#CoSoDogs

This requires some explanation.

Foreground: Brighid. Irish Wolfhound. This is (believe it or not) her happy song. She was raised by a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, but I'm pretty sure that this is distinctly wolfie behavior.

Background: Fiona. Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. She was raised by Brighid. This is _not_ typical Swissy behavior...she thinks she's singing like a wolfie.

Fiona sang bass, Brighid sang tenor...

#dogsofcoso

Lazy, rainy day with the muppet.

#cosocars

It is done. The IHC has new tires for the first time in over 40 years...and is no longer precariously balanced on blocks.

For those newly arrived that are wondering about error messages (either sporadic or persistent): The site has been under attack for the past few days (I wonder why?), causing increasingly specific access issues.

If you're running into errors, just give it time -- this too shall pass.

If you can't figure out how to do something, ask away -- it's a very friendly/helpful bunch here.

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Oh...and on the tires: they're not clincher tires (shudder)...so figured they'd be split rims. Turns out there's a VERY brief intermediary period of a solid rim tire that is not a beaded edge. Royal pain to change. If I hadn't found a local shop that knew about it, I would have turned them into split rims.

The local shop is having a hard enough time as it is, so this is likely to be the last tire change it has as a solid rim.

So...To-do list:

1. Get the tires back on so that I can take it off of the remarkably unstable blocks that it's propped up on currently.

2. Repair the original generator and get the electric system fully up and running.

3. Replace all age-inappropriate hardware on the wooden bed...and all poorly-forged hardware.

4. Repaint to original colors and lettering.

5. Get new RED BABY vanity plates.

I had always looked at the odd splashes of red paint on the truck and wondered what was up. Turns out, it's an original Red Baby. There's maybe 5 of them in existence at present.

As I've been taking it apart, anywhere that would have been shielded from a paint gun shows red paint....even the axel, where the grease was never properly cleaned off. It's definitively an original Red Baby IHC.

5/

The wiring was "original" but patched over the past century -- that's all been replaced. Not sorry.

Relining the brakes (both hand and primary) was the main restoration job involved. PITA, that.

The non-original hardware (screws/bolts/etc) on the bed is going to be replaced at the old line blacksmith shop I volunteer at...prior to the last large-scale item...

4/

There's a local mechanic in town that is apparently able to work on the generator, so that's on the to-do list.

The ignition key was recovered, but the ignition circuit has effectively been hot-wired to a pull switch...so that's another item.

The carburetor was original, but was a 1925 Zenith, which featured a zinc core surrounded by a cast iron shell...they came out of the box cracked. Replaced with a Stromberg -- same era, slightly different configuration.

3/

About the only thing not currently working on it (other than the tires) is the generator (yes, generator, not alternator). The generator works, but too well -- puts out about 8V (on a 6V system) and 10-15A with the third brush dialed as far back as it'll go. That's enough to boil the battery...which is directly under the driver's seat. No bueno, so I disconnected it.

2/

#cosocars
TW: meaningless vintage car/truck drivel.

While I wait on the 4th tire to get fitted onto the amazingly annoying rims for this thing, figured I'd share a bit about the truck.

1925 IHC Model S Speed Truck. All original other than the wooden bed (which has been rebuilt with mostly original hardware). I've spent the better part of the past year and a half fixing it up. Originally with the help of an amazing mechanic, then on my own.

1/

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It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

@Mezmerelda ’sup. Will you marry me (again)?

#blacksmith

This is purely out of curiousity -- is there a blacksmith "community" on this site? Would love to share trials and tribulations, but don't want to bore the ever-loving bejeebus out of folks.