Tedd Thompson

Karps Power Brake just let me know my treadle vac is repaired and is on its way, man it's been a long three months. I'm anxious to get the old girl back on the road and in a show or two. I am down to the farm F150 as everything I own is tied up hauling wood or broke down in the shop, embarrassing! I have 4 rigs and I have to borrow the farm truck just to go to town and get groceries. This has been an unusual year to say the least....Tedd

Tedd Thompson

Received my Treadle Vac from Karps , it just came in, appears to be like new. Now if I can just get my helper for a few hours I can get the Mistress back on the road and do a few shows this year.... Tedd

JenR8r88

That's great! Fingers-crossed you get your helper!

Vintage Chief

Tedd - Glad to hear it finely arrived finally.

mpolds

Jeff @ Karps is very very backed up right now --- you are fortunate you got it back in ONLY 3 months....

redoldsman

Tedd, is that your helper standing next to the car?

Tedd Thompson

She could be if she wanted! You know she is younger than most of my grandkids Kinda like my car, fun to look at but I bet we would have a hard time with a reasonable conversion. Not that I talk to my car that much!...Tedd

redoldsman

I understand completely Tedd. It is kind of like window shopping. You can admire but you know you are not going to take anything home.

griffey57

Glad to hear it Tedd, you will be very happy with the results. Happy motoring

Tedd Thompson

I have Juan coming this afternoon, he is one of our workers around the ranch, kinda a handyman guy who can do most anything and does good work. The only problem is our language issue is a barrier, we use a lot of hand messaging and gesturing, but we will get her done. Man I'm I ready for the Mistress to get finished, may make an ice cream run tomorrow after a good detail, if everything goes well today. Tedd

Tedd Thompson

Well, the treadle vac is in, haven't bled the brakes yet as it took a lot longer than I expected for this job. Juan had it in and out three times before we realized that the fill tube was installed on the wrong side and wouldn't allow enough room to remove the filler cap and put in fluid. It's little things like that that make an hour job turn into two and a half hours and Juan had to leave to pick up his kids. It will happen, just will take a little longer.... Tedd

griffey57

Slowly but surely

Tedd Thompson

Having trouble getting someone to help with bleeding the brakes (not a one-man job) without pressure bleeder. Another issue is the top hasn't been up in probably two years and I'm having difficulty getting the last two inches of the top getting fully down and latched. It's cold here, and the vinyl is stiff and a little wrinkled and has been a problem in the past. I need a little heat or a ratchet strap to get done so I can have it hauled to Chico. I'm trying to finish it up fore Cars and Coffee on Saturday if it doesn't rain... Tedd

griffey57

If I were close to you , I would help you bleed brakes. Wouldn't take long at all.

Tedd Thompson

Thanks for the offer, but Huntington Beach is a huge hop skip and jump from Forest Ranch. Had it hauled to Chico and It now sets at a mechanic's shop. May be done by Friday with any luck for the Cars and Coffee. The rain man on TV says it's gonna rain, damn the luck.... Tedd

Tedd Thompson

She is done!! My buddy who has a shop listened to my whining and crying and finished it this morning, picked it up this afternoon and by 3 o'clock she had 50 miles on her. Brakes are better than ever, needs plugs and probably wires, Slant pans shift poorly when there is a bad miss, but I'll go to the Cars and Coffee on three cylinders if need be... She still looks good and turns heads when cleaned up. I'm going to try and throw a set of plugs in her tomorrow if I can keep out of the rain, she deserves it, well she is the Mistress you know...Tedd

griffey57

I'm sure the brakes feel like brand new. Karps does a great job! Merry oldsmobiling Tedd

Tedd Thompson

Cars and Coffee this morning, pouring down rain, no leaks in the top that I just got latched. Probably not more than 30 hard core guys with their cars there, usually 150 + with spectators everywhere, had a blast anyway with the Mistress. I parked in the handy capped space near the door at Starbucks and had a captive audience. Set my chair up under their canapé and enjoyed the morning, the car got lots of attention, many remember it from the past when it was my only show car. Sometimes it pays to be a gimp.. Tedd

griffey57

I went to my donut derelicts huntington Beach this morning and it was beautiful. Your 55 olds was a banner year for oldsmobile beautiful car!

Tedd Thompson

I spent most of the afternoon just doing fluid checks and running around with a wrench putting a tight on everything I could get to, lots were in need of a twist or two. Transmission was down 2 and a half quarts and shifted accordingly. Spark plugs are for tomorrow, shouldn't be too much on my legs if I get after them early and take a few breaks. My big issue is just getting started, really easy to put something off till tomorrow that never comes...Tedd

Tedd Thompson

New plugs in and done. They, the old ones, looked brand new, but I did lose an intermittent miss with the new plugs. Plug wires looked a little crispy, can't remember when I last put new ones in. Probably soon down the road for them also. Worked on my wide whites, they were getting quite stained. I normally use Bleach White ,white wall tire cleaner and a rag, this time I added 3/0 steel wool to the mix and it worked much faster and cleaner/ brighter. Tomorrow I'll wipe on a ceramic coating. That will make the color last and helps dust and dirt not stick as much and also come off easier.
Also repaired my Betty Boop nicking **** so it won't move around on the steering wheel. That was a big day for me, can hardly walk but I do have a big smile on my face.... Lost in the fifties ..Tedd

griffey57

Smile on your face is all that matters!!

JenR8r88

I bet your Mistress is quite the head-turner. Smile on your face is priceless

Tedd Thompson

I think she has been a top tier car since 2000, my bad, I got side tracked for a few years with other builds and interests and I let her deaerate some. Starting to rebuild a few things that really need attention, she will go back on the road this summer, hopefully in better shape than when I put her in the garage 3 years ago. So far no mice, rust or major mechanical or electrical issues. Probably won't do the marathon trips of the past, I think she will be up to it, but her caretaker has aged quicker than she has. She is the Mistress and will still take all my time and money. I'll park her next to the Money Pit and they can conspire together to keep me broke, all I ask is they keep a smile on my face, doesn't that sound like cheep rent to you....Lost in the fifties...Tedd

griffey57

Absolutely!!

Tedd Thompson

As of late, I've put about 100 miles on the Old Girl, and I've been fixing small stuff as I go. My last trip to the ice cream parlor the bezel on the key insert came off and I couldn't turn the key to get started, rather embarrassing as there were people there watching me take off. Somehow ice cream and classic cars go well together.

Next project will be the gas peddle, seems sloppy and wants to direct my foot towards the transmission tunnel where it scrapes on the side, slowing down my shift points and pissing me off. One can't show off with bad shifts...Tedd

Tedd Thompson

Ignition switch is fixed, made a trade, Frank came over and had me buy for him (online) some M/T valve covers and gaskets for his 57 Chevy, in turn I had him crawl under my dash and put my bezel and switch back together, great trade! He will pay me back when they come in. The Mistress rides again. Now back to the interior mess that will need a deep clean and scrub. One Item at a time though, after that I have to address a seam that has popped some threads and will need attention, Gotta think about this, I've never attempted a top repair other than on something that was mostly already shot, this has to look good and not just a bandage type patch.... Tedd

griffey57

I had a guy come out last year and repair front and rear stiching on my seats on the 57 olds

Tedd Thompson

Griffey,I need a little work on the Money Pit's driver's seat before it becomes a bigger problem also. I wonder if Chico has a mobile guy that does that? And by the way I glued the seam closed on the Mistress top last night, I closed it up with 50 lb of lead shot and glued it down with E6000 adhesive. After I got to looking at it at appears it was stapled and glued originally, I'll see this morning if it passes the good enough test... Tedd

Tedd Thompson

Took my 96-year-old Pops in the Olds to the same Ice cream parlor he took my mom to when they were dating. Not many can say they have done that for several reasons. Longevity is one of them. It's always a car show when I go there, even if I'm the only one with a classic car.

It's getting to be like old times playing with the Mistress, I had forgotten how it was fun when people yell at you" nice car"at a stop sign, scared me a couple of times at first, now it's just a thumbs up, thank you. More adventures to come, there has gotta be a road trip somewhere in the near future... Tedd

griffey57

That is great that is the magic of these classic cars and how they make you feel

2blu442

Thank you for sharing Tedd. Glad your having fun!!!

griffey57

That's what it's all about having fun driving them and letting people admire them

Tedd Thompson

A problem developed with the generator (or maybe the voltage regulator) and the battery went dead and would not start. This happened at the post office parking lot on my way to old Man's happy Father's Day party. The amp gauge, when the car was running showed 0 on the scale, no + or -, should be showing some kind of negative charge I would think. I got a jump and a few minutes of charge from a local good smarten and it got me home, made a switch to the Money Pit and made it to the party with time to spare. Car is on a charger and I'll chase this problem down with a multi meter tomorrow, shouldn't be hard to diagnose if it still isn't charging.... Tedd

griffey57

It's probably your voltage regulator

Tedd Thompson

It was the voltage regulator, the generator showed 14+ volts and the regulator wouldn't go past 10.5 with the lights and heater on.
I have had poor luck adjusting voltage regulators, I either get them where they throw too much juice or not enough, may take it to a guy in Hamilton City who is good with the old stuff and have him set it up or just replace it...Tedd