My dad is retiring this week. They are having a luncheon tomorrow instead of a big deal retirement party. He has worked at this company since 1987. I started in 1999. We have worked on quite a few projects together. Him being an estimator & I being the supervisor on site.

As a laborer , I go to the job I’m texted , and work for the day. I’m seriously thinking about only working a 1/2 day in the field, and attending this lunch at the office / warehouse. I think it’ll mean something to my dad. My riding boss or field manager probably won’t give me too much crap for it. (He’ll probably be eating the free lunch tomorrow too).

We are going on a retirement trim next weekend, but that isn’t work related. (Fraser, CO)

Random photo of me, looking at my dad in his office.

And I realized, I don’t have many photos on my phone of my dad, hmm.

Well that’s my coworker actually, we rode together on the job out of town this week.

I’ve been watching the row52 website for a 2011-2019 Grand caravan to come in so I can get a separate roof rack cross rails that I can remove the ones with the kayak racks and leave attached and just swap the cross rails as needed.

Searched the row52 site for inventory as I looked about 2-3 weeks ago and there was none. Since the pick n pull was on the way home, I decided to check and sure enough there was four and then just one that looked promising. Paid the $1 admission fee, and headed to rows 81&82. Bingo. Has the rack I wanted. Website says $27.99, on eBay the cross bars have sold for $99 and racks and bars for over $200. I only had limited tools, but the crossbars are installed/removed by hand. So I want too worried. But I grabbed a utility knife, tin snips, crescent wrench, 15 in1 screwdriver, and a hammer.

Of course the crescent wrench wouldn’t fit to remove the rack, so I dig through the van and there’s a screwdriver that has a 1/4” socket square head, ok, we’ll that’s not really helpful unless I had a socket to go with it, well what’s this? A socket that nasty, but it’s a 13mm, back to the roof and it fits. Holy shit and the nuts are hand tight. I’ll be. All but the last one of course, quick thinking and I’m adjusting the crescent to the x shape formed screwdriver handle, comes loose and all the way off.

I also snagged a headlight switch as my van doesn’t have fog lights from the factory. $12, and a Consol handle that I had yanked off on my van on a drunken camping night. (These are NOT comfortable to lay the cargo flat and try to sleep in, especially when the air mattress has a leak and you end up on the van floor)

Overall a success and it was my coworkers first time to a junkyard.

They were giving thumbs up and truck was taking pictures of the mustang. So, cool I guess.

Today is a lazy Sunday. I watched most of the 12H Sebring yesterday and today I have a 9 pound pork shoulder on the smoker, so I’ll have some time to get one project a little further.

Most folks in Suburbia have a stop sign in their garage, it’s just one of those things that people have a road sign and hang it in the garage. I think 4 of my 10 neighbors of the culdesac have them and you can see them with the garage doors are open.

I’m going to be one upping my neighbors with a working stop light. I found the housing in a city alley, and then bought a controler, which I don’t know was a thing until after I rescued the housing.

Then I figured I’d make sure the lights worked, and none did. Back to eBay and another $60 later I get a working light set, they work I just tested them.

So, today I’ll be wiring the R Y G to the controler, but I don’t have mounting screws small enough for the controller. So off to the hardware store I go. I’ve always wanted a working stoplight since I was a kid and seen one on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. So I’m living a childhood dream I guess.

The lights are 12” round, so this thing it about 4’ tall.

My motorcycle has been seeping from the water pump cover since I bought it 7 years ago. I kept pushing that repair down the road, as it’s not actually leaking enough to cause a concern in the middle of a ride.

I promised my kid a motorcycle ride for his birthday. And as it’s warming up, there is a leak, and it’s dripping enough to cancel the plans.

Take kiddo out for Gluten Free doughnuts in the car, stop by a noodle place that has GF options. Dude seems happy until 1/2 way through his stomach is hurting, he goes to try and poop, and does, but doesn’t really make him feel much better. Cancel more errands, and Decide to head home. As soon as we walk out he says he feels the need to puke, ok, here go in the bushes…. Uh, nah let’s at least walk away from the people eating outside, oh there’s a trash can, blaaaap, on the way to the trash.

Ok, ok. No big deal. It happens. He then tells me he forgot his lunch, ordered school meatball lunch Friday. And chowed down on the candy his aunt bought for him. So that probably had something to do with his ache.

Finally get home and decide to tackle this project I’ve been putting off. Space is tight, broke the bottom bolt right off, as it’s the one it’s been leaking down onto.

I managed to bugger up the cover too, right next to where the o-ring seal goes, but on the outside, so it should be ok, maybe. I’ll dab a bit of silicone in that area to get it to setup.

After attempting to weld a nut on the sliver sticking out, and most nuts just getting the hole welded up, and the one that got a bit of bolt penetration ended up being attached on one side, and sheered a little bit more off.

Next attempt will be to weld a bit of metal on the the bolt, then weld a nut to that and see if it’ll spin out.

If this doesn’t work, I’ll probably have to park it back in the garage, get it up on my makeshift motorcycle table, and remove the engine and drill it and attempt an ez-out, but I haven’t had much luck on small bolts like this 6mm.

I sprayed some liber ant on it to see if some of that may be able to penetrate, but I doubt it. It’s probably oxidized from the aluminum housing to the steel bolt.

I do have 2 parts bikes, so it’ll be on the road next year, I hope.

Headed to Indianpolis for the Indy 500. Making a road trip day out of it by avoiding the interstate highway system. I have a couple stops I have planned out. Should be a good day of riding.

I’m trolling my Cul de sack today and going to get the rumors started. Them bitches can’t get rid of me that easy!!

Call the number...

)I may have mentioned a few weeks ago I was going on vacation, and I’ll probably do a trip report later. But here is a little something that was outside of my hotel Monday Morning.

Hello. XJDano because of the name sake for a Jeep Cherokee XJ I own, which is in pieces…. Still. I’ve been around Oppo since some early days before the reset and then then shut down, 08 maybe?

I’ve had some fun automotive adventures I would still like to do a write up on. Like the time I was an honorary pit crew for Morgan Shepard, or being a pseudo safety car observer for the WEC 2016 Texas lone star race and getting a ride along in the Audi R8 safety car with 4 Time LeMans winner. And my most recent Tennessee & Smokey mountains motorcycle weekend.

I daily drove a Chevy Metro for almost 10 years, and sold it for a plane ticket home.

I still own 2 - 1984 VW Rabbit GTi that are also both in pieces or in need of repair that seemed like a dream, until I got them and lost interest.

I like beer. Beer is good.

I guess I’m pretty much committed. Booked a non refundable AirBNB, and bought entrance for my Motorcycle. Taking the day off Friday to head up with my wife and see where it takes us.

@Highlander is agree, but the school is active during the day, so we had to plywood over the interior, and do the work from the outside. Scrape lead paint, repaint, remove asbestos caulk. Into or work would require a good sized containment, and not able to access the caulk. Working from a man lift. It’s friggin dumb, but whatever.

@ibRAD sold at harbor freight for $27. Doing their part in the Darwinism.

@ibRAD there are these windows that the school wants to keep the casing, pitch the sashes, but you can’t get the windows out from the outside without removal of the casing that keeps them in place. It’s complicated to explain over text, but it worked pretty good for what we needed it for, although it seemed to dull after a few cuts.

@drVanTraveler it’s at an odd spot, and the right angled drill I’m borrowing is too wide to go at it straight.

@siennaman how does 14,000 RPM sound?

@XJDano

@XJDano one last attempt failed, broke off again, up into the case now. Time to drill.

@CobraJoe GL500, similar as they are the same motor, but the silverwing has a mono shock, that’s right in the way of keeping the motor in while trying to drill the bolt out.

My motorcycle has been seeping from the water pump cover since I bought it 7 years ago. I kept pushing that repair down the road, as it’s not actually leaking enough to cause a concern in the middle of a ride.

I promised my kid a motorcycle ride for his birthday. And as it’s warming up, there is a leak, and it’s dripping enough to cancel the plans.

Take kiddo out for Gluten Free doughnuts in the car, stop by a noodle place that has GF options. Dude seems happy until 1/2 way through his stomach is hurting, he goes to try and poop, and does, but doesn’t really make him feel much better. Cancel more errands, and Decide to head home. As soon as we walk out he says he feels the need to puke, ok, here go in the bushes…. Uh, nah let’s at least walk away from the people eating outside, oh there’s a trash can, blaaaap, on the way to the trash.

Ok, ok. No big deal. It happens. He then tells me he forgot his lunch, ordered school meatball lunch Friday. And chowed down on the candy his aunt bought for him. So that probably had something to do with his ache.

Finally get home and decide to tackle this project I’ve been putting off. Space is tight, broke the bottom bolt right off, as it’s the one it’s been leaking down onto.

I managed to bugger up the cover too, right next to where the o-ring seal goes, but on the outside, so it should be ok, maybe. I’ll dab a bit of silicone in that area to get it to setup.

After attempting to weld a nut on the sliver sticking out, and most nuts just getting the hole welded up, and the one that got a bit of bolt penetration ended up being attached on one side, and sheered a little bit more off.

Next attempt will be to weld a bit of metal on the the bolt, then weld a nut to that and see if it’ll spin out.

If this doesn’t work, I’ll probably have to park it back in the garage, get it up on my makeshift motorcycle table, and remove the engine and drill it and attempt an ez-out, but I haven’t had much luck on small bolts like this 6mm.

I sprayed some liber ant on it to see if some of that may be able to penetrate, but I doubt it. It’s probably oxidized from the aluminum housing to the steel bolt.

I do have 2 parts bikes, so it’ll be on the road next year, I hope.

Sunset at garden of the gods Heron,IL.