Back to the grind

Yes, yes...pun fully intended. So the pile keeps getting deeper....and I am not referring to the quality of my stories about the bus. I mean the scrap metal pile at the edge of the driveway. I had better get all this stuff cleaned up before Jed and Luella come by for a drink of moonshine and some banjo pickin' on the porch.

Friday and Saturday were chock-a-block full of 'to-do's'. A presentation in the morning on Saturday then a fundraiser in Edmonton by the dental school with the proceeds going towards DFA had us all hoppin'. An early return to Bragg on Sunday allowed the kids to meet their commitments(dance and birthday party), and allowed me some time with 'Big Daddy'.

I have to say that I am glad I got the heavy duty grinder, it really takes care of the job at hand...but holey Cr#* that thing is heavy. After wielding it around for a few hours I was TIRED! (ya, ya..." suck it up buttercup"...I can hear you Shawn)

As you can see in this pic, this is the bottom of the diff.  I am test fitting the mounting bracket which cradles the diff and sits on the leaf spring.

This again is the bottom, the flange could be removed but I am going to leave it on to see if I can get a practical us out of it...ie: a lateral guide/stabilizer for the springs

I brought out the whole kit and kaboodle.....I'm not sure that is really a word. Anyway, as per usual 95% done. Then I used the last of my cutting disks, I have two more small flanges on the very top of the diff which I want to remove, then I'll wheel it over and place it under the back end!!

Big Daddy

I am sad to say that not much, if anything, has happened with Fillmore or his related and scattered parts here in Bragg.I would love to use the excuse that it has been too cold, it could be argued that -25C with a windchill to -30C makes work more difficult or impossible, but from growing up in the north we all know you can dress for the weather and create a warm(ish) work space with tarps and heat. No the real reason is simply life. Busy at work, busy with kids, tying to have a balance between real and bus life.

After the last fiasco with the Mikita angle grinder, I decided to go back to my mantra..."you get what you pay for". So I decided, after returning the obviously defective blue one, to buck up and pay the extra monies and get the DeWalt heavy duty grinder, this thing feels like a machine gun, it's the Big Daddy!

If nothing else...it was predictable

As luck would have it, not so much for my brother Mike but for me, Mike came to town to be my experimental candidate for some new technology that I have in office at work. We had a good laugh as I put him through the dental ringer...just like old times...16 year ago as I went through dental school we did the same thing, but back then he had to put on a brave face in front of the profs so as I would get a good grade. This time I gave him free reign to say what he wanted. Thanks Mike you were a good sport!
We worked hard and got all the clinical stuff done, soooooooooo.....lets work on FILLMORE!!

Of course the biggest thing on the agenda is getting the rear diff in place. I have machined the mounting brackets, had new U bolts made, had the shock absorbers reconditioned....now to get the rest of the lower frame from the air suspension off the diff.

 So I let Mike loose with the new makita angle grinder, and we did some damage!(wait was that foreshadowing?)

 The temp was close to -20C with a wind so we bundled up well. But Mike tends to run a little hot at the best of times, so when he's swinging a sledge and on a mission there is a wee bit of steam....which unfortunately didn't show up all that well in the photo but it was funny!

 So the good news is we got most of the frame off...

 The bad news is, the brand new angle grinder calved on us(predictable)...shortly after the photo of mike and the steam, the steam around him turned to a thick charcoal color of smoke emanating from the blue housing. Yes we burnt out the motor...considering it was only the third 'cutting' disk, there must have been something not quite right with the tool.

Speaking of tools...

One step at a time

 Well Christmas was great. It was fantastic to have a lot of the family here and from Fillmore's perspective we got a fair bit of work done. But alas all good things must come to an end....New Years came and went, Monday morning brought a new week at the office, and thus work on the bus came to a screeching halt.

So when I got the opportunity I got at the frame on the diff outside, And away we go-start cutting!

I got about this far, and then my trusty angle grinder-a wee little 41/2" DeWalt....

Kicked the bucket. The picture doesn't do things justice but the gears on the bigger wheel are almost flat. I had been noticing the running of the grinder was rougher and rougher over the years but finally it kicked the bucket.

The good news is that Apple Hydraulics finished rebuilding the shocks for Fillmore!!

Here they are before....

Here they are after.....so shiny!