Metalworking in Canadian bush

or, do what we did as kids, when we broke (many times) the shear pin on my uncles motor... find a dock, pull any old nail from said dock and stick it in for a new shear pin... I am sure we were responsible for many dock failures, on turtle lake in MN.......

darned kids....

bob in phx (who misses walleye pike!!!!!)

That's because farmers don't bale hay with wire anymore, does nasty things to livestock innards. For hay baling they use twine of various sorts. You can get plain iron wire in various sizes at real hardware stores, the local True Value carries it as plain iron wire for repairs. You can also get thinner stainless stuff at a premium. A roll of the iron stuff has ridden in the tool box for as long as I've owned a car. They use similar stuff for rebar ties, which is where I got one roll of it, my dad picked it up off the floor on a job.

Stan

I use a lot of 19 gage, black soft iron wire, AKA tie wire, AKA stove pipe wire. Perfect for hose clamps and general tying together of loose items of like genre. I also keep a stock of 16 ga. and 9ga. galvanized, along with misc. SS and Al. stock. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

This "metalworking in Canadian Bush" thread reminds me ofan experience over 30 years ago, let's call it "Metalworking on the African Veldt"

I was heading down from the Tonga Plateau (Macha Mission) in Zambia, Central Africa in 1973ish driving a 1949 VW beetle.Heading back home to Livingston and the Victoria Falls, when the engine sped up and the car slowed down coming up a long low rise. Fearing the worst(lost the clutch?) I let the car coast to a stop, and got out to check it over. (still in gear). The right rear axle nut was turning - but that was all. Turns out I had stripped the spline out of the brake drum. After hitchihiking (and walking a good part of the way in 100 degree F temps)about 10 miles to a friend's place, who towed me back with his Kombi, we pulled the drum and found it beyond repair. He knew some Canadian Catholic priests who ran a small trade school just other side of Choma who were "VW Nuts" and had lots of old parts around. We headed over and found an old drum - but not an old enough one. (1963 -

1,57 inch wide IIRC) The '49 was only about 1 1/16" wide so with a hacksaw, hammer, and cold chisel we cut it down to size to make it fit. Got me home,was still working when I sold it and came home in '75, and for all I know is STILL there.

A (Canadian) friend about the same time had been to Malawi driving a Land Rover and he broke a tie rod. He wired a broom stick in place with fence wire scrounged from an old fence, and slowly and carefully drove the vehicle back to civilization.

Just two of many "Zamfixes" I could tell you about from my years teaching Auto Mechanics in Zambia in the '70s.

(that's Pickerel to us Canucks)

Weren't you afraid of getting hung up at a vehicle inspection station?

A WHAT?

Small world - I was in Big Moose just yesterday morning.

The last time I was on Stillwater, I would have given anything for that rowboat and motor. We went in during a late afternoon thunderstorm with the wind at our backs, and it felt as if we were surfing. Coming back out a week later we had to canoe about 2/3 the length of the reservoir into one of the heaviest winds I've seen there.

Stillwater it ain't. Oriented east-west, with the prevailing winds there from the west, it can really kick up. Great place, though, isn't it?

John Martin Cumberland, Maine

What the heck do you use that 9ga for; a poker?

--Andy Asberry--

------Texas-----

I'm just disappointed that this thread wasn't about piercings.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Pretty much. Got it at a good price when it was left over on a fence job. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

Sounds like brace wire, or guy wire.MISERABLE stuff to work with (when fencing)

The space under the seats has heater hose, the old fan belt that was replaced before it broke, a few feet of heavy wire, a couple of adjustable wrenches and a socket set. Le Manual de Useless de Chilton lurks somewhere under or behind the seat. Warning triangles behind the seat, along with extra oil, PS fluid, etc. The glove compartment has pliers, screwdrivers, a spool of small wire, fuses, lightbulbs, flashlight, and gloves.

On the 1976 Ford truck with a 6, a bit of time spent forming strap or heavy wire into racks could have resulted in a bunch of that stuff stored under the hood - a straight six in a space build for a big-block V8 left a lot of room for quarts of oil, gallons of antifreeze, etc... On the 95, the crap attached to the poor little straight six fills almost all the space under the hood - I pity folks with a big-block V8 in this era, as it must be shoehorned in like a box full of cobras.

Spehro Pefhany wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Ouch.... I think there was a quote from Red Green, something to the effect of, "We try to get through life with the same amount of openings we started with..... Words to live by ;)

Bill

On Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:06:47 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Ecnerwal quickly quoth:

If you want to see the epitome of shoehorning, go look at a new F-350 with their 6.8L PowerStroke diesel under the hood. Hayseuss Crisco!

'Course, a 260/289 under the hood of a 64-1/2 Mustang had that same look.

In the opposite, my old '60 F-100 had enough room under the hood, even with the 312 V-8, for me to climb in and stand (on the ground) on either side to change the plugs. It was great!

Ain't nuttin' like Old Arn!

On Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:56:55 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Bill quickly quoth:

...which reminds me of this joke:

Heaven and Hell

An old lady dies and goes to heaven. She's chatting it up with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates when all of a sudden she hears the most awful bloodcurdling screams.

"Don't worry about that", says St. Peter, "it's only someone having the holes put into her shoulder blades for wings."

The old lady looks a little uncomfortable but carries on with the conversation. Ten minutes later, there are more blood curdling screams.

"Oh my God", says the old lady, "now what is happening?" "Not to worry", says St. Peter, "She's just having her head drilled to fit the halo."

"I can't do this", says the old lady, "I'm going to hell."

"You can't go there", says St. Peter. "You'll be raped and sodomized."

"Maybe so", says the old lady, "but I've already got the holes drilled for that!"

IIRC you had to either cut an access opening in the body metal, or pull the engine to change the #8 plug in the '54 Monarch. Bear in mind that this is hearsay only Gerry :-)} London, Canada

On Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:20:34 -0400, with neither quill nor qualm, Gerald Miller quickly quoth:

A whole lot of Mustang V-8 bodies got sent to the frame shop for a front clip after people cut too large/too many a hole in the inner fenders for tuneups. The 'Stangs were one of the first unibody frontends and they disintegrated from the extra holeyness. Flatrate (from the Ford Bible) was 6.5 hours to R&R the engines for a tuneup. Har!

One of the early T-Birds you had to cut a hole in the floorboard to get to the rear passenger side sparkplug. Or pull the engine.

And to this day they build some cars where it's 10 hours plus of work to change a simple heater core, because the entire dashboard has to come out to get to it. And then go back in when you are done.

Ahh, if the world only learned how to plan ahea d.

-->--