Counter Measures

Today, we said "Bye bye" to the old breakfast bar and cabinet. Moving it by myself was a chore as it had cement board, mortar and tile. It weighed about 400 pounds, I would estimate. Archimedes said, Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the earth." I set a few 2X4s on the floor as skids, lifted one end with a jack and set it on the skids. I then levered it, a few inches at a time until it was out of the back door and on the patio. No back strain or hernias. When I jacked it up about 5 pounds of kibble was under the thing. The previous owners had dogs and allowed them the run of the house. Mice got into the food and stashed it under the cabinet base where it has sat for 27 years. Yeech!!! Oh yeah, there was also a petrified mouse as well. I'm glad Wifey was away for the week so she didn't have to see the "icky" stuff. She would have made me stop while she scrubbed and disinfected everything with buckets of Lysol and other chemical agents. I try to do the big stuff when she's not home. I don't really require a lot of "advice" nor do I need to deal with certain womanly compulsions.

Phase One is coming along, nicely. The pantry and fridge enclosure are done, other than a bit of sanding. The electrical has been moved as well as the water line for the ice maker and water dispenser. I installed a ceiling fixture in the pantry and a switch. I had to move a switch in the hallway since, after closing off the old doorway, it was in a bad spot. Of course, this entailed tearing into the wall, even more. Crawling around in the attic, pulling wires and sweating copper lines was never fun. At almost 65 years old, it is torture. Tomorrow I can finish all of the drywall in the hallway and get a coat of mud on it. I need to finish the inside of the pantry so I can build and install the shelves. So far, I'm going to put shelves on two walls, in an "L" shape. I may put in some drawers or some bins for spuds and onions. We'll see. It's sort of an evolutionary deal or design as you go. Phase Two should begin in a few days. It will involve removal of the old dining counter and cabinets and building the new counter on the opposite wall. Until the final counter tops are decided upon, I'll build a temporary one so we have a place to chow down.

And To Dust Ye Shall Return

I have not begun the kitchen project yet. I got down to the shop to begin some preliminary work and it became apparent that my shoddy housekeeping habits have slowly turned the woodworking side of the shop into a catch all and an overflow area. Three days of cleaning and trash removal have gotten me to the point that I now have a nice, open, workable space. One thing, in particular, that has been an issue for a while is my dust collection system. I ran ducts, a few years ago, but they turned out to be poorly designed, so I yanked it all out and redid them. I now have a dedicated line for the table saw, which is actually a European combination machine with three, 3 hp, motors to power the saw, the planer/jointer, the shaper and the mortiser. There is also a line for the band saw, an 18" Laguna. I also added a drop down line from the ceiling that will be used for all of the portable machines, like the router table, the drum sander, the spindle sander, etc. There is also a floor sweep, for the once every year or so that I grab a broom and clean up. I should now be able to transform a great deal of expensive hardwood into firewood without breathing in too much dust.

Someone's In The Kitchen, But It Ain't Dinah

At least for the time being, the bike is done. I will continue to tinker with it, of course, but the major work is done, for now. It's time for a new project. We've been in this house for 27 years and the kitchen looks like hell. It didn't look that great when we moved in and time has not been kind to it. The floor had numerous divots in the vinyl, the cabinets, which were cheepo builder cabinets, are shot, the sink has no porcelain left on it, the disposer doesn't work, the lighting is lousy, the pantry storage is dumb, the counters are chipped, the grout is starting to fall out and a few of the drawers are sticky. Other than that, it looks great!?!? The plan is to do the remodel in phases, to keep disruption to a minimum. This will be a total redo. The fridge is new and will stay. The dishwasher is old, but it still works, so it stays, also. Everything else is headed for the landfill. Like the bike, there will be no, hands on, outside help. Framing, drywall, cabinets, minor plumbing and electrical are no problem, for me. Wifey has given a, reluctant, thumbs up. She knows that I tend to drag my feet at times. I intend to work on this project every day, all day, until each phase is done. Phase one will be the construction of a walk in pantry, an enclosure for the fridge and a small wall desk. I will begin next week, when she is away so that, hopefully, when she returns there will be substantial progress but more importantly, no mess. Oddly enough, she is far more tolerant of mess and clutter than I am. The new pantry will be in the spot now occupied by the fridge.

The Revenge of the Son of Crapmobile

I went to move the Crapmobile (PT Cruiser) out of the way and, sure enough it barely ran. I punched up the codes and got five of them. I do know enough about late stuff to realize that some codes will flash because of the root issue and not because the problem really exists. Two of the codes pointed at the camshaft sensor so, after consulting my cousin, the mechanic, I went to the parts store and dropped another fiddy bucks on someone elses car. Bingo, it fired up and runs fine. Cheryl La Fong will come tomorrow to take it home and drop off her Yukon for brakes. Brakes are easy and present no problems for me. Should be a walk in the park, just like my Ranger conversion

The Attempt To Repeal Ohm's Law Was Met With Too Much Resistance

OK, so yesterday I pull all the plugs, They seem pretty good, A bit sooty, but I attribute that to the lousy carb settings that I, previously dealt with. I grab my trusty multi meter, a must have tool, and begin to check my plug wires. The very first one showed 0.0 Ohms. No good. No point in checking the rest, so it's off to the parts store for plugs and wires. I had a set of Accel plugs in it from the previous owner (Hey. it always ran well, so why replace them??) When I return, I pull out one of the new plugs to check the gap and begin putting them in. That's when I see that the correct plugs are 3/4" reach with a washer seat. The old Accels were 1/2" reach with a tapered seat. This, absolutely, has to be the last, less than stellar, bit of home tuneup and repairs that I will find. So, in go the correct plugs, all gapped, a dab of anti seize on each one. I have used anti seize on aluminum heads for 30 years. I still have my OG bottle of the stuff. One bottle, one lifetime. I then instal the plug wires. It was a universal set, so all the ends had to be terminated. No sweat, done it a hundred times. Finally, it's time for a test ride. The idle seems off, but I figure it may be timing. Down the road I go. The miss is still there. Crap!!! Back at the house, I get a nice glass of ice water, watch a bit of TV and wait for the bike and me to cool off. After a bit, I go out and survey the situation. I trace all the plug wires and find two of them are switched. Hmmmmm, sez I, this could cause a, slightly, imperfect running environment. A quick switcharoo and she fires up, instantly, and settles down into that 385 horse lope. The timing light tells me it's out a few degrees, so that's reset and it's time, once again for a hot lap around the neighborhood. What a difference. Runs like it should, shifts, stops (Well, sorta. Still have a bit more brake bleeding to do) and makes all the requisite, cool, sounds. With the 2:1 first gear, acceleration is ferocious and immediate. There is a little belt whine, but with the adjuster that I built, to move the rear of the engine from side to side, I should be able to eliminate that. It isn't very loud, but I still would rather it not be there. I just need to check everything one last time, slap the tank back on (I like the early bikes with the reserve tank. You can ride them with the main tank off when you're working on it) and give it a good wash, wax, polish the aluminum and so forth. One other, small, change that I made was, a timing pointer. When I made the new water manifold, I found that after everything was together, it blocked the view of the stock mark on the timing cover. So I grabbed a piece of sheet metal and snipped out this pointer that I clamped onto the water manifold. Now I can set or check the timing without pulling the radiator.

Always a Father

The bike has been giving me fits. Everything now works, just as I had hoped. The swing arm bearings stay straight in their housings, the electrics all function as they should, the clutch and trans is a dream.........what else could a guy ask for? I guess it would be nice if it ran well. I had the carb gone through by a, well known, old timer here in SoCal, Bob Jennings Dyno Service. I still have a miss. I replaced the ignition module. No dice, still there. Tomorrow I'll stick in a new set of plugs and see what happens. New wires will be next if that doesn't solve the problem. All of this would have, likely, been solved by now if my wife and I had not decided to procreate. Our daughter's BF has a PT Cruiser. Last month, it conked out. He had it towed to a mechanic who diagnosed it as a busted timing belt, bent valves and, possible, piston damage. Cost: $3500. Good ol' Dad sez, "Lemme have a look at it." I rent a tow dolly and take it back to the Fongderosa. Upon disassembly, I find no engine damage. 2.4 MoPar engines are not "interference engines". Still, a head gasket set, new head bolts, oil, coolant, etc. sets ol' Dad back another 350 bucks. Sigh, you have to help your own. She was laid off from her job and has limited funds. Another thing that would have made it nice would have been for this car not to be a complete PITA to work on. Changing a timing belt shouldn't take 2 days. Admittedly, I don't work as well or as fast as I once did, and these late model crapmobiles are my nemeses anyway. Anyway, after a few setbacks and do overs. the crapmobile runs again. Woo Hoo. Hopefully, I can devote my time and the five bucks that I have left to getting the bike straightened out. Oh yeah, she says her Yukon needs brakes.