So, we went for a drive yesterday, my Wife, Grandson (3), and myself. About 15 minutes into the drive, my wife, who tells me she "tolerates" my car, looked over at me and said "It certainly is a comfortable riding car." Match point... I win! (Don't show this to my Wife ).
When the fuel lob spun loose, we were driving through the industrial section of town and, as it stalled, had just enough momentum to roll up into the Peterbilt yard. While we waited for a tow truck (I figured out what was wrong there and realized I couldn't fix it there). The mechanics came out to check on us and ensure that were were all right, as it was 35 C (95 F). Once they saw we had kids with us, they offered ice cream treats and juice/Gatorade for everyone. I told the gentleman I only had $1 in my pocket. He told me that was not an issue, just come take what we needed. Really made my day better. Today, we harvested the garden and I chose the best 4 honeydew melons and took them over for the mechanics. They were delighted and both myself, and my Grandson Luke, thanked them again for all of their assistance, and generosity. I may not have much money, but I can still do my best to repay kindness with kindness, Helps the world go around. Well, time for bed. Good night to all, and sweet dreams. Tomorrow is another big day!
My Grandson came up to me today and said "I want to ride in the muscle car." My Son's taught the kids to call it a muscle car. Well, how can I refuse that. I put the kids in the car and drove them to the store for their allowance. Since they get $5 each per week (I know, I'm cheap, well, not really, just poor. I have to budget for $5 each.), I drove them to Value Village. I had to convince Aria to go there, but once there, she loved it. They spent their allowance (plus a little extra, I don't really need money for myself.) and got far more, better quality toys that a dollar store toy. The bonus for me, I got to drive my car. There were a number of people who gave me thumbs up, and one guy who hit the back of a car in front of him as he stared at the car. A couple of older gentlemen stopped me outside the store to ask me about the car. I gladly told them the year of the car, engine and the rest. One guy asked me if I was interested in selling the car. "No, but thank you." Tomorrow, I think we will go to the park. Should I drive the Wildcat? Of course, silly boy....
Thank you Chuck, that made me smile! To me, Wildcat is the beautiful collision of two dissimilar concepts. Sort of like Electra 225 and Gran Sport had a kid. Driving a 4500 lb couch that seats six comfortably with the ability to smack down many with the simple push of the pedal. I enjoy seeing your progress! Devon
Sorry, not certain what you are referring to? Have I got on it? I was going to take the kids to the park in the Wildcat, but, wouldn't you know it, rain. We had the kids at home for about 3 hours, then they went back home with Daddy. Mommy is going her running today. After Quiet time, they are going to the YMCA for the Bouncy Castle. I don't drive the car in the rain. Not that I can't, I just do not trust other drivers.
Slammed the gas pedal to where all 4 barrels open with the switch pitch kicking into high stall. Best from a rolling start from a round 20 to 25 miles and hour as you will just fry the rear tire from a dead start.. Theres a good way to to work a car and a bad way. The Nail heads are rugged with forged rods and a forged crank. The rockers might be the weakest area on these motors but then they run out of power quickly at around 4500 rpms so your not doing Nascar RPM's. They have valve seals on the intake valves, not sure if Ray put them in on the re build? Still though oil can make it into the combustion chamber which can give you a blue exhaust smoke but opening it up on the highway every now and then cleans it all out. If rebuilt well you will be quite surprised just how strong this 4600 pound car will run.. Good to be weary of other drivers who don't understand the limits of a car.
Okay, now I understand. No, I don't slam the gas petal down. I do accelerate quickly occasionally, but no burnouts, no pulling doughnuts. I drive mostly sedately, since I usually have Aria and Luke in the car. Sometimes, I think I got the car for them. I need to get rid of their car seats and get them some nice high backed booster seats I can clip to the anchors I installed on the rear deck. I appreciate all of the information on my car that is given me. So far, I haven't noticed any blue smoke out of the exhaust. Before the rebuild, Lots of smoke about 2,000 RPM's. That was my first inkling that I needed a rebuild. Lethbridge is home to "Canada's worst driver", according to the show. Watching people drive, I think he is bush league for being a bad driver. I had a senior citizen almost hit me as he changed lanes without looking. I was driving my F150 SCREW, so I wasn't in a small vehicle, he just didn't bother to look. This is an almost daily occurrence here. We are the Victoria of Alberta, meaning, a lot of senior citizens move here to retire. They tried to get Mayor Magrath, our 3 lane each way main North/South route through town, lowered from 60 KPH (37 MPH) to 30 KPH (19 MPH). Fortunately, enough other citizens responded with a "H**L No! If you can't drive 60, give up your license and take the HandiBus." City council, who had been seriously considering lowering the limit, came to their senses and put a halt to it. I told my wife that when I get to that stage where I become a menace to others on the road, to take my license away from me. I don't want to become my Father-In-Law, Bob. Before he passed, he was a scary driver. I wouldn't let my kids ride with him. 4 accidents in 2 years. He hit the burning barrel, which had been in the same spot for 15 years that I know of. He yelled "Who moved that there?" Nope, don't want to be that. I don't think any of us do though. Ray was constantly getting new front fenders for his 90 Cadillac. Nice car, but, I know how many accidents it had.
Okay, I did a bad, well, bad in that I do not usually do this. I was out with my Grandchildren this morning, just babysitting while Mom was at church (kids are coughing a little, so they stayed with me.) and Dad was playing D&D with Mom and brother William. We were sitting at a light and a young guy comes up beside me, looks over and laughs. He revved up his Hyundai's engine and then looked ahead. At first I thought, "No!", but, in this case maybe. He looked over at me as the light going the other way turned yellow. "Yup!" I thought. I floored it at the green light and, squealing tires, headed for the next light, about 2 Km (~1.2 miles) away. As this light was red, I waited for him to catch up. This time, he didn't rev up the engine. Of course, my Grandson Luke was in his glory. My Granddaughter, Aria, just looked at me sternly and said "Gampy, you went too fast!" Well, as long as she doesn't tell my wife.
I took Luke out in the car again today. Man, did we have fun. Luke insists that we drive the car now. Try telling a 3 year old that your truck is actually cheaper to drive than the car. Doesn't work. I lost a wiper blade on the way to Value Village, so I stopped at Canadian Tire to get a replacement. No such luck getting one. They couldn't even cross reference one. I decided to just go to Value Village and let Luke get his toy. He didn't see anything there, so I suggested another store. We went to Bianca Amours (sort of a discount surplus store) to get one. He found a nice train set and I found wipers, for $2 each. I was on my way home and came around a right turn and I noticed that the signal suddenly stopped flashing. Oh Oh, I must have blown a bulb I guess. Go to make a left turn, same thing. I used the turn signal to manual make a flasher for the 2 miles to home, took Luke and our purchases into the house , then went back out to the car. I took out the flasher, tapped it, cleaned the contacts and put it back in. Working like a charm again. All in all, a fun, somewhat challenging day.
I had to drive my son Michael to Calgary (2 1/2 hours away) and my eldest offered us his Ford focus to drive. He used to be scared senseless to drive my car to work, so I offered him the F150 to drive this time. He asked to drive the car and I said "Of course you can." It seems that the people at his work love to see the car. Who knew?
I took the car out with my Grandson Luke, to get him some playtime outside of the house (Raining, and driving Nana nuts), so, McDonalds with a play place, here we come. As we are driving, I notice that an older PT Cruiser making the same turns as I am. Okay, he is going downtown as well, I guess. He follows me into the McDonalds and parks near me. He asks a bunch of questions like year, where I got it, motor... He then says he is a member of the Coaldale Car Club and would love to have me and my car join them. I said I was building it as a daily driver, not a show car. He said it doesn't matter, told me where and when they meet and again invited me. I told him I would have to think about it and had to leave, my Grandson is already through the doors and in the play place. He left and I shook my head. I know I love my car, but this is getting a little, well, crazy.
I would check it out, Chuck. You may meet some new friends there. That kinda happened to me here, too.
Nearly everywhere I park the Riv it turns into a car show complete with a Q&A session. Its fun but does sometimes get old.
Today, I was playing with Luke when my boys came upstairs to see me. William asked me if he put $20 worth of gas (3.89 US gallons 3.2 Imperial gallons), could he borrow the car? I said that of course he could use the car. He goes out, does his errands with Mike and puts the $20 in. He comes home, shows me a receipt and says "The gauge barely moved." I laughed. He then asked if he could take it to work this afternoon. Yup, have fun. When I got this car, he was terrified to drive it. Now, I guess things have changed.
Today my Grandkids went home around 10:30. I decided that, with winter coming soon, I would do some prep on the car. The first thing I felt needed doing was to check the antifreeze in the car, since I didn't check it when we refilled it. Now, where is my tester. Ah here is is, broken. Bummer, off to Princess Auto to purchase another one. Get home, let car cool. In the meantime, get out the compressor and fill all tires to their proper pressure. Then, lubricate all of the hinges and hood springs. Lubricate the latch mechanism (so much easier to open after.), check my oil and air filter. Both excellent. Go in, get the dog and go for a walk with Will and the dog, Daisy with his car. Come home, check rad, cool, open and test the antifreeze. Good for -48 F, I think, here in Southern Alberta where it rarely goes below - 10 F, that I am good, and happy. No leaks I can see on the engine, air filter is clean. Check the paperwork.... uh oh, forgot to put the new insurance papers in. Go to the house, locate them, put them in both the car and the truck. That's good. I put new wiper blades on a while ago. I also purchased a spare flasher, just in case. Cheap insurance. I have spare bulbs for all of the marker/brake lights as well as fuses. Verify that my spare tire is full of air, I have my small compressor and booster cables. I had a wire to my extra fuse panel that would sometimes not make a good connection. It is running a power point in front of me that I plug my GPS and back-up camera into. Took it apart, fixed it and tied everything back up neatly. Hmm, I think I am done for now. If I were living up north as I was when I met Jenny, there would be a 5 gallon can of fuel, a 5 litre (1 Imperial gallon) jug of oil, wiper fluid, a patch kit, solar blankets, candles.... Sometimes, on the Stewart-Cassiar highway (37 North), it might be hours or the next day before someone comes along and if you don't have these things, you could be S.O.L. Of course, this was back in the 80's, so, no cell phones. I don't know how the coverage would be now. It is still a sparsely settled area. I would never take the Wildcat on that road, it is mostly gravel.
So this was fun. I went out to the car this morning to go to the dog park with Daisy and my Grandson Luke. Went out first to warm up the car. Got in, removed the club (My wife has watched a few videos on how easy these cars are to steal, hence the CLUB on my steering wheel.), and turned the key. A lot of turning over, but no firing. What the ****? I got out, pulled the air cleaner off and checked the carb. DRY? There was fuel in the filter bowl, none in the carb. Removed the line from the carb and turn it over, no fuel. Hmmm, what is going on, we just fixed the fuel lobe. As I was reconnecting the line to the carb, I looked down. A line going nowhere? I crawled underneath and found that the inlet to the fuel pump, the whole sleeve had come out of the pump. I got out some RV Sealant, coated it and stuck it back in. After that, I couldn't pull it out of the pump. The car started right up and ran fine. What the devil, I just purchased that fuel pump from RockAuto. I guess it is true, the parts we purchase now have not got the quality of the parts 30 years ago. Makes me kind of nervous, knowing how many parts I put in and on the engine came from RockAuto. On the other hand, I noticed while driving, since Canada prefers you use your headlights in the daytime, that when I turned them on, the voltage gauge didn't move from 14 volts. The old alternator, which worked but I replaced it because it had a cracked mount hole for tightening it, used to drop from 14 volts to 12 volts when I turned the lights on. I might see if I can get a rebuild kit for it since it does work, just not pretty anymore. I was going to drive the truck to the dog park after the car wouldn't start, but Luke insisted on the car. So, I fixed it right then and there, to keep my Grandson happy. He does love my car.
Out driving today and, wouldn't you know, the flasher decided to act up again. I pulled into Dairy Queen and while Jenny got Luke his meal and ice cream to0 go, I pulled the flasher, cleaned the contacts and tapped it to loosen anything that may have been, well, stuck. I put it back in and, voila, working again. When we got home, I looked for another one for a spare and found that they had a clearance at Princess Auto. On sale for... 81 cents (85 cents with tax). I purchased the last one and put it in the glove box for now. I took Luke across the street to the thrift store to "look" at toys. That never works for me. He got a toy mechanics set, a book, and for Aria I got a latching case about 6 in. x 4 in. x 1.5 in. with sharks on the cover. She exclaimed that it looked just like "Bruce" from Finding Nemo. She is always "borrowing" my Pelican cases off of my tools like my Fluke 87 Meter. Maybe now that she has one of her own, she will leave mine alone, maybe not. Across the alley behind the DQ is an older car. I looked at it the other day and the owner came out to talk. It is a 1954 Plymouth Belvedere. 4 door, V8 car. He said it was running when he purchased it, but that was a long time ago. The mice have had a field day with the headliner and the seats. When I told Ray about it, he said, Pics or it didn't happen. Well, today, he got a couple of pics. He sounded interested in the car. I don't want to piss of Mom though. Drove home with Luke crowing over his new treasure. By the time I got home, it was about 3:15 PM and he was asleep in his car seat. Is there anything more, well, angelic, than a sleeping grandchild. They really are my treasures.
