Yet there is an Insanity Clause and I drink the fifth on answering that. And then, I'll pass it to you.
So heres a good'n... and Lucas yer answer dont count LOL!! Pat has a loaner since a guy backed into her new 409 a few weeks ago and its in the body shop. (Man! Was she ever PISSED!!!!). Her loaner is a new Buick Regal with 600 miles on it. The question: How do you open the gas cap? Got #7 fitted up today (and part of yesterday. I think the joint is gonna need a filler piece when the welder MIGs it up. The flash on the camera makes it look worse than it is. Theres a healthy 1/4" bead of 5200 caulk in the crease thats impossible to remove. Just one of those things. Theres a row of 28 small holes just above the wood. The main window had to get set in place (accurately) and have all the hinges' screw holes scribed, and then taken all apart to dril 1/32 oversize for $6 pan head wood screws. Thats what takes so dang long on this stuff. Meanwhile Tonto dropped a ratchet in the river putting the docks together the other day. He went back and fished it out with a BIG speaker magnet on a string in 12 feet of water. The china socket had fallen off, but that one sucked big time anyway. All sanded and wiped clean with acetone for the big job next week. Looks like runway 2-7 right is on visual... ws
Hahahaha.....I'll be quiet, boss. How's she liking the 409 other than it's crash avoidance skills? Hope it's going good with it, I hate recommending cars to friends. Seems like every time I do, even if it's the best car ever made, my friend will get the 1 out of 500 that's a p.o.s.....
I've been lurking on this post. I'm a fan of your work...keep it up!!! If the "gas cap" is anything like my new Sierra, then it's capless system and you just insert the gas pump nozzle into the filler hole...or whatever their technical term is for it.
The 409 is absolutely a Wednesday car built right after the plant got a huge bonus check. It's perfect and she loves it. Every other loaner for this job has been a POS in her words. Even the first which was an upgraded Impala from hers. Originally, she was pulling out from the boatyard just after the 20+" snowfall we had. PAT is an extremely good driver having learned at 22 years old how to drive with her 1st drunk husband teaching (an screaming at her!). She still freaks out at stick shift. So she stops 10 feet BEHIND the white line with a big Jeep 4 door whatever in front of her. The old guy (Korea Vet) pulls out to see behind the snow bank at the corner and the towns' snow plow truck is turning into the yard. These guys have the long hydro blades that fold up alongside and need lotsa space to maneuver. The guy in the Jeep sees this and backs up for the truck into Pat whos' still stopped BEHIND the line. Just a tap was enough for $1500 to the upper grill valance about as big as a dap with your pinky and a crack in one of the chrome grill bars. Pat being Pat, took the car back with a 1/8" chip that was painted over. It would've failed eventually and looked like sheist. That 409 is HER BABY! So the gas cap deal GP67 goes like this; no owners manual on board (on a 2018 600 mile dealer loaner??). Push on the door and it should pop open, right? Wayyy too simple for that. Had to GOOGLE it. One guy spent an hour at the gas station with his and couldn't figure it out, even with the gas jockey helping. Turns out the car was locked and that locks the gas door as well. You needed to click the fobber to unlock the car to access the gas filler which is capless. Another brain fart? Pats comment was, "So, you can steal the car but you cant steal the gas eh?". ws
What a beauteeful day out here. Should be making a buick road trip but alas, bigger fish to fry right now... Got #8 outa 21 fit in today. Its actually getting easier as it goes. I finally have a few datum points to measure from instead of air.! Also stopped at a garage sale this morning. Never know what youll find for $5.00. Couldnt pass this up! ws
For you guys that are still living in a cave (LOL), I just got this from a pal on my boating forum about botophucket. Maybe the stars aligned and there is hope for mankind afterall. Sure glad it aint like that here! ws I see the avatars and photos hosted by Photobucket have magically reappeared on this and other forums. Hadn't heard anything about a change, but I don't suppose it would be front page news through too many outlets. Found it. www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2018/05/17/photobucket-drops-pricing-that-angered-millions.html Read more: http://flybridge.proboards.com/thread/2452/photobucket-policy-change#ixzz5G339GMI6
Better thab half way there! 12-1/2 outa 21 pcs!. Nothin' but time... Got to finally see the BADGER car ferry leaving Manitowoc this afternoon from my office window. Its the LAST coal fired steamer on the lakes. They had to jump through hoops to get EPA licensing, but now its also a Registered Historical Landmark and an extension of US10 across the lake. Fifty years ago there were probably 30+ cross lake ferry routes on Lake Michigan alone. ws
Been pretty fortuate with weather throughout this job. Got a bit of an Irish Mist yesterday, so I took advantage and did ome shop work at home. Hit it, chit it, and git it today! Due to a mid stream design change, the key part which is a 90L X 4-3/8W bar that runs below the windows was cut short by 2-1/2 inches. Aluminum is a breeze to ad on to, so Im gonna add another 4 or so inches and give the end a little panache' instead of a plain jane square corner. Taking opinions here; theres a double radiused end and a diamond shape that matches the boats side air vents. So far the consensus is the pointed one. Now to only duplicate the point in about 1/5 scale LOL... ws
Yer en pointe Jerome! Survey sez... POINT. This job is making me wanna pull the oil pan and change the rear main on the XGS! ws
I know; another boring post. If you were doing it, it would really seem like a major accomplishment. In a way it is and still cant wait for the grande finale'! This one makes 14 outa 21. Last year I had the whole corner post out. It was a gawner. Needles to say almost everything on the new side is 1/8 - 1/4" different. The last pic show a glued repair, a Dutchman if you will. Its imperative that these two joints are FLAT so when ya cant clamp, you improvise. When the main strip goes up today, this'll come off. Dont want any shifting in the joint until then! Boats are that way anyway except the tupperware variety. These guys were all hand fitted at the factory. Like in those days, this stuff is the same way. Todays its all flatwork; slightly less time consuming. Standing 10 feet in the air and working left handed on a 12" wide deck is wearing thin! Gonna miss a few car shows this weekend to getter' done; I hope! ws
Besides your skill, I admire your patience. Have a good weekend even though it will be filled with working on the boat. UticaGeoff
I'm putting off a small but annoying job (making a rivet bucking bar) so scanned over this thread - it's one of the longest that I remember here. A comment or two: The Ford 390 should be a bolt-in for a 352. At one time Ford had made a 427, 428, 429, and 430 V8. The 430 was Lincoln only and was not interchangeable with the FE engines. As to the spider - I have no idea what the one in the photo is, but things with eight legs bother me, so unless I am sure that it isn't one, I treat all spiders as if they are a black widow, brown recluse, or (for any Aussie friends) a Funnel-Web. I did encounter a Black Widow in the crawl space above our first house in Millis, MA. Needless to say, it got sprayed. I don't share no stinking house with a Black Widow!
Hey John... what ever became of the chinesium gate latch? Use them unobtanium drill bits or the $49.00 drill press? Im drilling and countersinking ALL these screws with a 3/8 VSR corded drill. I do get to cheat with a 2.9V screwdriver tho. Everyone of these pieces goes on and off at least 6 times for a trip to the house for a trim with the band saw. If I get lucky its a small trim with the jig saw (Lesabre saw!) Every center punch mark gets a drop of oil off a pencil so its not a greezy mess on board. Another trim means clean up the material with acetone and reinstall and mark with a sharpie or a scribe line against a FAT sharpie "magnum". Lately its been sooo dang sunny that I am getting snow blinded from the gloss white paint that I am sitting on and surrounded by. The two flat pieces on the windshield face both are 42" L and ones 4-1/2 and the other is 1-1/2 took almost 6 hours to fit and the band saw at home is only 6 blocks away. Basically there are 4 more pieces to go (2 days?) and then get the welder over there for a strategy conference. Im gonna bore you guys with a bunch of aluminum TIG welding obfuscation. Id like to have this assembly all painted and ready to re-install a week from today. Another week of BSing and she'll be ready to launch. Then another week or two of dockside finesse work. DANG! ws
