Sunday, March 24, 2019
Quasimodo emerges from his ice tomb
After installing the battery and giving it a couple of squirts of fresh gas in the carb throats it started on the first try .
But the three inch thick layer of ice covering the ground had a grip on
the wheels that could not be overcome . I had to use the come-along and the
yellow tow strap tied to the base of the bush to pull it free .
The last three weeks were spent doing a lot of this . . .
. . . and this . . .
. . . and some fine hydraulic engineering . . .(yea and the old Toyota started on the first try today too)
Hydraulic engineering that just barely managed to defy gravity
. . . to keep this stuff from further flooding the Volvo shed and my garage
Quasimodo emerged from five months of stasis into the fifty degree sunshine .
Then we removed about a dozen buckets full of ice from under the various layers of plastic ground sheet . And then went for a spin in the Volvo .
Ah... las delicias del invierno up north... Los Volvo son buenos autos, algunos no son muy lindos, pero son buenos. Me parece que vas a tener que mudarte pronto a un clima templado. Estas esperando que Annie pueda jubilarse?
ReplyDeleteNos quedan cinco años de hipoteca por terminar con la casa, y también esta el asunto de quien va a cuidar de mi madre si nos mudamos, así que si no me gano la lotería estamos aquí estancados.
DeleteSpring has sprung! - lol
ReplyDeleteIn a technical sense yes it has as we have now passed spring solstice by four days, and the crocuses under the kitchen window are blooming . But we have been dumped with a foot and a half of snow well into mid April in the past so though I was sorely tempted today, I am not putting the snowblower away quite just yet. It would just be bad ju-ju if I did.
DeleteYou guys with nice mild climates. There's plenty of snow here north of the Notches.
ReplyDeleteYea it has been nice here for a couple days, but the trouble is it don't stay that way to long. Normally we get eight to ten feet of snow a season here but this year we just got wet slop and then very cold temps. So we just had a crapload of ice this year.
DeleteWell aren't YOU the sanctimonious one, bragging about your triumph over the battery demons! Pride goeth before the fall! As ye gloat about your success with the battery - the Ice Demons made it all for naught! There is a lesson in this for you, M! :)
ReplyDeleteOh no I learned my lesson a long time ago, though it took multiple failures to drive it home for this numb-scull. But I do reserve the right to get smarter. The Toyota had the tickle charger on it all winter. And the Volvo battery, a new one bought last year, was stored inside the house where the cat litter-box kept it company.
Deleteoh yea . . . and Quasimodo's ice lair will hopefully get a poured concrete floor this year to prevent further intrusions of water and ice.
DeleteLove your Volvo. As a kid my dream car was a 47 Ford and then I happened across a PV544 and I was smitten. I have always admired them but never owned one. I got into Volvos twenty years later and since then have owned over 35 of the 2, 7 and 9 series cars. I was always dragging them home and everyone in the family drove them whether they wanted to or not. Great shade tree mechanic cars.
ReplyDeleteYes, the PV544 does have an uncanny resemblance to the 1940 Ford. The were designed about the same time though the Volvo did not start production til after the war, and ended some time in the late sixties. This one is a 1962 making it a year older than me. I inherited it from dad a year ago after he passed. He was always into Volvos. His first was a PV bought in Holland that he drove there, here, and in Venezuela. Brought back to Maine he traded it in 1960 for a 122, that he took back to Caracas and I learned to drive in. He Bought a couple of 240 wagons once we moved back to the US and then bought the old PV about eighteen years ago for nostalgic reasons. Mom still refuses to drive anything but the 93 245. Dad put a B20 engine and the overdrive transmission in the PV. With the IPD sway bars it is peppy and rides quite nice. It is comfortable cruising at just under 65 mph. Beyond that, it can do it but it gets a bit hairy.
DeleteHere is the article dad wrote about putting in the M41 transmission in the PV
http://www.vclassics.com/pv_od.html
I'm glad it's starting to warm up , up your way. We have had nice days now for about two weeks and I can't get enough of it. Not to mention the warmer weather means I have to spend a lot less for propane and electricity, since I don't have to heat the buildings.
DeleteThey were talking about another major winter storm on Weather Nation this morning, but I missed the first part of the conversation, so I don't know if it is headed your way or not. I hope not, you folks have had enough of that to deal with for awhile.
Yea its been mostly sunny and up in the 40s and 50s this week here so not so bad. Snow is mostly gone, a couple ugly ice patches in the shady spots on the north side of the buildings still hanging on. I just broke up and shoveled off the last of the ice on the back patio this morning. It feels good to be able to get a few projects done outside without freezing my keester off.
Delete