Greetings!
Tonight I attended my son Joey's graduation from Seminary. He's completed 4 years of getting up at 5am and attending the early morning religion class before his high school classes began each day. In 3 more days he'll graduate from high school and then in another 30 days or so he'll report to the USMC boot camp. Taking advantage of the "missionary release program" he'll receive his training for 90 days or so and then be cut loose from his reserve unit to report to the Missionary Training Center to prepare for his 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (The Mormons). After returning from his mission he'll report to his USMC reserve unit once again and complete his obligation to the military.
In serving his voluntary mission for the church Joey is following in a family & cultural tradition of service. My father served two and a half years in the New England States Mission, I served in the Taiwan, Kaohsiung Mission and 4 of my 5 siblings also served full-time missions in various locations around the globe.
Nathan and his Dad, Kent (who served 2 years in Italy), recently invited me to join them and their friend Keith (who served his two year mission in Italy) on his 21' fishing boat, set up for Carp Hunting. Kent was the first to shoot one of the nasty carp and I was the second. After demonstrating my prowess that one time, I kept to the stern of the boat and shot near the fish in a cunning plan to scare the fish around to the front of the boat where the other fishermen nailed over a dozen more. The largest was about 28lbs!
The way it was described to me, these undesirable fish are prolific breeders and take much of the food that the game fish depend on for survival. The Fish and Game Commission encourages their capture and eviction from the lakes and reservoirs. In fact, arriving at the boat dock with a bad wheel bearing on the boat trailer, two game wardens were so eager for us to begin hunting that they were wholly engaged in the repair of the wheel bearing. One of the officers even drove Keith to town (on Memorial Day) where they successfully found a new wheel hub. It may have spurred customer service that one of the two was carrying a badge and a gun. It turned out well and we were able to do a public service and rid the reservoir of over a dozen of the big fish.
Back in town later, Nathan and I worked on his Honda CT90 that used to belong to his maternal Grandfather, Leon. It had been well cared for in his possession but still needed plenty of restoration work to be fully presentable and road worthy. In this picture you can see the freshly painted plastic covers in grey metallic that I brought with me from Washington. We'd already spent time cleaning the carburetor and replacing the sticking throttle cable. After a through scrubbing of the yellow parts with Costco's Oil Eater (a worthy product, in my estimation) we pulled it out of the garage for a photo shoot. It needs a few more things before we can consider it ready for a trip to town.
Back home in the laboratory, I got busy with Gary's '51 Chevy. I'd like to have it running down the road by the 4th of July. I finished mounting the battery tray to the inner fender panel by fabricating a bracket supported by metal tubing.
The battery tray is one I found that is made to support the Optima battery and the red coloration on the battery blends almost perfectly with the Porsche engine and valve cover paint.
Once I get the spark plug wires routed and terminated and a few more wiring details, the engine bay is going to look pretty well coordinated. I flattened the bump in the fender panel that was there to clear the top of the stock shock absorber. Both of the inner fenders will be finished in gloss black as well as the core support around the polished aluminum radiator. I'm excited to show the combination to Gary. I heard his son Jason was in town visiting while I was out of town visiting. Too bad, I would have enjoyed meeting Jason and showing him the modifications on the coupe that he and his Dad Gary had worked on over 20 years ago.
When I yarded out the late model Chevy S10 rear axle over the winter, I also snagged the emergency pedal and cable that came in the same truck. Since these components were made to work together, all I have to do is mount the pedal mechanism under the dash by the driver's left foot and run the cable along the chassis to the rear brakes.
Tonight I attended my son Joey's graduation from Seminary. He's completed 4 years of getting up at 5am and attending the early morning religion class before his high school classes began each day. In 3 more days he'll graduate from high school and then in another 30 days or so he'll report to the USMC boot camp. Taking advantage of the "missionary release program" he'll receive his training for 90 days or so and then be cut loose from his reserve unit to report to the Missionary Training Center to prepare for his 2 year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (The Mormons). After returning from his mission he'll report to his USMC reserve unit once again and complete his obligation to the military.
In serving his voluntary mission for the church Joey is following in a family & cultural tradition of service. My father served two and a half years in the New England States Mission, I served in the Taiwan, Kaohsiung Mission and 4 of my 5 siblings also served full-time missions in various locations around the globe.
My son in law Nathan served his mission in Florida and learned to speak Cuban Spanish. He proposed to my daughter Sunny before she could finish paperwork for her mission and he now works at a thriving clinic as a family doctor in Idaho.
The way it was described to me, these undesirable fish are prolific breeders and take much of the food that the game fish depend on for survival. The Fish and Game Commission encourages their capture and eviction from the lakes and reservoirs. In fact, arriving at the boat dock with a bad wheel bearing on the boat trailer, two game wardens were so eager for us to begin hunting that they were wholly engaged in the repair of the wheel bearing. One of the officers even drove Keith to town (on Memorial Day) where they successfully found a new wheel hub. It may have spurred customer service that one of the two was carrying a badge and a gun. It turned out well and we were able to do a public service and rid the reservoir of over a dozen of the big fish.
Back in town later, Nathan and I worked on his Honda CT90 that used to belong to his maternal Grandfather, Leon. It had been well cared for in his possession but still needed plenty of restoration work to be fully presentable and road worthy. In this picture you can see the freshly painted plastic covers in grey metallic that I brought with me from Washington. We'd already spent time cleaning the carburetor and replacing the sticking throttle cable. After a through scrubbing of the yellow parts with Costco's Oil Eater (a worthy product, in my estimation) we pulled it out of the garage for a photo shoot. It needs a few more things before we can consider it ready for a trip to town.
Back home in the laboratory, I got busy with Gary's '51 Chevy. I'd like to have it running down the road by the 4th of July. I finished mounting the battery tray to the inner fender panel by fabricating a bracket supported by metal tubing.
The battery tray is one I found that is made to support the Optima battery and the red coloration on the battery blends almost perfectly with the Porsche engine and valve cover paint.
Once I get the spark plug wires routed and terminated and a few more wiring details, the engine bay is going to look pretty well coordinated. I flattened the bump in the fender panel that was there to clear the top of the stock shock absorber. Both of the inner fenders will be finished in gloss black as well as the core support around the polished aluminum radiator. I'm excited to show the combination to Gary. I heard his son Jason was in town visiting while I was out of town visiting. Too bad, I would have enjoyed meeting Jason and showing him the modifications on the coupe that he and his Dad Gary had worked on over 20 years ago. When I yarded out the late model Chevy S10 rear axle over the winter, I also snagged the emergency pedal and cable that came in the same truck. Since these components were made to work together, all I have to do is mount the pedal mechanism under the dash by the driver's left foot and run the cable along the chassis to the rear brakes.
This is a picture of the pedal after I'd cut all the mounting tabs off and welded them back on in different locations that fit the left side of Gary's kick panel. After doing this I bead blasted the mechanism and thoroughly washed it to get all the abrasive out. I repainted the pedal portion and now it's ready to bolt into place. After running the cable to the brakes it's a done deal and the car will have a safe parking brake.
For this last shot, I need to explain just what you're looking at. Imagine you're passed out on the floor of the car. Your feet are sticking out of the passenger door and your right shoulder is pressed against the bottom of the front seat. As you open your bloodshot eyes and look up to see where you are, you will see this neat arrangement of electrical components.
The aluminum box next to the A/C fan blower is the ECM, or computer. Two large pin out terminals carry information from the sensors to the injectors and timing module. The timing module is the square, black unit to the far right, mounted ingeniously to the inspection plate of the ECM. Almost touching the wires of the timing module is the ALDL port. A service technician can plug his hand held diagnostic meter into this port and the computer will indicate a code that tells the tech about any problems with the system. The little black square between the blower motor and the ECM is the fuel pump relay and the colorful panel is obviously the fuse center for all the car's components: headlights, horn, & injectors along with the computer itself. When the passed out occupant sits back up on the seat, none of these components are visible. I want to point out that the red/black strip along the right side of the picture is the state of the paint job that the "other guys" did. When I paint this car for Gary, I'm going to take another picture of this same view just so you can see if I merit any similar criticism.
It's late and tomorrow is the start of my work week. I plan to finish the mounting (and hiding) of the parking brake, and get the inner fender panels ready for paint. If time permits, I'll run the brake cable to the rear brakes too.
I know, I know: you're thinking, "That guy has all the fun!" Yep!
Doug
1 comment:
Looks like you're livin' your dream Doug. A long way from the multi-colored '55 with so much carburetion that it flooded when you pressed the accelerator. You'll live forever.
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