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Who can we talk about tonight? GPster

GPster had some facial reconstructive surgery on Thursday.  He's doing pretty well.  This is a repeat of work that was done in 1996 to lift the left side of his face which is paralyzed from nerve damage.  Usually the results of this type of surgery last about 8 years, but being the fiscally conservative guy that he is, he has stretched it to the limit of 11 years.  

There has been one complication:  apparently, some of the presurgical wash used prior to surgery (Betadine) got in his right eye and has caused A LOT of pain.  It is the best today that it has been.  Tomorrow we return to the doctor, so maybe there will be more to report.

Just a warning for those of you that need to take a nap or aren't going to eat dinner til 8:45. I think tonight's the night and 9:00 PM is the time. Read fron you then. GPster

Chat?Are we supposed to be somewhere? GPster

Does anyone have an idea of a site that I can go to for standard sizes and measurements for standard metal objects. Now that I've got that out let me try to explain. The other day Enjenjo explained that for his steering column project he used a piece of 2"EMT conduit that was measured I.D. That is only one instance of what I'm looking for. How about the O.D. and wall thinkness. What about the dimensions for 1/2", 3/4" 1" and 1 1/2" and is there a 1 1/4"? Black iron pipe has an entirely different scheme as it seems to have a standard O.D. per size but that O.D. is nowhere near what they call the size of the pipe. The pipe size seems to be more I.D. inspired but it also figures in the schedule of the pipe with the heavier wall the pipe is the closer to the I.D. of what that pipe is called. Also where can I find standard sizes of flat iron strap and rectangular tubing. I can go to Loews with a tape measure and get some of this but there's not much chance that they will have Schedule 80 or 120 and when I got on the computor to find a close supplier for rectangular tubing it was suggesting places in Pittsburg. I have hit a wall with the exhaust for the V6 in the Jeepster and it looks like I'm going to end up with a home made set of "T" bucket style headers. I've done this before with EMT and strap iron and a hole saw but now I can't think anything through and I could use some dimensions to at least get me started. GPster

Years ago when you installed heads on an engine the head gasket manufacturers reccomended re-torquing the head bolts after the engine was run. I had that 4.3 V6 running (shortly) and I'm wondering if I should run it again, let it get warm, and re-torque the heads before I put coolant in the system and start doing any final assembley. If yes is the answer do you normally back off on the intake manifold bolts to let the heads firm up straight.  My neighbor/mechanic says he usually just add 10# to the high end of the torque spec and lets it go at that. When I got this engine i could see that the head gasket was blown probably after re-assembly. I couldn't find anything wrong except maybe shody workmanship but I just would like thoughts as to whether I'm being over cautious. GPster

It's at the local hospital. I signed the contract this morning. Twelve weeks, three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Starts tomorrow in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department at 1:00 and they want me to be early on the first day. This surely is going to cut into my free time. I'll have to have another colonoscopy on my own time and they probably won't even give me Presidents Day off. I already have at least one conflict. Linda has be schedualled for some Wellness Seminar at a church near by but they'll have to save me by noon so that I'll have time to eat before work. I hope April 11 is the last day so that I won't have to miss the Ford Museum. This certainly cuts into my Swanton Tour time. GPster    P.S. I don't know if I'll have to take a drug test. They'll have to tell me which one they want to test for.

I got the top off my quadrajet carb (without tairing up the gasket) to see why the float and accelerator pump weren't working. Because the metering rod carrier was stuck in place I gently removed it, the accelerator pump and the float and needle. I then went a little deeper and removed the jets and a screw-in oriface next to the accelerator pump chamber. I then picked up the carb bottom to get it within bi-focal range and find this little steel ball. I don't know where it came from but there was only one which causes me to think it was something under the oriface near the accelerator pump and was supposed to act like a check valve (or there was two balls and I've lost one which will bring about another problem). Anyone know of a site which shows the breakdown of Quadrajet carbs or can scan their and send me a picture on line? Some of you guys (River and Purplepickup) come up with sites I wouldn't begin to know how to find. I've thought about this for 6 hours trying to find a way to not pester but I've comeup blank again. GPster

OK I've gotten this carb from Ebay that is evidently a Computer controlled quadrajet. Trying to get some information about this I seem to find out that they were common after '81 and what information I've gotten here is that it won't work like a normal carb. My next Ebay purchase was a mechanical fuel pump for an '85 4.3 liter V6. What are the chances of this thing being more powerful than the needle and seat of a regular quadrajet (before '80?) can handle? The library is closed for the holidays and all I have been able to find on the WEB is where to order a book and how much it will cost. Maybe if I look at Enjenjo's picture backward I can figure out how to make an adapter to change a quadrajet manifold  to a 2 barrel. GPster

The quadrajet that I have that was part of my 350 package spent time under water during the flood of 2003. I never got excited about it because the Jeepster was so far from needing a running engine. Well now that it's back in my garage and that little V6 is in it, the Jeepster can at least serve duty as an engine stand. The V6 had been a throttle body injected motor so it has an intake that will except a quadrajet. Anyone that is following this journey will know that this V6 is of questionable quality that had been rescued from an eviction. It looked like a rebuilt short block that had the heads put on it incorrectly. I've straighten everything out to the best of my knowledge and the HEI has been set up to be used without computor control. What I'd like to do is soak this carb enough to get it apart and clean it up. I don't want to buy a kit for it until I can at least see if it will be worth a kit and rebuilding. It will also require what ever I would need to down-size it for 4.3 Liter use. I mostly want it just good enough now to see if the engine will run. Back in the days when I was motorcycling we used to be able to soak those carbs to clean them up after someone had stored a bike for the winter and left gas in it. What we used and where we got it escapes me now but something like that or some suggested cleaner that would work like that is what I think I want. I don't see well enough or have the coordination to try to rebuild a questionable carb for a questionable engine and the shop labor to re-build that 1 barrel of the truck project was $75.00. I could change the intake to an earlier 200 or 229 V6  but they seem to be scarce around here. I don't want to continue hunting parts for a questionable engine and it has been suggested that the vacuum secondaries of the quadrajet and the stock hi-rise style intake would not be a bad thing. So I'm looking for a CHEAP step up to the expensive. Some suggestions please. GPster

Part of my problem (not really) is that when I set up the chassis for a V8 I used a tube crossmember from Speedway and the old style V8 side mounts. Of course the mounts are new and they bolt on to the side of the V6 block so that kind of placed the engine in an odd place as the dimension of the mounting boss on the V6 do not share the same dimension to the front of the block or back of the block that the V8 uses. I forgot about the incapsolated mounts that Chevy went to but the S10 conversion mounts are made to slide the mount foreward (or backwards) on the frame and I needed to do the change on the side of the block because of the early type mounts and the crossmember. I made a Prototype set last night out of a piece of 1/4"x 4" strap iron from Lowes. Because of my trying to use the whole piece of metal my creation moves the mount foreward (allowing the engine to slide back) 2". With some guessing it might allow the stock fuel pump to still fit on the engine. Now that all the wood blocks can be removed I'll study it some more and maybe the production model will only be 1 3/4" offset (which is 1/2 the distance between the mounting bosses on the engine). Before I go into production I'll have to buy some new drill bits or get a better selection of "rat tail files". It's a shame what electronic fuel injection has done to the world of junk. I looked for a used fuel fump for a 90 degree V6 thw other day and out of 200 cars at the junkyard and a junk engine pile that is better than 20 years old not even a broken one could be found. This typing is keeping me from eating lunch. GPster

Years agoI built motor mounts an the Jeepster frame for a SBC. I even recessed the firewall (old refrigerater door, wanted to save my wheelbarrow for a "Grill Shell"). Well with the 4.3 liter V6 is in place with a short water pump on it the HEI distributor is 6" ahead of the firewall recess, the fan blade will be nowhere near the radiator,the oil filter will require pulling the engine to change, The studs on the left exhaust manifold are place in such a way to surround the steering universal joint (whatever it will be) and the oil pan sits on top of the cross/steer steering arm. Things might be better with the engine moved back 3 7/16" (which is the space between the holes on  engine mounts. Now, I can design and build plates to reposition the block mounts but I'm out of 1/4" x 4" strap iron and such a move will put the right mount mostly over the gas pump opening on the block ( the engine is an '85 Z block and had a fuel pump and I plan on carburating). Now S10 V8 conversion kits I've seen us a pair of trapizoid shaped plates on the block to do some of this block/mount moving. Anyone know the amount of moving they allow? Most anything other than 3 7/16" is going to require me coming up with a counter sinking bit and allen head counter sunk bolts Just trying to narrow this down to a buy-and-build or a buy-what's-already-built situation and I don't know what I'm going to do about a fuel pump until I get this thing closer in place and see how many more problems I've created. I've thought about taking up drinking and deer hunting but those people still find time to do something. GPster

The early Pintos used a flexible shaft (cable ?)between the end of their steering column and their rack-and-pinion. They have a Double D outer tube on the column end and a flange like is used on "Rag Joints" on the rack end. Has anyone ever used one on a vehicle they have built?  I have been looking at double "U" joint from Flaming River and Borgeson because at first look I seem to be looking at about 45 degrees angle between the steering box and the column. That was looking at it mostly from the side, but looking from the top the column will be too close to the center of the dash so the column should be moved out a little bit so I might be looking at three univerals in about a foot. That would be well over $200.00 and probably require a steady bearing. This will be in a light car (Jeepster) with a power steering box, V6 powered with narrow 15" wheels on a straight front axel. The truck project went on down the road for $200.00 and the Jeepster is back in its garage for the first time since '99. I wish to apoligize for not commenting about the RRT changes but the way my mind is working now my opinions change hourly. GPster

I have an even-fire V6 that is probably out of an '85 Astro van. It was fuel injected with a / that bolted on a quadrajet looking intake manifold. This engine is made to take a regular style fuel pump and I've changed the distributor over to where we think it will work as a normal HEI. Now the only quadrajet I have is off that '79 350 truck engine I have and it's been in the 2003 flood so it will need rebuilt and then I feel it would be "Over-Kill". Also the V6 manifold has the "Smog Pump" devise on it. Now,I know that Chevy used these 90 degree V6s in the '70s in their trucks and the'70s trucks where excluded from the smog pumps--------SO------will an "odd-fire" intake fit on an "even-fire" V6, what carbs did they use and did those manifolds have the "smog pump" stuff on them? If everything else fails, point me at a site that tells how to make a quadrajet work on 3/4s of the intended  application? Now for part 2: My V6 came with a flexplate on it. I was going to make it all one "lump" with my '79 350 turbo and starter. The '79 engine is still on it's engine stand and the flexplate is captured on it. Are the flexplates the same for torque converter and starter or do I need the '79 flexplate or nothing will work? The Jeepster is schedualed to go back in the garage the day after Thanksgiving so I'm trying to put lumps together. GPster

Just trying to be helpful. Got to go out and eat so I'll have the strength to hold on . GPster

Is today the day and 9:00 PM EST the time? GPster

I'm putting that 1985 Chevy 4.3 liter V6 back together. I had the oil pan off of it to check for schrapnel and it was clean so I put the pan back on. Now that the heads and intake and valve mechanism is back on I thoyght that I would oil everything before I put the distributor back on so I wemt to Auto Zone and borrowed their oiling tool. Everything went fine until I remover the tool and the oil pump drive shaft came with it. I used the tool to put the drive shaft back in and it was OK UNTIL I removed the tool again. I now figure the driveshaft is in the bottom of the pan. Should there be some kind of Keeper on that shaft at the oil pump end? I figure it's off with the pan again but if there should be some kind of keeper the pan won't go back on until it's there. GPster

This is GPster's wife sending this post. (I hope I do it correctly).  He was hospitalized on Sunday.   He developed infection from a bowel blockage caused by a "loop" in his intestines.  He is improving and was given a small amount of clear liquids this afternoon.   Since you folks all keep in touch, I thought you may be wondering why he hasn't been online.   You know they don't keep anyone in the hospital very long anymore, so I am sure he'll be back at the Roundtable soon.  He enjoys corresponding with everyone.  Thank you.   Linda V (Mrs. GPster)

Will there be any CHAT tonight? Better I should listen to someone than keep talking to myself. GPster

The steering wheel on the '53 Chevy car column in my project is 18". Does anyone have an idea of the diameter and spline count in the wheel? I'd like to go to a smaller wheel that is somewhat flat (like a stock wheel). I'd almost guess that Chevy and other GMs used the same spline on all their  box/columns until '58 when they had collapseable columns with the "Rag Joint" in them. I visited Grants Web site last night and you can't get any interchange there and  their 15" wheels are too dished for me and most of what they show are 13" wheels. My coordination is tried moving the big wheel and I think I have the strength to steer it with a smaller wheel. The tri '5s had a solid column and a 15" wheel and that wheel would be the same size as my Ranger PU and that 3" diameter change would heelp me see if I'm heading the right direction. Any ideas what smaller stock wheels might fit? GPster

The other day I checked at our oldest parts house, now a Bumper to Bumper, for head gaskets for that V6. The only way the have them (in stock for $55.34) is in a top end set. Trying to investigate the failure I asked if they recommended a head bolt change. The 16 year old on the other side of the counter didn't understand what I meant and went to ask somebody. He must have got instructions on how to read the screen so he came back, looked at another display, went to ask what that meant and told me I didn't have to have new bolts. I believed that and decided to wait on that purchase. Went to Advance today and they use FelPro gaskets and the head gaskets are $12.00 a piece but FelPro recommends a bolt change. When I asked the price he got a NA. He called the NAPA store and they don't show them. Then he called Bumper to Bumper and if I brought in the bolts they would match them up. Wha are the opinions floating around? These 4.3 Liter V6s are supposed to be a 350 minus 2 cylinders but I've got an engine that had the heads off and the new gasket apparently never sealed. The head bolts that came out look like the correct bolts and to me don't look like "one time only" bolts. GPster

I'm dealing with that '85 4.3 liter V6 and I'm wondering. These engine have been around for a while are they prone to head gasket failure or cracked head? I put oil in the cylinders through the spark plug holes and turning the engine by hand some of the excess oil come squirting out each cylinder but one has the oil coming out a little milky (driver's side rear). This is probably the cylinder that I removed the broken spark plug from that showed some antifreeze on it. The pan, crankcase and exhaust port all show clear and the water jacket is drained and the water pump is of so I can't tell if anything went this way. I put this cylinder on TDC and put air pressure on that cylinder with a spark plug fitting but I certainly can't hear air whisteling through the water jacket with the compressor running. Should I install plugs in the water jacket so I can get it to hold water and look for bubbles or should I plug and pressue the water jacket and check for leaks in that cylinder. Or is this a common enough occurance that I should just assume it's bad. I can't look at it and think at the same time and I'm sure you guys that have done this for a livinghave some trocks that you use that maybe I could try. I'll try to sleep in spite of it. GPster

OK the S10 Blazer that evaporated a few weeks ago left a little bit behind when the eviction was complete. I am now in possesion of a 4.3 liter V6. By the numbers on the block it appears to be a 1985 (-177-) and was intended to be a change over for that Blazer to do away with the computor controlled engine that had problems that nobody could figure out. This motor has a cast iron manifold on it for a Quadra-jet (or a throttle body ?) but the HEI distributor in the engine has 4 extra wires (2 black, 1 white and 1 green) all going to a single plug-in terminal block. This motor was clean and it might have been a runner because the removal of the Blazer engine had been started and it looks like this was the intended replacement. I quess I'll have to remove the valve covers to find the casting numbers on the heads because the outside surfaces are clear. Guesses, comments or experiences? This may make a more reasonable engine for the Jeepster than the 1979 4 bolt main 350. GPster

Years ago Frank Oddo did an article in Street Rodder about Mico master cylinders. The name and the shape stuck in my memory and a few years ago one appeared in a swap meet. I bought it because it was new and it would fit the stock Jeepster mounting. I have 8 pages of notes with what is right or wrong with the Jeepster frame, '78 to '86 GM metric frames, S10 2x4 and 4x4 frames, etc., etc. and so forth. When I put the non-power steering box in the frame I amazed myself with the engineering but when I substituted the 605 power box it got in the way of the master cylinder mount on the stock frame because of the length of the box. Tilting the box up will allow the master cylinder to work and will also allow for a better angle for a column/box "U" joint but it make my engineering go out the window with the Pittman Arm sweeps. Are these master cylinders designed that they will help with a drum/drum brake system to lessen the need for power brakes? I need to know how to add this to my notes which will soon become a (dumb) book. GPster

Just ready to put in a movie and watch it. It will probably be done by 9:00 so I'll probably be there if anyone else is. GPster

It's still not 100% BUT IT'S BETTER. What did I learn? I should only have one project at a time and I should not only fix what's on the surface but I should go back to the core of things and if I'm only working on one thing I'l try not to take so many short-cuts. GPster

Are we going to Chat tonight? This is just a reminder. GPster

When I talk about frame changes under the Jeepster S10s keep coming up. I have been stuck on the idea that with my needing automatic transmission, power steering and power brakes that I'd be better off looking at the '78 to '86 GM products and maybe I could get it all in one package and use part of the firewall and the floor and some of the mechanical incidentials. Last night I was reading a Rod and Custom and one of the featured cars was a "shoebox" Ford sitting on a Buick Special (?) chassis of the identied realm and it had too wide a tread width for that body style and had to be narrowed. So when thinking if it's too wide for a shoebox then it will really be hanging out of a '48 Jeepster. So now I'm wondering about the S10 and wondering the possibilities of finding all my wants in one package. Does anyone have a line on any S10 sites that I could explore. * near all the early ones around here have standard transmissions and no power anything and I need to see some of the options and ideas of some of the car parts that might bolt on. But while I'm wondering about putting pieces together I'll throw in a strange request. I've got an early Mustang 8" rear end for this project already. Of course it's 5 x 4 1/2" bolt pattern. Anyone got any ideas of a Ford or Mopar disc that will fit a S 10 spindle and use the S 10 caliper? It will be a think or bleed brakes weekend for me. GPster

Will you be near a computer at 9:00 PM EST or is their enough interest to talk without (about) you? I took a nap so I can stay up til 9:15. GPster

It would be nice for me if the charts that list rear end widths (9" Ford, 8" Fords 10 bolt GMs and 12 Bolt GMs) were in the Tech space so I could find them when I am curious about something. That file might also then be available when someone has an oddball come up (like '49 - '51 Ford station wagons). I know it exists somewhere but it's as hard to remember as where to send donations. GPster

I thought a swap meet would be a place to look so I traveled 300 miles and had no luck (but a good time). A lot of the old time leaf springs like on my '48 Jeepster and my '53 Chevy car chassis have rubber bushings that ggo in the spring eyes and chassis/shackle mounts so that they are not metal-to-metal joints. How/where do you find those things now? The springs have 1 3/4" wide leafs and the eyes measure 15/16" I.D. ( maybe 1") and the shackle bolts are 1/2". These rubber bushings have a 1/2" I.D.but I suppose I could use the ones with a steel insert in the center if the insert had a 1/2" I.D.. I pulled the rear end out of the Jeepster the other day so I could re-do it's mounting and get it off jackstands and back down on wheels because there will be grandkids around it all summer. The frame looks worse than ever  and I might have to re-frame this project but I do not want 12 pieces of rubber to cause me to make a hasty decission. Pleasee give me a hint where to look or what to ask for. Would I have more luck looking at trailer supply places? GPster

My neighbor has a 1954 F100 Ford truck on his lift right now looking for the serial nimber for registration. Where is it? GPster

The closer we get to Bonneville the further away it looks. So that I might have something to look foreward to let's talk about Indy. It seems that in the past it has been rather well thought of but I haven't heard of it talked about at all this year and it's only the weekend after this coming. Believe it or not I can't think about traveling that far just to be overwhelmed with cars. If I can't think about seeing some friends there then I'll just stay home. I'd like to see if there's any interest. GPster

Will there be a Chat tonight or are we on a Las Vegas baby wait? GPster

Give me some ideas where to find the single screw (or pop rivet) line clamps for 3/16" and 5/16" lines. My friendly Ace Hardware has the nylon ones that do 1/4" and 3/8" but they would be sloppy around my brake lines and my fuel line. I know I tend to be "Ol' Skool" but I did have one year of college and I'd rather not have the lines rattle and crack. I tried our local parts houses and trying to be helpful they suggested I try Ace Hardware but I'd already been there. I'd even use the type that are metal with a rubber sleeve on them. Even though there's still air in the brake lines I'd like them to stay where I've put them. GPster

Does the old style of two people bleeding brakes overcome high places in the line? Will pressure bleeding? Sometimes this having no "depth persception" because of my eyes is a bummer. All these brake and brake switch questions are mostly coming now because I had finally got to weld brackets on the front frame rails for  stationary mounts for the rubber flex hoses. I couldn't see it from the side but looking at it from the front today it looked like the hard line/flex hose connection on the frame is higher than the bleeder on the wheel cylinder. The vehicle was sitting on its' tires when I made these mounts and bent the lines and it's on jack stands now so every thing was out of sync but when I put the vehicle weight back on the tires the joint at the frame is still higher than the bleeders. Vacuum bleeding doesn't seem like it is fast enough to keep the air in the lines from going back to the high place. Will the old style bleeding get the job done or is it time for another re-design? GPster

I have a friend with a bank at the end of his property that he is trying to fill up. Once a week I go there with the grass cuttings from my yard and last week he directed me to a new spot. Low and behold someone had blessed it with an old VW engine. Today I rescued it (breaking a rake handle doing it) for a more fitting demise at Bonneville. So anyone planning to drive out The Block halves are available for the trip as they would probably be hard to get on a plane as carry-on luggage. Are the heads that pressious metal too? I rescued one head and I'll strip it if it counts. GPster

If I keep buying parts for the Jeepster maybe I'll finish it without making a GM metric frame conversion out of it. With the 605 steering box I've got a start with my not steering to well and the 350 turbo would take care of me being "shiftless" but when I feel I want to stop I might like to. The chassis is setting ready for the '40 ford drum brakes on the front and '65 Mustang brakes on the 8" rear. I originally planned on the stock pedals and master cylinder  but after the plumbings with the truck project and the need for a booster a firewall mounted unit seems to be in the future. So I'm looking for ideas of what to look at in the junkyard. I'm not against a single "jar" type master cylinder. My thought is staying with 4 wheel drums and looking for a pedal/booster that will me the greatest option of different sizes of master cylinders that will fit it without having to be drilling new sets of holes. Ideas (about parts) are welcome. GPster

They are going to be in Marietta, Ohio (my home town) this weekend. I saw them in Dover, Ohio a few years back and were here last year but got rained out. This seems to end up as more of an exhibition than a competition . Last year they seemed to be set up more in the parking lot of the fairgrounds than having a pit set up in the infield of the track so the cars should be fairly easy to look at. Check their site and decide if you want to see something a little different. GPster

For simplicity, I'd like to use a hydralic brake light switch on the truck project. I'd rather not have to go to Ron Francis for a super sensitive one, I'd rather go to NAPA and get one that people have had fairly good luck with. This will go on a drum brake system with a single cylinder master cylinder and no power booster.  A switch with 1/4" IPTM would work on my system easiest. Now, any one that would like to write a tech article for May you can examine this system for faults. The master cylinder has a fitting block on it for a 3/16"  line for the left front brake and a 1/4" line that feeds a junction block on the right frame rail for the rear brakes (a single 3/16"line) and a 3/16 line for the right front brake. The best thing trying to analyze pressure/flow would seem to pipe the brake light switch into the 1/4" line but that is a line I've already changed. The 3/16" line to the left front brake needs replaced and the standard 53" long replacement line with fittings is too short so I'll use a coupler and a short line near the master cylinder to make it work. That's the reason I want a switch with a 1/4"IPTM thread. I've got a tee that is 3/16 x 3/16 x 1/4"IPTF that I could use instaed of a coupler and it would put the brake light switch in a handy place. The line from the master cylinder to the tee with the switch on it would probably be less than 6" long. Am I adding too much of a problem in this system using one of these questionable switches with this kind of plumbing? The '53 Chevy car that all of this is a part of had a mechanical brake light switch that fastened to the floor and all of this would be easier for me to figure out before I cover it with floor. GPster

Well this will be my admission of a technical subject. This is probably as technical as this project gets. The wheelbarrow in question has worn out me, two wheels (one of them a steel spoked one) and three handles. It belonged to my wife's grandfather and he died in '62 so we inherited it when we bought the old family home place. I used it til '93 when it gave out and I saved it for a firewall indent for the Willys (I'd heard it would make a good one) but when it's replacement rotted through I put the barrow back to use on the replacement's frame that had an angle iron splint on it's left arm. It worked its way through three tire/tubes and finally wore out the tire. Because the firewall indent for the Jeepster has been handled by an old refrigerator door (another tech article?) I couldn't bear to not reward its years of faithful service, so here it is. It has been modeled to look like a cross between '34 Ford and an oversized track (as in tractor) roadster piece in honor of its age. It is actually mounted up-side down with the front of the barrow being the bottom. That allows the bottom of the bucket to slant forward (like the '34) and allows the front edge to make a nice slope covering the bottom of the radiator, the transmission cooler and the front crossmember. So you can make a 26" wide grill shell or a "T" bucket stroller for the fairgrounds. The dumb things you do when you're too cheap to throw stuff away. GPster

Are we chatting tonight or am I going to have to talk to myself? GPster

The Rochester carb on my truck project ( '53 235" six ) has got the factory automatic choke on it. It seemed to work just fine in a heated garage but I drove it (under it's own power) outside  to clean its' stall. Now the choke doesn't seem to warm up enough to kick down to slow idle. This is probably due to the fact that there's no hood so the enginge is out in the open (30 degrees this morning), on fast idle the cooling fan moves quite a bit air and the meg right off the exhaust manifold provides * little back pressure and manifold heat. The choke assembly on the carb is the standard round/black part that has 3 screws that hold it into the housing and is fine adjusted by spinning it in its' housing. Now because I don't want to correct the fore mentioned problems I wonder about changing the choke actuator. Should I just go to a cable actuated mechanical choke or should/can I go to one of those electric choke (now 12V) stoves? If the electric is a yes has anyone got a part nunber for the local NAPA store? If the manual choke is the bast suggestion I'll go to Tractor Supply or someplace. With it running on fast idle it would probably go through the garage door and out the back of the garage before I knew what happened and I don't want to spend time in a hospital trying to design a neutral safety switch. GPster

I have a friend that was involved in a motorcycle mishap. She was riding on the back of a motorcycle when it went down in a slow curve. She and the driver got up and dusted themselves off when she got hit head-on by the next motorcycle in the pack. She is paralized from the arms down. Before I started driving we had that in common and talked about 3 wheelers. She asked me if I would use some of my ideas and build her  one. I said yes with the stipulation that she had to be able to drive a car first. Well I'm driving and so is she. Not only that but she has finally got a court date in August with the insurance company (it's been about 4 years and she didn't die). So this question to qualify some of my ideas. The GEOs between '84 and '95 (?) show the 3 cylinder 1 liter motor and I seem to see them with an automatic transmission. They are FWD are they not? Is the automatic transmission serviceable? Do they make a carburated engine? My thought is to start with a FWD assembly and use it in the rear with the steering locked. Maybe shorten the axels to bring the tread width in (maybe do away with the suspension and make it a "Hard Tail") and undersling it so that a wheelchair can sit on its wheels in front of the engine/trans/rear wheels. I'd also like to think carburator for cable operated throttle and no high pressure fuel pump in the tank. I'm taking her to dinner tomorrow night to eat with a bunch of our "Biking" buddies and if the subject comes up I'd like to have some ideas for her. I haven't checked our library yet if they have any GEO repair books but if someone knows of a site on-line for them or any other ideas for a small traverse engine/transaxel assembly you could point me in another direction. GPster

I have a '98 Chevy Astro van in my driveway because the "For Sale" sign can be read better from there. I picked it up from another place for my wife's friend because there where no inquires on it while it set there. It had to be jumped to get it to start but I was not surprised. It has not been in normal service for a while and I thought that I would start by bringing the battery up (charging) before calling it a bad battery, bad alternator, slow discharge through the electrical system etc. Charged it for 20 hours and my charger had gone down to "trickle" mode and the voltage meter on the dash read at 14V. Started it up, no problems and volt gauge went to 16V, ran there for a while and then settled back down to 14V (this was yesterday). Today planned to move it to the front of the driveway and rather than start/shut off I let it run for awhile and even reved it up a bit to watch the volt gauge settle back down to 14V. With the van still in park the speedometer went up to 15 MPH while reving the engine a little. At idle it came back to 0 and while it warmed up while reving you could watch the speedometer needle start coasting down but I didn't wait to see if it would find 0 at RPMs I just let it idle and when the charging indicated it was back at 14V I moved it and shut it down. I don't want to be the seller and the friend has inherited this thing because she was the co-signer. Is this the way things work or does she need to have this thing "scanned"? GPster

Anyone able to hazard a guess as to how interchangeable an old ('51, '52, '53) Chevrolet cast iron powerglide might be? I have a chance to drive and rescue one from a '51 to save for "bits-n-pieces" or a total change out for my '53 if needed. The guy has put no value on this thing and if it's the same value to me than it can sit and rest. Also, on a further note, it's got an engine hanging off the front on it. He thinks it's a 216 but my recallection was that they only used the early powerglides on 235s. Might be some rods in it. GPster

I don't need anything bad enough to travel and hunt it out but I'm not above looking if I'm there. Will be in a north Cinn. suburb this weekend and I'd look around if there's anything going on. Let me know. GPster

I'm working hard to get use to this Wednesday Night chat deal. Is everyone having the same problem? GPster

Is it tonight? Maybe I should take a nap. GPster

Wasn't it supposed to be on Wednesday evening at 9:00? GPster