A POPPI JACKET!!!!

There are many times as a parent when you realize you need to stop and take notice of what your kids are telling you. NOT to be confused with what your kids are saying. Yesterday Jeff very proudly said " Dad did you see my new jacket?". I was this close to giving my typical parental..."uh huh!" while busily trying to read an email and cook dinner. But there was something in the tone of his voice that made me snap out of my fog. I looked up and he said with such pride ..."it's a POPPI jacket!!"

It put a lump in my throat, a tear in my eye, and pride in my heart.

Now on to a bit of bus... As the weather is cool and the daylight is short, we have been working on some warmer clime projects. In the last post Jeff and I were taking apart the wipers. After removing the old wiper motors, it was time to clean things up.

After all the layers of paint were removed, and the rust....it was time to repair.

The issue with a vehicle this old is that there has been a number of people who have put their own spin on the restoration train over the years. So there are a number of extra holes and pieces. First order of business, is to attempt to restore. I welded over the extra holes drilled in the wiper motor mounting plates.

Next I needed to figure out the wiring. I found that when you are buying different parts not designed for a particular car model etc they don't quite give you the schematics on how to make them work together.










After a test fit, i drill my own new holes weld a few new mounting plates, then wire it up!

Last piece of the puzzle is cutting new gaskets. A cork rubber mixture I found at a specialty store.

I glass of red wine, some late night TV and a pair of scissors, I'm all gasket..ed up.....

Keeping Warm

All too often we forget to thank the little people in our lives, and in this case I mean the little people. My son Jeff is always eager to lend a hand. Even when the temp dips down and working outside makes your teeth chatter, Jeff, more often than not, is willing to go the distance for the team, and that means the world to me.

But I'm also not a mean ogar that blatantly uses my children as forms of  labour that would break any international labour laws. When the steel gets too cold, it's time to move the projects indoors and work on something a little more manageable, and keep the workers, both big and small, warm.

One of the projects on the flow chart is wipers. I had taken the wiper plates( and motors) off some time ago but tonight we decided that we could do a little more. Jeff eager to put hands to tools jumped at the opportunity to take something apart.

The old wiper motor was removed, although functional, it was loud, erratic and bled air like a stuck pig......so time to get a little more reliable and save the air for the brakes and horn.

The new wiper motor is a three speed dynamic park, 12V electric motor

After doing a little clean up, re size the hole for the wiper motor shaft, the dry fit shows that all is well.






This will be my last post for a few days, I am off to Manitoba to visit family. Dad is chuggin' along, day by day, and we're thankful for each and everyone that we have left.

There are worse ways...

Perhaps it's because I am learning in a field that I have little previous experience in, but when things go as planned I get quite the euphoric feeling. Take today for example. I was done a few minutes early at lunch time so I decided to make a quick run down to a place called 'Greenline Hose and fittings'. I've done business with them before and have always found them to be very helpful. Today I was going in with a simple request, I had previous tranny line cooler hose in hand and I needed a new one....just longer. The assumption, on my part, was I would drop it off and come pick the new one up in a day or two. Well I was pleasantly surprised when the guy just looked at me and said..."'K gimmie a sec.'. 10 min. later he walks in with the new hose, Impressive! Maybe that is industry standard but I was sure pleasantly surprised.

The next challenge was I had the two ends for the air compressor from the engine and the bulkhead. I handed him the two pieces and said "This is my air line from the engine... I need to connect this to that!"

He stared at them for a second, then looked at me,then at the pieces...(moment of truth...)

"K, gimmie a sec'."

Once again, I was surprised and happy, in under 20 min, I was back on the road with all my pieces in hand.!! There are worse ways to spend a lunch hour.

Done and done!

 November 13th, and still no snow! I really should go buy a lottery ticket because I'm a lucky guy to have this kind of weather. Today I had some time to mount what I affectionately call the 'rad pack'. After getting it all put together yesterday, I took it all apart and painted the frame.

 With only one set of hands it took some time and make shift ingenuity, but I managed. The tranny line hoses only partially worked. Meaning one of the ones I had worked great, the other is too short and I need to have another made.

I wired the fans, oddly enough they were wired so that one was sucking and the other was blowing, so I had to re work the polarity and get them spinning in the correct direction.

Thank you

How different our world would be if in were not for the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice and defended those of us in the safety and comfort of our lives at home.
Lest We Forget...

November?...really?

 Meteorology, I feel sorry for people that get into that field. More so for the guys that get into the long term forecasts. In Calgary forecasting the weather a week in advance is a crap shoot at best, the old saying "It's Calgary, if you don't like the weather wait 5 min" often rings true. So you can imagine my surprise when they forecast warm weather for Thursday and Friday this week. And then for them to be right!
 I figure every day like today is a blessing, considering the long-long term forecast is for the coldest winter that we have had in years.

 Today the kids were off school. Anna was busy cleaning her room and prepping for the onslaught of 11 year old girls for her birthday party sleep over. Jeff on the other hand dawned his Flxible coveralls and was working on the snow machine for the snowenator.

 Randy made the trip out to Bragg again for our usual Friday bus day. I know I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and tease the one stead fast worker, but.....Don't worry he's not scared by a surprise photo, but rather this is what you look like when you are one of the seven dwarfs and 'whistle while you work'!!

 While Randy was problem solving in the front of the bus, trying to figure out the new heater core and defrost, I was busy fabricating a frame to hold the tranny and hydraulic fluid coolers for the chute.

 Randy then moved on to insulation...

 While I kept making sparks!

Here we go, rads mounted within the frame ready to be put into place!

Slowly but surely

Beautiful sunshine, modest temps, Sunday was a GREAT day. Michelle and Anna went into the city for a visit and Anna's dance. Jeff and I stayed home to put the final touches on his Halloween costume and enjoy the day. The girls left at 10ish, Jeff phoned his buddy minutes later, and promptly dropped me like a hot potato. Of course there were the ceremonial promises "Dad I'll be back in just a little bit,then we'll paint my costume!".....uh huh, riiiiiight!
I've heard that before, as a matter of fact I think I used that on my parents back in the 70's.
Oh well, I can do bus and Halloween costume!

Today was wiring, and because the weather is still holding, I set up my shop table in the sunshine, I love order....I wonder why my workshop is never this ordered.

Once the fuse box was in place, it's a matter of plug and play right??

Ya, not so much. That's the issue, if Mac or X-box had made this is would be plug and play. Unfortunately this is home grown so there are a few extra "loose ends" to deal with

In the end (which I am not fully at yet) things are coming along nicely.