OneGuyFromBarlick

Today I shall be in the shed at 06:00 as usual and the task is to sort out what has gone wrong and whet I can do about it. No getting away from the fact that I have made a balls of this bit! Ah well, these things happen.....
Later I shall have a visit from Susan and Mick.

Morning

Well we left Julias about 8.00 pm to spend a quiet evening in the hotel, we took mince pies with us and sat munching them with a cuppa whilst we watched the great celebrity Pottery throwdown , i think that is what it was called. We had a nice quiet Christmas with everything done for us. Good food and plrnty of it. What good cooks Ed and Julia are

Today we shall breakfast here and walk up there later. The plans are for a walk this morning , the forecast is dry with some sun, and a bit of art this afternoon with B when Ed and Eve go to the Coventry City football match. Ed has managed to get really expensive good seats cheaply. Never was a girl so excited as when she opened that Christmas present. We will probably set off for home before they get back

Have a good day all

You sound to have been having a good time Sue. Good!

I have been having a good time in the shed....



This morning my quest was to find out why I had made such a mess of this stage of building this engine. No point guessing, what I did was go back to the beginning and start by re-fitting the piston rod gland and the studs that attach it to the cylinder.That meant taking the guides off, using double nuts to screw the studs in tight and eventually cutting the studs off so they don't interfere with the crosshead. Then I made sure I had plenty of thread in the crosshead for the rod. Next I refitted the crosshead making sure it slides easily in the guides when the piston rod is screwed into it. That took longer than you'd think, a had to blue it and do some old fashioned filing scraping and fitting but I eventually got there. Last I tested it by connecting the con-rod and running the crankshaft with the crosshead and piston attached with the electric drill. I have to report it's not the closest fit I have ever built but it runs OK. I shall ignore the dog's breakfast that is the con-rod end, I'm almost 88 for God's sake. The miracle is that I have got this far! That was a good hour and a half. I shall have breakfast and tomorrow carry on with the valve train as if all is well.... (Which it is!)

I have been for a walk.... can't remember when I last went out of the house!

We went for a walk too, it's not too bad out. Stopped at The Old Stone Trough for a turkey dinner and some beer.

I did entirely the opposite after my walk Kev, I decided I didn't feel like any dinner so I waited until tea-time..... (I like that tree....)
This morning I shall be in the shed at 06:00 and will do some careful measurements to see how much I can shorten my con-rod, if any. What I do in the shed this morning will depend on the results of that.
The only other task I have in mind is to do my annual data back-up onto external hard drive. I'm always glad that I have got here without incident. (I hope I haven't spoken too soon, Sod's Law and all that!)

After a good look and a think I decided that as all subsequent operations on the engine depend largely on rotating the crankshaft, it would be a good Idea to clean up, polish and fit the flywheel. That will make it a lot easier. So that's what I have done this morning and it is firmly fixed on the shaft with Loctite.
(Oh, by the way. I have found the setting on the camera that was giving me those unwanted date stamps and have zapped it.)

Morning

We slept very late this morning……

We left Julias yesterday about 3.30 pm. The traffic was bad on the motorway so we came home cross country via Derby, Ashbourne, Buxton, and Glossop. This brought us into Manchester at Stalybridge where our friends Jean and Bob live so we called in to see them. I have seen Jean in the last couple of years but we haven’t seen Bob so it was a very pleasant short visit. We arrived home about 8.00 pm, whereupon we had a quick beans on toast for tea. We had had Christmas dinner left overs for lunch .

Today is not planned except Bob has a hospital appointment for a biopsy on a skin lesion near his eye. He first saw somebody about it a year ago, when they said he would be seen in a couple of months. After the visit to the GP last week it was decided to find out why he had not been called back. Within 24 hours he had this appointment.

Having had two lovely days in Coventry it looks like we are back to rain here. Have a good day all.

Stanley wrote: ↑27 Dec 2023, 03:20 (I like that tree....)

Me too, it looks interesting.

Yes Sue. You have come back to even more wind and rain. Storm Gerrit this time! (God knows what the name means....)I am trying to find my No. 2 external drive as I am going to do my data back-up this morning. But so far it's eluding me!

Maybe not today but once it stops raining I will be fitting these (I replaced the rear ones a few weeks ago).

You know what I'm going to say.... I'm so glad I don't have those little tasks now! But they were never a big pain when I did have to do them, I just got on with it like you.

My first job this morning was to check that the piston could travel over the whole of its stroke with the lid bolted on. It couldn't so I decided the best way to cure that was to put the piston and rod in the lathe , shorten the rod a touch and thread it a bit more. To do that I had to put the bigger 3 jaw SC chuck on. Once I did that I fitted the piston and tested it with the lid on and it was OK. So I swapped the 3 jaw out and put the 4 jaw back on. Then I measured up and made a fag packet drawing of the eccentric, looked for some stock and found it wouldn't fit the bore of the 4 jaw! So back on with the 3 jaw SC chuck and my last image is of me ready to start making the eccentric, but that's for tomorrow..... More progress, and while it isn't top standard, it's OK, it'll run and it's not bad for an ancient bugger like me!

Morning

Bobs appointment with the skin specialist was cancelled at the last minute yesterday. We await a new appointment. We went to Clitheroe instead, had a light lunch out and bought Keith a bottle of gin for his 80 th birthday present. This morning we are up and out early. We shall walk down to the hospital for Bobs 9.30 appointment with the cancer specialist.

Have a good day all

I shall be thinking about you and Bob Sue. I hope it turns out to be a hopeful and helpful morning....

Sue wrote: ↑27 Dec 2023, 08:07 This brought us into Manchester at Stalybridge where our friends Jean and Bob live so we called in to see them.

Stalybridge whirlwind

My goodness that is spooky - two 'whirlwinds' arrive unexpectedly in Stalybridge in one day.

Tripps wrote: ↑28 Dec 2023, 10:20

Sue wrote: ↑27 Dec 2023, 08:07 This brought us into Manchester at Stalybridge where our friends Jean and Bob live so we called in to see them.

Stalybridge whirlwind

My goodness that is spooky - two 'whirlwinds' arrive unexpectedly in Stalybridge in one day.

….yes just read that. I am not sure how far it is from J and Bs

Stanley wrote: ↑28 Dec 2023, 07:58 I shall be thinking about you and Bob Sue. I hope it turns out to be a hopeful and helpful morning....

News as expected, surgery or radiotherapy or both. We await an appointment at Christies now to discuss the radiotherapy options. Luckily its a very early stages

Sue wrote: ↑28 Dec 2023, 11:15 News as expected, surgery or radiotherapy or both. We await an appointment at Christies now to discuss the radiotherapy options. Luckily its a very early stages

Good to hear it's early stages, always a good thing.

Excellent Sue and it looks like a treatment plan is being formulated. I concur with Kev and from experience within our support group, early detection and treatment is always the best.

PanBiker wrote: ↑28 Dec 2023, 12:00 Excellent Sue and it looks like a treatment plan is being formulated. I concur with Kev and from experience within our support group, early detection and treatment is always the best.

Thank you all, we are keeping positive.

As good as can be expected Sue..... Hang in there and look after yourself,Bob won't want you getting worn down with worry....

This morning I did my check measurements and set to to make the eccentric, this included striking a PCD on the end to guide where I drill the hole for the shaft. Remember there's no need for any of the eccentric turning shown by Stuart in their drawing. Just bore for the shaft on the PCD that ensures that the eccentric runs eccentric! Now for breakfast and second sleep....

Morning

Its Friday…lunch out with Wendy and Keith and we can deliver Keiths 80 th birthday present. I have some ironing to do this morning.

Thats it, have a good day

Big Kev wrote: ↑27 Dec 2023, 18:45 Maybe not today but once it stops raining I will be fitting these (I replaced the rear ones a few weeks ago).

Took advantage of the dry spell at 8:30 this morning, the front pads haven't even reached the wear indicators yet (the MOT advisory must have just been for the rear) so I will be returning the new ones. I'm replacing the car in February so won't need them.

Later: been to Nelson and got my refund without any issue, sweetened the deal for them by buying a litre of oil (it needed a top up) and a 5 litre bottle of -20 screen wash