11/30/10

OK, a little back story before going on. Early last week, or perhaps the week before, Gregg asked if I would please come pick up the hot rod A-14. I made a knee-jerk reaction promise to come by Friday after Thanksgiving. I texted John to see if he was working that day and was informed he was. Hmm, plan B. I think I asked Pat if he was free, but I don't remember. I did ask Kevin and he said he’d let me know. Turns out he was free to help out. So, Friday morning I meet Kevin at the shop where we load up Gregg's Miata engine and engine stand. We head for Grapevine. At Gregg's we unload the Miata stuff and load up the A-14 and my engine stand. On the way back to the shop we pick up Kevin’s son who helps us unload. I buy them lunch for their efforts and we all part ways. While at Gregg's, he tells me that he, his mom, and his brother want to buy his father a Saiga 12 Gauge for Christmas. He asked when I was going to a gun show and would I be willing to shop for it for them. I said that since that was the very gun I was shopping for at the next gun show, I'd be glad to. So I might be buying two Saiga 12s and haggling on a bulk price. We'll see. I don't think I did anything else important Friday so we’ll move on to Saturday. John and I met at the shop where he replaced the antenna on his car while I looked at Nadine. He asked me a question which sealed my resolve on the car. I'm not sure why but he asked, “What car is getting the NAPS-Z?” I gave it a yocto-second’s thought and decided that the only car out back which could use it, as is, would be the Chickenhawk and I didn't want to take a backwards step with that car. I say “as is” because Barbecue Bob would require re-swapping to a mid-sump oil pan again and we don't have one at the moment. So, almost without hesitation I decided that Nadine would get the Chickenhawk's Z-20 after all. I began to take measurements. It looks like it will fit rather nicely. Once John was done with his car, he began helping me. We test fit a few wheels and decided that the 13” steelies off of Lil' Wiggly, which is currently sporting Z-car six-spokes, would fit Nadine if the calipers were removed. It is only for rolling porpoises and they need to be rebuilt anyway. John removed them while I took apart the brake splitter “T” thingy. Oh, at some point I realized that the Z-20 already has motor mounts to install it in a Datsun 1200. we had a look around for a “spare” 1200 cross member. It was decided that first thing next Saturday, we’d swap John's new CA-18 cross member into Timmy and I'd cut up the nice shiny painted one Marty made. We took more measurements and decided where the cross member would sit on Nadine's frame rails, right where the brake lines come together on one side and where the fuel line attaches on the other. This is why I was removing them while John removed my calipers. With the steelies on, I had a look at the car. They are too small, but they do look good. A pretty paint job was beginning to look less likely. We went to lunch and discussed paint, body work, interior, and wheels. Once I got home, I had an e-mail from him with a picture of his car on the Gram Lights. He said, “Now I need to sell you on some different wheels for Nadine.” I replied that if he could get steelies in 15” with the requisite 4x4.5” bolt circle and a set of tires, we’d settle up on the price difference. He began shopping immediately and found some Diamond wheels. He asked if they would drill the bolt holes 3/8” rather than 1/2” for us. They would not. They would however drill them to 7/16” which is probably close enough for gubment work. He then discovered Polaris ATVs use a 3/8” lug nut with a larger outside “diameter” and that longer studs are available. He’s going to swing by a Polaris dealer and buy one lug nut for testing porpoises. Hopefully the threads will match. We'll see. So, we did some stuff with Nadine, finally. I'm not ready to declare it progress, but I guess it sort of is. I'll feel better once we turn the car around and drop in the engine and cross member. Oh, with the wheel decision made, I also decided that we’re definitely going Rat Rod with the car. We’re thinking flat red for the exterior, spartan interior with uncovered “bomber” seats, aluminum panels, Rhino Liner on the floor, and Brookland screens. I guess I need to start shopping for screens again. Speaking of shopping, I got a Blood Bath & Beyond catalog the other day and have been perusing it. There was a picture of a Mosin Nagant with a synthetic stock and scope which really got me thinking about one of them. A Mosin Nagant sells for $99.00 at BB&B and I think I've seen them as low as $69.00 at the gun show. I might get that instead of a Saiga 12 next. We'll see. So that’s got us up through Saturday. Sunday I debated going to Not Texas to the gun show at Market Hall. At noon mom called to say that my sister Linda had shown up for church and they wanted to go to Mexican Inn for lunch. I shaved my teeth, put in my eyes, dressed and hauled ass to meet them. We ate and Linda talked me out of going to Not Texas. I talked myself out of going to Blood Bath & Beyond to look at a Mosin Nagant, synthetic stocks, scopes, and scope mounts. I shopped for them on line instead. I found the place where I'm probably going to buy all the accessories once I have a Mosin. Yeah, I am just exactly that dumb. Well, I think I'm going to check out the inter-googles and see just how much a set of Brookland screens are going to set me back. I may have more for y'all tomorrow. We'll see.