BillyBob Work-in-Progress Log

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS was the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I could accomplish without a garage up until the summer of 2010 when I finally got enough warehouse space to work in. Now, it also includes the continuing work on BillyBob in the shop.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PROJECT PUFFER Chronicles the rebuild of BillyBob's Stovebolt 235 including the installation of a 4-71 blower system.

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat browser plugin to view these wiring diagrams which are in the PDF file format. This format allows zooming and panning. If you don't have this plugin, it can be downloaded and installed (free) from the Adobe site. The button below will take you there.

BILLYBOB WIRING DIAGRAM Here's the wiring diagram updated with BillyBob's current state 'cepting the third-party strap-on turn-signal director.

STRAP-ON TURN-SIGNAL DIRECTOR/BRAKE LIGHT CIRCUIT This turn signal and brake light circuit diagram shows the current state of the third-party turn-signal director wiring, which will remain in place until I figure out the problems with the OEM turn-signal director. It also shows the OEM headlight switch.

71. Out of Hibernation

April 19^th 2018 Well over a year since I did anything on BillyBob's transformation. Hopefully I'll get moving again soon. Over a month back, I bid on an eBay auction for a vintage six cylinder Vertex magneto for BillyBob's blower engine build. It was an outrageous bid but I still lost. These things are becoming rare. Two weeks later another one appeared on eBay, presumably brought out of hiding by the high price the other one commanded.

 This one wasn't quite as nice as the one I missed and it was missing a cap. Never the less, I doubled down on my bid. I won the auction and I was the only bidder this time so, I ended up paying 1/5 of what I had prepared for. It has a little dent at the top that is easily reparable that may be the result of its long trip from Australia and as soon as it arrived, I ordered a new cap from Joe Hunt Magnetos. I am a happy hot rodder today.

May 7^th 2018 Got a new cap from Joe Hunt Magnetos and a six cylinder solid copper core spark plug wire set from an eBay vendor and proceeded to set up the Vertex magneto for BillyBob's blower engine mock up. The generic spark plug set was marked for agricultural use which makes sense since many tractors have magnetos. The mechanical tach connector nuts at the base of the magneto were preventing full rotation of the housing and blocked getting number one contact located where I knew number one cylinder top dead center to be. I left off the stick on numbers for the cap to indicate the clockwise rotation and firing order of the stovebolt's ignition for the time being. It doesn't matter which contact is designated number one as long as the firing order 1-5-3-6-2-4 follows. The memory trick for a six-cylinder inline is fifteen is too young, thirty-six is too old, twenty-four is just right. Learned a bit more just by looking at this thing but I know as much about magneto ignitions as I do about women so it's still pretty much a mystery at this point.

February 22^nd 2019 Demolition derby goin' on at the BillyBob Shop. I have a new corporate landlord that bought out the mom-n-pop owners of the warehouse complex. We have a new roof, new paint and new parking lot now and the party never ends. It seems the dividing wall between the BillyBob space and the one directly to the East was built without a permit and the new landlord is tearing it down to get right with the building department. My choice is to rent the complete new space with is fifty percent more space than I have now or, get out on short notice. I'm staying for the time being. Demolition starts today and I have to clear everything away from the back wall so the workers can get to it from this side if necessary. Oh joy.

 I moved everything and stacked it up in Elvira's space, relegating her outside for a few days. Really glad now that I decided to buy everything I could on casters, including shelving units. I asked the construction foreman how much of the wall they had to take down and he said everything, floor-to-roof, including the improvements in the other space. Oh fudge! I was afraid of that. Spent the rest of the day up in the mezzanine, movin' a couple of tons of books away from the wall. It seemed like a couple of tons, anyway.

February 26^th 2019 Day four of a two-day demolition job. The wall comes down with minimal collateral damage. A ceiling tile in the Flamingo Room was broken. The choke point has been the debris dumpster. It gets filled up and then we wait and wait and wait for another one. The wrecking crew will put the wall they tore down today into the new dumpster tomorrow

The landlord rep called and said he wants to come by tomorrow with the new lease. He actually said "Bring your checkbook". At six, the electrician arrived to cap off the old, non-compliant, feed and remove all the electrical from the wall next to the door in this pic from the loft.

February 27^th 2019 Day five of a two-day demolition job. The wrecking crew filled up new dumpster first thing. Swept the area and waited for instructions. Then they went across the parking lot to another unit suffering the same fate as the BillyBob Shop. I gave the new space  a look and saw that where the office had been, the floor was tile in a mud bed, This was 1.5 inches above the surrounding floor. I knew I wouldn't be able to run my go-jak wheel dollies over that. Around noon, the landlord showed to do an inspection. He took a five nanosecond gander and bugged out. Mid-afternoon, the wrecking crew came back and jackhammered the tile floor off. We're getting closer. The second dumpster load is awaiting removal and there are some electrical and plumbing loose ends. I think two more days of my impromptu Florida vacation. This shot was taken from the center of the new space looking in the direction of the original shop.

February 28^th 2019 Day six of a two-day demolition job. We're roundin' the last turn on this job. Just a few odds-n-ends left, light being one of 'em. No electric in the new expanded space and I don't have a key for the overhead door padlock so, it's dark in here. This shot is from the northeast corner looking west. I'm going back to the Krash Kubicle at the office on Friday. I've got no wrecking crew to watch and six full days of deep ponder mode in my easy chair, smokin' ceegars and quaffing craft beer is taking a toll on my fragile condition..

March 3^rd 2019 Day eight of a two-day demolition job. Still got a lock box on my door and still some of the wrecking crew's tools in my new space. They did remove the remaining plumbing while I was at the Krash Kubicle Friday. At least as much as I think they intend to. I'm already on the hook, not a new tenant. There is no signing bonus in the form of a tidy space. There will be some DIY items.

 One of which was remnants of the wall sill channel anchors sticking up above the concrete floor. Took the angle grinder to them, first thing. I get enuf flat tires as it is without getting them inside the shop. Pumped up BillyBob's tires and put him on the Go-Jaks. Didn't know if I could pull BillyBob into the new space by myself as he is about eight hundred pounds heavier than the Deerslayer. Turned out I had nothin' to worry about. Those Go-Jaks were well worth the premium I paid for them. BillyBob is now in his new dry dock with plenty of room to work on all sides.

March 7^th 2019 Quiet, demolition-wise, at the BillyBob Shop. Lock box is still on my door and contractor's tools in the shop and I haven't been given a key for the padlock on my new, to me, overhead door. I'm tired of waiting and am moving more stuff into the new space. I've been organizing the space under the loft as the main work bench area and clearing up Elvira's bay as well so she can come back inside.

March 9^th 2019 When I got to the shop yesterday, the lock box was off my door and a key to the padlock for the new door was laying on the floor in the Flamingo Room. Progress! Continued to reorganize the shop over the weekend. I now have eighty percent of my tools under the loft area including the Hank Lansenkamp workbench, the tool cart Gato gave me and the tool chest and tools my uncle Tom Kephart gave to me. I got more ambitious and dragged the Carroll-Taylor Racing Team engine hoist out of the corner and put it together, now that I have the room. This thing is heavier than a fire and brimstone preacher on his way to hell. I marveled at the engineering simplicity of it. Held together with gravity latches and two pins with locking toggles. No wrenching or cotter pins required. Two guys can assemble or dismantle this thing in thirty seconds. The hydraulic ram still worked too. Beer of the day was Iron City Premium Lager. This was the last can from a case my cousin, Billy Lucore, bought for me when I was hiding out from Hurricane Irma in Pennsylvania. I downed the first few cans under the stars by a campfire at my aunt's farm with cousins Billy and Linda. This last can gets an honored spot in the shop. Billy is gone now. He won't be buying me any more beers on this side of the river.

March 11^th 2019 I've got the room now so it's time to close out my Boca storage bay and cut down some on my now ruinous monthly rent payments. The plan is to transfer as many of the little items as Elvira's trunk can hold. Then rent a truck for one trip to move the bigger things I want to keep and finally hire a trash company to come get the rest like the two designer water closets from the Vince McMahon home on Boca Beach that was demolished to make way for the Excelsior Condo. I originally stored them for my boss but got stuck with them when he didn't use them in the design of his house. There's also diesel fuel and old motor oil in plastic containers, some of which have ruptured. Will be glad to get this behind me.

March 15^th 2019 A little over six years ago, my friend Gato dragged the heavy two-post lift into the BillyBob Shop on a Christmas Eve. He wouldn't let me help him, not that I could help much. He had a procedure having moved it a few times already. I remember him standing on a rickety wood stepladder, holding up the cross bar with one hand, threading bolts into the upright with the other. I obtained parts and installation tools over time but there it still sets, uninstalled. I've lost my enthusiasm over learning how to use it safely. More important, It's a big negative factor if I have to move in three years. I sold it to my friend, John Carey.

 John and his moving crew from Orlando arrived a little after eleven and they set to work with ladders, chain pulls, rope and engine hoist. It was an epic struggle: four and a half gray beards against the lift. Took over three hours but the lift was on the trailer and on it's way to the Orlando area by mid-afternoon. The spent geezers lined up for a photo. Left to right are John, his brother Craig, Charlie and Dave.

In Memory of Mike Cunningham

On a thursday night in February, I got word that one of our Sunday coffee cruise-in regulars, Mike Cunningham had passed. Mike was a name in drag racing and Bonneville record runs. He was mechanic and crew chief on more than one professional team. I was surprised when he was enthusiastic about helping me with my Stovebolt blower motor project. Mike forgot more about blowers than I'll ever know. On Sunday, instead of meeting at the Dunkin' Donuts, we assembled in Davie at another regular's shop. After donuts and coffee, "The Hotrodders Prayer" was recited and we knocked back a shot of Jameson. Godspeed Mike.

< Back to IntroMore to come. Stay tuned. >

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Issued Wednesday March 27, 2019

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