5/5/06

John suggested a hiatus if I can’t think of stuff to say. I think I'll fight through it. I actually could have told y’all about what happened Wednesday night at the shop yesterday, but I didn’t. I will today. I left the railroad around 1715 since I had to wait for a group to show them how to hook up to the projector. I went to Northside Upholstery to check on my tonneau cover. They hadn’t done it because they didn’t have power all day. That was their story and I didn’t feel like fighting it so I took it as read. From there I went to the shop. There was a guy in a Corolla waiting at the gate so I drove past and called John. John was expecting him so I let him in on my access and had him follow me to the back. Heeter was in the middle of cleaning up the matchbox distributor they were installing in his car so John went off to talk to the new guy and I babysat Dave. When the Corolla guy left John came back to the distributor project. They installed it while I rewired the ignition. Dave started the car and John set the timing. They both drove it and declared it better than it was. I'm not sure if they declared it done, but it was apparently better. We went to Chili’s for some grub and then parted ways for the evening. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from mom saying she was having dinner with my sister so I would be on my own. I went to Northside Upholstery again. This time it was ready. I'm not going to say it was done because it still needs a bit more work. It still needs a flap sewn over the zipper and to have the seam rolled and trimmed on the top of the “door.” Also, the snap at the top of the “door” was removed because that was where he made the cut for some reason. I'll take it back and have the flap and trimming done and have the snap reinstalled on a little extension piece. It would make more sense if you could see it. Anyhoo, I took it to the shop and fit it up. It is nice. I opened the driver’s flap and got in the car. It is drivable but you kind of have to lean to the center of the car and hold your left arm across your chest. I'll try to explain the “elbow pocket” to them again when I take it back for the trimming, flapping, and snapping. Then again, I may not because the top of the “door” is just low enough that I'm not sure my shoulder would be inside anyway. I may leave it alone and just use it for cool days when I want to keep my elbow warm. I don’t know if hooning will be possible with the “door” on. We’ll see. After I was done playing with that, I zipped it closed and moved on to George. I found a water temperature sender that may or may not work for the Autometer gauge. I also found a brass adapter so I can fit the sender to the head. While digging around I also found the interface that goes between the Autometer exhaust gas temperature gauge and the thermocouple. With that in hand I rounded up the thermocouple and the gauge and set all three of them in the seat. I also put the water temperature, oil pressure, and boost gauges there as well. I'm debating taking the heater core out of George. It would save some weight but how much? Would it be worthwhile? Will I ever drive the car in a situation needing the heater or defroster/demister? Probably. I think I have convinced myself to leave it in. If I did remove it I would probably remove the wipers as well. Here’s my reasoning. If I need the wipers I'll probably need the demister. If I don’t have a demister I can’t drive it when there is the possibility of rain/humidity so why have the wipers? I don’t know. I'll discuss it more with John and see what he thinks. Did I tell y’all about the fender mirrors? I think I did so I won’t go into it again. Thing is, Pat showed up while I was goofing off and I showed them to him. He said Marty is going to kill me. He went on to say he hates them too, but not bad enough to kill me over it. We discussed stuff and things and stuff for a while then both went home. John and I are planning to go to the shop in the morning and then to Lowe’s. I need some stuff already and will probably think of more once we are there. In fact, I think I'll transfer my list into Petey the PDA right now. I seem to be over my slump since I just passed the page break in Word. If I think of more to say this afternoon I'll come back. Don’t hold your breath though. Yeah, I'm not going to have any more today. Have a weekend and I'll talk to y’all again Monday.