Everyone gone?
 

What the hell.?No posts from anyone lately. Why not?

Maybe busy? I know you've been busy, I have since we got back from FL. Current project is remodel family room. Finally found some new flooring we like and some tile to redo the hearth on the fireplace. We looked all over last year and couldn't find anything we cared for.

Old fireplace hearth was topped with a 2.25" thick piece of cement, 18" deep and 6.5' across sitting on a brick base. Nasty looking, no way to clean it short of bringing the pressure washer into the family room. Henry came over and we pried it loose from the mortar. I lifted one end and decided we weren't carrying it out in one piece. A 2 by under one end, a little sledge hammer work and we took it out in pieces.

Trash men were not happy with me, they threw the can in the ditch after they emptied it. I didn't even put a third of the old hearth in the can. Anyway, painting right now. Ceiling is done, working on walls, lot of trim work in that room. Next I'll build a new tile top for the fireplace hearth. Then rip up the old flooring and replace it. But it's supposed to be pretty nice out today. Need to pick up all the sticks in the yard and have a bonfire. Probably should fire up the Chevelle too.

I'll post some before and after pics later, assuming it all turns out good.

Two actual live people....wow.!
LOL LOL.

LOL I am here everyday.

I had another spot in a hood hinge go. I am just going to redo all of them. Wont be factory but They wont do it again.

I still foolin with this boat. Weather won't stay warm enough to get it done.

I got home from Florida Sunday morning. Left there Saturday morning at 7am. Had a decent drive, Atlanta traffic was a bitch again. Got stopped on I75 in Dayton Ohio for an hour due to a fatal crash. Ended up driving through the absolutely worst part of town taking an alternate route. Glad I had a couple of firearms ready to use if needed.

My well pump here in the shop froze up and busted the cast iron head. It's an old A.Y.McDonald, made in USA pump. No replacement head is available and a new one is around 400 bucks. Will look for something different. I built a Harley engine for a customer two years ago and it developed a very slight oil leak. I had to pull the heads off that yesterday to get the rocker boxes off. Spent the whole day working on that after I tore the pump apart. The new gaskets that they make today are just plain junk. Imagine that, a Harley that is almost 50 years has a small oil leak. I think I got it fixed. Used a set of old gaskets that I have had for decades. We shall see.

Weather isn't too bad here. Glad that I stayed a little longer down South. They had a record snow-fall here this year. A week ago there was an ice storm.

When did you come home Hank? It sounds like you have another major projecy going. Tell Henry the Nova has had a slight price reduction. I may have found 45 acres that I want more than the Nova.

Chevymaher, what is the hinge spot all about? Is the weather there colder than normal for this time of year?

Been fighting a few issues with my truck... found more damage from when the shop destroyed my driveshaft. Still isn't fixed, hoping to figure it out today. Add in that the weather hasn't been the best... LOTS of rain.

I dont come around as much as I used to but drop in occaisionally still.

It is bizzare colder than normal here. Last year same time it was 80's. We had snow a week ago. It is decent now 50's and raining.

I got 2 heaters under the cockpit cover. Get it up to 80 degrees in there. The do some glassing and let it cure. It is slowing me down but i am kicking.

The silly hood hinges. One at a time the pivot deals. Huge pop rivet things. One at a time they are popping out. Second time chipped the paint. This is the third. I felt it and caught it in time.

I had a buddy hold it up and i put a nut and bolt through it. Shut it gently. There is no motor I will crawl under there and take them both off. I have done it before when it happened.

Don't quite know what is going back in there. But I am removing the factory ones and putting something else in there. I am pondering this and looking at hardware.

All I know is these things do this to much for my liking I had nothing but trouble with them as a kid in the 70's. Not asking much open close not go sideways like when I was a kid or pop loose like this is doing periodically.

The washer they crushed into the pop rivet part. Just is working loose over time then pops off.

Bushing a nut and bolt of some type that looks fairly factory. Tack weld the threads so they can't back off. LOL I got time to think about it.

Left FL. on the 2nd Tony, day after Easter. Hurried up and took out what we needed and anything that could freeze in the motorhome. Then I had to winterize the water system. Next day motorhome was covered with snow.

Everything upstairs has been done. Both baths remodeled, some carpet and paint in all rooms. Now it's time to work on the first floor. Did paint the kitchen, eating area and hall last year. Next on the list is family room. Once the first floor is done, I'm done. Getting too old for this stuff and I still have to finish up some stuff outside from the work that was done.

There was a guy on the other Chevelle forum that rebuilt hood hinges. Not cheap but sounded like he did a really nice job, much better than factory. Don't recall his name but maybe a search could find him.

Willy something thar built hinges .

Reckon i will hunt him up.

Sounds like we are all keeping pretty busy. I got the well pump changed out. When I primed it, I discovered that both 3/4" gate valves in the discharge line do not hold. Digging through my stuff today and found a new lever handle valve that I can replace one of them with. Will get that done today.

What happened to the drive-shaft?

Looks like we left there at a good time. Humidity was starting to come up and the rainy season seems to be hitting. All of the surveillance cameras that we have down there are always going off due to the rain.

That sounds right John.

Had a factory driveshaft in the truck, took it for a tune after the engine/transmission swap. Said, "2nd gear pulls." (Stock driveshaft critical speed is 92 mph) Around 116 mph my driveshaft came apart, he did several 3rd gear pulls. Did a lot of damage and the SOB stuck it to me, never finished the tune I paid for. Luckily, I had built a DS loop, or it would have been way worse.

Damn. Did he admit to the third gear pulls?

Yup. And charged me for a wideband 02 sensor that was damaged.

Do you know this guy? I wouldn't have paid him a dime. I think he is responsible for ALL the damages he caused. Unless you signed something releasing him from any damage claims?

I let a guy borrow my car hauler during the winter. He exploded the winch, an older model American made one. I am pretty sure that he tried to winch a car up on it that was frozen to the ground. He brought me a used one that he has to replace it with. Only the one he brought is no where near a "direct replacement", so when it warms up I have to fab up some new mounting plates to get it in the winch box. What is it with people that borrow your shit, break it, then just forget about it? Seems like he would have had the new-used one installed and working when he brought the stinkin trailer back. He said that he hasn't had time to get to it. Bullshit I tell ya, bullshit.

He owns a local shop. Basically, my broken truck was being held ransom. I tried to pay with a credit card so I could dispute it, but he convieniently was unable to run my card. I intend to cause him $700 worth of aggrivation. Any chance I get, I make sure to share my experience and warn others.

Yeah, that guy would be dead to me after that fiasco. I have 2 close friends that I help out. The rest, they are on their own.

BURN that bitch's place to the ground!!!!!!!!!!!!

When all the snow up here melted, it raised the ponds water level high enough to get to the deck. That then froze and lifted a couple of the posts out of place. I had to take them loose today, pound them back down, hang over the side, and drill some 3/8s holes in them. Put some lag bolts in them. Should hold until the water gets warm enough to get some carriage bolts in them. And the new-used winch the dumb ass brought me to replace the one he broke doesn't have a controller for it.

I'm still around really thinking about retiring for good here pretty quick, I'll be 62 in June so that is making it really temping. I just got back from Drummond Island last week at a Jeep meet (Jeep the Mac) and still had 2 foot of snow and got stuck 4 times and had to winch my self out, got to pull some people out as well Took the Work Jeep and that thing is a monster but the snow got the better of it.

I did do some stuff to my personal Jeep like added a lift and 35's and not even touched my other cars yet.

I need new front tires on the Camaro since they are over 20 years old and one of them leaks and the tire shops won't touch them even though they look brand new. Tony, I'm hoping the tire warranty is still good and you will honor it. ($356.00) installed. Hell that is the same price of 1 tire for the Jeep so its a hell of deal.

Hope we can all get together soon.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What the hell are you talking "retirement" for Ric? Hank, did you read that? What about our retirement checks? We are counting on you Ric! Stop thinking about just yourself Ric! Oh OK, go ahead and retire. You will love it. Are you still planning to move?

Of course the warranty will cover the tire. In fact, I will have my secretary get a check in the mail for 2000 bucks. Lets go ahead and replace all 4 of them. Gotta keep you safe until you retire. I'll include a few bucks for your time and trouble.

I didn't get stuck in the snow a single time last Winter! I didn't plow a single time either! Lovin it man, lovin it.

RBeckman. on old tires, I know what you mean. all the franchise shops wont touch my 10 yr old BG tires on mky 69. I got some new 15X8 rallys for front, and had to go to mom and pop shop to get them mounted. the tires are great shape, no cracks and a lot of tread. plus the letters are white! not muddy white like the new BF tires I bought last year for my TA. I also have 2 15X7 rallys I want to sell now, $75 for both with trim rings ( no center hubs) is there a place to list them on this site ? I am in the Kansas city area. but my 69 looks better with all 15X8 rims on all fours.

Several people have suggested that. But, doesn't the saying go... "revenge is a dish best served cold" ?

Yes, that is true, but it doesn't work well with us guys that have no patience.

Ric, good to hear from you. Retire? Don't do it! You lose that income and since you're retired you're expected to do all the work around the house. Keep working and pay someone else to do that stuff. Right now I have a list of projects that I'll never get through.

Just getting so sick of working 10-12 hours a day and not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel, I got to hire a contract Quality Engineer to help my dept out of our issues but it is too little too late as we have an audit in 2 weeks that is going to be tough and I’m not ready for it.

I waited by the mailbox for 2 days in a row and no check from Tony so I had to put the spare from the Chevelle on the Camaro to get it out so I could get to the lawnmower today and it started right up and drove great. Did not want to put the spare from the Camaro on it since it’s still the original from 1972.

Next weekend the Chevelle will get brought out of hibernation and maybe start fixing the steering gear bolt.

My new toy, it’s the Gray on on the end.

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Huh, I don't know what happened to the check Ric. It was cashed at a place called "Best Strip Club on Eight Mile" on Saturday. Are you SURE that you didn't get it?

What kind of "issues" is your Dept. Having?

Nice toy. Are you gonna hop it up?

Never heared Best Srip club on Eight Mile and there are a lot of them. The issue we are having are just normal quality issues where we have grown so fast and not been able to keep up and all the requirements that our customers are requiring us to do. I have already lifted it 2” and put 35 on it and beefed up the axle after I broke it with only 3k on it. We have about 10 guys with Jeeps as you can see in the pictures and we do drive them, a couple guys have over. 80k into them.

Yeah Hank, they did mis lead me but the perks are good as I get to do some pretty cool stuff.

Just got home yesterday...been out of the country the past 6+ weeks. Circled the globe...

Welcome home Bill .

Welcome back Bill. Where all did you go?

Left home Easter Sunday and flew to Ft. Lauderdale
On Tuesday boarded Holland America's Oosterdam cruise ship
Crossed the Atlantic in 15 days, stops in Azores, Portugal, Gibraltar, and Spain.
Got off in Barcelona
Flew out that afternoon on Cathay Airlines from Barcelona to Hong Kong (13 hrs ), two hour layover, then from Hong Kong to Sydney, Australia ( 9 hrs ).
Stayed in Sydney for 4 days
Boarded Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas in Sydney, 23 days crossing the Pacific.
Stops in New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Hawaii ( Oahu and Maui ).
Finally got off in Seattle where we flew back to Atlanta.

Great trip...covered all 24 time zones. Was gone 6 1/2 weeks

Nice trip, world traveler.

Very nice trip. So tell me Bill, do you have a favorite place that you visited.