Another Pony To Feed?

About 2-1/2 years ago, I started a project on my 1984 Bronco II. The project involved buying a 1977 Ford Granada, extracting it's V8 engine and transmission and installing them in the Bronco II. At the risk of being smug, the Bronco project has been extremely successful and resulted in a vehicle with much more power, a lot more fun to drive and a very clean installation. The total conversion required lots of planning and problem solving, much like my years of working. This project was documented starting in Oct 2010 by this post, Great Bronco Engine Transplant and continues on with many posts for over a year while the conversion was taking place and other upgrades were being accomplished. It will never be completed!

Following the success of the Bronco(it will never be finished) I have been looking for another project to start on. One thought is to find a mid 80's or newer Mustang to work on. Hopefully this would be a drivable vehicle that I could pick at slowly to restore or modify. I have been searching Craigslist and other places. Most of what I found were very expensive ones or Mustangs that were not running and parked in a field somewhere(slight exaggeration).

Last Friday, my friend Jim sent me an email with a Craigslist ad for a 1985 Mustang, T-top, 302 high output V8 engine, 5 speed transmission and positraction differential. All the goodies! The downside is that the engine had a blown head gasket. The price was real reasonable and the pictures made the car look to be in reasonable shape with some damage to the left front fender.

I was in Gig Harbor for the weekend and could not look at it, but I emailed the owner and ask some questions. He answered my questions and lowered the price without me asking! I was ready to look at it. Unfortunately by the time I could  call on Sunday, the ad was gone and the owner did not return my call. It was gone already.

So, the search continues. If anyone knows of a Mustang for sale, let me know. I am looking for a 1985 or newer, Mustang GT, preferably a 5 speed. Hopefully I will have room to stable two ponies in my driveway!

The one that got away! This would have been a good affordable project.

Gig Harbor Islands Race 3-16-2013

Today was Gig Harbor Islands Race. This is the fourth and final race of the Southern Sound Series This race starts at Gig Harbor, goes north to Blake Island and return.

This year it was rainy and windy. We placed well.

Thanks to my crew of Tom, Jim, Walter, Ranier and Dave for keeping me headed in the right direction.

Results when they are posted can be found here: Southern Sound Series Website

Harbor Freight Tools, aka Harbor Freight

Yesterday, I drove to Tacoma to shop at Harbor Freight. For those that don't know what Harbor Freight is, it is a tool store that specializes in inexpensive tools. Most of the tools are imported and are of dubious quality. But even if they are not high quality, there are a lot of tools for sale there that are not as readily available. And since the prices are cheap, I feel that I can purchase tools for a few uses and if they fail they can be discarded. Most of what I have bought has held up well, but if I want something of good quality I go elsewhere.

A example was the lifting equipment I bought when I was replacing the engine in the Bronco. I needed an engine hoist to remove the engine out of the Granada and move the engine around the garage, remove the Bronco's engine and later load it into a truck when I sold it, install and remove the engine into the Bronco several times as well as several other miscellaneous lifts around the house. This all went on over a matter of at least six months. A friend had a discount coupon for a 2 ton, folding leg, hydraulic engine hoist for about $75 off regular price. So for much cheaper than renting a hoist multiple times, I own my own and it is always available to use. Some people have said that the hydraulic cylinder will fail. I really don't care, I got my moneys worth out of it. I can always fix it. Over the years I have bought many specialized tools that may only be used a few times: pullers, multi meters, vacuum pump, digital calipers, engine stand, etc.

A few days ago I got a mailer from Harbor Freight for items on sale. I noticed a couple of items for sale that I have wanted to progress on some ongoing suspension work on the Bronco. I drove to Harbor Freight and bought a set of car ramps and a ball joint press set. But there was so much more to see and of course lots of stuff is always on sale. I was a good boy and I left with the two things that I went there for.

BUT, I picked up some flyer's for future sale days. I already see some more things that I might want to buy! So maybe I will go back in April. So for the day, I felt smug by what I scored and was gobsmacked by all the cool things to look at.

 Ball joint service kit. I will use this when I rebuild the front end on the Bronco. A lot of people have said they either build there own tools for this or manage without anything extra. I would like to do it right and I found out that this kit can be used on things other ball joints.

Car ramps. With some of the work going on, I feel more comfortable using these to elevate the Bronco so that I can get underneath. I have watched the neighbor use his ramps for several years and I finally decided I needed my own.

Gobsmacked!

Recently I have been noticing the word "gobsmacked" being used. I was never sure what it meant, so I decided I would do a little bit of research on it. Here is one of the definition from the place I found called the internet:

gob·smacked

/ˈgɒbˌsmækt/ Show Spelled [gob-smakt]    

adjective Chiefly British Informal.

utterly astounded; astonished.

 

I had thought that it had to do with being surprised by an outcome, as that seemed to be the context where it was used. I did not know that it's origin was from England, specifically Northern England. One of my nieces interned in Northern England, so she may have heard this expression while she was there.

 

Lately where I have seen it used has been in "trendy" circles. This seems strange since it is considered "informal" and "slang". I wonder if those using it really know of it's origin? I doubt if I ever use it since I am not very "trendy", although it might be fun if others don't know what I am talking about! I am gobsmacked!

Smug?

Recently I read where someone used the word "smug". They were angry because someone in their close knit group was referred to with that title.

Here is the definition:

smug

/smʌg/ Show Spelled [smuhg]   

adjective, smug·ger, smug·gest.

1.

contentedly confident of one's ability, superiority, or correctness; complacent.

2.

trim; spruce; smooth; sleek.  

 

I cannot remember ever using this word and I looked through a couple of years of blog posts to see if I ever used this word in a blog entry. I cannot find it. Since the use of this word confused me, I went to the trouble of looking it up. If I did use that word in my blog, I would sure appreciate if someone would point out where.

 

After reading several definitions, I suppose that I can fit into this definition. I am fairly confident in my abilities whether it is sailing, cycling, motorsports, problem solving, mechanics or fabricating.  But I have always been quiet, somewhat reserved and shy. I tend to keep to myself at events and in public. I try not to brag or talk too much about what I do and the only "voice" I seem to have really acquired is in my writing. This does not fit in well where the current social norm seems to be publicly bragging and "back slapping" about abilities and successes. So, I guess the "contently confident" part of the definition fits me. I can accept that.

 

Comments?

Switched!

It started out so easy. The Bronco's turn signal switch was starting to get sloppy, would not stay engaged and was hard to engage. It was only a matter of time before it failed entirely. So last Thursday, I went to a local auto parts store to buy a new one. Like a lot of newer vehicles, the Bronco's turn signal switch also controls the headlight high/low beams, hazard lights and for 1984/85 the horn is also sounded by pushing on the end of the stalk. The horn feature never seemed to be one of Ford's better ideas. At the auto parts store, the counter person looked up the part for my year and model of vehicle. "We can order it" she said. "OK, when will it be here?" "It should be here by 530 this evening". "That sounds good. You will call"? "Yes we will call you when it is in".

 

So I paid what I thought was a premium price(it was cheaper to mail order) and waited for the call from them that it was in. Since I did not receive any call, I went to the store on Friday morning and picked up the new switch. Back home, after removing two screws that hold the plastic cowl around the steering column, two screws that hold the switch to the column and unplug two six-pin connectors, I removed the old switch. In a few minutes, I reversed the process and installed the new switch. Then I tested the functions: right/left turn signal, CHECK. High/low beams, CHECK. Hazard lights, CHECK. Horn? NO HORN! What is going on? Is this the right model? I removed the new switch and reinstall the old.

 

Back to the store with the new switch in hand and I explain the issue that the horn won't work with the new switch. "Yes, the switch is the correct one. We will have to order you a new one or you can drive to Silverdale, they have one in stock.". So off I go to Silverdale and exchange the switch for another. I did not get around to working on it again until Monday morning. This time I got my original 1984 Ford Bronco II Electrical Troubleshooting Manual and followed the test procedure to make sure that the horn feature in the switch worked. With my cheapo multimeter, I check that the horn circuit in the switched worked. Yes it did. So I remove the old switch and install the new. Then I tested it and the horn works! Great except now the hazard lights don't work! So I remove the switch and  test the hazard light switch in accordance with the manual and find the switch faulty. It also was stuck and would not pull out very far. Grrr! Back to the auto parts store. This time the parts person can only order in a different switch that actually cost less so I got some money back. So again, the conversation goes like this: "We can order it" she said. "OK, when will it be here?" "It should be here by 530 this evening". "That sounds good. You will call"? "Yes we will call you when it is in".

 

So after I did not receive a call Monday night, I went to the store Tuesday morning and got the third new switch. It was the same brand, but this time it was a different model built in Taiwan instead of USA where the other two were manufactured. The Taiwan model had a one year warranty, the ones built in the US had a lifetime warranty. I took the switch home and this time, I checked all twelve functions of the switch before I installed it. Everything tested OK and after I installed it, everything worked.

 

I am surprised at the failure rate of these units. I usually expect a new part to function and sure don't think I have to test it before I install it. I think they need to tighten their Quality Control.

 The switch from Taiwan that works well.

Testing the switch thoroughly before installing it.

Jim DePue Memorial Race-WSSA No. 1

It has been several days since the Jim DePue Memorial race at Port Madison. I had sort of run out of steam when it came to writing race reports, but my blog tracker keeps showing someone hitting my blog as if they are looking for a race report. Since it appears that at least one person must be reading my blog, I will attempt a short race report.

The Jim DePue Memorial is the first race of the seven race West Sound Sailing Association (WSSA) series. It is a 16.5NM race run in the waters of Puget Sound, starting at Point Monroe and sponsored by Port Madison yacht club. All week before the race, the predicted wind were reported to be light. The prediction was pretty close as we saw winds up to 8-9 knots for a while after the start. But the converse was that it was a very nice, sunny day!

We got a great start about a third of the way down the line. As predicted, the current was suppose to be a small flood, so we headed out. Soon we saw that most of the boats above us were heading toward shore. Sure enough, the current was better near the shore, so we tacked near the shore into Murden Cove. We took a short tack back out toward the middle of Puget Sound only to still find contrary current. Back to the beach! In our flounderings, we lost position to several boats that we owed time to. We stayed close to the beach the rest of the way to the mark off Eagle Harbor and gained back some time.

After rounding the mark and setting the spinnaker, we stayed a bit low of the West Point mark, but as the wind lifted, we sailed higher toward West Point. By the time we jibed at West Point, we had passed three boats. We sailed a lower coarse to the final mark at Point Jefferson and gained on some of the boats ahead. especially as we neared the mark. One boat just ahead stayed high of the mark and sailed really slow as they sailed down to the mark. We sailed a good angle to the mark, had a great takedown, rounding and ended up on a good angle to the finish where after one tack, we finished at about 1408. The wind had died a lot and the boats behind struggled to finish.

Our final placing was seventh in class and seventh overall. I take responsibility for giving away places by heading offshore. But I later heard that many boats also expected the flood and could not get any benefit from it. Oh well, it was still a good day for a race and we stayed focused and recovered some lost places.

Results can be found here: Jim Depue Memorial Results 2013

Our course for the day.