Saturday 28 April 2012

10th April to 17th April

10th April - New Wiper Motor

Last night I installed my new electric wiper motor, arm and blade. Originally it would have had two holed to bolt it down and a centre hole for the shaft. The electric motor I have only has the shaft, which has a rubber washer and nut on the outside of the window to tighten it securely. I will probably fill the two remaining holes with stainless steel bolts and nuts for looks. I also had to drill a 3/8 inch hole to enable the motor shaft to go through the hole. I need an in-line fuse and a toggle switch to finish wiring it and it should be good to go.

17th April - Possible Road Trip Hauling the Jalopy, and a bit of Maintenance?

Linda and I are planning to haul the jalopy to some friends of ours that live about 3 hours away, to the centre of the state near Disneyland. We are not showing the jalopy, it is more like our informal car club group that meets at the burger joint. Most people just show up, park their car or truck and sit around and chat. I don't think they give prises or anything but it doesn't matter to me anyway, I'm just parking and chatting. We are leaving early Saturday morning and coming back on Sunday. I will actually park the trailer at our friend's house and drive it to the show just a few miles away. Should be lots of fun. The car show is just an excuse for us to go see our friends.

My left rear wheel still moves a tiny bit, which is a bit of a concern, and I will check it out before we leave..  bearings?? I have also noticed one spoke on the same wheel seems a little loose., so when we get back this will be one of my first retirement projects to check all the wheels.

18 April - Someone is Raining on my Parade (or car show to be exact)

A little snafu possibly on this weekends planned trip to the car show. There is a 40% chance of thunder storms here in Tallahassee Friday and a 30% chance on Saturday in the middle of the state where we are heading. I wouldn't mind a little dampness on the jalopy but I don't want to see it sit outside in the rain and get soaked either. So, depending on the weather, we are either taking or not taking her. We can still go to the car show or not, sip some wine, eat a nice meal and have lots and lots of laughs.

19th April - Now Lets Check out those Wheels, and yes!! The weather Update

This afternoon I will check out the rear hub on the axle and if required fit a shim. We had a "bottom drop out" rain storm yesterday and I couldn't even have the garage door open to get any light. Hopefully this afternoon will be a little nicer and with the door open I can play around.

We have suddenly gotten into rainy weather, which is typical Florida weather. Usually it will rain every afternoon and then turn super humid and the sun will come out. Yesterday it just poured most of the day and right up until almost 8:00. So, checking out the forecast, we are NOT going to drag the jalopy down state this weekend because it is an 80% chance of rain Saturday up here and 70% chance of rain down there Sunday. I am not taking that chance of getting the old gal soaked. It is disappointing because this was our only chance this summer to make it down there and be with our friends because of obligations on both sides. We will just drive down and spend Saturday night with them and come home Sunday (in the rain both ways I think).

Will check around and see if I can find some brass shim material. I'm also thinking the other wheel should have turned the same number of turns and would probably need the same treatment, so I will check it out at the same time.

21st April - Maybe Next Year, also "The Countdown Begins"

Well sir today I was supposed to drag the jalopy to a car show 1/2 way down the State of Florida. I've cancelled the hauling part but we are still going down to stay with friends and go to the car show. The chance of rain here today is so high that it isn't funny and the same down there for tomorrow. I am just not going to subject the jalopy to that much moisture for the entire weekend. We have planned this for awhile now. Oh well, the best laid plans of man or mice....!

I am happy to state that I am now in my final count down to retirement. I have about 328 hours until I am no longer employed. My co-workers asked if we could have a luncheon on Friday. I am thinking that if it is nice weather that I might drive the jalopy. That would be fitting I think and I can come and go at odd hours to avoid heavy traffic. What a way to depart and drive off for the last time, two old relics heading into the sunset.

23rd April - Where is that Damn Shim Material

I have not yet located any "shim material" That means I haven't pulled the wheel yet. I need to get working on it because Friday is my last work day and as mentioned I want to drive her to work and leave early. I may do it even if I don't get the shim fixed and installed by then. It would be no further than I would have driven it this past weekend...had I taken it to the car show.

23rd April - Success with Shim Material

Good (Tuesday) morning to ya. It is just before 6:00 AM on a cool morning. I've been up since 2:30, went running at 3:30 and at work shortly after 5:00. Retirement is coming faster than a run-away train and I have my arms open to welcome it. The closer it gets the more excited I get and the more little projects I think of that need doing. I have so much to look forward to and I can't wait to start.
I may have found shim material at last. It looks like I can buy shims already made and sheets of brass of different thickness.

24th April - Yes We have Shim

I finally got some brass shim material this afternoon and have just got home from having dinner with Linda to celebrate my 65th birthday. Tis the reason for the season and my impending retirement.

I will pull one wheel tomorrow night, and in hindsight I remember when I pulled the other rear wheel I bought a wheel puller but the wheel came off pretty easily. That should have told me something at the time.

25th April - Some Good News. Wheel Wise, Well Maybe.

The axle key looks pretty good, with no slop and came out rather reluctantly. I can see the writing on the key, which makes me believe it is rather new. There is some grease on the axle taper which I will clean before I start playing with shims.


Here's another view. There is some grease around the slot where the pin goes in, otherwise it is pretty nice.


26th April - The News Keeps Getting Better.

"A funny thing happened on the way to the Colosseum." I pulled the wheel last night and this afternoon I cut the shim to size, looked at the axle then the hub and both seemed impossible. I took some de-greaser and cleaned all the grease off the axle and the hub. Now the shim, that damn thing is a pain, The size and fit was perfect and I have a little left over (it came in a roll 6" x 100") The piece I used was about 2" X 4"...So I have a tad bit left over, about 94 inches!

Being the first time I had done this,I couldn't decide if I needed to put the shim on first or try to install the wheel and work the shim in and around the axle.

First try: I wrapped the shim around the axle but the wheel is so heavy that I couldn't lift it onto the axle.
Second try: I tucked the shim into the (clean and shiny) hub. Guess what? The wheel is still heavy! Both times I was able to sit the wheel onto the axle but neither time could I rotate the shim into position...then I realized the pin was not installed. Took the wheel back off and the shim wasn't lined up properly anyway.
Third try: I pulled the wheel back off and and put the pin into place, then looked hard at the axle. As I ran my fingers across and around, I realised that the retaining washer was not able to make full contact and actually stood about 1/16 away from fully seating. There was my wobble! My Aussie mate Ray had told me to beware of the washer but when I added a washer on the other side (back awhile ago), I bought more than one and with a larger hole, which enabled it to seat further. I went to the bin and pulled a washer out, put it on the axle, added the original washer that had been installed and there is no more wobble AND I didn't have to shim it, which is not to say I won't have to do eventually.

SUCCESS COMES TO THOSE WHO PERSEVERE

I will know tomorrow for sure but for now I feel confident that it is fixed.

27th April - Freedom at the Age of 65

Well people, today is the last day for the Mohican's, in a couple of hours the jalopy and I are driving out of sight and out of range. The truck drove very nice on the way to work this morning. It still has a little bump and grind, but all in all I think it was a smooth and non-incidental ride. Pray for my return ride!

Below is a picture of me, the truck and my best buddy at work (I am the one with no hair ha ha)

Next time I greet readers of my blog I will be Jerry, the retired gentleman from Tallahassee.











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