Slim pickin's...but for good reason.

Usually when I get this feeling I am anxious because I know I'm forgetting something. You know what I mean....you're walking around the house randomly looking around, hoping that some visual cue will jog your memory about what you are supposed to do. I have been walking around now with the gist of that feeling in my chest for just over a week. Fillmore has flown the coop. A week ago friday I drove Fillmore into PET autobody to start the body prep and primer process. A process it will be, sandblasting, hand stripping, body work, glass removal, you name it it's going to happen. Now at what rate is the question but the process has started.

Adds and sods. I prepared surfaces that would not have seen paint otherwise, roof vents and perf body panels for the rad.

The dash needed to be stripped and prepared for paint. To try and save me from getting the blasted paint dust everywhere I attempted to wall off the rest of the coach with drop cloths....notice I used the term attempted.

As for myself, I was a little more successful protecting my eyes,ears and lungs from the dust.....

I can't wait to be astonished...............

Thanks Mrs Pohatch

 It's so long ago I can't remember her face, I can't even remember how to spell her name for sure. But I remember how she made me feel. At times like I was the most powerful and proud man on the earth for my achievements, at others I was ashamed to have crossed the line by breaking a golden rule. But as cliche as it sounds all I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten: 

by Robert Fulghum

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

The other day I was making a template for the new bathroom roof vent, and yes as you can see in the pictures I was using the traditional KG work space tools....paper, tape,scissors, and crayons. All was going along so well, until it became apparent that SOMEBODY broke a rule.....  

 Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

I guess in my haste last time I used the seam sealer, I didn't properly clean the rim of the lid for the can.......and then I put it where it normally doesn't go....so I didn't notice in my typical travels. So when I went to use it this time....I was stymied. I know better than that....I am better than that.

My bad, sorry!........mia copa.

 After Shawn was here and did such an excellent job on the bumper, I was horrified when I realized that I overlooked a small but very important point. We hadn't treated the interior surface of the rear engine cover. It required the careful removal of the piece of art. It required the removal of 12 fasteners, ranging in size from 1/4" dome heads, to two very large lug nuts.



















Once off, it was just a matter of prepping the surface and then a liberal coating of my favorite POR-15.

 I feel much better now. I had visions of the final paint job, and then the rust creeping up and over the rear engine cover.

 A simple reverse of steps and now everything is back into place, all neat and tidy. A little tip of my hat to my Kindergarten teacher....Thanks Mrs. Pohatch

Up on the roof top click, click click!

When out on the roof there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
tore open the shutter, and threw up the sash. 

I couldn't help but chuckle, as I madly rush trying to get a bunch of little jobs done. Jobs that I thought "I will have time to do next!" Jobs that I thought " I can file that....it will only take a few minutes" Jobs that I thought ".... Holey @#$....I better get that done!!" I was making noise and scurrying around on Fillmore's roof......and the forecast was for snow in the upcoming days. I'm in a time crunch here....September 19th Fillmore gets shipped away for paint.

First order of business was getting the roof ready for paint.

Rather than having them mask off the moon roof, I decided to remove it to allow them to get a better coverage.

I still needed to trim the interior panels anyway! As it stands its a door to no where

I also wanted to clean and prep the area under the roof vents...

And of course the remnants of the previous owners furnace chimney!

Looking better...still so much more to do....so little time...

What's in a name?

 Have you ever noticed that we need to be able to understand who people are to feel comfortable around them? I mean it's obvious that this is a generalized statement of the masses but I believe it is a fair general assessment that most of us would fall under. Imagine if you will, you are at a social gathering standing with a group of people when a friend of a friend walks up and joins the conversation. Your buddy turns to you and says "Blake, this is Ken....Ken this is my buddy Blake" you shake hands and then after a minute you turn to Ken and say..." So, Ken! What do you do for a living? Followed by a barrage of questions that help you understand who Ken is, where he's from, who he knows at the party, married?Kids? etc etc.
Why do we do it? Why do we need to categorize someone? I think it helps us to understand what they are like, we tend to fill in the blanks- make assumptions- and the more "pertinent" information we gather the better able we are to make a mental image of the individual.
How many times have you met someone and said...." Hmmm he doesn't seem like a "Bert".....seems more like a Kevin or a Trevor. Now we've taken it one step further and are able to conjure up an assumed personality of a person based on past experiences of others of the same and different names. I can say for sure that I wasn't thinking this deeply when we named our children, I think I was too much in shock....and I wasn't the one who delivered them. But really you have to ask yourself what's in a name?
For example, given that this is a blog about the guy....What does "Fillmore" mean?

• Your name of Fillmore gives you a highly sensitive, idealistic,and intuitive nature.        
• -hmmm, ok a little out there but I'll go with it
• You could be expressive and creative in the arts, music, or drama.
  

-I'd love for people to look at Fillmore and think that!                    

• Moods are a problem as you can be highly inspired one minute, and the next become quite irritated and annoyed over some ill-timed remark or lack of consideration on the part of someone close to you.                                                                                          -OK now we are getting into an arena that is kind of spooky
• You could suffer through nervous breakdowns, as well as disturbing thoughts, which could affect your concentration and memory.

          -And finally I didn't want to hear this because it rings true....one minute everything is running fine, the next minute Fillmore throws a temper tantrum and I'm having him towed to the garage.

Well, whether it's hocus-pocus or not to anticipate someones personality based on their name, the fact remains that we all need to label someone to some degree to help understand them.  

As such it was time to put the name plate on Fillmore...

Last order of business for the rear end work was fabricating a license plate holder.

Shawn jumped on the opportunity to recycle, you'll notice the 1/2" round stock that he used to 'border the name plate. That was the original linkage from the accelerator pedal to the carburetor, it ran on the inside under the floor the entire length of the bus.

A subtle little touch of creating a reverse curve to the plate relative to the bumper and body.

Presentation is can make or break a pitch......the Vanna White and Most interesting man in the world....may cause this gem a little more harm than good.

Done!.......sort of....not really....almost!

With all the measuring tapes,rulers, callipers you name it you'd think that we could find something a little more accurate than the shank of a drill bit. When I questioned Shawn as to whether he would like one of the other many measuring inventions known to my tool box, he just barked and grumbled something about he didn't need any fancy pants pieces of technology to do what anyone should be able to do with some bailing wire and the blood from your finger. I'm pretty sure he threw the term 'whipper-snapper' in there somewhere too.
He is an old soul trapped in a young man's body.

None the less, he was right. After this photo he bent over the top edge to give us a real nice finished look.

Excellent!, now that part is done, we move on to mounting the bumper. I was charged with getting two 3" stainless 3/8", non hex head bolts for the bumper....and I was successful.....sort of.

I found the bolts, I found a head I was happy with, but they weren't threaded all the way to the head. So grumpy old man and I went to the workshop with the tap and die set. Due to the fact that I messed up on the bolts....I was given the highly important yet somewhat less desirable job of  lubrication while Shawn got the job with all the glory.

In the end we were happy with the afternoon. Now it was time to kick back and enjoy a cup of joe.

6Gs of words

In the digital age of today where everything is at the swipe of our fingertips, sometimes it feels like we are on information overload. We have grown accustomed to having everything at our disposal, and having access to it  right now! Gone are the days where kids will ask Dad a question at the dinner table and marvel at how he knows so much, now we "google it". (yes, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary it is not just a trade name but a well known verb.). Don't even get me started on the lost art of cooking, there is a whole generation of young adults who believe that making a meal from scratch means that you buy various pre-made ingredients and simple combine them to make a home cooked meal. (pre-made spaghetti noodles in a box, premade sauce in a can, pre shredded cheese in a bag, and the ever popular already baked,cut and buttered garlic bread in a foil bag for the oven).
The point is there are skills that we are loosing because we, as consumers, demand convenience of a short cut. We are willing to pay  for the convenience of time, at the expense of our own skill. So when we take the time to create with our own hands there is a tremendous amount of value and worth and satisfaction. It nourishes our hearts and souls.
As I prepared these photos for the blog  the first blush feeling from the opening photo made me think about years gone by, and skills gone by. The photo evoked a feeling that would take too long to fully explain, so I decided to let the 6 photos tell their own story.

Hansie-my-kneg

Art is a funny thing.
Now that statement opens a whole bunch of doors of discussion, to the positive, to the negative,it could be considered ignorant and  adversarial but it also could be simple a statement of fact. For art is a funny thing for a scientist to understand. I cannot be so bold as to call myself a scientist and not fortunate enough to call myself an artist. I can however dabble enough in each realm to begin to appreciate the essence of both worlds. I love the certainty, the black and white of science. Perimeters are set, values are recorded and results are analyzed and interpreted. Art is amorphous and unpredictable and  is why I marvel  the creative process so.
It seems that for many artists there is a certain amount of inspiration that comes to them. Sometimes it is as fast and hot as a bullet fresh from the gun barrel, other times it's arrival is as slow as molasses in the dead of winter. So when Shawn had finally tucked away the last of his educational responsibilities and was eager to get to work on Fillmore, I was not the least bit surprised to see this scene.
I arrived home from work to find estragon fighting with his boot muttering "there is nothing to be done"

But slowly as the inspiration of the muse warmed him from the chill of the dreadful rain,

a plan was set into motion.

Fillmore's rear end needed....uhmmm....attention!

I had scabbed together a series of patches to fulfill the requirements for the inspection. But like many things, the rear desired solution was put on the back burner until such a time as it could be done properly. The left is a picture of what we had after we removed the bumper and the pieces of skirt and license plate that were tacked on. For safety and aesthetic reasons I wanted to close in the flywheel of Fillmore's power pack. Angie at 3 Fab was kind enough to get us some 1/8" sheet bent to Shawn's specks. It will be something to cover and conceal, but at the same time  provide the ladder support we are looking for.

Measure four times and then you don't have to cut, the building block we had made up was perfect.

So with inspiration firmly implanted in his heart, the artist was let loose....

While the beast was outside creating havoc, the beauty was inside documenting and gathering her own inspiration to set a plan for Fillmore's living space

I really wasn't that much of a slave driver, I made sure he was sufficiently fed and watered....and by water I mean plied with a steady supply of fresh coffee.

I am sure he thought I was hovering to make sure he kept working, but in reality I was wanting to watch and learn. Asking all sorts of questions on welding technique and hammer forming, how and why metal moves like it does-or does not, materials, factors influencing decisions.....so much more.
Even though he is the baby of the family he really is a Hansie-my-kneg. ( a little nod to my Afrikaans family)