9/17/09

16,012 nights without CPAP, still not dead. OK, so I went to Automotive Machine after work last night. As I was about to get on I-35 headed south, I got a call from them saying that my stuff was ready. I told him I was on my way. I called John to see what his status was and found out he still had 17 more stops to make, or something like that. Maybe it was only seven more. It doesn't matter, he wasn't going to make it to the shop. I told him I'd shoost him some pictures of the adapters when I get them, and this I did. Hopefully he has either linked to them or put one up here in the rant. They are awesome! But, of course they would be, since I designed them. Anyhoo, I picked them up and paid for them, about a hundred bucks a piece if you must know, and then went to show them off to Kevin at Lexutech. He was suitably impressed. I made the decision to go ahead to the shop and play with them for a bit but I should have gone home and changed pants first. I was wearing a pair of very light colored khaki pants. They were just almost white, at least when I got to the shop. I know. I tried to keep them clean. Anyhoo, I hung the adapters on the head with the socket-head bolts AM provided and had a look at the washer thingies which bridge the intake and exhaust manifolds. As we feared, I was going to need to trim the “corner” off of all four washer thingies. I know circles don't have corners but that is easier than saying I needed to decrease the radius of the outside diameter of one quarter of the circumference of each washer. OK? So I trim the “corner” off of the first washer and go install it. I trim the second and install it. I trim the third and install it. I trim the fourth and try to install it. It needs further trimming. I trim it further and install it. I snug up the fasteners to just before the point of gasket crush and hang the manifold. It fits like a glove. Well, it fit like that glove fit on OJ in the trial. I had to loosen the fasteners to the head a bit so it would align properly, then it fit. I'm not sure how I'm going to make sure they are in the right orientation when I go to do the final hunker on the fasteners but I imagine I'll finger out something. With the manifold in place I check for clearance between the intake and exhaust. There is plenty. Huzzah! I check the throttle cable in the bracket John made and saw that there was clearance there as well. Hip, hip, huzzah! I'll probably still want some heat wrap of some kind on the cable though. We shall see. I took a look around the shop for the gasket material I was fairly certain I had and found it. I grabbed the manifold, a pen, some scissors, the gasket material and sat down. Here was when I made the mistake of wearing almost white pants. I set the gasket material, dusty side down, on my lap. Yep, black schmutz all over my legs. “Crap!” I said and went on with the task at hand. I traced out the shape of the manifold and cut it out. I poked the holes for the mounting studs and then fitted the gaskets to an adapter. I traced the big oval hole and cut it out. I filed the gasket to size and repeated the process for the other adapter’s gasket. I re-hung everything on the engine, including the carburetors this time, and had a look. Oh yeah, it is going to be whey cool! I just wish I'd stuck to my guns and asked for a big “DLR” to be milled into the top face of the adapters. That would have been the ul-tomato! Oh well, what are you going to do? I sat there and looked at it for a bit then went home. So now we have a decision to make Saturday. Do we try to knock out making Shichi run, drive, and pretty for the BNSF Family Day car show next Friday, or do we continue to tart up Lil' Wiggly? Shichi will require, in addition to making the carburetors work, trimming and filling the superfluous giant hole in the hood, painting the hood and scuttle, and... probably more stuff. Lil' Wiggly needs, um, cleaning for sure and perhaps painting some “Oh, those really do tie the scruffiness of the exterior together” accents of some sort. Oh, I just remembered the other things I have for Shichi. There are those rocker shaft spacers, double valve springs, and titanium retainers to install. I also want to re-torque the head studs. We probably won't do the valve train stuff, well maybe the shaft spacers. I don't know. We shall see. Well, I think I'm going to shut up for a bit. I might be back later but don't hold your breath. OK, so I'm sitting here waiting for the desktop support guys to call about lunch. I've played all the solitaire I can stand for a while so I thought I'd come back and see what y'all are up to. Nothing new I see. Hmm, what to say now. Oh, I got an e-mail from Bernie Long announcing the annual British Car Day at the British Emporium in Grapevine. I've been meaning to go to that event for the last few years but something had come up every time so far. This year, however, I can't make it because it is the same weekend as the Hill Country tour being organized by Phil Anderson in October. It bums me ever so slightly that we won't be able to go but then again a Hill Country tour in Sevens with Seven People will be cool too. That is “People of the ‘Seven’ Persuasion” not a quantity of people having an integer value between six and eight. There might be more or less folks there, Juan never knows. I do know Tony Calvert isn't going to be able to make it, which is a bummer, but it looks like Bernie is planning to go. Dick Brink will more than likely be there and of course Phil Anderson, since it is his gig. Carlos... um, is it Penny, or Fenny? Well, whatever his name is, he’ll probably make the trek. That’s five Sevens off the top of my head. Then there’s the guy living in the apartments by me who was at the Birkinstock back in... I guess it was April or so. He could show up, if he’s on the mailing list. I don't remember his name to even go look. I suck with names by the way. The only reason I remember the handful of Seven Folks I do is because of the multiple events we’ve attended together. I imagine if he does show up, and we hang out any, I'll remember it next time. Who knows? Oh, while I was at the shop last night, John's wife Samantha called to wash her head at me. While we were talking, she mentioned wanting to take a trip with John somewhere. This is relevant, stick with me. I mentioned the Hill Country thing and sort of invited them to join us. I guess I really should check with Phil and make sure a “gate crasher” in a “non-Seven type vehicle” would be too much of an intrusion. I've sent him an e-mail and I'm waiting to hear back from him. Well, I've been to lunch and helped some folks get meetings going. I guess, rather than trying to get my thoughts back on track, I'm going to call it a rant.