Tuesday, October 20, 2026

10.20.2026

Jim helped me out as always this morning, schlepping 7 trays of mail from upstairs in my office, down to the pantry/mail room, and then to my car so I could head to the post office.  As an aside, my new car is amazing - the back holds so much and I am still in awe of the cool doors!  I had errands to do afterwards of course.

 Meanwhile, Jim pretty much has the top of the engine as done as he can.  He's waiting for some parts and he needs to order oil.  He got the front drive shaft on...

He painted the ends of the back drive shaft, so after an overnight dry, he'll hopefully get that on tomorrow...

So...the engine hoist is back in the lean to.  He was doing some cleaning in there as well.  

We walked up to the shed because Jim wanted to see if he had some plywood pieces stored.  Along the way, we picked out some trees that we want to transplant.  We were pretty much 0 for 3 on the trees we planted in the spring, so we'll try again, hopefully this week!  Those trees were kind of iffy to begin with because they were attached to the rock wall.  Such a gorgeous day on the property - just look at this mini forest!

Cutting the plywood - he's going to make a little shelf underneath the blasting cabinet to hold some of his supplies...



High 62.9/Low 40.3


Monday, October 19, 2026

10.19.2026

 Jim is really getting the top of the engine buttoned up...


It was a gorgeous day though, so Jim had so spend a little time doing some lawn mowing.  Can you find him below?  You can also start to see the mountains on the horizon now that the trees are losing leaves.



High 62.6/Low 31.5



Sunday, October 18, 2026

10.18.2026

Yesterday before church, Jim got the newly-modified catalytic converter all installed! 

We had our first below freezing day - with readings of 28° this morning when we got up.  Definitely some frost on the pumpkins!

Today, he was back at it, working on connecting the millions of hoses, wires, electrical connections...

He had lots of trouble with reaching one vacuum hose connection, and practically had to crawl inside the engine...



10.17 - High 47.4/Low 32.9
10.18 - High 59.5/Low 28.6 - first freeze!


Friday, October 16, 2026

10.16.2026

Jim finished all the welding on the catalytic converter today... 

This was the side that had big gaps that Jim had to fill in...

Putting it in the blasting cabinet to clean it up...

All clean...

Then a coat of heat-resistant paint...

Jim had to spend some time doing some cleaning, and then started on the top of the engine, hooking up some of the wiring harness...

The throttle body out and Jim is investigating what he needs to do on it...



High 61.2/Low 41.8 - rainy


Thursday, October 15, 2026

10.15.2026

I had lots of errands today, so Jim took pictures of his progress on modifying the catalytic converter until I got home.  After marking the spot yesterday, he used his metal bandsaw to cut the converter...

This picture shows the catalytic converter connected - the back part is connected to the exhaust system and the front to the custom header.  The screwdriver is there to hold it in place.  Then he had to tack weld it while underneath the car...

Then he could take it off...


He then had to weld the flange onto the pipe - this side is done; he still needs to finish the other side.  There are fairly big openings so quite a bit of welding and then finishing is required...


Jim said we needed a picture of me in the new MINI - so he took this while I was moving the car later.  I'm having a lot of fun tooling around in it!   Plus - look at those golden leaves!  The whole property seems alight with yellow.


We have big accomplishments to celebrate so we are going to head to The Local this evening for dinner.

An update - a fun evening at The Local and check out this burger!  It had fried pickle spears on it in addition to cheese, bacon, and toppings.  Yum!



High 58.7/Low 44.9


Wednesday, October 14, 2026

10.14.2026

Jim has the ladder nearby to work on the car, because sometimes he needs to work from the top down and then from underneath...

Looking up from underneath, things are coming together - he has the power steering and starter assemblies all in place...


One of the last big things from underneath the car is hooking up the catalytic converter.  Jim bought those beautiful custom headers, but they require him to modify the catalytic converter - he has to cut off the end (where the has the tape marked) and then he'll have to weld it.  Sounds terrifying to me, but Jim is always up for a challenge!  Stay tuned!


 

High 61.9/Low 59.4 


Tuesday, October 13, 2026

10.13.2026

Continuing to put things together - clutch assembly done and new grommets on the stabilizer bar... 

Stabilizer bar in place...


He also got the air compressor installed.  Now everything is really tough to get at - Jim said it sure was easier when it was sitting on the engine stand!


High 61.3/Low 56.1 - on/off light rain