How to bend and flare brake and fuel lines

Video: How to bend and flare brake or fuel lines:



The full article on how to bend and flare your own brake or fuel lines may be found here:
http://www.theymightberacing.com/ShopTech/FuelBrakeLineFabrication.aspx

Fuel Tank Restoration Step By Step Video & Article

The step-by-step video for fuel (gas) tank restoration is provided here:


I've also written up the full article which is available here: http://www.theymightberacing.com/ShopTech/FuelTankRestoration.aspx

Cheers!
Jody

Fuel (Gas) Tank Restoration Overview Video

Th following video documents the overview information necssary to complete the restoration of a fuel tank. With a little more dry time the step by step video and full article will follow soon!

Cheers!
Jody

Happy Holidays!

So, It's been a very happy holidays here at They Might Be Racing. Last tuesday we welcomed my son and new junior greasemonkey into the world. Jensen Findlay Kerr was born December 16th at 8:15 am.

With such a wonderful present we had a great Christmas here. Mind you, it'll be a while until I've got him out in the garage, but there will be much fun in the future!

Now that things have settled down a hair I'm finishing up my work on the fuel tank restoration of the 1953 Studebaker Champion. Right now I've pilfered the wife's hair dryer to dry out the interior of the tank. In the next few days I hope to get an article on fuel tank restoration completed as well as start in on brake/fuel line bending, flaring, and fabrication.

Happy Holidays! and for my friends up north, Happy Shoveling!

Jody

1953 Studebaker Champion Fuel System

Finally managed to get some time out in the garage today. While I toyed momentarily with messing with the Jensen Healey door panels, I just didn't have the desire to mess around with the interior stuff.

So I went ahead and started the work on the fuel system. Today's work revolved around removing the existing parts and evaluate them for reuse and repair. The gas tank had a minor dent in the bottom of it, but otherwise appears ok. The gasoline poured out of the tank was absolute sludge and varnnish. It's unusable for just about anything. While the tank was dropped I removed all the tank supports and ran them through the sandblaster.

From there it was a matter of removing all the fuel line retainers and supports and then the fuel lines from the tank to the front of the car was removed. Finally I did the same for the line across the front of the car and the line that runs from the fuel pump to the carburetor. The lines were assessed and I've decided to remove the original fuel lines and make some new lines from scratch. I believe I'll go with some nice stainless lines rather than the original steel lines. All the retainers for the fuel lines were also run through the sandblaster and cleaned up. I finished up the day cleaning the various fastners necessary to hold everything in place and setting the gas tank aside to air out.

Next step is cleaning and preparing the tank, picking up the stainless lines and building them, a little paint on the brackets and finally reassembly. Feels good to have spent a day in the garage.

Fasteners, trimbits and the like

Have you found that you're missing some special fasteners for your restoration project? Through some recent discussions with fellow British car enthusiasts these following two sites were given out as good sources for those hard to find bolts and fasteners. Hopefully this will help you find those odd little bits you may be missing!

http://www.bresco.com/index.html

http://www.macgregorukcarparts.com/index.html

20th Annual All Britaish and European Car Day Photos

Since I got done relatively early at the show today I managed to filter and upload the photos fairly quickly. It's kinda neat being able to publish photos the day of a car show. It was a beautiful morning with a little chill in the air. I got to see a gorgeous collection of british and european cars (as well as one neat american orphan).

I hopy you enjoy the photos as much as I did taking them!
20th Annual All British and European car day

Jody

Fuel Injected Austin Healey 3000

A fellow Austin Healey enthusiast recorded this video. He's been completing his restoration while simultaneously integrating some modern improvements. What I particularly liked about his fuel injection set up was that it really accounts for the way the car "should" look. A casual observer might not even notice the fuel injection!

1963 Austin Healey 3000 with Fuel Injection

General Update

So there's really nothing of major note for the past couple weeks. I started the door panels on the Jensen Healey and I have the fuel tank restoration kit for the Studebaker, but life, once again, gets in "the way."

I've spent the last two weeks on a major project at work. Lots of hours but the end is in sight. The honey-do and house preparation lists for the forthcoming baby take up more and more time. At least the work is manual labor, and I enjoy that. Tiled a bathroom last weekend, will probably work on house stuff and car stuff this weekend.

That being said, the big winter british car show is happening this Sunday. For local LBC fans, this is a must see... Here are the show details:

20th Annual All British and European Car Day. Hosted by the Arizona MG Club. Location: Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant, Westgate City Center, 6915 N. 95th Avenue, Glendale, Arizona. http://www.azmgclub.org/

More pictures

So all the american car photos are now uploaded and online. I'm still working on the foreign & import cars.

http://www.theymightberacing.com/shows/koolfm.aspx

I met so many cool people yesterday. If you recognize pictures of your car let me know!

Jody

Pictures from the 3rd Annual 94.5 Kool FM Classic Car Show

The show today was mind boggling. If I could have cloned myself into 5 copies I still don't think I could have photographed all of it. I did manage to get roughly 1/3 of the way through the show and saw all sorts of cool cars. The total at the end of the day was 803 photos.

This photo gallery completely filled my disk space online, so I can't post everything tonight. I did manage to get the 1920's to 1940's cars filtered and posted, I'll do my best to get the rest done tomorrow (once the disk space upgrade has been processed). Without further ado: 3rd Annual 94.5 KOOL FM Classic car show photo collection.

3rd Annual 94.5 KOOL FM Classic Car Show

So I'm presently drinking the morning coffee and packing up my photograhy kit for the KOOL FM car show today. It's a big event here and there should be around 1500 cars in attendance. The weather this morning is beautiful (if a bit chilly by Phoenix standards, in other words, warm to the rest of the world). The video camera is charging and both cameras are set. If you're in the Phoenix area and are interested in attending you can find the information here: http://www.koolradio.com/pages/2958874.php

In other news, the POR-15 gas tank kit arrived in the post yesterday, and the door skins on the Jensen Healey are coming along well. I am using my fabricated trim fasteners and I must say that they actually make assembly much easier than the old factory push pegs. The challenge is that a pile of forthcoming baby related items arrived as well, so my guess is that Sunday will be spent assembling cribs and such!

If you make it to the car show, look for the guy taking too many pictures, it's probably me!

New highway speed cameras in Phoenix Arizona

Just a warning to any/all who drive in the Phoenix area. There's a bunch of new highway speed cameras being put in place. The ones marked with asterisks were turned on October 22. The other locations will follow. When finished, there will be a total of 60 stationary cameras and 40 mobile ones throughout Arizona. If you get a ticket for going 10 miles over the speed limit, you'll pay $181.

Interstate 10
**Eastbound, I-10, 287th Ave.
**Eastbound, I-10, Miller
**Eastbound, I-10, Watson
Westbound, I-10, 91st Ave
East & West, I-10, 75th Ave
East & West, I-10, 59th Ave
Eastbound, I-10, 35th Ave
Eastbound, I-10, 43rd Ave
Eastbound, I-10, 27th Ave
East & West, I-10, 15th Ave
Eastbound, I-10, 16th Street
Westbound, I-10, Buckeye
Westbound, I-10, 24th Street
Westbound, I-10, 40th Street
US 60
Westbound, US-60, Alma School
Westbound, US-60, Mesa Drive
Westbound, US-60, Gilbert Road
Interstate - 17
Southbound, I-17, 15th Ave
Southbound, I-17, 12th Street
Northbound, I-17, Thunderbird
Northbound, I-17, Bell Road
State Route - 51
Southbound, SR-51, Thomas Road
Southbound, SR-51, Highland Pkwy.
Southbound, SR-51, Bethany Home Rd.
State Route - 101
**Southbound, SR-101, McDowell Rd
**Southbound, SR-101, Indian School
**Southbound, SR-101, Bethany Home
North & South, SR-101, Glendale Ave.
Southbound, SR-101, Olive
** Eastbound, SR-101, 75th Ave
** Eastbound, SR-101, 59th Ave
** Eastbound, SR-101, 35th Ave

Weekend fun!

So the wife and daughter are off at girl scout camp and I have the place to myself. I went ahead and ordered the gear necesary to redo the gas tank on the Studebaker. That should arrive during the week for next weekend.

In the meantime I stopped off at Delta Motorsports today to get new door panels / skins for the Jensen Healey project. I also picked up some extra vinyl to be able to finish up the center console restoration. It requires some sewing, so my mum should be stopping by tomorrow to give me a refresher course on using the sewing machine. So far today I stripped off the old door panel parts, refreshed the reusable bits, and am starting reassembly. Right now the glue is drying on the aluminum top sills. I'm taking plenty of photos as I go, so expect to see some new Jensen Healey restoration articles in the near future!

Well, back to gluing and cutting.

New Frame-Off Restoration Article

I just published the sixth article in the how-to do a Frame Off restoration series. This one is all about dealing with the brightwork (a.k.a. Chrome, Stainless, and Aluminum). You can read the full article here: Frame Off Restoration - Step 6 - Restoring the Brightwork (Chrome, Stainless, Aluminum).

Cheers!
Jody

New article on Frame-Off restoration

I uploaded a new article on Frame off restoration last night. It's all about dealing with the interior of the vehicle during the restoration process. You can read it here: Frame Off Restoration - Step 5 - Restoring the Interior (Soft Components)

1960 Austin Healey 3000 BT7 restoration update

Spent additional time on the Healey. Sunday afternoon and Monday night I removed all the surface electrics (lights/lamps) from the Austin Healey. I'm mid-restoration on this step. At this stage I've removed everything, have inventoried what's usable, and have put together a list of the items that I will have
to replace.

Here is the blow by blow photogallery of the Austin Healey lighting disassembly. For the novice restorer, this is the type of photo documentation you want to create when doing any disassembly or reassembly work. I actually shot more photos than this, but it gets a little too redundant for the casual viewer.

As I move through this process, refresh the parts I'm retaining, and acquire the new parts I need, I will further document this and conclude with a full article.

Cheers!
Jody

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - It Lives!

Jared posted a short video of the Mustang starting up for the first time since the restoration started. Video quality isn't the greatest, but it's wonderful to hear it run after so long!

Starting the Austin Healey Project

With the temps dropping into the reasonable range (finally!) in Phoenix, it's been enjoyable spending time in the garage. This weekend I started the initial work on the 1960 Austin Healey 3000 BT7 project. This is documented in three articles and two videos:

First Look




Clean and Inventory




and finally Assessing Accessories

Fabricating trim fasteners for the Jensen Healey

Many parts for the Jensen Healey are no longer available, and it becomes an exercise in engineering and design to fabricate new parts. Recently I was attempting to reattach the external stainless trim on the green Jensen Healey and realized that I just didn't have enough usable trim fasteners. This is also tru for the door panel trim and the door trim. So, I opted to make new ones. To learn how to make your own read the following article: Fabricating trim fasteners for the Jensen Healey.

Impala Bob's car show second video

Impala Bob's Car Show first video

I'll post the next one once it's done processing.

Impala Bob's Car Show 2008

It was a beautiful day for a car show yesterday. My buddy Chip and I went out to the 2008 Impala Bob's car show. 350 pictures and over an hour of video later we were done. Yet again, I didn't get to every car in the show as I ran out of time. So it goes.

Impala Bob's Car Show 2008 photos

I hope to be posting video soon as well, but it takes a fair amount of time to edit.

1993 Ford Explorer Rear Brakes

After getting the article on the front brakes done I decided I'd get the one on the rear brake shoes done and ou of the way. I'm hoping that this will be my last article on the 1993 Explorer for a while so that I can go back to focusing on the Jensen Healey and the Studebaker Champion.

How to replace the rear brake shoes on a 1993 Ford Explorer

Ford Explorer Brakes Article

I've been sitting on this article for a while. It seems, sometimes that I either take too many pictures or too few. In this particular case I took too few pictures of what I wanted to show, and too many irrelevant pictures.

Here it is: How to replace the front brakes on a 1993 Ford Explorer

Knight Rider remake

So I'm really not sure about this Night Rider remake. Mind you, I was a huge fan of the original series (as cheesy as it was). So, I watched it on it's initial release night and then rewatched it tonight on the Sci-Fi channel. After a second watch (this time with the wife providing her commentary as well) I've determined what it is that bothers me about the new series.

Kit's Voice

Yes, I understand that Val Kilmer is voicing the car, but it's flat and unemotional dialogue. Willaim Daniels (the original voice) just seemed to epitomize the K.I.T.T. car and really gave it personality.

The car transformations

So, in the original series when K.I.T.T. "transformed" it was all believable. It didn't look like a reject from the latest Transformers movie. These were the days before CGI. Watching a Mustang transform into the full blown K.I.T.T. mode and then into a Ford F150 is just too ridiculously out of the realm of the realistic. And what on earth are those three tubes on the hood of the car? Some wacky modernized version of the vestigal hood of the Mach 1?

Michael Knight

So, they totally changed the origin story. I can deal with that. But I've not seen acting leave that great a lack of impression like that since Sci-Fi channel redid Dune. Talk about flat and boring acting. Oh, and my wife says that his female counterpart had some serious "cutlets" (fake boob prosthetics) in her bra. So, his acting was as realistic as her breasts.

Now, I'll keep watching on the off chance that it improves. After the modern release of Battlestar Galactica (which is amazing, and I love it just as much as the original) you would think that these producers would realize that it's the *story* and the *acting* that make for great shows, not lots of CGI and women in their underwear (not that I'd ever really complain about hot women in their underwear on TV).

Here's to hoping it improves. I wonder what's coming next? A remake of Airwolf?

Even more on the Mach 1 project

I sat up really late last night writing and I managed to get almost caught up to present on the 1969 Mustang Mach 1 project. It's really funny, you keep track of things during a project, but you really don't see a lot of forward progess until the car's about done. just having the go through the volume of documentation on this particular project has made me realize exactly how much work has been done to date. Last night I wrote up the following articles:

• Priming and Chassis coating the body


• Hood Fenders and Doors


• Interior Restoration


• Adding modern technology (Car PC)


• The car back from Paint and body

There's still a bit more to write-up as the reinstallation of parts has begun. That will all come soon.

More articles about the 1969 Mustang Mach 1

The next few articles about the 1969 Mustang Mach 1 have been published. The first two articles cover repairing rusted areas in the rear and front of the vehicle. The last one covers the stripping of the paint off the body.

Rear end body work and rust repair, Front end body work and rust repair, and Stripping the paint off the body.

Leon Russell

So, I try to avoid non-car related posts as mucch as possible. It's just not right for a car blog to deviate too far. That being said, I was hitting reruns this evening and I ended up watching "House." It wasn't the episode that struck me so much as it was the fact that the soundtrack for the episode completed with an old Leon Russell song.

As far as I'm concerned, Leon Russel is a true American genius. I could spend hours talking about his time with Joe Cocker, the independent work and his asylum choir. But the reality is that he has had an incredible impact on modern music. I pined for my first love, "sitting on the highway in a broken van." VMM had to listen to this. But, I grew in those years, walking on the tight rope, talking with my cricket and the like. All these year I drove when I needed to think. Leon was with me when I drove. And I dated a detla lady and a queen of the rollerderby.

When I knew all was right was when I determined that my now wife is my hummingbird. Now, every time I have to talk in public I think of, "A song for you" and I picture my wonderful wife (aka SWMBO).

Hopefully you read this and dust off the Leon Russell vinyl. If you've never heard of him before, then buy Carney and not be affected. If you can listen to Carney and not feel anything I will buy your copy because you're not capable of understanding or understanding it.

For those being period specific, Carney was released in 1972. Leon's been releasing since 1996. His latest release is 2008.

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

My good friend Jared has joined the TheyMightBeRacing fold. We've started writing up his current project, a 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. You can find the first three articles about his car's restortation.

Initial page about the Mustang Mach 1

Removing the interior and fixing the floorboards

Fixing the shock towers and painting the interior


Stay tuned for more articles about Lilith, Jared's 1969 Mustang Mach 1.

The most ridiculous thing ever - Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

From General

So what marketing twit thought this was a good idea? Let's take a great big turd of a vehicle, which is sold only for the purpose of some other twit appearing to have money. Mind you that most of them are leased, not purchased.

So, to add insult to injury, Cadillac has decided that they need to be "environmentally friendly" and make a hybrid version. Now, this has a 50% increase in city mg (a whopping 20 mpg).

How pathetic. Even worse, I know I'll see a pile of them on the road here in Phoenix the minute they're launched.

The Cadillac Escalade Hybrid.

All the performance of soggy cheese, all the fuel economy of a three legged mule and all for the low low rice of $78,000.

eesh

Frame-Off Restoration Articles & Site Tweaks

I wrote up two new articles last night and have posted them. They're part of the series on how to do a frame-off restoration of your project car. The two articles in question are: Frame Off Restoration - Step 3 - Dealing with the Exhaust System and Frame Off Restoration - Step 4 - Restoring the Fuel System.

The first article deals with removing, restoring and preparing the Exhaust system as art of the frame-off restoration. The second article covers the basics of restoring the fuel system.

I also did some coding tweaks to the site, some that are noticeable and some less so. The first was modifying all the links to Amazon to be green and have a double underline. I hope this corrects any confusion on what's a link on the site, and what's a link to a product on Amazon.com. The other change was to the image galleries on the site. I've modified the page programming so that the pages uniquely identify the images and photo albums. This should make searching for pictures of specific vehicle types much more staightforward.

Non-Car Weekend

So, This weekend was a non-car weekend. It's technically related to car stuff, but only tangentially. Back before I had the reconstructive surgery on my leg (last December) I decided to do one last big house project before I was put out of commission. That project was knocking down walls and completely re-doing the laundry room off the garage. We got the walls, plumbing, ceilings, and almost everything done before I had my surgery. The last bit was to put in a laundry sink (so that I may degrease before entering the main part of the house, and to tile the floor.

So, not really liking the granite, corian or formica options for a counter, I opted to dust off my woodworking skills and build a nice butcher block style counter with a laundry sink inset. So, Saturday was spent doing all of the cuts and assembling the counter top. This morning was spent adding wood filler (my skills are a little rusty) and doing final sanding. As of this point I've got it stained and just finished the second coat of polyurethane.

I've not done any woodworking in a while, it was a nice change of pace. Yes, it's very much the same sort of work as body work, but working with wood as a media is nice.

Environmental article

I wrote up a little essay on the impact of restoring a car vs. buying a new one. I get a lot of grief from my environmentalist friends about my old cars. So, I've opted to simply state how I see things. The environmental impacts of auto restoration.

I also ran across a nice Studebaker blog. I was goofing around with the MSN search engine and the fellow who writes it had linked to my site. http://www.studebakerguide.com/. It's a blog about a father & son restoration of a 1950 Studebaker Champion.

Upcoming local car shows (Phoenix, Arizona)

• Saturday October 4, 2008




• Impala Bob's 7th annual car show to benefit Sunshine Acres Children's Home and Poston Jr. High Student Council. Location: Living Word Bible Church, 3520 E. Brown Road, Mesa, Arizona, 85213. http://www.impalas.com/


• "Get on the road to safety" event with car show hosted by the Queen Creek fire department. Location: Queen Creek Marketplace, SW Corner of Rittenhouse and Ellsworth Loop Rd., Queen Creek, Arizona




• Sunday November 9, 2008




• 20th Annual All British and European Car Day. Hosted by the Arizona MG Club. Location: Gordon Biersch Brewery and Restaurant, Westgate City Center, 6915 N. 95th Avenue, Glendale, Arizona. http://www.azmgclub.org/

Arnot-Bristol

The Arnot-Bristol is a elegant and ugly car at the same time. It's based on the MG TD, a body based on bertone styling, and minimal production. To learn more read the following: Motoring Memories: Arnolt-Bristol, 1953-1960

Frame Off restoration article

So I added the latest article on how to do a frame-off restoration. This article covers what to do with the external electrics. These compromise the head lights, tail lights, turn signal lights, sidemarker lights, and other assemblies that make up the surface electrics. You may read the article here: Frame off restoration - Step 2 - Surface Electrics

Fuel System Restoration Article

I just published out an article on how to restore your fuel system for an In-Situ restoration. It covers the general steps necessary to go over the vehicle and repair, restore or replace the necessary components to ensure that the fuel delivery for the vehicle performs correctly. The article is here: Fuel System Restoration

I'm also still in the processof writing up instructions for working on the brakes of the 1993 explorer. I'm hoping to get that done by the end of the week. I had also intended to write up replacing the shocks on the same vehicle, but it was so easy to do that I had the shocks changed out before I remembered to take pictures.

The end of brake work for a while....

This evening I changed out the last drum brake on the 1993 Explorer. My neighbor stopped by and watched / suervised. it's always the case that the second time is easier than the first time. I managed to keep in my head all the stupid tricks in regards to the drum brake installation. While the wheel was off I ut in a new shock absorber as well. Again, it was a lessons learned and remembered from the previous installation the other day.

I finished the project up by adding new shocks to the front of the vehicle. This generation Explorer has the shocks next to the springs (rather than inside them) so replacing the front shocks is a no brainer process. Remove the top nut, remove the lower bolt, wiggle out of position. Then installation is the reverse.

So, tomorrow the explorer will go home and it's back to working on the Jensen Healey (that is after I complete the "honey do" list and rebuild the weed whacker.

More Explorer Work

After work, a trip to the parts store and getting the small one fed I managed to get out and do some more on the 1993 Explorer. As I mentioned before, the rear brake shoes needed replacing, and since I was pulling off the tires I'd go ahead and add some new shock absorbers.

Well, Monsoon season here is an interesting thing. When we left for Autozone it was raining hard. By the time I got outside it was dry again. And as I was pulling the last of the springs into place on the passenger rear drum it started coming down again.

It's been a while since I did drum brakes. I forgot how cantankerous they can be. I always move slowly when I'm working on them. There's so many moving bits in one spot. So, in approximately two hours I got the shock and the brake shoes replaced on the passenger side. With the rain coming down I had to stop.

Looks like I'll be finishing the rest up tomorrow.

Writing Frenzy

So the past couple nights have been a website & writing frenzy.

For starters, I've rewritten/updated the Jensen Healey Parts Catalog. Now, when you enter your engine#, chassis#, transmission & carb set-up it will display a customized parts list by assembly for the car. I also added in the images of the assemblies. So far I think it's pretty slick. If anyone notes any errors/omissions please let me know. I'm still loading the 5-speed data into the database.

In terms of articles, I added a fourth and final page to the In Situ - Vehicle Maintenance article. Then I wrote up the first article documenting the frame off restoration process: Externals and Accessories. I'm presently working on the second In-Situ restoration article as well as writing up articles that document the process to repair the font disk brakes, rear drum brakes, and shock absorbers on a 1993 Ford Explorer.

More working on brakes

So, took the Explorer in today, they ended up swapping the master cylinder as well. Now the brakes work well on the Explorer. Tomorrow I go pick up some fresh drum shoes to finish the job off.

My neighbor across the street often comes across to see what new project I'm working on. Yesterday he stopped over and watched us on the front brakes for a bit. I guess it inspired him, and this evening he knocked on my door asking if I'd be willing to help him if he ran into trouble changing his front disk pads. I could tell by the look on his face that he'd started out thinking this was a great idea, and then got home and wondered what he'd gotten himself into.

So I had him pull his Impala into the driveway, and I walked him through the process. The front disk pads on the Impala (it's a 2001) are insanely easy to replace and we had him off and running (and stopping) in 30 minutes.

On the web site side of the house I published a greatly improved version of the Jensen Healey Parts Catalog Database. You can find it here. I also made some parts for sale pages for various extra parts I've got laying about.

Cheers!
Jody

Ford is still on my bad dog list.....

So may father-in-law's 1993 Ford Explorer is back in the stables being attended to. The brakes were, well, toast.... So, I dug into it this morning. He was saying it was the Master Cylinder, but I wanted to make my own independent assessment. Pulled off the front driver's tire. I saw grooves the size of a small country in the rotor. So, we know the rotor's going. Looked at the caliper, the rubber covering the piston's completely shot, and we can add calipers to the list. He had brake pads in the car, so at least I had those on hand.

Dove into the car, removing the caliper, hanging it aside and then tackling the spindles. Now, mind you, this is a 4wd vehicle with automatic engagement and first generation ABS from Ford. As I start removing bits (after a trip to Autozone for parts, and then a stop at Checker for the right wheel hub socket) I find that the wheel hub nut is shot. It appears that the last time it was apart it was reassembled wrong.

So then it's a trip to pick-a-part, the local bring your tools and remove the bit junkyard. With extra bits now in the toolbox I headed home with my buddy Chip in tow (I dragged him out as it's looking like a bigger deal than originally thought and he's a Ford guy.)

Rotors go on easily, followed by calipers/pads.. also pretty easy.... Bled the system out a lot. Took it out for a test drive and the rear brakes keep locking up. It was a pretty hairy and scary drive. Back in the driveay we take the rear wheels off, then the drums (after I finally remembered to release the emergency brake.. d'uh).... turns out the shoes (or what's left of them) are totally cranked out as far as they'll go and were more or less rubbing on the drums all the time. Now, mind you these are supposed to be auto-adjusting brakes.

With the brakes slackened significantly and then reset (you drive backwards and forwards for a bit) we took it on the next drive. Brake pressure is variable at best and we think it's air in the lines. Back to the driveway, bleed everything off again. We've got good brake pressure in the system, so it's time to go around the corner again.

I drive for the first bit and the brakes are ok except at slow speeds, then it wonks over and there's no pressure. My buddy Chi doesn't believe me and wants to drive. 1/2 of a block later and we nearly miss a stop sign. Something's seriously wrong. So, I track back through the system in my head and determine it can only be either the master cylinder or the ABS system.

We pulled out the Haynes manual on the car (I have a huge collection of them. They aren't the greatest references, but there's still good information in them). I was thinking, "well, we'll just put in a new master cylinder and be done with it..."

And then I read the manual, and I swear it's the first time I've ever read something like this in a Haynes manual... "If it's a 1996 or earlier to do not attempt to repair this at home, take it to a qualified mechanic.." So it turns out that this first generation ABS system is so "special" that it requires a special factory method for taking care of this. Now this totally sucks. I've never not been able to fix my own cars, why the heck do I need to take it to the dealer?!?!?!

But, thinking that I'd never seen a warning like that before in a Haynes manual (normally they give you a half-asses work-around) I figured that discretion is the better half of valor and we'll take it to a proper Ford mechanic friend tomorrow.

Thus ends the second chapter of the saga of the 1993 Ford Explorer.

The show

So my poor little Jensen Healey and I made it to the show. In the last mile there Both she and I started getting really hot. Phoenix gets warm quickly. Even at 7 am she was running hot. Now, mind you, she was running water only at this point as that's all I had on hand last night when I topped off the radiator. We arrived into the parking spot amidst a cloud of steam. Luckily I was there quite early so there were not many people on hand to see her steaming.

A couple folks who were there asked if everything was ok. All I had to say was "An English car overheating, that never happens!" A few laughs and chuckles later and all was ok. I'm afraid the old girl was rapidly upstaged. Minutes after I arrived a beautifully restored MGA pulled into the spot next to me. And then, 20 minutes later a factory 5 ac cobra kit parked on the other side. Talk about pair of beautiful cars creating a bologne sandwich with some "mystery meat" in the middle....

On the whole the old JH was well received, esecially once I explained that she was pre-restoration. Suprisingly enough I didn't hear any "what is it?" comments. The english car contingent was well versed, and the rest of the folks were too distracted by the AC Cobra beside me. Man, I wish the green JH was done.. it will look so pretty.

I hung out, got to talk to some nice folks and eat donuts. Since this was a "sports car" event there was a mixture of different English cars, a showing from the local Mazda group, some Corvettes, one '57 Chevy, and a smattering of really rare cars. I spent a while talking to the man who owned the '57 Chevy Bel Air. He was a really nice fellow and his car was beautiful. My favorite sightings at the show were an immaculate Sunbeam Tiger, a DeTomaso Pantera, a TR8, the '57 Chevy, a pair of gorgeous 50's Corvettes, and a Ferrari 400. All the cars there were noteworthy, I just specifically remember those specific vehicles. While there was a Sprite there, I didn't see any 3000's while I was there. I wish one had shown up.

On the way home I had to stop for gas & water to keep the old girl running. The closest place was the Danny's Family Carwash over near Highland and 24th street. While I planned on just dumping some water in the radiator to ensure I got home they wouldn't let me. A fellow from the shop came clear across the parking lot with a collant mixture to drop into the radiator. So kudos to them for keeping old cars on the road. If you're in the area, fill up there or get your car washed/detailed!

The ride home was "exciting" not because of spirited driving, but because I wasn't bright enough to put gas in the tank when I was at the gas station. With my fuel sender being questionable, all I know is that somewhere near 1/4 of a tank is really empty. I was vascillating back and forth around the 1/4 measure the whole ride home. The old girl got me off the highway and to a gas station before running out of gas. In the middle of the ride home I had a minor failure. As I was scooting down the 51 at ~70 miles per hour the driver's side rear view mirror went slack and turned from the wind. Before I could do anything I was was watching it disintegrate on the highway behind me as I sped ahead (using the central rear view mirror). The important thing to remember is that the parts falling off of this car are of the finest British manufacture. :)

All in all, a good day.

Yay! A Driving Experience!

So, there's an informal british car gathering tomorrow. I had originally planned on driving my explorer (bah, humbug) and then it dawned on me that the blue Jensen Healey does actually run, and is mostly driveable. After a few seconds of jumper cabling she roared to life.... well, perhaps roared is too strong a word, it was more of a wheeze, gumble, well damnit... ok!...

After a few minutes fiddling under the hood, and some liberal use of carb cleaner, she was running. I took a quick heated jaunt around the block (the hardtop was in place, and there's no heat shielding in the car). So far so good. Temperature spikes within a few minuts of returning home.... ahh, there's not enough water in the radiator. To that off and we're good to go. :)

Then one more quick jaunt around the neighborhood... vrooom! (rattle, rattle, clump, thonk) and it appears that she'll at least survive a 10 mile round trip. We'll find out tomorrow how it goes.

Cheers!
Jody

Weekend update

So I used yesterday to clean the garage. Mainly it was a matter of sorting sockets and spanners. Not necessarily fun or exciting, but a well organized work space it critical to being successful on projects. I got things sorted a bit earlier than anticipated, so there was time to play with the Jensen Healey. Nothing earth shattering, just goin through some bits that hadn't been finished up correctly, and adding in some new bits. I installed new headlights. They are the aftermarket replacement ones that allow for a halogen headlight rather than the old sealed beam units. They are supposed to be brighter. I suppose it will be a while until I see them lit.

I also spent some time installing the exterior door handles and adjusting the doors so that they closed/opened easily. Now, I'd already installed the windows in the doors. Based on my experience this weekend I highly recommend installing the handles, locks and other bits before installing the windows. It makes for an easier installation.

I have to admit to some significant frustration of late. It seems like my current project will never finish. I never understood the grumblings of my friends who had families and how they weren't able to go and do their project cars. I do now. Having a family eats a lot of time and money. Now, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but I wish the family budget had a line item for car parts.

On the plus side, we had a two wheeled adventure today. After many tears and much consternation my daughter rode her "big girl bike" down the street. Sure it's single child horsepower, but, for me, that's more important than getting a car on the road. Now, like an american muscle car I just need to teach her how to brake and steer!

Site updates

So, there's really not much of note to report this week. Between the heat and monsoon storms this week it just wasn't possible to do much of anything. I did some basic maintenance on the web site this morning though. No actual new articles, mainly going back and cleaning up bits here and there across the site.

If all goes well I should get some time in the garage today. Need to start with a good cleaning / tool reset. I'm afraid that may take all day. But a day spent in the garage farting around is still much better than a day where I dont.

Cheers!
Jody

Ford is on my "bad dog" list

So, Ford, for the time being, is on my "Bad Dog" list. After having to deal with a poor engine design on my Father-in-law's Explorer last weekend, I have been thwarted this morning in my attempts to replace the spark plugs on my Explorer.

Who's bright idea was it to put in the factory plugs without some form of anti-sieze?? I swear they were put in with Loctite! And, I want to beat with a stick the person who invented the star drive bit.

Changing the oil in the Explorer

So, it's not fun or sexy, but we still have to maintain the normal cars. This evening I changed the oil in my Explorer. I wrote it u and you can find it here:
2002 Ford Explorer Oil Change.

We plan on taking a drive up to Flagstaff tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get up early and change the plugs. I ran out of light tonight.

Cheers!
Jody

1993 Explorer Surgery

So, I have to admit I dread these sorts of calls. "Hey Jody, the car isn't working and water comes out of the engine. Can you help me?" There's nothing worse than walking in blind to a car repair on a car you don't know.

The intake manifold gasket gave out in his 1993 Ford Explorer. This isn't an easy fix, but with his help we got it sorted on a Sunday. Mind you, it took *all day*.

Here's the article: 1993 Ford Explorer Intake Manifold Gasket replacement.

The Wife's Corolla

So it was time for the wife's Corolla to get its oil changed. The wife has really been wanting to spend more time under the hood, so I watched while she and my Junior Geasemonkey (Tanith) got her oil changed. Except for a couple occasions of using me as a torque amplifier she managed to get it done without issue. Now mind you, she's 5 months pregnant!

Afterwards, we made a run to Autozone and opted to get her some new plugs. She went ahead and also changed her plugs herself! :) (Well, she got halfway though and the heat got to be too much. It's just so hot here in the summer)

So, he hands are featured in the article on how to change your spark plugs on a
2002 Toyota Corolla.

Cheers!
Jody

A Day in the Garage

Well, despite the heat I've managed to spend a little time out in the garage today. The first part of teh day was spent assembling the door panel for the passenger side of the Jensen Healey. That project is *finally* getting close to being done. I also put the Studebaker up on stands and did a thorough review of the fuel system. I've put up the first part of the in-situ restoration article and video. It's available here: Fuel System Restoration.

Have fun!
Jody

Catching up with TheyMightBeRacing.com

You'll forgive me for the Depeche Mode reference. I've been catching up on half-written articles and trying to clean out my backlogs. I've added to component pages to the site, the first being about the engine, the second about the brake systems. I also added to the maintenance section an article that had been knocking about regarding tire maintenance.

This installation is all about writing and information. Hopefully I'll be back in the garage soon writing up something cool that I've done to the cars. The hardest part about living with a restoration project is the waiting for its completion. I want to drive a sports car and drive it fast. The Jensen Healey and the Austin Healey are just not getting restored fast enough for my lead foot. Honestly, all I get from driving the explorer with a lead foot is a dent in the wallet when I fill it with gas. Bah!

Have fun reading and happy motoring!
Jody

Who let the dogs out!?!?!

Ok, sure it's a silly reference, for a silly thing, but the Baja men song has been running through my head for a while. So I accidentally left the laptop open while I was at work today, and the dogs read the site.

Worse, they decided to provide commentary. Think Stadtler and Waldorf from the Muppets.

So, now, interspersed in the site you'll see commentary from the dogs either providing useful tips or shortcuts for the lazy.

The dogs even created their own page on the site: About the dogs

Monk, Melba and I say hi! and happy motoring!

(and yes, I fully realize this is my own idosyncratic anthropromophizing of my pets, but it's also bloody funny, so if you think it's wierd you can go take a long walk on a short pier. :)

Late nights and car picture breaks

So I find myself burning the midnight oil again working on work related stuff. It's part of the territory, but still doesn't mean it's enjoyable. I took a little time tonight to upload some pictures from a trip we took last year. They are of cars at the San Diego Autmotive Musem which I highly recommend visiting if you get the opportunity. The pictures are here: San Diego Automotive Museum

We also had some great news this week. We went in for the wife's second ultrasound and we found out that it'll be a baby boy joining the family in December (which means I'll no longer be outnumbered by the females). We've already decided on names, unless something changes at the last moment, so we're preparing for the debut of my new Juior Greasemonkey Jensen Findlay Kerr!

Cheers!
Jody

Accents and such

So I'm in the midst of a software install at work. This is normally a painful experience. As is turns out the company's central desk, at this hour, is in Australia. I've never had my wife made greater fun of me than the immediate drop into an Australian accent on the phone. As much as I love a proper Australian accent I sound wierd in the office. Should make monday fun.

Jody

1953 Studebaker Champion - Cleaning the project

Wrote up an article about cleaning up the Studebaker Champion. When you're doing an In-Situ restoration having the vehicle clean and appropriately protected is really the first proper step of the restoration. Sure, the clean car may not resemble what's in your head for the final result, but it will help set the stage and clean up the bits you'll be working on. Now that this article is done I'm hoping to get the car up on stands so that I may get underneath it and diagnose what needs to be done to the fuel system to get her running correctly. The article can be found here: 1953 Studebaker Champion Restoration - Cleaning the Project

Cheers!
Jody

1953 Studebaker Champion first look

Just published the first look article on my 1953 Studebaker Champion restoration. It feels really good having old Annabelle back in the driveway. I spent so many years driving her daily, that things haven't felt right for me since I put her in storage. Now, she's got some issues at present that keep her from running, but at least she's home. The article can be found here: 1953 Studebaker Champion Restoration First Look

Site updates

So I finally managed to get all the E-Bay stuff shipped. There were some mishaps along the way and I think I'll hold off a bit before the next round. In the meantime I had to charge the AC system on my car, so I went ahead and wrote a small article about it. You can read it here.

At the same time I corrected a small error in the logic of the Jensen Healey Parts database. Nothing major, it was just displaying too many rows of data. I also exposed the Plate # and Plate Ref data for those of you who have the graphics.

Cheers!
Jody

Garage, rediscovered

"to clean or not to clean, that is the question"

So, I can now walk (*mostly*) around both of the cars in the garage. I've been placing and sorting, and it's made things easier, but I wish I had a much bigger shop.

Now I'm stuck in a bit of a catch 22. I can work, but not clean, or I can clean, but not work. So I'm attempting to solve this by working on the Studebaker in the driveway while cleaning the garage that supports it. This will work great unitl I need a part for my Studebaker that's in the garage (like the vibration dampener).

As with anything else, it's progress onwards, then upwards.

Cheers to my mate Dale, who's been driving his JH while I've only been looking at mine.

Jody

Still digging out

So, I'm still digging my way out. Every time I go out into the garage I'm just amazed that It seems like I've not made even the tiniest dent in all the "stuff" out there. I'm starting to wonder when I'm going to be able to actually work in my garage again.

On a brighter note, my junior greasemonkey and I started the in-situ restoration of the '53 Champion over the weekend. It was primarily doing the first look at the project (aka the to-do list) and then giving the old girl a much needed bath and polish (she actually looks somewhat respectable now).

This weekend is my birthday, but I have the feeling that with all the festivities I'm not going to get much done.

Jody

Garage archaeology

So, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I've squirreled away so much crap that I'm sending half my time on the internet researching bits to identify them. This is mainly because I've got so many parts here, that I have no idea what 1/2 of them were/are for.

Now, as much as I've been happy Ebaying all the bits I don't need, I have to say that it's a lot more work than I anticipated, and if you try to short cut the effort you get bit in the bum. I found that out this week when i realized I underestimated the boxed weight of some of the auctioned car parts. When you do that, but have already been paid, it just cuts into the profit that you may or may not have made.

On the plus side, the parts are going somewhere that they'll be used, and I'm getting cash to spend on the parts that I actually need. :) Now, I just wish that the parts I'm selling were already gone, because I have absolutely NO space to work out there right now.

But, at least I get to look at the Austin Healey 3000, and the '53 Champion.

Cleaning out the storage unit & Ebay

So I posted a bunch more parts on Ebay. It is still mostly Studebaker parts, but mixed in are some Jensen Healey, Pontiac, MGB, and VW parts. It never ceases to amaze me what assorted things I've accumulated. And having had that 20' X 20' Storage unit just allowed me to collect so much!

I also put a fresh 6-Volt battery into my '53 Studebaker Champion. She's presently sitting in the storage unit next to the Austin Healey 3000. I managed to get her started and running for a bit, but she was having fuel deliver problems. My guess is that the interior of the fuel lines are gummed up. I'd really hoped to be able to drive her home, but it appears I'll heave to get her towed.

Happy 4rth of July!

Ebay and delays

So this whole process of merging households and getting married has taken quite the toll on the car front. I've been spending 90% of my non-work time trying to ensure that everything my wife, daughter and forthcoming baby needs are taken care of.

For the car folks, this is actually a good thing. I've agreed to clean out my 20'X20' storage unit of car parts. I'm starting with the Studebaker related items, and will be moving on to the Austin Healey and finally Jensen Healey items. So check my ebay page frequently. http://motors.shop.ebay.com/merchant/jodyfkerr

Once I get myself out from under my present mess (and work's been crazy on top of it all) I'll be finishing up the door anel assembly article and then figuring out how to recover the center console on the Jensen Healey. We've settled on the name Jensen if it's a boy. :) If it's a girl, well, we haven't figured that out yet.

Also, I'm going to be focusing on the non-cost related aspects of the restorations in the near future as apparently babies need diapers... I figured those blue shop towels were good enough, but then I got one of *those* looks from SWMBO.

upcomg article

So I'm presently taking a break from the latest project and picking off the adhesive stuck to my fingers. I figured I'd put in a plug for this article, as it's going to be a good one. In this next article I'll be covering the process of recovering the door panels for the Jensen Healey. I just finished up 90% of the first panel, and as far as I'm concerned it looks damned skippy. Now that I've got the JH specific kinks worked out I'll film the second door panel and publish the article!

Cheers!
Jody

Components article - Stereo

Yesterday was spent cleaning the garage. This morning I've added an article on the basics of the car stereo component. You can find the article here

Cheers!
Jody

Update

So it's been a crazy month over here. We've had two weddings in my family this month, and I also found out that I'm going to be a dad. Needless to say, cars took a seat on the back burner for a little bit.

This being said, we were out in Las Vegas this weekend and I snapped ~400 photos of the car collection at the Imperial Palace. It's my favorite stop on the Strip. You can see the photos here!

Jody

Sandblasting Cabinet Modifications

Hey Folks,

Published the following article on useful modifications for Meda (Sand) blasting cabinets: Media Cabinet Modifications

Also made a video:

The Heater article is published!

The Jensen Healey Heater Assembly restoration article and videos are published!

Here's the article:
Heater restoration article.

Here's the video (part 1 of 2):



(part 2 of 2):


Cheers!
Jody

Site updates & Battery Reminders!

Hey Folks,

So, when I posted the cost estimation calculator I forgot to add a blog entry about it. I have many people come to me or the site trying to figure out how expensive it will be to restore a car. The Project Estimator is a calculator, based on my experience and a few other known factors to give a rough cost estimate of how much a restoration will cost to perfom. So far it's been pretty well recieved.

Also, yesterday night I did my first "Battery Bailout" of the year. Once it starts getting hot here in Phoenix batteries begin to die at an alarming rate. For those who don't know, a car battery here only lasts a couple years at best. It's due to the extreme heat of the summers here. So, please, before you're stuck in a gas station parking lot, go to your local auto store and have your battery checked. I recommend having it done once every 6 months. Consider it to be free insurance against future breakdowns.

And, for us car guys, remember, a raised hood is a cry for help. As people who know and understand cars, its our responsibility to take these situations as an opportunity to help someone out, and possibly teach them something about their cars at the same time. Remember, what goes around, comes around. I cant count the number of times I've been helped out over the years when one of my LBCs dies on me in the middle of an intersection.

Cheers!
Jody

TheyMightBeRacing.Com TV

The Sandblasting Episode:

Sandblasting article & General Blather

So, I'm not sure what's more frustrating, seeing that my blog hasn't been updated in two weeks (meaning I've not accomplished anything noteworthy in the past two weeks), or knowing the reason why it hasn't been updated.

I've more or less lost the past couple weeks to working too hard, little girl-ifying my old home office, and dealing with frustrating leg issues. That being said, I managed to get a wild hair on friday, bought some new tools, and managed to get some work done this weekend. :)

At present, the heater sheetmetal bits are sitting out in the sun drying. There was a lot more damage in the unit than anticipated (nothing earth shattering, just mildly annoying). So, I'm almost ready for reassembly of the heater unit, which means that article is forthcoming.

I also published an article on sandblasting basics today, as I spent yesterday explaining it to the 8-year old, and the material was fresh in my head. That article is in the new Shop Tech section of the site.

Pavillions car show

So, I had another case of the "too busy with life" blues this week in terms of car stuff. I did get one afternoon, but I spent that locating materials for my Heater Assembly rebuild on the Jensen Healey. There's a number of No Longer Availale (NLA) bits inside the box that needed to be replaced.

The one website thing that was done was to upload the photos I took at last Saturday's Pavillions car show. They're available in the Car Show's section of the site.

Jody

Behind the 8 ball

So, I've somehow managed to get more articles in the works than I'm able to easily write about in a week. It seems that the combination of doing and then writing about doing is such that it tends to double the time involved.

When you add in me being a doof in front of a video camera it gets even worse. :) I just did a code push which published the first article about Frame-Off restorations. Each project now has a Literature page about the books of the marque. I also tweaked some stuff across the site. Additionally the following articles are presently in the works:

• Car Detailing


• Car Detailing : 2002 Honda Civic Example - Refreshing a mom-mobile


• Jensen Healey Heater Assembly Restoration

I also found out that my Windshield Wiper Restoration article will be appearing in the next issue of the Jensen Healey Preservation Society magazine. How cool is that?

Cheers!
Jody

TheyMightBeRacing.Com TV - First Episode!

Still some kinks to work out, and my friend mentioned that I sound a little like a dead fish (from an excitement perspective).

TheyMightBeRacing.Com TV

So, one of the super secret suprises from my errands yesterday was a stop off to pick up a better point and click camera to carry in the car/pocket for my random sightings. It really bothered me that I couldn't take good pictures of those cars I saw the other day.

While I was out I gave in to another idea that had been niggling the back of the noggin for a while: Video. I watch all the car shows on Spike & Speed Channel, and thought, why not? Let's do some decent videos of the types of cars and restorations that we don't see on the big shows. Also, it's always bothered me that these shows are done in pretty, professional garages with huge collections of specialists and expensie tools. The reality is that most cars are restored in a normal household garage, using whatever tools are at hand.

I've never done much with video before, though I have been on TV. So, there's going to be a bit o a learning curve on my end getting this right. A little patience at the onset, and some constructive criticism from my readers will go a long way.

Cheers!
Jody

Ramblings

So, today is a car day without really being a car day. I have a wedding to attend this afternoon and hae been given the directive to not allow myself or my junior greasemonkey to get dirty before the wedding.

So, we're running minor car related errands and hopefully getting my articles on car detailing done. I really wanted to go to the pavillions car show today, but well, so it goes. As I was running around early this morning I was listening to an old Harry Nilsson album. I'm always struck by how amazing he was. I still have going through my head, "You've got to have soul, to wash your sins way...."

One of the sideline items that I really get a charge out of is ensuring that I have the popular music of the time the car was originally on the road. Or better yet, finding those amazing albums of the time that may not have been popular, and are less likely to even be remembered.

When cruising around in my '74 Jensen Healey I love to listen to the Harry Nilsson albums Nilsson Schmilsson and The Point!. Additionally, when it's time for driving fast I really enjoy Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive. (and, yes, I know it was released in 1981, but I can imagine many other Jensen Healey drivers listening to it when it came out)

Happy Motoring! It's a beautiful day for driving in Arizona.
Jody

Local Sightings

Man, here is the reason why I love living in Arizona. Today, while out fo lunch we stumbled across a new Ford Mustang Cobra GT500, a 1968 Chevy Camaro SS convertible, and one of my favorites, the "venerable" fibreglass body dune buggy.

Watch the slideshow to see what I saw. I apologize for the quality of the pictures. I need to start carrying my proper camera with me at all times. My cell phone is good for a phone, but that's about it.



Cheers!
Jody

Jensen Wiper Assembly

So I *finally* got the Jensen Healey Wiper Assembly restoration article done. Special thanks to the folks at Stafford Vehicle Components for information on the wiring that I'd otherwise have had to muddle through on my own. The article can be found here.

The leg, being a bit twitchy tonight, meant that I was not really up to heading out there to work on the heater assembly. Instead I spent some time well spent on Jay Leno's car site. I figure, if I can't be out messin' and drivin' the least I can do is live vicariously through someone else. And, when it comes to a killer car collection that actually gets driven Jay can't be beat. Videos of his cars and drives can be found on his website in the video section. Especially nice is the Jaguar XK 120 FHC (in the classics section). Oh, and for you holier than thou hybrid drivers, look at the 1938 Fiat Topolino.

Cheers!
Jody

Sunday Projects Redux

So, I'm witing for another publish to finish. I've managed to do a fair amount of catchup. I completed two of the three Honda Civic articles I wanted to complete. They are performing an oil change and changing the spark plugs.

This lead me to do some thinking about modern cars, something that's not normally at the fore of my brain. While I didn't necessarily think much about the work on the various Toyotas recently excepting the ease at which I could work on them, I was very suprised by the differences between the Honda and the Toyotas. Normally I lump all of these into the economy car segment and dismiss them.

But, now, as I'm thinking and comparing the two brands I'm very suprised at how easy the Toyota is to work on, and how much of a pain in the butt the Honda is by comparison. In addition, as I was looking over the work that was done, I realized that the overall Toyota design was more elegant, and that the quality of the parts was higher. Even though it's a silly part, just comparing the engine covers gives a good indication to the rest of the car. The Toyota one was molded with a fair bit of thickness and strength. It was also held down by proper nuts and bolts. The Honda one was thin and flimsy and held in place with plastic fasteners. Based on what I've seen first hand, I'd say that was a fairly good inication of the quality differences between the two cars.

And, whomever thought that having an oil filter installed horizontally halfway up the block on the firewall side of the engine needs to spend eternity in purgatory changing oil filters on his design. No mechanic would have done that, it must have been an "Engineer."

On a much better note, half of the fun this weekend was having SWMBO out there with me. She has been wanting to learn how to change oil (and got a trial by fire on the Honda). She also did a full spark plug job by herself (again, the Honda). While I enjoy just mucking about with cars in general, it's much more fun to share it with someone, especially someone special. Good job honey!

Sunday Projects

I'm sitting here waiting for the site to finish publishing to the web. I've added the writeup on the spark plug changeout on the Toyota Echo. In addition to this I had to go and back add Meta Tag functionality to the site. I really didn't want to mess with code, as programming is nowhere near as much fun as working on the car. That being said, I needed to do this work to ensure that teh search engines were able to appropriately organize and find pages within the site.

Now that the site has finished publishing out to the server, it's time to work on the other articles. We had a very busy weekend and it's going to take a while to get it all typed out.

Jensen Healey and Toyota Echo Projects

So, yesterday was a good and busy day out in the garage. It feels really good to be able to mess around working on stuff again. While I'm still paying for it by the evening, just being able to do something it a great sanity saver!

So, we finished up the Jensen Healey Wiper Assembly restoration/refresh. While the article is published here it's not quite complete, and will be finished this week. I also managed to get the Jensen Healey Heater Assembly restoration/refresh started, so that article will be coming soon.

While doing the Jensen related stuff, we also did an oil change and spark plug replacement on my Assistant Greasemonkey's car, a 2002 Toyota Echo. I was amazed to find that there is no Chilton's or Haynes manual for the car. There is a factory service manual, but it's out of stock on Amazon. I just finished writing up the oil change process here. I'll be adding the spark plug replacement in the next day or so.

Starting the Healey effort and getting into the garage

Based on efforts to start collecting Austin Healey literature for my BT7 I figured it was a big enough effort to start documenting the Austin Healey project. Project preparation is just as important as wrench turning, and I'd say that without the proper reading ahead of time you can easily jeapordize the success of your project or greatly extend the time it takes to do the restoration. I added two new pages to the site, Project Overview and Literature research. I'm really excited about this project. The Healey is one of my "Holy Grail Cars" and it will be the first full restoration documentation on the website.

Additionally, I went out this morning to do the periodic starting of my "driveable" Jensen Healey (the blue one). I needed to make sure that the battery was still charged (it was). Today SWMBO is off at work, and my junior greasemonkey is visiting with Grandma, so, leg permitting, I should have a good day out in the garage. It's pretty overcast here today (which normally is a rarity in AZ, but this "winter" it's been the norm). Hopefully we won't get any rain. I think we might as the joints are being my weather forcast this morning.

Friday ramblings and Healey History

So today's been a pretty good day. for starters I woke up early and my leg wasn't giving me fits. That's a first since the surgery. Then, in the quiet morning time before the house got moving I managed to find a few minutes to enjoy a cup of coffee and the latest Austin Healey Magazine (March-April 2008). I love reading club magazines because of the wealth of information about how to do my own restorations but even more so for the stories about the other car owners. I checked online hoping that the fellow had a website that I could post a link to, but I couldn't find one.

Then I ordered my Heritage Certificate for the Austin Healey. This is an important document to obtain because it will tell me exactly what the factory records of my car were as of the time it left the factory. This will help to verify that all the bits that are on the car are supposed to be there.

And this afternoon, after asking about good books on Healey restoration I had the opportunity to talk to the folks over at
British Car Specialists in Stockton, California. What an enthusiastic bunch they are! The fellow I was working with on the phone about ordering books was very chatty and we ended up spending the better part of an hour talking about our various projects. And better yet, he stumbled across another book after the call that I needed, so he rang me back and we added it to the order. So I should have a nice pile of presents arriving in the post next week to read while dreaming about the restoration.

This evening I also took some time to write out a bit about the history of my Healey. The stories of these cars always intrigues me, so I wanted to make sure I wrote down the story as I remembered it being told to me (as well as adding information from after my acquisition). You can read my History of my Austin Healey BT7 Here.

Cheers!
Jody

New site code

I didn't have enough in me to get out to the garage today. I had a nerve conduction study this afternoon, and honestly, if a doctor ever tells you that you need one then run away, very far away. That had to be one of the most annoyingly painful experiences of my life.

So, as I sat here all grumps and stuff, I figured I could at least get some programming done. I've been meaning to add commenting functionality to the site for a bit now. As a computer dork I spend a lot of time on the MSDN sites and I like their feedback/commenting function. So I reproduced it for the site. Now, on almost all pages excepting the Photography based ones you can comment away to your heart's content.

I want to integrate the Photo pages into Picasa's commenting capabilities. I'll be targeting that on my next code release.

Cheers!
Jody

Wheels of Britain March 2nd, 2008

Sunday was a beautiful day, and perfect for a car show. The annual Wheels of Britain event was held at Heritage Square Park in Phoenix Arizona. I saw all sorts of cars: Austins, MGs, Lotus', Deloreans, Minis, and Triumphs.

The full writeup and photos are here: Wheels of Britain '08

Cheers!
Jody

Attack of the "Honey-Do" List

So I had all these grand aspirations to spend some time out in the garage finishing up the work that I've been doing on the wiper assembly for the green Jensen Healey. So that went out the window last night when SWMBO came home from work and told me that the oil in her Corolla needed to be changed because the light came on. Corolla's don't have "change the oil" lights, they have idiot lights that only come on when there's a serious problem.

So, today was spent dealing with Oil Change and investigation as well as being suprised by some of the underhood findings which required significant Battery Maintenance.

Unless I get up really early tomorrow and the leg feels good I'll most likely not get the windshield wiper assembly finished on the Jensen this weekend. But that's ok. Tomorrow I'm taking SWMBO and the munchkin to the Wheels Of Britain car show. There's always a beautiful collection of cars there!

Highland Games 2008

I did my requisite annual visit to the Highland Games in Phoenix this year. Ate my three Scottish Pies, wandered around the clan booths, and watched one of the men (masters class) set a new world record on the weight for height event. This was the first year for the better half and the munchkin, so much of my time was spent educating them about Scotland and Scottish history.

The car collection was out on display, a teaser for next weekend's Wheels of Britain event. i collected a nice set of photos, and have put them on the Car Shows page.

I also managed to get a couple good days in the garage last week, so I'll be writing up an article on windshield wiper aseemblies for the Jensen Healey. I did fall prey to not following my own advice though. I was able to immediately put my hands on everything except the clamp for the windshield motor assembly. The box I found it in (eventually) was labeled "Heater." I'll blame it on the parts gremlins.

Fiddling in the garage

So, since I'm feeling a bit better I managed to get out into the garage and survey the damage. The damage being a complete mess because I hadn't cleaned up after some major house construction before my surgery. One of the big questions in my mind was, where did I leave off on the car? This is one of those things that will happen to you frequently if you get interrupted by life (as we all do) on a regular basis.

This is where good collections of notes and photographs will save your sanity. Once the garage was reorganized (and despite thinking I'd moved all the non-current project parts out to storage) I was able to go over the last set of notes I'd taken. As it turns out I'd been working on the pedal box and brake servo unit. So, Once I'd found the parts, I was able to pick up where I'd left off.... sanding and repainting.

On a side note, I always find comparisons between cars humorous. I found the heads to my '59 Studebaker Lark VII (an old V-8 cast iron set-up). As it turns out, just one head off the Studebaker block is heavier than the bare aluminum block off the current Jensen Healey project. Big American muscle vs. lighter, more elegant British design. Both vehicles, when new, were comparable on horsepower output.

In-Situ Restoration Step 1

The first step of In-Situ vehicle restoration is catching up on all the vehicle's maintenance. The first three pages have been updated and published tonight. There should be one more page added this weekend. Check them out at: Vehicle Maintenance

The biggest challenge on writing all of this is not having a car in front of me. It's hard to remember all the bits an pieces when they're not in front of you. If you note any issues in the latest articles please let me know. You can comment on my blog entries through Blogger (http://theymightberacing.blogspot.com/). I'm hoping to completely implement all the blog features in this site in the near future.

On a good note, it appears like the latest pain management by the docs is working. I'm hoping to get out to some car shows this weekend!

Recent Site Updates & Upcoming Items

Most recently the following items have been added to the TheyMightBeRacing.Com site:

I've integrated Google's Picasa service into the web site. There's now a collection of photo galleries of the work on the Jensen Healey Project as well as a collection of photos of my 1960 Austin Healey 3000.

The first segments on In-Situ Project planning and effort have been started. This initial section covers Baseline Maintenance of the project.

Now, as some know the reason I started this site was due to being stir crazy from reconstructive surgery. On a good note it appears like my doctors are discovering the source of the pain issues which I have not been able to resolve to date. This has been the primary reason why I've not been able to get into my own garage. So, I'm hoping to get out and continue work on the Jensen Healey project in the coming weeks. Stay tuned in for updates and new articles on the process.

Cheers! Jody

New Blog Capability

So, with all the Google integration possible these days I've integrated a blogger account with the TheyMightBeRacing.Com site to enable an ability to display day to day commentary and notes.