My split personalities were at odds today. On the one hand, I have a craft fair that I should be preparing for. On the other, that's not until November and today happened to be a beautiful day, instead of the rain that is expected for the weekend.
My girlie side went back to sleep while I gathered up my engine parts and cleaning gear. Lessons were learned today.
Lesson #1: don't ever think that one box of 50 heavy duty disposable shop gloves will be enough. Always buy multiples.
Lesson #2: don't think that buying disposable gloves will keep you from getting dirty...it's never a choice between gloves and soap! You need both!
Lesson #3: if you are working on the lawn, and you feel something on your leg, either pretend it's not there; or, at least, don't forget your hands are covered in grease!
So, it was a learning experience today. Not a mechanical type experience that I am eager for, but an experience, nonetheless.
I feel overjoyed with the work I did today.
Before:
After:
I was using a product called
'Gunk'. It's a simple degreaser that sprays on, sits for 15 minutes and then I scrubbed it off with a brass brush. I still need to get some pipe cleaner type brushes and scrub out the screw holes; but, all-in-all I'm pretty pleased with the result. Brother Dan gave me the can of red engine paint, since most of it has come off. I will be researching original pics of this type of car, for authenticity's sake. There's also the issue of the Purple Hornet exhaust pipes. We have two, one is already on the car, and I'm just not savvy enough to know if we want/need them on this car.
I also noticed a couple things I thought may cause some issues when returning this piece to the car.
This is the underside...seems like a big gap there. And, it's filled with dirty, grimy, greasy crud.
Then, there's this:
Those two ...um, I'll call them 'ports'...places where hoses probably get attached...seem a bit rusty and maybe misshapen? Again, I don't know...maybe they are supposed to look that worn? Maybe it doesn't matter once the hoses are reconnected? We'll find out, I guess. Unfortunately, if we are unable to put this back in, our options are to buy a new one (ouch!) or use the 4-barrel carburetor Dan put in. And that opens up a whole new can of worms!
Whatever happens next, I'm really hoping to make some major progress once things slow down and the weather gets a bit cooler and less oppressive.
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