Spring?

There are signs of spring in south Sweden; The sun is-a-shining. Birds are loud and annoying. The white hard light that makes trolls burst in no time hit the workshop windows like laser rays. But the road is dry and the time is right to optimize cold start. 

 

Spring is what we're all looking for and warm weather makes us all feel fine. All of us? Nope. The early sunlight brings stress too. Because we all know what's coming up next. Spring and Summer. Race, Shows, Party...and your ride needs to be ready to run.

Everything's cool...but the clock is ticking. 

Salt Slush Saturday Sun. 

Pictured: Magnus and Chicko-The-Dog in waffle battle. Magnus won.

But you cannot dwell in the sun if you're a man with a plan. 

Magnus have plans. A million plans. At least.

 

 Kalle is in transmission mode too. The Tremec TKO has not arrived to its final destination yet, but the Camaro has reached another level and Kalle is planning to gear up.

 When not serving as Salt Slush CFO, Carina is in engine bay mode...

 

..cleaning, painting and preparing for the Rocket to reach the Ride. 

It's still cold outside, but spring is coming up and therefore the mechanical puzzle is coming together and yes, a test drive confirmed clutch function.

Lillebil. A Salt Slush fan who have seen more springs than most of us will ever see. Her view is basically that we need to get our shit together soon.

Me? Since the road were dry, I managed to make a 5=5 this week....meaning....a different commuter car each day this week.

Here's what; 

Pre-war Monday = 1941 Buick Super Coupe

Art Deco Tuesday = 1938 Oldsmobile Coupe

Post War Wednesday = 1946 Freedom Ford Coupe

Modern man Thursday = Cadillac CTS

Feel good Friday =1979 Chevy C20
 

Summary; it's getting colder again. Spring is not here yet. But summer will come this year too and we better get ready.

Smart storage, when you outgrow your workshop

Disclaimer: You are about to see some pictures from my garage/workshop. This in no way represents good practice nor should the rest of the team be judged by my standards. Do not try this at home. Remember cleanliness is next to godliness. Now let's talk shop saftey and smart storage.

A machined surface is a surface you make using your machine. Hopefully with some degree of precision. A machine surface is a somewhat flat surface on your machine where you can store tools, parts, rags, catalogs, fast food, etc. Preferably under a big pile of metal chips. Sometimes your machined parts can become the storage space for other parts and projects. That's a practical way to save space. The fun part is when you finally dig in to the pile of parts you have and find all the neat things you have been looking for. So really, slacking with the cleaning up is just like giving you a surprice christmas every now and then. If you know what to look for you can see more than a few ongoing, well not completely abandoned, projects.

Oh there's one of my flathead blocks under my soon to be bass cabinet under some Ford Model B engine parts. At least the stack has wheels and can be rolled.

Other Ford parts on my washing machine

In a recent blog entry I showed you some machining of our flywheel. To do that I had to fire up my trusty old Warner & Swasey turret lathe. And by trusty old I mean old... and not that trusty. Make  no mistake, it will turn big chunks of solid metal into tiny chips in a heartbeat. But the clutch drag in neutral and the difficult to stop 50+ kg chuck sometimes worry me. But hey, moving the forward/reverse lever slightly to reverse the chuck is held stationary most of the times.

Poor old Bridgeport

 I really like older machines with all the knobs, wheels and levers. Big heavy castings, functional design, useful damn nice looking and a lot of space to pile up parts. But what really want to say is that I'm in desperate need of a larger workshop. Much much larger.

OK enough of the stupid rant . Enjoy the horror.

Using my MIG weld as a cart for my TIG welder. How's that for weldporn?

What is this neglected machines? Hardly anything stored on them. 

Until next time: Eat, sleep, salt slush, repeat.