The Squamidian Report – July 9 / 16
Issue #737
Including:
A Word From Lorne
The Ontarion
Hi All,
What a difference a year makes, and I'm not referring to the fact we
are all a year older, which we are but theres not much we can do about
that. I'm talking about the weather here on the west coast. This time
last year we were in the grasp of a very hot deep drought with no rain
in sight and a blazing sun that turned everything into a dried out
crispy version of what it should be. At this time last year this area
was being choked by thick dense smoke from several forest fires.
Everyone was on edge. And now, its about as opposite as can be. Its
been raining for days, and on and off for weeks. The temperatures have
been hovering way below normal. Its more like late March than early
July. Everything is green this time instead of brown. Last year the
berries dried out. This year they can't get enough sunshine to ripen.
Interestingly, very few people are complaining, or at least not
complaining out loud. The few that are either weren't here last year or
don't remember that far back.
While not convenient, it is preferred to be cold and wet rather than
being in danger of going up in flames like we were last year. And while
it would be nice to have an occasional sunny day to lift the spirits,
at least the birds and other wild critters are able to find enough to
eat unlike last summer when they literally starved. Heck, we are even
seeing those 6 inch long banana slugs crawling around again. First time
in a long time. It would be nice to be able to get the bike out once in
a while without having to put on the rain gear because no matter how
you dress for rain while on a bike, its not fun. So needless to say,
the old Harley isn't getting much use these days. As I get older and
softer, my preference is to ride when its nice out, not when its cold,
wet, or cold and wet. Its funny, I hate heading out in the rain and
very seldom do but I don't really mind getting caught in the rain as I
ride home. Firstly, heading out into the rain is a 'choice' that I
don't need to make. Secondly, getting caught in the rain once out
riding means I'm out riding and there wasn't much I could do about it.
Endless waves of low pressure zones pumping in off the Pacific have
also put the lid on any star gazing. Can't see the sky most of the
time. We had enjoyed a couple of nice days when our eastern visitors
were out a couple of weeks ago but that was pretty well it. Good thing
they came then and not now. And speaking of star gazing, this is kind
of interesting. For those who aren't aware of it, the earth is furthest
away from the sun during the northern hemisphere's summer, not during
our winter. Our orbit is not round, its elliptical just like most
orbits. We are closer to the sun during winter. Its the tilt of our
axis that produces our seasons. While we are a bit further away during
our summer, the sun's rays hit the northern hemisphere more directly
due to that axis tilt. Anyway, this link will take you to a web site
with all sorts of interacting stuff including the earth's orbit info.
http://earthsky.org/tonight/earth-farthest-from-sun-for-year-in-early-july
doug
****
A Word From Lorne
Tues. was the day of decision. My car had been taken to the dealership
by CAA to diagnose why everything stopped working. It's over 10
years old and in addition to the immediate problems, It has the
original battery, spark plugs, coolant, drive gear lubricants, brakes
and could use some body work. They lent me a loaner, a 2016
with all its bells for a week hoping I won't look back.
Well, I did look back but they won. Thurs. I pick up a 2016 Ford
Edge and get a crash course on all it's tech stuff. It kept me
awake last night wondering where I went wrong.
Lorne
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
With the weather being so darned hot here these days I’ve likely lost a
few pounds just sweating from breathing! It’s been fun but HOT over the
past two days working in my garage. As I told you all two weeks ago, I
drove to Ottawa to pick up a hardtop roof for the MG. I decided
yesterday to clean it up and recondition it with new seals, front
latches and some sort of brackets to hold down the rear end of the
roof. I managed to find the exact front latches needed to secure the
front edge to the windshield. I took a chance and drove out to Spaenaur
on Victoria St to see if they could help. I was surprised to find that
they had what I was looking for in a latch. I had found original
latches at a company in California and almost ordered them but they
would have cost me $60.00 a piece plus exchange, taxes, duty and
shipping! I imagine the total would have reached close to $200.00
Canadian by the time they arrived at my door so doing a little local
recon was worth the effort. I found them at Spaenaur, a nut and bolt
etc supplier here in Kitchener.
To my surprise the latches listed at only $15.00 each here in
Kitchener! I also found a site on the net that had a couple of
different suggestions for securing the back end of the roof to the
body. It showed special hardware for locking down the rear edge of the
roof so I made up my own brackets that matched their design almost
exactly. When I tried to mount the roof using my new rear brackets, I
found that the back edge of the roof did not have the same curvature as
the rear deck of the car. So the clips I made were of no use. After
doing a little more reading I found a method by which I could lock down
the sides of the roof to a bracket that is mounted just to the rear of
the door on either side of the car. It required that I us my metal
shaping talents once again. I was able to fashion two five inch strips
of aluminum 1/8” thick and ¾” wide. These strips had to be screwed
flush to the inside of the roof just at the lower edge where the roof
meets the body of the car. The “Popsicle Stick” looking pieces were
screwed to the inner wall of the roof and had to hang down
approximately 2 ½ “ below the lower edge of the roof so they could be
inserted into the opening of the metal pockets on the inner wall of the
car just behind the door edge on each side of the car. This allowed me
to then drill a hole through the face of the bracket and the “Popsicle
Stick”. I then took a ¼”x 20 gage threaded bolt with a lock washer on
it and screw it into the hole thus securing the “Popsicle Stick” to the
body of the car and holding the roof down tightly to the car. Voila!
The hardtop is now in place! Since the shape of the bottom edge did not
match the exact curvature of the cars surface, I had to use a role of
1”x3/4” black rubber stripping to glue to the bottom edge of the roof
as a filler to make the roof meet the car body surface so as to keep
the rain and wind out of the interior. Now all I have to do is find a
source for a piece of Plexiglas large enough to use as a back window
for the roof since the original window is missing!
I guess I’ll do my usual run to KW Surplus and see what they have in
stock. It would be better to use the actual glass window that I could
order from California for the replacement but once again, I don’t
relish the thought of putting out a couple of hundred bucks when a hunk
of plexi will do the job just fine! I guess this is what owning a
classic automobile is all about, the adventure of searching for the
parts you need to bring your hobby vehicle back to life! It’s fun to do
the research and the actual hunting for the parts needed. This 37 year
old vehicle is simple enough that anyone with an ounce of mechanical
ability can do most of the repairs themselves without having to pay a
specialist $110/hr. I like tinkering with the MG and that’s all part of
the fun and challenge of owning an old British or even North American
vehicle. Once the vehicle is road worthy you derive a sense of
satisfaction and pride as you drive it through the streets. It’s fun to
see the reactions of people when they see something different passing
by. There are many people that don’t even know what make of car I’m
driving and of course anybody that’s younger than 50 may never have
seen one of these little British vehicles when they were still
prevalent on the roads of Canada. After all, the last year the MG was
produced and shipped over to Canada was waaaay back in 1980! Heck, I
remember the British vehicles that roamed the streets of KW like it was
only yesterday! Back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s the British Sports Cars
were the only vehicles of their type around. The Jap Crap hadn’t even
begun to make a dent in the North American market. I have to admit that
the Brits were not the greatest at engineering vehicles that were
trouble free but they sure were and are fun to scoot around in! We
enjoy buzzing around in the MG with the top down and the wind blowing
through our hair, well at least Carole enjoys that sensation while I
wear the ball cap with the MG logo on it to keep my head from getting
burnt to a crisp! It’s still fun feeling the open air of a convertible
as you cruise down the open road! The only disadvantage is having to
rush to put the top up if the weather threatens rain! Funny how I’ve
almost talked myself into removing the hard top and reinstalling the
soft convertible top with just a few short sentences. Oh well, the
hardtop can still be removed on the days when we want to cruise topless
through the streets of town! We just won’t be able to rush putting it
back on the car if the weather turns nasty! Just have to get a little
wet if that happens I guess!
For the amount of times we drove the MG with
the soft top up we might as well have not had it on the car anyway! I
don’t think we had the soft roof up more than a couple of times over
the past 10 years. So we’ll just have to make sure the sun is shining
if we decide to go topless!
“Now there’s a thought!” Driving around topless! Hmmmm….! I could
handle it but even though it’s legal in Ontario I doubt Carole would go
for it! LOL!
Guess we’ll have to leave the topless part of it up to the vehicle we’re in! LOL!
“Happy Motoring!” as Murray Westgate from the ESSO commercials used to say!
Do any of you remember those Ads? Boy, am I dating myself!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
Hospitality is the art of making your guests feel at home when you wish they were!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
|