HG's thread of miscelaneous stuff - Page 3 - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

hgs_notes · 07-30-2013, 12:49 AM

These are from way back in the archive when digital cameras were still pretty new to the general public, so the pixal count wasn't that high. This antique fire engine actually came from the San Fransisco FD I think, but was going to the NYFD or vice versa, can't remember which anymore. It was from the 1870's I think. The shop I worked with on the restoration had to rebuild the boiler and the rest of the engine pump and get it back to working order. The only drawings they could find for it were from a catalog, like Montgomery Wards or Sears or something. It was a very unusual design, but we had to build it to meet the code as much as possible even though it was never built to one because no pressure vessel codes existed at the time. I was changing jobs right at the end of this project, but the shop called me and said to come watch them test it, just a few days before I moved. It worked perfectly and you would never know it wasn't all original.

This shop in Everett, WA did some unique projects. The owner was a great guy, really into steam powered boats. He built his own boiler for his, then got certified to build high pressure boilers just so he build build more for the niche market he was involved in.

But even more interesting than this shop was their neighbors shop, who I also did some inspection work with. They built nuclear containment storage casks. (sorry, no pics) That was some funky welding those guys did. I was involved with some tritium processing vessels there, little heat exchangers that used aluminum foam material in them. The radiographs were not easy to read I can tell you that much. If I had stayed in that area for work there was a fairly good chance I would have got certified to inspect nuclear ASME code vessels and my career would not have taken the same path it did. I like where I'm at, no complaints.

TennesseeZ · 07-30-2013, 02:01 AM

hgs_notes this is one interesting thread you've got going here, thanks for posting and keeping it going.

hgs_notes · 08-01-2013, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

hgs_notes this is one interesting thread you've got going here, thanks for posting and keeping it going.

Thanks for looking and showing the appreciation.

New pics from the last road trip. I had to go to Waverly, IA yesterday and went passed this old service station. I had to go back for a closer look and some pics. It's right in downtown Waverly and worth a stop if you ever get there.

Front view. These are the same Wayne 420 pumps as I have. And the 2 studes are for sale.

Side view

Inside the store area

Inside the service bays

I've thought about being able to do something like this myself down the road. This guy has one sweet collection and set up. Definitely one of the nicest I've come across.

hgs_notes · 08-01-2013, 12:54 AM

Years ago I was given a somewhat odd job for an inspector. I was working a territory in NW Washington state, bordering with Canada by Vancouver. There was a destructive testing facility by New Westminster and they needed a 3rd party observer for some testing of new vessels.

Normally for ASME, the design and calculations are done with a 2.5:1 or 4:1 safety factor and no proof tests (destructive) are ever done. They normally just have a hydrostatic test done and then the vessel is stamped and shipped.

This shop specialized in testing by destructive methods and it was a blast (literally) to watch. I was able to walk through their boneyard and take some pics that I can share with you fine folks today.

How about a 0-35,000 psi pressure gauge?

These 2 are showing the results from ruptures with air tests. It's pretty violent and I could tell a couple stories of ones I was involved with (no rupture thankfully or I wouldn't be here to post these). They set these up in concrete bunkers and these vessels are typically rated at least 3000 psi and up, so burst pressures are upwards of 10-15,000 psi.

As a comparison, these were ruptured using water pressure...

These are some fiberglass wrapped tanks after rupture. Some have aluminum liners, some are just a plastic liner. Kinda crazy how much pressure these things can hold.

The shop also does burst tests of vessels under pressure and firing a bullet at them to see the results, and while heated up in a fire, and various other methods, but I wasn't able to witness those.

And I also toured a WWII era design submarine on the trip. It is tied up to the pier in New Westminster. Crazy thing about it was that it was a russian submarine that was in service until after I have been in the navy in 1985 if I remember correctly. Built around 1971 I think. But it was based on the plans of a german WWII submarine. Unbelievably small. It was one of the ways the russians inflated their numbers of submarines during the cold war. The politicians used to love talking about how the ruskies had like 300 subs and we only had like 100 or whatever. Failing to mention that ALL of ours were nuclear boats, and only a small percentage of the russian boats were nukes at the time. Instead of looking for pics of that boat on this thread, watch Das Boot on DVD. It's one of the best submarine movies ever made.

Or watch this tour video someone did of the same sub. I have not watched this myself and take no responsibility for its quality or lack there of...

Tour a Russian Foxtrot Sub - YouTube

hgs_notes · 08-05-2013, 12:25 AM

Here's some pics from back before I was a boiler inspector. I was still doing a LOT of traveling, but the mode of that transportation was a bit different compared to now. I did not take these pics because that was not allowed, and these are ones I found or had sent to me so I'm not breaching security in any way that I know of, so enjoy.

This is the USS Michigan, SSBN 727, Trident missile submarine and I was stationed on it for about 3-1/2 years.

Missile tube hatches open. No, you can't see the missiles like that. What you see is a dome that is held on by explosive bolts, which are blown during the launch.

Torpedo loading. They are dropped through the forward escape hatch and down through all the levels into the bottom level of the forward compartment which is where the torpedo room is.

A module of a trident sub during construction, just to give you some perspective on size. It was 42' diameter, 560' long, 16,764 tons surfaced and 18,750 tons submerged.

Here's what it looks like on the surface and just beginning to submerge. The shooting water is really air blowing out of the ballast tank vents as it shoots through the little bit of water over the vents. As it gets lower, its just bubbles blowing out. The air is vented out of the ballast tanks by the pressure of the water underneath because the bottom drains are always open. Only the vents on top have valves to open and close. Air out, water in, boat goes down. Close vents, pump in air, which pushes the water out the bottom drains and makes the boat lighter and it goes up. Simple.

Running at periscope depth, about 75' depth at the bottom of the keel.

And here is what the periscope looks like inside the control room.

Here is the sonar room, which is just forward of the control room in the upper level of the forward compartment port side. Radio is on the starboard side and pics of that are kinda hard to get. It's the only space on the boat that has completely restricted access. I've never been in the radio room. I actually spent a lot of time in sonar though. Once I had all my qualifications done or as far as I could go as a nuke machinist mate, I was working on qualification as a sonar operator. I didn't get real far, but it was interesting to learn about the eyes and ears of the boat since I was already familiar with the propulsion of it.

This is the get up we had to work in for fire fighting on the boat. As you can imagine, fire in a sub is a very bad thing, having an enclosed atmosphere and all. We got oxygen from that unit on the chest called on OBA. The white shower cap over the head was used to simulate smoke by obscuring vision during practice drills and it was very effective. Basically you were blind and if you didn't know the boat exactly in your head, you learned it quick if you were on a hose team.

Rigged for red. Didn't want to spoil the officer of the decks night vision if he was going to periscope depth for retrieving radio messages. This is the helmsman and planesman, they actually drive the boat.

Control again with the helmsman and planesman, dive officer, chief of the watch, etc. Wearing the other set up for breathing in a contaminated atmosphere, the EAB. This was just a full face mask that had a simple regulator on it and you plugged the hose into an air manifold. Part of sub qualification was knowing where every single manifold was located, and there were a lot of them. Basically you could walk through the boat blindfolded and find every EAB manifold, every fire extinguisher, every piece of damage control equipment, and knew how to use them. The EAB thing is no joke. Walking around and not knowing where your gonna plug in for your next safe breath can be kinda stressful.

So there we are, a little peak into the world of a trident submarine.

hgs_notes · 08-05-2013, 11:09 PM

Today I had to go NW about 85 miles and I haven't been through some of those towns in a while. Turned out to be a very good day for sight seeing.

Found some pretty sweet antiques in Milroy, MN...

Yard art...

Whats that behind it there...

Pretty nice 67 C-20...

The remains or possibly the beginning of another longbed project...

This was behind the shop...

I think this is a fairly rare Suzuki snowmobile...

Found this a little further down the road, in Minneota...

Then on the way home I went through Walnut Grove and Lamberton and this was parked at a shop along the highway. I can't remember which town it was though.

And lastly I spotted this Ford when I rolled through Springfield...

hgs_notes · 08-09-2013, 12:40 AM

Another good day on the road sight seeing. This morning on my way north I saw a crop duster crossing the hwy ahead of me. I've been fascinated by them since I was a kid. I stopped on the hwy and watch for a few minutes (rural, no traffic).

There's this place on MN Hwy 23 just west of Richmond That I have been driving by for years. Today I stopped for a closer look. I started looking at these parked behind the main shop.

Laying frame...

Lots of people think old COE's are cool, including me...

Do you like your patina mossy?

How about flat heads?

When I got to the front of the shop, the owner saw me looking around and we probably chatted cars for half an hour. He's a ford guy, but I didn't hold that against him. I like a few of them myself. Here's his current project, A 40 I think, and he was bothered it had a sbc 350 in it, but is leaving it as is.

I like mustangs, but I thought this one was a bit rough for the $5000 asking price. Unmatched wheels, bubbled paint, cracked filler, etc. Not terrible but was gonna need a complete body and paint job. I've seen better prices on better examples of coupes like this.

Later in the day after I left St Cloud, I went through Clear Lake. There was some kinda outdoor sale thing going on, but what caught my eye was this...

And just around the corner I saw this out of the corner of my eye...

Personally, I like the Pontiac Firebirds more than the camaros of the first gen cars. A couple years ago I was considering buying a very nice one for a price that was about half or less of what the camaros sell for. No Pontiac love out there I guess.

***Liz*** · 08-09-2013, 01:04 AM

I have only had time to scan this thread here and there. This weekend I am putting my feet up (when the baby allows) and sitting back and enjoying this thread. Thank you for doing this HG. Its a really cool idea, and interesting stuff to boot.

hgs_notes · 08-09-2013, 01:10 AM

So I keep rolling on and I'm taking some back county roads around and working my way SW towards home. Just west of Fairhaven I spot this 73 Mach 1 along the road for sale. Not really the body style I like but I figure its worth a stop.

The owner is an older guy and he's working in the yard and we chat for a while. He just wants to talk about his cars and he has a bunch of them. We are looking the 73 over and I get the whole story of how he got it and why he's selling. He starts the car and asks if I want to take it for a ride. I told him I wasn't really interested in buying it, but he insisted. I've never driven one of these before so I took him up on it.

It has a 351 Cleveland, automatic, and it felt heavy, sluggish, slow and had weak brakes. Basically I think my C-10 with a souped up 283 and stock brakes would smoke this thing and feels more agile and fun to drive.

When I get back he's waiting to show me the rest of his collection. Another Ford guy. He goes to Florida in the winter and goes to car shows. If he finds something he likes he buys it and brings it home to MN in the spring. Here's a pretty nice 67 fastback...

I think he said this was a 64 T-bird...

I love the wrap around rear seat. Looks comfy .

My favorite was this 67 California Special. It was optioned out pretty well too. Asking $25k for it and if I had the funds available I might have been a buyer, but I don't.

My favorite color too, turquoise in and out...

Didn't even know you could get a roof console...

Loved that car. He had several others parked in a few different buildings, including a 65 fastback, 80 pinto hatchback (perfect low miles car), 58 fairlane victoria, and another 73 mustang convertible that was a parts car, but he has all the parts to build it as a project.

I met his wife too and they told me they did the car shows regularly for about 10 years then got bored with it. So now they go to tractor shows with this beasty...

Portal axles????

I think he said it was from about 1936, built by Massey, and I can't remember seeing another like it in my travels. There is an outstanding junkyard nearby and they saw this thing being brought in for scrap when they happened to be there. They talked the owner into selling it to them instead of scrapping it. They restored it and use it for parades and shows.

And the last thing we looked at was his sons HD bike. He started with a sportster and just kept making it into what he wanted. This was a $2500 flame job and its not the first I've seen like it, but it was damn nice. The camera flash really brought out the skulls in the flames.

So, what did you do today?

TennesseeZ · 08-09-2013, 02:03 AM

This is one of my favorite threads, always the first one I open if there's been any updates.
It's good to see you manage your time in a way that allows you to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates you taking the time to share.

hgs_notes · 08-10-2013, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liz

I have only had time to scan this thread here and there. This weekend I am putting my feet up (when the baby allows) and sitting back and enjoying this thread. Thank you for doing this HG. Its a really cool idea, and interesting stuff to boot.

You're welcome. Enjoy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

This is one of my favorite threads, always the first one I open if there's been any updates.
It's good to see you manage your time in a way that allows you to "stop and smell the roses" so to speak, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciates you taking the time to share.

Thanks again. I've found that actually meeting people and just talking as waaaaaaay more fulfilling than facebook, or even this board. But the board and facebook have opened some doors to meeting some great people and seeing some interesting stuff.

Todays update is just something that caught my eye when I was walking out to the garage yesterday morning. Dew on our trampoline...

68C15 · 08-11-2013, 07:33 AM

that's cool, I'll have to go look at mine and see if it does the same.

hgs_notes · 08-13-2013, 10:21 PM

I started the week with a trip to Fremont, NE. About a 275 mile drive from home. Most of it out on the prairie. First town west of me is Springfield. I posted some pics from there the other day. Here's a couple more cars. The first is one the guy drives regularly in the summer. The red front and door signage is new this year.

This is his 56 caddy. My daughter told me he drove past our house today. I drove past his yesterday.

Heres the OPPD Lake Calhoun Nuclear Generating station. It's rated at 484 MW, making it the smallest nuclear plant in America. As a comparison, I think the reactor on a trident submarine is rated at 175 MW and most of that power is used to propel the boat and fits in a 42' diameter tube with room to spare.

A few miles west of this in the town of Arlington I found these beauties. First is a rambler parked by a tiny antique shop. Dig the luggage.

And behind there was a body shop with a couple chevys parked under a carport (under a canoe).

Eventually I made it to Fremont. It was getting late, I hadn't eaten, instead of checking into the hotel I scouted around town looking for a restaurant to get my attention. You ever have that feeling of being hungry but not being able to find anything that sounds good to eat? Fast food? Yuck. Applebees? No thanks. Pizza/subs/chicken? Nah. Anyway, while I'm cruising town, I end up on the wrong side of the tracks and happened by the place I was going to be visiting for work, I smelled it a minute before I saw it. Hog kill plants all smell the same, nasty. But shortly after that I found this pair of 57 Chevys and there was another body parked in the weeds nearby also.

Opposite of those was an old building with this parked out front...

Eventually I found food that was worth driving around to find, in a tiny place called Hueys Smokehouse BBQ. It was very good. Not the best ever, but I enjoyed it. And the girl working the counter was very cute and friendly. Always a bonus.

The point of this short story was that I enjoyed the meal enough to go back for lunch today. The pulled pork was outstanding, some of the best I've had. And how does that fit in here? This was parked next door at the oil change place...

You can see the roof of Hueys behind the truck in the second pic. Ignore the Arbys.

After lunch I hit the road home. No sense in lingering in town more than I need to. I gots a family to go home to. I head north on US 77 and go through Lyons and right along the hwy is a tractor salvage yard. One of the bigger ones I've seen anyway. A lot of old iron here.

Enough of that, time to hit the pavement again, still have a loooong way to go. I normally take Hwy 75/60 through NW Iowa when I make a trip to the Omaha area. Near the MN border is this sign...

Not that impressive I know. But when you consider that the lowest point of Iowa is 1650', well, that is something special.

I crack myself up sometimes.

I stopped in Windom, MN at a farmers market and bought the biggest bell peppers I've ever seen (sorry, no pics), but the seller said they had 3000 pepper plants and they supply 20 stores. They have a good selection to pick from for the local market.

One more pic from this trip. Also in Windom, at the local junkyard is this 72 tow truck he uses.

Nothing better than a junkyard owner that has an affinity for 67-72 chevy trucks. And this guy does. Always has some in the yard. Currently there is a 67 GMC C-30 flatbed and a 68 C-10, and a couple others out back. At his house, which is across the hwy and down a block or so he has a bunch more. I think there were about 15 of them last year, but he has thinned it out quite a bit since then. Maybe 8 left in his yard.

Windom is also the town where Bruce Horkeys Wood and Parts is located. They have a bunch of parts trucks around the place, which is basically a farm a few miles west of Windom. Nice people to deal with. If what you want isn't listed, call and ask because they probably have it or can get it.
http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/

And just to let you people know, the junkyard east of Melrose and the one between New Richland and Ellendale are also owned by 67-72 Chevy truck fans and usually have some in the U-pull-it. Want to know exactly where? Go out and find them, it's not hard.

meatwagon83 · 08-14-2013, 01:08 AM

you should have stopped in bergen minnesota, there is an awesome little steakhouse there that has a whole 11 tables and fantastic steak!! it was about 8 miles north of jackson on 75

hgs_notes · 08-14-2013, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meatwagon83

you should have stopped in bergen minnesota, there is an awesome little steakhouse there that has a whole 11 tables and fantastic steak!! it was about 8 miles north of jackson on 75

I know about it. Have heard good things but haven't had the chance to get there myself. Soon though.

hgs_notes · 08-24-2013, 12:25 AM

It's been a slow week for sight seeing. Not for miles, heavens no, still managed to put a lot of those on, but not a lot caught my eye, nor did I have much time to linger any where. I did get to see a few things though. With Hwy 169 messed up with construction I've been taking an alternate route into the twin cities, by way of hwy 212. That runs through Glencoe and there is an interesting shop there that always has mud trucks and other large (mini monsters?) trucks parked out front. I've stopped and looked before, but haven't had the time to go in and BS with the people running it.

In any case, it's called Sidco 4x4, they have a web site, check out the 4x4 garage sale page...
http://sidco4x4.com/

And here is what's parked outside...

Beefy...

Army surplus...

Really like these old jeep pick ups.

Somebodies project. Could be pretty cool...

hgs_notes · 08-26-2013, 10:08 PM

I was in the twin cities again today. While driving down Lake St, this was heading in the same direction. Just an ice cream truck right? But the other day the wife was talking about the showtime show Shameless and that they had an ice cream truck they sold weed out of. And this dude could definitely been copying that shows premise. Looked like Tommy Chong and shirtless cruising lake street.

A while later I was gassing up and spotted a dune buggy at the auto repair shop across the street in Bloomington. The buggies owner is the shop manager. I told him I've been trying to find a buggy project for quite awhile and he said he has some to sell. Turns out he does it as a side deal. Finds old kit cars and buggies, fixes them up and sells them. So I have his card and email address and may do some business in the future.

alsriv2 · 08-27-2013, 02:08 PM

Love this thread.

Sorry your travels keep you away from your family, but I do thank you for the great pictures and stories.

hgs_notes · 08-27-2013, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alsriv2

Love this thread.

Sorry your travels keep you away from your family, but I do thank you for the great pictures and stories.

No worries. I make it home most days. Probably only gone overnight a couple times a month. And I have a home office and work from home a day or 2 most weeks doing paper work (yuck) like today

. Glad you enjoy the pics.

krue · 08-27-2013, 06:27 PM

Dude you were living large on the boomer, us fast attack sailors were way more cramped than y'all. Would've been nice having a fairly set schedule too. I assume you were stationed at Bremerton, we spent a few weeks there fixing a battery back in 94 or 95.

hgs_notes · 08-27-2013, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by krue

Dude you were living large on the boomer, us fast attack sailors were way more cramped than y'all. Would've been nice having a fairly set schedule too. I assume you were stationed at Bremerton, we spent a few weeks there fixing a battery back in 94 or 95.

Yeah, we called it the semi-floating hotel or the big black pig, depending on our mood. The sea/shore time schedule was nice, depending on your start and stop dates. If you were at sea in the summer and winter then in port in spring and fall and living in Bremerton you basically never saw the sun.

I didn't have that rotation though so I got to see the sun for almost a few weeks a year.

They were the best of times and the worst of times and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It shaped who I became as an adult and steered my life in some wonderful directions.

PAWS 72 · 08-28-2013, 02:56 AM

HGS I liked the wheels on the buggy. Wish I could find some to have on hand for something.

Thanks for the pics.

hgs_notes · 08-28-2013, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAWS 72

HGS I liked the wheels on the buggy. Wish I could find some to have on hand for something.

Thanks for the pics.

I believe they are making them again. Keystone Klassics
http://www.cragarwheel.com/products1...eries32Klassic

http://www.cragarwheel.com/images/me..._2_KLASSIC.pdf

Ha, just noticed I'm in the first buggy pic, reflected off the store glass. And you can see the ass end of my company car next to me. 70,500 miles on it in the last 20 months. New car this winter.

hgs_notes · 08-31-2013, 09:15 AM

Thursday I headed up to northern MN for some work. Along the way I passes this old Willys and had to get a closer look. Its just south of St Cloud on Hwy 15. 1963 CJ3B

Then further up the road north of Long Prairie along Hwy 71 I saw this out of the corner of my eye. Not sure if it's an original camper model that was rebuilt or just a flat bed or extended wb truck that they built the camper body for.

Not far north of that is the town of Clarissa, where Dans Snowmobile and ATV Salvage is located. I was gonna post a link for their site but google flashed a warning that it may be infected, so open at your own risk.

I showed a tractor junkyard before, why not sleds? I know where a motorcycle junkyard is also.

That was it for the first day. I stopped in Wadena, met up with a board member that lives in the area. We tried out a new (to us) beer I picked up at a liquor store along the way. Turns out it's from Cold Spring Brewery and I got the Olde Johnny Ale. Mike is from there and told me all their family reunions, and other events always had a keg or more from Cold Spring Brewery because it was local and that's where he grew up.
http://coldspringbrewery.com/products/beers#

After that we took his all original C-20 big block truck to Perham for dinner here...
http://www.brewperham.com/

24 beers on tap (I only tried 2) and pretty good food. Mike got to try poutine for the first time. Then we stopped on the way back to his place to look at a 69 Chevy C-10 in a used car lot. Typical farm truck, no options, but fairly solid, at least from what we saw in the dark.

The next morning it's time to hit the road north again for that days work. I was in Menahga, and once I left the plant I spotted this in a driveway...

I knocked on the door and met a nice couple that bought it new in 1972. We talked about it for a while, I showed them pics of mine. I said I'd offer to buy it if they were ever to sell it but that I didn't have the money or space. They said they would never sell it anyway. And I was happy to hear it. The lady said it was her wheels and there was no way they were gonna get rid of it. They were staying in this place as a rental because their house burned down in a forest fire this spring a few miles out of town. The Jimmy was one of the few things that was spared from damage.

So continuing north, through Park Rapids and not too far north of there is this cool old wrecker. Just parked by a trail into the woods, no for sale signs, been there a while.

These next pics are for anyone that has ever been around the Mississippi River and are used to seeing the big muddy water rolling under huge bridges and seeing it swell it's banks.

This is about a half mile or so from the very start of the river...

I would like to follow the river to the very end some day. I've followed it as far south as St Louis so far.

PAWS 72 · 09-01-2013, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hgs_notes