1/5/10

So when we last spoke, I had assembled The Seven's engine up to the point of being ready to install the head. John and I met at the shop Friday morning and got to work on it. I rounded up a set of head bolts, which still annoys me that I had to use, and John cleaned them up on the wire wheel while I searched for the appropriate washers. Once we had all the hardware in hand, we slapped the head on and torqued it down. I think John took some pictures of the ports and valve train. Hopefully he’s added a linky-linky? While I worked on... um, something, he rolled a bunch of push rods and found the straightest eight of the bunch. These he installed and then we set the valve lash. I painted the alternator mount silver and installed it on the block. We pulled the studs out of a pair of water pumps and used them for the valve cover, which we installed. We were now to the point, I believe, of standing around looking at stuff. While installing the water pump pulley, we discovered it “sang” at a certain speed. When John found out it was a stamped-steel impeller unit he made me take it off and replace it with a cast impeller pump. I think he threw away the stamped-steel guy. I don't think we did much else with the engine and decided that we were not going to rush things by going ahead with the installation in the car. We called it a day and went to Red Hot & Blue for barbecue. From there I think I went home. Mom informed me she wanted to go to Olive Garden for dinner so I took a quick nap before time to go. We went to dinner and then I called it a night. Yes, all that did take all day, somehow. Saturday morning mom and I were to go to Waco to meet my brother from Austin and his family to have a belated Christmas, sort of thing. Mom, Aunt Margaret, and I rolled south around 1000 h and made one stop in West. We all peed and I got my usual, two “hot, spicy chubbies” and a soda. I usually have a Big Peach but they didn't have any. I settled for a blue cream soda. Back on the road again and we eventually hit Waco. We found the place where we were to meet and had lunch. We debated the Mexican food place or the Italian food place. Italian won, somehow. “This will be three days in a row I've had pasta,” I muttered as we walked in and sat down. It was a good visit and gifts were exchanged, even though it was said that we wouldn't. I got a movie on DVD. It is a weird little Sci-Fi flick from the early seventies starring Sean Connery called “Zardoz.” My brother and I had seen it together back in the early eighties and remembered it as being almost totally incomprehensible. I was looking forward to watching it again when I got home. The drive home was uneventful, except that mom wanted to stop off at some commune or something to buy some semi-Amish/Mennonite craft stuff. Whatever, I'm easy. Afterwards, we took off up the back roads towards home but chickened out pretty soon and found our way back to I-35. Once home, I got comfortable and set about watching “Zardoz.” It was better than I remembered. Sure, it is a little self-important and tries a little too hard to incorporate too many themes and ideas, but it wasn't a bad film really. In fact, I watched it twice that evening, once with the writer/director’s commentary on. Oh, and Charlotte Rampling in her prime was smokin’ hot! I think I need to add her to the “Celebrity Prostate List” right quick because she still looks pretty good. Anyhoo, Sunday I get a call from Larry Shuttlebus about the gun show. We decide to meet and walk the thing. It is twice the size of the last show. We make it halfway through and then go get some lunch. We walk the rest of the show and then go back to re-examine some things we’d found interesting. I bought another holographic sight for the Space Gun, which may turn out to have been a mistake because it is kind of cheap and crappy. We’ll see. He looked at some stuff and then we found a table selling some used guns. I remember it from earlier but didn't see the gun that caught my eye when we returned. I don't know the make, but it was a candy purple anodized .380 automatic pocket gun with white grips. It was so “TCU” I felt I had to have it. The real kicker, it was marked $95.00 + tax! I looked at it, fondled it, drooled over it, set it down, picked it back up, looked it over, and over, and over... Larry thought I was crazy. Perhaps I was. I wanted it so bad and it was so cheap! Finally, I talked myself down from the precipice and didn't get it. Of course now I'm kicking myself for it. Oh well, what are you going to do? Finally we left and I went home to get ready for the Japanese Old School Car Show at The Purple Cow. Lil' Wiggly didn't want to start so I jumped it with Fifi. Ooh, it was running like crap once it did fire up. I parked Fifi and hopped back in Lil' Wiggly. I wasn't sure if it would make it until I blipped the throttle and it coughed and began running on all four again. I took off and froze my ass off heading to The Purple Cow. There I met up with... um, Maxima Dude, don't remember his name, and Jeff the Toyota guy. At 1845 h I called John to see if he was coming and was told no. I'm sure he would have given a reason had I pressed the issue, but it wasn't really all that big of a deal. Our call either got cut off or he just stopped talking to me so I eventually hung up and we went inside. We ate and I, dumb ass that I am, had a Purple Vanilla shake with Oreo cookies, knowing that I didn't have a heater in Lil' Wiggly. Yep, froze my ass off going home too. Well, that just about gets y'all caught up with my life. Work is getting back into the normal swing of things and that’s about it. So, y'all have a day and I'll talk to you again later.