Hot Rods The (mis) Adventures of a Compulsive Tinkerer

How’s it going @bchctybob? Did they find the broken inner valve spring?

 

Wow that ****s! I had a few heart attacks at age 32. A couple of stints later and I’ve been going for the last 25 or so years.

 

I’m getting kicked loose as we speak, two stents and a stern lecture later. They invaded my groin in the process so I can’t lift anything over 5 lbs for 2-3 weeks. That’s gonna push any meaningful progress out just in time for the temperatures to start hitting high nineties to low hundreds. Dang. Oh well, beats the alternative outcome. Maybe I’ll just rest this week and use next week to catch up on visiting some friends that I haven’t visited in a while. Put some miles on the Stude and the wife’s Corvair and see what everyone’s been up to.
Thanks for all the well wishes, it really helps in the scary times.

 

Yea, for me the worst part was getting my groin shaved!

 

It's worse when it start's to grow back!

Glad they got you fixed up Bob!!! Now heal up real good and get back to the important ****!

 

Was so out of it did not notice being shaved & recover long enough did not notice grow back. Feel fine now

 

I went out to the shop with the little bubble envelope from Speedway that came while I was gone and added some AN fittings to my selection.
I took my smallest tape measure out and opened the trunk of the Austin to figure out how and in what orientation to mount the new fuel tank. I’m going to rotate it 180 and put a flip-up filler cap in the body panel above the tank.

That puts the pickup in the back and the filler in the middle. I think I have a cap from a sixties Triumph around here somewhere but just in case, I bought a used cap off eBay cheap. Either one should look like something that the original builder might have used in the ‘64-66 timeframe. And it will be waaay easier to fill than it was. Here’s the eBay cap….

Same as on my 1964 flatbottom.
Progress, and I hardly lifted a finger. There is stuff you can do safely even if you’re benched.
The rest of the evening was spent in my favorite chair with my feet up, watching Bosch.

 

Can't lift anything over 5 pounds, huh? Sounds like you'll have to sit down to pee for a while!
Glad they got you figured out and replumbed. Best of luck on your recovery.

 

Glad to hear that you are on the mend. If you are like me, hard to follow the doctor's orders and not overdue it... Sounds like a good plan to catch up with some friends soon while you are recovering. We (or at least I) rarely take the time I should to just visit with friends. I always have way too many things I feel like I need to get done. That isn't always a good thing.

 

Well, if Bob has that problem, good on him. If my doctor told me the same thing I’d never have to consider sitting down.
Sigh…

 

Exactly! I was good at following doctors orders for a while but drifted away. Turns out, that was a mistake. And I’ve been bad about taking the time to visit my friends, I really need to do better. Helping my sister take care of my Mom, plus regular family commitments left me with limited time to get after my projects and even less to go visiting. I used to carry an old long sleeve shirt with me so I could jump in and help a friend with his car and not ruin a good T shirt. Haven’t done that in a while…lol.

 

Condolences to you from one who lost his "partner in crime" march 6. We cruised to El Mirage 3 times, LARS in '15, and CHRR once in our Deuce highboy roadster. It had wussy "extras" for crossing 4 deserts from Texas, but it was on our bucket list. She was with me with bells on anytime we traveled so it is just not the same without her. I was a lucky dude. I'll drain old gas from the rods and get my as back in the saddle. Good luck with your car lot !

 

Glad you are back at it Bob. Those stents are an amazing treatment. Much less invasive than the old proceedures. My Pa in law lived to 95 with a half dozen of those lengthening his life quite nicely. Sharp as a tack right up to the end, so you know his noggin' was getting good blood supply.
Keep active, you are doing it right.
Pablito

P.S. - One odd little detail...the photo of you hauling the A coupe that found by a Nebraskan on social and posted up here...that little gem was taken right here in the dirty 'No. Had to look up the exit, #127 on Hwy 99.

 

Hwy 99 has been my favorite north-south route since I was a kid riding with my folks. I’ve watched the “roadside attractions” change year after year. I miss The Big Orange the most. I tried taking the 5 when it was finished and everyone said it was faster, but there’s absolutely nothing to look at, 99 p***es through towns and over Kings River, past Mefford Field, farms and ranches. There were some old cars and trucks in the back of shops, in storage facilities and in wrecking yards. From the highway you could even see ******s working the frontage road in Fresno. A real tour of California Americana. lol
As long as I’m driving, I’ll take Hwy 99.

 

I recall the Big Orange stands here and there heading south as a young boy. None were still open, but still there.
My folks used to stop at them when heading south way back when.
Quite the treat when AC in cars wasn’t like is is today.

 

We always run 99 on our way into San Jose. Lots to see for sure. One of our favorite stops is Kingsburg where the water tower looks like this. There is a bakery there that is just amazing. As for 5, ran it once and about all I can say is there is an in/out burger at one of the exits. That is about all I remember

 

Pea Soup Anderson’s is out off of the 5. Great food but you paid dearly for it.
I forgot to mention Castle AFB. It’s closed now but the museum is still open, it’s an amazing place. So much to see there for just a measly donation.
I really feel for folks who live there in A****er. I’ve been up here almost 15 years and Hwy 99 through A****er is still screwed up. Years and years of construction and it’s never really gotten any better.
Forestiere Underground Gardens is a fascinating place, a testament to a hard working Italian immigrant with a vivid imagination and an unbelievable work ethic.
I watched an old farm just north of Madera. It was alive but a little run down when I first noticed it. What made me notice was the neat old Quonset building behind the house. Slowly the place decayed and eventually looked unoccupied. Then it was vandalized, then the Quonset building disappeared but the damaged house remained. Now it’s just flat dry dirt. Someone lived there and worked the land for years and now it’s reverted back to vacant land. Who were they? What happened to them?
That’s the kind of story I think about as I navigate that cool old highway.

 

I saw a segment on the Big Orange hamburger stands a few years back. I believe they moved the remaining, restorable one to Clovis. As kids on vacation, we always wanted to stop for a bottle of pop at the Big Orange. My Dad didn’t like to stop when we were on the road. But riding in a non-A/C station wagon in the middle of summer, he would usually have pity on us and stop. I stopped there years ago when it was abandoned, to take a picture of my ‘55 Ford wagon in front of the shell. A rag tag couple with a bunch of kids stopped for a bathroom break, peeing on the side of the building.
I didn’t get my picture.

 

Hope Your continuing to heal up . Looking forward to reading more about Your adventures

 

Kingsburg has several landmarks that I watch for along the way. The tower, the windmill style restaurants and the river itself. I usually move to the right lane so I can see if there’s water in the Kings River at Riverland Resort. That’s where all of the hot rod flatbottom ski boats used to ***emble in the summer - like a car show on the water.
In the old days there were great smorgasbord restaurants there, last time my buddy and I stopped, there was only one and it wasn’t open. I’ve always loved smorgasbords.

 

Dang Bob, you are ringing up a bunch of old memories for me. Just joked about always wanting to run a Big Orange stand last week. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Not the right age/mentality. Spent my youth traveling the 99 in a non A/C station wagon ('62 390 Country Squire to be exact.) The rear facing third seat was the place for the 5th of 6 kids. Tons of sights to see. Friends in Marysville, family in Turlock, Bakersfield and Ontario. Hours and hours. Don't forget the oil derricks (spell that one) in Kern County, the always dry Kern River the old "ridge route" just innumerable little details.

https://issuu.com/ksorsky/docs/highway_99_for_issuu

 

Our family truckster was a ‘63 Ford wagon, 352 with a Cruiso, Wimbledon white with a blue interior. Before that it was a ‘57 Buick Special wagon, always trouble. Yeah, great memories.

 

A little update. With much of my family in town, I tried to fire up the Stude and drive it to my sisters for dinner. They haven’t seen it yet. I’m Weird Uncle Bob, long hair, rode Harleys, played in bands, never had kids of my own, always drives strange cars. My family never knows what kind of contraption I’ll drive up in. I give them all rides in my hot rods but none have caught the bug so far.
No go. Turn the key and it just clicked. It acted like the battery was dead, so I put the charger on it. Later I tried again but still it just clicked. Dang.
After testing the ignition switch, the neutral safety switch and the connections I figured it had to be the solenoid. I’m under “Doctors Orders” for another week but I just don’t like being without my parts chaser so I figured out the best way to jack it up without straining myself and carefully crawled under it on several layers of moving pads. I put spade connectors on the small wires so I don’t have to struggle with the S and R wires, just unplug ‘em. Two bolts and the starter was sitting on the torsion bar. I put a big pile of towels under it and let it drop. I pulled off the solenoid and found that the insulating spacers/washers on the big copper washer had broken up allowing the big copper washer fall out of place and not complete the contact between the battery cable and the starter terminal. Excellent. I have plenty of GM starter parts, I’m sure I have what I need to fix it.

Note there’s nothing left to hold the big washer perpendicular to the rod. That’s debris from inside the solenoid on the workbench above….

The contact will need reversing or dressing….


There’s a candidate, lying on the floor with the other parts I salvaged from the lovely chrome starter that came on my red coupe and dis***embled itself as soon as I pulled into my driveway. I have other, original GM bits stashed in this place somewhere.

Enough borderline violations of Doctor’s Orders for today. I need to think of a way to get the starter back up in place without actually lifting it. I’m pretty sure the good doctor would consider lifting a 15 lb starter from an awkward position under a truck, straining. I’m hoping my little floor jack will do it.

 

As old guy I suggest u relax & recover before pushing your luck.

 

Oh yeah. I dug up the new parts and re***embled the solenoid, but it was 101 and windy out today so I pretty much just watched last weekends drag races, read old Car Craft and drank ice water.

 

The starter, back together and ready for installation.

As long as it was up in the air, I took the opportunity to clean the front wheels and apply a good coat of wax.

I smile every time I look at the chrome wheels with the Cal Custom Knock-offs. Thanks Black Panther….

 

I had no idea when I typed in the ***le of this thread that it would be so apropos, it was supposed to be sort of tongue-in-cheek…..
With a little help, the starter got installed and the old Stude is running again.
I was supposed to meet my sister and B.I.L. at my Moms house to start figuring out what to do with the contents since her p***ing. About a block away the engine shut off, like someone turned off the ignition. I did a couple simple checks but the big indicator was, no headlights. No electrical power anywhere. I figured that the battery cutoff switch failed. I got a phone call.
It was Bruce, a buddy who lives a block over from Mom’s place. I bought my Austin and my roadster from him. His wife drove by and asked him if he knew anyone with a dark blue Studebaker pickup, she saw one broke down over on Baldwin. So he called me and brought a few tools so we could byp*** the big switch. No help. I didn’t have the courage to spark across the battery terminals because of its location. Main fuse, good, no disconnected wires or cables. IDK. So Bruce went home and I called AAA for only the sixth time in 37 years! Really? 37 years? Holy moly. Did I mention it’s hovering around 100 degrees today. Ugh.

A view I haven’t seen very often. Just lucky I guess.

 

Bummer Bob...im sure you'll figure it out quickly.

 

I haven’t looked into the Stude malfunction yet, I really wanted to try to move forward with the Austin.
I made the straps and bracketry required to mount the new fuel tank. I also took some Scotchbrite to the shiny surface. Much better.


I finally got the tank installed and bolted down, now I need to install the gas filler cap and run some new lines.
This is how I filled the old tank, with a flexible “trough” that my wife found on Amazon and a gas can. It worked great but eventually died from exposure to modern gas.


I don’t think that a gas station nozzle will fit in the space available so I’ll add the flip top cap. It’s old so it shouldn’t look out of place.

I’m pretty happy with the results.

 

I’ve been moving kinda slow but I’ve made some progress on my junkers.
The Stude is back on the road. Turns out that when I tightened the battery cable to the solenoid, the main power wire that shares that terminal rotated and made contact with the exhaust manifold. The wire burned in two. I also found that I had forgotten to tighten the solenoid mounting screws so I pulled the starter out again and fixed everything. No pictures, just a red old face…. Doh.
With the fuel tank, filter and pump mounted I was able to attack the fuel lines on the Austin. I used Jeg’s Push-Loc fittings and hose for the lines on intake side of the pump and 1/2” aluminum hard line
going to the front to the regulator. A little too modern looking for my taste but if it does ever make it to the track it will look safe and familiar to the tech guys.


Although it doesn’t look it, the clamps and standoffs securely hold the fuel line a minimum of 3/8”away from anything harmful. The fuel line runs outside of the frame rail to avoid transmission or flexplate mishaps and it’s high enough under the body to avoid muffler heat if I get ambitious and build fenderwell headers and run the mufflers under the rockers.
With the lines done, I’ll be able to install the new floor, so I’ve been looking for anything that needs to be done before I cover it all up. I ground the old ladder bar brackets so they weren’t just torched and slaggy. And I cleaned the transmission again.


I had to weld an extension on the flip-up cap to extend down through the inner structure that supports the latch area of the body. I used Riv-nuts again due to the awkward access under the new cap.


So the filler cap and hose are installed. I made a thick cork gasket for where the cap and body meet. Next will be the wiring for the electric pump.