First, Thanks everyone for the comments and support.
Vroom, wishing you a speedy and full recovery, being hurt is no fun, but I relieved to hear you posting, rather than hearing about you, stay safe. Let me know if you have tree challenges, I can potentially steer you in the right direction when it comes to tree work. I feel safer in a saddle and tied in (twice, sometimes thrice) than I do crossing a street.... Airframefixer fixing a tree..
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Arm is pretty much all good now, That was kinda tough to take being busted up for the summer. It was a drinking induced injuruy, so Ive decided beer doesn't contribute to accomplishing my goals and its easier for me to stop/cut it out, than to be moderate with it. Ive got to much other risky stuff in life to manage. Airplanes, pesticides, tree work, race cars... Jeez..
Ron, gotta say I'm missing the west coast and North Van. Unfortunately, I dont think I could afford the life I have here out there. Maybe one day. Im pretty sure I'd be driving my car and chasing you up the cut in your seven if I still lived there though.
Gonzo, thank you. Yep tough road, but were done with the baby making... onto the toddler stage, Parenting is a fun game, because its different every day.
Winning!!!
finally get to work on the car like I used to, been a solid three years since Ive been able to get this kind of time in. Long story short, Wifey didn't go back to her part time casual job, but rather a new full time job with benefits,pension, etc. Kids are in daycare as my flying job doesn't afford any kind of predictability or reliability to cover the childcare needs. The guy ahead of me at work moved up to captain, so I take his no.1 seniority bidding spot and pretty much get to dictate my schedule at work, a nice perk I've waited 5 yrs for, but would rather sit in the other seat. That time will come, until then I'll enjoy the schedule.
So, like I should, ended up the turf (business) season with more more than I spent and even paid the family a handsome amount. Some overdue shop upgrades were needed as well as a better system for organizing our garbage,recycling and all the other things that move in and out of our garage. Last year I stocked up on primers, paints, sealants, and other consumables. This year and prior to any car work, I put in some storage racking to get my pesticide and tree equipment out of the way in the off season. I put in two work benches made from pallet racking with MDF tops. They were sealed up with polyurethane. Lag shield/bolted to the floor, theses are sturdy units and offer 9ftx2ft of counter space each, which I will prove to myself wont be enough at some point. Still a work in progress.
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To get them fitted up properly I needed to get some welding done. I have a buddy at work that has a mill/lathe, TIG, MIG, english wheel that is building a hot rod, so there's been no need to have a welder to this point as he has been generous to weld various pieces of equipment for my business. The entire chassis was built in vancouver with my dads Hobart 140. Having some funds leftover, and some stuff to weld, I got off my backside and bought a TIG. Always wanted one and wanted to learn a new skill set. This means I am pretty much restricted to TIG/Stick welding and fit ups and cleaning must be perfect. You cant just plow in the filler like a mig, but I always strived for a perfect fit up so it doesnt bother me to be without a mig. In addtion, Used migs aren't that rare to find used, and It would be a lot cheaper to add down the road. Built a cart for it,I should have bought one, The wheels and casters put it over the edge of "buy vs make". Got some good practice though.
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When I was buying the pallet racking, I happened to come across some used metal parts storage cabinets for a song. Snapped those up and and now even my wife has an entire drawer full of picture framing hardware!! Im trying to stay organized here as much as possible, there's no reason not put things away and keep tidy. Productivity will go up big time!!
On the car. I left off at the "healight-lens-form". These will be vacuum thermoformed from some sort of tough clear plastic.. I dont know yet. I had Issues of epoxy filler and polyester filler reacting in the form, and had to sand everything of pretty much. One thick coat of high build polyetser surfacer yesterday and no issues at all, other than some runs. I also did the engine intake. I let these gas off in my shed to keep the nuisance smell out of the house, Had to mix beyond 5% MEKP as the temps were low last night.
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This morning, my wife wasn't even out of the driveway and I was sanding the forms, and by 10am the lense form was sanded and polished, and a heavy coat of pigmented surfacer was sprayed on the intake form. The darker color helps Identify high/low defects etc. The intake should be ready for layup tomorrow. not sure If Ill get to that though, Ill check my stock of supplies.
Till then.