More Moving

Today's post follows the last one, sort of. Today I focus on moving stuff basically from one storage location (the attached carriage-house-sized one-car garage) to another (the tool shed or the shop floor). In re-reading it, there is really a lot of history context with some moving stuff mixed in.

 

But First 

most empty since 2022

Before I get into it, I understand that a blog about fixing cars really ought to, you know, talk about fixing cars sometimes. I get it. I really do. I like working on cars, and when I have time, space and a car that needs fixing, that's how I prefer to spend time. Over the past 2 years, I have spent a great deal of time focusing on creating the space for that to happen. In light of that, I think it is worth noting that I understand the economic space many of us are in. Costs for everything seem to climb more every day while our respective salaries and wages are flat. Affordability may be a catch-phrase for politicians, but for the rest of us its a daily life reality.

 

When I look back on the last year of posts talking about getting a shop built, I recognize how tone-deaf much of that must feel to those in real financial difficulty. I totally understand that. Please consider that I started this before the election in November of 2024 and had committed to $22k of steel building before the tariff wars started in 2025 and had the concrete poured, building installed and the doors started before trump attacked Iran this year, sending our fragile economy skidding into the ditch. I had already started down a path which could not be easily changed before things got really bad.

 

Now, Boo and I are in the same financial binds as most of the US: income flat, outflow increasing. Accordingly, I will not be getting any new-to-me cars/projects nor really invest much in fancy new after-market parts to install on any of the ones I have. What does this mean for a blog about fixing cars? Well, it kinda means that I won't be posting as often and when I do it will be more about repairs than about some new thing except for the parts and bits I collected before we bought the farmhouse in 2022. I have boxes of interesting things that I never got to, like a 2-1/2" universal exhaust kit for the bus, a 3rd brake light idea for the bus (from junkyard parts), a trailer wiring package to go with the tow hitch, etc. So, there will be things. And, of course, I still have the locked up engine on Nina ('64/'65 Beetle) to free, a bunch of little things to finish on Oliver ('78 MGB) and a disassembled '79 280zx (Zed) to put together. Most of that work would require very little in terms of parts.

 

Garage

acquisition day 2022

This 1948 farmhouse has what I would call a carriage-house style attached garage. I say that because only the smallest of cars could possibly fit with the door closed. Oliver, the MGB, could fit. Astra and Nina could fit. That's the end of the list. Hapy is too tall and probably too long. The XRunner is definitely too long. I think even Zed is too long. Further complicating the garage is a fixed work bench along the rear wall that protrudes almost a full meter off the wall and the laundry machines near the front, narrowing at least the feel of the width of the space. I think Astra will still fit, but it will need to be mostly empty.

 

Shortly after we bought the house, before we had meaningfully cleaned anything, Boo and I scored a solid wood, full kitchen's worth of era-correct cabinets from the rebuilding center for $420US. The rebuilding center is not a store room; quite the opposite. Everything you buy must leave the store that day or it's theirs again. So, we lasso'd Boo's ex-husband (and his mini van) and some helpers (our local kids) and ran all of the cabinets over to the farmhouse. And slammed them into the garage on top of one another. The fate of that garage had been written the day we bought it: it would be the staging area for building supplies until the house was livable. Those cabinets were the first but far from the last. And then it continued to be the store room for all kinds of things. Until now.

 

farmhouse at winter solstice

With the shop taking all car-related stuff and car-related tools, almost a third of the stuff in the garage was moved. Over the last weekend in May, I moved everything home-repair related out to the now empty and clean tool shed. That represented almost another third of the stuff that used to be in the garage. As I cleared an area of things, I shop-vac'd all the dust bunnies and old cobwebby string-things. What remains in the garage are camping gear, ski gear, holiday decorations and household goods storage. The rafters are still full of lumber. So, I have to clear that to somewhere and then there is a bunch more vacuuming of ick. I have a couple of extra kitchen cabinets which need to move to the shop and I still have the big black rolling cabinet that needs to move too. Once those three big items move, we can park Astra in there. Boo had been gone for the weekend, baby-sitting our little grand-niece (A) while her mama was at a wedding. When she returned and saw the garage space, she immediately started envisioning a project space for herself. I love that, and if we do it right, we can still move things around and park her car in there between projects.

 

Car Stuff

There has been some car stuff, though. Hapy is my "daily driver" again, getting me to and from a show with Brenda on Sunday. Astra, now that her alternator is keeping her all charged and start-able has started complaining about her power steering. It is making a low hum most of the time and actual turning has gotten harder at the extreme edges of the range. I checked fluid (nothing on the stick: that's bad) and topped it off. I expect one of the rubber hoses is failing so I will need to do a deeper diagnosis this weekend. For now, though, the added fluid appeared to quiet the hum a little bit and the steering is better until the last bit. It could resolve as the air works its way out the hoses, but I think there is an active leak so it will only get worse before I find and fix. Work on Saturday! Yeay!

 

Wrap up

Yep, that was an unusual post. There is a considerable amount of economic uncertainty around us. For some, it is the loss of discretionary spending while others are dealing with food or even housing scarcity. We all can feel some foundational insecurity, maybe while filling your tank or grocery cart, paying utility bills or thinking about how to keep your kids safe this summer. I see it in faces. Fewer smiles, more worry-lines. It is a hard time for most of us. So please, let that person pull in front of you, give everyone a little grace. Grace is free. So are hugs and smiles and waves. Everything else seems to be more expensive than it was yesterday and the shorter-term future looks like it will be more of the same.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Moving Into Shop

It has been a busy couple of weeks spent mostly moving stuff from the tool shed into a big heap at the front of the shop. I did get to wrench on Boo's car, Astra, though. Today's post is mostly about Astra, but the pictures show the move of stuff as I didn't get my phone out to take pictures of Astra's alternator replacement.

 

Weather the Weather

shop heap

One of the best parts about living in the Pacific Northwest are these incredible spring days. When I first moved here decades ago, we would enjoy what I called "the weather donut hole" in April. It was a short, maybe 2 week period, when the rains stopped and we got these just gorgeous sunny days. Then, we would descend into another 2-1/2 months of rain until July 5th. Through the wonder of climate change, our spring weather donut hole has grown. Maybe 10 years ago, it would last most of April. As recently as 2 years ago, the donut hole never closed, and we did not get much more than 2 or 3 days of rain a few times before the summer dry season hit. This year is looking more like 2 years ago did, with mostly clear and dry days with a few passing rains to knock the pollen out of the air. While I worry about summer fire season, we make the most of these below 25*C (80*F) sunny days with daylight lasting until 9PM.

 

So, with that backdrop, I had a meaningful car repair to get after.

 

Astra's Backstory

Boo replacing Dude's starter

Well before I met her, Boo used to drive an Opel Kadett. Always generous, she let some friend use it and never saw it again. Years later, when I met her, she was driving a gold Saturn sedan (named "Dude"). She loved that car, doing everything she could to keep it on the road. Again, a friend of my dad needed a car for a while. This friend was running errands for the less-physically able in my parent's building, so she loaned him Dude. It was stolen, and when it was recovered by the police, the ignition and steering column were destroyed. With considerable sadness, she let the car go to police impound auction. She had owned Dude for 18 years.

 

Fast forward a few years and I'm driving along and find myself behind a 4 door hatchback with a Saturn symbol on it. At the next red light, I snapped a picture of it and sent it to her. We were in the market for a new car after the GoRo disaster and had been talking about a Mazda3 or maybe a small SUV. The Saturn appeared to be an intersection of her appreciation of the looks, lines, mileage and size of the Mazda3 with her love for Saturn. I started investigating and learned that the Astra was built with Stellantis/Vauxhall, owner of Opel and original manufacturer of the Kadett. In fact, the Kadett evolved into the Astra. So, the Astra was really an intersection of her beloved Saturn, her equally beloved Opel Kadett and her appreciation of the Mazda3. Of course, now I had to find one. The Saturn Astra was only available in the states for 2 years (2008 and 2009), and not many were sold. We lucked into one outside Salem for literally $2kUS and after applying another $1k of repairs and tires, it has been a fantastic family member.

 

tool shed "empty"

She is not without her issues, though. Sometimes she does not want to downshift and just groans in a too-high gear. This is reset with a restart, but that's not easy in traffic. Over the last 18 months, though, the battery had been not charging enough on shorter drives to start again. She priced having someone replace the alternator, after having it checked, and the $800 price tag lead us instead to get a jump pack to jump start her when she didn't want to start on her own. This lasted over a year until a couple of weeks ago I took on the task of replacing the alternator. By the time I got to step 3 or 4 in reading the online "how to", I understood why shops were giving her a "go away" price.

 

Alternating Astra

In January, Boo and I planned for a trip to the east coast the week before Memorial Day. We were going to visit my sister and her family and then see our son K2 (currently serving in the US Navy at Quantico). Then the trump administration decided to pick a war with Iran, airline prices spiked and our plan was scrapped. Thanks trump. Nature hates a vacuum, so what would have been a trip to the east coast became an opportunity for me to spend up to a week fixing her car with no drive-to-work pressure.

 

shelving starts

The challenge with removing and re-installing an alternator on the Astra is that the alternator only fits out the left front (passenger-side) tire well. Even then, it doesn't fit easily. So, the process is you get the car up on a jack, remove the wheel and the inner wheel well just so you can approach the serpentine belt and alternator. Disconnect the battery. I put the battery onto a charger while I did the rest of the job. I found removing tension on the belt tensioner especially difficult because of the required body positioning to access it and the steel supports blocking direct access. I used a spanner-on-a-spanner (yes, it's cringe-y) for sufficient leverage. If you reuse the belt, mark the belt direction. With the belt off, you can get at the 2 alternator bolts. With the alternator loose, reach around the rear and unplug the 2-pin socket. It has a latch holding it on. I palmed a small bladed screwdriver around everything and got the latch to release without breaking it. Then, remove the nut holding the main cable to the rear of the alternator. At this point, some folks have posted that they have been able to worm the alternator through the wheelwell. They must have a different engine than we do (2.0L). I needed to remove the air box and then the engine mount bolts underneath it, so the engine on the left side was no longer attached. I did set up the TravisJack under the engine so it didn't lower at all. Then, the engine itself needs to move as far forward as you can manage it. I just grabbed onto it from over the radiator and pulled. The alternator drops down and out behind the engine and out the rearward end of the wheelwell opening. I found that if the alternator is in the same orientation as it was when installed, it does come right out. Any other orientation and it will get stuck. Yes, this happened to me many times until I figured it out.

 

end of day 1

With the old alternator out, the install is mostly the reverse. Alternator enters the wheelwell oriented as it will be installed. I plugged in the socket and nutted on the thick cable before then attaching the alternator to the engine. Next, I put the serpentine belt back on. It has maybe 20k miles on it since it was replaced by the yard we bought the car from. With the belt tension restored, I moved the engine back into place and re-connected the mount. Then, I put the airbox back in and returned under the car to put the inner wheel well back on. I finished up with putting the wheel back on and the battery back in.

 

I had read online that this was a 8+ hour job, so I had set aside 2 days, hoping that I'd be done by Sunday in time to see our friend Maldarine play a show. It took me 6 hours, start to finish, backing her out of the shop and the lane way back into the front well before dark on Saturday. 

 

Moving In

With all the extra time I now had, I decided that I would get as much of our summer project done as I possibly could. I figured that it wasn't raining and every nice summer day I could save by doing things now, would make for a better summer. This year's project is getting everything car-related into the shop and everything home-repair related into the tiny shop (tool shed). Then, the only stuff in the garage is camping and ski gear, leaving plenty of room for Boo to park Astra when the fall rains return.

 

partway day 2

I had started with the garage, moving the red rolling tool cabinet before I even had the doors installed. This renewed effort was about getting anything else car or tool-related from the garage into the shop. This included my jacks and stands, the hypersonic-cleaner and lots of random parts. All that remains is my big black rolling tool cabinet. I hope to move that this week.

 

Next, was the tool shed. I regret not taking a genuine before picture. The shed was so full, the back half was out of reach, blocked by stuff. So, those large items blocking the floor were first, rooting through them a little bit looking for junk before moving the keeper-bits to the front of the shop floor. I noted that there was evidence of rodents, so I spent the next few days wearing a dust mask, shop-vacuuming a lot, and generally moving at a slower-than-hoped pace. I would vacate a shelving unit, dismantle and wash it, move it, and finally re-assemble it inside the rear of the shop. Most of the stuff that were on the shelves ended up in a heap at the front of the shop, or a heap for the dump. The exceptions to this were solvents and cleaners, which went onto freshly cleaned shelving, and everything painting related, which went into an old kitchen upper cabinet the kids used to use for skate and snow gear repairs and parts.

 

Those with a keen eye will see (in the shed heap picture at the top) that I put Zed on furniture dollies so I could move him around a little bit. These dollies are the $30, 1000# max variety found at Harbor Freight. The genuine car dollies I've seen cost up to 10x that much. Are they 10x better? Unlikely, except they work on heavier cars. I was able to move Zed by myself, one end at a time, so I could fit a shelving unit against the wall beside him. I used another pair of those same dollies under the paint cabinet.

 

paint cabinet on wheels

Boo and I agreed that the Tetris I did to get Zed's entire interior onto the high shelf in the tool shed could not be easily repeated (see the upper deck in the tool shed "empty" picture above), so that stuff stayed. Otherwise, the tool shed is clear of car stuff, the shed is cleared of all evidence of rodents and the shop vac has been emptied and washed. Next, I will be moving home-repair stuff from the garage.

 

Wrap Up

This got really long, but a lot gets done on a full week stay-cation. I hope to get after the big black rollie cabinet and the garage-to-tool-shed over the next couple of weeks. Then, our summer project will have been completed before summer even arrives. We all know nature hates a vacuum, so that time will be filled by something. And that something will probably be either home improvement or car-related. Once that happens, I'm sure I'll post about it. Until next time, thanks, as always for following along-

Hapy Home

This is almost a car post. Today, I get Hapy put enough together to move and then get him into the shop with his 2 brothers (Zed and Oliver) and sister (Nina).

 

Where Were We

Early in the Summer, like every Summer, I had big plans. Big plans. I was going to have my shop built and get Hapy fixed and then take all kinds of trips and such in him. Well, like so many prior seasons, my plans ran up against time and energy limits. It seems like every Spring I say "yes" to many things, forgetting that Summer is at-best 10 nice weekends here in the Pacific Northwest. We usually celebrate Independence Day wearing knit hats (still cold when it finally gets dark enough for fireworks) and some years Labor Day sees rain. That is the most extreme. Those with kids see summer's end around Labor day, but weather-wise, it is usually nice in September. So, to me, a "normal" Summer for nice weather planning runs from mid-July until mid- or late-September. 10 weekends. Maybe 12 in a good year. I committed 3 weekends to musical performances, had weekend family events in Eugene, Montana, Idaho and then in Seattle over Labor Day (7 weekends total). Just like that I'm down to 3 or 4 weekends for projects, cars and fun. In full transparency, we cancelled the Montana and Idaho obligations. I filled those weekends with digging trenches and laying french drain pipe, executing a storm water management plan I didn't have when the summer started. Still, when I look at the calendar through that lens, I now understand why Hapy sat in pieces. I am also kind of amazed that we got as much done, and not that surprised that we did not really do many "fun things" as we do other years.

 

sloped and cracked driveway

So, recall over Independence Day, I dropped Hapy's engine and tran-saxle so I could replace the chewed up flywheel (See Hapy Engine-Transaxle Dropped). When the new flywheel arrived, I popped it, on torqued it, set the clutch and bolted on the pressure plate. Once torqued, I struggled to get the trans-axle to mate with the engine. This was because of the few reasons, I think. First, the driveway is not flat, it is pitched away from the garage door, so getting everything level was more of a challenge. Then, the driveway is crumbling and heaved with large 1"+ drop-cracks in it. These cracks were larger than the wheels on the ATV jack I use to move and position the engine. So, once the engine was down and a wheel dropped into one of the cracks, I was no longer able to maneuver it front-back nor left-right. I could tilt it and raise-lower it. Even with those conditions, I got close, but the trans-axle fell off the smaller jack I had it perched on while attempting to mate. It landed on the driver-side output flange, popping it off the trans-axle entirely.

 

At this point, I was too frustrated to approach Hapy for a while, so I focused on getting the shop done. I decided that moving broken cars in the mud and rain was more objectionable than fixing Hapy in the rain one more time. If it came to that. I tried to find a mechanic to look at the trans-axle and re-assemble it. Instead, the D and M Automotive Service agreed to look at it and tell me how to fix it because he was convinced it wasn't beyond my skills and he had a 4-6 week backlog already. He was trying to close his shop for the weekend and subsequent vacation, but he took the time to show me exactly what I needed to do and fronted me the small bits needed to do the job. I still owe him $10 for those (facepalm). So, with instructions in mind and the required bits in hand, I headed home... and left the job undone ever since.

 

Prep to Move

Staying on the get-the-cars-outta-the-rain course, Boo and I agreed that getting Hapy into the shop was a necessary step before I try to re-assemble him again. The probability of failing again simply because of the driveway was too great. Before I begin, consider that the rear engine mount, the tower and the cross bar were out and on the ground. The engine was sitting on the ATV jack, but effectively on the ground. The boosted air circuit, fuel system and cooling systems were loosely hanging in the engine bay. Underneath, the axles were hanging from the wheel-end CV joints and the rear sway bar was detached. Hapy was nowhere ready to move a few inches much less 30+ meters (100'?) back into the shop.

 

in the lane way

I started with the rear engine supports by raising the engine up and connecting the rear cross bar. To this, I attached the tower (after de-greasing it) and then added the mount to the engine. The bolt holes in the engine bracket for the mounts were stubborn and I had to shoot the passenger-side hole with a tap before the bolt would travel the full distance. Last, I wrestled the mount holes over the tower holes and bolted the engine home. With the rear of the engine set, I considered how to suspend the flywheel end. I believe that when the full drive train is in, the upper trans-axle mounts are responsible for most of the support. These are on the trans-axle, of course, so I was concerned for how to hold the engine still during a move. I used ratcheting load straps, suspended from the body-side of the trans-axle mount and under the flywheel, slipping the strap between the flywheel and the engine so it would not slip off.

 

I used another ratching strap to suspend the axles. I finger-tightened the 4 front bolts of the rear sway bar, rather than nut them all the way down. Neither of these shade-tree hacks ended up being a problem for the move. Last, I suspended from the engine any partly-connected bits and removed all the loose fasteners and charged air hoses. Hapy was enough one-piece to move to the shop. We will see if any fasteners fell off when I get to re-assembly (LOLs). Visually, it looked good and walking the route afterwards I found no bolts, nuts or washers.

 

Homed

Hapy had been parked with his rear-end pointing south in front of the house. We needed his nose to be pointing south in the shop in order for his rear end to be pointing towards the big door (north). I wanted this orientation so I had the largest work area behind the engine as I could arrange. This meant we needed to turn him around before we sent him down the lane way. Boo and I went full old-skool. With her behind the steering wheel, I pulled the tire chocks and pushed the rear of the bus like the dickens down to the street. With a dog-walker stopping the one passing car for us, we kept Hapy rolling out the driveway and slightly up the street before I ran out of ability to push against gravity. Boo let Hapy roll backwards downhill just past the end of the lane way and over to the shoulder. I hooked up the trucker chain to Hapy's front frame and the other end to the ToyoTruck tow hitch. Then, we hauled Hapy all the way to the edge of the gravel before I had to peel away from the driveway in the truck. Because Hapy is heavier than both Oliver and Nina, I was concerned about the strain on the come-along. I moved Hapy about 6 inches and then decided to hold off and give it a think. I am not 100% sure of the load capacity of the come-along and I was uncomfortable with the amount of strain I put on it just for the 6 inches I got. That was Sunday afternoon. 

 

On Tuesday, Bill, our tree guy, arrived with a couple of employees to remove the failing cherry tree just south of the shop. Since Hapy was sitting in the lane-way, it was blocking the best path to the tree and the best path through which he and his guys could haul the pieces of the cherry tree to the chipper. So, in about 2 minutes the 4 of us pushed Hapy up into the shop. Shazam, Hapy is home. While I reeled from the gravity of what had just happened, Bill's guys backed the chipper to where Hapy had been sitting and got to work on the cherry tree. I still need to wiggle the rear end of Hapy west a little bit, probably remove the tow bar from the front of Nina, shove her further south and then shove Hapy further south as well to create more space near his rear end... but.. he's home.

 

---

 

Well, this ends the shop construction odyssey, at least until Boo and I find the cabbage to purchase doors. When we have solved for that and the final inspection has completed, I will accumulate all of the various costs and post the actual rounded numbers. If I had to guess, the structure was ~$25k, the concrete was around $15k, the permits around $2k, gravel, stone and french drain stuff was probably another $3k. So, my approximate running cost is around $45k, lacking doors. I will need to integrate a winch of some kind for moving broken cars and I still want to add a $5k lift. I don't know where that money will be coming from and I feel like I have already spent more than I intended to on the shop already.

 

Thanks, as always, for following along. Saving this mid-century farmhouse will always present me with projects, but once the weather shifts, I think my attention will as well... back to wrenching on cars.

Building a Shop - Vehicle Egress

Today, I finish the gravel work and move cars into the shop/barn/garage. I should point out that where the last post ended was where I took some time off from the work and went to Seattle for the weekend. We visited the zoo and went to my grand-niece's first birthday party. Very fun. With Labor Day well behind us, Pacific Northwesterners know that we are now in the short days before the seasonal rains return for the duration. With this is mind, I have been spending whatever energy and muscles I can on getting the broken cars moved into shop before it hits. We have been experiencing overnight lows in the upper 40's and gloomy clouds every day. Some nights have brought rains, giving us all a strong prod to finish out outdoor projects. This past week, we have had rain every day, so I am very glad I was able to get this work done in time.

 

Picking Stones

egress complete

The north east corner of the building is over a foot above the ground and the earth slowly climbs nearly 6 inches moving westward to the northwest corner. If you look at the picture at the top of my last post, you can see how significant the drop is. Since this is where the big doorway is and where cars and trucks will come and go, a 7 to 12+ inch lip is more than most cars and trucks can manage. So, I need a smooth egress. To describe the intended pitch of the ramp, I laid a 10 foot long 2" pipe pointing north from the north east corner (you can see it in the pictures). We had a small pile of rock-wall rocks intended for the storm outfall, so over the course of a day and a half, I moved all of them over to the north edge of the garage/barn/shop. Yes, I know. I need to settle on what I'm calling it. It looks like a barn to me, but it's going to be my shop, so we'll call it a "shop" for now. Anyway, a bunch of big rocks really only showed me how much more I was going to need.

 

Boo went to a couple of rock places on the west side, but no one had softball to volleyball sized crushed stone. The few sources we could find had larger crushed rock for a very high price (pushing $1k for a couple yards). It was the wrong size and way wrong price, tho. So, I hit craigslist and found a guy giving away broken up concrete from a patio demo. Well, the concrete guys used broken up concrete under the concrete they poured and the inspector really liked it. So, if it's good enough for a foundation for a building that's getting inspected, it is good enough to go under a gravel drive up to the shop.

 

before broken concrete

Boo and I drove over to Saint Johns the day the bridge was closed for an over-turned truck (just lucky, I guess) and proceeded to overfill the truck weight-wise with broken up concrete. I had been checking the squat of the truck with my foot, shoving it between the top of the rear tire and the wheel well, and it was fine until the last barrow of concrete. We did not realize how bad it was until we could see the tire nearly pancaked and the truck mostly riding on the bump-stops. Yes, I know this is not good for the long-term health of a suspension; I'll not do this again. We decided we had all day to get home, rolled over to the 76 station around the corner and aired up the tires to 45 pounds (tire listed max is 51). This moved the rims up off the sidewalls and the sidewalls up off the ground as well. Because the bridge was out, traffic getting across the river was a mess anyway, so we were not slowing anyone down. We took our time, but found that the bumps in the road became unnoticeable above 20mph, so I kept our speed just above that as much as I could.

 

Stacking and Shifting 

Once home, Boo flagged me all the way back down the lane-way so the truck's rear bumper was nearly where the concrete bits needed to go. I spent a couple hours moving concrete from the truck bed to the egress, stacking some, wedging others so there was the beginnings of an angle from the dirt to the shop entryway. The picture below right shows what I mean.

 

with broken concrete

Once the broken concrete was gone, Boo headed out to get another 1/2 yard of gravel dumped into the truck bed. I gave my self a break from moving the gravel and instead set the line for where the driveway would be and where it would not be. I marked it with some logs, pointing mostly north from the edge of the step where it meets the big garage doorway. To add clarity, I moved a bunch of foundation digging spill (read: dirt and rocks) from the eastern elevation around to the front of the step. The picture at the top kind of shows the effect: the step will disappear into just a gravel landing with it's north exposure being dirt, wood chips or grass. We have not decided on which yet. With some clarity to the driveway edge, I could return to moving the 3/4=1-1/2 drainage gravel, this time on top of the concrete pieces. Before I got very far, Boo returned. We backed the truck all the way back and I spread that gravel on top of the concrete bits before spreading the last of the original drainage gravel I had piled closer to the house.

 

after much gravel

But we still need more. So Boo went to Cedar Mill Gravel and got another load and then another and another until we had a smooth egress from the northern-most french drain to the edge of the shop. Ordinarily, one would rent a compacter and really bang that gravel down so it was super-firm. I had told Clean Water Services that I was not going to have a compacted gravel driveway. They indicated that to them a compacted driveway was considered "impermeable" and would count against my total "paved area" of my property. Since I was already near the limits, we will go with not-machine-compacted gravel. Instead, I firmed it up by cycling between some hand-packing and light watering. During the multiple moves of the ToyoTruck, I noticed that the tire marks were still noticeable, but the truck did not lose any traction. We will see how well this works for cars, or cars hauled by garden tractor soon enough.Water does not pool at all, though, filtering straight through. So, to me, that's permeable, meeting the expectation set with Clean Water Services.

 

Foundation Details

When I had the foundation done, I planned for a few things ahead of time. I know that one day I will want a loft, for example, for storing larger items like bumpers, fenders, seats, etc. So, I had footings dug down prior to the pour so I have them ready for supporting posts. I also planned for a scissoring lift that would disappear into the floor when not in use. Yeah, that sounds really fancy, but when I looked into 2- or 4-post lifts, they are where they are, taking up space all the time, whether in use or not. I really don't expect to use the lift all that often, and certainly don't expect to leave a car suspended for long periods of time (Yeah, we will probably laugh about this assumption later), so why would I want the lift footprint to always be present? I intend to get an Amgo XL-9F, but the cost of this shop already has given me pause and that lift is another $5kUS (or more) today. I don't have that kind of money these days. With the way the economy, inflation and tariffs are going, I frankly don't know when I will. Still, I had the foundation prepared for a lift install. So, I have 2 large rectangular holes in the concrete ready for a lift, one of which you can see in this picture on the right.

 

I need to do more than simply "cover" the holes, though. The purpose of the hidden lift is that I can drive anywhere in the shop. In other words, I can drive over the top of the lift like there isn't one there when it is not in use. So, I need to be able to drive over the holes while I save up for the lift. I located the lift such that there would be just enough space to get a car around it on either side when it is in use. So, I could technically drive a car up and into the shop and not have to drive where the lift would be, but I would rather not have the standing risk of driving into a big hole.

Cap the Lift Holes

I had a large collection of drainage pieces to return to Home Despot anyway, so I headed there for lumber to build covers for the holes. The amount I got back for the drainage stuff almost completely covered the cost of the lumber, and it would have completely covered it if we hadn't cut one of the pieces wrong, forcing the purchase of another $50US sheet of outdoor grade 1/2" plywood. I had the Home Despot folks cut the sheets so I knew the cuts were straight, and so the chemicals in the "outdoor grade" didn't prematurely wear down my circular saw blade. I have all the scrap from the cuts so we have the start of some outdoor counters or something.

 

Once back in the shop, the assembly was fairly easy. I set the 2x6 boards down into the extended runs on either side and set a piece of plywood on top. Drilled a few holes, sent through some fasteners and repeated for the other hole. Just like that, the shop floor is effectively whole and flat-ish. I do NOT believe the outdoor grade 1/2" plywood resting on top of 2x6 outdoor grade lumber less than 2 feet apart will be able to support a car passing over it. I thought about adding cross supports, etc, but ultimately, I was just very careful about moving cars around the holes. At this point, they will be effective in preventing persons and dogs from accidentally falling into the holes, but nothing heavier than, say, a 200#. If I get a wild hair, I may add some cross supports to extend their use a little bit.

Moving Cars

Zed and Oliver home'd

With the shop ready enough for storing vehicles, I took last Friday (26-Sep) off work and started moving cars which have not moved in a while, starting with Zed, the 1978 Datsun 280ZX. He hasn't moved since I moved him here in November of 2022 (See Zed Moves), so I dealt with things like locked-up wheels, a dead battery, etc. Ultimately, I was unable to get him to start nor easily roll. The engine turned, but did not catch. I think it is a fuel delivery issue. I jacked up and verified that each wheel could turn freely so I snatched him from behind with the ToyoTruck and a trucker's chain. Once I got him out of the sunken holes his tires had been in, I was able to roll him down the slight slope to the lane-way. About this time I took a break and moved the stacks of tires I had stored under tire covers near the cars, moving them into the southeast corner of the shop. Returning to Zed, I moved the truckers chain to the lawn tractor and, with Boo behind Zed's steering wheel, we hauled him to the edge of the gravel where the tractor lost traction. We switched back to ToyoTruck,hauling Zed up the gravel drive into the shop, and sending the truck just out the opening at the far south end. We eventually got ToyoTruck out through some creative Tetris and then pushed Zed into the far southeast corner, lightly touching the stacks of tires. With the one car in place, and taking almost the entire day to get there, I hoped the others would be easier.

 

Oliver (1978 MGB) started and moved around last Fall (See MGB Carb Circle Back), so I had higher expectations for him. I slapped the battery charger on him before calling it a day. The next morning (Saturday), I was unable to get him started. There was plenty of charge and even with fresh gas in the tank, the fuel pump didn't change tone. I applied vacuum to the fuel line at the carb to get fuel up to it, but it still would not start. Again, the pump didn't change tone so I think the pump may be faulty, failing to deliver the pressure needed for the carb. Regardless, I was not going to fix Oliver, I needed to move him. So, again with Boo behind the wheel, we pushed him down into the lane-way and again hauled him to the edge of the gravel with the lawn tractor. This time, we did not use the ToyoTruck to haul him up the driveway. Instead, I used a come-along. Earlier in the week, I had looked at buying a winch at Harbor Freight and by mid-day Saturday I started regretting not buying one. With the come-along, I could move Oliver 4 feet at a time before chocking a wheel, resetting the cables and moving another 4 feet. His final spot is the northeast corner, near the big door opening. With the tires in front of Zed, Oliver just barely stuck out of the west end of the shop. So, I moved the tires over by the southwest corner and shoved Zed and Oliver the extra meter south. By now, it was early afternoon so Boo and I grabbed lunch and made the decision to keep pressing forward rather than punt on moving Nina to Sunday.

 

Nina (1965 VW Beetle) has a stuck engine so I already expected to have to haul her. Of the 3, she was the lightest, and we followed the same pattern: Boo and I pushed her into the lane-way, Boo behind the wheel, me on the lawn tractor, we hauled Nina to the edge of the gravel. Then, she was come-along'd into the shop. Once on the concrete, she was an easy slide next to Zed. While Nina is our newest acquisition, both Boo and I are really enamored with her. We are both very much looking forward to getting her working again. The rain did not appear on Sunday, so Boo and I did all the yard-related work we needed to do before the rains arrived.

 

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Monday, the rains started and it has been intermittent rain ever since. The weatherpersons indicate that the rains are supposed to end by the end of the week with clear weather returning for almost a week. At this time of year, that's fairly rare but I'll take it. I still have gutters to clean and Hapy to move. I have been monitoring the ground around the shop and there is absolutely no standing water anywhere.I will accept that as positive news about the quality of my french drain install. If nothing else, I can recognize that no water is impacting my neighbors from my shop install, and ultimately, that's what most concerns Clean Water Services. Regardless, I am greatly looking forward to solving the various won't run issues on Oliver and Zed, but Hapy is first. I very much want to have him whole and driving again.

Thanks, as always, for following along- 

Car-go-round

As we hit Summer, I find my attention going in 100 directions at once. When you have many cars, each with small problems, and a house in mid-rehab, that scatter is probably that much worse. With the rehab work going on, I will have limited time to work on cars, but Boo has asked me to think about setting aside one day a week to it since I take such pleasure from it, and life can't always be about to-do lists, home construction and your job. So, today's post tries to bring some order to the car-chaos, with a hope that I will have some time to clown on one or more of these open items this summer.

Oliver

Oliver is the 1978 MGB. Some may look at Oliver like he was my mid-life crisis car. In truth, he was a car that could fit in the super-small garage I had and needed work. He was something I could work on that wasn't Hapy, the 1972 VW bus, and I could be out of the rain when I did it. Oliver definitely met that goal and I really needed something other than Hapy to wrench on for a while. The goal Oliver has not yet met is passing DEQ. So, he is not legally drive-able. Oliver's list of incomplete items is fairly short, though. I believe, he could pass DEQ today if the carb is adjusted right. He just needs another run through DEQ to see how close I am. He got a new battery for the move to the NewOldHouse, and since then he has sat under one of those 5L car covers with the battery disconnected.

Beyond DEQ, the heated seat circuit did not get completed, and there remains a leak under the windscreen on the passenger side. Perhaps most importantly the brakes are still spongey and I think it is because the brake master cylinder was not bled prior to install. I asked the guys at Les Schwab to do it when I bought a set of tires from them. They sold me the tires, failed to bleed the brakes, and that's why I now buy tires at Firestone. Anyway, I bought a brake bleeder kit, (and will document my process) and hope to get him to DEQ before this top-down season has really started.

Zed

Ah Zed, the 1978 Datsun 280ZX. After a spring and summer of bodywork, Zed still needs a lot. I won't rerun that history, but there was a lot of sanding and shaping. Then, I had that heroic drive from oldHouse to NewOldHouse, sitting on a toolbox for a front seat (See Zed Moves). Once parked, he got a 10x20 to sit under while we worked on the house. Well, the weather had other plans, lifting and tossing the canopy multiple times, putting multiple rubs and deep scratches into the paint (See Hello Windstorm, My Old Friend). So, Zed will need another round of sanding and painting. Now that I have seen the Eastwood 9mm in the sun, I am not as enamored with it. I see a slight olive green in that dark grey and the pitted finish is not to my liking at all. So, I will probably sand down below the paint to some degree, re-shoot the black primer and shoot a different color. Of course, the body kit is installed and it's not coming off. So, I will need to get creative to get good coverage down low. Now parked next to Oliver with a matching 5L car cover, they are twins. I do not expect to do much of anything on Zed this Summer.

 

Hapy

In the Phil and Friends post (See Phil and Phrends Road Report), I mentioned a few things that needed attention before the next drive in Hapy, the 1972 VW camperbus. The most glaring was the loss of the brake booster. I removed the hose from the booster and tested the vacuum on the booster unit. I applied 15 pounds of vacuum and over the course of a few minutes, it decayed a couple of pounds. To me, that is satisfactory. Then, I tested the vacuum on the hose I had just removed. It held no vacuum. So, I acquired and installed Gates vacuum hose. One quick test drive later, the brakes are good. I installed the cage for the stereo so it is well locked into the glove box install location. I also affixed a mount for the UltraGauge on the steering wheel support so the UltraGauge is directly below the speedometer now. I do not expect Hapy will have meaningful work done to him for the rest of the Summer. Instead, he will be set up for DrivewayFest between trips so we can enjoy our clubhouse-on-wheels. Hapy has been used a few times since we moved as my daily-driver when Boo needs to take Toyotruck somewhere. Every time, since we moved to the NewOldHouse, he has started right up. I mentioned the saga about towing him here. The starter swap-out was easy and the right fix (See Hapy Lives Again).

Nemo

Nemo (1997 Audi A4 Quattro) has left the fleet, enjoying a new lease on life in Idaho. See Fare Well, Nemo.

GoRo

GoRo (2009 Audi A4 Quattro) had a series of issues appear over last winter. First, the outer driver handle stopped working. So, to get in, you needed to reach through either from the passenger side or from the rear seat to get the door open. What a pain. Then, the battery started to misbehave, not holding charge. While looking for the charger studs, the hood latch broke. So, GoRo sat for most of the winter, until Boo got the hood latch repaired (she hired our friend Courtney at MobilePDX). Even Courtney doesn't want to touch the outer door latch, so we're not sure what we are going to do about that. I need to get the battery replaced, and then maybe I'll take it on. Either way, we are going to sell GoRo. We figure it hasn't been driven since last December, and we have been just fine without it.

ToyoTruck

Recall that Boo and I bought ToyoTruck (2005 Toyota pickup) from her sister. We had agreed to the price before the ice-storm sent the truck into a pole, damaging the passenger front corner. I replaced a bunch of things, but did not shoot the paint. The top of the truck has suffered sun, wind or seaside damage to the paint as well, so when I paint the replaced bodyparts, the top half of the truck (at least) needs paint as well. This truck has minor dents on a few panels as well, so before I shoot anything, I'll work those dents out first. ToyoTruck is our true daily-driver. I hope, once GoRo is gone, and Oliver is legal, perhaps we will drive Oliver and Hapy around, leaving the truck home more.

When I can get away from house construction projects, I will be getting after this stuff, starting with Oliver. He is such a fun ride, and it would be a shame to lose another Summer to something like DEQ. I know I have not been posting much, basically since we bought this house. That day, car work mostly came to a halt, and house construction is much slower and frankly less interesting to post on. I will make me next post a catch-up on what's happened here since my April post.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Where were we?

Hapy New Year. It has been a busy holiday season for pretty much everyone I know, and Boo and I are no exception. Today's post will touch on some of the things we have been getting after since my last post. 

CoViD Hangover

Cooper Spur snow

During one of my holiday social engagements, I had a conversation with my niece where we were both remarking on how could we have been able to do all the things we're doing now plus have to commute to work every day. I recall, back before the whole CoViD shutdown / work-remote thing started, I would take a train into the city, work in an office all day, train to the gym to work out for an hour or so and then walk a couple miles home. Around that work-week schedule, I went out to play or listen to music, attended ball games, visited friends etc like most people. And, of course, fiddled on cars a little bit. Now that we are more consistently mingling with others, I am having a hard time rationalizing how I was able to do it while maintaining that daily cycle. I know many people are returning to offices, and I wonder if there are more people out there trying to figure out how to make it all work again. Frankly, I think many people are failing at it and that's why there is such a growing discontent. Maybe it's the holidaze, but I swear I am encountering more surly people than ever lately.

Cooper Spur

Tuukka at rest

Of course, my holidaze had much more going on and much more positive interactions than just my realization about the world's increasing surly. Boo and I spent XmasEve and XmasDay with Boo's family. This was emotionally and spiritually taxing for a couple of introverts, but we were warmly welcomed and had a really nice time. The weekend before, my younger siblings and their families joined Boo, Tuukka and I at Cooper Spur, on the east side of Mount Hood. Boo and I took Tuukka for long walks along the groomed cross-country skiing paths, and shared meals, crafts, music and games with my siblings' families. It was a great kick-off to a holiday season.

NewOldHouse - 1/4 round

Anyway, back to what I was originally going to post on: NewOldHouse projects. Among the things left incomplete, preventing us from moving in-earnest into NewOldHouse was the 1/4 round along the baseboards. I touched on this last time, but simply identifying which pieces were to go where was only part of the battle. Once identified, cleaned and primed, I needed to install them. For this, I got a finish-nailer powered by an air compressor, and then moved my air compressor down to NewOldHouse. Working with the nailer was fun: point, press and shoot. I had the 1/4 round installed in a couple hours. Next, I spackled the nail holes, sanded them flush and then caulked the top of the 1/4 round to the base board. Last, I slid around with a paint bucket and brush, brushing in the 1/4-round with the same paint that I shot the walls and trim last summer. Start-to-finish, it took me a few days, working a few hours a day (let's say 15 hours). I need to caulk the bottom of the 1/4-round to the floor with clear silicone caulk (at least along the outer walls), and then the 1/4 round is complete.

NewOldHouse - bathroom

bathroom floor done

The bathroom was in mediocre shape when we bought the house, even after all the rubbish was removed and it was cleaned. There are meaningful divots in the plaster, the sink cabinet was nasty and the floor under the toilet was failing. First, the sink and cabinet were removed. The cabinet went to the dump; I don't remember what we did with the sink. Then, the toilet was removed, and set into the tub while the floor was cleared. Once the linoleum was pulled, we could see the original hardwood floor was in pretty bad shape. We removed the pieces around the waste pipe and could see that the sub-floor had been compromised at one point. We were around this point when I posted last.

Since then, the damaged pieces of sub floor have been removed and replaced. New flooring has been installed on top of that, a full floor sheet of thin veneer was installed on top of that and peel-n-stick tiles applied on top of that. The peel-n-stick took a full day, which seemed like a really long time for a room not much more than 8 square meters (5 foot by 5 foot). Details take time, though, and tiles will not fit exactly without trimming. So, for aesthetics, you want the trimming to be behind the toilet or under a cabinet with the uncut tiles along the main walls that you can easily see. This means, though, that you need to lay everything out to figure out where the cuts need to be for the heat and the waste. Also, orienting the tiles one direction of another takes some laying out, thinking, and laying out again. Quality takes time; slapping things together is fast, but it will always look... well.. slapped together.

Our last hiccup was with the toilet waste flange in the floor. The studs to which the toilet should mount were stripped and rusted to the flange. They needed to be cut off, drilled out, tapped and then new studs threaded before we could install the toilet. Once ready, though, it was a fairly simple process to set the wax ring and install the toilet.

Bathroom Next

cleaning hardware

The sink and cabinet remain ready for install. We purchased a new cabinet / sink / mirror combination at Lowes and the low price is definitely reflected in the workmanship (or lack thereof). Still, it will work, and after some fiddling with the hinges, the doors close without rubbing. The holes for the pulls were not put in the right spots, so the handles are wonky, but again, it will work. We have all the bits and pieces, just with all the holiday events and family in town, we have not installed the sink and cabinet.

Once the sink is in, we will hang a shower rod, and re-hang the door. The hardware for the door has been cleaned up, though. Prior owners had painted without taping things off nor removing hardware so every door handle, strike plate and hinge was covered in multiple coats of paint. I have spent many otherwise-idle hours picking off paint and then rubbing down with steel wool door hardware, yet more remains.

Moving

With the 1/4-round complete, I have started moving things over to NewOldHouse. It is difficult living in one house, wanting to be in another. So, the items selected to move is not easy. I am finding things that we 100% want/need there but can live without for the time being in the current place. Obviously, this makes the move harder, and slower, but until the bathroom is fully functional, we can hang out there, and even sleep there, but it is not quite ready for full time living.

Around this work, Boo and I have been combing through all of the belongings moved here from my parent's old apartment. It has been a considerable undertaking. We have found homes for over half of the items, and while in some ways we are picking up steam, we also realize that the easy things are running out, and we will soon be left with things which only represent value to their original owners. By this, I mean things like personal correspondence, notebooks, etc that are very personal. It feels wrong to simply discard these things, but I think we will just have to work through that.

Canopy Calamity Again

example wrath of Jerry

It seems that no matter what tricks I try, the canopy known as "Jerry" just will not stand. After more windstorms, that canopy lifted and flipped onto it's side, scratching Zed again. Fortunately, the chrome around the rear window and windscreen has not been further dented, nor have either sheets of glass broken. Still, I have had enough risk of that for one winter. So, Boo and I deconstructed Jerry, leaving the poles in a heap. We used the canopy like a tarp, covering Zed for the winter. To prevent water from pooling in the hole where a sunroof will one day be, we placed a large rectangular sheet of stiff foam under the tarp. After a couple gusty days, the tarp has held firm, so Zed is hopefully protected until Spring. I think, between all of the scratches, the disappointment in both the final finish and the olive-green shade within the 9mm color, I will be sanding and re-shooting Zed before I install the interior. Since every time around is a learning opportunity, I expect this next round will be much better than the last, which was better than the one before that. Of course that means Zed will not be driving around next Summer unless we get a freak warm dry spell in April/May.

With the holidays behind us, our next significant event is the memorial for my father, planned for 21-January. For that, Boo and I will be providing our current home to my sister and her family while they visit from the Bay Area. Boo and I are marking that as the drop-date for when we can live in NewOldHouse without having to run here for various things. Please wish us luck. Thanks, as always, for following along. I hope you have a happy, healthy, and emotionally stable NewYear-

Zed Moves

I have been doing all kinds of things to get NewOldHouse ready for us to move. The exterior is painted. The interior is almost ready for paint after many more days of caulking and masking. Because we knew the end of the dry days were almost upon us, I took a couple days off work so Boo and I could get after some outside stuff. Today's post covers that.

Back to Back Chicken Shacks

Zed's new home

That's right. This property has two 8' x 12' locking sheds right next to each other that the prior owners were using as chicken shacks. The one closer to the house looked to be in better shape, while it's Furthur (see what I did there?) twin has a failing roof. We decided that we would clear them of chicken scat, hay and whatever else we found and then determine what to do with them. After a few minutes of working on the better-shape shed with a respirator and a shovel, it was clear that it was salvage-able, and had not had any rodent activity (no rat scat). I got the nasty out first with a shovel, then with a rake, then a broom and finally with a high-pressure hose. Once cleared, I sprayed it with house-wash and rinsed it down. The front-most section of flooring will need a replacement sheet of plywood/chipboard, but the rest of the shed will work, and serve as my car-parts/tool shed until a more permanent shop can be constructed.

The other shed did not see as much progress. The roof and the entire floor will need to be replaced. Still, that's a couple hundred dollars of plywood (plus some roofing material that we happen to have lying around) to repair a shed that would cost, like, 5K(US$) new. It will hold garden implements and supplies, and can do that even with a rotted floor... until we can get some time to repair it. Eventually, the lawn tractor will even get parked in there. I will return to the scat-removal and clean-up of the FurthurShed after we move. The repairs will probably wait until next year. But, to help protect it for one more year, Boo and I stapled thick, large black garbage bags (flat) over the holes in the roof. Now, that sounds pretty ShadeTree, and it absolutely is. Still, after a couple relatively heavy rains since, the inside of that shack is dry, so the wood that is not rotted will not get worse before we can get out there next year and repair them right.

Zed in Motion

man-hunt on

With the sheds ready to be pressed into service, we cleared the area where the 2 carports were assembled, around the back of the house. The grass was cut down to the dirt, all of the little weedy shrubs were cut down, and then the car ports were set in place: as tight to the house as they could go without bumping into the siding. Last, we laid out a tarp to act as a vapor barrier between the earth and Zed's underside. We were ready to move Zed. Before I started working on how to tow him, I thought I could try to drive him. Sure, he has no interior, no glass, no side mirrors, no tail lights, a 4-year-expired registration, it's raining, it's garbage day and there is an active man-hunt in the neighborhood by Beaverton's finest. Still, it's worth trying; worst case, I have to tow him. Regardless of outcome, it would be a funny story.

Long ago, I had drained Zed of gas by loosening the fuel line in the engine compartment and firing up the fuel pump, pumping the fuel into a gas can that I then used to fill the lawn mower. I had not tried to start Zed again. Knowing this day was coming, I had charged his battery and then disconnected the negative terminal (saving the charge). After confirming the battery was full (12.5V), I poured a fresh gallon of gas into his tank, hooked up the negative cable to the battery, flipped the ignition and fuel pump switches and tuned the key. BahRoom... he fired right up. Now, even though I had pumped the fuel out, there remained some old gas remnants in the lines or the injectors were kinda fouled. Regardless, Zed ran rough, and did not want to idle. I babied him along until he settled down and idled. Cool. So he runs. I took the next step and tried to back him up, but he wouldn't budge. I felt like his brakes were rusted on. I tried to high-rev reverse to break the brakes free, but that didn't work. I suspected the rear brakes were rusted tight from sitting motionless for a couple of years.

the "nicer" shack, before

Undeterred, I chocked his front wheels. I raised the passenger side rear wheel by the axle with my trolley-jack and removed the wheel. I shot rust buster onto the brake shoes (which looked pretty much worn to nothing anyway) and then hit the caliper with a framing hammer, sometimes using a flattened chisel on the pad, to loosen the rust-hold. After a few cycles, I could see that the brake shoe no longer held to the rotor. So, I slapped the wheel back on, lowered the jack. I repeated this on the driver side... all while keeping my head on a swivel for the police escapee (hence, no pictures). Satisfied, I pulled the wheel chocks. I topped off the brake fluid to make sure the front calipers would have the most capability of stopping us, since the rears were now covered in oil.

Feeling confident, I put my red plastic toolbox on the floor for a make-shift seat to try to drive Zed again. I bungie-corded the driver door shut, and fired him up. He started a little rough again, but settled into an idle quickly. I popped him into reverse and Zed started to back up. I navigated around the shrub on the corner of the parking spot and then down my not-quite-straight driveway by looking through the passenger-side tail light hole. It being garbage day, I had to wait for the truck to clear out of the cul-de-sac, but that let the engine idle a little more, working more of that bad gas out and good gas in.

the "nicer" shack, after

The brakes took some pumping to get to a full stop, but I figured it was mid-day during a work-week and I was driving about a block-and-a-half, so the risk was low. I got the rest of the way out of the driveway, put Zed into first, and puttered down the street, stopped at the sign on the corner, and turned onto the more highly-used street to the NewOldHouse. I could see cop cars down the street both behind me and in front of me (picture above shows cops 2 doors down from our new house), but no cops between me and the NewOldHouse. I went for it. I puttered to the house, straight down the drive and around the back. It took a 3-point turn, but Zed now sits on top of a grey tarp, underneath a carport, ready for me to revisit once we're moved (shown in the top picture).

I think that's about it for today. Boo and I are finding that with each potential challenge presented by this house, it always looks worse than it really is. From the chicken shacks to the interior plaster, once things get cleaned, the condition underneath is not nearly as bad as it looked. I continue to get more excited about what this new home, and a potential new shop, could mean.

Thanks, as always, for following along-