Springfield Flyer.

[tauruck]

Been doing some work on the Ford block.
Tapping holes and fitting plugs.
So far I have the heater hose fitting removed. Tapped that and fitted a grub screw. Same for the dipstick opening, oil bypass and stock oil pump orifice.
I made a distributor block off plate and one for the stock fuel pump opening.

Small things I can do while waiting for the power to come back on. We have 12 hours a day without power now.

[tauruck]

Met this great kid. Real old school. His mom sells me composites.
Day job is doing CAD, hobby is knifemaking and it put him through college.
Not a knife freak but I watch a few shows and this guy's Damascus is off the charts.
He's dabbling in Carbon Fibre and getting his butt kicked. He's made 150 field hockey sticks and all are rejects.
I've never seen determination like this in my life. Humble as they come. A shot put Olympian and paid his own way
to get to the games. His dad got injured at work and workmen's comp plus the company refused to settle so they lost
their house and had to start over. Character building stuff.

Jason is keen so we have a deal where he does CAD for the 60 parts I need machined and I help him learn how to produce tooling
to make good products. Giving him nearly all my molds because they're gathering dust and he'll have another side hustle.

To get the liner finished you need CAD and with the guy here on site the drawings will be right. I don't have the skills to tell the engineer
what sizes I need to press fit parts. This kid has the degrees in industrial design, metallurgy and a bunch of other stuff.

Win, win for both of us. At least he's not from the North of Johannesburg. That's the pedicure and caviar area where no one pays their bills.

[tauruck]

I'm still here guys. Plugging away and not giving up.
Had an email chat with Mr. Burkland and he gave me a few more tips that really opened my eyes and changed my life.
Thanks Tom.

Currently busy tearing apart the top plates on the inlet manifold to replace them with thicker plate even though thickness wasn't the issue.
New plates marked and I'm ready to punch all the holes. Turns out I need a double pulse Mig machine to get the Aluminium welds looking like I want them.
In addition to that there's a good chance I'm getting an AC Tig machine. Independence Day for Mikey coming up soon.

We were down with flu and I took it hard. First dose in about 25 years. Africa, gotta love it.
Some pics of stuff tomorrow.

[floydjer]

Go straight to the tig and use the saved $$$ for parts. Good to hear from you. JB

[tauruck]

Hey Jerry, you're on the money. Tig it is.
If I've learned anything from this build it's how to handle sponsorship.
Sign a contract with the option for additional product or materials. I never did.
All I signed were indemnity forms. 

I've been at it so long guys have either left or been transferred overseas.
With the economy being what it is risk averse people have become Armadillos.
Talk about starting from scratch?. I also lost all my data when the PC crashed.
The guy from Air Liquide is in France and the new guy played me for three months where he could have just said no.
I had two Argon bottles refilled at my own cost. Same thing with a few others but hey it's life!.

Gotta do a lot of jumping around on this build. No money for this just do something else because they all need doing at some point.
Busy fabricating new inlet manifold plates. The metal supplier cuts the 12mm plate to size within limits but the saw leaves a rough
finish so I painted one with marking blue, clamped them together and used elbow grease. As a kid I wanted to be a toolmaker and
my buddies who were older said I'd spend the first year filing and polishing metal to make it square. I just passed my apprenticeship.
The power goes off three times a day so I plan ahead. Get the compressor filled, charge the batteries for all the cordless tools and use plug in electricity
until the son of darkness arrives. When the tank is empty, the batteries are flat I use the elbow. After the arms are poked I take time off to ponder, watch the birds
and chat to the dogs. It's actually hilarious.

If these goons running the show think they'll beat me they better think again. In the Army I spent about two months being wet and slept in mud like an animal.
The old girl is my gofer. She's been a trooper and she's getting educated. I can't find my M3 tap so she's off to my dealer and he tries to give her a blister packed
"Torquecraft" unit. Renaldo is a great kid. He sends freebies all the time with his boss's permission. He calls me while she's driving back roaring with laughter telling me
he's never been called out by a grandma in front of a counter full of guys in dirty overalls.

This build is Ground Hog day. I'm reliving my past life trying to overcome. Not a known sleeper so now I do 3 hours as opposed to 4. I lie in bed building stuff in my head and
it works because I just realized I have to install all the ARP fasteners in the plates for the inlet before I get the plenum plates fried in place.

Like Al Pacino said, "One Inch at a TIME". We're adding inches.

[tauruck]

When my PC crashed and was rebuilt some programmes weren't reinstalled so now I can't reduce the Jpegs to the size required. Not savvy enough to figure it out but I'll get a kid from the hood to help me out. Sorry guys, no pics for now.

The long car is 80% sponsorship and the rest is up to me.

Things were expensive but now it's insane but we fight on.

I need solenoids so I went online and saw prices from a few bucks to thousands. Red flag so I looked at websites and found a locally based outlet that markets top of the range German units, I called and was put through to David who was so cool and also very knowledgeable. He educated me on the units and we spent about 45 minutes chatting. He said he could help and give me a good price per unit. Still out of my league so I let it slide. I got this email with a PDF and saw all the products with specs etc. What do I do?. Pray!!!!!. I ask David if the company might consider a small investment?. He says he'll run it by his manager. His manager is from the area I grew up in and we just hit it off. I'm now good on solenoids. The best of the best.
My go to guy at the electrical manufacturer that supplies cable ties and everything related to automotive sent me heat shrink, shovel connectors and miles of sheath they supply Ford Motorsports with. If heated it does shrink and give time for shut down, rescue. Never seen this material before but he tells me it's also for military vehicles. When I asked about the mil spec connectors he said it wasn't viable so they canned it. He said the company that has the widest selection deals with him and Monique is a close friend so he'll ask her if they want in?.

Two days later she calls asking how she can help?. Dang!!!!, things are happening. I need SS elbows and reducers so the guy from the solenoids says he knows a guy. Boom, done deal. Collecting Monday.

I spent a year putting together the inlet manifold and the last process was a complete disaster so I asked Craig my connection at Industrial Hardware if he knows anyone in the racing game whose a good tig guy on Aluminum?. He tells me it's a huge problem because all the good guys were old and passed on and he gets calls daily for welding. We go way back and to cut a long story short he gave me a brand new machine. It's state of the art with all the digital screens and sells for big bucks. All he wants out of the deal is for me to give the clients he sends my way the same attention the composite ones do. I've been around, done a lot and had many exciting times in my life but this is on par with me buying my first car. Maybe more so. All he said was he knew I was going through hard times but I'm a passionate guy and he can't watch me hit bottom. This company is the same one that introduced me to reciprocating saws when I was battling to trim composites with a jigsaw machine. Changed my life.

There's a movie in this quest I swear. I was ready to can the project and out of the blue more Blessings. If the roller coaster was flat it would just be a mini railroad. Tom said this was akin to building the Space Shuttle in Africa. I believe him.

A few weeks back my neighbour's gardener is at the gate with a guy that needs help. He's a mobile mechanic and he's got a problem on a Ford Rocam motor where he can't get the sump plug out. Dougie was here visiting and he says the oil pan is Aluminum and the drain plugs seize and you'll need to drop the bottom end but to get to it you have to remove the motor. I'll help a stranger no problem but this was too much so we exchanged phone numbers. The guy calls and says he bought an extractor pump to get the oil out but can I possibly help fit new wheel bearings because he doesn't have a press. We hook up and we find out we're the same age, both vets and were in Angola at the same time. Gabriel is a cool dude who knows all the boys I do. From biking days, to drag racing, muscle cars and beyond. His business folded and he's toughing it out. Working out of his MPV. No real friends and we have lots in common so we spend hours chatting. He tells me he's got a motor and gearbox under a pile of junk in his sister's garage. 351c Boss motor with a Pete Jackson gear drive and billet crank. Been there about 25 years so it must be locked up but I can have it to scavenge parts off. If a guy is full of brown stuff he won't know as much as Gabriel does about the motor. I'll be picking it up next weekend. I already have enough spare stuff to build a backup if it checks out. When he said he was going to have Hi port plates made for the Cleveland but never got around to it I knew he must be the real deal. Guys that served in his unit don't say much but when they do it's true.
The long car is more than a journey and destination. It's a test and a life lesson. To all of you that support me, God Bless you all and thank you.

[manta22]

Mike, Some guys have it and some guys don't. You have it. Sponsors (and others) have to filter out requests for help from all sides so they develop a sixth sense that tells them when they are talking to the real deal. Honesty and most particularly, Integrity is paramount and that's where many fall apart. Keep on plugging. I'm glad to hear that things are looking better for you.

[manta22]

Mike, I use image software called Irfanview; it is free and can be downloaded here:
https://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm

It allows photos to be re-sized, cropped, and rotated- among other features.

[kiwi belly tank]

Here's a little story for you Mike to remind you you're not alone on the one man liner highway of hell.
After 14yrs of building, few days ago I was going to make Speed Week & then I had a @+?%$ moment that killed it. We had gone down to the gas station to test that loading/unloading my 40ft pile of parts from the backyard tilt trailer actually worked & it did but I needed to move the winch to get it a bit further forward on the trailer so it towed better. On the back of my service truck the whole mess is 73ft long so moving the winch & rechecking that it worked had to be done outside since my shed is only 30ft long. Moving the winch also meant moving the trailer jack so all done & works good, I pull the truck forward but the safety chain is still hooked to the truck. I feel a thump, another thump then another thump. I'd dragged the trailer forward destroying the jack & the new mount but the only thing holding the liner in place was a 2" block of wood under one rear tire & it rolled over that, ran off the end of the trailer without the ramps & crashed into the rising driveway. The diffuser in the tail took the big hit & the tunnel forward of the rear wheels took the rest of the trailer as it unloaded. Fixing all that has killed my plans for SW & the plans of others who'd taken vacation time to come & help or watch me run.
So far I've managed to crash the F;@#(-% thing without firing a shot in anger!
  Sid.  

[Speed Limit 1000]

Damn Sid that sucks. Is it bent aluminum or busted glass? We were really looking forward to seeing the car at Speed Week

[Stan Back]

I'm so disappointed in this tale of woe.  But nowhere near as disappointed as you must be.  I hope fixing the damage takes a lot less time than you've spent building your dream has been.  I've been following your progress and challenges thru the years.

Wishing you the best,
Stan

[tauruck]

I second Stan's sentiments.

[manta22]

I hope the resulting damage is not too bad and can be repaired.

[kiwi belly tank]

Thanks for all the good thoughts. The tail is a 9ft removable piece that is fiberglass over 062 steel tubing construction. It includes the push bar tube that goes through it to the chassis, six parachute tubes & three tunnel sections that make up the diffuser & that's where most of the damage was. I've got that fixed but haven't tried it back on the car because I put it back in the shed. It fits in there hard up against the back wall & clears the front door by 1" with the nose still on & retracted all the way up but due to that I can't get a jack under it to check out the rear tunnel damage. After busting my a$$ trying to make SW & having this happen, my enthusiasm took a pretty big hit so I'm pacing myself to save what remnants of sanity I still have & plan to make WoS.
Sometimes it feels like I couldn't win a one ticket raffle. I went to move the 55gal drum of E85 fuel & fell on my a$$ with an empty drum on top of me. There's a big stain on the floor & I have a drum full of air. Life's an adventure & I'm totally on one. I don't drink, maybe I should!
  Sid.
 

[Stainless1]

Well Sid, that should have been enough to make anyone start!