Lumpy

I just hope you can get those spots out. Last turkey I assassinated (with a Brown Bess flintlock musket) sure tasted good. Just baked it way slower than a store bought one. ken.

Okay...I want some silver cable ends. What's the cost on those? I'm throwing those crappy gold ones away. According to the data, brass is more better, than lead, but still not great. I suppose that since there is a lot of contact area with cable ends, they must conduct better than what the percentages suggest. Seems like copper ends wouldn't be too expensive to make...wonder why thy don't make them. Or do they? ken.

Carry a spare. ken.

I removed the side trim on my front fenders for the exact reason that most prefer it, so as to make that big old fender look even bigger...so as NOT to break it up. ?? I personally wanted to emphasize just how big, bulbous, giant that fender is. !! That P15 isn't a bad looking car, I like it for what it is, and it could be changed just a little to suit most person's taste, as mentioned. I do think it's a good example of as far as one should go with these old girls, generally speaking. Kind of a good blend of the old, and some of the modern hot rod, kustom trends. k.

I often see deer and turkey together...more than just coincidence. I'm just guessing they kind of help each other "look out" for predators. ??? Just a "wild" guess. In that mental picture...was Don chasing his dear? ken.

Misleading? I thought the Turkey pooped on the seat when I read it. Just kidding. Have never heard of coyotes being re-introduced, kind of don't think so. Sometimes bears are re-located, which can have the same effect as reintroduction. I do believe that wolves have been reintroduced in WI., as they have in Idaho and Washington, which has turned into a mess. Where I hunt, they have been re-locating grizzlies there for years, now it's a "Grizzly Recovery Area". I don't mind that, but the wolves have totally un-balanced the nature. The Game department recently tried to shoot down a whole pack from the air, which I think is really gross. I'm a hunter and a gun-guy, but that just ain't right. ken.

Excellent...perfect for a vintage truck. well done! k.

Wow, the guitar thing I can really relate to, I play bass, and that has made me extra careful when working with my hands. I keep it in the front of my mind, and often say to myself, "if I do that this way, is it possible I'll smash/break/lose a finger? Kind of like measure twice, cut once. But take heart. It's sometimes amazing how much one can recover, and adapt. January 26 I detached my ACL, and did all this other damage to my knee. I mean, it was BAD. I broke the golden rule of not locking up my leg/knee when kicking over an old motorcycle. It was cold, the oil was thick...so I gave the mightiest kick ever, with locked leg, and the kicker gears slipped. Then the bike almost fell over on me. Pretty sure I would have frozen to death out in the garage before anyone found me. Pretty sure it was telekinesis that kept the bike from going over, as it was falling to the right, and that was the knee I busted. I had a lot of deep dark thoughts in those first few weeks. Figured it was a given that I'd not be kicking over antique bikes anymore, or my dirt bikes. I'd just spent an entire summer building a kicker bike, (my '37) and thought: "well that's the end of that". It was really hard work to remain positive. It was really humbling going to work on crutches, or going into a store. But, I recovered. I learned to kick the bikes over with my left leg...I can even start my big single dirt bikes that way now. Before, I would have said: "NO WAY"!!! I can hunt and hike again. I can run...not that well, but I can...and that's just a recent development. I can't beat 95% of the high school students in a short sprint anymore, but I can run. But at the time, I thought all those things were done for. Remain positive, give it time. I think you will find a way to play the guitar again...just give it time. And I don't mean re-tuning the guitar. Your injury will take a lot more time to recover from than mine, but be positive! Never surrender! k.

I can assure you that none of the dozens of Airtex pumps I've had over the last thirty years has lasted very long for one reason or another. My suggestion is, use the Carter rotary pump, which comes in 6V flavor, or some other type of rotary pump regardless of the cost. !!! Just a thought! ken

Just be well armed when you are the only one able to drive around. You may want someone to ride shotgun at all times, literally. Anyhow, when I went in search of a 1940's car, it was because I found I was spending all my time on the muscle cars, and gas prices were just starting to really go up. I work on Lumpy much much less than the Darts, Road Runners, Barracudas, etc., as with those I was always doing something to make it faster. Lumpy I just maintain, and improve a bit here and there. So, after having a long meeting with myself one day, I started selling off most of my cars, except for the Dart, found Lumpy, and have been happy ever after. Also went back to motorcycles as they take up so much less space, don't need a hoist or crane to pull an engine, don't have to crawl under it, ever. My 1968 Roadrunner I sold, and bought a nice kayak. Spending a day on the water is more better than under a car. !!! Not that I don't like working on cars. As a bonus, driving Lumpy does feel like being in a time machine. It's neat. On the new car thing, nope, don't like them don't want one. I've never liked having AC junk hanging all over an engine, and have pulled countless AC compressors and associated hardware off all the 1960-1970 cars that I have owned. Used to have quite a pile of them. Even took it off my Dart. I do have a newer Dodge pick up, but it's strictly for pulling the camper-trailer, or maybe taking the dirt bike somewhere. I like it, but only drive it, use it seldom. New cars ARE boring, no matter how fast they go, or how many goodies they have, or how comfortable they are. Boring really is the key word. "Case in point": I have a BMW motorcycle, and a 1937 motorcycle. The BMW is smooth, fast, and comfortable. You push a button to start it. The 1937 is rough, noisy, not real comfortable, no rear suspension, and not easy to drive with foot clutch and hand shift. You jump up and down on a lever with all your weight to start it, and it involves a "technique" to do it right. (yesterday I left the choke on by accident...my leg was still sore this morning) Guess which one I prefer to ride? Yep. 1937. For a long long trip, or running errands in Spokane, sure I'll take the BMW. For just pure riding pleasure, bombing around the countryside...yep, you guessed it. 1937! For me I guess it all boils down to the fun factor, and trying to escape the boredom of driving. k.

And listen to those who pointed out that the idle circuit has nothing to do with the main circuit...the main being what the car is running on a somewhere just above a fast idle. ken.

As a side note, when at the Knuckle Scraper's meet (Rat Rod show and meet) the band started out at the standard really really way loud. People asked them to turn it down a bit, and they did. Then it was just right. If you wanted to listen to the band, or flog your ears, you just got closer/real close. Everyone else could still walk and talk and meet and greet...and relax. !!! It made for a nice atmosphere, and the band didn't have a problem with it. k.

You turn the bars in the opposite direction to initiate the turn, then lean, relax, and let the bars return to where they want to. If you were to ride no hands into a turn, (steer completely by leaning with no hands) and watch the bars, you can see them turn slightly in the "wrong" direction as you first lean, and then return to a neutral position as you lean more into the turn, or as the bike settles into the turn. Of course, watching the bars as you go into a turn no-hands, instead of where you are going, is not for the faint of heart...or perhaps even the smart of heart. And of course wheel bearings, alignment, tire pressure, neck-bearing pressure, axles true and in alignment, all that has to be spot on for good no hands riding. Indeed it is instinctive, and many people don't realize it. Sometimes, when inexperienced riders go into a turn too fast, they will panic, and try to steer into the turn, which is backwards, and crash, and never know why they crashed. Now under a certain speed, but real slow, like under 10mph, or something, just guessing, you do turn your bars in the direction of the turn. k.

Oh boy would I love to see that. k.

I have laced and trued my own motorcycle wheels, but lately I lace them up, then pay the man to true them for me. Many of the old bikes, the hub is not true with the rim, there will be an amount of offset, just to make things even more interesting. I'm so far from the modern motorcycle world...foot clutch, hand shift lever, spoke wheels, oil from the engine dribbles on the primary chain, then out the bottom, heck, even my "new" bike, a 1992, has spoke wheels. It's kind of funny, compared to the new bikes, my '37 is rough, crude, uncomfortable, difficult to drive...but it sure is a hell of a lot more fun. Kind of like our cars versus new cars. I think spoke wheels are more problematic on a car, where you have large amounts of side thrust. Going around a corner, and hitting bumps must put tremendous pressure on them. On a motorcycle wheel, in a corner, all the force is in a straight line, through the tire, spokes and hub, and then out the top. ??? As you are leaning into "the force". Did that make any sense? If you think about it you know what I mean. Or not! But I sure have cleaned many spokes in my life, and will be doing it for some time to come. ken.

Ha, welcome to the world of old and antique motorcycles! Well I guess you have two more wheels to do, but yeah, I've spent half my life cleaning spokes, and on a motorcycle, everything is visible, so everything gets cleaned and detailed. But funny you should mention it, just noticed yesterday that the spokes on my BMW need some serious attention. Now on Lumpy, just hose off the primer, wash the windows, shine up the chrome wheels and all done. !! ken.

A little WD40, and a day or two for them to soak works wonders. k.

Yes the synchros usually being the main cause, and bent shifter forks will do that, and all those parts getting sloppy and worn adds to the mix. Every time you allow it to pop out of gear, it will get a little bit worse/damaged. When they start popping out with a BANG, it won't be long until it will no longer stay in gear, even if you try to hold it in. At all. So, be sure to hold it in gear...every time it pops out, more damage will happen. I'm not sure why this takes place usually in second gear, but that seems to be where it happens. Again, every time it pops out, you are about another two or three weeks closer to a tranny rebuild. Don't let it pop out. Anyway you look at it, your tranny is going to need some attention. ken.

I'm still in the Cigar age! When my grandson was born last year and some months ago, I even passed them out at work. How politically incorrect!!! And the Mounds and Almond Joys are very difficult to light, and don't smoke well. ken.

Yes, scavenging. That's why you wouldn't want a pipe bigger than the outlet of the exhaust manifold, be it split or stock. Length of the system also helps scavenging, with cars no problem, motorcycles its' hard to get the pipes long enough to scavenge, so the exhaust is tuned in other ways. Blown or turbo engines being the exception...then it's bigger is better. Scavenging not to be confused with back pressure. Back pressure is never good....although some argue that you have to have some. k.

Congrats. Where's our cigars??? Brought my son home in a '64 Barracuda. ken.

If I ever get to name a street or road, it's going to be: "Quarterinch Drive". k.

No! We won't let him. He must do what we say. I think he just wanted some opinions, to sort through, food for thought. He's thinking it through, with a little help from his friends. Relax, he'll do what he wants to do. ken.

Yeah..."not so fun to drive". That describes it pretty well. And in my last post I meant "weighs", not "ways"!! ken.

Mine does not leak...and it does have charm...it's one of the things that make these old cars...old cars. ken