Freddy's Coffee House 6/30/12

009to090 wrote:Heyyyy Freddy.... was the cordless tool your were using a ....

Naaa... it was a normal everyday cordless drill. I didn't pay much attention because I wouldn't buy a Dewalt.... well.... some of their larger tools are OK, but the ones they aim at homeowners are junk in my opinion. But.... ya! I got a Hitachi impact driver last year & I love it! Oh my word, I just never drive screws with the cordless drill anymore.

Cool new tractor! Looks like a sweetheart.

'Bout time you worked on a real machine, Chris!!

That carb looks very similar to the one on my 2N.

Wood'nCoal wrote:'Bout time you worked on a real machine, Chris!!

That carb looks very similar to the one on my 2N.

Yeah, the old Zenith carbs all looked alike. I like rebuilding them, they are so easy to work on.

I think this entire tractor weighs less than the transmission Smitty is rebuilding

Actually the N series carb is a Marvel-Schebler, but it looks very similar.

http://www.yesterdaystractors.com/articles/restor ... 31_pg1.htm

Good Morning all.
Lisa, sorry to hear of your loss, but you did the right thing, being with him, at home when he passed.

Smitty, I like the wonderful feeling when the antifreeze runs down your arm and has a reaction with your underarm deodorant.
Seriously, glycol in your eyes is not fun!!

I had a great week in Western Michigan, I'm on the 'puter to check the weather before driving my '33 Pierce Arrow back home. I have my other '25 Pierce
in the box trailer following me, should be about a 3 hour drive. Hope it will go OK

The cars all performed well at the meet, we had some 95-99* weather, so some boiling and overheating in the old unpressurized cooling systems, but
no problems but a roadside stop and a sip of water and back on the tour..

I'll post photos of the big weekend 'bash' and the tours of the national meet later this week..

Greg L.

Good afternoon everyone, looks like I get day old coffee. Yesterday I left early to try and beat the heat and diagnose a wiring problem with the new-to-us boat trailer. It all started on Friday night when dad and I went to hook on the boot & trailer. None of the trailer lights worked, and there was a wasp nest in the trailer hitch. We managed to find a can of starting fluid and gave the wasps a taste of that, and headed for home on the back roads with only the truck lights. Thankfully it was only about 5 miles and we only met a few cars. Saturday morning I started on the trailer lights and discovered a broken ground, once I fixed that everything but the left turn signal worked. No power at the left-turn prong in the truck plug, so I started tearing into the harness connections at the back of the truck. I discovered a spot where the left-turn wire had rubbed on the frame enough to expose just a hair of copper, so I fixed that...and checked some more connections farther up the line. I sorted out a bird's nest of wiring under the steering wheel, but it turned out that all those wires were snow-plow or plow lights related. Once all the wiring seemed up to snuff I checked the fuse diagram in the manual; sure enough there is a separate fuse for each trailer turn signal, and the left one was blown. New fuse and everything works as it should. After the truck and trailer were fixed, it was time to give the boat a good once-over. Both batteries are 5 years old and very weak, so tomorrow we will source two new ones. Mechanically everything seems fine, so with any luck it will go in the water later this week.

My EFM is still burning for domestic hot water, I change the ash can once per week and it does the rest.

Rob R. wrote: Both batteries are 5 years old and very weak

Gosh.... should I start to worry about the battery in my '97 Ford Van? It's the original! I kid you not. The van was a hold over that we bought brand new in '98 and I have never changed the battery, nor will I until it dies!

Good job on hunting down the electric problems. They can be a B*tch!

Wow.... big storms near DC? Six killed? That's not good. And to be without power when the temp is triple digits. I hope they get power back soon.

I bet you never parked the van for 6-8 months at a time and let the batteries go dead...that really shortens their life.

Freddy wrote:
Wow.... big storms near DC? Six killed? That's not good. And to be without power when the temp is triple digits. I hope they get power back soon.

Yeah, it turned out to a good week to be from the DC area. While the power is back on in my neighborhood, there are still a lot of places without power and the folks being told it may take up to a week or more to restore power to all. We were blessed not to have any big trees go over; just a few small to medium dead limbs falling to the ground. I'm glad to see those go. I'll start bagging it all up tomorrow. The bees made it just fine.

Thank you to everyone for their kind thoughts and prays on behalf of my father. As many have said we couldn't have asked for more in the peaceful, painless passing he had. Last night we had a huge BBQ and blew up a variety of fireworks. My dad would have had a ball! Again, thanks for all your kind thoughts. Lisa

lowfog01 wrote:a huge BBQ and blew up a variety of fireworks. My dad would have had a ball!

That he would have! I'm sure there were some tears, but glad to hear you & the family could share some smiles.

Rob R. wrote: I bet you never parked the van for 6-8 months at a time and let the batteries go dead

AND.... it rarely get's started unless it goes 5 miles. ONCE the battery went dead, dead, dead. I left the interior light on all night. That happened..... about 3 months ago! *gulp* I carry jumper cables....the day must be coming. I've never had one, or heard of one lasting so long. Going on 15 years? That's either crazy, or Ford tough! LOL

I had one battery last 10+ years, the car went to the junkyard with the battery still in it.

Five to seven years is about what I get from a battery. I had a John Deere battery get weak after three years then I started adding acid instead of water to the cells when they got low and it went another three years.

Deep cycles on a boat get used, abused and sometimes bounced to hell and back depending on the boat. The cranking battery better be good, don’t wait for it to die. Being on a large lake when the wind starts whipping up the waves and you find your dead in the water is hard on the underwear. Last summer I got caught in some rough water and the whole way in to the marina all I could think of was if the motor or bilge pump dies now there is a good chance we will be swimming. We were soaking wet when we got in. The grandson had a ball, he thought it was fun!

gaw wrote:Being on a large lake when the wind starts

Ohhhh ya! I think the most scared I have ever been was in a 18 foot boat. Long story short we went 30 seconds without the engine running and honestly, before that 30 seconds was over, we were looking for help. I was the only one of four that had a life preserver on and I'll tell ya, it didn't make me what you would call comfortable!

My Dad taught me to not add acid. Only water evaporates. The way he taught me , and I got an extra year out of many a motorcycle battery, is to add water, fully charge the battery (this "drives" the acid from the plates into the liquid), then, dump the entire battery and add all new acid. Now you have new acid at the correct strength.

Years ago once a battery was dead or dying we would drain everything out & then flush it real good with a garden hose, the idea was to get all the flaked lead from the bottom. Then we would refill with new acid & water & get maybe two years or better out of them, it's when the crud reaches the bottom of the plates that kills that cell.

Yep - sulfation. Happens whenever they sit. Happens to just about every single motorcycle battery out there.

With maintenance, I usually get a minimum of 8 years out of a conventional battery. Keep the water & charge up & they're good. Maintenance free batteries that you find in modern motorcycles are very dependent upon their first charge. Most techs add acid & immediately wheel them out the door to the new owner .... and your replacing it in 2 years, or sooner. Prepped right, you'll get a minimum of 8 years out of those too. It helps living in cold New England though - adds lots of life to batteries. Hot climates kill them. I have a hot climate Sears battery I bought in Phoenix in 5/2000 and it's STILL GOOD!! They beef them up with thicker lead plates & a larger electrolyte capacity to handle the heat, which makes them indestructible in cold climates. As far as I know, you have to buy them there - they won't ship them anyplace else. If everyone bought these, the battery industry would fold!

I've been having real good luck with sealed lead-acid batteries (typically found in alarm systems). You can abuse the hell out of them - let them sit for MONTHS or YEARS without a charge, and it doesn't even phase them. I have one in the RD. 2 years and haven't charged it once. I use them in all kick start bikes. Cheap too - like $22 shipped vs. over $50 for OEM. Haven't had any experience yet with the larger ones for electric start machines. They seem to be catching on that us gear heads are using them, and are pricing them accordingly ...

WOW Chris - that 40 year old fuel in the carb looks BETTER than the one year old fuel up here!! Those floats look MINT!!