What a difference a couple days can make. Monday it was shirt sleeve weather, sunny and warm...

Wednesday it was sleet, snow and ice, not a pretty picture...

you know you're in Nebraska when....

Maureen made it home this weekend, managed to catch her snoozing in....

Got started on Allen's El Camino again, got the headers....

Right side went in easy enough....

Left side we had to unbolt the motor mount and jack the engine up, and the wiring for the starter and transmission cooler lines are going to be tight....

once I get that hurdle cleared, we can install water pump and radiator, get new cap, rotor and wires, plugs...

Well, got the engine in, oil pan fit fine. Motor mounts lined right up. Transmission wasn't so easy, had to move the crossmember back about 6". There were holes in the frame for it, so no drilling, but the floorboard wouldnt clear, so I had to hammer that a bit.

Now to wait til the headers come in, see if I can get those in. Still need to wire things up, get the driveshaft the right length and so on. I should be ready to finish the installation by next weekend. That would be nice...

Well, lo and behold the oil pan wouldn't fit the crossmember, so I had to find a shorter oil pan. Speedway had one, but I had to install a new oil pump and pickup tube.

Next was to fasten the torque converter onto the flywheel, then the transmission.

after installing the motor mounts and starter, things are looking a bit better

next comes the flywheel cover, but the old one was damaged. So back to Speedway for a quick fix.

Where'd that chrome converter cover come from? Looks great....

Been raining for three days, yesterday was really heavy. Came back from a wedding reception in Omaha and found this...

never let up all evening or night. Over 4" out here. We started reassembling Allen's engine, got the flywheel on the crank, and the crank all polished up...

Then we put bearing inserts in the block, and lubriplated them....

Got the mains installed, and the new rear oil seal, then set the crank in place, and started on the rod bearing inserts...

finally got all the rod bearings installed, then began torquing everything...

We then put the front timing cover on...and finally the oil pan....

then like to never got the harmonic balancer on. Very tight fit. Sure hope I don't have to get it back off. Even with a puller that one will be tough...

We rotated it upright this morning, now to take it off the stand, re-torque the flywheel bolts, bolt the torque converter and transmission on, get it ready to install in the El Camino. Hopefully Saturday. That should be fun...

We worked the concessions at the Cornhusker game on Saturday...

pretty awesome sight. The crowd was behaving, no booing, even tho the defense was less than stellar...

Sunday we worked on Allen's El Camino again, Kyle was scraping the frame, getting it ready for paint...

we got the transmission back from the shop, rebuilt and ready to install...

Mittens decided to supervise...

went to put on the front oil seal, discovered the timing chain was worn, so installed a new gear set and chain...

flipped it over and pulled the pan, got it cleaned up and ready for paint, prepared to install the rear oil seal...

and sadly discovered the rear main bearing worn pretty bad. So it looks like I pull the rod and main bearings, and pull the crankshaft, take it to the shop and have it looked at...

we did manage to get a few parts painted, always looks nicer cleaned up and a fresh coat of paint...

so the next step is to get the block scrubbed up and painted, pull the crank and take it in, then get new bearings and install those. Perhaps THEN I can get the thing put back together and installed in the car...I know I won't get to work on it much this week, possibly I can pull the crank Tuesday evening and get it to the shop. That I would like to do at least...

Maureen got her new bike the other night...

She practiced on the old blue Honda, then Kyle rode with her as she took her maiden voyage...

I rode it to Neb City and got the title inspected, plates and registration for it, then went to Peru to mow at Aunt Babe's, then back home. It now has about 175 miles on it, runs real nice.

Kyle got his new bike also, a 2001 Triumph 955i, it is a sportbike style. Copper colored. This photo was taken in the evening, so it looks red. You could mistake it at first for his old Ninja...he got a nice jacket and helmet with it...

pretty sharp setup. So now to get the Ninja sold, and the little Kawasaki...

We started pulling the engine out of the El Camino before Allen left for boot camp. Last Wednesday, I got the radiator out, most of the top half disconnected.

 Saturday I got Rich and Kyle out here, pulled the driveshaft, drained the transmission (mostly) unhooked speedometer cables, exhaust pipes, crossmembers, etc. and started on pulling the engine...

starter wiring a little easier to get to with the engine 2 feet in the air

my main hoist operator...

a little lighter with the engine out....

looks pretty bare in there. Should be all kinds of room for a big block, right? Right....

Ran across these the other day while doing an Inspection....

this is a 1947 Indian, all restored.

This is a '59 Harley Road King...

This is a '48 Harley with a sidecar, original condition. I am told this is worth about $25k in this condition...

This '47 Indian is still undergoing restoration, neat half-tanks, even has an oil tank, as these didn't use a crankcase with a wet sump, rather they stored the crankcase oil in the tank and used an oil pump to circulate it. I suppose for additional cooling... sure would get warm on a hot summer day with 300 degree oil next to your right inner knee...

This guy had a garage across the street with 5 late 60's-early 70's BMW's in it, a '65 Vette, partially restored, and a 69' Plymouth Super Bee with a fresh paint job. Way too many toys. The guy who painted the motorcycles and cars was buying the house, runs a paint and body shop. I may go visit him with the T-Bird when the time comes...

Thursday morning we had another nice buffet breakfast in our hotel. Great place to eat, but $17.50 was a bit much for a breakfast buffet....but when you are in Hawaii, there is no inexpensive place anyway. They had a three story aquarium in there, filled with local fish and rays. Pretty cool. We went across the street to the beach, and I got the kids surfing lessons...

Allen and Kyle doing their test lessons....then Maureen and her paired student practicing standing up on the boards....a lot easier when they are on the beach....

then they got out there and hit the surf. And all three did great....

a bit hard to see, but Maureen was riding this wave...

Allen was pretty easy to spot in his red t shirt....

Kyle managed to get up a bunch of times....

Maureen was in the lead here, with Allen and Kyle on the next wave behind her...

here both boys were up...

Allen was up on this one....

Maureen was paddling like mad, anticipating the oncoming wave, she just got up and...

perfect faceplant, just as I snapped it....

Sadly the time went all too fast, as it did all week. We got a pic of their very tan, very Hawaiian teacher as we left...

We checked out of the hotel an hour late, but no problem. We went to Pearl Harbor to the gift shop and got our T-shirts, then headed back to the North Shore to the Polynesian Cultural Center again. The kids liked it so much they wanted to return. So we spent the afternoon there, then headed back and turned in the rental car, then off to the airport. Trip home seemed much faster than the trip out. At least from Honolulu to Denver we had a 767, a bit more room. We had an unexpected layover in Denver, an additional 45 minutes, but that didn't mess anything up. We made it back to Omaha at 1 instead of 12:20, then got our car from the Budget lot and Allen drove us home. I had to recharge the A/C when we got home, pretty low. The kids headed on into Lincoln, and helped me drag my dead washing machine out and put it on a trailer, I headed into town with that. I got a new used one, and brought it home only to find it leaked too. A few fast phone calls to the guy, and I had that fixed. Now to go mow in 100 degree heat, work on the Explorer, etc. Always something. But it was a great week, we had a blast, and made a bunch of memories. And that is what counts...