Whassssss up!!

It was a Bud commercial I can't remember what year it was but it was funny....at the time. When I was thinking of this blog entry I thought I just wanted to tell everyone what was up.....Oh never mind you had to be there, but if you go to U tube...?!

 Anyway Jeff helped putter around, doing a little house keeping on the donor sled for the "Snowenator". We got some new plugs, new gas lines(mice got at them) and we'll see what happens!

 Michelle was putting together our unicycle....yup you read it right, UNICYCLE. What the F##@ are we thinking??

 What, biking out here isn't hard enough? Now we have to try to do it on one tire??

 I talked last time about having to remove the front drivers corner panel in an effort to rebuild the support rib. Well that all went like clockwork. Either the stars were aligned and the Flxible gods smiled down on me, or I'm just getting the hang of some things and I'm not as much of a putz. Who knows! So with the for mentioned panel removed I then felt compelled to strip the rust (surface) and paint 'er up (ya, ya, POR-15)

  Then start to put it all back together, always so rewarding but always a wee bit stressful too. I know we measure and remeasure, test fit and re test fit but still.....

 The feel of the pneumatic riveter....ohhhhh baby nothing sounds better. Well that's a lie, hearing someone say "Holey CR#@ Blake! you just a hole in ONE!!!!" Now that would sound better....sorry just a little day dream there...where was I?

Got the new panel on, bit by bit working my way down and under, no bends are creases!!(Yay!)

Then got the front corner panel on, and I thought this was going to be a grand headache, but she slipped into place like it was meant to be there. Oh wait, it was meant to be there.

So Fillmore is put to bed for a week or two, I am off to Manitoba to the prestigious Grey Owl golf tournament. I've been working on my swing this year...mentally...so I think I'm gunna take the trophy this year!!

Plastic mechanic?

When you do this kinda stuff to a person they call you a plastic surgeon. What about when you do it to a bus...you know face lift, skin rejuvenation,  bone graft.....am I plastic mechanic??...I suppose I would have to be a mechanic first off to deserve that handle....how about a plastic hobbyist?
 Well what ever it is , it's fun!

 So as I suggested last time, I removed yet another panel to gain adequate access to the 'support rib' we'll call it, just in front of the drivers front tire.

 After I cut away the bad, I made a cardboard template and then transferred the shape to a piece of sheet metal. Trying to keep the number of joins at a minimum, I figured this would work perfectly!

 Seems logical...

 What was that saying we learned in grade school?...the shortest distance between two points is a straight line? You think I'd be smarter than this.

 Well some patch and spot welding and there we are....my bone (rib) graft!

Now finish sanding, paint, seal, rivet and then we'll be ready to put the last panel on.

Slow and methodical or neglect??

Well probably a healthy dose of both really.

I have noticed with Fillmore that I have ebbs and flows when it comes to productivity. Maybe I could blame it on the change of season and the desire to be outside in the sun rather than under the bus, maybe I can blame it on the welding shop that seems to be taking PLENTY of time to get the engine cradle back to me, maybe I have decided that if I have that extra hour in the day I go see my friend in the hospital. Whatever the reason, the fact of the matter is that not much has happened to Fillmore in quite some time. As bad as I feel however Fillmore is way better off than this skoolie!

"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"-guess who?...

no not THE Guess who...I mean guess who said that?

Credit where credit is due, photo by:Alan Norsworthy from Guelph ON http://ajnphotography.blogspot.com/

Crappy Days

I tried, really I did! This past weekend I had great expectations about how much I could get done on the bus. It was a four day long weekend and we didn't plan on going anywhere.
My plan was that the first thing on the list was to install the drivers side panel...that has been off since god knows when.
Friday was the day, Randy was to come over and have a bus day.But things started going south that morning when Randy sent an email saying he was under the weather and we'd have to reschedule. No worries, I did some other errands, general clean up. Rust removal and paint, as previously mentioned. Then on to the father son project, Big Red.
Later Saturday afternoon after the obligatory dump run I decided to get to the panel...."But wait what evil lies in the hearts of men"...or more accurately what evil lies in the body of Fillmore?

As I was prepping the site, I felt the support that the front edge of the panel rivets to in the words of shaky Bill.."something is rotten in the state of Denmark". Yes the metal didn't feel right...it felt weak, tinny....and it was.
This was as far as I could go, Michelle and I had a date Saturday night and I wasn't going to be late.
I would get to it Sunday morning....
But then I was hit with some bad news....my cohort in bus crime is down. Randy is in hospital.
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After spending time with Randy and Leslie, getting them settled. I returned home to a very concerned and loving family. I calmed their nerves and assured them that our  adopted grandparents were OK and in good hands, I sent them to bed. It was late but I couldn't sleep so I puttered, which really means I layed on the gravel under the bus for a long time thinking about just about everything from rust to the meaning of life.
 Unable to use power tools in the neighborhood after midnight I did the best I could to excavate the rust by hand.

After removal of the bad....I wasn't left with much. But I had to remove more to get access to the frame so I can repair it. Which means...yup you guessed it....removal of a front panel...damn these ones have compound curves.

Now to do what a dentist does best....drill and fill.

Who says I don't work evenings!?

Big Red....

Big Red...
So here it is. A 1984 Honda TRX 200
When I picked it up from Mike's place he assured me that is did run. And , as always, true to his word...it did.
For about 4.74 seconds......and then she ran no more.(there's a song in that....never mind)
I gave the gas tank a skiff and....you know when gas is old when the gas doesn't smell like gas no more!
So we decided a little overhaul may be just the thing the doctor ordered.

We dismantled the front end. Bearings OK, steering linkage needs a new tie rod end on the left, new hydraulic brake cylinder for the front brakes...

The throttle cable was seized... a little perseverance and some grease fixed that (temporarily-need a new one)

And the gas tank.....sitting for a while without to much use...left her a little tarnished!

But a little red neck rust remover...

Yes that is the gas tank (with rocks and soapy water inside) strapped to the tire

And she looks good!
New spark plug, gas line and...

And how she looks to an 8 year old's eyes...

"The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often askew"

Aye laddie 'tis true! The words of the great late Robbie Burns ring strong and clear these days.
It is rounding the corner to the latter half of May, the good news is that this means Grey Owl is right around the corner. The bad news is...Where does the time go?
As I think of Grey Owl, I remember a conversation with the great grand sandbagger Knobby Fred, where he asked "what is your timeline with the bus?"
I responded reflectively "Well there is no timeline, that is the beauty of it. It is a project, a hobby, a passion." I then paused for dramatic effect..." but I want to have it road worthy for next Grey Owl."
"Not finished!" I said with a slight defensive tone " but drivable."
Ahhh Mr. Burns....you knew so much.

For some time now there has been very little bus activity, but yesterday I did manage a few hours when Michelle took the kids in to get sheered....uhh "hair cuts"

 I started to do a little more clean up on the frame under the last panel. Randy had already done the lions share but I wanted to do a little more....ya I know OCD.

 Just me CBC and the shop vac...life sucks.(sorry couldn't help myself)

Soon enough Fillmore's ribs were picked to the bone and ready for my favorite wonder paint POR-15
And this is where the "plough passed"
Jeff and I have been spending a lot of time together working on his project. Last weekend we made a road trip to Manitoba. Where amongst other things we got an old snowmobile and a quad from my parents and my brother. The plan is to salvage parts for "The Snowenator" which is still the plan for the ski-doo but by the time we had gotten to Swift Current Jeff was in love with the 1984 Honda TRX 200. It had been granted the last minute pardon by the Governor and was now scheduled for rehabilitation so it could be an active member of the community.
When he returned from his hair cut, the focus shifted from Fillmore to Big Red...

My little bun head

So, I won't be working on the bus this weekend. Anna is once again in a dance competition. That by itself is a good enough reason not to be selfish and stay home to work on Fillmore. To add icing to this cake,  Saturday is Michelle's birthday and then Sunday is Mother's day! Soooooooooo, my neanderthal male brain was able to see that if I was to stay home I might as well move in to Fillmore to live because although there is not heat in the bus, if I missed this weekend....it would be very cold in my house.
While I am away Randy, bless him, has offered to come and work away on Fillmore. I wonder if I can get him to take photos....

Where the H#%& did I put it???

I like to think of myself as easy going, open minded, a roll with the punches kinda guy. You know the guy I mean, the one who has a flat tire 20 min before a case presentation of his life, and SOMEHOW he manages to change the tire, not get dirty, never break a sweat and not only makes it to the meeting but slam dunks the presentation to boot.

Well guess what.....I'm not that guy.

The other day I was working away on Fillmore mounting the boxes for the water tanks. I had to cut some support braces, weld them,and then drill bolt holes in the ends. When it came time to put them to place I grabbed my De Walt drill case, and my three paper bags from the hardware store (nuts,bolts,washers).

So far, so good!.....but then... as I shimmy under the bus with the drill bit in my teeth(ya I know I should know better) I reach over to the drill case.....empty.CRAP!

Crawl out from under the bus and start the search. I looked in the bus shelter, I looked in the garage, I looked in the workshop...NOTHING!

Needless to say after looking at an unorganized mass of 'stuff' like this for an hour...I lost it, not the drill, my cool.If there was any illusion that I was Mr. Easy-going never break a sweat dude, that went out the window with my first blue streak of verbal venting. Fillmore will have to wait, I have some housecleaning to do.

Now come on, tell the truth....a pile of paper bags full of surprises or a hardware box that looks like this?....

A couple of utility shelves that I picked up around Christmas time....

And.....TA DAAAAA!

OK now I feel better....thank you.

A little lady touch.

 There are many ways to show affection. A squeeze of the hand, a kiss on the cheek, or a great big bear hug.

 But nothing says " I love you" more than your child carrying a 3 tonne jack stand!

  Seriously, I coerced Anna into helping me with the bus this afternoon. Which really meant my timing was spot on. She had called all her friends and they were unavailable for a play date, she already spent the last couple of hours sewing, and we had already did the weekly dump run that morning...so with options being scarce...she happily jumped at the chance to help with Fillmore.

When she found out what we were doing her trepidation melted away and she was all in. Building wood boxes in the workshop was, in her mind, better (or safer) than welding or grinding outside.

 Michelle thought this was hilarious. I don't know it just seemed practical to me. I took a page out of Mr. Canoe-head and we minimized the number of trips from the shop to the shelter.

Boxes and tanks in place!!

Oh, I give up....

I knew I was in for a rude awakening when this morning I could hear my son Jeff make his way down the stairs. It's bad enough that he was up before me, but when I heard him say in an extremely disgusted voice..." Ahhhhh REALLY???.....COME ON!!" I knew it was not good.
He was right...

Our plan was to get up and take a load of scrap metal from the donor motor home and the old diff to the recycle yard. The plan still came to fruition but the first couple of hours were spent snow blowing the driveway. Then we loaded up what we could. Not all of it was accessible, over the last few months I had strategically blew the snow from clearing the driveway to hide the hillbilly pile of 'crap' in front of the garden. An out of sight out of mind solution to an otherwise persistent eye sore. So we took what we could and moved on. I wish I had brought my camera , there was a moment when the crane had used the big magnet to lift the diff off the trailer and it was gracefully swinging through the air.... ah it was a bittersweet moment.

As Bragg Creek luck would have it, we got 8+" of snow last night, but when we got to the city...nothing!

Thankfully Fillmore is snug as a bug in a rug, just patiently waiting for us to finish up with his hiney.
I feel like this is a bad Carol Burnett skit and I am the old man mechanic, moving in slow motion, being played by the Tim Conway.

The bunny has come and gone

 Well last weekend was action packed to say the least. I managed to putter on the bus on Friday, albeit I didn't get started until noon(ish) and I had to leave on a 'secret mission' about 3:30.
The hush hush was I had to run into town to pick up my anniversary gift for my wife. Easy there boys I didn't say I had to go pick it out, inferring that I forgot and this was a last minute thing, no this was a well thought out, long in the works gift...that just happened to squeak in to town in time for our Anniversary.
The rest of the weekend was R&R, visiting and family time. I had the great fortune of having one of my life long friends (Steve) come through town with his son (so regally named Blake as well). They joined us for dinner and good times before continuing westward the next day. They were here long enough to get a tour of the bus, have a few chuckles at my expense and then head home. Never long enough but always good!

 As riveted you are with my personal life I am sure, on to 'da bus'. The engine cradle template was finished and taken to the fabrication shop in Cochrane. In the meantime I decided to continue work on the boxes for the water tanks. Ron and Jeff started the cutting, I finished up and then started to put it all together. (yes Trev, that is Hula Daddy)

Simple....yet still gratifying.