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Well, since we're staying at home for a few weeks, I figured it would be a good time to get going on my annual Spring Speedstah Maintenance.  Anything to get away from the constant barrage of viral virus news (even on here).

Got the car up on jack stands, drained the oil (I have more in stock) and then realized I didn't have a replacement oil filter so that'll wait a while.  No apparent mouse infestation this year so my get-ready time will be shorter    .  

Undercarriage looks pretty good, since I spruced that up last summer when I was messing with the carbs, so all that's left is to clean and treat the interior, get my hands-free phone mount ready (it mounts into the CD player slot) and install the blue-tooth hands-free adapter for my now-archaic Stereo.  I upgraded the bluetooth in Kathy's car so her old one will end up in Pearl.  

Haven't looked much under the front of the car yet, but whatever looks like it needs sprucing up will get that, too.   

So.......   What are YOU doing to get ready for Spring Driving?  "Dust-off Day" is just around the corner, and you can't catch the virus while driving your Speedstah!

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Garage is clean and organized , I am now waiting for my paint guy Tommy in PA. to get done with Speedster Project # 50. I just got off the phone with him he promised this weekend so I translated that to late Sunday night when I'll get a text to come and get it next Monday that being if we can still access gas then and when I do arrive he'll still be buffing it out.  I do have every single solitary part and all supplies needed here and ready for the assembly for which I'll have just 7 weeks to do for Carlisle but I have been down this insane road before.  The 2019 slightly used open utility trailer I bought last week for a song is now ready to roll. My wife's 65th B Day is today and not a great ideal to go out to dinner so I will be staring as Chef Alan and BBQ marinated T' bones steaks with some bubbly this evening ~

Last edited by Alan Merklin

All non essential meetings for my contract position company have been discouraged or cancelled. Everyone is working from home if they are able. Highways are virtually empty this morning as the list of cancellation grow ever larger: All sporting events, malls have lowered their hours, cinemas, restaurants, dentists are down to emergency appointments only. Universities and even public primary schools are closed for 3 weeks. Nursing homes and adult assisted living are on lockdown. It's really eerie and a bit bizarre considering there's not a single case in our town of 30,000. There are 140 cases in Ontario but 40 of those were reported yesterday so maybe it goes up exponentially from here?

Other than continuing to get some work done, I'm walking my dogs 6X a day 

 

I'm working on Lexan side curtains.  We've got a low front coming in from the Kona side bringing along some sulfur dioxide from Kīlauea so sunrises and sunsets are spectacular. Waiting for delivery of the alternator that got bombed by the exploding fan and the Panchita heads with the double valve springs. Can't wait to get back on the road again (just finished watching the Ken Burns Country Music series - highly recommended).

Planning on installing a few more gadgets on the lights to make myself a bit more visible other than that.

The oil & filter the K&N all done.

Brake fluid change Done. Thanks Gordon. 

TOdo's

AC all done except to fill it up and test for leaks then tape up the whole thing to prevent condensation.  EZQUip worked well. 

Interior clean and leather treatment 

When the snow goes wash and rewax and retreat canvas top 

finish up lighting stuff

Here is Hoping travel restrictions are lifted other wise we might have to have a gumball rally on this side. 

 

 

To continue to change the subject, In "Country Music," I found myself tearing up when they played back the Grand Old Opry tributes to some of the greats who had passed away. It reminded me of when my unabashedly hillbilly Uncle Grover passed away. He was the one who first counseled me on my OCD tendencies while we hanging sheet rock ("We ain't building no piano here, Mike") . He had a country gospel, bluegrass band that I would try to keep up with when I was learning guitar. He also introduced me to his High Wahyun steel guitar with the hula ladies carved on the sides. For those of you who are triangulating from my previous posts, this is the same uncle who might have owned a 440 6-pack SuperBird for transporting high octane beverages through the mountains.

At his funeral, one Grover's band mates, Bobby Thomas, sang a gospel tune.  Cousin Bobby was a tall, lanky hard man with a face that seen some tough things. He and the band got about half way through the song when he broke into tears and couldn't go any further. He looked around at the family and friends and said "It's just, ... hard."  As a teenager from the flat lands, it gave me an appreciation for the strong sense of belonging and love that my mother's kin had way up there in the hills of North Carolina. Like everyone else listening, I also blubbered like a baby.

Installing my used convertible top I got from spyderclub.com. I fabricated Beck's folding mechanism(3 flat steel pieces per side, and rivet hinges) as my top had hoops only. After I get the top 100% dialed in, I'll take it to my local top guy for a little edge binding around the headrest. Hopefully he'll still be there. After that is squared away, I'll fabricate some plexi side curtains. I have nice aluminum ferrules from SE, and a set of Troy's cruisin' windows for the hardware. Spyder doors are shorter, so the hardware needs to be shortened.

After all that, I'll do an oil change/valve adjustment. Then a nice wash, that's about it. We had the car out last Monday, it's running perfectly.

 

Had the car up to Anthony two weeks ago for a mild carb rebuild (the first, after 30,000 miles.)

The car was running like a top, but was starting to make a pretty strong gas smell, starting about ten minutes after shutting down (but not while the engine was running). The smell was coming directly from the carbs.

As suspected, the needle valves had worn seals. Replacing them did the trick.

(With a mechanical pump, there's still pressure in the fuel lines after shutting down. That will push past worn needle valves, fill the bowl to overflowing, and gas starts seeping out of various orifices that wouldn't normally see gas.) With an electric pump, it's probably a good idea to shut the pump off before shutting down and let the bowls run dry.

It's been a pretty rain-free winter here, so the car has been driven at least every two weeks or so. If you can at all manage that, it's the best way to keep everything healthy - just drive it. No battery maintainer, no fuel additives, no square tires.

 

While waiting for the transaxle to come back from Anthony, I dug out the 2110 from the back of the bus (inside the box, not installed) and put it in the stand.IMG-4605

I dug out all of the ancillary stuff and dressed it.

IMG-4663

... and now it's all dressed up with somewhere to go.

I'll keep updating the 2234 thread as stuff comes down the pipe.

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Stan Galat posted:

While waiting for the transaxle to come back from Anthony, I dug out the 2110 from the back of the bus (inside the box, not installed) and put it in the stand.IMG-4605

I dug out all of the ancillary stuff and dressed it.

IMG-4663

... and now it's all dressed up with somewhere to go.

I'll keep updating the 2234 thread as stuff comes down the pipe.

Nice engine, Stan but I really like the floor you have there. What treatment do you have on there, please ? Easy to install, durable, stain / oil resistant / what prep needed etc ? 

So far this week... as the sun started to come out and rain stopped I just connected the battery to the trickle charger and dusted off the car, vacuumed the inside.  I will change the oil and top fluids/ check for gas leaks this week... then start to drive.  It’s still cold but sunny.

This is the first winter since 2013 that I could not drive her,  or really work on her.    I blew my knee out in September- grade 3 - PCL, MCL, grade 2- LCL and Patellar quad tendon...  My clutch leg has been out of commission... but hope to try it out this week.

my goal is to just drive this spring/ summer... as much as I can!!!!... and start running, riding bikes, swimming, playing soccer,  crawling under and around the car...  basically return to regular day to day life,,,,& will pick up with my various want-to-do projects winter 2020-2021.

looking forward to a top down driving season!!!

Last edited by Lfepardo

The floor is a polyaspartic coating. It's rumored to be impervious to almost all automotive chemicals, and requires a complete sanding of the floor with a diamond wheel machine. I suppose it's possible to do it yourself, but almost everybody uses a contractor. It's about $8/sq ft in my neck of the woods.

When I did it 4 years ago, there was only one contractor in my area worth looking at, and he doesn't put as much top-coat on as I would have liked. There's a regional company that uses about 3x as much clear, for a much glossier finish. I couldn't care less about the gloss, but the cleanup with what I've got is not as easy as it could be.

All in all, I love it. I just wish it had more clear for an easier cleanup.

The diamond-plate goes around all but one wall of the shop. I buy it about 3 sheets at a time, when I'm feeling flush (bright diamond-plate is not inexpensive). I buy 4x10 sheets, and brake it so that every joint is over-lapped, and every corner wrapped. It's expensive, but this is the last shop I hope to set up.

BTW: I put a second lift in there-- a custom made Steel Valley Lift 4-poster. The bus (barely) fits under, and the speedster (barely) fits over, leaving the 2 post BendPak open for servicing other stuff.

I've officially stuffed as much into this 5 pound sack as possible.

Last edited by Stan Galat
Lfepardo posted:
My bad. I only asked because that looks like an awesome engine...

Thanks!

The confusion is OK, man-- even I get confused about what I'm doing now.

The "dressed" engine is the "spare". I built it for the bus, but have run it twice now in the speedster while waiting for "better" engines. It's a 2110-- 120-ish cam, decent heads, 40 Dellortos. It runs out really nicely.

Lane Anderson posted:

Wow.  After seeing Stan's shop none of you are to ever come over to my house.  The embarrassment would be too much to take.

Lane, Stan may have a stupendous garage that is only fitting for the Leader for Life of Free Stanistan, but let's be honest, neither you nor he is likely to ever boast anything like my palace of tarp with its featherly carpet of seashore paspalum turf (although I lost a few bolts and a throttle pedal somewhere down there).

IMG_20190627_072028

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Durt Cave in full effect, as detailed on my thread and blog....

IMG_5125

I put Bridget on the lift so I could replace the broken e-brake cables. Currently taking a break from pounding on the knockoffs so's I can get to the wire wheel hubs which I need to remove to access the axle nuts, etc. and soforth. 

Also pulled off the Spyder's shift knob for a repaint, and touched up two small chips on the steering wheel.

Gonna put the clam back on the Spyder after that & start the sorting process in earnest. 

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Last edited by edsnova
Stan Galat posted:

The floor is a polyaspartic coating. It's rumored to be impervious to almost all automotive chemicals, and requires a complete sanding of the floor with a diamond wheel machine. I suppose it's possible to do it yourself, but almost everybody uses a contractor. It's about $8/sq ft in my neck of the woods.

When I did it 4 years ago, there was only one contractor in my area worth looking at, and he doesn't put as much top-coat on as I would have liked. There's a regional company that uses about 3x as much clear, for a much glossier finish. I couldn't care less about the gloss, but the cleanup with what I've got is not as easy as it could be.

All in all, I love it. I just wish it had more clear for an easier cleanup.

The diamond-plate goes around all but one wall of the shop. I buy it about 3 sheets at a time, when I'm feeling flush (bright diamond-plate is not inexpensive). I buy 4x10 sheets, and brake it so that every joint is over-lapped, and every corner wrapped. It's expensive, but this is the last shop I hope to set up.

BTW: I put a second lift in there-- a custom made Steel Valley Lift 4-poster. The bus (barely) fits under, and the speedster (barely) fits over, leaving the 2 post BendPak open for servicing other stuff.

I've officially stuffed as much into this 5 pound sack as possible.

@Stan Galat Stan garage does not exist without pictures 👍😂

MAJOR CAR-TASTROPHY!!!

Between Monday and Today, my local battery place has stopped retail sales (it's the largest wholesale battery distributor in the Northeast) but still supplying their wholesale customers.  I guess I don't qualify.  They also sent home the only person left in the office who could do an over-the-phone credit card transaction.  

Plan, B:  Called my local NAPA store and got my old buddy, Dave, who will get one from the warehouse (turns out, it's the same Northeast Battery warehouse I just got turned away from) and put it outside the door for me around 3pm.  I'll be sure to wear my latex gloves at pickup.  It's for Kathy's car so she owes him a plate of Brownies.

There is always a "Plan B"   

Marieanne should be shipping my alt pulley later today says her email. I'm lucky to be able to get it...who knows when it will arrive. USPS and Canada Post shipping. Just for laughs, this $75 USD part just cost me $174 CAD. No clue what the exchange rate is today but the Canuk buck is sure in the tank. Anthony seems to be a well known lad in the CB Performance world.

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