Bumping into some free time.

First, I would like to thank all who sent their compliments on Old Biddy’s “blog card”! So nice to know that folks appreciated our holiday greeting and we appreciated all the responses! I joke around at our house and say that I install a revolving door in place of our front door on Christmas Eve and put the regular door back in place New Year’s Day. We get many visitors who come and go through our house this week every year. When I did manage to catch a break on Thursday, I decided to do something nice for Old Biddy for Christmas.

I had to work on her rear bumper because it has been getting in the way and has been moved around about thirty times since it arrived two months ago.

The bumper had the same wire wheel treatment, followed by priming and chrome paint, followed by chrome polishing with Nevrdull that was done on the front bumper. The original overrider/bumperettes were in bad condition.

 I found a nice pair from Arizona on eBay so I bought Old Biddy a Christmas present. They just needed to be polished and have new rubber strips made.

Here is Old Biddy before her bumper.

Here she is with the bumper and overrider/bumpettes installed.

At least something was done this week! Next week is a new year. Let us hope for some more good times on this project.

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Happy Holidays!!

Merry Christmas to you from Old Biddy and her family!

Thank you for visiting!

Toddy

A week like every other.

All focus has been diverted away from things I would rather be doing this week. But when I had a quick chance to pay attention to Old Biddy some cool things happened.

I made another visit to Chris’s because there were a couple minor decisions that had to be made on the motor. He installed the flywheel using an interesting process of heating it in his oven then sliding it in place.

The timing chain cover and pulleys were put on and all timing and balancing marks were aligned. Chris assured me that the engine will run smoother and stronger than new.

He also attached the oil lines and cranked the engine to read the oil pressure. Pressure is a touch high but so far so good!

The head is going back to have the combustion chambers ported out a bit more because the compression is a touch too low.

While waiting for the head, he started to rebuild the carburetors. The SU HS2s are dirty but in good condition.

He should have the motor ready to start in a few days. On my end, I finally borrowed John’s engine crane! May the body lifting commence!

All I want for Christmas is a small, uninterrupted chunk of time!

Thanks for visiting.

Toddy

Fabricating a story.

This month has been crazy busy! Poor Old Biddy sadly looks at me every day before I go to work and begs for my attention. So I gave her what little I could this past week and a half.

I had to fabricate a lifting bracket out of a bed frame rail (angle iron) and attach it to the firewall so we could lift the car up and remove the sub-frame. I measured twice and cut once with a hacksaw.

I brought it out to the car to re-measure both holes. My wife held it onto the firewall...

...while I crawled inside to mark the holes.

Then I made a futile attempt to drill a 5/16" hole through the hardened steel by hand.

I decided to take it to the high school shop were our friend, Daryl, teaches to use the drill press instead. I also took the rear bumper to remove the extra metal and overiders. I never used a right angle grinder before. All I can say about the experience was...COOL!

The bumper was stripped of the extra metal. I probably will not have a chance to work on its preservation until January, but at least it is ready and waiting now.

And I brought the angle iron home and temporarily installed it in place. Now the lifting crane can be brought here either on Wednesday or Friday this week.

At this point in time, I do not know if I will make my 2011 New Year's Resolution goal of having the engine rebuilt and installed, and having Old Biddy standing on all four wheels. Stay tuned as the drama unfolds!

Thank you for visiting!
Toddy