Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Big Country Texas Shop

[83VillageRepair]

Looking forward to the progress! Conditioned space is one of the best things I've ever done, I couldn't go back to sweating all day working in the shop.. well I could but I don't want to!

Not sure if I missed it in the thread but really can't wait to see the 40's Gulf Gas station!

Its currently a pile of porcelain panels there are some pictures starting at post #67

 

[83VillageRepair]

Haven't posted anything in a while. Work has gotten really busy and I have been wrapped up in clearing up my dads estate. I just lucked into another shop. Where I work had this empty building that hasnt been used in years and I got permission to use it for a rediculously low amount. This will take the pressure off my other shop project and get some of my stuff indoors. I just started moving in this weekend. It is 30 X 50 with two overhead doors and an big lean to.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Its time to get ready for the Buffalo Adventure Run, a 24ish hour charity run we do every year. This year we are retiring Dirty Mabel and running an entirely inappropriate race vehicle to Pike's Peak and back. I have this 1972 F250 that I have been wanting to get on the road anyway so we are going to drive that. Its only avantage is no refueling stops, or very few. More to come...

 

[83VillageRepair]

We got it moved and started our list of things that need done. I put 90s F250 wheels on with hupcaps and Beauty Rings.
I think it looks pretty good.

 

[PugetDude]

Since Dirty Mabel retired have you given her replacement a working name?
Dirty Dingus sounds about right.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Since Dirty Mabel retired have you given her replacement a working name?
Dirty Dingus sounds about right.

It's a family event so we have to maintain at least plausible deniability. His name is Willie (insert your own joke here)

 

[PugetDude]

It's a family event so we have to maintain at least plausible deniability. His name is Willie (insert your own joke here)

Plausible deniability in 3...2...1...

 

[zanyad]

His name is Willie

Dare I ask why your Willie is brown?

 

[83VillageRepair]

Dare I ask why your Willie is brown?

Actually my Willie is Sequoia Brown Metallic

 

[83VillageRepair]

Duplicate post

 

[83VillageRepair]

Got some work done this week on Willie. Mostly still disassembling and cleaning and buying parts. Trying to get a full set of tools in the new shop.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Timing chain replacement. Never trust one of those old fiber gears, even on a 47k vehicle.

 

[83VillageRepair]

We made the decision this week to pull the plug on Willie for the run this year. Pulling Dirty Mabel out of retirement again. Last Night I fixed the wiring the rats ate and installed a new auxiliary tank. We are hoping for a 700mile range this year.
Added another 32 gallons of range. Still need to strap it down and connect up the vent.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Shop has a torn apart 2nd gen Bronco in it so I'm embracing my inner shade tree mechanic.
Listening to Dave Alvin "Harlen County Line".

 

[83VillageRepair]

Dirty Mabel is running as good as it ever has. We will change fluids tonight and take off on Thursday Afternoon. These are this years challenges. There is a Buffalo Run Adventure Challenge page on facebook if anyone wants to follow along live. The route I have mapped out is 1473 miles and just under 24 hours, we hope to come in sooner than that.

 

[83VillageRepair]

 

[j p smith]

any update on the Buffalo Run

 

[83VillageRepair]

any update on the Buffalo Run

We had a great time! Finished 7th out of 30 some cars and 11th in Fundraising. There is a Buffalo Adventure Run Facebook page where all of the teams upload their pictures and videos but I will put a few here. The weather was difficult, drove through Tornado Warnings, baseball sized hail and flooding around Lubbock. The good part of that was it was nice and cool for the whole trip, in fact it was downright cold in the mountains of Colorado. We drove 1621 miles in 27 hours.

Dirty Mabel ran good except some chugging on the way up to Pike's Peak, I didn't guess right on the carburator tuning. The only breakdown we had was a bad fuel filter that I changed along the road in Clovis NM.

 

[83VillageRepair]

They snuck Sand Dune National Park in on us, which added time.

Dirty Mabel Resting while we did a Roadkill Funeral.

 

[83VillageRepair]

 

[j p smith]

Awesome! Thanks for update. I did watch the Facebook page, it was interesting for sure

 

[83VillageRepair]

I need to get this Bronco of the lift so I have at least one bay to work out of at home so today is tire day. I have a ratty old set of 10.31-50 15s to put on. I also need to clean and paint the original Wagon wheels. Each one has at least one broken bolt where the center cap bolts so I will need to drill them out and chase all the holes with a 1/4-20 tap.
It turned out that I needed to drill and tap 6 of the 12 holes and chase the rest. I used the Montana drill bit set that I got from secret Santa @four.cycle 2 years ago. I drilled 6 bolts out with the same 13/64s drill bit and they worked great!



I broke my little Klein hole chaser but I have spare bits for it.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I moved everything over to the patio under some shade trees and cleaned up and painted the wheels. I used Krylon fushion all-in-one paint/primer. I've never tried it before so we'll see how well it turns out. I wiped them down with acetone first.

 

[Bob Heine]

I distinctly remember climbing the Great Sand Dunes when I was 11 (Summer of 1956). I expected it to be like the sand dunes on the beach on Long Island but it turned out to be torture. One big step forward and slide a big half step back. Rinse and repeat until you can no longer stand up. We also did Pikes Peak in the 1953 Olds 98. I remember the car struggling and the dual range Hydramatic shifting from first to second, losing momentum and shifting back into first. The whole run up the mountain was like that.

The previous summer I missed hiking the Bright Angels trail at the Grand Canyon with my father and brother because my family doctor detected a murmur before we left home. Instead, I got to sit with my mother and soak in the majesty. I think we had the better time that day, based on the way my brother looked on the way back from the Colorado river.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I distinctly remember climbing the Great Sand Dunes when I was 11 (Summer of 1956). I expected it to be like the sand dunes on the beach on Long Island but it turned out to be torture. One big step forward and slide a big half step back. Rinse and repeat until you can no longer stand up. We also did Pikes Peak in the 1953 Olds 98. I remember the car struggling and the dual range Hydramatic shifting from first to second, losing momentum and shifting back into first. The whole run up the mountain was like that.

Thanks for jumping in Bob, those are amazing photos! I had never even heard of this park until we were assigned it as a stop as a suprise challenge. We had to slide down the dunes on video. I borrowed a sled from a little kid who was in the park, there is a entire cottage industry of business renting them outside the park. The sand was not slippery at all, I think conditions need to be right for it to work. It was a beautiful site though and looks completely out of place in Colorado.

Luckily we didn't have to climb Pikes Peak. I don't think Dirty Mabel would have done well, she was having problems with the altitude. I think only 3 teams went to the top and they were not competative. Some teams get into the speed part and some really get into the theatre part.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I just spent the week at my dad's place in South Dakota. Had to do some estate stuff, which sucked, but I spent the rest of the week working in the salvage yard which is my happy place. Got all of the mowing done and worked on the inventory. It was fun spending time with my extended family.

Before I left my wife's F150 got hit by pack rats to the tune of $2500 at Ford. This is the second new vehicle they have hit. I have had enough so we kicked off a fast garage project. I bought a 40ft High Cube container we are basing the garage off of. Her side will be a 20 X40ft garage and my side will have 20 X 40ft of covered parking.

So far I have the container set, a door cut and the concrete formed up. I got home at 2AM from SD on Saturday and the concrete guys showed up at 7AM. That was a long day. They will be back on Friday. I had serious price shock on what concrete costs right now.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I did a kind of fun little project for my wife's birthday present. I bought this 100ft retractable hose reel from Vevor and built a quick little movable stand with some junk I had laying around. No close-ups of my welding will be provided.

 

[PugetDude]

No close-ups of my welding will be provided.

You learn quickly... Posting pics of
anything less than 100% X-ray quality nuclear grade weld **** is cause for scorn and ridicule from a small but vocal minority of GJ weld snobs.

 

[83VillageRepair]

You learn quickly... Posting pics of
anything less than 100% X-ray quality nuclear grade weld **** is cause for scorn and ridicule from a small but vocal minority of GJ weld snobs.

My dad was a professional welder but apparently it skips a generation

 

[83VillageRepair]

Got concrete placed. Will wait a couple of weeks before building on it.

 

[83VillageRepair]

 

[83VillageRepair]

I uncovered and cleaned off the new slab and posed the 2nd gen Bronco for some glamor shots.

 

[PugetDude]

I had a couple of those Broncos. Ford paid for a complete repaint on one of them.

 

[83VillageRepair]

I had a couple of those Broncos. Ford paid for a complete repaint on one of them.

I had a 1991 F150 that the paint all fell off when it was a year old. The manditory paint reformulations made for some really bad paint adhesion back then.

 

[Ford52PU]

My dad was a professional welder but apparently it skips a generation

Grind them down and paint them before taking pictures!!

 

[83VillageRepair]

Sorry been kind of AWOL for awhile. I am still dealing with my dad's estate so I made 2 trips to South Dakota since I last posted. I think things are finally worked out so I can wrap that up, the less said about it the better. When I was home in Sept/Oct we reorganized the big storage building and I got my 1938 Deluxe Coupe project out for some pictures.


I also worked on my sort of step moms car which I am buying and went to the local Edgemont Car show.

 

[83VillageRepair]

Since I got back I have been working on the garage project, shown earlier. I also put the new tires on my loader that I bought many months ago. I like doing tires by hand, it requires skill and technique rather than brute force do do them right. I also built tires for the diesel mower project I am working on.

 

[83VillageRepair]

 

[83VillageRepair]

I spent this last weekend building beam anchor plates for the new garage from 1/2 scrap plate that came with the place.

 

[jollygreengiant]

I take it that those tires had calcium in them??

Good to hear that you are getting that estate business wrapped up. I don't think I've ever heard of an estate cleanup that was anything but a negative experience for all involved.