Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

Fabricating the Shifter Brackets

Fabricating the transmission shifter

Today was a bit of a fiasco. When I put the transmission in my newly engineered stand it turned from a box into a parallelogram. I should have added a cross brace and used a welding tip a size larger. The one used was too small and I couldn’t get enough heat to get the “puddle” properly on the metal legs.

Tomorrow I will get several that are larger. As I said I hadn’t gas welded in a long time and for the thicker stuff I normally stick or wire feed weld. Welding is fun once you get into it but the preparation and set up are lengthly. The metal to be joined needs to be fitted precisely and the surface residue completely removed. Then, there is having all the accessories; for example the glasses, gloves, striker and a comfortable welding seat. You want to be out of the wind and screened so the dogs and cats don’t get flashed by the arc. Then there is technique, such as keeping the heat on the thicker piece to avoid the dreaded burn through. I am not highly skilled in any of the processes but good enough to get by after a fashion.

The reason I built the stand was to get the transmission up off the ground so I could sit on a tub of hydraulic fluid and try and figure out how the shifter will work on the transmission. Originally it was a column shifter but now I'm trying to put on an aftermarket floor shift, and I don’t have the proper bracket. (not to mention no directions.) You might wonder "why?" and the answer is I got the shifter cheap and figured I could “Fab” (fabricate) one up. Since I do not have a great mechanical aptitude I ended up asking Henry if I could bring it over and have him take a look. When I can’t figure something out it’s nice to have someone who can show you how.

I fixed the flat on the trailer that was taking up space on the shop’s cement apron and put it in the Trailer Park. On the way the breaks failed and the warning light came on. I pumped them and got some pressure but there appears to be a leak somewhere. I’ll need to fix that before I can drive the Dodge.

Then I fired up the 53 Ford. In an earlier life it had been a dump truck which I converted into a super pickup. It looks like a vintage truck but one with “Duallies.” I took the tractor and slung the transmission stand into the back, loaded up the dogs…Chloe and Honey, and set off for Henrys.

Henry came out and took a look and gave me some pointers. As a young man he had installed a Hearst Shifter on one of his cars and as they say….”In the Land of the Blind the one eyed man is King.” The more he talked the more I began to understand what needed to be done. Hesiod, a contemporary of Homer once made the observation. “That too is excellence that knows the best when it is seen.” Well I began to see a glimmer of what to do.

I submitted my piece for the class I am taking on writing.com. I ran out of words before I met the class objective and only completed half the requirement. The instructor politely pointed out the error which I already realized. I do hope I can do better on next weeks lesson.