Well, I posted video a while back (before my welder broke <grumble/>) with some shots of the master cylinder bracket, and the transmission mount, but here are a couple of photos for you.

The master cylinder bracket was an excellent purchase, I’m so glad I just spent the money, rather than continuing to fight with it, as it took five minutes to put this in, and I realized that my design would have had several problems!

The Transmission crossmember should work really pretty good though, I need to drill four holes, and finish welding it up, and it should be ready to go.

So a week ago this past Monday, my cheapy wirefeed welder broke. I was in the middle of welding up my transmission crossmember, and it just up and stopped feeding wire!

So, I spent a few days on Craigslist, eBay, and other sites with new and used welders, and finally on Saturday morning caught a Lincoln 175HD welder on eBay for $390 + $40 shipping. What a great deal! :)

Anyways, I got the welder today, and of course, my outlet is not compatible, so I’ll need to stop by the hardware store tomorrow. The outlet is a 50amp, 250v NEMA Type 6-50p plug, FYI.

So, here are some photos of the welder coming out to play:

A good friend and former roommate of mine is an excellent woodworker, and got his hands on a 1959 Delta (Rockwell?) Unisaw, sans motor and fence. Back in September, he decided to upgrade it to a modern motor and fence, and enlisted me for some welding on the case. Here are a couple of photos of it; you can also click here for more info.

Yesterday we celebrated my paternal Grandfather’s 80th birthday at the Covenant Church in Harris, MN. Family came from all over the country, and state, and I got to see many relatives I haven’t seen in ten or more years. It was really a great day, celebrating the life of a really good guy.

Fathoming 80 years of life, and all the memories, people, places, and experiences is beyond me.  Living during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the current troubles, being alive to hear Glen Miller, watch the Moon race, and see three of his children and several of his grandchildren work in the computer industry, wow, what a life.

He has been married to my Grandmother for56 years, together raising six children, and 20 grandchildren. He has worked at home raising beef and dairy cattle, and driven truck all over the United States. He has helped me with various projects and hairbrained schemes too numerous (and embarrassing) to recount, and has the patience of a saint.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! My parents and younger brother and sister came up from Kearney, Nebraska, and my pseudo-brother Donghan who came up from Chattanooga, Tennessee to be with Michelle, Jess and I for lunch.

Michelle made a huge turkey, and all the fixings, and after dinner we sat around chatting, and feeling bloated. It was great!

This year, amongst the things I am thankful for are my Wife of just over one year, my daughter, and my soon to be born son. I am happy we decided I would stay working at Dennis Kirk, despite many frustrations, and I am thankful for how they have treated Michelle and I over the years. I could go on, but mostly we’ve really had it good, and I am thankful for that!

A broken welder.

I am also in a strange way thankful for my welder having broke this past Monday, as we decided to get a new, larger welder; a Lincoln 175HD which will have enough power to do chassis work, unlike my last little one.

The plan from here, once the new welder is delivered, is to continue getting the engine and transmission in, most likely I’ll be redesigning the motor mounts, because the ones I have are so ugly, I’m pretty embarrassed!

I’m hoping to do a video post every week (or so) now that we’ve got a video camera. Here’s one I whipped up last night which shows my brake master cylinder install, along with the transmission swap from the manual to the Turbo 350. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!