Soooooooooo close...

When Randy comes out to work on Fillmore he drives from quite a distance to come and be frustrated by this old school challenge. So I'm a little careful about ribbing him too hard in case he gets pissed off and I loose my side kick! Sometimes Randy shows up on his motor cycle, sometimes his convertible, and sometimes he brings his big wheels.
On Friday I was moving my quad out of the garage to get at the welder, I really didn't park right beside him on purpose...it just kinda happened this way.

 I wonder which one is bigger ?

It's here! It's here! My new Hydraulic pump finally arrived. The bad news was is was supposed to come 2 days earlier but Fed Ex screwed up and it wasn't shipped overnight like we had ordered. The good news is that because of that I didn't get dinged for expedited shipping....or shipping at all!!

Jeff was eager to help out, so he threw on some coveralls and we pulled the side panel to the chute.

We were moving along, and then...stumped. One of my fittings is the wrong size. Being that we had missed the open hours I had to wait....stumped by a $3.50 part.....ARRRRRRRG, so close to an extended test run!

Nothing a little Pinot Noir won't fix.

Cleared for take off

Last Wednesday I saw my specialist again for a progress report. Good news is that the eye looks good and we expect to have a very close to full recovery after some surgery. The other good news is that he cleared me for regular activity. I can run and jump, although he did caution against contact sports and tennis....why tennis I'm not sure but I didn't play before, so I guess I won't pick it up right now. It also means I am cleared for our volunteer trip to Guatemala!!
Not wanting to waste any time, Friday saw some activity around the bus, still waiting for the new Hydraulic pump to show up. Supposed to be here on Thursday, so all day we were eagerly awaiting the call from Norcan Fluid Power.

 

In the mean time I did receive the conversion module which is supposed to be a simple plug and play converting the transmission sensor signal from a diesel engine into an alternator signal for a V8 so we can simply use the same tach in the dash.

Randy had a little chuckle at my soft decorating touch as I prepared the bus for work on Friday. Truth be known it was simply a piece of old carpet runner that Michelle and I have had for as long as we have been married. I needed something to be a little softer on my knees....and no there were no doilies on the dash....

Randy picked up where he left off last time on the bumper...it was a bumper stumper for a little while there...

But in the end we found a solution that we liked and is functional.

Being that it was 2009 when Randy last sat behind the wheel of Fillmore, we decided it was time to take 'em out for a rip.

Looking for work

 Being on 'light' duties means no increased heart rate or blood pressure, no lifting, no hanging upside down...you know all the usual fun stuff you do when working on a bus.

 So, after a few weeks of laying low, I started doing jobs that I could do that were low impact. Today was a trial attempt at custom glass work.

 So with scotch in hand,I transferred the Flxible logo onto a sheet of acrylic.At this point things look promising. I wanted the rear surface of the Plexiglas to have the etching on it, AND I wanted the decal to be the negative. So I had to lay down duct tape first then spray adhesive the back of the tape and transfer the decal so when I cut it out it had the correct orientation from the front.

At this point I  realized a major mistake when I was cutting out the decal. I neglected to remove the clear plastic film from the surface to be etched prior to the decal transfer. Not a big problem for the surfaces to be etched because the film was removed with the removal of the rest of the discarded transfer. The issue was that the negative, the decal that remained to prevent etching, still had the plastic film under the tape. As such the adhesion of the decal to the acrylic was minimal. I knew there would be issues as soon as the blast media was shot at the piece.

I tried to keep an adequate distance from the acrylic with the blast gun, but sure enough it blew away some of the decal. Some of it worked, so I know I can get it done, but it's back to the drawing board for a second attempt!!

Heat me up!!

 STIR CRAZY!!
Yes, yes this "light duties" thing is driving me nuts. So this weekend I stuck to some light duty fabrication. It was time to wire up the front heater cores and create a front plate.

So I take some satin coat 20 gauge sheet metal, and tack weld in a louvered face plate.

 In my little shelter I am all warm and happy, sheltered from the...

 SNOW!!!....CRAP!

With a little sandblasting and then a fresh coat of paint, it'll be stunning!

Not just a pretty face...

 OK I'm going bonkers, stir crazy, I feel like I'm crawling out of my skin. I have thought over the years that I was a laid back easy goin' guy who can just chill with a cool/hot drink and read a book. Or have a nap, or simply just sit and listen to the wind in the trees...

 But who am I kidding. I can't sit still much longer than looking at the pictures in the latest issue of hot rodder magazine before I feel like I am wasting time. So for me to sit around and do nothing for 2 weeks is driving me UP THE WALL!!
My vision is improving, and my risk of a secondary bleed becomes less and less with each passing day. Today I decided that I could do something. I would not be lifting anything heavier than a set of tin snips. I would wear eye protection like you have never seen before. And the job is low impact and requires little physical effort and time.

 Pretty sexy full coverage eye wear huh?....check out that devil eye!

 I decided after much deliberation that I would place some LED side markers. Very simple job, just measure trace and cut

The install was a piece of cake, the wiring is pre-done by Chris and Bryce last time. So it's a quick and easy plug and play....no blood-no foul!