Pot Party

 Mrs. True Blue Sam started looking for a pot in the cupboard the other day and it was kind of like a clown car. I guess we have enough of these now; I count twenty iron skillets in this photo. She won't let me go to auctions anymore.

Over the River and Through the Woods

You all are probably getting ready to hit the road on Wednesday to visit family for Thanksgiving. If your T has been chattering in low gear, or the clutch has been slipping in high gear, you better continue reading the pages from 'Dyke's Ford Supplement.' I don't want your flivver dying on the side of the road.

Cartoon from "Model T Memories" by Floyd Clymer

These pages are jpg images scanned at 100 lines per inch, and you can copy them to your hard drive for future reference. Click on each image to en-biggify, then right click and save picture as. These four pages complete the section on the Model T transmission. The previous posts can be found by clicking on the T's label at the end of the post, or in the label list on the right side of the page.

Not My Victrola

'Hello Cutie' is guaranteed to lift your spirits for Monday morning. I have had this song running through my head for forty years and never get tired of it. The version I heard has a different line in the chorus: "Sweet as tutti-fruiti, you're a little beauty, Hello Cutie, Hello!" It's a long shot trying to find records pressed eighty years ago.

Monday Again!

Back To The Old Grind!

BONUS GRINDING! This week we have a twofer, courtesy of COUNTRYDRIVE, who has posted this corn sheller and buhr mill powered first by a tractor, and below by a horse. Thank You, COUNTRYDRIVE!

Weekend Steam

Now that winter weather has arrived, a steam powerhouse would be a great place to sit and relax. This is a cross-compound Corliss engine that used to pump water for the city of Marshalltown, Iowa. It is on permanent display at Midwest Old Threshers.

Crankin' It Up

Those Panama Mamas is the flip side of last Friday's selection, and it is just as hot a dance number with some great trombone courtesy of Miff Moles.

Seasonal Frustration

Every year you can count on seeing some of this in farm country. After the harvesting is done farmers start pushing out fence rows and timber edges to increase their acreage or to rearrange their fields. This is one big reason that I am always pushing for landowners to plant trees on land that is idle. Illinois is actually gaining forest land, but it takes a lot of effort to stay ahead of clearing for agriculture and other uses.

The Lightning Rod Is Good!

Transmission Error

I have always done most of my own vehicle maintenance, and the first time I serviced the transmission on our Chevy Astro-Van I was taken aback by the filter. After dropping the pan you simply pull the old filter straight down to remove it. You then have to pull the old retainer/ seal (circular object), install a new retainer/seal, cram the new filter up into the retainer/seal, reinstall the cleaned pan, and add the proper amount of transmission fluid. I had always assumed that the pan fit closely enough to the filter to keep it from working out of the retainer. I was wrong.

A couple weeks ago I noticed the transmission slipping a little, and it was slow to go into gear. I checked the transmission fluid, and it was way over full. That didn't quite compute, but I pumped out some fluid and then the van could not move at all. I dropped the transmission pan and the old filter came down with the pan. Luckily, with the filter disconnected, the fluid level was high enough for some to be picked up, but the torque converter was not being kept full. After I had pumped some out, no fluid could be picked up by the pump.

We drive on gravel, and we go over lots of washboards, so I will drop the pan again, take some careful measurements, and install a shim pack of flexible magnets under the filter to keep it in place.

Our previous vans were Fords, and the transmission filters on those cars were bolted on; they never came off. The next time we go new car shopping we will be looking for a better idea.

Ranch Security

Hey-Joe (Right) showed up in June of 1998 and has been part of the family ever since. His old companion Henrietta's heart gave out this year, and HeyJoe was pining away. We looked at dogs at local shelters and brought Jack home with us. He and Hey-Joe became buddies right away, and Joe is once again a happy doggy. Jack was a city dog and was a bit spooked by the country, but now he likes long walks around the farm and practically dives when I tell him 'Down.'