Fitzy

Hey, I was overseas too...to Groote Eylandt where I work. When I try and write something on FP using my phone, it doesn't like it - really slow, so I haven't been doing too much commenting: a relief to all, I imagine. Did 12 days straight and got home this morning. Will get around to sending some pics of new digs in due course. Got too much going on. Need to see orthopaedic surgeon about my floppy foot and have joined local car club so need to catch up with them for our inaugural personal introductions on Sunday. This week's chores? Carting endless ute & trailer loads of crap to the Tip. Beer? Yes please. Kiwi, you dog! Have an awesome time!

They did a good job of it. Genuinely feel for you. Where are they going to find body parts??? They'll have to rebuild what you have. Did you smash the dude's head into the side of his car or were you dragged off him? Tourists coming to Australia get into all kinds of trouble.

I have been sent a couple over the years. Just gotta ask.

Free holiday? In tropical Cuba? Let's go.

The only ounce of truth is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I understand that there are always better ways to do things and extra features can be useful but as you get older, change isn't so easy. Don't forget your core demographic is Triassic - why only this morning I had to straighten the plates on my back. Never ever take anything I say seriously, and that goes for the whole tribe. I like to write and will often inject extra 'colour' into the story to give it some pizzaz. Having said that, I don't lie and whilst the story might be colourful, the facts are immutable.

Hey Ringo, sorry Old Bean. I must have been slogging through a Senior Moment. The FP upgrades are fine - don't be concerned about my rantings. Think Grandpa Simpson and you're getting close. This damn house move has me rattled. When I talk of petrol & matches, I'm only half joking. I can't go to work this week because I can't get a medical clearance which is fair enough...hobbling into the doctor's office would have been proof enough to not allow me anywhere. Oh - when you move you have to change your address. Remember how easy that used to be? Now you have to prove you're not part of ISIS and have to slog your way through endless passwords & security checks. Of course I was forced to change my email address a few weeks earlier so there are crossover emails going everywhere. Beer? BRING IT ON!

Bloody hell - why can't app developers just leave things alone??? Samsung demanded that I install their latest upgrade and EVERYTHING has changed. To calm my shattered nerves, I thought I'd check out FP...another new maze to navigate. Am I the only one who's going to bitch & moan about it? A few months ago, stupid bloody Yahoo decided to upgrade their app and I lost everything, so I discarded them after 30 years and went to gmail. Well? So, I'd better include something Pontiac related. As you may remember we were on the cusp of moving to a new property. That occurred last week...what a drama. I was once nomadic and slept in the back of my Falcon station wagon with a cardboard box of clothes and my mountain bike - probably the happiest time of my life. This move was a monumental effort with endless boxes and crap and seemingly mountains of furniture. How did this ever happen? Anyway we are now at the new place and are methodically positioning furniture and unpacking stuff. My garage stuff plus all the outdoor stuff you need when you are rural is just about biblical in volume. It gets worse. The old coot we bought it off had been here for 40 years and just left everything. So we now have 10 of everything instead of 2 of everything! On the first day of the move I was carrying a terracotta birdbath that I had filled with concrete to stabilise it and just as I was about to set it down the top came away from the base and it fell onto my left foot. I'm pretty sure it broke my big toe and my foot has swollen and turned purple and it friggin' hurts! But...I had to press on - settlement of both properties was the next day and we simply had to be out of there. So, the Pontiac related component? I had 6 cars & 2 motorbikes to move and I was sure to bomb every vehicle with as much crap as possible before they moved. I drove the GP to the new place with that enormous trunk filled to the gunwales along with the back seat, passenger seat and all floor space absolutely bombed. My car is pretty damn low when it's empty but it was a total lead sled for that 40km trip. Pics will come once we get a chance. My moving advice? Petrol & matches. Burn everything to the ground and walk away.

When bleeding brakes, I learnt that before you start, pump the pedal about 50 times - that should get any air to the end of the lines near the bleeders. Push on pedal, slowly open bleeder, then close valve after watching for bubbles. Pedal must stay down after stroke otherwise air gets sucked in. As helper is handy - gotta keep master topped up. Is master cylinder in good nick? Everything tight and in good order?

Yeah yeah- I need to actually move there first before I start taking pics. Don't worry - one of my enduring life skills is to bore the tits off people, especially with endless pics. You'll be sorry you asked.

I took some more stuff out there today and snapped a pic of the better of the trucks. I won't take any more pics yet. The old bloke who we bought it off has been there for 40 years and he has effectively left me everything in his enormous shed. It's a mess and I'm eager to get in there and clean it up. I also expressed interest in some lovely old solid timber wardrobes and bed frames. The floors are all polished timber and with a coat of paint it's gonna look nice.

I reckon I could fit 10 cars under that shed, but that won't be happening. There are 2 old tractors and 3 old trucks gently rusting away too. I'm going to keep one tractor as lawn art and perhaps one old truck. It's an Austin and has nice 1940s lines.

I wonder if the blocked coolant passages I encountered during my rebuild have anything to do with a factory attempt to improve cooling? I know the previous owner had overheating problems and of course now it runs sweet - temp never strays from 180.

Sounds like it. With the vac line connected and you rev the engine, do the timing marks change? Is the line in good condition - no cracks or holes? The timing marks will move of course due to both centrifugal & vacuum mechs. If you rev the engine gradually that should activate the centrifugal. When you gently back the revs off a little you'll see the vacuum do it's thing, ie. higher vacuum will cause the marks to move again. No movement means a new can. Also, if you suck on the vac line you should feel plenty of resistance. No resistance is probably a damaged vac diaphragm.

Yeah - my surgical scars are all good but my mental scars will never heal! I have been wearing the Pontiac Transportation Museum hat that Frosty kindly sent me all those years ago: it says PTS on the front. I'm gonna tell peeps it stands for Pontiac Trauma Survivor. "Yes, I once restored a 60 year old Pontiac and all I got was this hat." 😁

We're moving! We'd been looking around for a larger property and found one a few km out of the town up the road. It's 6 acres with a modest weatherboard house and a massive shed complete with, drum roll...a vehicle hoist! Okay, so the shed is old and has been added to over the years but it's 23m long! The hoist (drive on 2 ramps) looks like it is surplus from WW2 but works. If you never hear from me again it's because the thing failed and I am hamburger mince under the GP. All my surgical wounds have healed (I gots a bitchin' tough looking scar on my cheek) and I'm back to work next week. When I get back it's Action Stations for moving house - always a fun way to spend your week off. I'll send some pics once we're a little more settled.