What the hay!?

So the car parts swap meet here at the racetrack was amazing.

100's of junk vendors,

an event I can relate too.

More on that later.

I'd never worked a swap meet before,

especially of this magnitude.

Also I've never been to a swap meet that was based on grass,

in rainy weather.

Come to find out,

wet conditions turn grass into mud.

Yea.

People bring all sorts of stuff to combat it,

like plywood, 

wood chips,

carpet.

I showed the guys how to properly load a flatbed Papa style!

My grandfather knew how to pack a truck!

We did this a couple times.

The track supplies hay bales for $5,

but vendors don't take it away.

They leave it for a sparse group of volunteers,

and us track workers to rake up.

Lotsa hay.

Lotsa wet hay.

These guys had been doing this hay thing for years,

and had never figured out the tarp trick,

another Papa thing learned when I was 5 or 6.

They'd walk each pitchfork of hay,

20-80 ft to the asphalt.

It was borderline ridiculous to watch,

and surreal to think of the lost hours and wasted footsteps.

I tried to bring it up during our morning meetings,

but these guys are a lead by example type crew.

There was that "ohhh..." moment for sure,

when they watched me and another noob worker Andrew

finish a section in 1/3 the time.

As the hay piles mounted around the track,

our boss Andy would scoop it up with the loader,

which meant Andrew and I packing the bucket

with pitchforks and rakes,

cause hay doesn't scoop easily.

Thankfully nobody was stabbed or crushed.

Since I may be the only one capable of backing in a trailer,

I got to load and unload a few...days...

Later on some other guy shreds the brush pile,

and the mulch sits and roasts while it composts.

Last year this pile caught fire.

I'd wondered why the tractors had ash in the filters!!

Just when ya thought the hay was handled,

there'd be more hay spots,

scattered in the 100's of acres of grass.

Three or four days,

lotsa overtime,

how could I complain?

Not much different than brickin or yardwork.

It actually was a great workout,

and the weather stayed relatively dry.

The swap meet cleanup started Sunday.

The track was hot on Thursday!

These racers are an antsy bunch!

These guys zippin around the racecourse,

like nothin' ever happened.

One guy slammed into the guardrail.

A big reason why it's so important 

to have the grass clean.

Slide not roll.

I got called in to do some metalwork.

Just like old times,

working til midnight using a (less than) 34 watt drop light,

cutting and fitting with a torch.

Easy...

Needless to say I've got a bit more appreciation 

for what the heck goes on here!

TP

Child Labor - fuel pump swap

So if you haven't figured out,

I just finished my 3rd month

being 1000 miles away from my family,

chillin' in the PDX winter.

Surprisingly it's been smooth sailing,

no major issues, sickness or accidents...

Knock on wood!

The kids have really stepped it up,

the wife's handling it best she can.

It's almost like all I have to do is pay for stuff.

Thankfully there's FaceTime, phone and texting!

Well last week was the big test,

the wife's Merc wouldn't start.

Great.

I'd been warned of the issue beforehand,

the car would take a few key turns sometimes.

I planned for an ignition coil to burn out,

but not this.

Since the Grand Marquis is basically like the van,

we gambled that it was the fuel pump.

Now,

could the kids replace it?

This was their time to shine.

Let's see what they've learned all these years...

They studied the manual and said heck yea.

I ordered the fuel pump up here from Oreilly,

Jaxon rode his bike and picked it up.

They learned my late start and late stop,

pulling out the old drop light.

Everything went relatively smoothly,

we had texted and called a number of times.

Then the big WHABAMP...

Turns out the fasteners holding the tank straps

are special breakaway studs.

There was a 1/2-1" gap,

no way to get a nut back on!

Leave it to Jake for YouTube and web searching,

this was a common problem in all Panther based cars-

Lincoln Town Cars, Crown Vic's, Grand Marquis...

Some fixes we're extending the straps with bolt-on flatbar,

ordering the replacement breakaway studs from a ford dealer,

(Tough on a Sunday!)

or what the kids chose,

adding a u-bolt and replacing the hinge pin.

They added a strip of neoprene to really cinch it up.

Anyway super proud of them for pulling this off,

gettin their Mom back on the road.

Good job guys!!

TP

Pioneer sx-800 - happy distraction

Being stuck up in Portland away from my family

has been and still is the ongoing test of sanity,

especially after almost 17 years 

of supersaturated marriage and parenthood.

Fortunately the cellphone opens up a world of communication,

texting, calls and FaceTime really soften the blows on both sides.

The kids and wife really stepped it up for this adventure.

The work week is busy enough and scoots by.

The weekends are the killers,

especially 3 day weekends.

Compound that with a rare PDX snow,

and a bit of a cold or fever,

and mang now what do I do!?

Well some would wrap themselves in front of the boob tube.

Nah...

I'd already trapped myself with a few Craigslist projects,

this was a chance to chill and tinker.

It only took 2 weeks here for my first CL score,

a Pioneer SX-800 tube receiver.

(The top one - I brought up the bottom)

Original owner said it worked great!

Yea right...

The dust would have started a house fire!

When I got the room,

one of the first things I did was vacuum it out.

This is when ya don't realize that hook is getting lodged in the throat.

The trap doesn't seem like a trap.

Typically an unused machine should have a slow start,

using a variac or a dim bulb tester.

Nah this was cheap enough to try it out.

Surprisingly the sound was clear and crisp,

that warm tubey sound people love.

Yea I was hooked.

Unsurprisingly there was major controller/pot static,

and definite popping from certain switches.

Spray cleaning helped,

but a deeper fix was long overdue.

Hours of online studying ensued.

A workshop was needed.

Building hot rods, boats, bikes...

fixing stereo equipment,

sometimes it feels like things happen,

and I'm just a conduit for those parts to come together.

I'd been searching craigslist for the two important house pieces,

a sturdy table and a bulb holder.

After work one day these were outside an old vacating house,

in an area I was only in by accident.

Yes!

Way better than anything I'd seen on CL,

and I was prepared to spend some $$.

Now we've got a workbench and light,

and that $$ could go somewhere fun!

My weekend CL hunting grew.

These Polk Monitor 10 speakers were a score,

although there was a half hour drive to get them.

This was the best way to learn Portland,

driving to places I didn't need to be.

The woofer domes were punched in.

Using a small hose taped to a vacuum,

they popped right back out.

Still a little creased but better than before.

These babies sound great,

especially in a smaller room.

I can see why they've got a cult following.

The lower woofer is passive,

basically a valve for the air movement.

It's amazing how much bass is made

with the 2-6.5" speaks.

Than these Technics SB-L300's appeared.

I couldn't resist.

Good ole 3-way blasters.

They're a great higher range speaker,

coupled with the Klipsch Fortes they really fill the room.

I like them more than JBL 4311's!

Most importantly,

what perfect double shelf space!

Keys, wallet, knife, all have a home...

I was going to bring this pair to the shop.

In the meantime I'd studied tube amps online

and found potential problems in the Pioneer.

Early capacitors,

specifically the Suzuki brand,

were known to not last 10 years let alone 50.

Here's one that basically exploded.

Was that the crackly noise?

The best thing was to recap everything.

Ok the best thing would be to Ebay it and double the $$ while I could!

Not yet...

Get out the reading glasses!

Each capacitor was marked and sourced,

either from drug dealer type websites that cater to tube addicts

or straight from oversees mainliners.

There's basic $.50 caps and Gucci bouquet $16 caps.  

How trapped was I?

I did get tricked with the yellow "Dijon" caps,

which looked like Mallory caps with a sticker.

At only a few dollars total more a cheap lesson.

Fast forward to this snow weekend...

Thankfully half the caps showed up before.

I was able to solder in a handful.

Sucked being in a closed room!

Some repair guys swap one then test,

either to pinpoint exact issues,

or to doublecheck their soldering connection.

I kinda blew through the whole bag of yellows,

then seconded back for the big and little ones.

Wow these actually made a difference!

Turning the bass knobs before would make a flubbing sound,

now they controlled smooth like they were supposed too.

Many switches lost there violent pop,

and the tuner pulled in stations much smoother.

Bummer not all the caps had arrived,

it's obvious the old electrolytics were fried.

During the preliminary repair,

I did uncover a few mystery caps,

which now are ordered up.

By researching a little I learned to hold off replacing tubes,

at least until a full recap,

or each tube could actually be tested.

Working on this is kinda like moving here.

First I didn't have any idea where I was,

and through familiarity I know my way around.

So yea thanks for bearing with the ramble.

I'm trying to hold back more buying,

unless I do some selling to compensate!

It's tough cause there are some great deals,

and PDX craigslisters are waaay slower than in San Diego.

Next time I'll show the bike scores!!

TP

Miss Bianca - Tollycraft Tricabin Resto

Here's a fun summer project,

reminding me to not get a big boat.

The cruiser was a 1960's Tollycraft.

A wood boat that looked ok from the dock.

Countless issues lurked in the bilge.

The twin 350's defined the classic boat anchor.

Clapped out looking on the outside,

but fortunately pickled on the inside.

I teamed up with another barefoot mechanic,

with the same name.

New exhaust manifolds and a rattlecan rebuild,

they looked like boat engines,

everything painted no tape needed.

The copper mufflers had a bitchin patina.

Not anymore.

A list of problems were addressed...

Carb rebuilds, water pumps, thermostats,

filter and generator mounts, batteries...

Finally the 60's Tollycraft seemed mechanically sound.

We cruised the bay for the sea trial.

Nothing major other than no steering,

the owner was used to it though.

Holey chit...

The plywood hull had ongoing leaking problems,

and a haul out was scheduled.

Seeings how it had been 10 years 

since the last boatyard visit,

we didn't know what to expect.

But it sure wasn't this!

The wood keel had been eaten by worms.

Hard to see but they had hollowed out

the soft gooey center.

Great.

Surprised the diver never mentioned this.

The obvious leak was the least of our problems.

Every thru-hull needed to be reinforced

with fiberglass and replaced,

some unused holes plugged up.

The mental gears grinding for the keel fix.

Meanwhile Pirate Travis fixed the rudders.

I'm not really known as the wood guy,

but the concept is similar to metal.

Cut...templates...fit...glue...

Sometimes ya gotta just go for it,

and trust your experience.

The dock cart had a tertiary purpose,

acting as the perfect saw horse.

Couldn't have planned it any better.

Plywood templates were transferred to 

thick mahogany planks.

No special tools just a jig and skil saw.

With the level of deterioration,

I'm glad we made it back on that sea trial!

Holey Chit!

The original wood had dried enough 

to lather in resin,

and all the cut outs were sealed in fiberglass.

Each piece was fit with the good old grinder...

Amazing how fast a 36 grit disc shaves wood.

Boatyard chit involves intense scheduling,

unless you don't mind paying lay days.

I enlisted Jaxon to power out a late night,

ending with the typical 34 watt bulb...

Strips of fiberglass were layed down 

to thicken the bonding surfaces,

filling any gaps in the seams.

A good old hack trick.

Screws, jacks and wood blocks clamped

the wood tight.

Couldn't have done it without Jaxon!

The plan was to fiberglass the entire keel the next day.

And that we did!

Not with Jaxon though this was too nasty,

too much dust and stickiness.

Definitely didn't want to ruin our family fun

with the harsh reality...

Now that the wood was repaired,

it was time for some paint.

And that means a big ole tent!

A painter friend Hau knew just what to do.

Amazing what can be done with some string,

tape and a roll of visquine.

Now it was time to pass the torch,

or I tried anyway.

These guys are workhorses,

but they need a constant supply of tools,

materials or direction.

I was the grease in the gears.

My Dad was crucial as he orders all the materials.

Family affair!

Of course this was during a summer heat wave.

It was so hot in the tent.

Hau and Ten sanded and faired,

sanded and faired...

We peeled painted over vinyl lettering.

Tons of minor fixes that explode when shiny.

The primer coat hides certain flaws 

while magnifying others,

allowing a shift in attention to tackle the important details.

 The cheap spray paint layer 

assures sanding is thorough.

Over 100 feet around took rolls of sandpaper.

Did I mention it was hot?

Finally time for the Awlgrip topcoat.

A brutal atmosphere.

I still have overspray on my glasses.

The finish was impressive.

Too nice for the nasty swim step.

More sanding, new paint and nonskid,

now the topcoat was finished.

Just kidding.

Now it was time for the bottom paint.

A relatively easy job other than the waterline.

Hard to see in the pics,

but this didn't look like the same boat.

Super smooth with crisp lines.

And a keel that wasn't flopping around like a rag.

The owner was amazed.

Now it was time to finish up the inside mess.

Jakob help with screwing in the thru hulls.

then Pirate Travis buckled down all the hoses and valves.

After the zincs and prop coat 

the never ending list was almost complete.

Pat the owner was so stoked.

He has had this boat for decades,

and this was the best it had ever been.

Whew!

Back in the water,

the last rudder part was fixed,

which meant welding near the fresh paint.

Always something...

Good times with a good crew!

TP