The FORD Lounge

[Ray Cecil]

Sorry to hear that Shaun. This is why I try not to have pets, but alas, strays always show up and become family. I firmly believe our pets teach us about ourselves.

[salans7]

Thanks for the kind words and prayers guys, it is greatly appreciated.

Ray, the cat from across the street enjoys stopping by my place every once in awhile for some food and to hang out. She's been doing it for years, so I can at least spend time with her if I ever have that yearning for a pet again. But I cannot foresee myself going out and getting another of my own because I'm just not interested in the heartbreak each time they pass as it generally hits me pretty hard.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Shaun I'm so sorry to hear you've lost your friend/companion.

I know the feeling when familiar routine isn't, or they're just no longer there to share (joy, cuddles, scratches)

Please take the time to appreciate what they've brought.

[salans7]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate the kind words.

[BigBrother-84]

Today I took my lunch time to go at my local salvage yard, to see if I could find a specific connector.

As usual, I looked around the closest part of the yard, where more "recent" donors vehicles are stored.  I knew that they have older "antique" cars and trucks (70's and previous), but never went to this part of the yard.

Since I rapidly found the famous connector, I had some time before going back to office.  So I walked "deeper" in the property.

Waow, it's very impressive, big stock!   I took couple of pictures, just to give an idea of the site:

[Gary Lewis]

Wow is right!  That's a treasure trove.  

[kramttocs]

Besides the huge selection, the fact that they obviously put forth extra effort to make it easier to crawl under them and keep the area clean from thorns, mud, etc blows my mind.

[Gary Lewis]

I noticed that as well, Scott.  That is a huge help 'cause you never know what is living under there around here.

[81-F150-Explorer]

I wish our yards here were that clean.

[BigBrother-84]

Some of you guys enjoy fishing?  And some appreciate if it happens in deep woods secret lake?

A friend of mine has a nice camp, near LG3 Hydro-Quebec power plant (James Bay, QC).  We went to this fishing paradise couple of time.  It's far.  And the last 125 miles are gravel road.

First time I went there, I hauled my boat for the fishing trip.  I protected it with thick tarpolines, wrapping it all around.  Was ok, but gravel is so rough than the trailer and the boat had couple of scratches and bumps when returned home.  Next time I went there, I borrowed a boat that is permanently left at my friend's camp.

Yesterday, I crossed a truck+trailer on my way to office.
This guy is probably riding gravel roads on a regular basis.  He made his own solution against gravel wear.
His trailer looks more to a tank than a boat trailer, but his boat is well protected.

[kramttocs]

That's impressive!

[Gary Lewis]

Wow!  That's serious~  

[AmericanSavage]

I LOVE that Salvage Yard Jeff!  What a gold mine!

[BigBrother-84]

AmericanSavage wrote

I LOVE that Salvage Yard Jeff!  What a gold mine!

I agree!  Unfortunately, the last Bullnose they have is approaching its ultimate moment.

The owner told me they're starting to be really rare.  He has good pre/80's F-stock, and has no problem with 90's up ones.  But no new Bullnose is arriving...

[BigBrother-84]

Yesterday, I took Big Brother to a construction site we’re working on (new long-term care and housing center, 100 rooms).

Here’s the excavation site, and one of my employees with Big Bro.

Ol’truck still at work!



Lol, I didn’t have the choice but to open the hood and let the foreman and couple of workers take a look on the engine compartment.

[Gary Lewis]

Looks like another photo from a brochure!  

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Looks like another photo from a brochure!  

[Gary Lewis]

[Nothing Special]

Ratdude's ski boat project thread prompted this post, but rather than pollute his thread, and since there's nothing Ford about this, I thought I stick it here.

33 years ago, just after getting married, Lesley and I bought a boat.  It was a 1989 Forester 171 Phantom with a 1988 Johnson 140 outboard on a 1990 trailer (boat and motor were new, but one- and two-year old models, repectively.  For a few years we kept it in our garage at home and towed to to wherever we wanted to use it, including my folks cabin (and one trip into Canada).  Then we started leaving it at the cabin and only occasionally towing it home for maintenance, or to northern Minnesota for a Boy Scout trip.

Generally it's been very trouble-free, just asking for changing the lower unit lube every so often.  But a few years ago it decided it didn't want to start.  I diagnosed it as fuel delivery, but didn't want to take more time than that, so I took it to a shop.  I decided to follow the mechanics advice (even though I didn't agree with his conspiracy theory reason) and eliminate the oil injection system, meaning it then needed oil mixed with the gas (instead of putting the oil in a separate tank for the 2-stroke engine).

Turned out (surprise, surprise) that didn't solve anything, but replacing the priming solenoid soon after did.  So I've had to mix the gas ever since.

This summer I decided I didn't want to keep doing that.  We used to have another boat that took the same mix, but the new pontoon has a 4-stroke, so it's a pain to have two different sets of gas cans for the two boats now.

Earlier this summer I put the oil injection system back in place, but I hadn't had a chance to get the boat out until this weekend.  I had oil mixed with the gas and in the oil tank until I was sure the oil system was working, so it smoked quite a bit, but everything seems to be working well, so I put some straight gas in it to start thinning out the mix.

The way life has been recently I haven't even put this boat in the water in probably three years.  It was a blast to drive it again!.  It'll do about 55 mph, which is hauling pretty good in a boat.  And my son wanted a "fun" ride on a tube, so I got to experience how good it corners.  And while it was out I decided to try slalom skiing for the first time in too many years.  As Toby Keith says, I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was!  I had fun and impressed my son and daughter-in-law.  And I can still walk now too!

Gary's warnings about trailer maintenance to Ratdude remind me of my policy of benign neglect with my trailer.  As noted, it's 33 years old, but I've never serviced the wheel bearing and it's running on the original tires   Typically it only goes 1/2 mile from the garage to the landing and then back, at about 20 mph max, so I'm unlikely to ever have a real problem.  But as I said, it occasionally makes the 80 mile trip home for maintenance, so I probably ought to give the trailer some love sometime

I didn't get any pictures this weekend, but here's a picture from earlier this summer when I was putting it back in the garage at the cabin after putting the oil injection back together.

[Gary Lewis]

I got lost in the dialog, but that doesn't look like a 140 HP Johnrude.  Looks like a Merc to me.  

My brother had a Glastron rated for 115 HP and he put a 140 Johnson on it.  (The same boat that James Bond flew in Live And Let Die, as shown below.)  The lake patrol gave him some static so he put a 115 HP cover on it since the only difference was the carbs and the stuffer plate on the 140.  That thing would fly.

But OMC had a few problems with the 140's and two that I know of, my brother's included, peeled the rings off the top of the pistons.  So he got a new 140.  But somehow that engine found its way onto a Glastron 16' trihull which my folks had forever and then it was given to me.  Engine was a beast but never liked to idle trimmed all the way in.  But it sure would fly!

Unfortunately the transom wasn't bonded very well to the hull, or maybe it really was only rated for 115 HP, and after I got it things started coming apart.  So I gave it back to my brother and he put that 140 on a pontoon boat.