How old is too old to work on Model A's???

Just saw this thread - Marshall, I surely would have helped you if I'd been there, but I don't get to your neck of the woods too often. Let me know the next time you're going to do something like that, though.

I'm fortunate enough that when I know I have to do something strenuous like lift a body or install a drive train I can call upon a number of my equally youth-challenged club compatriots. I think that about five 70- and 80-year olds is equal to two 30-year olds.
 
Some mornings I feel like I have early onset rigor mortis but it eases a bit during the day. I will know it's time when it becomes permanent.
 
I no longer have people to help me if needed.Most have died,some have moved to Florida,but most of the ones my age are crippled up in some form or other.Was never a big deal for me.Except for working at a gas station when I was 20,and working at the JD dealer here in town I have always worked by myself.At my last job for a small contractor,(I left there in 1989) he would call me on our Motorola 2-way.Get the big bucket out,we're dropping the excavator off for you to change it.Or,pull the blade off the dozer and put the root rake on it.We would change the two Macks from a road tractor to a dump truck like you would change your BVD's.Then back again the next day.Never said anything about it.I never whined,well I don't know it I can do it myself.There were a few jobs that I shouldn't have tackled,and I wasted a lot of time trying.The response from the boss was always the same,I really didn't think you could do that.Then one day he told me he had hired a helper for me.I will not be a boss,(although I like teaching a helper if they listen).In the morning I went out and fueled all the equipment on the jobsites,and got back to the shop at 7:AM.I walked into the shop,and there was a nice Hyster propane forklift sitting there.I was in heaven.Changing bulldozer tracks almost became a fun job.To this day,if my own forklift at home breaks,nothing gets done until it is fixed.
 
Keith True said:
...I walked into the shop,and there was a nice Hyster propane forklift sitting there.I was in heaven.Changing bulldozer tracks almost became a fun job.To this day,if my own forklift at home breaks,nothing gets done until it is fixed.
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I don't have a forklift, but it is amazing what things I can do with either an engine hoist or the small overhead gantry crane I have in my shop.
 
jeepguy1948 said:
Maybe I’m as dumb as a post but I can’t figure out how the Wheel Buddies work.
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Screws onto the lug. Install on the top two lugs on the hub. Lift the wheel and slide two of the lug holes over the Wheel Buddy. Push it up into the hub. Unscrew the Wheel Buddy from the lugs and remove. Wheel will drop into place and you can install the lug nuts.
 
Rather than trying to slide the heavy wheel with tire over short studs (if you can even find them), I assume that the buddys sticking out farther from the brake drum make it easier to slide the wheel over the extended studs. Y-Blockhead can correct me if I am wrong in my explanation how they ease a job that was a piece of cake 50 years ago, but now presents a bit of a physical challenge. Did Model A wheels and tires somehow get heavier over the years? :)
Marshall
 
Marshall is correct. Here are the instructions that came with my Buddys. If you tilt the top of the wheel towards you, you can see the bolt holes. Then just slide it on.

I carry them in my Town Sedan, sure makes it easier when out on the road.

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I don't have many strong young people close by to ask for help. So I have equipment to make things easier. Riding mower and golf cart can tow things,and pull small trailers. Tractor with loader and forks is used for lifting. A 4 post lifts makes work alot easier. Engine boom or chain fall help.
I added a winch to my lift to pull dead cars onto it.
 
Well, I didn't wake up dead or any more sore all over than I usually am when I drag myself out of bed each morning. I guess I didn't damage anything critical in my body yesterday. Now all I gotta' do is figure out a way of getting the short block from the floor up on the engine stand. I think I'll temporarily put on the cylinder head and use the cherry picker to do that. 'Couldn't be any harder than pulling an engine up Mt. McKinley!
And thanks to all here who have volunteered to help me with further engine trips. I've got all your names and will contact you when I'm ready for my next adventure in stupidity. :)
Marshall
 
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My dad use to say “ Ted use your head “ well one day we had a sofa to delivery in an upstairs apartment, a midway landing and a big window. We always looked things over where we needed to go, the lady said it goes here after you take the hide a bed sofa out ! We started down with the sofa and it was getting a way from us , so I stood up tall and caught my head on the floor joist stopping our movement ( thinking about going through the window with a sofa on top of me ) dad asked me what was that ? I answered my head you always say use you head Ted ! We both had a good laugh !
PS I always walked backwards, the down hill side, or the compressor end ! I could actually run backwards as fast as I could going forward ?!
 
As a younger man I wondered why older folks always talked about their medical conditions and ailments, now at 74 I totally get it !
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
Well, I didn't wake up dead or any more sore all over than I usually am when I drag myself out of bed each morning. I guess I didn't damage anything critical in my body yesterday. Now all I gotta' do is figure out a way of getting the short block from the floor up on the engine stand. I think I'll temporarily put on the cylinder head and use the cherry picker to do that. 'Couldn't be any harder than pulling an engine up Mt. McKinley!
And thanks to all here who have volunteered to help me with further engine trips. I've got all your names and will contact you when I'm ready for my next adventure in stupidity. :)
Marshall
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Bolt the adapter on the block before hoisting it up. Also, you can hoist without using the head, see my avatar.
 
I normally start with a bare block with adapter attached, which I can still lift by myself and slide into the engine stand's receptable. Then I build up the engine from there. But this time it's a 160 pound short block. A bit heavy for me. So, I like your idea. I can't see what the chains are attached to in the small avatar photo: manifold studs through the chain links secured by nuts? Or grade 8 7/16" hex head bolts through the links? Either should do the job.
Marshall?
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
I normally start with a bare block with adapter attached, which I can still lift by myself and slide into the engine stand's receptable. Then I build up the engine from there. But this time it's a 160 pound short block. A bit heavy for me. So, I like your idea. I can't see what the chains are attached to in the small avatar photo: manifold studs through the chain links secured by nuts? Or grade 8 7/16" hex head bolts through the links? Either should do the job.
Marshall?
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Here is a bigger photo. i have a socket on the head stud to put the sideways pull closer to the deck for less bending.

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Thanks, Bruce. I used your suggestion a few minutes ago and screwed in manifold studs with a couple thick flat washers and head stud nuts. 'Worked like a charm. 'Lifted up easily and slid into the engine stand receptacle like a hot knife through soft butter. I don't think I would suspend an engine with transmission and flywheel mounted by two studs in the deck area, though. But for a wimpy 160 pound short block, your method worked like a charm. I'm going to claim it as my own method from now on. Ha, ha, ha! Royalty checks will be sent to you quarterly (consisting of quarters!). :)
M.
 
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