8/23/10

OK, I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. That was the longest regular two-day weekend ever. It felt like three or maybe even four days long. Here’s what went down. Saturday morning I rolled in to the shop at about, what was it, 0845 h? John had already set out the table and had the engine hoist on it. We contemplated the missing chain situation once again and decided to try the strap one more time. We lifted the engine up and wrangled it out of Nadine's engine bay. We finagled it in onto the floor next to Nadine and then stood back for a look-see. That engine bay got a lot smaller once we could see it. There is no way a V6 would fit. Of course we weren’t even thinking along those lines so it is moo, but still. Once we were satisfied that Nadine was “worked on” for the day, we moved on to his car. He cut the box steel sections for mounting that cross member and then started looking at where to drill the holes. With the first hole drilled we used the shackle as a compass and marked the arc of where the second hole had to line up. I did a little trigger-nometry and came up with “The second hole needs to be eight point nine nine eight millimeters higher than the first hole.” We settled on 9mm. He marked that and we checked the angle. Boo-ya! Right on the thirteen degrees he wanted. And you said you’d never use that trigger-nometry class. He drilled that hole. Of course all the cutting and drilling caused the square tube, which is now a “C” channel, to close up some. We started prying it open with the vice but I didn't trust the wee little amount of contact we had. I “modified” a Datsun scissor jack to use as a spreader. I got the thing spread out and John id a test fit. It is still tight so we’ll have to have another look at it before final installation. Satisfied that the part would fit, he drilled the second section of channel. I once again tried to employ my modified jack to spread it open but managed to over load it. The jack collapsed. I guess we got it open just barely enough because he got it “installed” on the car. Once we were done with that we left to go to lunch. We wound up at Maharajah for some Indian buffet action. Oh man, their Chicken Tikka Masala is just as good as, if not better than, the CTM I love so much here at the railroad. When we left I called Gregg to see what his plans were and he said he would leave Grapevine in the next few minutes and head to my house. He wanted to buy those six-spoke Z-car wheels and those ugly assed wheels with good rubber from John. I went home and took a nap while waiting for him. I think that nap helped make Saturday feel like two days. He called as he approached the hose and I met him outside. We rolled to the shop. I loaded the two sets of wheels and tires in his truck and we chatted about other stuff for a bit. Somehow the conversation turned to guns and I mentioned I was going to try and sell the Saiga .410 shotgun. He perked up and started asking questions. Once I described it he said he’d buy it. We went back to my house and I showed it to him. Against his better judgment, he bought it. He wrote a check to me and one to John, for the wheels. I handed over the gun, four fifteen-round magazines, one five-round mag, the “spare” Monte Carlo butt stock, some other spares, and enough bird shot and slug shells to refill all the mags. He left and I went in to take a shower, not from dealing with Gregg... never mind. I texted John and asked if he had that “deposit a check by taking a picture of it” feature on his phone. He does. We agreed to meet at Saginaw Main so I could give him his. I think getting out again to meet John finished off Saturday’s apparent “two day” feel. So, after all that I went home for the day. Lester, my brother-in-law, had called earlier and we had set 0830 h as our meet time in Weatherford Sunday morning. I spent a good portion of the evening Saturday rounding up the guns I wanted to take with me. But I think I'll save the rest of that tale for tomorrow.