Above 1200 Sq/FT Restored 1930's Auto Shop
- Thread starter BB767
- Start date
Wokspaces above 1200 squarefeet.
Pete that is indeed an insulated line...
... which leads to the POA valve. Below is a look at an exploded diagram of the generic Corvette A/C system, compliments of Keen Parts.
In simplified terms here's a description of the operation of the A/C system.
Basic System Operation
The compressor pressurizes the refrigerant then it enters the A/C condenser as a gas. The high temperature, high pressure gas is cooled as it goes through the condenser. This changes the gas to a liquid. Then the liquid goes to the evaporator through an expansion valve or metered orifice. This quickly depressurizes the liquid. This vaporizing liquid lowers its temperature rapidly. The vaporized refrigerant returns to the compressor (the compressor cannot handle any liquid).
The Corvette A/C System
1963-1977 Corvettes
The 1963-1977 Corvettes had a complex A/C system with many valves which were prone to problems. The components consist of: compressor, POA valve, expansion valve, receiver drier, evaporator, and condenser. The A/C compressor ran continuously. These systems have a Pilot Operated Absolute valve (POA valve), which bypassed the refrigerant when necessary to prevent freeze-up, allowing the A/C compressor to run at all times.
Trying to find correct, factory insulation for that line is difficult. What is installed on my car is what was on it when I purchased it. It operates just fine but as you point out, it is somewhat cosmetically challenged.
Don't have worry about such things with our TR4's do we?
Thomas
That's a wonderful thought since clearly I need alllllll the help I can get. Let's see if I can talk Miss Chris into strapping on a nail apron and jumping in to assist.
Yesterday I drove about 450 miles round trip, visiting with the folks who will be fabricating the limestone trim. One of the trim areas on the home will be a limestone trimmed arched entrance area...
...roughly like this to give you an idea.........but not exactly. Anyway I spent a couple of hours with the owner and his lead designer who gave me a shop tour, explaining his operation and tweaking my design for the trim I'll be using. Once I get the pictures from the visit sorted I'll post them.
There has been loads of behind the scene home construction activity going on. I'm getting many of the home design and material details finalized. We did put a freeze on the blueprints. Any changes from here on will be done with notations on the prints or in the field. Every day we're getting closer with less than 9 weeks to go. Stand by.
Thomas
Since you know what a POA valve is, do you know what an STV valve is Thomas?
BTW, the worst spark plug I know of to change was the old VW bug with AC. You had to take the AC apart to get to one of the plugs. It wasn't uncommon to only change 3 plugs and wait unit the car had a serious running issue, to change the 4th. By then the plug had welded itself in the head so you needed to do a head job.
BTW, the worst spark plug I know of to change was the old VW bug with AC. You had to take the AC apart to get to one of the plugs. It wasn't uncommon to only change 3 plugs and wait unit the car had a serious running issue, to change the 4th. By then the plug had welded itself in the head so you needed to do a head job.
I'm no A/C expert Charlie but I do still own an old school, R12 A/C manifold gauge set that I purchased new in 1975 when I took an A/C course. I haven't had to fiddle with a Suction Throttling Valve for almost as long. That's another hard part to find and one that functions correctly. Even new replacement STV's fail.
http://licorvette.com/pdfcatalogfiles/cat/34 3536.pdf
Note part # 35-10 in the #35 A/C Fittings, Driers,
Evap Core,Hoses, Shutoff Valve... section above.
It's been recommended to check them for proper operation before they are installed. I guess I'm a sucker for administering to the needs of my old cars. Most times I find it very rewarding......most times.
Thomas
Lyndon
Well-known member
...roughly like this to give you an idea.........but not exactly.
Thomas
Wow - just WOW.
Looking forward to this build commencing - You are going to drive the builders mad with photos, aren't you . . . . . Please!
Lyndon
Mmmmmm, getting ideas that I must not let SWMBO see....
DoorBreaker
Active member
Re: House Update
Been there a couple times. Just don't take a wrong turn before you get there. There is a large prison complex just down the road!!
Punch 43.484417, -73.430574 Into google and you can see the plant and the quarries to the west of it.
Go south to the 4 & 22 intersection and the big places on the right are the prison yards. Used to get desks from there to be painted and returned...
Hi there Steve, I've been in contact with Adirondack Natural Stone:
http://adirondacknaturalstone.com/
I interested in their Adirondack Granite. Beautiful multicolored material. As long as I'm there I would like to pick out the fireplace lintel and firebox side stones. They have that material as well.
The quarry is located near Whitehall, NY. Once I get a good weather window I've got a road trip in my future. It takes a little effort to do this, but that's never stopped me before, plus I'd like to see how stone is quarried. I suspect you'll be seeing a post here on rock quarries in the near future.
Thomas
Been there a couple times. Just don't take a wrong turn before you get there. There is a large prison complex just down the road!!
Punch 43.484417, -73.430574 Into google and you can see the plant and the quarries to the west of it.
Go south to the 4 & 22 intersection and the big places on the right are the prison yards. Used to get desks from there to be painted and returned...
Re: House Update
I did notice that when I used Google Earth to look around the area. Hey, a prison has to be somewhere right?
Adirondack Natural Stone had some extremely cold weather the last couple of weeks or so, -15ºF (-26ºC) on a few occasions and a few inches of snow accumulation. That's way too cold and icy to be quarrying rock and stone so they haven't been productive. I'm waiting for them to resume operation, hopefully next week, so they can get enough material together for me to take a look.
I plan on bringing back about 100 lbs (45kg) or so of some sample granite that I'll be using to help with the brick color section. I need the brick color to help with the front door trim stain and garage door colors. It all revolves around the color of the granite stone right now. In a few weeks the weather should greatly help everything.
In the meantime........
Thomas
Been there a couple times. Just don't take a wrong turn before you get there. There is a large prison complex just down the road!!
Punch 43.484417, -73.430574 Into google and you can see the plant and the quarries to the west of it.
Go south to the 4 & 22 intersection and the big places on the right are the prison yards. Used to get desks from there to be painted and returned...
I did notice that when I used Google Earth to look around the area. Hey, a prison has to be somewhere right?
Adirondack Natural Stone had some extremely cold weather the last couple of weeks or so, -15ºF (-26ºC) on a few occasions and a few inches of snow accumulation. That's way too cold and icy to be quarrying rock and stone so they haven't been productive. I'm waiting for them to resume operation, hopefully next week, so they can get enough material together for me to take a look.
I plan on bringing back about 100 lbs (45kg) or so of some sample granite that I'll be using to help with the brick color section. I need the brick color to help with the front door trim stain and garage door colors. It all revolves around the color of the granite stone right now. In a few weeks the weather should greatly help everything.
In the meantime........
Thomas
In The Meantime........
.........I took a trip last week to Liles Cut Stone...
...in Solsberry, Indiana. http://liles-cut-stone.solsberry.in.amfibi.directory/us/c/1107515-liles-cut-stone.
These are the nice folks who will be supplying all the limestone window sills and...
...looking at the house plans you can see I've designed port cochère (that's a high falutin word for "a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through") over the front door.
The front door will be 6 panel solid door, side lights and a transom with arched limestone trim.
Here is Liles chief designer, Kent Todd. It will be his job to translate my simple door trim design...
...into what I hope to be...
...an interesting focal point. This is a proposed end view of the trim.
They will profile the limestone trim using...
...carbide knives like these with the appropriate profile. Shown are two knives, stacked one on top of the other and my hand to give an idea of scale. The cutting edge with a profile is on the left and right ends of each knife.
The correct knives will be installed in a planer...
...seen here. In the center is a moving 20' long bed that the limestone is secured to. The planer head is lower into the limestone...
...and then with the knife in contact with the stone...
... the moving table moves forward, scraping the limestone under and along the blade edge. Shallow passes are made until the knife makes full contact resulting in the desired profile. In this case it's a straight edge producing a cap stone that looks like...
...this when done. Limestone is soft, so with light passes, there is not much heat build up in the knife blade. Here are some other examples of planer work...
The limestone arrives from the quarry...
...in large blocks.
The blocks are sawn...
...with 3 phase electrical powered saws. Note all the cooling fins on the motor outer casing. Water is flooded into the saw blade while it's cutting. That helps lubricate the blade, carries away cut material and reduces dust. This is a 24" diameter saw.
For larger material they use this 4' diameter saw. When these saws are in action the is just a bit of a loud hum in the shop. We could talk over the noise easily.
The soft-spoken gentleman seen on the far left is Albert Lile, the owner of Liles Cut Stone and just about the nicest person you could meet. His shop was neat, tidy, well organized and all the equipment well maintained. Pride in workmanship was evident everywhere and with every employee I spoke with. My kind of folks!
For more complex designs they use this CNC, Computer Numerical Control cutter. That's a block of limestone in the center being cut.
This is the CNC controls.
The CNC utilizes high pressure water jets to cut the stone.
There is still a place for hand work. This is Mike and anything too complex for a machine to make, Mike carves the stone by hand with a pneumatic power cutter and grinders. The wood stove in the background is how Mike heats his little space and it did a great job I might add!
This is some of Mike's tools. To my left is a mighty large drill and behind me are some of his patterns on the shelves.
Founded in 1992 Liles is growing every year. They are constructing an even larger facility behind the existing shop. I'm glad I took the time to visit in person. From everyone I met to the quality products I observed, I know I'll be more than pleased with their work. Once my order is filled I'll go back in a few weeks with a trailer in tow and pick it all up and bring it back to The Center Of The Universe. I'm really looking forward to having Liles limestone incorporated into my home.
More to come, stand by!
Thomas
.........I took a trip last week to Liles Cut Stone...
...in Solsberry, Indiana. http://liles-cut-stone.solsberry.in.amfibi.directory/us/c/1107515-liles-cut-stone.
These are the nice folks who will be supplying all the limestone window sills and...
...looking at the house plans you can see I've designed port cochère (that's a high falutin word for "a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through") over the front door.
The front door will be 6 panel solid door, side lights and a transom with arched limestone trim.
Here is Liles chief designer, Kent Todd. It will be his job to translate my simple door trim design...
...into what I hope to be...
...an interesting focal point. This is a proposed end view of the trim.
They will profile the limestone trim using...
...carbide knives like these with the appropriate profile. Shown are two knives, stacked one on top of the other and my hand to give an idea of scale. The cutting edge with a profile is on the left and right ends of each knife.
The correct knives will be installed in a planer...
...seen here. In the center is a moving 20' long bed that the limestone is secured to. The planer head is lower into the limestone...
...and then with the knife in contact with the stone...
... the moving table moves forward, scraping the limestone under and along the blade edge. Shallow passes are made until the knife makes full contact resulting in the desired profile. In this case it's a straight edge producing a cap stone that looks like...
...this when done. Limestone is soft, so with light passes, there is not much heat build up in the knife blade. Here are some other examples of planer work...
The limestone arrives from the quarry...
...in large blocks.
The blocks are sawn...
...with 3 phase electrical powered saws. Note all the cooling fins on the motor outer casing. Water is flooded into the saw blade while it's cutting. That helps lubricate the blade, carries away cut material and reduces dust. This is a 24" diameter saw.
For larger material they use this 4' diameter saw. When these saws are in action the is just a bit of a loud hum in the shop. We could talk over the noise easily.
The soft-spoken gentleman seen on the far left is Albert Lile, the owner of Liles Cut Stone and just about the nicest person you could meet. His shop was neat, tidy, well organized and all the equipment well maintained. Pride in workmanship was evident everywhere and with every employee I spoke with. My kind of folks!
For more complex designs they use this CNC, Computer Numerical Control cutter. That's a block of limestone in the center being cut.
This is the CNC controls.
The CNC utilizes high pressure water jets to cut the stone.
There is still a place for hand work. This is Mike and anything too complex for a machine to make, Mike carves the stone by hand with a pneumatic power cutter and grinders. The wood stove in the background is how Mike heats his little space and it did a great job I might add!
This is some of Mike's tools. To my left is a mighty large drill and behind me are some of his patterns on the shelves.
Founded in 1992 Liles is growing every year. They are constructing an even larger facility behind the existing shop. I'm glad I took the time to visit in person. From everyone I met to the quality products I observed, I know I'll be more than pleased with their work. Once my order is filled I'll go back in a few weeks with a trailer in tow and pick it all up and bring it back to The Center Of The Universe. I'm really looking forward to having Liles limestone incorporated into my home.
More to come, stand by!
Thomas
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Me too tgj7. As you can tell I'm spreading the gospel of refurbishment and it's taking root. I've received several PM's and emails over the years from folks who have seen my work and decided they wanted to save old buildings and equipment too. It's tremendously satisfying.
Thomas
Homebody
Well-known member
I'm impressed, you wore a black jacket into that dust hole and came out unscathed it appears! Looks like everything in there was covered in a fine dust?
Kinda neat looking actually. Thanks for the tour!
Kinda neat looking actually. Thanks for the tour!
BBChevro
Well-known member
Interesting place Thomas, thanks for posting.
Hugo L.
Well-known member
They need to invest in some sort of dust extraction/collection equipment. Can't be good for the lungs!
rmalkow2
Well-known member
Interesting place and process. I love the mix of methods from CNC all the way back to a single craftsman with patterns and hand tools.
FunBags
Active member
So jealous, excellent work with the old/new shop!
stillp
Well-known member
Another interesting post, but I was sorry to see that no-one was wearing any respiratory protection. That'd be stamped on over here.
Pete
Pete
Proper Respiration
I should have pointed out in my post about Liles, not to worry about the crew not wearing proper respirators. Where a dusty operation was taking place (not pictured), those fellows indeed had respirators on. The dustiest place was Mike's shop where he did all hand work.
He wasn't doing any actual stone carving at the time we were there. Note there is no dust to speak of on any of his clothes. I did ask him about it with all the dust evident everywhere in his area. He showed me where he stored all his respirators until needed and assured me everyone at the company used them when necessary. They were well aware of the dangers of not using them.
This is a little of Mike's work used for practice.
Some more work ready to ship out.
This might be an opportune moment to acknowledge the photo credits during my visit, to my good friend Steve Halfar. I had asked him...
...seen here on the far right, to come with me. Steve is the owner of Halfar Masonry and is exceptionally knowledgeable in all masonry matters. I had left my camera at home, so he graciously volunteered to take most of the pictures for me with his camera.
The reason I mention Steve is that he has been involved with the old shop restoration since almost day 1.
When I had the shop frame walls replaced with concrete block, it was Steve's crew who performed that work. That's Steve, circled on the right in the picture, about 10 years ago. His crew performed virtually all the masonry work at the old shop.
It was just the two of us, Steve and I, who more than 35 years ago, built my first masonry, Rumford fireplace in my first house. It will be Steve who will build the masonry Rumford fireplace in my new house this summer. He has been my masonry consultant on the new house.
We have done countless projects together over the years and not only is his work above reproach, but I highly value his friendship. Talented, true friends like that are rare.
Thomas
I should have pointed out in my post about Liles, not to worry about the crew not wearing proper respirators. Where a dusty operation was taking place (not pictured), those fellows indeed had respirators on. The dustiest place was Mike's shop where he did all hand work.
He wasn't doing any actual stone carving at the time we were there. Note there is no dust to speak of on any of his clothes. I did ask him about it with all the dust evident everywhere in his area. He showed me where he stored all his respirators until needed and assured me everyone at the company used them when necessary. They were well aware of the dangers of not using them.
This is a little of Mike's work used for practice.
Some more work ready to ship out.
This might be an opportune moment to acknowledge the photo credits during my visit, to my good friend Steve Halfar. I had asked him...
...seen here on the far right, to come with me. Steve is the owner of Halfar Masonry and is exceptionally knowledgeable in all masonry matters. I had left my camera at home, so he graciously volunteered to take most of the pictures for me with his camera.
The reason I mention Steve is that he has been involved with the old shop restoration since almost day 1.
When I had the shop frame walls replaced with concrete block, it was Steve's crew who performed that work. That's Steve, circled on the right in the picture, about 10 years ago. His crew performed virtually all the masonry work at the old shop.
It was just the two of us, Steve and I, who more than 35 years ago, built my first masonry, Rumford fireplace in my first house. It will be Steve who will build the masonry Rumford fireplace in my new house this summer. He has been my masonry consultant on the new house.
We have done countless projects together over the years and not only is his work above reproach, but I highly value his friendship. Talented, true friends like that are rare.
Thomas
Boosted1
Well-known member
More very cool updates as usual. The thread that keeps on giving
stillp
Well-known member
gordyy
Well-known member
I just have to say great tour of the factory!
I for one can't wait for building to begin.
I for one can't wait for building to begin.
Grizz1963
Well-known member
I love building process.
So the stone mason plant tour was very welcome.
Thank you as always for sharing.
So the stone mason plant tour was very welcome.
Thank you as always for sharing.
I thought it was be interesting to see the initial limestone trim design for the front door trim, then see the design refined and the man who was doing that refinement, next see where and how it would be fabricated.
After that, show it picked up from the stone cutter shop and lastly get a look at it being installed. That's the whole process from beginning to end.
That's just one small part of the overall project. There are countless other details like that which will be incorporated in the project.
As we get closer to actual construction I'm regularly in meetings 2-3 times a week now, working through design/construction details. I don't want to bore folks with all that so I'll just hit the high points from time to time.
As this project is evolving, it's promising to turn out even better than I had first envisioned it. Having done so much background research/planning ahead of time is really paying dividends.
Weather permitting we're now just 6 - 8 weeks away from ground breaking and creating a muddy mess out our back door here at "The Lodge"........and I for one can't wait.
Thomas
Lotusnut
Well-known member
I I don't want to bore folks with all that so I'll just hit the high points from time to time.
Weather permitting we're now just 6 - 8 weeks away from ground breaking and creating a muddy mess out our back door here at "The Lodge"........and I for one can't wait.
Thomas
Thomas,
I for one will understand if you just don't have time to take us for the ride on the house construction. That being said I personally suspect that an extremely high percentage of us that have been sucked into the Centre of the Universe check for updates at least every other day if not daily. We would love to take the ride every day of the house build if you were to let us.
Come on Thomas we just need to know all the details.
Rob
71 MKIV
Active member
Live webcam, what the center of the universe needs is a live webcam.
mounted on a pole, with a wide angle view of the house construction.
Well..........maybe?
mounted on a pole, with a wide angle view of the house construction.
Well..........maybe?
Thomas,
I for one will understand if you just don't have time to take us for the ride on the house construction. That being said I personally suspect that an extremely high percentage of us that have been sucked into the Centre of the Universe check for updates at least every other day if not daily. We would love to take the ride every day of the house build if you were to let us.
Come on Thomas we just need to know all the details.
Rob
Well fair enough Rob, I'll do what I can to keep updates on here. Until actual construction starts I'll have more time. Once it begins, I'm going to be wearing a tool belt 8 hours a day and will be one of the crew. That's going to limit my time but, from all the requests I've had, I still plan on keeping all my friends "in the loop."
If you look back to some of my very first posts here, I talked about building our eventual retirement house on the property way back then and it's an important part of the shop property I think. For those of you following along all these years, it will provide closure. It'll be one of the last details of turning this whole property around and making it a very nice place to live and play........ah, sorry, I mean work.
As for details, sure, I can do that as well if you'd like. There will be several features that I expect many of you might find interesting so stand by for that.
BTW, earlier this week I applied for the building permit and talked with the village engineer this evening. He said I'm good to go so we might start drilling the geothermal wells as early as next week. We were out looking the area over to site the wells this afternoon. There will be 5 of them and they'll be a closed loop. They are for the radiant floor heating and cooling system. Very energy efficient system. We're even heating the basement and garage floors.
Thomas
Live webcam, what the center of the universe needs is a live webcam.
mounted on a pole, with a wide angle view of the house construction.
Well..........maybe?
While a live web cam would be cool I think a little too intrusive for us. What I have done is purchase a professional stop action camera with a wide angle lens and a weather proof housing that will be mounted to record the construction progress, both inside and out. I will augment it with my own camera as much as I am able.
I'll even get my buddy to do some more...
...fly overs to document the building progress. He dropped by this afternoon while I was with one of the geothermal engineers siting the well locations. As you can see he's just using my "Field of Dreams" next door as a heliport. Easy-peasy. That's the real reason I bought the alfalfa field.....but shhhhhh, don't tell Chris OK?
You can see the shop and barn in the background.
That's no drone...
It's a Robinson R44 helicopter: http://www.robinsonheli.com/rhc_r44_raven_series.html
Such is life in The Center Of The Universe, never a dull moment!
So no live web cam, sorry, but I'll do the best I can without one. Stand by, things are going to start happening soon.
Thanks everyone.
Thomas
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jbmatth
Well-known member
Please forgive my ignorance on this matter. The stop action camera you've purchased will it be set up to take photos every so often say 10 minutes? If that were the case then a time lapse type film could be created to show the home construction and that would be grand.
JB
JB
You are correct JB. It's a time lapse camera that is installed in a fixed location at the site. You can program it to automatically take a single picture at any time interval or time of day/night you wish. For example; take a picture on the hour and 1/2 hour from 8 AM to 5 PM or conversely take a picture every 15 minutes regardless from when it starts.
I'll have it operate during normal construction hours. Depending on the activity going on, it will be programed to take a picture every few minutes when a lot is happening or every few hours when not much is being fabricated.
I can take a frame grab picture from it at anytime to post here. Ultimately I'll put together a video of the whole house being built in about 5 minutes. I am really looking forward to that video.
Thomas
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Mike I'll pass your observations on to Jeff in case he doesn't see them for himself here. Well maintained equipment has its own rewards.
Thomas
Homebody
Well-known member
Is that alfalfa field long enough for a grass runway and a windsock?
New Airfield
I was the windsock for Jeff by turning to face directly into the wind. It's surprising how accurate you can be determining wind direction by sensing equal pressure on both your ears.
As for a runway for aircraft takeoff and landings...
... oh sure I've got tons of room.
You can see it'll be no problem...... until the alfalfa starts growing again that is.
Thomas
Is that alfalfa field long enough for a grass runway and a windsock?
I was the windsock for Jeff by turning to face directly into the wind. It's surprising how accurate you can be determining wind direction by sensing equal pressure on both your ears.
As for a runway for aircraft takeoff and landings...
... oh sure I've got tons of room.
You can see it'll be no problem...... until the alfalfa starts growing again that is.
Thomas
C_F
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Re: New Airfield
Dang, that guy is GOOD!
... oh sure I've got tons of room.
You can see it'll be no problem...... until the alfalfa starts growing again that is.
Thomas
Dang, that guy is GOOD!
Current Aerial Views
When Jeff helicoptered in he brought my buddy Steve Halfar along, remember him - my expert fireplace mason, to act as chief photographer.
We wanted to get some "before construction" pictures of the property. Since the trees haven't leafed out yet it was an ideal time. Otherwise...
...the leaves block the view from above.
To help orient you, here's the big picture of the property looking from the "backside" out toward the southwest. The barn is the large structure near the middle of the picture, inside the red property line.
Circled is roughly where the house will be built.
This is a ground level view.
Here's a view of the back side of the old family home, top left, along with small honey house in the center and 2 car garage is on the right. Far right is part of the old shop. The Tool Shed and Lean-To were attached to this side of the 2 car garage until last fall, outlined in yellow. All three of these present structures will be removed once the new house is finished.
That's a nice overhead view of the old shop. The white spots down the middle of the roof...
...are lighting rods. The lighting rod on the far south end is also a weather vane as shown.
This is the hedge row between the shop and the alfalfa field or heliport, and on this side where there is grass...
...that's roughly the area I cleaned of brush a few years back.
This is a shot of Jeff landing from inside. Note the vertical speed gauge on top, is showing 100' per minute descent. He eased it down quite nicely. (that's me acting as a wind sock out in the distance)
Here's a view of the heliport from the shop and...
...and through the hedge trees.
When they left, Steve wanted to see if he could replicate this view of the property taken in the mid 1970's.
Look hard and you can barely see Mr Johnson standing the open lift room door.
I'm standing in about that same spot as Mr Johnson in the lift room but I've got a black coat on so I don't really show up. We'll try redo this picture again some time.
All in all a fun way to visit with friends and enjoy the pleasures of small town, mid-west living in the Center.
Thomas
When Jeff helicoptered in he brought my buddy Steve Halfar along, remember him - my expert fireplace mason, to act as chief photographer.
We wanted to get some "before construction" pictures of the property. Since the trees haven't leafed out yet it was an ideal time. Otherwise...
...the leaves block the view from above.
To help orient you, here's the big picture of the property looking from the "backside" out toward the southwest. The barn is the large structure near the middle of the picture, inside the red property line.
Circled is roughly where the house will be built.
This is a ground level view.
Here's a view of the back side of the old family home, top left, along with small honey house in the center and 2 car garage is on the right. Far right is part of the old shop. The Tool Shed and Lean-To were attached to this side of the 2 car garage until last fall, outlined in yellow. All three of these present structures will be removed once the new house is finished.
That's a nice overhead view of the old shop. The white spots down the middle of the roof...
...are lighting rods. The lighting rod on the far south end is also a weather vane as shown.
This is the hedge row between the shop and the alfalfa field or heliport, and on this side where there is grass...
...that's roughly the area I cleaned of brush a few years back.
This is a shot of Jeff landing from inside. Note the vertical speed gauge on top, is showing 100' per minute descent. He eased it down quite nicely. (that's me acting as a wind sock out in the distance)
Here's a view of the heliport from the shop and...
...and through the hedge trees.
When they left, Steve wanted to see if he could replicate this view of the property taken in the mid 1970's.
Look hard and you can barely see Mr Johnson standing the open lift room door.
I'm standing in about that same spot as Mr Johnson in the lift room but I've got a black coat on so I don't really show up. We'll try redo this picture again some time.
All in all a fun way to visit with friends and enjoy the pleasures of small town, mid-west living in the Center.
Thomas
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71 MKIV
Active member
Time lapse that's a fair compromise.
I've always wanted to build my own house, now, vicariously, I can, with the features I've always wanted.
I know someone with the radiant floor heat, if your feet are warm, the rest of you feels warm.
Thanks Thomas, for letting us into your world.
Stop by on your way to the quarry.
71 MKIV
I've always wanted to build my own house, now, vicariously, I can, with the features I've always wanted.
I know someone with the radiant floor heat, if your feet are warm, the rest of you feels warm.
Thanks Thomas, for letting us into your world.
Stop by on your way to the quarry.
71 MKIV
Mastermind
Well-known member
I see some old school Derby cars in that old pic, pretty cool. Any other pics a with Derby cars around?
Be careful what you wish for 71 MKIV. It's about a 14 drive to the quarry, so to get to the quarry in mid morning I'd leave around roughly at 5PM. That might put me in your neck of the woods around 4-5AM. Bet that would go over real well everyone in your house.
Yea, my buddy was a big Demo Derby participant back then. He used a bunch of welding rod reinforcing them. Cars would hit his bumper and just crumple and he'd just shrug it off and keep going. He interpreted the rules pretty loosely....... if you know what I mean. I'll look around and see if I can find any more pictures.
After I bought the property his cousin requested...
...the Monte Carlo that was parked, stored, deposited, abandoned, left behind, overlooked - however you want to phrase it, to use for parts for a Derby car he was putting together that year. Must run in the family.
He had it hauled off a few months after I started the property clean up and that's last I ever heard of it.Thomas
Those are some fun pictures to stare at!
I'm intrigued by the good birds' eye image from the '70's. It looks like the shop was at the height of it's glory. A big cornfield in the background now replaced by a subdivision. I can see why you wanted to buy the alfalfa field.
Good stuff. (wonder how long it takes to drive from Portland to the vortex....hmmm, summer is coming.....)
I'm intrigued by the good birds' eye image from the '70's. It looks like the shop was at the height of it's glory. A big cornfield in the background now replaced by a subdivision. I can see why you wanted to buy the alfalfa field.
Good stuff. (wonder how long it takes to drive from Portland to the vortex....hmmm, summer is coming.....)
You're right Mike, buying that field was an act of self preservation. A developer had been contacting the previous owner monthly over several years trying to buy it. I like my wide open spaces.....and the smell of fresh cut alfalfa!
Google maps says it's just over 2,100 miles and would take about 31 hours driving with no stops. If you left tonight you'd be here Tuesday morning! I'll buy you coffee.
Caution: once you're been to the Center you'll never want to leave. I'm just saying........
Thomas