The previous owner pulled the computer out. He obviously rewired it enough to make it run. It has not hurt not having an advance but since I need to change the distributor anyway (as I said, the guy before me somehow broke off the tabs to hold down the cap), I may as well fix the entire ignition so that it works correctly.

I see lots of carbs that "may" work. If I am going to spend $100 or so on a new carb, I would like to find one that is a "direct replacement" so that it works with the present linkage. I have a manual choke now. It would be be OK it the new one had an electric choke.

Just got all the items for my yearly rust spray. The truck had been oil sprayed each year (or so I was told). I mix chain saw bar oil (with phosphoric acid), mineral spirits and wax ... heat it ... and spray. Seems to work.

The house has been a loooooooong project. My wife is paralyzed from the shoulders down as the result of a diving accident when she was 12 ... she is 37 now. We needed a house with large hallways, roll in shower, ..... in the end, it turned out to be cheaper to build than to "rebuild" an older house.

In order to save money, we lived in an RV while building ... not easy in -30 winter temps but we survived three winters and saved $1000 per month in rent. The RV was an interesting project (I gutted it, cut a new door and built my own wheelchair lift).

Anyway, the house was going to be a single story but we hit ledge. $30K to dynamite out a basement! We got a quote of $15K for an elevator and found a grant for $10K ... $5K out of pocket seemed like a good idea ... so we built up. The first floor is like our basement. It is unfinished. The upper floor is all the living area.

New problem ... had two companies come in ... both gave all kinds of excuses and handed us a quotes of almost $40K for an elevator .... even with a $10K grant we can not come up with $30K.

So I bought an electric forklift ... $850. I took off the mast and have mounted it in the elevator shaft. I am working on the hydraulics right now. It is taking me forever as I am "learning on the fly" but it is getting there. I have dual pumps and reservoirs with valves to switch over. One pump is 24 volt running off deep cycle batteries, the other is powered off 240 volts. I have a special valve (a velocity fuse) that will "hold" the elevator if the line breaks. I also have a flow control valve connected to a plc to gently start and stop the platform (along with manual valve to bypass all this). There is also a bunch of interlocks to make sure doors are closed before the platform moves and so no one can go under it when it is up.

You see why this is taking me forever ... especially without a shop, just hand tools and my welder. Milling machines, lathes, and much more are in a transport truck trailer here on site waiting for me to build the shop. In the end, I think I will have a very a decent elevator that I can work on myself (no one will sell your parts or help you with a purchased unit) and it should cost under $5K.

My wife says she is ready to see what the house looks like. We are living in the unfinished "basement" right now.

Below is a picture of the house from the other side. I got lucky, we have a wet land on one side and a small river on the other side.

Thanks so much again ..... Mike

PS ... snow is "reasonable" around here ... the house looks out onto a ski hill about 20 minutes away. I have been living in SC since 94 but when I met my wife 8 years ago she told me she had to stay here since her job and health insurance was here ... so I sold everything and moved up north. I was use to it ... and a lot more snow ... having been born and raised in the Niagara area ... about a half our from Buffalo.

 

I forgot that I had put up pictures of the RV projected several years ago.

My wife had never traveled since needs care every 4 to 6 hours. I build an internal lift as well as the wheelchair lift and put hospital beds in it so I could do he care while on the road.

Here is a link ... they are slow loading but still up there,

Thanks again .... Mike

https://mcsele.shutterfly.com/2299