Klunker nope Bomber #33

Let's welcome the new two wheeled addition

to the Perich quiver.

Yes Houston we have a problem...

These things multiply like rabbits!

It all started with a chance Ebay score.

Okay it wasn't really by chance.

With the rainy season dwindling early,

it's possible to explore the local paths.

With two older kids,

we don't need to be fighting over rides!

What a great excuse...

So I hunted and scrounged,

scoring this bitchin 1936 Schwinn C model frame,

80's gold wheels and a truss fork.

Of course a budget frame will have issues...

The rear axle dropouts were seriously splayed out.

Good thing I know a welder!

This is quality 80 year old metal,

TIG rod beefed up the deadened space.

The worst were the fender crosspieces,

mangled by over tightening fasteners through the years.

The tubular steel was replaced with stronger solid rod,

sourced from a couple of long bolts.

A little heat and coercion,

the curves were matched better than original.

Most important was filing and sanding

the leftover braze,

allowing a clean weld.

Lotsa splatter and holes if you don't.

Since fenders aren't in the future,

no holes were drilled yet.

There's a possibility for BMX style brakes,

then the overbuild will be needed.

A couple seat posts welder from some shop scrap,

ready to roll...

But let's throw some paint on there first.

We went hog wild with the patina.

And beyond hog wild on the badge.

Can't ride it without an overpriced one of those...

Fortunately there are cheap-ish badges around,

even if you go Gucci with an Excelsior or Ace.

Beaters shine up sweet with some paint and time.

The gold BMX wheels needed hand brakes.

Decisions of drums, cantilevers, welding pivots...

Too much thinking.

For now a set of coaster brake rims will do,

changing the klunker build to a bomber.

Back in the 70's,

klunkers had gears and hand brakes,

bombers used more simple foot brakes.

The aluminum cranks and wheels make this super light,

resulting in a quick and fun ride.

The old road bike Brooks saddle is softer than it looks!

T

G

G

Budget Boomers - Electro Voice Sentry

Let's see,

what do we have here...

More big speakers!!

For years now I'd been wanting to build speaker cabinets,

and fill them with good components.

Cause I don't have any other projects to do...

Sadly I've collected good components a few times,

Altec 416/515 woofers and horns,

but with no carpentry tools and the big pdx move,

let them slip away.

A chance craigslist perusal uncovered these gems.

At $100 a piece,

they solved the cabinet building issue,

while supplying decent mid-grade components,

supposedly from Electro Voice Sentry speakers.

Of course there were reasons for the budget price,

found after they were unloaded at home.

Each woofer had a little rip.

Darn!

The packing tape repairs had fooled me.

The tears didn't cause any rattling or buzzing,

so a hack repair was in order.

Tissue paper and wood glue to the rescue!

Basically paper mache acting like a fiberglass repair,

They dried up stiff as the rest of the cone.

The gaping holes 

allowed me to check out the guts.

Electro Voice t-35 tweeters,

1823m midrange driver, 8hd horn,

and some big magnet 15" 8g? woofers,

all hooked up with custom crossovers.

The tuned port cabinets were well made with plywood.

Not show quality,

but perfect for the garage.

Definitely a score for the dough.

But the sound...

For shop speakers they were just ok.

Some tunes were mixed evenly,

others were grating.

The blaring mid-range was like a shotgun.

I resorted to putting cotton balls in the holes,

which softened the sound.

The builder had started to tune them

Each speaker had 2 knobs,

L-pads that control the two horn outputs,

but they weren't wired.

A quick solder hook up allowed easy experimentation,

uncovering the faults of the system.

Come to find out the EV 8HD horns

have design flaws from the get go,

throwing sound out like a cannon.

Maybe a pair of Altec 811b horns (top) could help.

I couldn't resist copycatting color cues from

old JBL 4345 monitors.

Ugly enough to be cool.

The first one went back together easy,

and the music was finally tamed.

The wild horn diffused the sound waves.

Definitely worth the effort.

The second one needed a new L-pad,

which took a week to arrive.

One was broken,

and both were glued in.

Which meant they disintegrated upon removal.

JB weld is some strong stuff...

Maybe a hammer and channel locks didn't help!

I really didn't want to wait another week.

Since the first speaker worked so well

without needing to move the tweeter knob,

the L-pad ohms were checked at the position used,

about midway,

about 5 ohms.

Luckily I had a stash of 4.7 ohm resistors.

Justifying why hoarders don't throw anything away!

A single measured at 5.8 ohms,

which maxed out the 20% variation

these were spec'd at.

Two in parallel measured at 3.7 ohms.

I'm sure there's a formula for this...

Two were wired up to the tweeter + wire.

One could be cut out if the sound was too bright.

Finally the set was complete!

Time for a late night cranking session..

More soon!

TP 

Toro 580D - pushing the limits

After a brief hiatus,

looks like I can finally write again!

The mowing season is starting.

Night temps are in the 40's,

so grass is growing,

however the ground is a bit wet.

Mowing is like mud bogging and off-roading.

This Toro 580D is a 4wd unit,

with monster front tires,

one of the few capable machines for this.

This bank runs alongside the entrance.

It's got a good slope,

which the mower travels on sideways.

I tried to cut to the top,

but the 5000 lb mower didn't like it.

The grass was tall enough to bog the engine,

then with both wings down,

the left tire started digging in.

Holey Chit!!

Not good to be stuck up there!

Lifting the left wing gave some traction,

but turned the body slightly up the hill.

Not a good feeling!

On a bank you're not sposta go in reverse,

but there weren't too many options.

Backing up straightened the machine out,

but the 4wd only plowed forward a little bit,

until the tires lost their grip,

and the back end started sliding down the hill!

Holey Double Chit!!

It was like slow motion.

Somehow I balanced the wings,

and maneuvered down the slope.

It was crazy but fun.

No soiling of the pants!

I checked the machine,

then continued on like nothing happened...

The dirt scar will be there for a while!

So far I've been stuck 3x this year,

bringing my grand total to 12,

which means a couple dozen close calls.

Now I should know not get too close to downhill fences,

and I should know when there's a mud bog.

The problem is trying to get that last tuft of tall grass.

It's like the bait of a quicksand trap.

Fortunately getting winched out is part of the job!

This one was technically in December,

in a spot on the border of our responsibility line.

I was going round and round,

closer to this sharp incline,

and got too cocky.

Whabamp!!

I thought "speed" or momentum would get me through,

but all it did was jack the front wheels above the dirt.

Good times!!

TP

Whoops

Heres a recent whoops...

A perfect candidate 

for the good ole bait and switch technique.

Can you spot what happened in this picture?

At lunch break I parked the silver bullet truck

in the way of our much larger flatbed.

Holey chit!!

Well what else was I gonna do the next day?

The guys keep me busy that's for sure.

Shops got some fun tools,

although they need work to work.

The portapower was dry of oil.

Very handy if rarely used tool.

The tailight surround had limited access,

a little heat and hammering was enough

to at least zip tie the light back in.

The bait and switch was repainting

the bright blue banding reel.

Unsurprisingly the dent is barely noticed!

TP