Hot Rods The (mis) Adventures of a Compulsive Tinkerer

Sorry for your crushing loss. I’ve had to put dogs down too. It’s a horrible feeling. Some you get over but then there’s that one special one you just never seem to get over. You can’t wait to see all of them when you too get to cross over The Rainbow Bridge. My prayers go out to you and your wife.

 

So sorry. Day by day, the pain will ease.

 

It’s tough to put down a four legged friend. Sorry for your loss

 

Bob, that is a tough life experience for sure. So sorry for your loss. Hope each day gets a little easier for you two.

 

While Daisy is no longer by your side, she lives on in your heart.

Rest in peace dear pup.

 

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like she was a great companion. Praying for comfort in this time.

 

My condolences as well; it always hurts when a family member—and a dog or cat certainly is one—has to leave us.
Greetings Harald

 

So sorry for your loss. That is truly the hardest decision to have to make.

 

I echo everyone’s condolences. Losing pets is like losing a family member. It never gets easy.

 

Last night Becky and I kind of let grief run its course since nothing seemed to abate it, but today we are trying to keep busy and move forward but with heavy hearts. Thanks for the many good thoughts and prayers, I know many of you have been down this road.
We have some household stuff to attend to and then I’ll get back to the shop and try to make some progress.

 

So sorry Bob. My last two I had to make that same decision .Can't do it again.

 

So sorry to hear of your loss. I was forced with the same decision for my 18-year-old dog King a week before Christmas in 2015. I still weep when I think of him. He loved to open presents and would always find his under the tree.

 

Dare I mention - climb on the horse again. Lots of puppies looking for love & to give more in return Sorry for your lose

 

Mike has it right.
Had to put a lab down, one of many, but she was a sweetheart about 8 years ago. I knew it was time when she didn’t want a bite of steak. Said I wasn’t going to get another dog, ha that lasted a few weeks. Yep got another lab she’s sitting beside me right now. They are the only thing I know of that give absolute unconditional love.
May peace be with you.
Dan

 

Thanks Dan, that's a sad thing to have to do. 9 months after my dog King died my dad must have got tired of me missing and talking about King. He asked me to go look at a dog and I told him I didn't want another one and he said it was for him. It was a female beagle/rat terrier mix. He paid 30 dollars for it. I have had her (Miley) for 10 years now and don't know what I would do without her! Can't have just one dog so I also got a male beagle (BaLoo) 3 years later.

 

Yep, lost a rescue last year, after having her 3 years, got hit by a car. Spent the next day just driving around, trying to figure out what to do with myself. Found myself at a local rescue that afternoon. My boy Sammy came home 9 days later.

 

I’ve had these two for five years. The male is Charles and the female is Amelia. They spent 2 years in three different rescues. You had to take both as they were bonded together. Charles is starting to have some hip and back problems. Adopting them was one of the best decisions we made.

 

I’m pretty sure we’ll get ourselves another pup but we’re going to wait a while. It will probably be a rescue of some kind. I’m sure one will find us, ready or not.
For now we’re taking it slow, kinda feel like zombies, going through the motions. My daughter came home from work, walked through the door, looked around and immediately burst into tears.
My wife and daughter helped me move my new lathe back onto its stand and into its temporary position against the wall. I need to decide where along that wall I want it, lots of junk to move but I’ll definitely gain some badly needed floor space. It was good therapy for all of us.

 

Daisy was the same! Becky would buy her a couple new toys for Christmas and she would open each gift one after the other just like the kids. She had a big box full of toys at the end of the hall. If we picked them up and put them away, she would go and bring out her three favorites, like, “No, I want these to stay out” Funny.
I decided to chop the legs off of my new lathe stand. Now it’s almost exactly the same height as my old one. I moved some junk and I’m pretty happy with the position. I’m going to add some heavy plywood and store seven 3rd members on the bottom shelf. I also might add a mid shelf.
I think I’m going to like this little ******.

 

I threw my welding stuff in the van, I’m going to go down to LA soon and try to get the body mounted on my buddy’s channeled Model A sedan. We got some new firewall pieces too so I might work on that if I have time.
I’m hoping to finish up my part of this project soon. I’d like to send it home so I can take one of my heaps down there. Then we can participate in some LA cruise nights and stuff when we’re there.
It’s going to be very strange traveling without my pup. She loved her LA yard and going to the beach.

 

Nice little lathe
Dan

 

Thanks. I was looking at vintage lathes, old Craftsman, Logan, South Bend, but most looked used up or doctored up. This one is a one owner model and he did very little metal work, mostly cork handles for fishing poles. The debris in the nooks and crannies is evidence. It runs smooth as a creamy thigh and all of the ways and movements are smooth as can be. Looking forward to making something on it.

 

It should be a good lathe. Some 25/30 years back I met a guy to buy something, and he had a Jet lathe.
We got to talking and he said “that lathe has made a lot of gun barrels”.
Now I don’t know what it takes to make a gun barrel, but I’d ***ume accuracy is a premium.

 

When I moved into my shop in Redondo Beach and partnered up with my old high school buddy, we had two lathes, my old D&M and his Jet. My lathe had to share a circuit with a big Apex sander and it was a pain to reach back there and swap plugs so with his permission, I used his Jet for most small stuff and only used my big D&M for bigger tasks like driveshafts and stuff. So I was sorta familiar with the Jet. This one is a little smaller than his was but it should suit my needs perfectly. These days I just take my driveshaft parts and dimensions to the local Driveline Service and pick it up a day or so later.
I’m getting so lazy…. lol

 

Dogs make us better people...

My daughter is a veterinarian and a dog lover. My wife gave her a sign for her birthday years ago that she still has hanging in her kitchen...it says: "Be the kind of person that your dog thinks that you are." Good advice, right there!

 

The first "personal" work I did in Shops Cl*** in college, was shortening a driveshaft for Mopar I was working on. Instructor advised me on how to go about it, and away I went. And it worked!

 

My metal shop teacher taught me how to properly shorten a driveshaft but I didn’t have my own lathe until the early ‘80s. When I opened my shop, someone turned me on to a driveshaft company nearby that did excellent work and very quickly so I used them for all my customer’s cars but I made my own driveshafts for my cars and boats.

 

My well intentioned trip to LA to work on my buddy’s Model A hasn’t worked out quite like I hoped. Aside from the malaise we felt going without our beloved pup, as usual, the house and landscaping took up a lot of the time that I was hoping to spend on his Tudor. We left NorCal hoping for cooler weather but we arrived just as a high temp/high humidity front moved into SoCal. At my age that slows me down even more than normal. My citrus trees and several other plants were stressed and required serious attention. Plumbing was leaking and the A/C needed servicing. Our antiquated bed frame needed repair so we went shopping for a replacement. That turned into a minor debacle and a night sleeping with the mattress on the floor. (At least the A/C was working good)
And on, and on it went….
I did decide to buy another little MIG welder to keep down there instead of schlepping mine back and forth. After several false starts trying to buy a used Lincoln or Miller off of Craigslist or Marketplace I decided to buy a new one from Harbor Freight - the ***anium MIG 140 110v. It was on sale for $339 for Inside Track members so I snagged one. It’s rigged and ready but I haven’t welded anything with it yet. I’ll do that tomorrow. I hope it works well, I’m wary about buying stuff like that from HF.
The firewall he obtained to repair the one in the sedan is strange. I can probably use it or parts of it but I’ve never seen one like this one. Idk, maybe it’s from an AA. I’ll get a picture tomorrow.

 

Do let us know about how the welder works.
I’ve been thinking of a 120v one I can get out back easier than my 240 Millers.
I have enough lead for my stick welder to get to where I need, but I’m way better with a wire welder.

 

I bought a HF 220v stick welder on sale cheap. Works pretty darn good.
Dan