Morning coffee

[RICH MUISE]

ok...back to home remodeling stuff....a head's up tip...my next door neighbor's gas stove went out last week, they bought a new one, and asked me to install it for them. I went over Monday to see what I was in for, and noticed they had an old copper or brass flex tube supply line. Legally they need to be replaced, but aside from meeting code, there is a very good reason to not reuse these old lines. Over time the natural gas reacts with the copper and actually forms crystals inside the tube. We're talking build up to the point where they can actually clog the tube, and of course these crstals will migrate to the control valve, causing them not to work. It very well could be the reason her old stove stopped working. I'll know later this morning. Another tip...when your hooking up this gas stuff, don't use the white teflon thread tape. The gas will eventually eat thru it. They make a special teflon tape for gas. It is yellow.

[hiball3985]

Good point on the Teflon tape Rich. I had this happen on the dryer, I thought the burner went out. After taking the burner out I found a piece of tape in the main jet, very similar to a carburetor jet, it was removable and I just cleaned it out and back on the road..
I didn't know about the crystal build up, thanks..

[Ecode70D]

Rich and Jim...
   Do  you two guys make house calls just in case I have a problem with a home project that I can't handle??

   Rich... I never knew that about the crystals also.   

[RICH MUISE]

I replaced a water heater a few years ago. The control valve went out, and the water heater was old enough to warrant a new one rather than just another new $150. valve. When I replaced the old tube that was there, a small pile of the crystals actually fell out of the tube. They are black...look like tiny bits of coal. Realized that was probably why the control valve I had replaced a year or so before that was no longer working. I didn't replace the supply tube the first time because I would have had to pull the water heater out of it's tight space to get to it.

[hiball3985]

Rich and Jim...
   Do  you two guys make house calls just in case I have a problem with a home project that I can't handle??

   Rich... I never knew that about the crystals also.   

You have my phone number. May take a while to get there in the 57 

[Zapato]

Got all the new ,and more, siding painted yesterday. Trimmed around the new door now all that is left is paint inside of door, install lockset, clean back patio, and install doors on cabinet where old microwave sat. Good thing wife is working thursday and we are doing thanksgiving on friday. Hope you all have a good one.

Zap-

[JimNolan]

I'll use this morning coffee venue to tell everyone to have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. The only work I've been doing to my cars is on the 63 Galaxie. It's getting the bumpers rechromed, new reproduction am/fm radio, package tray and 406/427 alum. intake PCV valve installation kit. The 57 is covered up and ready to go. It's not needing anything. I'll drive them this winter whenever the roads are clear and salt free. Jim

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks Jim..You have a great Thanksgiving also. Do you still have that low miles car you bought a year or two ago you weren't sure what to do with? I actually can't remember what it was...'67 Fairlane?

[JimNolan]

Hi Rich,
  That was a 66 Fairlane. It was all original, nice car, 37K miles with the original fan belts, like new interior, original paint etc. I was afraid to drive it so I let it go. It's in Canada now in a collection. The guy called me back and said he was really pleased with it so I was happy he got it. I can't own a car I can't enjoy every day the roads don't have snow or salt on them.

[hiball3985]

The only thing I accomplished today was painting my air cleaner. 72 degrees, just perfect for painting..

[410ranchero]

Had a good visit on Friday, fellow members Troy, and his wife Jesse (410ranchero) drove up from Clarksville Tennesee. They came up to purchase a complete ems floor I had, as well as other panels. The timing was good, as I was leaving for deer hunting season opener on Friday night. We had a good visit looking over my projects, then we went for a ride in my 58. That turned out to be quite timely,we got a couple inches of snow this morning at drive time, so lots of salt was put down, time to put the hot rods away for winter. They said they were stopping to see Tom Drummonds collection on the way home, he is about an hour and a half from me. Troy is a lucky guy, his wife Jesse seems to share his passion for the 57's,  Mark

Sorry I was never good at following rules, this will be an "evening beer" post from me. I'm usually chugging coffee on the road as I'm not much of a morning person!

Jessica and I had an awesome trip up north! We left TN at 4am on Friday and took the very rough route up Hwy 41 through Indiana(they must have awesome schools, no money is spent on roads!) But we made the GPS time of 9hrs right on the nose, to the wrong address! Luckily we were a little early so we went into Waukesha(pronounced WOK-A-SHAW, not WAH-KOO-SHA haha) to a little deli and had a great lunch and a local beer before meeting Mark. Mark corrected the GPS error and got us to his place where he has assembled a nice collection of 57 Ranchero paraphernalia. I scored a complete floor and a left quarter as well a treasure trove of first hand combing over of Marks projects. Mark was even kind enough to take us for a ride is his beautiful 58'. This was my wife's first ride in a Y block car and definitely helped my argument for a gear vendor over drive. Its always so cool to see a car all finished when yours is in pile! I got a lot of good ideas on how to proceed with mine, and I think I'm going to shamelessly copy Marks idea for a gold dash.

We left Marks house with the trailer full of goodies and a left front wheel bearing on its last legs and headed in Milwaukee. We stayed downtown after taking pictures of everything in the trailer incase it wasn't with us in the morning. We had dinner at a little Irish pub called Mo's and man was it good, that with a local beer finished the first 22 hour day. We got about 6 hours sleep and blasted down to the little Firestone store for a fresh wheel bearing at 7:30 and as luck would have it, there was a little pub across the street that served breakfast, little Irish coffee took the sting out of the $250 wheel bearing.... Of course I had to unhook our little trailer, while a local was nice enough to park in front of it while the car was getting worked on. Then off to the Miller brewery tour(impressive), then the Harley museum(ho hum), and last stop the LakeFront Brewery tour(thankfully they make a killer root beer, and best tour). We were hoping to be out of town by noon. By now it was 4pm and we were looking at a 10 hour drive, plus a stop at Tom's house. No big deal, I like red bull!

We blasted out of Milwaukee after retrieving our trailer(had to push it backwards far enough to get the Escalade in front of it) quick stop for gas and cheese curds and finally arrived at Tom's at 6pm(about 5 hours late!)

If you haven't met Tom you are really missing out, I feel like we met an icon of the 57 Ford world for sure. Tom's three 57's are really well restored, and I think represented three different routes of bringing one back to life. The vert looks almost stock, with a very well executed factory appearing FE transplant (lost of ideas from this), the Custom struck me a nicely done resto that you would drive anywhere, and the Ranchero is just a league of its own, I had never seen a Lincoln Y block, let alone a McCullough supercharged one! After drooling over all three of Tom's 57's we hit a local BBQ joint, and Tom insisted that he buy our dinner! We then went back to Tom's and were treated to his 57 Ford museum. If you haven't seen it, you are really missing out, Tom has in my opinion the most complete privately owned collection of 57 Ford memorabilia. We visited for a while longer and then had to hit the road again.

I was determined to make the rest of the drive home, but petered out after about another 23 hour day. We got a motel and made it home the next day.

Now if I could just get a little free time to get that floor and quarter installed!

[wildhog]

Troy, I told you guys you should have stayed the night and start fresh! It was good to meet you both and maybe I will head down your way this summer. If any body on the site is travling on I90 I am at the Il. Wi. border Rockton Il. Always happy to have people stop and look at my 57 junk. Tom

[RICH MUISE]

Man, you guys can squeeze in alot on one long weekend! Thanks for posting, Mark and Tom's collections definetly sound like a must do. Now, if I can ever get a trip planned to the Northeast, I could take a Northern route to get there.

[Ford Blue blood]

Man I thought I was doing good driving from Birmingham to OK City, dropping off the 57 wagon then up to Tulsa to pick up the 58 Edsel and then to Ft. Smith, AR for a rest stop!  You guys are out there......

[4thgen57]

Got a drive in today, to the gas station then my buddies shop. snowing all the way. Took my 2 year old on his first ride in the Custom. He's a trooper. No heat , and he just sat there and grinned.