My Own Worst Enemy

Sometimes I think that's me.

Well today SOME of my tubing arrived. Quick phone call to the supplier confirms that the bits I really wanted to begin with - I did not order! I ordered everything else - but must have just missed those bits off the list. "Old Timers" disease is starting to catch up I think. The supplier now says (at least) another 3 days to get those bits to me. At least they agreed not to charge me another $55 for a second delivery - very reasonable people.

So while contemplating that folly I finished off my customer's orders for which I had material on hand. Then back to looking at the truck. Time to strip off all the mountings and prime and paint them. I have decided against zinc plating as I think that would just be "gilding the lily". Modern primers and paints are remarkably good and these parts will be easily kept under observation for the very unlikely occurrence of stone chips and can be easily touched up if necessary.

I have to now admit to terminal stupidity.

When welding up the front mount I was so excited I just couldn't wait to get it all done so I just kept welding until it was finished. This is NOT a good practice when welding!!

So what started out lovely and straight and beautiful














ended up ugly and bent.























and then to make it worse I tried to straighten it by heat shrinking. It worked too well - in all the wrong places. Bent like bananas!!























What was I saying about being my own worst enemy.

Anyway it probably has turned out for the best because now I can make it STRONGER! I have material on hand which is a couple of millimetres thicker and have already milled out new arms and plates and now I can weld it together sensibly and it will be beautiful again. And now every time I drive down a rough track I wont be worried that the mount will fail. Maybe I should have called this "Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining".

Tomorrow doesn't look like I will get anything done as I have some other commitments and I am going to look at the finished paint job on the double-decker bus I showed some time earlier but that's OK as I seem to have blown up one of my knees with an over-adventurous push bike ride of over 40km on gravel roads in the local hills on Sunday. Doesn't help my dance teaching either. I think it needs a rest for a day or so.