Well ya gota love it.

So last week I get a load of tea to take to Calgary. Leave Portland, Saturday morning with plenty of time for a Monday delivery. Get to the border about midnight Saturday. It turns out someone somewhere didn’t do the customs paper work right, oh and it can’t be fixed until Monday.

OK. 25 degrees out, I’m on the Idaho, British Columbia border, and it going to be a day and a half before anybody can look at the problem.  Sounds like some desk jockey should be buying some fuel.

As you might imagine I’m not real happy.

66 Valiant

A couple people have asked about the Valiant, so here it is.

Still in need of some work, there are a couple bad spots on the rear floor area, and it’s kind of trapped behind Robert’s 66 Charger at this point. But as time permits, I think we’re going to try to modify the fuel injection from a mid 70s Volvo to fit the slant six.

Also considering:

Seats from a Chrysler Sebring Convertible, get good seats and shoulder straps that way.

Super Six (2 barrel carb) set from a 76 Aspen, also has a much larger exhaust.

Going to have 100/1000ths cut from the head. Big boost in compression.

Electronic ignition. This ones easy from a wrecking yard, we have done this before.

Front and rear anti sway bars. These are on the shelf, just got to bolt them on.

Power disc brakes. Anybody that has worked with an older car knows how important this is.

Battery is being moved to the trunk, and a cold air intake goes in the old battery location.

Finally, since this is going to be a daily driver, air conditioning.

We will see how it all goes, but my intention is to keep this a budget project. Also we’re going to take notes and photos of the progress.  Much of what we’re going to do is Valiant/Dart specific, but might be of note to those thinking about the same idea with a Nova/Falcon or any other 60s compact.

My feeling is that in an age of $100,000 plus Challengers,  Mustangs,  and  Camaros, those of us that have to stick to some kind of a budget will be turning to the Dart,  Nova,  Falcon class of car.

This particular Valiant was purchased from the Kidney Car people, and cost $300. Hope to keep the project to under $2,000 including the car.  OK maybe when I’m done, I let a good paint job take me over that, but the idea is to do as much from U-Pull-It wrecking yards, as is possible.

Comments and ideas are most welcome, we all have a lot to learn.

Welsh Highland Update 3.0

Latest news is that  the Welsh Highland will begin service to the public over the entire route in July 2009.

Might be worth planning some vacation time for late summer or early fall. The dollar is quite strong against the pound right now, and airfares have dropped to levels we haven’t seen in a year.

If you are thinking about a day or two in Porthmadog, the Oakeley Arms, about 5 miles from Porthmadog in Maentwrog, is worth a look.  A delightful hotel with a Pub/Restaurant in the building.  And old building with many odd hallways, and stairs, it’s easy to get lost on your way to your room.  When we checked in last year, the desk clerk had some time finding our rooms.  Oh the food in the pub is first rate, and priced for a budget.

For those on a tight budget, a Travel Lodge has opened in Porthmadog.  The rates are on a par with U.S. motels.

Remember to stop by Spooners in the Ffestiniog station at Porthmadog and have an ale with “The Princess”

B-29 “Boxcar”

Boxcar

Just another photo from the Wright Patterson museum.
For those of you that don’t know. This is the aircraft that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan, pretty much ending World War Two.
As with most of my aircraft photos, if you should like the huge file to print from, just let me know. Their free.