6/15/2012

I got a call yesterday saying… what?  Why didn’t I start with “Ok…” today?  Because I didn’t.  Shut up and let me get on with the story.  So I got a call yesterday from Automotive Machine saying my head was ready and the gasket set was in.  I was quite surprised since I was told, when I dropped it off, that it would be another week at least.  I'll plan to cut out a bit early today and pick it up.  I sort of half-assed promised John I'd wait until next week to start swapping parts from the albatross head to this new one… but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to hold back.  I will need to buy another valve spring compressor before I can do anything though.  That was kind of how I left the promise open that I wouldn’t do anything.  Aw shit, we all know I'm going to buy a compressor and get started on it, don’t we?  Yeah, we do.  Psh, it is entirely possible I could have the thing back up and running when he comes back to the shop next weekend.  Oh, did I mention John can't make it to the shop this weekend?  He’s got some family thing to do.  I'm still free to go down there… and probably will.  Hells bells!  It is MY shop after all… and my car, think to come of it.  Well, we’ll see.  Hmm, what else is there to say?  I know I have the valve lapping compound but I'm not sure if I have the little suction cup tool thingy.  I suppose I could use a length of hose on the valve stems to spin-lap the valves.  I've done that before.  I guess if I've done that before, it probably indicates I DO NOT have the suction cup tool thingy.  Well, we’ll see.  Speaking of tools, John and I were talking about what happened to the valve spring compressor I used to own.  I told him the last time I can remember using it was to do the valve stem seals on the Chickenhawk out on the back patio of the house.  That would have been before Pat and I had the shop in Kennedale.  I'm thinking that places it somewhere in the 1994 to 1997 time frame.  I know I got the car in 1994 because I remember thinking, “This car is old enough to drink.”  I don’t remember how long I drove it with the A-12 motor before putting the NAPS-Z in it.  I think it had the “Big Block” in there when I drove it to Denton in the summer of ’95 to finish my degree at UNT.  I know it had the ubiquitous paint job by then.  Yeah, I'm pretty sure it had the stock Z-20 that summer.  I guess I built the header and hot rod motor for it in ’96 after Gregg got me the deal on the blue Ranger pickup as my daily driver.  So yeah, I would have put valve stem seals on the stock Z-20 in about 1995.  So, I know I used that valve spring compressor seventeen years ago… where it is now is anyone’s guess.  It could be in my garage or at AUTOCOMP.  Hmm, know what?  That does seem a likely place for it to have wound up, now that I think about it.  Of course if it has been there for that long, there is no way I'm going to be able to lay claim to ownership.  Psh, how much could one cost?  I'm checking them intergooglewebs now.  Looks like less than fifty bucks for the “Head On” type and about twenty more for the “Head Off” kind.  My preference is leaning towards the “Head On” style because, in addition to being cheaper, it can be used without removing the cylinder head from the engine.  Sure, on this project that argument is moo, but what about the time we need to change valve stem seals on an engine which we don’t necessarily need to pull the head?  Hmm?  Riddle me that, Boy Wonder.  Ok, I'm calling Automotive Machine now to see a) if they sell them and 2) what my total is so far.  I'm on hold.  “Takin’ it to the Street” is the hold music right now.  That’s The Doobie Brothers isn’t it?  Oop, and now we’re listening to… uh, that “Put me in coach!  I’m ready to play… today.  Look at me… I can be… center field” song.  John Fogarty I believe.  I never cared much for… oh, here’s Steve now.  Hang on a moment.  Ok, they do not sell valve spring compressors, and my machine work and gaskets came to just a tick over two hundred bucks.  I'll cut out of work early and swing by there.  What I'll have to do to keep my promise to John is NOT stop at some other auto parts place to buy a compressor… and suction cup valve lapping tool.  Which is, of course, exactly what I WILL do.  We all know it.  Well, I'm tired of talking to y'all.  I think I'm going to call it a rant.