What's that noise??

On Saturday July 31st I attended the 5Th Annual Monzaque at Bryan's place. A nice day, and a nice turn out of 11 cars, all H-Body models. Spyders, Coupes and my Wagon.
It was a nice drive out to the location just north of Brighton off Hwy 30. I took the back roads and avoided the 401 holiday traffic. Just me and a nice two lane road.
Now I had to leave early and on my way back on the 401 I noticed a strange noise coming from the engine bay. I pulled off at Grafton and the noise became louder, a knock but not. More like a hole on the exhaust? Also she was running like only 7 cylinders were firing. I checked the engine and there was no leaks, temp was ok and oil pressure was in the safe range.
I managed to limp home using Hwy 2.
Once in the safety of the garage I began to search out the source of this miss and noise. I checked out all the wires, changed the spark plugs and fired her up. Noise was still there. I removed the passenger side valve cover and low and behold the exhaust valve spring on the last jug had broken.
Now its a matter of just replacing this valve spring.....or tearing down the motor, pulling that head and seeing if anything else has been damaged. Aren't old cars and engines fun!
Can't really complain as the old girl has been real good up to now.
Stay tuned.

Off roading in a Harley?

Well on Friday we decided to go on a little ride around Northumberland County. There are some fabulous roads here and the countryside is lovely. Some of the roads twist and turn and go up and down. Most are excellent riding roads that are either paved or hard packed. Now on our adventure that day we sought out the Primrose Donkey Sanctuary. There we met some very interesting characters and took photos of most of them.




After visiting them we decided, or at least I decided that we continue down the road that the Sanctuary was on and see where it went. The maps and GPS said that this road went south about 8 km and met up with a secondary county road that we had already been on. So off we went.
The first couple of km or so was lovely with a forest all around and the road was firm and smooth. After about 3 kms the road began to narrow but was still rideable. It then began to twist and turn and looked more like forest trail. Still not bad. We were about 6 kms into it when this road was no longer a road but a Jeep trail used as a snowmobile trail in the winter! It suddenly began to go up a steep incline and was rutted and rocky! Now a 900 lb Harley Dresser with two people on board IS NOT an off road bike! But I know from my Police training that if ridden right and with the proper ground clearance the old Harley will go just about anywhere. So gunning the old girl and dropping into a lower gear I attacked the steep hill. Dar was on the back quietly shitting herself praying that I wouldn't dump her onto the bush on either side. Up we went, back wheel spinning up dirt and rocks (luckily it was bone dry) in and out of some nasty ruts but standing on the running boards I guided the beast up the hill and onto some level ground. at the top of this hill we came upon a farmer's field access and the road improved somewhat. After another km we emerged from the forest trail and onto the county road. Stopping here I looked back at the sign that was posted at the beginning on the road. UNASSUMED ROAD USE AT OWN RISK OFF ROAD VEHICLE ONLY...well what do you know, we have an off road Harley! Dar was not impressed.

Wobble,wobble.

Today I finally decided to fix the wobble on the Monza's steering column. With a tilt steering the bolts that hold the mechanism can become loose over time and the whole assembly begins to wobble. To fix this you have to tighten those bolts. Easier said then done my good friend. Apparently it is quite common with this model car and there is an excellent description on the H-Body web site that shows you how to do it. But............what a pain in the ass. First I had to acquire the right tools. A steering wheel puller, a lock plate tool, and the special 1/4" shallow E8 torx sockets. That done I began. Now it's a small car to begin with and I'm 6' 4" and 285 lbs. Squeezing into and out of the car and removing all those under dash bolts to lower the steering shaft was a hoot. Then slowly took the shaft apart bit by bit and located the offending bolts. Unfortunately you can only easily access two of them but with a liberal dose of Loc-Tite and a good tightening the whole assembly is once again like new. And....I managed to get the whole assembly back together again and everything WORKS!....

Forgot to mention...the walk.

In my haste to complete the last entry to my blog I totally forgot to mention that the last piece of the puzzle was also done. The walkway to the gate from the deck. Under guidance from the site fore person I was able to assemble a walkway that blended into and enhanced the overall appearance of the yard. I'm also happy to say that due to the increase in local precipitation the over abundance of grass seed thrown down has begun to sprout. Soon hopefully I will be cutting this as the site fore person looks on with her approval.

Wednesday...stain day

So it turns out to be a nice day after we got back from the "Y" (just joined, nice place) and I decided to stain the Fort walls. The directions say don't use in direct sunlight but I don't know why they say that. It turned out alright. Now the outside walls now all have a nice coat of stain and we think it looks a hell of a lot better then just the plain old PT colour. Kind of goes with the house brick and brings out the stone wall. Opinions are welcome. We'll give it a few days to weather then look to see if a second light coat is required. Also we gave the front porch columns their second coat of paint and they look very nice.

Friday, well what do you know.It's finished!

Yes after only a few weeks and well ahead of any anticipated time we have finished the Deck, Wall and Fence. Having all this completed before May is just well, lucky. The weather couldn't have been better and all things seemed to fall into place. We don't know exactly the final costs but we're sure it's about what we thought it would be and several thousand less then if we had a contractor do the work. Having do all the deck and fence was good for us and having the wall done by Davey was the smart thing to do. Yesterday we tilled the topsoil and now only have to roll and seed it for the new lawn to take hold. When the weather gets a bit warmer we will be staining the fence to match the deck. Till then it's time to relax and start enjoying my "us" time. Get the bicycles out, and the Harley and Monza ready for a season of rides and car cruises.

Tuesday-Wednesday

Another of couple of days has passed and slowly, very slowly are we completing the project that won't die! It only took two days to build two, make that three gates. One for the east end and a double barn door gate for the west end of the Fort. Cut down 90% of the 4x4 posts and placed solar lights on the corner posts. After finishing the barn door gate we realized it wasn't quite going to work in it's existing configuration so a slight modification will so take place to make it work. (more post hole digging !! ugh!) but should work and look better. And then, after that we can till the soil and seed it for a new lawn, we hope! Oh forgot we have to stain this monster but that will wait till May or June.

Oops, forgot the walkway still has to be finished...sigh.........

Monday...The Fort has risen...LOL

It's Monday and the weather has turned out nice. We began by going to resupply our wood at Rona and then back to the "build". No wonder contractors charge so much to build these things, bloody wood and hardware is costly. Oh well saved a bundle on the labour costs but not my back? Anyway this is the sort of thing that keeps one fit and active. neighbour walks by and comments that its looking more and more like a Fort!..hey I like that idea so Fort Hilder it is.
We finished all the fence boards and the only thing left on this project is to build the gates. Wonder how much it would be to install gun towers? Dar says no, so I can only pretend. Once all the building is done we can then concentrate on leveling out the topsoil, rolling and seeding the area. Hopefully by June we will have a nice lawn to walk on. Still trying to figure out where to put the Hot Tub...

In the two photos you can see the "before" and "after" shots. Only difference you don't see is a the few thousand spent!....

Sunday, BBQ time.

Sunday turned out to be a nice day, sunny but a bit windy. We had friends over for a BBQ and had a good time. Dar is going to attend something new soon and I hope she likes it. Had a great BBQ, love those Cowboy Steaks, and great conversation. Couldn't help but bring up some work talk (even retired) but after 32 years it kind of sticks in you. (sorry girls) Did a bit of landscaping this morning as I had run out of wood for the fence so I washed the truck. Black truck + construction area = never clean..sigh..and Jimmy, if your reading this then the outhouse in the background is waiting for you..so says Tom..

Saturday...is it a fort?

Well it's Saturday and progress on the fence carries on. The site "supervisor" has stated that she doesn't like the way the wind wobbles the fence (it isn't finished yet dear) so we are installing a third cross member to stiffen up the fence . Actually not a bad idea as it will prevent board spread. Four and one half sections are done and the remainder will be completed next week. Our neighbour was walking her dog and stopped to admire my handiwork. "building your self a fort are you?" she stated. Well I guess you could look at it that way because sections sit high on the new wall. Just a privacy fence, that's all. I wonder how many times she is going to back out of her driveway and into our wall this year? Old dear is not that good in her Lexus. Thankfully the wall should stand up to the occasional bump. (I hope) Sunday we are having friends over for a BBQ so no work, (or maybe only a little) on the project tomorrow.

Friday...the Fence has begun!

So Friday turns out to be an OK day, no rain as predicted. So off we go to Rona and pick up a few fence boards. ( 137, ouch) And when we return and after some discussion begin the process of screwing these boards to the rails. ( more $ then nails but much better). After a few hours the fence is beginning to take shape. I think we can see the horizon in the distance in the house yard work...maybe.

Thursday...isn't done yet?

Well Thursday turned out to be a nice day and I took this opportunity to set all the fence posts and pour in the concrete. Have you ever mixed 16 bags of ready mix by hand in a wheel barrow? It is a bitch of a job. With the help of the "Inspector" we managed to get all the posts straight and true and over the next few days will begin to build the fence. The top soil still has to be raked out and this whole area seeded. Better then waiting for 4 weeks for sod to be available. Should turn out nicely. ( We hope) Forgot to take some pics so here is one taken at 11:00 PM. Get some more tomorrow.

Monday & Tuesday..wall erection

Well it's been a busy couple of days as the Davey's Landscaping crew have been real busy building our retaining wall. These guys are really good and are perfectionist. It has to be just right before they continue on to the next step. In a matter of a few days we will have our wall and then can start on the fence.

Friday, well what do you know.is that going to be a wall?

Friday, cold, damp and miserable. We are discussing how the landscaper hasn't called about the retaining wall when we hear a bit of a commotion outside. We look out to see the orange Kobota digging up some dirt where our retaining wall is going to be. John has started the wall and by the end of the day has the foundation in , leveled and packed ready for the blocks Monday. Hope Monday is a nice day.

Tuesday-Wednesday

Well these two days have been kind of cloudy,cool and wet. Really not much to do while waiting for some sunnier and warmer weather to arrive. We did take down the black shutters and paint them a rust/brown/red colour to better match the house brick. They look better then the standard "black" issue. This is the colour we are going to paint the main door and side lights. Should look nice when completed. We also painted a section of the porch bench to match the new colour. Also took some time to finish off painting the interior walls of my garage. Oh yes, had to strip the old paint off the door and found out it wasn't a very good paint as it practically peels off.

Sunday--Monday

Actually kind of a quiet two days that we had here. The only real work was to scrape off all the builder's paint from the front door that was crap and get the door and shutters ready for a nice paint as soon as it gets a bit warmer. Dar's real birthday was Sunday and together we all celebrated that day. It's hard to imagine that she is 61 years old, she doesn't look it at all. Guess the good genes were on our side. I'll be joining her in June at the 61 mark..sigh..

Saturday..Gazebo up..

Well its Saturday and its turning out to be another nice day. Brother-in-law, Rod, is here and together we all managed to put up the gazebo on the deck. It is 10' x 10' and takes up a good chunk of the deck floor, but at our age too much sun is not good. The gazebo is situated in such a way that you can still get plenty of sun if you wish or sit in the nice shade if you so desire.
After this was done we took a nice drive through Cobourg to show Rod the town and waterfront, and that took all but 10 minutes!...nice to be small and have most everything close. This evening its BBQ'd steaks!

Friday...what a beautiful day.

Turned out to be a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the wind was calm and it hit 25 C on our deck ! We had our longest and dearest friends over for a BBQ and chat. Christened the deck with spilt wine. We also celebrated my dear wife's birthday. She is 61 years young come April 4th. doesn't look it, no way no how. It's always nice to celebrate something new with those you hold dear. We had a great time and plan to have many more this season. So after a nice day it's time to rest as next week once again bring things to do.

Thursday...oops why did the battery die now?

A beautiful day, time to take the Harley out of hibernation. WE wheeled her out of the basement (love that 42" door) and fired her up. Makes a big difference when you store your bike in a nice warm place, she started like it was running yesterday. (helps to have a battery minder plugged into her over the winter.) So off I go to the Sunoco station to get some fresh gas. Get there, gas up and ...NO START...the damn battery in the security fob has gone dead. duh! Now the bike thinks its being stolen and shuts down big time, ...Luckily I'm only a few blocks away from the Wal-Mart. Trudge over there, buy a new battery and trudge back to the station. The old girl fires right up and off to home I go. Dar is really pissed since I didn't take my cell phone and she had no idea what had happened. Poor woman thought I had been smucked by a truck or something. Told her what happed but still got shit. I should know better.

BTW we have almost finished staining the deck...hard parts done...only floor deck to do.

Wednesday.....almost done..

Well Wednesday turned out to be nice and fairly productive. We finished the stain on the lattice, straightened out the stairs ( no comments please) and the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Dar had me bring out all the deck furniture and we got the BBQ tank filled and are ready for Friday and our first guests. The stair railings haven't shown up yet but Sylas says they should arrive Thursday afternoon. Hope so. Having built and finished this project before April was just lucky. I truly thought that this wouldn't be done until May. Now if the contractor would only show up to do he retaining wall I can start of the fence...sigh!

Tuesday..lattice prison

Almost done. And today we put on the lattice around the perimeter of the deck bottom. This helps to keep out garbage and critters. Not a bad job except the idiot putting on the lattice managed to get himself trapped. It was being attached to the frame boards from the inside and after attaching the last section and not thinking (very well) managed to lock himself in under the deck. Luckily the "supervisor" unscrewed the first section and dummy crawled out. All in all it's not a bad looking job. Tomorrow the stair railings go on and the stair landing is adjusted so you don't go flying down the hill after stepping off the last step. And yes, we are going to finish the staining.

STAIRS!!!!!! DONE!!!!

Finally I accomplished what I thought was going to be hard and turned out it was...stairs are not easy to do, especially on a slope. Got them cut, set, and secured. Three stringers, 11" of tread and 7 risers. Only took the better part of a whole day and it turned out to be a nice day. By 6 PM I had just about done it all. Only thing left is to get the railing guys back to measure up the railing for the stairs and then stain this monster. But first it's BBQ time!!!.
Having very good freinds over Friday and we will christen the S.S. Deck. Tomorrow I'll finish off the lattice .....then.....out comes the Harley!!!! woooo-hooo.....

Sunday...where did spring go?

So the spring has disappeared?Well it feels that way. Today was a day I didn't feel like doing anything and ended up doing something. Put on the lattice screen on the south side of the deck to hide all the under crap. Looks not half bad and will look better after we stain it. Tomorrow , Rob, the framer, is going to show me how to cut and attach the stair stringers. That should be fun. Stay tuned.

Saturday...why work?

It's Saturday so why work? And besides it's cold out there. So only thing done was the first section of lattice to cover the lower portion of the deck. Monday the stairs go on and Wednesday..BBQ TIME!!

Friday...quiet day

Well Friday was a cold, sunny and quiet day. Went into Toronto to see my mother (oh I,m so glad we moved) and then came back home. Rob, the framer is going to cut my stair stringers Monday and then the deck will almost be complete. Next task will be the fence. should have everything done by May...not bad. This will leave a lot of time for riding and car cruises.

Thursday...is it done yet?

I'm holding the last of 958 screws that this wooden monster required.
Thursday and it's turning cold but I have completed the deck portion of the deck and installed the railings. All that is left is to cut some stair stringers ( this could be fun) and install them. Then the railing people return to measure up the railing for the steps. Because of the slope of the yard the steps may turn out to be a bitch. However one of the framers working across the street has offered to show me how to do it. He kinda owes me after I secured all his lumber the other night after strong winds decided to make paper airplanes out of a stack of 4X8 sheets of plywood. Luckily no damage was done. So by Monday I just might have stairs to this monstrosity.

Wednesday, railings...not that easy

So it was a lovely day today and the railing install started. Not so easy if your deck isn't 100% true or level. Some minor adjustments had to be made and one section slightly trimmed. That done, things went pretty well. Only have another 6 deck boards to screw down. I figured it out and I only have to screw into the boards 956 2.5" wood screws. Thankfully I have a couple of good corded drills. By-law requires that the railing is screwed to the decking using 6" x 3/8" lag bolts into blocker plates. Kind of overkill but these railing won't move anywhere.
While I was doing this some idiot set an old dump truck on fire in the field just south of us. Big event in Cobourg, we got one Rescue Pumper, one EMS unit, three Cobourg Police cruisers and the Cobourg Safety Unit? along with a photog from the local paper. Truck was a write off but it was junk anyway. Only the second time I've seen a fire truck on call since we moved here from Scarborough, far cry from the city.

Tuesday.....can you say railing?

Well Tuesday started out as a wet dreary day that showed no promise of progress until a phone call from the railing guy who said the railing was done and would be delivered that afternoon. So at about 3 PM he shows up and we now have a railing for the deck. They aren't bolted down yet because I have to set in blocker plates and finish screwing the deck boards down. Tomorrow looks like a promising day and hopefully we will have made some steady progress. Who knows this whole deck thing may be done by next week. BBQ time!!

Monday...colder and wet

Well the short summer tease is over and the cooler weather and rain has shown up to announce "SPRING"! So today was kinda slow. But the fellow from the railing company showed up and took the measurements and we'll have a railing by Friday afternoon. Still have to build the stairs but after doing some web research now know that the landing pad has to be the first thing done. When the rain stops the pad will be constructed then I can see if i can build some stairs. Already acquired the stain and all we need now is a nice day or two,....yeah right. Who knows maybe by April I can have my first BBQ on our new deck.

Sunday..not much..

So Saturday was a day of rest and we went to see Alice In Wonderland...hmmm..not bad but still just Alice In Wonderland. Liked Avatar better. Also went and bought a propane BBQ to replace the NG one we now have. Anyone want a good NG BBQ Cheap? Started to screw down the deck boards but quit when the rain started. Can't complain about the weather as I has a real good week to build. Stairs and Railing along with some stain is all that is left.

Friday, well what do you know..a deck!

Well it turned out to be a pretty good day. All the joists are in and we placed all the deck boards on the framing. It actually looks like a deck now. All that is left is to screw the boards down, measure up the railing, order it and build a set of stairs. And of course build a concrete pad for those stairs. Luckily I have 12 bags of cement left over from the original order.

Thursday ..framing begins.

Well another nice day and off we, the wife Supervisor, and I went to get this thing built. Assembled the beams and shit those buggers are heavy. (3 2x8x16 nailed together) Got the beam hangers in place in the concrete wall and with a little effort and help from my neighbour Bill, got the posts measured and cut and placed. We started to place the joist spacing them out along the ledger board at 16" centers. Helps to cut some spacer pieces to just slip in at the right measurement. An issue arouse which we will address tomorrow because I'm friggen bushed. Some of the joists are taller at the ledger then the others so we'll adjust the hangers to fit. Enough done today so time to rest. I keep forgetting I'm 60 years old!!....too bad eh? Oh well soon be sitting on the deck tossing back some Blue.....stay tuned for Friday's entry. BTW going to teach the Supervisor how to use a screw gun tomorrow, should be fun.