Catching Up One More Time

Now, where was I when the demands of daily life interrupted my old-car playtime?

Ahh, yes…several things. First, a four-day visit by daughter and her family from Washington state. They felt right at home as we received a record September rainfall total. Other things included the better part of a day installing security cameras and hanging pictures in granddaughter’s new rental house, building shelves in wife’s art studio, lawn cutting, weeding and trimming between downpours, repairing plumbing, repairing lawn equipment, and a dozen other unexpected honey-do’s helped put a crimp in my car-related plans.

Computer problems also returned. Everything in my browser locked up and it took half a day to figure out how to unlock it. It wasn't hacked, it just lost all the settings and I had to reset everything, including every password!

The rains have made this part of Texas the greenest I’ve ever seen it at this time of year. Of course, that means mowing my acre and a half every five days. More work, but I love the  fresh look, and watering grass and shrubs in this clay soil is expensive. Some flowers that normally bloom in spring are even making a second appearance!

Yesterday, I managed to fabricate the remaining custom parts needed for the steering wheel, but the epoxy adhesive I used to bond parts inside the center cap apparently didn’t like the damp weather, and never set up properly. I’ll have to find a product that tolerates high humidity better or wait for the air to dry out before bonding metal to metal.

At least the horn rim parts that will be chrome plated only need final tweaking and polishing before I take them to the plating shop.

Then it’s back to wiring the interior, since I now have connectors and terminal lugs to finish the steering column bundle. I hope other demands for my time don’t pull me away from the car again, until I at least reach the point that I can install the dash and console.

While I'm at it, there was a Facebook question about the location of a body part on a '56 Plymouth. I took a picture of my installation on posted it there. If you don't visit Facebook, here's the picture of the rub strip that protects the quarter panel window frame.

Finally, here are some photos that Geir Broen sent me of his Plymouth projects in Norway. His clean '56 Savoy is in storage for the winter, and he's working on the '55 station wagon body while the chassis is also in storage. The engine for the '55 is a 241 Hemi from a '54 Dodge.

As usual, body mounts are badly rusted, so he had to make replacements for the rear. I'm really impressed by the quality of the fabricated parts!