Comments Off on friday redux

By Dave, July 31, 2004 10:22 am

After a slow start, Mark H came by with a commercial ice maker that he needed help soldering the compressor back into. While we were working on it Rob J came by for a chat. Finely got the last connection made and it seeming like it would hold and loaded it up. Rob and I chat for a bit and wander around looking at assorted stuff till he needs to leave. Suspect it was lack of ac in all the out doors type places we were but maybe not.

Then I get back to work on the Case. Got the front cowling right side bracket welded back on. Then put bolts up through the the radiator mount holes in the frame. Get the magnet and weld them in place. Try to mount the radiator and after bending the bolts just welded get it to fit. Weld nuts on the cowl mount brackets and manage to only flow weld into one thread area. So now have to start the dozer and raise the blade so the cylinder that is covering access to that nut is out of the way so I can get a tap into the area and clear the threads. But the battery is dead. And there may be rain overnight so wait till this morning to get it hooked up. Get the radiator mounted and try the engine one more time and it turns but the blades scrape the radiator lower tank. Back off with the radiator and the fan blades. Reshape them somewhat and back on. When taking the tank back off I noticed the top hose connection was cracked at the very top. So back to the barn and torch. Find the solder and fluid. Then the brush. Solder the connection back up. And back to the Case and put the radiator back on. Try again and 2 of the blades still make contact. So get the big channel lock pliers and re-arc the blades with everything in place. We got clearance!

And a storm coming in so close up and put all the tools up and call it a night.

Went back down this morning and after a short detour into the barn for wasp spray and then killing the nest hiding in the back of the battery box, I got the charger hooked up and battery is now charging. Tried the engine but don't have enough speed or fire or something. Guess I need to pull the distributor cap and see if water has gotten into the points. Coil looks really bad. Will need to replace it soon if for no other reason than to make sure that isn't one of the problems with it cranking and running.

Last day to get the shelving metal from the merc. So have backed Bertha up to a bank out front by the small saw mill to unload the building. Got down to the barn to get the tractor and the rain started, so I came back in for a bit. Cat went to get some groceries for the weekend, should be back soon.