Monday, September 17, 2012

I've got nuthin'!

The sad truth is that I've got nothing to write about! I've spent the vast majority of the last two weeks sitting on my backside in my office and it is even getting to the point where I am getting concerned about my job. When you are getting emails from the company CEO talking about company wide mandatory time off because things are bad enough to warrant it, it's REALLY not a good time to be sitting around idle and doing little or nothing to earn your paycheck . . .

I've been doing a lot of cosmetic work on my Classic Mustang. I have the engine bay painted and I have sanded down and painted the valve covers and air cleaner assembly. I have not put it all back together yet though, because I want to give the paint plenty of time to dry and cure before letting hoses and cables flop against it. Now the only problem is that it all looks so beautiful that I'm afraid to put it all back together and put it to use - I just cant bear the thought of getting dirt and oil on my pristine components! I'm gonna have to get over that though, because what use is it to have a neat car if you can't drive her?

My engine compartment as I bought the car




My engine compartment after a great deal of work.



My air cleaner after I restored it. I sanded and painted it probably three different times trying to get it right.


Yesterday it rained all day, and so I could not do any painting. Instead, I took my drivers side door apart and worked on the window that had been VERY hard to operate. It seems that forty five year old grease kind of turns into an almost glue-like substance, and so was working far more as an impediment to the windows operation than as a lubricant. A little bit of carb cleaner on a scotchbrite pad, some scrubbing, and a light coat of grease manufactured in this decade did absolute wonders for its operation. I sat there for ten minutes rolling the window up and down and delighting in the ease with which it is now possible to operate it.

So one thing that I would like to throw your way is my cousins blog: Wit's End
He has not asked me to share his blog and in fact has no idea that I am doing so, so this is not me trying to throw a relative a bone. The truth is, he honestly has a neat blog - very thoughtful and well written. If you have a moment, you might wanna consider giving it a quick look!  ;-)

We now return you to your scheduled programming . . . 


12 comments:

  1. ahhh i see your mustang uses the 289 engine. cooool these engines have been tried and true over the years. a cool engine for a stang but a small engine when it is in our 1964 galaxy 500 convertable with it's X frame. but once you get over the road with it it's a great one.
    the air cleaner housing painted looks great. keep up the good work.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, no question that she doesn't truly fall into the "muscle car" category, but I love her!

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  2. Maybe not quite my style (my last classic was a '66 Singer Vogue) but I recon that engines need to run, cars need to be driven, however pretty they are.

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    1. That's what i keep telling myself anyway! I used to have an aunt that had beautiful furniture, but she always kept it under a plastic cover. I never "got" that! What's the point of having something nice if you are not going to enjoy it?!

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    2. So true.... Plastic slipcovers are terrible to sit on. It's better to buy good furniture that lasts "forever", and assume that you'll be reupholstering it every few years. It's like the person who owns "good china" and never uses it except on holidays. What a big waste! (It's different with little kiddies in the house. My point is made for an adult household.)

      Marian

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  3. Kim -

    If I remember right, wasn't your wife laid off by the firm you work for? I've lived with the threat of being laid off for years (and will likely suffer that fate in the next few months), and your firm may be suffering worse than anyone is letting on. What do you see in the sales of your firm's products? Are they selling more, or just maintaining old products? So many questions one could ask, but this may be the most important one - are your skills portable to a new firm in the same or a different industry?

    In any case, brush up your resume now! You never know when you might need to use it....

    Marian

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    1. Yes, my wife did work for the same company and was let go shortly before giving birth to our youngest. Considering that she did four times the work of all of the other customer service folks that worked with her, I figure there is very little doubt that her pending absence for the baby was the primary motivation.

      Can me skills transfer? I dunno - this is the only job I've had as an adult after i got out of the army. I've never faced trying to move from one company to another. The idea scares the hell outta me!

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    2. I understand what you mean - I've worked for the same firm for the past 28 years, and my skills are no longer in high demand. This potential risk scares the hell out of me as well....

      And I think you'd want to travel pretty whenever possible. (I certainly want to - even when it's at my own expense.) I'm finding that people don't care much about us being pretty - but that's because in the circles we travel, people are accustomed to a diverse group of people. If we were to be in certain ultra-conservative regions of the country (and I'm not talking about cosmopolitan areas), this might be quite different....

      Marian

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  4. Kim....

    keep at the mustang. i pulled, rebuilt and reinstalled the old Y-block 462 in my '68 lincoln 20 some years ago, had issues driving home from oklahoma (getting out of the Air Force) and had the points lose their proper gap...

    car sat in my garage for about 6 years and then sold it, thinking i had screwed something up in the engine. it wouldnt start either because the starter had gone nearly simultaneously and i was disgusted...

    have fun!

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  5. Well, a girl has to stay busy. Loooks great

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