[RHClarke]

The forecast called for +3oC on Saturday by noon. I will tell you that it was damp and cold Saturday morning until around 0800hrs. The drive down the lane way to the barn was a lot of fun. The road was glare ice so one had to tread carefully. After making the turn to the barn, I gently applied the brakes, but the car kept sliding on a collision course with one of Bob's shelters. Fortunately, the car came to a stop with the passenger side resting next to the shelter. An exciting start to the day...

As mentioned, it was still quite chilly outside, so Lucifer was pressed into to service to take the edge off. After a few administrative chores in the barn, a quick tour of the HUP shelter was in order. The weather this past week was quite warm with more than a few rain showers. This reduced the snow pack nicely, but also caused a lot of melt water. The melt water from the front of the barn usually follows a small trench that flows past the front of the HUP shelter, down the left side and into the gully. Unfortunately, the trench froze over and the melt water made its way into the shelter forming a nice coating of ice on the floor. I got a great view of the ice sheet after falling on my ass when I ventured inside the shelter…

Since the HUP engine was still acting up and the cause(s) were not yet known, I winched her out of her shelter into the now warm and sunny barnyard. By this time, the ice in the yard that was exposed to the sun had a nice coating of water over it making it more of a hazard than before. After playing “cow on ice” I finally got the HUP out of the shelter. Next was removing the tarp on the floor – which was coated with up to an inch and a half of ice. As this was going on, a truck approached.

Guy Vapeur arrived after a considerable absence from the barn. He must have seen his shadow as he headed back for home after a very brief visit…looks like six more weeks of shitty weather. Bob arrived shortly after Guy’s departure. After helping me free the tarp from the ice, we laid it in the open to dry off. Then we walked to the creek to see how much work would be involved in clearing the ice which was blocking the flow of water. Bob had dumped some salt on the ice earlier in the week and it must have worked. The water was flowing – one stream on top of the ice sheet and one below it…Bob was happy with the flow, so we cancelled the plans to remove the ice. Our attention then turned to removing the very wet snow from the trucks and trailers - Bob and Grant had already cleaned off the shelters earlier in the week. Grant arrived shortly thereafter.

While I headed to the vehicle park to clean off the trucks, Bob and Grant opened up the sea container and the small storage sheds to drive off the condensation that had built up over the past week. The field where the vehicle park is located was soaking wet under the snow and it took considerable effort to slog though what was now three feet of slush. After finishing the job I headed back to the barn to reinstall the tarp in my shelter and to change my clothing and boots. Bob was measuring his carburetor openings and put the final touches on a diagram for a part he wanted fabricated at a local machine shop.

By now, it was close to the noon hour, so we headed to Embrun to visit the machine shop to have a carburetor part fabricated. This is the same machine shop mentioned last week. This time we took pictures. While Grant and I looked over the hybrid CMP, Bob got his order in. After a quick lunch, we headed back to the barn. Bob decided to bring his CMP out of the sea container to shake off the condensation. While his truck idled away in the sun, we decided to take on the HUP.

The HUP took some time to effort to start up, but once running, she ran steadily. After 10 minutes of warming up, Bob checked the timing, and we adjusted it according to the shop manuals of the time. While there was some improvement in starting and running, the acceleration was still quite rough. Next was the balance test. We found a problem with number 2 and number 5 cylinders – the engine stalled out. Next was a compression test that showed that there was adequate compression in all six cylinders. After some head scratching, it was decided to swap out the spark plugs. Fortunately, Bob has a few (dozen) plugs laying about…This had a marvelous effect – the engine ran smoother at high revs than before! While still not perfect, it was a great improvement and morale was high. Doctor Bob then recommended that the plug wires be replaced (they came with the engine). It is hoped that this will fix the rough acceleration problem for good. Since the truck was running better, I took it for a short ride – into the shelter.

Bob then jumped on his truck and took it for a spin – literally and figuratively…The spring like conditions and riding a CMP put Bob into a wonderful mood – judging by the SEG welded to his face. After re-digging the overflow trench (which sort of reminded me of my army days), I had to head back to the city, happy in the knowledge that the HUP was running better - thanks to Bob and Grant for their help.


PHOTOS

1. Inside the HUP ice skating arena
2. Bob and his carbs
3. Chev CMP front end loader/welding tender
4. Bob in the box
5. First run of the New Year