pyramid builders

One strut on this boat was out of alignment.
It was fun to watch their maintenance crew try to fix it.

first day
2 cuts
1 portapower

They borrowed a really cool expensive looking scope
to get the bearing tube in alignment.

scope

This is the part that is amusing.
There are engineers, architects, designers, know-it-alls...
that can theoretically design the best possible plan.
Yeah,
and I went to school to try to be one of those guys!

second day
add flat bar

The problem is most of the work is not done or even overseen
by these theoretical builders.
Most of the work is done by workers whose ancestors built the pyramids,
using comparably crude and simple techniques.

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the selecter - time hard

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There is a magic with they way they work though,
and I have definitely embraced certain aspects in construction.
Sometimes out of ease and sometimes out of necessity.

Also,
these are the guys you want on your side when the going gets tough!

third day
when in doubt,
use a bigger pipe

By the fourth day the project was finally completed,
and it was half as bad the opposite way.

fourth day
fuggit

There is a saying at this point in time.
"This isn't NASA-wey, we're not building space shuttles".

It only makes my job that much easier!

TP

the gravity of unobtanium

Last weekend I decided it was time to clean up the garage.
It was getting bad enough that boxes and junk were underneath the cars.
Fortunately our cars are high enough that it's been possible to drive over them.

garage clutter

These shots are actually after a little organization.

more garage clutter

While much of it is true junk,
there were some treasures hidden in the mess.
With our mighty friend Craigslist,
it is possible to find the perfect new owners for some of this unobtanium.

Ludwig 24" bass drum
Evan's Hydraulic oil-filled head

This old drum has been knocked around for way too long.
A Ventura friend Conrad said it was a good start to a kit.
Another friend Ritchie used it for a while and verified it.
I'm no drummer and the kids weren't too interested,
so off it went to a bike riding punk rocker, JV.
Strangely it's going to the perfect home.

realistic TM-1001 tuner
SA-2001  integrated amp
kenwood km-105 amp

This old sound system found a new owner,
who sounded like way more of a hoarder than me.

precision tube tester series 912

Another treasure was this old vacuum tube tester.
Hopefully I don't delve into tube equipment in the future,
as this was a really cool working piece.
The guy that got this makes tube guitar amps.
Another perfect home.

precision tube tester box

The one thing I'm surprised I unloaded was this really cool
1970's lab scope.

kenwood KC-6060A audio lab-scope

Somehow I've carried this around since about 1994,
and it still works.

kenwood kc-6060a lab scope

One of the reasons it was a good idea to find another caretaker.
Another good reason was I found this ebay ad while trying to figure a price.

http://www.ebay.com:80/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170789966960

kenwood kc-6060 audio lab scope
ebay ad-holey chit!!

http://www.thevintageknob.org/kenwood-KC-6060.html

Mine had no cover or the original box like this one,
but it worked and that was good enough.
The new owner Marcus is an electrical engineer,
with a good addiction to old tuners and audiophile equipment.
Another lucky coincidence.

garaged 1940 ford coupe and chief

A couple boxes of donated goods pushed out,
and there were no seller's regrets with the less cluttered garage.
It's actually weird writing this cause each item triggered a little memory of the past.

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grateful dead - st stephen - 05may1977 - new haven

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There's obviously a bunch left to go through,
but it was a good start.
Hopefully nobody got this school flu bug that the kids gave me!

TP

overkill

Fun time is over.

overkill

Yeah I would love to say that I've got it made,
and can just build hot rods and tinker with old stuff,
but that's not the case!
Far from it.

3/4" x 8" flatbar

This type of work helps me to appreciate the time working on those cars.

relieved

After a little torching and grinding the main base was ready.

wood clearanced

Fortunately it fit.

base plate

Now for the uprights.

mocked up

These workboats are a different animal than what I'm used to.
There is typically very little attention to detail.
If the repair or piece works,
that is all that matters.
I'll show you later on what I mean.

custom big boat motor mount

The trick I enjoy is throwing a little design or style into the mix.
The parts will remain forever enough so it's worth it.
On this one,
it actually saved time and potential warping after welding.
The other workers think it's crazy but that's why they are doing other projects!

perich engineering

One thing I'm good at is slopping on a thick coat of epoxy primer.
A bad habit you'll recognize on my own projects.

One down,
the other side to go!

TP

holey chit

I was doing a quick search lookin for a random photo,
when this blast from the recent past made me wonder
what the heck I was thinking
when I thought this was a doable project!

holey chit
1940 ford coupe
chopped up

Funny cause this was after an already huge amount of work.
I vaguely remember this part of the build!
Was I thinking it's almost done,
the hard part is over?

1940 ford coupe
chopped and channeled

Only makes me want to finish it even more!

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REX - angel tune he hums (1995)

I was digging through my box of tapes,
and found this rare indy recording from an old friend Bill Zirbi.
You know when you hear something you haven't heard in a long time?

It's from an east coast band called REX,
and most likely you've never heard of them,
there's not much on youtube.
You've got to give it a couple listens to get it.
Crazy times back then...

TP

toothless

A couple weeks ago
I showed off how our daughter Macey has started to read.

macey's first loose tooth

 Over the weekend she lost her first tooth.
What the heck?
She's only 5 years and 3 months!
They say that kids have accelerated growth
cause of all the hormones in the foods we eat.
I'm beginning to believe it!

toothless

She was very brave for this ordeal.
The tooth was loose around lunchtime when eating an apple.
By dinner the tooth was loose enough that it was uncomfortable to eat,
so she had my wife yank it out.

One tough cookie!

TP

2 down 27 to go

There's a dirty secret the 640x480 shots are camouflaging.
Sure the old 40 finally looks complete,
but it is an illusion.

stool time

I measured about 27 linear feet of sheetmetal welding.
Somehow I've let it get a bit out of hand.

At almost an hour a foot,

(including the grinding and hammering)

I've dug myself a bit of a hole.

little by little

There is still a handful of patch panels needed,
not to mention the whole floor.

The new resolution is to knock out as much welding as possible,
before adding more.
I'm not really good with rules like this,
so let's see how I do!

TP

shaving armpits

Today was the day to tackle a couple unfinished projects.

dismantled

Since I had welded that rear grille insert panel from the inside,
it was impossible to grind the bottom side without removing the whole fender unit.
This was also the time to finish weld all the inner panels,
and prep everything for a thick coat of primer.

I was expecting it to take a bit longer,
and I had a couple hours to prep another unfinished project for the primer.

custom dash

The dash on the old 40 was wirewheeled back down to bare metal,
and a bunch of the little hammer dents were flattened out.
Those holes on the outer sides needed to be filled.

waste not want not

Nothing ever goes to waste here.
To some this sheetmetal bondo mixing stick would have been trash.

metalfinished dash

After some trimming, hammering, welding and grinding,
all the corners and holes were filled with metal.
While welding the dash to windshield gap,
my mind wandered off to the title for this post.

Finishing these unfinished sections reminded me
of cleaning up the armpits of the car.
Fixing the worst areas like these to make them sano,
whether seen or unseen,
just like shaving an armpit.

primed

Why I would think this I have no idea,

and why I would go and type all this out,

I'm blaming those epoxy fumes!

The bare steel had such a cool finish it was a shame to repaint it.
There is a plan...

messy friggin shop

There was enough primer to roll out 2 coats.

flower power

While the paint was kicking off,
I made some quick rubber squeak pads for the front frame mounts.
Did I ever show you guys the trick custom bumper brackets?

bumper brackets

Well there they are.
Half new and half original.

the hurtlocker truck
1955 chevrolet pickup

With a little time to spare,
I had to experiment with the stock corvette radiator box that Ken hated.

1985 corvette radiator box

A couple cuts...

cuts

And a quick test fit...

stool time

And it was time to go pick up the kids!

Until next time...

TP