What are you doing today 2016?

[UGLY OLDS]

Cooler lines for trans and aux cooler to trans, in & out of the new radiator.  It became the shop joke on how we got to see ALL the wrong parts for this truck..  We had given the VIN , build date on door tag to Phord dealer.  These were all Phord parts, not mis match Phord and NAPA parts.

We finally found a fitting from Alternative Hose company, then was able to finish the job.

Guess the age of the truck was not helping, but Kripes , what a mess and time waiting on parts

[/quote]

These were Dorman aftermarket hoses .. Their stuff used to be good ... After doing a little on line search I found :
A.. These parts don't fit properly for a LOT of people ....

 B... They seem to start leaking after 18 to 24 months in service ...( The original owner installed the Dorman hoses that I removed exactly 23 months ago....)  :?

They seem to always fail at the crimps .. I kept the old hoses & will have my local hydraulic hose builder replace the leaking rubber with some decent Areoquip material ...
When the current hoses start to leak, I will then have GOOD parts to install ...  


Bob....

[Carps]

Carps, why are you taking down the house?

We were going to start renovations when Ann got sick, so it was put on hold.  Because I stayed close to the hospital and wasn't really paying attention to anything unrelated to Ann's well-being and comfort, on the occasions I went home to check the place I didn't see the warning signs and when I finally realised what had happened, the damage was done.

Because of the environment and National Parks my property is covered by every caveat that exists in the state of Victoria in respect to trees, forest fires and fauna (we're not even allowed to remove fallen trees because something might be living in them).  The council previously having stopped me from dealing with a number of the big trees when we first figured there was a termite problem or wanted to cut them away from the house to take out the possum 'bridges' (we have a hundred different possum varieties in the area).  Additionally, buildings may cover no more than 40% of any block and multiple dwellings are forbidden from the high side of Forrest Road (a mile west of my place) and throughout the Dandenong Ranges area.  Although some developers seem to get around those rules.    

So all things considered I decided after returning in September last year from my US vacation, to move to a smaller property where I could build a decent sized garage and life would go on.  After months looking at overpriced garbage most with obvious or concealed problems, marketed by unethical, to downright dishonest and shonky real estate agents, I gave up in disgust. (Too many of these people don't just give their industry a bad name, they make used car sales people look like saints, a property offered at say $500k would rarely be sold for less than $750 and if they could push the price up further they'd use every trick in the book or make up new ones.)

Developers (or as I prefer to call them, Vultures) are even slimier than estate agents, but I guess they are all in the same business and tarred with the same brush.  Since I first contacted an agent looking to buy, I've had more than a half trying to buy my place, despite telling everybody it's NOT for sale!.  The first was only a few weeks after Ann's funeral and when I enquired as to why the sudden interest in my property, the response almost knocked me flat.  They review the obituaries and funeral notices in the media, looking for leads to potentially lucrative properties that may be up for grabs.    :evil:   I even had one, who despite all the caveats was confident because of the dual street frontage and his ability to convince VCAT because one of my two 1/2 acre blocks allows access and the property could be subdivided into 4 quarter acres lots, that he would be allowed to construct four townhouses.  The deal was that they would pay me $X and take the property off my hands.  However, no money would change hands as I'd simply move into one of the new townhouses after it was finished.   When I asked what made him think that was a good deal, he responded by telling me that I'd be able to get out of my mortgage.  When I advised him to have another look at the title deeds he still didn't get it, or maybe thought I was just stupid.  Why would I give them a property I have owned outright for over 30 years and then accept one quarter of it back, just because they put a new house on it?  IF I thought that a good idea, I'm sure I could borrow enough money to do it myself and pocket the profit.  So now you have an insight as to why I hate slimy, greedy real estate agents and developers.  

The upside from this decision is that my daughter fessed up and told me she didn't really want me to leave the place where Ann and I were happy and she had grown up.  This lead to our first serious father/daughter discussion and now she understands where once it was her mother's job to stop me doing dumb stuff, it is now hers and she has to speak up quickly before I do anything I may later regret.  

The decision to rebuild will cost me a bunch of dough I would rather have spent on a wooden car and other things, but that's the way it goes sometimes and I need a home more than I need another old car.  So the wheels are turning and it's on the way.  I've always liked it here and one of the things that drew us to this property was that big old tree.  However, as I've learned, life can change quickly and nothing lasts forever, so it's now gone but I'm still here.  Another good thing is that my neighbours (and they are one of the best things about living here, all good people with diverse backgrounds and from many cultures) are happy to know I'm staying, which also pleases me.

Another aspect of cutting that tree down which bugged me came up when I investigated passing all the wood on to a firewood/fuel merchant.  They only want it if it's cut and split into saleable small chunks and knowing I didn't want it, they didn't want to pay anything for for it.  None would pick it up either, so the deal is I would cut it into 12 inch think 'wheels' then split or chop those into firewood sized chunks and then deliver it all the merchant who would sell it for a sizeable profit. Instead, my friend Craig came around with his 2.5 tonne lifting capacity skid steer loader and 12 tonne tipper and Steve the tree cutter used his ten tonner and by the end of Saturday they had removed 25 ton of timber to the local recycling depot, where folks who want it just need to arrive with the tools, cut up what they need/want and take it home free of charge.  Win/Win.  

Considering all the work was done at 'mates rates' and the cost was still a huge four digit chunk of change, I hate to imagine what it would have been if I wasn't a hot rodder and able to call on The Hot Rod Network for help.  

Here's a link to a promo for the neighbourhood for anybody interested in seeing how the other half live.

https://visitdandenongranges.com.au/

PS - Now you kjnow why folks will warn you about asking me the time.  You'll need at least an hour for me to explain to you how the clock works.  

 

[416Ford]

Worked on the console after returning from Detroit. Ready for fine sanding and paint...This will be my first attempt.
https://goo.gl/photos/WANPyhMMTAMmap3R7

[kb426]

Carps, I understand.
416ford, the console is looking good. Is it heavy or did you use real thin metal?

[Arnold]

Cooler lines for trans and aux cooler to trans, in & out of the new radiator.  It became the shop joke on how we got to see ALL the wrong parts for this truck..  We had given the VIN , build date on door tag to Phord dealer.  These were all Phord parts, not mis match Phord and NAPA parts.

We finally found a fitting from Alternative Hose company, then was able to finish the job.

Guess the age of the truck was not helping, but Kripes , what a mess and time waiting on parts

These were Dorman aftermarket hoses .. Their stuff used to be good ... After doing a little on line search I found :
A.. These parts don't fit properly for a LOT of people ....

 B... They seem to start leaking after 18 to 24 months in service ...( The original owner installed the Dorman hoses that I removed exactly 23 months ago....)  :?

They seem to always fail at the crimps .. I kept the old hoses & will have my local hydraulic hose builder replace the leaking rubber with some decent Areoquip material ...
When the current hoses start to leak, I will then have GOOD parts to install ...  


Bob.... [/quote]

  Trans.,fuel lines on 15 y/o vehicles..I feel for you..really not fun.
I have heard that some vehicles have "tubes" that this stuff all runs in so it can rot inside without you bothering it.
  I had a rear heater diversion valve start leaking...in a van..just not a fun job

  Interesting as I live in the rot capital of the world  :evil: as a pretty general rule of thumb..pretty much everything lasts about 8 yrs..there are some rot problems at 8 yrs..not many..10 years..ya lots of rot..but lots of reallly good cars that have been rustproofed..12 years is about it for fuel,brake lines..nothing really last 15 years up here..rustproofed or not..
If it is 15 y o up here..ticking.
  Brake parts..pretty much everything..rotors,hardware,the metal backs of pads..are junk in about 5 years. Calipers go 10 or so..

[416Ford]

416ford, the console is looking good. Is it heavy or did you use real thin metal?

It's heavy. I used 16 ga steel and 3 gallons of bondo.  

[Carps]

It's heavy. I used 16 ga steel and 3 gallons of bondo.  

Man that's one great looking console, and only 3 gallons of bondo, that makes you some kind of master metal finisher, I'd have used at least six gallons.  

And it still wouldn't look so good.  :cry:

[Charlie Chops 1940]

I've pretty much got this floor and tunnel done for now. It is removable as one piece so I can build exhaust, etc. from above. It's a good time to take a break and go back to work on my '40 convertible. I need a hot rod back on the road this summer.

[WZ JUNK]

Very nice Charlie.  You are a metal man.

John

[enjenjo]

What transmission you using this time Charlie?

[Charlie Chops 1940]

John, thanks  for the compliment. This was a challenge for sure - had me scratching my head more than once. With a variety of interuption and screw-ups it took most of a week.

Enjenjo, it's a TKO500 Tremec 5 speed. It came in a Keisler Chevy II kit which places the shifter in the stock 4 speed location. It was a "someday" buy. I determined as I mocked up the floor and tunnel that the shifter and bump in the tunnel would interfere with my right leg. I went looking at how the shifter was done out the left side of the rear shifter location and decided the modification could be reversed. The company that bought Keisler's assets a couple years ago in bankruptcy wanted $500 and a list of parts that included a new tail case. I found an outfit on eBay selling a kit of new parts that are removed when a mid-shift conversion is done to one of these transmissions. What I needed was a cover plate/shifter and the rail mounted shifter socket part and a few drift pins. I got that and a few other bits for lots less than the professional estimate. Hot rod ingenuity will prevail.

[kb426]

I spent the evening working on the fuel pump hat that goes in the tank of a late model Challenger. The factory setup works fine. This car has a blower and 600 rwhp. It has melted the connections that run through the hat for the pump. I have run a new connection and isolated wiring that passes through the hat The pump wires are isolated from all the factory parts. I don't think he will be having problems again. This is the weak point in all the fuel pump wiring.

[GPster]

Well, I finished my Tex Smith book last night. I agree with him that his books stay in people's library for reference and I'm sure I'll keep it for when a name comes up that I don't remember. I know there are people here that knew him personally but I didn't see any name unless it was that guy in Oz that got him a Toyota loaner car.Kind of hate the fact that I got rid of the few Hot Rod Mechanix books that I had But my subscription got filled in with the books after it became part of Pisano (SP?) Publishing and I noticed that the content was changing because they were using the same models that they were using in Easyrider (which I also subscribed for at the same time). Now I'll have to find something else to read. My wife is cone for the next fourteen days watching grand kids so I'll be here with my dog watching the house, cat and chickens. GPster

[idrivejunk]

The Stang last seen on page 6 is ready for the painter now, and my weekend just started. Dang, I've been sanding full time since page 6? Oh yeah there was a crash job in there somewhere too. Got news that another uncle passed away last night. I reckon a time comes for everything to be done. No big projects lined up at the shop so who needs some bodywork? Thats not an advertisement, just a reality. Heres the 70, its going back white with black accent yet to be determined. It was a mess and still is, but should fit into 20-footer status after paint. All thats left is to sand parts not shown then mask. Hood, valance, and fender extensions are new and good, and have been test fitted.

[enjenjo]

In the first 5 days of March we have had 5" of snow. That is more than we had in November, and December combined.