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Chris and David, thank for the heads up on turning the pictures on the forum pages. Worked for me too.

It is Thursday, January 15th, AM. Had a good day yesterday as David Coco aka trimacar notified me that he got my first installment check and was ordering the material for the 1923 McLaughlin Buick side curtains.

The garage site prep guys came over as well as the builder of the garage; and we made the final placement of the garage. I have to move trailer and fencing before they can start work, and install a larger gate to get in and out for them and me. The work should on take a day or two. The trailers are going into the front yard for a bit. Site work is scheduled to begin early February, providing the weather cooperates a bit. They are saying that they only need two to three days to do the work and have the pad ready for building construction.

And it looks like we have a report from Greg this morning. He is a busy man. Here is his report.

" Hey, some progress in the Brass Era.

The Stoddard Dayton that is in storage at Rob's garage warranted some attention so I've been working up the horn assembly. Most cars of the period have the horn, conduit and bulb mounted outside, quick and dirty. Not this one. The period photos show the bulb mounted on the steering column. Here and there I've been gathering or fabricating the components to make this work. Since it was cold in the shop, as good an excuse as any to sit behind the wheel and make the voyage to Rob's where we could try the bulb bracket and conduit on for size. So far so good. Next will be the hairy job of drilling a hole in the cowl for the horn itself to sneak through. It mounts outside on the cowl.

Progress too on the Overland stage. While at Rob's I picked up some brass items I'd left earlier. They've had a trip to his local brass and copper refinisher. Steering column jacket, spark and throttle leverage and the robe rail now bright and shiny. The best part is that I didn't have to do it.

And as a surprise on my return, the clutch disc that I'd sent out for replacement of the leather was waiting for me.

Sending this stuff out for work, I've finally learned that Time is Money, but Money Buys Time."

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Edited by unimogjohn (see edit history)
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Yep, worked out a "layaway" plan with John.

He pays me, then I lay away the work for a month or so.......nice work if you can get it!

I normally don't need any money up front, but the oil well in my back yard isn't generating much money these days!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

It is Wednesday, January 28th. Not much going on. Garage is still moving ahead. It will be delivered to the contractor the first week of March so site prep should begin maybe next week. I have to get busy moving the trailers out of the pasture, moving fence lines and installing a new 12 ft entrance gate. Busy, busy.

And we have a report from Greg.

"Today's adventure was the moving of the 1910 Overland chassis from deep storage to cold storage. With the help of the Coco Moving Company, it is now waiting here for its turn. First task will be a thorough cleaning. When warm weather comes."

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It is Friday, January 30th PM. We just got back from a week in Seattle, WA. All the days were in the 50s and no rain. We made several trips around the area and ran across this car in Ronald, WA. And the 12 is for the Seattle Seahawks football fan number. The tree looks to be about 20 some years old.

Maria, our daughter-in-law, made us a present. A sign for our new garage. It says "Windy Ridge Auto Farm". She did a great job.

And it was -5 degrees here today. But thought I better start thinking of starting and moving the 89 Taurus SHO from the field. The old battery would not take a charge so I put in a smaller 12 volt tractor battery that I had. It is fully charged and the lights inside the car went on. Will attempt to start the car when it gets a bit warmer. If it does not start I will have to winch it up onto the open trailer to move it. And it will be going into the new garage.

On the garage front, we ordered insulation that will go under the roof. The contractor will put that in during construction. We will put in the insulation in the walls. COSTCO has LED Feit shop lights on sale. So going to pick up a dozen for the garage. I think that the price is right around $35 with a $8 discount.

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It is Superbowl Sunday, February 1st. Waiting for rain, sleet or snow over the next day or so. Was about 25 degrees here this morning. The air has a snow taste to it.

Yesterday Steve (67 Camaro) and I headed out to Costco. They have LED shop lights on sale for $31. So I picked up 12 for the new garage and Steve picked up 8. Great lights at a super price. Unboxed one to see how they perform. Wow, sure gives off lots of light. And they are suppose to last 45 or more years. Looks like a put up and forget fixture.

Nothing on the old cars, just too cold.

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Still Sunday, but PM. Go figure, no snow or nothing today. In fact it made it to 41 degrees.

So decided to see if I could get the 1989 Taurus SHO running after its very long slumber in the pasture. Hit the starter and nothing, but after a couple of cycles the starter kicked over. Not bad for sitting about five years. I put a couple of gallons of gas into the tank, and it is registering a quarter of a tank. Hit the starter a few more times and the engine fired. Running good, not even a hint of a miss. Put it in first gear and got one of the front wheels to spin. The other three are frozen into the pasture. The wheels are also sunk into the ground about four inches or so. Looks like I will need to jack it up and make sure all the wheels are free and the calipers not frozen to the rotors. But I am happy that the engine is running again. And I know that the engine is good, clutch is free and the tranny works fine.

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Chris, here is some information on the SHO model.

[h=1]Ford Taurus SHO[/h]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TABLE=class: infobox hproduct, width: 22]

<tbody>[TR]

[TH=class: fn, bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Ford Taurus SHO[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]280px-2010_Ford_Taurus_SHO_--_09-07-2009.jpg[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Overview[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Manufacturer[/TH]

[TD]Ford Motor Company[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Model years[/TH]

[TD]1989–1999

2010–present[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Designer[/TH]

[TD]Jack Telnack[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Body and chassis[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Class[/TH]

[TD]Mid-size (1989–1999)

Full-size (2010–present)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Related[/TH]

[TD]Ford Taurus[/TD]

[/TR]

</tbody>[/TABLE]

The Ford Taurus SHO (Super High Output[1]) is the high-performance variant of the Ford Taurus. It was originally produced by the Ford Motor Company from 1989 until 1999. It returned in 2009 for the 2010 model year.[2]

The SHO (originally spoken as individual letters, as of 2010, pronounced "show") was built by the same team that produced theFord Mustang SVT Cobra. It was originally created as a limited production model for 1989. However, the car proved to be very popular and sold 15,519 units in its first model year,[3] leading Ford to order more engines and begin series production.[4] The SHO would go on to be produced for ten years in three generations, totaling 106,465 vehicles as of late 1999.[3]

Production ended after the 1999 model year because of plummeting in popularity, in which Ford decided that there would be no SHO version of the fourth generation Taurus; in 1999, just over 3,000 SHOs were sold, which was only a sixth of the SHO's sales numbers from ten years prior.[3]

[h=2]Contents[/h] [

hide]

[h=2]First generation (1989–1991)[edit][/h][TABLE=class: infobox hproduct, width: 22]

<tbody>[TR]

[TH=class: fn, bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]First generation[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]280px-1st_Ford_Taurus_SHO_--_10-03-2009.jpg[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Overview[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Model years[/TH]

[TD]1989–1991[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Assembly[/TH]

[TD]Hapeville, Georgia (Atlanta Assembly)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Body and chassis[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Body style[/TH]

[TD]4-door sedan[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Layout[/TH]

[TD]FF layout[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Platform[/TH]

[TD]Ford Dn-5 platform[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Related[/TH]

[TD]Ford Taurus

Mercury Sable[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Powertrain[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Engine[/TH]

[TD]3.0 L SHO V6[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Transmission[/TH]

[TD=class: category]5-speed MTX-IV manual[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #C0C0C0, colspan: 2, align: center]Dimensions[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Wheelbase[/TH]

[TD]106.0 in (2,692 mm)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Length[/TH]

[TD]188.4 in (4,785 mm)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Width[/TH]

[TD]70.8 in (1,798 mm)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Height[/TH]

[TD]54.1 in (1,374 mm)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Curb weight[/TH]

[TD]3,285 lb (1,490 kg)[/TD]

[/TR]

</tbody>[/TABLE]

The SHO differed from the normal Taurus on the exterior by having a Mercury Sable hood, different bumpers, side cladding, and fog lamps. The interior also differed, with sports seats and an 8000 rpm tachometer. The SHO had a Yamaha Built V-6 enginethat redlined at 7,000 RPM and became the only Taurus to feature a manual transmission since the 4-cylinder MT-5 was discontinued in that year.[1] The transmission was designed and manufactured by Mazda and had the following gear ratios with a final drive ratio of 3.74:

[TABLE=class: wikitable]

<caption style="font-weight: bold;">Taurus SHO Manual Transmission Gear Ratios</caption><tbody>[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Gear[/TH]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Ratio[/TH]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]mph per 1,000 rpm[/TH]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]Max Speed (@ 7000 rpm)[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]1st[/TH]

[TD]3.21[/TD]

[TD]6.2[/TD]

[TD]44[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]2nd[/TH]

[TD]2.09[/TD]

[TD]9.5[/TD]

[TD]67[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]3rd[/TH]

[TD]1.38[/TD]

[TD]14.5[/TD]

[TD]101[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]4th[/TH]

[TD]1.02[/TD]

[TD]19.6[/TD]

[TD]137[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center]5th[/TH]

[TD]0.74[/TD]

[TD]26.8[/TD]

[TD]143 @ 5350[/TD]

[/TR]

</tbody>[/TABLE]

The first generation Taurus SHO can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds[5] with a quarter mile time of 15.0-15.2 seconds.Car and Driver reported in their December 1989 issue a top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h).

A special edition of the SHO called the Plus package became available in 1991. It came as part of option package #212A and contained different styling cues from the standard SHO, including a plastic 'Power Bulge' hood, chrome window trim, a plastic spoiler without the 3rd brake light, body colored stripe in the lower cladding, black mirrors, black B and C pillars, rod shifter upgrade, and a body color TAURUS badge. There were also some SHO's that came with only part of the package options known in the community as a 'partial plus'. White painted pluses had the option of white painted "slicer" wheels. The 1991 slicer wheels were "Canadian" or non-directional, meaning the wheels on the right of the car would point a different direction than the ones on the left of the car.[citation needed] 1991 was the only year that a "Mocha Frost" color option was offered. Also in 91 a green called "Deep Jewel Green Clearcoat Metallic" was available, but only with the plus option.[6]

I will take a couple of pics tomorrow if I get it out of the pasture. It is really dirty, inside and out. I am ashamed on how I have neglected it.

I have owned the car since new. And yes, it is very fast. It has tons of torque steer so you really have to be prepared for it at a hard launch. It eats brakes like crazy. The engine and tranny are bullet proof, but it has a weak clutch. It is a high maintenance car. I have a ton of spares for it as something seemed to break every few weeks. It has one repaint and needs another as the clear is flaking off. It has a couple of small rust areas that will need attention when I get it back into the new garage.

I have about 199,000 miles on the SHO (I think).

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John, glad I was able to give you a "heads up" on the lights. They are a good deal.

It is Thursday, AM, February 5th. The wind is howling this morning. A big cold front is dropping down from Canada. We are dropping from a high of 57 degrees yesterday to about 17 degrees tonight. Back to the deep freeze.

Yesterday I did manage to remove the white enclosed trailer with the 23 McLaughlin Buick inside. Used the little Chev Trailblazer as it has a smaller turning radius than the big Suburban. Once the tires released from the tundra it rolled easily. The only issue is that the little truck spun all four wheels trying to get the heavy trailer with car up on the grass area in the front of the house. All I did was make mud. So got out the little Kubota 4 wheel drive tractor, hooked up a pull strap and with Alice on the tractor was able to get the trailer on the flat and on the driveway. Over the next couple of days will move the black enclosed trailer with the Jaguar. But I will take the Jaguar out before moving it.

No word on the garage. I guess no news is good news.

I have to drag the open trailer out of the pasture with the tractor today too. A neighbor was the ham in a ham sandwich on the freeway a few days ago. He want to loads up his little Ford Focus and take it to a couple of shops for an estimate. Mechanically it is OK, but the body work is extensive. He bought it back from the insurance company and is determined to fix it.

And here is a report from Greg and his continuing adventures.

"I was just saying that if there's anything that I've done right in my lifetime, its accumulating some awesome friends.

Tonight I decided to make the Rob Run to deliver some things and managed to entice Malcolm Collum to ride along. He's the Chief Conservator at Air & Space and an old car guy too having come here from the Henry Ford Museum. I don't get to see him very often so it was a great way to spend some time catching up and also introduce him to the Burchill Experience.

Both with Michigan backgrounds, they got along great. The enclosed photos caught the museum conservator doing some investigation of the paint on a Model T stored there. Testing the finish with careful eye . What I don't understand is the fact that at work he has sophisticated equipment and wears white archivists gloves and yet tonight he was able to analyze the paint with just a car key and the letters MC........

Then we adjourned to a nearby restaurant for a Mediterranean style dinner. And Malcolm bought."

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It is Friday, February 6th. It was bone chilling yesterday, but Jon and his damaged Ford Focus needed the Suburban and open trailer. So I bundled up and hauled it from the pasture with the little Kubota tractor and got it ready for the arrival of the car. Then up the driveway came this sad looking Focus. We loaded her up and John will be taking it around to see if it can be fixed. Actually, the front is not too bad, Just the replacement of some sheet metal and the hood. The rear is another story. The exhaust is toast, and lots of metal bent. It looks like the entire trunk pan has been pushed in about an inch. However, all the shut lines look OK.

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It is Saturday, February 7th, AM. Still cold, but we are suppose to hit 50 degrees today and almost 60 degrees tomorrow. Meanwhile just a few hundred miles to the north they are going to get another foot or more of snow.

As usual, we are putting the cart before the horse, errrr, I mean garage. Yesterday we stopped by the Habitat for Humanity Restore Store and saw some nice shelving units and ceiling fans for not much money. So Alice says we should get them now because they won't last long. So we bought three exterior ceiling fans and six shelving units. This morning we headed down to town with the dump trailer and picket them up. Will find a nice place to put them before the rain storm hits us on Sunday PM.

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Thanks David, we will think about it.

It must be Saturday as we have a report from Greg.

"Received an update on the Overland seat frame restoration going on in the care of Walter Higgins. There's been some investigation into the final form of the metal skin that attaches at the bottom cross bearer, whether is is flat across the back or has a slight curvature. We're thinking that the mortises for the uprights were cut dead dead straight, any curvature resulting from the installation of the tin. Overland owners who replied to my plea for information seem to confirm a slight curve on their cars.

Anyway, we're making progress. If it was easy everybody would be doing it."

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It is Monday, February 9th AM. Raining here this morning, but yesterday it reached 60 degrees. The air smelled like spring.

We spent our weekend moving fence lines and changing out a 8 foot gate for a 12 foot one. This will be the new entrance to the garage. Of course it was not without little issues. First we had to tear down some fencing and remove the head post from four feet in the ground. The post was to be reused in its new 12 foot location. The little Kubota went to work. Rocked it back and forth, and it broke from the permafrost, that was good. Finally we were able use the bucket to lift it straight up and out. Yahoo. Of course, Diamonti the llama saw his chance to escape and ran rampant through the front yard to terrorize the other llamas. Too much fun. We just let him go since we had locked the front gate and there was no way he could leave the property. He ran around for an hour or so and got lonesome for his pasture and when home.

Now we had to dig a new hole. And the PTO shaft was of course frozen. So that took an hour to fix and get on the tractor. Just too much fun. But we drilled thru the frozen earth and got a new hole for the gate. And it is in. Here are pics of the new gate and old post hole digger on the tractor.

And since it is a Monday, we have a "nutty" report from Greg.

"Further adventures at Hyde Manor. My boss, Ken Hyde has always been taken with the art of flying. Mechanical and otherwise.

Of special interest for him are flying squirrels. I think he was first introduced to them as a boy and they carry some special memories.

We had abducted some from an old family homeplace and they stayed around here long enough to get semi tolerant of us, sometimes even taking peanuts from my hand.

And then last winter they and the dayshift gray squirrels disappeared. I've heard others remark that their neighborhood squirrels also were no more and I've since read a newspaper article by the Park Service that the squirrel population had been inadvertently been decimated by the last crop of Cicaidas (17 Year Locusts). Their egg laying had killed the acorn producing leaves. Squirrels either starved or migrated to greener pastures.

But Ken wanted the Flyers around and was going to do something about it. Screw Mother Nature. He'd show her. And he did, sortof . He found a Flying Squirrel breeder in Texas and ordered up a batch. So Saturday night he drove over to Dulles International Freight Depot.

Two adult and three baby Flyers had landed on Runway 19L.

Arriving with his cargo, I can't think of any time in my over twenty years with him that I've ever seen him happier. Not only did he have the live cargo but he'd stopped at every Walmart and pet store to gather supplies. Squirrel baby formula, syringes for feeding, yards of fleece for their bedding, apples, oranges, nuts, water bottles, plastic and cloth pet habitats, heating pads.....you name it. We had already erected one Parrott cage for the adults to live in.

My first acquaintance with these things was to see the two adults in their new cage. Either they were somewhat shaken from their trip, or just had jet lag. No activity.

The babies were tucked away in their nesting box, snug in their blanket. accompanying instructions said they'd be ready to eat, so Ken mixed the formula by the numbers and one of the babies immediately began clamoring for it. I kept the refill at hand . I guess no airline food on the trip.

Like I said, I've never seen Ken any happier as he made the little things at home.

Thinly sliced apple and orange, nuts , etc. all part of their diet and he didn't spare any.

We had decided that his upstairs office/library would be the logical place to keep them. Warm, near the required refrigerator, electrical outlets, next door to my apartment, so on.

And so, as the clock ticked near midnight, like a kid on Christmas night, Ken had to put his toys away and go to bed. But Sunday morning he was up early. I heard the squeak of his office door and thought I'd better join him. Feeding these things is part of the bonding process and after the little ones were taken care of, it was time to see if the adults were ready to eat.

He looked in the fleece lined box . No squirrel. He looked in the special cloth squirrel pouch (the one with the secret back escape door). No squirrel. Back to the fleece, back to the pouch........that's when I discovered that the floor of this wire mesh parrot cage was ajar.

Oh no. Two flying squirrels were on the lam. In an office and library with nooks, crannies, and a million books on shelves.

Well, as of now, we've got some live traps set and at least one P. O.'d female office type who's furious. Don't know what the other is going to say about working with a rodent infested workplace. That's tomorrow's episode.

Like I said, never a dull one."

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It is Tuesday, February 10th. The weather is just not cooperating with the garage build. Mild for a few days and then back into arctic temperatures this weekend. So it doesn't look good for this or early next week. But I did get the black enclosed trailer off it mounts and ready to pull out of the pasture. Even got the Jaguar to fire up. Would not start until I put a small heater under the engine to get it a bit warmer. It does not like the cold either.

But I did get the Taurus SHO out of the pasture. Had to jack up all four corners to get the tires out of the ground. I used some bricks and boards to fill the holes in the ground so it was on a half way level surface. One rear tire was flat, but the other held about 20 psi. All the tires will need to be replaced. She fired right up and after a few minutes would idle. Got her nice and warm and drove her out of the pasture and onto the pad next to Brownie, the 1979 Chev van. Now I remember why I parked the SHO. The power steering hose that runs behind the engine has a leak and spews ATF over the exhaust manifold. I will have to get a replacement for that, a new battery, and better tires. I just happen to have a set of tires and rims in storage so will put them on when I get the garage built. Here are pics of where the SHO resided in the pasture and then one of her on her new pad.

And Greg has a report for us also.

"Today's mail brought the Overland exhaust manifold that I sent to Jim Snyder for repair. As I've said before, he's a magician with cast iron. Now for a trip to Lee's where I can check port flatness on his supersized belt sander, it will go on the shelf and marked off the list."

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It is Wednesday PM and getting colder again. Thought I would post a little update.

No news on the garage, the weather is causing a delay with the site prep. Building kit is still scheduled to be at the contractor's facility on March 3rd. It will be off loaded from the semi and put in their yard until they can transport it on smaller trucks to the farm.

Getting a lot colder here again. Suppose to be frigid over the next couple of days. And some snow also.

I started the SHO up and let it really get hot. Started up easily on the little old tractor batter and runs great. Managed to free the gas filler door and the rear doors too. Radio still works and so does the power antenna. Also the heater and all the controls work. So am a happy camper. The brakes seem to work too, but the rotors are just rust. Can hardly wait to get it up on a rack. The clear coat is about half gone on the body and there is a couple of rust bubbles under the paint on the rear wheel opening. Also the plastic cladding is loose from under the door sill. I think it is just that the clips are rusted out, hopefully the sill is OK.

Started up the Jaguar too. Fired right up as it almost reached 45 degrees outside. But of course I found something not working. The turn signals are not working. Oh well, something to look into when it comes out in the Spring.

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It is Tuesday, February 17th. Snowed a good three inches yesterday so everything is nice and white. Thankfully not much snow to worry about, and we can get about. No progress on the site work for the garage. I doubt that they will be able to do anything for a couple of weeks.

But, we do have a Greg report. He is keeping busy with his adventures.

" About time to check in. While weathered in. Actually not too bad here. Several inches of snow at the most but it is cold. In the teens I guess.

A good time to get in a small job. Something for me.

The fan on my Overland had been serving well by the time I retired it from service. Eighty years plus or minus. Fans have a way of flying apart and doing collateral damage. Did that once on my Model A. Something to avoid so fans should be examined closely for cracks.

This one had blades that had been bent a little, good enough reason to replace them. I contacted Greg Gumtow , the Overland Club's caretaker of their file of original blueprints. Enclosed is a copy. You will note, as I did, that my blades weren't made exactly to spec, so I used them as the final word. Aluminized steel procured and it was rolled sheared punched, and sanded to final shape. After rivetting it to the spider I noticed something that often hampens when pounding rivets. I'd missed perching the rivet head on the dimpled rivet setting tool and the pictured "happy face" was the result. That meant those rivets had to be drilled out and the blade trashed. A replacement made and now is rivetted on. Glad I wasn't building a B-29.

The fan is almost ready to go on the shelf to await the day there's an engine to screw to.

On another subject, I'm sure you're wondering about the flying squirrel situation. I can report that we have captured the two that went over the wall. They'd escaped to an office/library/restroom where one was finally trapped when it dashed into the spine of a three ring binder. A hand over each end of it was enough to get the squirrel back in the cage, binder and all.

A day or so later the other one was trapped in the rest room where a lots of cardboard boxes are stored. With the door closed and no escape route, like that old shell game, I finally pulled the lid off the right one. The lid slammed back on, the whole works was stuffed in a trash bag and contents eliminated until only the squirrel remained. Rodent went back into its cage, bag and all.

Now, like anything you make captive, feeding is now our responsibility. Even though these things are Ken's pride and joy, I'm included in the feeding and bonding ritual . Twice a day.

There will be more of this story to follow.

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John I liked your choice of lites fore your new building since we just got a new costo I went there and bought some and got a welcome surprise they are very bright in a un heated shop were other shop lites may not lite or be dim with a temperature of 10f or less.

Our temp is running -10 to -15 most nights and highs of +6 to +16 and over of 4 foot of snow on the ground and more coming. My antique auto work is at a stand still.

Al

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My antique auto work is also at a standstill. My lights are fine, but the heat pump just can't do the job at the temps we're having here now. It's keeping the garage about 40 degrees, too cold to work top material. It's supposed to be -2 or so in Winchester tonight...yikes!

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It is Saturday, PM, February 21st. Old man winter is back, or never left. It is 14 degrees and snowing hard. We must have five or six inches since about 9 this morning. Tomorrow we will be almost 50 degrees and then back into the deep freeze for another two weeks. I don't think that I am ever going to get the garage started before April.

Greg is snowed in also, but has managed to get out a report for us.

"In the midst of another visit by Old Man Winter, so it is a good day to catch up on progress while sitting by the warmth of the DELL . Rob had called during the week to say that the Stoddard horn was back from the buffing guy. He did a nice job. Now I think I have everything needed for the installation. Everything except for the weather that I need to feel like it.

Hating to see the time slip by without anything to show for it, I found another small job that I'd been putting off. The Overland steering arm had been bent in some prehistoric accident (probably had run into a dinosaur), requiring some old fashioned black smithing. Firing up the oxy/acetylene torch, I warmed it to red hot and gently coaxed it back into its original shape. I had already acquired the factory print for guidance. Now that it is pointing the right direction, I feel the need to send out this forged steel component to have it magnafluxed , checked for any cracks. When it comes back I can take care of any further repair and attend to cosmetic issues before priming and painting.

Now to find something else quick and dirty before retiring to the warmth of the apartment."

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Edited by unimogjohn (see edit history)
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It is Tuesday, PM, February 24th. It was 3 degrees this morning and now at almost five PM it is 23 degrees.

Just got a call from the garage contractor that they are tired of waiting so want to begin site work tomorrow morning at 7 AM. Frankly, we are tired of waiting also and ready for everything to begin.

We had to move the black enclosed trailer out of the pasture. No way we could start the Jaguar so just made sure it was secure. We hooked it up to the Trailblazer, put it in four wheel drive low, and pulled the frozen mass of metal slowly out to the front yard. Everything went fine.

A few minutes later a Bobcat track loader lumbered up the road.

Here are a few pics of the barren ground. Took them from a couple of spots so can take pics from the same location as progress is made. Tomorrow is going to be interesting as we break ground through the tundra.

Another adventure begins. I have waited 68 years for this dream garage, and am truly excited.

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I am not sure how to say this gently but I am beginning to think we in the snowy, miserable North are nuts. We flew into Florida Sunday and I am sitting in Punta Gorda (SW Fl) at 8:45 PM and 63 degrees. I am in shorts, the door to the motel room is open and it is simply delightful. If only I had an ol' car. I'd be cruisin' right now!! But explain to again why we stay in a place that woke up at -10 this morning, when we return in a week or so i will have to snowblow my way in at 2AM and we will have another month of winter. There was a car show in PG today, on a Tuesday no less!

I think I may stay 'til May...... or permanently and go north for our stuff in May!

- Bill

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Old Car Fan - pls do tell out about your new car barn. You are easily outdoing me.

Bill, we were going to head to Florida, but too much exciting stuff going on around here. But dang, it is just too cold for much too long.

On a brighter and hopefully warmer side, we registered for "British on the Green" car show on April 22nd at Gunston Hall in Virginia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunston_Hall This is the first of several British car shows that we like to attend. We have won the best in show award our second year, and then first in class the other two years. Always a fun time and a great show.

Then a few days later we take the 1923 McLaughlin Buick to the AACA show at Virginia Beach. Going to be a very busy late April, early May.

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It is Wednesday, mid PM, February 25th.

The site work began about 8 AM, right after all the equipment arrived. It took until about 1:30 PM to dig out all the permafrost. The depth ranged from 7 inches to 17 inches. It was tough work, but they got it all out. They will now outline the building and then dig down to the depth they want and start back-filling with gravel. They want to get the gravel in as it is going to snow yet again tomorrow. We will see how long they go. Here are some pics.

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It is Friday, PM, February 27th. Snowed yesterday so no work was done on the pad for the garage. But today was nice so the crew was here at 7 AM. They spent the day digging and pushing dirt around. The result is now I have a level pad. Monday they will lay the stone base. The building package is to be delivered on Tuesday. We are on a roll. Too late to turn back now.

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Joe, re the roller machine. The front drum also vibrates to better tamp the earth. You can feel the shaking in the house, which is 150 feet away. The entire house hums when the roller is doing its thing.

It is Sunday, AM, March 1st. Only 19 days until Spring, ha! Of course it is snowing and sleeting. Will be for most of the day. Thankfully, it will be pretty light and should cause no damage to to pad, which has already frozen a couple of inches. I fully expect the guys to show up early on Monday and start calling in for gravel. They told me that trucks will arrive in 20 minute intervals to give them time to spread and roll it. The trucks will have to dump the loads on the driveway. No way can they get into the pasture. The garage is still scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. The truck has a crane on it so it can self unload. I am sure they will bring in a small crane when they start building.

I did get a couple of packages yesterday. The first is a new cigar lighter assembly for the Jaguar. It is really a good reproduction piece. Mine, which I am sure is original to the car, is loose in the housing, and the Bakelite stem is half broken off and cracked. Also when you attempt to use it for a GPS, etc, it shorts out and blows a fuse. So it is time for a replacement. The cost was $35.

I also picked up a backup camera for the Suburban. Looks to be a good unit. No requirement to run a line from front to back of the truck as it is wireless. It hooks into the backup light itself on the rear of the truck and then to power for the front viewer. The camera mounts to the license plate on the bumper. As a bonus I will be able to see the trailer hitch as I connect up the trailers. Yahoo! I got the camera for $72 to my door.

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Is it Monday, March 2nd, PM. The workers have left for the day. Today was the final finish of the grading and then putting down the stone. Of course, nothing goes to plan. The first truck driver said that the delivery was too hard and told his bosses that he would not go back. So they cancelled the other loads. That put us behind. But we got it all sorted and three other trucks arrived before the end of the work day. The driver was miffed that there was no turn around, and he had to back down the drive. What a sissy, it is almost a straight run.

The gravel was spread and rolled. Two more loads are coming tomorrow for the final finishing of the pad and driveway area.

Glenn, the owner of the firm I am working with, arrived and said that the building had arrived and was in the parking lot of our local grocery store. They were going to bring it up, but later on decided to wait until tomorrow. I think that they are going to off load the semi-truck and bring it to the farm on smaller trucks. They are planning to arrive early tomorrow morning. Can't wait!

Here are pics of work done today.

Oh, that is Ernest, the neighbor's pooch, who visits us every and stays with us almost every night. He is watching the work from the rear hatch of the Trailblazer.

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Edited by unimogjohn (see edit history)
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