Ulu

Too overcast here for any viewing at all. OTOH it never snows here below 3000’ and I live below 1000’ It has actually snowed lightly here, twice in 46 years, but melted within hours. Mrs Ulu, puttering in the garden yesterday.

Time to get out the Leupold.

As a backstop to all the depressing BS that has infected our lives over the past 12 months I offer you this hope for a cheerful Christmas and a happy new year. (fresh cut Cheerfulness was $25 more than last year but You can’t put a price on hope... )

The strings are way too short for pendulums that heavy. They don’t ring because they have to rise too much on each swing.

I painted these from scratch, and did the grip tape to match. Various sketches for boards.

You won the Rusty Piston Award twice?

After aging, tastes the same, and nobody notices.

Who would fall for this obvious snow job?

BTW, none of the gages has a bracket. They just friction-fit in the holes. ?

Main B+ lug bent wonky at the regulator...This beauty of a termination was almost half-crimped with a pipe wrench and literally coming apart. Only 365 miles on this wiring job . . . Thank God nobody actually drove this car. This under-dash job wasn't totally awful. OK, even with all the quik-taps it was the cleanest bit, right until you see the broken wiper switch about to short on the column bracket. You can see where the back of the panel was cut out to allow a too-short pull-switch.

I am currently re-wiring my off-topic car, and I thought I would show off some of the fine craftsmanship of the original builder. Since the ground strap is the most important wire in the entire electrical system, it was gratifying to see the amount of effort and money expended on this all-important link. There was an impressive amount of electrical tape on the ground wire to the fuel pump. Being a ground wire the insulation was totally unnecessary but it gave the wiring harness an opportunity to soak up more gasoline. Of course there is absolutely no reason to use rubber grommets on a plastic car. You simply drill holes through the firewall and jab wires through them until they are full. After the ground strap, then a reliable ignition switch is right up there in importance. This one wasn’t willing to soldier on. When I dig through someone else’s old car I always refer to it as automotive archaeology. So please post some photographs of your electrical automotive archaeological exhibitions.

One of the joys of living here is that there is a large agricultural college just four miles down the road from me and they grow some fabulous food. The grapes & corn are particularly legendary, and they sell out quickly when the crop comes in. They also have a dairy, and there are local stores here that sell FSU ice cream. Also, winemaking is a big deal and While I am not a wine drinker, Fresno State Wine is very popular.

Damn PA! Don’t open that one in the wind! That’s why airplane hangers always have sliding doors.

I was feeling punky this year, and a couple of the grandkids had sniffles. My wife & sister were both too paranoid to have a family dinner, so it was just the wife and I. We still cooked roast turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans, scratch biscuits, gravy, and I made candy as well. I don't do the marshmallows on the yams thing. I use butter, maple syrup, and peach schnapps. The two of us killed half a can of cranberry sauce with the biscuits. Then there was real hot chocolate with vanilla ice cream. I missed the family, but my food was really hot this year.

The infamous T of 46 and 41! I almost bit it there one dark night in my Pontiac, when blinded by oncoming trucks & I nearly missed the turn. In 1979 I met one of the Turnupseed boys while renting out tractors in a Fresno lot. I freaked a bit when I saw the name Turnupseed on the side of a 1950's ford pickup, because I knew the story. My friend Mac, at the memorial near the diner in Chalome circa 2005.

I am not much of a drinking’ man & half bald, so my DIY haircuts look fair. Plus I generally wear a hat.

Here the barbers and bars are all closed for covid. You can tell by the homemade haircuts that the liquor stores are still open.

No one could should consider the harbor freight stand for professional work. This is made for the hobbyist and small lightweight engines. You can put a big engine on it with care. You’re not going to want to do it over and over and over.

The Flintstone zero-radius u-turn must have ben legendary.

I don't know about the new ones. I have a complete 230 longblock & head hanging on my HFS stand. It's been there 20 years. Or more. It survived the move 18 years ago. I got delayed at engine installation by a bad harmonic pulley and mamifold leak, then major life things like new houses and better cars and grandchildren, boats & lots of remodeling work. But after I get my current OT car on the road, the D engine will eventually go into a P car.

It clearly shows that this plenum was designed for manufacturability over utility. Of course ya always have to draw a line.

Around here people keep a can of ether-type starting fluid, but this is citrus country. It doesn't get too cold and only freezes maybe one day a year.

Same thing happened to me after they removed my cataracts. I could see where the paint didn't match.

I haven't watched these silly repetitive TV situation comedy shows for many years. Been there, done that, already used the t-shirt to polish the fenders. But that was a funny idea.

It was a joke Tod. Do you think they'll ever make moonshine legal? A gal of gas (tax included) costs 1/4 the taxes on gal of shine. (about $10 but maybe more nowadays.) Regarding the propane conversion, I've worked on/with older propane-powered flathead engine forklifts. It's easy but you need a heater hose to warm the carburetor (which has a water passage instead of a heat riser flap) and it is very sensitive to the thermostat temp. Too cold and the carb can freeze even in the summer. If the thermostat hangs open or is missing, it just quits running after the carb gets cold. They can be harder to start, but you just shoot some gas into the air cleaner. The system is uncomplicated, but subject to cold weather. Nowadays they surely have better enrichment devices and computer controlled injection for this. I was fixing stuff designed in the 40's