Friday, Jan. 2, 2025

Well, its the new year, and I finally got the Christmas decorations removed from the 55 Chevy wagon.

The biggest surprise was what a great job the hot glue did in securing the packages to the 4 x 4 foot plywood. The packages would have been secure even without the additional bungee cords we used. The only question really was making certain the pallet was secure on the roof. The four adjustable bungee straps we used had that job accomplished, the extra bungees were just there to make certain nothing blew off.

It took me some time to deconstruct the packages; separating them, then cutting them down for the trash. I’m going to take the tree apart into its 3 separate sections and bag them up. I have the wreaths already bagged. All of that, and the 4×4 pallet, will get stored in the barn until next November. In the meantime I’m going to buy large bulb Christmas lights for the package pallet and the tree lights. That’s not necessary until November, of course.

TRI-FIVE NATIONALS VIDEO.

I have been watching YouTube video of the 2025 Tri-Five Nationals in the odd chance that I might see my wife and I in our 55 wagon at some point at the show. We only spent Friday there on the grounds. It was just so damn hot, and we didn’t have a golf cart or other way to get around. We ran out of gas late Friday while looking for a place to eat. We finally got help, but it really cast a pall over the event. After running out of gas, I decided we would NOT return to the event on Saturday. I was really just interested in getting home in one piece. We had not had any major issues; the car ran cool, good oil pressure, etc. Ran great.

Well I fired up a YouTube video I hadn’t seen and about 30 minutes into the 2 hour plus video, there’s my wife and I driving by the camera, and the YouTuber turns the camera away from the parked cars to follow us as we approach, pass, then on out of sight. Pretty damn cool.

TORPEDO HEATER ISSUES.

I had to tear into my 185,000 BTU Mr.. Heater torpedo heater today. Several days ago it malfunctioned. At first, the fan sounded like it came on, but then there was a bang and raw fuel was burning with flames coming out of the end. I immediately shut it down to cool off, then tried it again with the same result. Today I tried it and it only produced kerosene vapor. I shut it down.

Took the cover off the fan/igniter/motor area, and found that the fan blade had broken off its hub. The ban blade assembly is attached to the motor shaft with a couple of allen set screws. I ordered a new fan for the heater. Everything under the hood looks primo, it really does (with the exception of the broken fan). I’m pretty damn sure a new fan will have the heater back online. Right now my only heat in the garage is a 23,000 BTU round kerosene heater. I had two of them, but gave daughter Katie one. If she isn’t using it I might ask for it back.

The 185k BTU heater is plenty large enough to heat the garage, but damn, I sure miss it when the temps are in the 30s.

The parts will be here by Wednesday, Jan. 7th. Of course, the temps by then are going to be in the 50s for a few days. That, of course, won’t last.

I shot some video of the heater diagnosis today; I’ll save that for use when I get the fan blade and get the heater running again.

DODGE TRUCK PROGRESS (MAYBE).

With Elijah’s help I accidentally discovered that a bad contact on the starter relay was the reason my Dodge wouldn’t activate the starter with the ignition key. Hell, that hadn’t worked for 10 years or more. But I know what the issue is for that.

Now I tried to get it to fire today using starter fluid but no action. I need to check other voltages, like at the coil, and make sure the plugs are firing. Might need to pull them and clean them up/dry them out.

YUKON TOOL BOX.

My wife gave me a new Yukon tool box for anniversary/Christmas, and its sitting in the shop in the box. I plan to do a video on unboxing it and assembling it. I had considered selling my 43-year-old Craftsman tool box — I still see the same tool box listed on Marketplace.

Instead, I’m going to offer it to my daughter, who has her work area in their garage quite well organized already. The tool box should help her out, or she might prefer to have it in her utility room for in-house tools.

–30–