ACME Parts All Installed

Parts list described earlier completely installed and functioning.  (hat tip to Mike the IT guy)  The results are all that and a free cigar.  Bonus Points: initial testing survived, didn't even get a ticket.  Mind you, it was very hard to drive like a sane person down to the bridge to open it up.

[Latin name explained here.  Especially apt in this case.]

OK, there's always a more powerful muscle car out there somewhere, and ultimately the king of the hill isn't even street legal.  Right now in the neighborhood of 335 HP, this one's performing at the rated level of a '69 428 Cobra Jet (you'll have to scroll down to find the specs, it's the "Q" & "R" engine options).  If that's not enough engine, hell, you need to go be an astronaut or something.

Next up: Strut tower brace, unfortunately out of stock at the moment.  Tighten up the steering a little with one of these and the whole package will be good to go.  At least until the itch strikes again.  And that big blank plate in the middle of the brace will look great with "ACME" stenciled on it.

PhD Comics visits Comic-Con San Diego

And talks to several people doing graduate research on various aspects of the whole comics/superhero world.  Mostly, as you might guess, on the psychological aspects of it.  It's a nice 10 minute view of things, probably worth your time.

He's right, no freekin' idea.

permalink back to xkcd.

Shop Roof Pics

From the front/side:

Oblique from riverward:

And finally, from riverward:

Phase I nears completion.  Should be on to Phase II within a month.

My Precious! O my Precious!

precious

But it really does go easier when you stuff the little wretch into a garbage bag first.

[yes, I had to pull the book to get the exact quotes]

Shop Repair Pics

I took lots of pictures of the Shop building while in Apalach, but many are redundant or just for documenting the repairs, for later reference.  Here are the highlights.  Click any picture to embiggen.

Outside of building near side door facing Post Office.  You can see how far it had to be jacked up.

Same place, from the inside.  There's a solid concrete footer that's been poured to hold up the new sill.

Overall doorway, from the outside.

One more shot from the inside, other edge of doorway.

Back by where the stone was, showing similar reconstruction.

 Typical under-floor pic.  I took lots of these, but they all show about the same thing: solid joists and nothing rotten or scary.

Under where the stone was.  The floor here had been mushy for decades, but all's solid and good to go for another century.

Action picture back by the stone.

Back corner of building, under where the darkroom was.  Shows how the building was jacked up while footer concrete was being poured to make a new foundation segment.

Overall roofline, showing that about 75% of the sag is gone, and re-roofing is underway.  Some of the exterior concrete sidewalk has to come up this week to get the rest of that rotted sill out and finish the leveling.

After all that, it was time for a walk.  A view of Apalachicola bay, at the river mouth and the boat basin exit.

Overall, a very successful trip.

A long day on the road.

But it was a successful trip.  Pictures of the building tomorrow or at least soon.  Mustang averaged 28.2 mpg, and that counts stop-and-go through Panama City and a steady 75–80 mph along I-10.  The new bits seem to help, especially in smoothing out a former rough patch in the throttle under hard acceleration.  Worth every penny.

But now I need a beer.  Found a new brand, think I'll try one now:

What could possibly go wrong?