having a hard time dealing with all of this. I am a normal guy. When things go wrong, I want to fix them. And there isn't a damn thing I can do about most of this. The motor is racing, I am on the line and ready to get'er done, but there isn't anything I can do. Except turn it over to the big guy upstairs.

Too Stinkin' Hot

I am not going out and working on the car tonight or tomorrow.

It is 95 degrees today, humidity 77%. Tomorrow is supposed to be over 100 degrees. I have a bunch of work to do on the brakes, but it isn't worth risking heat stroke to do the work. I have lost 9 pounds in the last three days while working on the car. Enough is enough.

I really want to take the car to the annual Boeing Employees car show, and I am goal oriented person, and I have told people I would bring it, and I keep my word. I will work on it this weekend when the temperature drops back into the 80's. If I get it done, I get it done. If not, I will take the Z to the car show.

But I will be disappointed.

Them's the Brakes

No I did not spell it wrong. We're talking car brakes here.

I went to bleed the brakes yesterday. You always start at the furthest wheel from the master cylinder, that usually being the passenger's side rear.
I got a small chunk of hose, a beer bottle (previously emptied) which I partially filled with water, and an 11mm wrench. Crack the bleeder valve open, get inside and pump the pedal a couple of times, check out the bottle. If there is evidence of brake fluid in the water, close the valve, check the pedal and move on.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times I pumped the brake pedal, no fluid ever appeared.
This is not a good thing. There are a couple of possible reasons, and neither of them is good. Either the master cylinder of the wheel cylinder is bad.
I started out by replacing the master cylinder, stealing the one out of the parts car. WHen I put the new/used master cylinder in, I could pump up the brakes, a positive sign. However, I still couldn't get the rear wheel cylinder to bleed.
So I had to tear the whole thing down to the backing plate. I must say that this is the strangest braking system I have ever seen.
When I got the wheel cylinder out, it was packed with this greyish/greenish deposit. The hole from the brake line into the wheel cylinder was packed so full, I had to use a small diameter drill to clear the line.
The actual parts seem to be in very good order, so I think I can just clean things up and put it back together.
Then on to the other rear wheel.