10/23/06

Mr. Wiggly is becoming cooler by the minute! Ok, so here’s the story. I slept in on Saturday. I was just about to head for the shop at around 0830 h when John called to check on my status. He wasn’t there yet either but was en route. I headed that way and stopped off at Orally for a Slant Six valve cover gasket. They didn’t have one. As I was backing out of the parking spot I see a vanilla colored Magnum dumped on twenties go by. “Hey, I’ve got one of those,” I said to no one, as I usually do. I tried to catch him but caught every light instead. As I pulled up to the shop, John was bringing Mr. Wiggly's wheels out to the “porch” so we could go buy tires. We loaded them into Matilda and headed for the Boys of Pep. We debated 255 vs. 275 and decided on the 255/60-15 Futura GLS Super Sport tires. We have a dude ring them up but decline having them mounted there. Once they are loaded in Matilda, we head for the Kreblechistani tire place on Old Granbury Road to have them mounted and balanced. While Akhbar and Jeff are working on them, John runs to the store for some black spray paint to hide the spacers. We get back to the shop and unload the wheels, which look really bitchin’ by the way, and I pull Mr. Wiggly around to the sidewalk. I drag the electric impact wrench out and try to take off a tire. Ok, having the right sized socket would help! I go find the right one and take the wheel off. We decide to use the new lug nuts to hold the spacers on so I go back in and round them all up into a sack. I come back out clutching my nut-sack and proceed to install the first spacer. John paints it while I go around and remove the second wheel. I install the second adapter and go back to put a wheel on the first. John has it on and the nuts started. I send him to the other side to paint the second adapter while I hunker down on the lug nuts. He installs the second wheel and tightens the nuts. We lower the jack and have a look. Oh yeah, they look good! We roll the van forward and get cracking on the rear. It pretty much goes the same as the front. Once it is on all fours, we stand back for a good look. That is one bitchin’ ride! I drive it around the building to settle the suspension and hear the first sign of trouble. The tire rubs the fender on turns. John drives it around so I can get a look at it and I notice the second sign of, well, not trouble but oddity. The track width has increased considerably and it looks funny from the front and rear. I never could get John to see what was bugging me about it so I gave up trying. [ I saw it perfectly and understood. Just had a different opinion, that's all... - SM ]Actually, here’s what it looks like and also why it bothers me: it looks like a front-wheel-drive car with rear-wheel-drive offset wheels. Perhaps I'll get over/used to it eventually. We’ll see. I tell John about not being able to buy a valve cover gasket so he calls Auto Zone. The store on McCart and Berry has one so we head to Benito’s for lunch. I stop at the Zone and buy the gasket after lunch and head back to the shop. I grease up the gasket and install it in the new valve cover. I go to the van and out come the doghouse and the old valve cover. I install the new cover and gently tighten the bolts. Now comes the bad part, the stock grommets won’t fit the new cover. One is too big and the other too small. I head for Orally again to buy new ones. I find some that I think will work and buy a set of Mr. Gasket units as well. Good thing I did too, but that’s getting ahead of myself. Back at the shop I try the ones I eyeballed and they wouldn’t work. I try the Mr. Gasket ones and they will. I debate getting started on the Plexiglas top for the doghouse and finally win. What? See, either way I went I would have won because I was arguing with myself. Oh, never mind. I decide to go ahead and do it. I measure a lip around the edge of the top of the doghouse and hit it with the jumping up and down saw. I make a cardboard template and trace it out on the piece of Plexiglas. I begin to cut it out and about halfway through the blade grabs and cracks the part. I toss it aside and go looking for another piece of Plexiglas. Fortunately there is another one and this one cuts out fine. I spend a few hours shaping it and get it to a point where I think I'm happy. I drill the holes for the rivets and tape it off for paint. I paint a lip and strip off the tape. Since I'm out of rivets I set it all aside to dry and go home for the evening. Well, I'm past my arbitrary cutoff point and at a good stopping place. I think I'll finish tomorrow. Toodles.