Thanks Greg, much appreciated! i think I may have told this before on here, but you may have missed it, I certainly miss my share of stuff on here. I guess you could say technically I do not qualify as a "Jr." because my Dad's full name was Ralph Charles and I am Ralph Christopher. The funny thing is that Dad and I were not the only Ralph's in the family. My Grandpa on Mom's side was a Ralph, and Mom's oldest brother was a Ralph Jr. There was certainly no shortage of Ralph's!

Thanks John! It's a professional photograph from my Sister's wedding photographs, that's why he has the tux on. When the School decided they were going to have a plaque made, they contacted my Sister because she was the only one of us kids who were local that would be able to provide a few for them to choose from. My Sister wanted the whole affair to be a surprise for my Brother and I so we had no input into what picture was used. Frankly, I am surprised the Wedding Photographer was able to get such a nice pic of Dad at that point because he had already been battling cancer for over 4-yrs, and was nearing the end when that picture was taken. Dad, being the warrior he was, was determined to hang on to see his little girl enjoy her big day. He did, and then passed about a month later.

 

Hi everyone.

Not as busy today, but we're still turning them out. Actually, my robot guy is outbuilding my wall guy. Wall guy doesn't care. He's a good dude but wasn't catching my drift when I suggested he pick it up a little.

Got lots to do this afternoon. Need to go pick up my car from the mechanic. It's paid for I just need a ride over there. He called and said he can't fix it. I don't get these people. This is the third place I've taken it. The Check Engine light is on and the code is for a bad computer. All three places do everything possible EXCEPT look at the computer. And, this guy took a week and a half to do nothing and now I will be late getting it registered because I have to find yet another place to work on it and reg is due on Monday. My plan was just to trade it and take a bath but I can't find anything I like. I guess I'll just keep paying on it until it's paid off and then have it hauled off. It isn't worth anything the way it sits. Maybe I could have it repossessed. I think my credit could handle that.

Also need to pick up my flooring. I think I can get it this evening but I need to call. I don't have my order number so setting it up online is not possible. I don't know why the website can't find it with my phone number. Also need to do some laundry, find the suitcase Mom wants to take with her, and, and, and...

Okay back to work. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

 

Mike - That really, really sucks, I feel for ya! Sounds like you really have alot of irons in the fire! Hang in there buddy!

 

Greg, P.S.M.C.D. predated Hemmings Muscle Machines. It was first featured in Musclecar Review. https://www.psmcdr.com/

 

Hi guys,

Hope everyone has had a good day. Cooler here today with a high of only about 86°, but the humidity was through the roof and the heat index was 96°, a real sauna.

Got out to the garage around 0830 and started detailing on the 4-4-2. Did all the exterior of the car with the exception of the Roof (which doesn't need it again yet) and the wheels. I kept taking breaks to come inside and cool off. It's hard to do detailing work if you're sweating like a pig! Finished up around noon. I'll get out and do the wheels in the morning and see if there are any areas under the hood that need touching up. Interior is clean other than maybe a light dust and vacuum.

Rested about an hour and a half after coming in and then did my lifting workout. Dawn's off painting so I fixed myself a frozen pizza for dinner. Pretty benign day, but I stayed busy. Tired now though.

Got a text from the Roofing/Siding Contactor saying he's expecting to start the Siding replacement Monday dependent on weather. Right now the rain chance is low for then.

Hope ya'll have a great evening!

 

Looks like the temperatures this weekend and all next week are going to be brutal and dangerous, with Heat Indices of 105° or higher! I'm not going to subject myself to a 105° Heat Index on Sunday just because I'd like to get the car out to a show!

 

Chris I felt like I had a revelation last week. I wanted to work in the garage but it was so hot out, so I left the door down, and opened the door to the kitchen and put a box fan in the doorway. It blew cold house air into the garage and actually cooled it down several degrees. It was very noticeable when I'd step outside for a minute then come back into the garage.

Well I got the car picked up. Walked the two miles to the shop because no one was around to give me a lift. It was only 93* out. I'm not going to worry about it until I get back from Ohio.

Also went to get my flooring. Thirty Six boxes of it. It was all wrapped up on a pallet and the guy used a forklift and slid it right into the van like it was meant to be there. I decided that was too much weight to leave on the axle over night so I started unloading it and bringing it into the house. Holy Toledo that was a workout. I got one more than half and just gave out. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. But it's in my possession and that's what counts.

Okay I'm off for 10 days. I hope I can make them count. Four of those days will be my Ohio trip. And then four will be work and little or no time to do stuff after work. And then three days will be going to Florida and back. That about uses up the two weeks Mom will be gone.

Well I'm beat. Hope everyone has a good evening I'm off to bed.

 

Sounds like a good reason to stop rubbing the chrome off your wheels.

 

Wow Mike, after a 2-mile hike and then all that unloading I bet you are beat! I bet you sleep good tonight! Be safe and have fun in Ohio!

 

Mike - Sounds like a busy day for ya. Have a safe trip to Celina & enjoy your stay.

 

No ****!

 

Ran the 68 this morning. Started fine after 6 weeks, so the fuel pump checkball is not that bad. Kickdown does not work, but, other than that, car runs well. AC is R12 levels of cold.

Began work on the 72, jack slipped, dinged a rocker molding a little and scraped a hole in a lower decal. Decals are replaceable. Upon further thought, I jacked under the control arms, and used my railroad tie jack stands to get the front end off the ground. The left wheel I could spin 1.5 turns, the right, only .5. I have been looking for an issue why it made noise at highway speed. My thoughts were on loose exhaust, bad rear bearing. Could be hanging front caliper.

I did a useful trick of popping the bleeder loose then back tight. Now the wheel spins like the other one. This is usually indicative of bad hose. I got on the internet, and found a NAPA in Jimtown had them. Went to this hole in the wall NAPA and it was 3 old dudes who knew everything, and knew all the hot rodders I knew. Wish I'd gone there sooner. We made fun of the NAPA near me being kids and only for buying car wax. I got two front hoses and a rear and fluid. Went to O'Reily's and got a vacuum pump and an exhaust clamp and other sundry goods.

Came home and mounted both hoses. The left one bled vacuum style fine. The right one would not. Perhaps the bleeder was bad. I used one of the vacuum lines and taped a water bottle to the hub and pumped about a pint of brake fluid through it, keeping the hose submerged. This is another way to bleed by yourself. Had strong pedal, so I put the wheels on. They both spin the same by hand now, even after hitting the brakes, so I suspect the problem is fixed. I put the car on the ground and bagged it for the night.

I need to jack the back up, spin wheels, feel u joints, replace the center hose, bleed out both drums and I need to clamp on this stupid flowmaster tip that is almost fallen off. Hopefully the front dragging caliper was the loud hum at 70.

 

105 F thats hot , we have a car show and cruising here today and forecast of "only" 86 F and we think thats
very hot. Should visit the cruise-in and check the cars when they open and it´s not so hot , but i think some cars
may have overheating issues when they cruising around and stuck in traffic in the city for hours in the evening.

So 105 F sounds like a terrible heat. Hottest i can remember here was 94 F in 2018.

 

Is it going on this fall? I wonder if we could go down strip then- that would be cool... I'll check it out.

 

John, I suspected a bad hose on my Cutlass cuz car would dive to right on a quick jab of brakes. I ordered and then replaced all 3 hoses with braided ones. Well that was all well and good but then found a bad rear wheel seal on L/R wheel, L/R wheel was grabbing, that led to both rear wheel bearings, seals and shoes being replaced... Not the same issue as you. Anyway I like the braided ones and hopefully will last as long as I have car.

 

Yep, Dan it is happening 9/12, unfortunately that is the day I am having my 2nd Cataract surgery... figures...

 

Hi Glenn - Just to be clear, that 105°F is what we refer to here in the U.S. as a Heat Index adjusted temperature, also sometimes referred to as a "Real Feel" temperature. The actual air temperature will be 95°F, but when the relative humidity is factored in, the Heat Index temperature of 105°F is what the human body perceives the temperature to be because the high humidity makes it more difficult for the human body to cool itself. Hope this is clear???

 

Agree - Temps + humidity are relentless this year. I noticed the 1st tropical wave disturbance which has moved off the Cabo Verde Islands this year. It apparently won't amount to anything; yet, tropical wave formations off Cabo Verde Islands are a hallmark of the ensuing Atlantic Ocean hurricane season.

 

Went to a small car show last night, a fundraiser for the local Career Tech Center. Pleasant weather, so it was comfortable. My buddy and I were going to head over to Greenville, Mi. this afternoon (4-8pm), but rain has started, and as they are east of us, it will hit them during the show, so that's a no go. Chris, you can keep your weather forecast! Greg, sorry that you won't be able to make it to Purestock. I'll be there if the weather is good. I've been hearing a clacking sound from the front of the Olds, I suspected that it had loose wheel bezels, I checked, and that was the case. Three of them on the drivers side. Ran my finger behind the loose ones, and found that some the tabs that hold the bezels to the wheel were missing. I have a bag of them somewhere in the garage. Time to go on a hunt!

 

Hi everyone.

Hot out but not too bad. Sun comes and goes. Haven't heard of any rain for awhile.

My sister is coming today to pick up Mom and they are driving to Florida tomorrow. My sister is smart and capable, but I still think it's a bad idea for her to drive that far by herself. Of course if they run into trouble on the way home, Mom will start nagging them and the bad guys will turn them loose.

For years I'd change flex hoses on my brakes only, and then on the big Cadillac I put hoses and got the rear hose. I don't know what all of a sudden made me think of it. Boy what a pain that is on that car. Did the rear hose on the blue van, had plenty of room. Put more than one set on my first Oldsmobile. The line would fray about an inch up from the fitting, couldn't ever figure out why. Must be the weird angle the wheel turns when you are turning sharp.

Got some impromptu laundry going, so when that's done I'll head over to Mom's, my sister should be there by then. Hope everyone is having a good Saturday.

 

Dan - Glad you and your buddy got out with your cars! 👍 You sure you can't use some of this nice warm weather?

Hope the source of your rattle is the bezels and you find the tabs to fasten them down.

 

 

Hi Chris , thanks for explanation about this. We don´t have this measurment of temperature here . Took a quick visit to the
cruise-in but only for one hour because of the heat.

 

Going to hit the range for awhile this morning - it will be hot.

 

How'd ya hit 'em? I'm watching The Open right now. Scheffler had a large lead after 7, but just had a major mistep on 8, and others are inching closer.

 

Meh. I hit 'em great when I make the correction(s). We all say muscle memory & it's true. Before muscle memory comes mental memory to build muscle memory. It's the mental memory I lack which equates to little time on the practice range. It's been so pathetically hot/humid I find little incentive to sweat my nads each day for a couple hours. My hands get so sweaty the club starts turning in my hands. I do what I can w/ what I have. Some of these guys have a lawn/landscape service, they're married & really they don't spend much time being physically active around their homes, etc. & it's quite easy practicing/playing golf when household activities/chores are divided up between husband & wife. I do it all & my time is modestly more limited. I'm not complaining, it's just simple facts.

Scottie is alone @ -16. I'm a huge Scottie fan. I hope he wins. I'll catch up on highlights later today.

 

Norm - Taking all those factors into consideration, your level of play is still extremely impressive. Tens of thousands of guys only dream of playing at your level! 😃

 

Hi guys,

Well, Dawn is off to paint again. Wanted to do something productive despite the heat. It has probably been 2-months since I've even taken the covers off either bike. I've seen some cobwebs developing along the bottom edges of the covers on both bikes, not good. Kinda disgusted with myself that I let them go that long without attention!.

One at a time I took the cover off of each bike, chased the spiders off, and removed any cobwebs from the covers and under the bikes. Luckily, there were no a spider infestations up in the motor areas or other areas on either bike, then I dusted each off with a swiffer. All in all they were not as bad as I feared, I guess the covers did their jobs. Despite the heat I may get out on one of them in the early evening if I haven't forgotten how to ride?

The last I heard from my Contractor they're supposed to start my siding replacement in the morning, and I haven't heard anything different. I'd sure like to see the siding and the rest of the roof trim done sooner than later, with a big prayer that the siding match is decent.

​​​​​​​Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

Chris - >95% won't even notice (hopefully). Only you & those familiar w/ your unfortunate event will pay any attention. No one (hopefully) will notice unless you specifically point it out. One or two shades lighter/darker will likely not matter. I've seen a couple houses over the years & wondered exactly what someone was thinking when I looked at the siding - three sides of a house had siding running vertical & one side the siding ran horizontal. I'm thinking to myself - what? Are you serious? LMAO

 

Norm - Thanks for the good MOJO about the Siding, I hope that's the case.

I'm already rethinking my earlier thought about a motorcycle ride later. I just got back indoors after a short stint outside cracking the windows open more in my truck, and moving some stuff like my Weber and hose reel down to the back so they're not in the way. It is just stifling outside and I don’t think a ride would be too enjoyable!

 

Well, I pulled the drivers front wheel off this afternoon, the bezels were only part of the problem. The dumb ***** that did my ball joints and A arm bushings, didn't get the dust cap for the wheel bearing on right, and it was bouncing around inside of the wheel center cap. Grease everywhere. Got it straightened out, and cleaned. Cleaned myself up and went for a cruise. Filled the tank up.....and checked the mpg, somebody has a lead foot. 13mpg, I was expecting 17-18.

 

Dan - Glad you found the source of the noise, despite the mess, and got it squared away.

Surprised as hell you were getting only 13 mpg with the 350, you must have a lead foot!

 

Razzlebery Pie fresh out of the oven. Should be cool enough to have a slice in a couple of hours. Vanilla icecream to go with it.

 

I got 9-10 mpg in my '67 4-4-2 (during the period from 1969-1973) & 13-15 mpg in my '72 4-4-2 (during the period from 1977-1981). I drove 'em both like I stole them.

 

Hi everyone.

Mom and sister got off to Florida around 8 this morning, and got to her house around 430. I thought that seemed like an awful long time, my sister said they had trouble with a tire. I asked which one. She said passenger rear. Uh oh. Yesterday when we went to dinner I was sitting in the back and I was sure I heard a bearing noise coming from the right rear. I contemplated saying something, knowing that Mom would have a fit and my sister would be indecisive as to what to do. I figured she made it up here okay, and I would tell her what I thought when they got back today. Hm. Seems what I was hearing was the belts separating in the tire. The tire pressure monitor gave a low indication, and when she pulled off the highway to put air in the tire, it wouldn't air up. Also there was a big bubble in the tire. Can't fix that. An unplanned layover at Walmart and they were down the road with a new tire.

So I was happy I'd have a full day to do my work. The plan was to get out the ladder and touch up the ceiling in the living room(at Mom's), then clean out the gutters, then take the chimney off and patch the roof, then see how far I'd get with the stove and mow after dinner. I got the ceiling painted, then my plan unraveled. I got up on the roof and was crawling along cleaning out the gutter, on my hands and knees going backward, and my knee slipped into the gutter and I lost my balance and fell off the roof onto the patio table. From the roof to the floor is maybe 7 feet. The glass top shattered and I hit the floor on my right side. Glass was everywhere. The table is toast. It was tempered glass so it was the little squares of broken glass. If it were regular glass I would have been impaled several times. Cut my finger pretty good and it won't stop bleeding. I'll probably have to go to a quick place tomorrow to have it looked at. Spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up glass. As long as I'm not moving I feel okay. I can't walk hardly at all I've stiffened up something fierce. No I didn't mow after dinner.

Tomorrow I need to start out by getting Tiger some flea medicine. He's allergic to something in my house and scratches and scratches. Not so much at Mom's. I've looked for fleas and haven't found any, but today I did. Also need to run a couple errands, then maybe get back to cleaning out the gutters. Only I'll stay on the ladder and not get on the roof. The chimney will be another matter. Geez, 50 years of getting up on the roof and this is the first time I've fallen off.

Gonna hit the sack. By the way, when I was in high school and drove my 70 Cutlass with 350 and automatic, I got 10 in the city and 20 on the highway. I didn't drive like a dick, I thought that's just what an old car got for gas mileage.

Good night everyone.

 

The only good thing about A body rear brake hoses is there is only one of them. Ugh. Halfway through a replacement.

My Monte Carlo gets about 15 combined. The 72 H/O gets about 12. Do not know on 68 H/O yet.

 

 

I rebuilt both (x2) chimneys from the roof line up. I built a simple flat wooden (2'w x 2'w x 2'h) platform which straddles both sides of the roof ridge. Obviously, I don't know where your chimney is located through your roof. Work safe. Standing on your feet removing the chimney & patching the roof isn't a simple walk in the park.

 

Mike - That fall and your injuries sound horrible, sorry that happened to you. Hope you get a quick once over by a Doc tomorrow if you're any worse or your finger is still bleeding, ya might need a stitch or two?

 

I did not read that part of Mike's post. Holy ****. Yeah regular glass you would've been impaled and dead.