It's in the Low 30's here in Pomona because of the gusting winds.
I was rather bored, had just finished of a Pint of Ale & decided that it was time to re-key my door lock on my '58 M-100 after all these years.
It bloody well worked, as it suprised the daylights out of me as the directions are rather sketchy & I'd never done this before.
Works just fine, Now I've only 1 key for both the ignition & the Door Lock.
Just need to dig out the spare Door Lock for the Drivers Door, but I need a pattern to trace onto the door before I start cutting into the Olde Girl.
I'd prefer not to have to once again remove the passenger door lock in order to secure a pattern, as it's a Royal Pain in the **** fighting w/ the Weather Stripping in order to re-move it. Anyone have one out there in FTE land?
Oh, I'd to have new tires put on the "Wee Beastie", Hercules 7.00X15 L/T HDT M/S 8 Plys, they look real good on the "Olde Girl". They look almost the same as the Coopers that were an Option for the "Orphan Years" trucks, '57-'60 w/ the All Terrain, Outside Lug & Center Hwy All Weather tread.

 

i hear yeah, i call it "cabin fever" but it's the same thing..........

i've done 90% of the stuff on my webpage during the winter months, it's like my virtual truck projects. i think i'm going to make a NP435 tranny page today

 

Havi, except for the 2 1/2 years living in Ca in the late 70's I have managed to create a heated workspace to work on cars/trucks since 1971. It started with a free wood stove in a 2 car garage that I installed in Vermont. My current and final workshop has an oil fired 100,000 BTU ceiling hung hot air furnace that I installed when I built my barn/workshop 15 years ago. My previous barn/workshop, before I moved to Maine, I bought a used floor mount 75,000 BTU hot air furnace used for $75 which I also installed myself including running a new above/below ground natural gas line. In summary, I recommend that you figure out a way to get some heat/insulation in some kind of a workshop you will never regret it. It is part of the price of living in a cold climate. I am definately not a fan of torpedo style heaters or any other non electric heater that is not properly vented otherwise you may just be leaving you shop and truck to your hiers a bit prematurely.
Good luck, stay warm and keep on shoveling and plowing-I do.
Bill

 

Havi...hang in there!
Went to lower state S.C. this weekend, it was 74 deg.! We cooked pizza on a wood fired pizza oven my brother built in the back yard (had may cold ones)
Came home to upstate SC, it turned cold, rainy, back yard was a pond, under the house was a pond, roof vent had blown off 1/2 my garage roof and water got in....spent quality time in the rain on the roof to repair and now the sheetrock ceiling in my garage looks like a roller coaster ride!
I would have appreciated 32 deg. and snow (controled water flow).
Have a good new year!
Ed

 

As a boy, young himmelberg knew long cold winters. Being cold and wet was worse than just being cold and worst of all were the times you just couldn't get warm. Blistering heat would waft out of the registers in our Jersey home, but getting warm in Vermont after the dia del muerte was just impossible.

It led to drinking harsh liquor drinks and seeking the warmth and comfort of larger and larger girls. Leaving Brooklyn in the endless slushy icy spring was just the first step out. Upstate NY was home until that last day of the last frigid February, 1966, the day himmelberg was drafted.

A week in Ft. Dix was neither warm nor cold. We hid out in the barracks avoiding the weather for a week until shipped to Ft. Hood. Spring comes earlier in Texas than it did in the first batch of thirteen original colonies, so himmelberg latched on to the idea of staying and so he has.

Havi, you may take this precautionary tale any way you want. I want it to give you a moment of pause and hope... hope that spring comes your way soon, lifting the sodden gray mass of winter from your skies and the icy chill of the blues from your heart.

warmly, himmelberg

 

lol. The Himmelbergster sure has a way with words. When I was stationed in Ft. Benning and Ft. Campbell, I realized how much I hated the heat and humidity. Now-a-days, I'm not so sure. Ah, Heck, I can tough it out. I just got my baseboard heater installed today, so I'll see how it works overnight. I used conduit this time around. When I build my new garage in about 3-5 years, I plan on using conduit all around. And in floor heat, just like the house. Until then, I'll suffer and tolerate the winter blahs...I hope.

 

I honestly don't know how you folks in the north do it. You're a strong bunch.

I can look back this year on a few weeks when it was just too darned hot to go out to the shop and weld...... Big Ol fans blowing on my bald-a$$ed head to keep me cool.

I always said if it's too hot, you just sweat and whine about it. When it's too cold, you truely suffer.......

 

Havi,
You need to break down and get a garage furnace and leave it on. I did a couple years back and it was one of the best investments I've ever made for the garage. I can't imagine how many times I've had to work on broken down vehicles in the winter. If I didn't have the heater I think I would have moved South by now. The older I get the less I care for the cold. Now I just need an AC unit for those hot summer days....oh I'm feeling better already.

 

I am a life long northerner and I hate winter. I'm not quite as far north a Havi, I'm about 300 miles south but it still gets darn cold here. I should have moved when I was younger but I got married and my wife would never move.

I always tell people that if I had a chance to go back in time and meet my ancestors as they were traveling to their new home I would meet them at the bottom of Lake Michigan. As they were deciding on whether to turn right and go up to Wisconsin I would keep them solidly in the a** and tell them to turn left. Sorry, buy my ancestors were morons. They had a whole, great big country to settle in and they decided to settle in a area that you freeze to death 45% of the time, bake 45% of the time and if you're lucky you don't get eaten by the misquitos the 10% of the time you can enjoy going outside. On top of all that we spread so much salt on our roads during the winter months every piece of vintage tin has been eaten up.

 

Bob, some how that sounds just like Saskatchewan.......Except we have 4-5 months of winter and 2 1/2 months of lousy tobogganing.
Can`t remember what we try to do the rest of the time but mosquitoes come to mind.

 

It is currently snowing-it has a lot already this winter. My basic program is to work on the truck for about 5 or 6 months of cold weather (heated workshop) and then play with cars and boats the rest of the year. If I did not have winter I probably would play far to much!


Havi, snow supposed to let up mid afternoon-then plow it out of the way. My snow fighter for 29 years is a 1953 Farmall cub tractor.

 

Well, I'm sitting here in shorts and a t shirt, getting ready to go see if I can start the parts truck I brought home Sat. We do get lows in the 20's here, but it usually warms up during the day. So, I get a lot of work done in the winter. The summers on the other hand are miserable. 95 to 105 for several months with ungodly humidity makes any kind of work a chore.

 

I could really use some of that beer right about now, Snowking.

 

Hey Havi, I don't see how you stand the snow as much as you get. I cut grass today and will be doing this until October. I am in South Carolina, if we get 6 inches inches of snow one time a year it throws a big kink in everything. I was able to do body work outside my shop practically all this winter any time is was not raining. Hope you get some nice weather soon and don't get too house simple. Good luck. LS.

 

havi..............
At least you can get to your frosties............. e- me @ ryanrich1111@peoplepc.com and I'll send you some pic's that will make you feel a little better..................