randroid

I'm going to disassemble my wind wings for painting. Because of the hassles you've had I'm going to photograph each step and post them on the bucket. Or don't wait and then print the pics when you can and see if the mechanic did it right. Hope it helps you; I know it won't do me any harm. -Randy (I'd do it in the morning but that time spot's been reserved in advance for pie-ing Mongo. Mongo likes candy.)

Gents, I was about to mention making a pattern like I did in the 70's when tricking vans to put myself through college, but Norm saved me the trouble. I was in NAPA last week and noticed several racks of clip, dozens of sizes and materials, and next time I need a clip I think I know where to get one. -Randy

Gents, Business is picking up at the restaurant and we'll have at least 10 days of no rain or SNOW so I'm going to start getting my '48 P-15 ready to paint. I'll be rolling Rustoleum and taking\posting many notes and pictures during the process so any and all interested can stare and point and giggle amongst yourselves and perhaps give a tip or two as I stumble along. I've decided to do it in bite-sized pieces and will start with the trunk lid because it's straight and in the greatest need of attention but it also poses a problem almost unique to the other parts. The latticework bracing is painted day-glow green that ain't going to cut it with a cruiser maroon exterior and I don't think I can get a roller under it. I could brush it or have a local paint shop put some of the paint into rattle cans, but if the interior was originally different from the exterior I could save a few bucks and a lot of time by finding something close that's already on a shelf. There are charts for differing colors in different places but I haven't found the one I'm looking for. Any clues? -Randy

Gents, I couldn't get onto the test, but I keep an un-exploded bomb in my garage so I'm probably off the scale, one end or the other. -Randy

Pat, When I make an error I'm old enough to say "the 60's were very good to me..." Tomorrow I'll try to remember to take a picture of it and post it on the bucket, but just because it didn't explode a half-century ago doesn't mean it might not explode tonight. Isn't that what makes it fun? Sorry, but I couldn't resist. It's a split accordian with no charge anywhere; it's a relic of an age gone by that may have occurred before our memory but gives me a personal tie to a time that was not more simple but made more sense. With an MBA in Political Economics I need a little encouragement now and then. -Randy

I dunno. I have a WWII practice bomb that I found on a nature walk with a retired biology teacher who was pointing out the rare plants that bloom only after two weeks of rain on the Mojave Desert and telling me what good they do. We'd walked about a mile or so when we came upon an asphalt "sidewalk" that was very overgrown with shrubs and wasn't going in a straight line. There were pieces of rusted metal all over the place, along with can-shaped detonators, and then more "sidewalks" as we strolled toward the bull's eye of a WWII practice range. Under a Cat Claw tree he showed me the remains of what looked to be a full bomb so I got a piece of shrapnel and dug it out. I still have it and will eventually find a favored spot for it. During the Gulf War it sat above the bar of our local watering hole and everybody but me gets nervous when they see it. Why do I keep it? I guess it's partly because the old man who led me to it was a WWII Vet with two Purple Hearts and a niggardly pitance of thanks, partly because my Dad was a Night Fighter Pilot for the USMC from 1942 on and could have conceivably dropped it, but mostly because I think it's really bitchin' to have an un-exploded WWII bomb in my garage. I remember a comedian explaining the difference between "stuff" and "junk", with "stuff" being what you spend your life cherishing and "junk" being what your survivors rumage through. Ain't it a gas? -Randy

Don, You got sick because you ran out of oxygen. In Denver, where it's a mile above sea level. there's about 10% less air density. In Estes Park, just half a mile farther up, it's about 32% less dense. I don't know how thin the air is at 12,000' but it isn't much. When people would come into the restaurant and complain about a headache I'd cram carbs down their gullet and in five minutes they'd be fine. Next time you go up there stop for a cinnamon roll and a glass of milk and I'd bet there'd be no more problem. -Randy

Hey, Alphabet from Adelaide, Thanks for your words; I'm always up for a better process and better materials. I've never had a problem with silicone but maybe that's because I've never noticed any problems I've had. When you say polyurathane do you mean the sort we poured onto WWII Liberty Ship hold doors in the '60's to make tacky coffee tables or is there a sort that can be extruded? (If the nickname offends you I'll gladly apologize, but it kinda makes sense.) -Randy

Gents, Ever anxious to point out the cloud inside every silver lining, may I caution against using WD-40 inside the engine. Don't get me wrong; I love the stuff but one of the reasons it works so well is that it's formulated to break-down petrolium products. I have used a synthetic silicone-based grease (Super Lube is what I have on hand) on a half dozen engines (VW, my 218, etc,) with no problems whatsoever. It also gives the bearings something to spin on during the initial starting of the engine, before the oil gets to them the first time. When I painted my engine I did it in a body shop owned by a friend, and he had me wipe the whole thing down first with the solvent used to thin the paint, saying it gives everything a little more tooth. 10 years later the paint is still in fine shape, with the only problem being that I no longer want a Seafoam Green engine. -Randy

If it's got a solid surface and can get tooth, silicone will stick to almost anything. It makes a great filler for some things but when using it as an adhesive less is more because you don't want any wiggle room to build torsional stress. If the inside of the frame needs painting, do it before the silicone and then apply a small bead along the inside perimeter. Wet your finger with water (this does nothing for the silicone but helps keep it from sticking to your finger) and make a thin wide trace of the stuff then use Lou's method of holding it in place with the window. Give it until tomorrow to dry with the window up and if that doesn't quite do it clean the existing silicone with a quick wipe of alcohol to remove any dust and repeat the application step. I've rarely needed to do this twice but if it takes a third thin application with your window be relaxed in the fact that you'll not only have a quality job but you will also never be called to apply silicone on any production line. Kind of kidding, but the end results will be fine. My Lady Wife calls me a perfectionist and I honestly take that as an insult from anybody other than she. There is a fine line between pain and pleasure and that same line squats itself between perfection and "getting 'er done", and perfection is something we can only afford to do with a hobby. Suit yourself and have fun and don't worry about how long it takes doing it because you're the one writing the checks and it will damned-well be done the way you want it to be done when you get it done, and there ain't no stopwatch on my ass the last time I looked. (Pant pant. Rant rant.) -Randy

Lou, I've always maintained that silicone is almost as important as duct tape, and you've just shown another use for it. When I paint my '48 P-15 I'll install my new channel same way. Thanks for the tip. -Randy (BTW, clear silicone has been shown to be the strongest. Was there any reason you used black other than that's what you had on hand?)

Gents, Coming home last night at 10:00 on a nearly deserted stretch of freeway some yahoo in a SUV thought it to be good sport to follow me at less than a car length at 65 mph. I could out run him but I was able to take a more passive approach; the car has a manual tranny and to get into reverse I need to lift a knob on the shift lever then swing it to the right and pull it toward me. Obviously putting it into reverse at 65 would scatter parts too far for me to gather but if I only lift the knob and slide it to the right, that's where the switch is to ignite the backup lights. That poor sorry SOB grabbed his brakes so hard I thought he was going to lose it and I didn't see him closer than 1\4 mile for the nine miles till my turnoff. LMFAO! -Randy

Arthur, I found it lacking any cohesive theme. I'm assuming "the Shins" are some sort of musical group but I don't see any corelation between the poster and the name. I've been addicted to Rock & Roll for nearly fifty years and like all phases of it other than Rap, and the biggest problem I have with Rap is that I don't like the word "nigger" regardless who's saying it; what I'm trying to say is that I'm fairly open minded about most everything but I don't find in the poster anything to grab my eye. My art is in the written word; I'm a published Novelist who's first book sold surprisingly well given it's narrow market, and my next three books were pieces of **** because I started writing not what pleased me but what I thought would please everybody else. I'm in the process of making those basically good stories into something that are also fun to read, but when I first realized what was wrong with those books I was crushed. I'm not trying to crush you by any means, somewhat because I don't know you and certainly don't dislike you but mostly because I enjoy your whimsical mix of sketching (firewood), near photo-quality art (the person's body), and the almost abstract remainder of the poster. I'm one of those weirdos who's favorite television programs are the ads. Many are crap but when push comes to shove, ad folks have between 15 and 30 seconds to get their message across and the good ones make ads you remember. I have a few pages into my books to hook my readers, ads have half a minute, and you don't have more than a few seconds to visually grab somebody strolling past it. I don't envy you your position and am certainly not going to make suggestions as to how you can improve it, but when I find myself up against that lame-ass excuse for not writing commonly known as "writer's block" I make a 180 turn in the story and generally things will explode with creativity. You obviously have a creative mind and I wish you nothing but success or I wouldn't have written this many words. Make a poster that tells a story, even if only subliminally, and the sky will be you limit. Best to you, 'Bro, and kick some ass! -Randy

The red ones remind me of before-and-after concept of napkins at a BBQ joint. Sorry, couldn't resist. -Randy

Gents, Having been a food service professional for more than 30 years, I read with great amusement the previous accounts. Granted, the sort of restaurants I work serve a $27 Filet Mignon that's 2" thick and can be cut with a fork, but give me a down-home beanery anyday for a gut-bomb that will be remembered (and sometimes remembered and remembered and remembered). If I see a rib joint in a small town I'll probably eat there, and when I'm looking for good Mexican food in a small town I'll look for low-riders in the parking lot. I like the idea of rolls of paper towels at a table, but if I found grease on a floor outside the dining room I would question what they cleaned that I couldn't see. Aside from that I love those joints and I thank you for making me hungry just after I got home from work. -Randy

Totally bitchin', Dude! -Randy

Andy B. has the springs. http://www.oldmoparts.com -Randy

Nope, but the same guy has a spare radiator sitting in his shop. I have an extra hanging in my garage so I didn't grab it, but he's reasonable in his prices so if anybody here wants one I'll hook you up with him. -Randy

Gents, I was parked next to a '62 Fairlane in the local NAPA parking lot today as I awaited a return call from my Lady Wife Lynn to let me know if I needed to pick up anything on the way home when this long-haired, noble-fared, leaping gnome of an old hippie walked up and we got into a conversation about restoring old cars. I mentioned I was doing a '48 P-15 and he mentioned that he had all the replacement rubber for a '47 P-15 and was I interested in it for $100? I have been putting off re-painting Pigiron because I don't have an extra $900 to put into all new rubber, but that needs to be done with new paint. I have played with automotive rubber enough to know that when it's almost sixty years old it's past ready to retire and if you twist it it will break, so I bought the lot. Now have no excuse other than the weather to not paint it and paint it I shall, and I'll post as many pictures as possible as the progress continues because I'm going to do the roll-on Rustoleum technique. I also got some stuff I don't need such as a headlight switch and choke and heater cables, not to mention an ashtray and a glove box door, so if anybody needs those few things that never need to be replaced send me an address and you can later send me a check for the postage. -Randy

Gents, Okay, that's not only good enough for me but makes my life easier. -Randy (BTW, the 60's weren't that good to me; I spent the first half of them in a school I didn't like and the second half in Viet Nam, but I've always liked the expression, lol.)

Gents, Just received this today and found it utterly fascinating, but there's something about strapping four rockets to my ass and soaring through the Alps that intrigues me. http://jet-man.com/playervideo.swf?video=jetman2007.flv Enjoy! -Randy

Gents, Seems to me I heard somewhere that the door jambs on old MoPars were a different color than the body. If that is true I'd like to find out which jamb colors were used for which body colors. If it isn't true I'll write it off as another case of the 60's being too good to me, but I'm getting to that stage on my '48 P15 so it's time to ask. Thanks -Randy

... and all this time I thought a package tray was a jock strap for an egomaniac. -Randy

... and all four of them are here. Hmmm. -Randy

I got all eleven, too, but I think I've seen some of the questions in the past. -Randy