Finishing something’s and getting ready for racing

 Hello everyone,

I received some boxes of things while I was on my little weekend getaway. So I got parts to repair the downstairs toilet, check. I also got the wiring to put on the van for the trailer plug, installed it on the van. 

Just part of it in the picture it, it’s all in and works fine. I also added a couple of charge ports in the van to make it a little more convenient for charging anything with a USB cable. In the process of installing those ports I found this:

That, was a little disconcerting! I never cared for this setup, it was a little hard to get to the fuses. This is part of the battery isolator/ charging system for the inside battery. So I ordered up some new parts to change it over to something that seems better. The parts are supposed to be here today, so I’ll show you what I changed it to in the next post.

This coming week is when I go to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green. So, it’s mostly preparations for going there this weekend. Got the little camper out and inspected for critter damage, found nothing.

Had to replace an air conditioner at the cabin we have on our property, and ordered a new one. When it came it was smaller than our old one, so I took the one that fit in the camper and put it in the cabin, and I ended up with the brand new one for the camper! Woo hoo!!

I’ve been working around the compound to clear up some of the list of things to do. I’m going to try and sell the golf cart and the pickup truck when I come home from the races to clear up some space. I want to start working on the Harley. The frame is back and the fork tubes are here so a roller is close than before.

I’ll try to post some pics from the races next post too.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

Peace and love

 Hello everyone,

Did a bunch more house work and then took a few days off. We went to Hippie Fest, and a little more. 

We joined a group called Harvest Hosts, and basically it’s a group that includes, museums, breweries, wineries, and farms that you can stay at overnight for free in your camper. So far every place we’ve stayed has been great. Friday night’s stay was at a place called JB Whiskey. Had two bands and really good food, met some great people! BUT, what hit the home run for me was this:

TWO C8 Corvettes up close and personal! I’m a car fan, always have been. I really liked the C7’s when they came out, but these have stolen my heart. The guy with the red one had only owned it for two hours!! On top of this, we wake up the next morning and they’re having a car show!!

So, after the car show, we drive a couple of hours up to Truffant, Michigan, to the Hippie Fest! We had a ball! The music was absolutely spot on, all day. All sorts of vendors selling tie dyes and jewelry, all sorts of food, and all sorts of people! It was really fun, but it was extremely hot. It was out in a huge farm field with almost no shade, hard on us old people! We hung out for about 5 hours and finally had to pack it in. They have several in different spots every year so, I’m sure we’ll make another one!

It was a very cool getaway for us but, now back to the grind. I’ve got about a week and a half before the hot rod reunion and a ton of things to get done. Received several packages while we were gone all of which means things to do. I was making lists while we were gone so, I have a lot of work to get finished up with.

So, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon,

TVI

Mostly more of the same

 Hello everyone,

We did a couple of day trip outings on Memorial Day weekend. On Monday I went with my brother and Shop Teacher Bob, on what they call the dead relatives tour. We went and put flowers on the graves of our relatives who served in the military plus a few other relatives who have passed. It was a nice day, great conversations, took us back to what felt like “ normal”.

My friend who welded the Harley frame up for me brought it back on the weekend and “Bob” gave me back my repaired fork tube.

If you’re interested in how he did the repair, look him up at the link in the first paragraph. He’s doing some really cool stuff.

I’ve been cleaning up the golf cart, doing some cleaning and painting.

We’re going away this weekend to a HippieFest! Never been, so hopefully it will be cool.

I have a lot of things to get done next week in order to go  the Hot Rod Reunion in Kentucky the following week. When I come back from that trip I’m going to put the pickup and the golf cart up for sale, so the next few weeks will be busy. After that I’m going to turn to the Harley and start trying to get a roller going.

Well, I think that’s all for now. 

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

Same as last week

 Hello everyone,

Pretty much anyway. Pulled more weeds, sprayed some more, etc..

I removed the damaged sills and machines pieces to replace them.

Primed the old wood left on the house, two coats of primer and two coats of paint on the new pieces. Then installed them. Caulked all the new pieces in place. All that’s left is touch up paint.

Should get to that today. My brother is coming by and we have a little business to take care of and then I have to go up north and buy some new hearing aids! Holy crap are they expensive!

Went up to Chicago over the weekend and saw our favorite local band, Heartsfield. We had a blast!

So the week starts, with another giant pile of mulch!

The wife would like the pool put up and between that and taking the van apart, I’m not so sure about the mulch, we’ll see.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

Less bike work

 Hello everyone,

More home things this past week. Mowing, pulling weeds, mulch, moving rocks etc..

I did remove the top of one of the golf  carts and put it on the one I intend to keep. I’m going to part ways with the red one that I have, which is a 1974  Cushman and keep the three wheeled 1970 Cushman. I need to buy a battery charger for the one I’m going to sell first.

I had some old lamp posts and some posts with goo gaws  on them that were rotting away. So, we bought some 4x4 posts and brought them home. I did some machining on them so they looked like some posts we saw at an old Shaker village we go to.

I had to mark where I wanted the cuts to end, lay the posts on their side and raise the blade at a 45 degree angle through each side of each post. So, 4 sides and 5 posts! Then finish the cuts with a hand saw and then sand the corners kind of round. Took me almost all afternoon for all of the posts. Then I primed and painted them and then the next day installed three of them.

I spent Wednesday afternoon at the oldest sons house helping him put together a trampoline. I was going to put a video of them on it, but it was taking forever to load.

The bike news for this week is the frame is finished and the guy who did it wants to bring it back to me this weekend. The problem is I won’t be home this weekend so maybe next weekend. When it comes back I can start fitting up the rear wheel and see if I still have all the spacers and brake brackets etc.. Then maybe fit up the rear fender. Hopefully by then “Shop Teacher Bob” will have my tube problem addressed and I can send the front end out to be rebushed.  That, would be real progress!

This weeks agenda is do some more home repairs and maybe some van work. It looks like I might have gotten a little ahead of myself when I finished up the interior! I may have to remove the bed in order to wire up the trailer wiring. I have to remove the taillights and the plastics around them can’t be removed with the bed in it. So, when I do that part I need to think about an easier way of accessing the taillights in case I need to change bulbs!

On the house part, I have three windows that the sashes have literally rotted away. I need to machine down some pieces to the right thickness and get myself one of those multi tools to be able to saw it off and then biscuit and glue on the new pieces, it’s going to be a project, but at least they’re all on the ground floor.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

More bike work

I’ve been working on the Harley project this past week. I started getting ready to send the forks out to have them rebushed and had a minor/ major catastrophe! I set the tubes on the workbench and started looking for the rest of the parts and one of them rolled off the bench and hit the floor. It put a small dent in the bottom and now it won’t slide in the lower leg. I’m going to run it up to “Shop Teacher Bob’s” place this morning and see if he can help me straighten it out. Keep your fingers crossed!

I started stripping the sidecar frame down. I have one of the leaf springs apart and mostly cleaned up. I ordered some rust remover to get the rust out of the pits. Then I’ll paint them, probably black.

As you can see in the lower picture, over the years , moisture and dirt have gotten in between the leaves and started spreading them out. That’s why I took them apart. I broke a couple of the clamps when I was taking them apart so I have to see if I can make new ones, plus see if I can come up with new rivets.

The wife and I took another overnighter and spent some time near Wabash again. We spent the morning by a nice little waterfall, and it was very relaxing.

I got the seat swivel put in the passenger side seat in the van and it’s working out very well. This was the first time we set up the awning too. Those two additions make a huge difference in the “ space” of the van.

I’m still waiting for some more parts for the trailer wiring and the charge ports. Hopefully they’ll be here this week.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

Trying to be busy

 Hello everyone,

After a lot of messing around I finally got tanks attached to my hoses and gauges. After that I heated up the turnbuckle and got it sort of free, it turns but with a pipe wrench. I might try some valve lapping compound and see if I can loosen up the threads a little. The tight side is the left hand thread side, so I don’t have a tap or a die nut to chase the threads.

I managed to get the trailer hitch mounted on the van, without any problems. 

I believe I got the Harley frame cut and bent to clear the motor. It ended up being a lot more than a 1/4 of an inch, almost 3/4”. The seat post does go up and down but it drags a little bit. I think if I polish everything up and grease it good it will work fine.

In the last picture you can hardly tell it’s bent back, which is what I was hoping for. Now, next week, another friend is going to weld it up for me and I should have it back in a week or so. I’ll probably sandblast the rest of the paint off it and start seeing if I can get it to a rolling chassis by summer’s end. 

I went to the auto parts store and bought a new belt for the air compressor. It was starting to slip pretty badly, so I got that changed today too!

I need to make a hook of some kind to roll the torch hose up and I need to wash the van. It’s almost time to mow again and there is still more weeds to pull.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon, 

TVI

P.S. I also have to wire the trailer plug this coming week. Man, all that sounds like I’ll be busy again this week too!