It is time for me to put away the summer decor and turn to my basement for the ghoulish decorations and visual treats of Halloween… I am always so excited to make and create the next scary display for the kids on Halloween and my friends for my party.
I have almost finished my Skeleton with cauldron scene… he will talk and sounds of fire and bubbles from the cauldron with come from the speaker built under the pot… flickering lights will give the visual of a smoldering fire and fog pumped into the cauldron will provide the spooky feel…
Frame and staging for more work on the talking skeleton.
In addition to the new movement style skeleton decoration for the porch I always do one new baby doll and this one goes a bit over board… but it turned out great! Scary Great!
A clown baby doll… I sewed the robe and painted like crazy one night in early September… really look at the fabric it is really cute and has a boy dressed as a clown!
Halloween Baby doll for 2014
As anyone knows who has seen my blog site i love halloween and you can be sure i will post something new i am working on each day starting on October 1st! As for now you will have to wait and look at the past blog posts:
Adrienne and I have always been fond of taking cool “old school” pictures. We have a decent 35mm camera and two digital cameras that are par of the normal photo op while on vacation or putting around on the scooter. We do have fun and it has been a goal of mine to share these “back in the day” photos with more than my friends and family.
I had an idea a few months back to make a calendar… it sounds simple, right? Well it does take time, resources and a bit of creativity… a few great photos and a bit of time setting up the calendar on ‘Snapfish’, and you off and running. Sounds easy!
Well it was a lot harder than I thought.
For every person who says they will “Love to help out” or “I can’t wait! it sounds like fun!” you must remember… that to do something great, it usually will be on your shoulders. I found out that volunteering sounds good until the person you asked to help has a better gig, or has to help someone else, or just plain doesn’t show up. You have to stay focused, get up and put your “I am in charge” face on and go do it with or without the help of your friends.
Copyright: W. Davison 2014
August 16th was a beautiful day, bright sunny skies. A warm morning with plenty of daylight to take photos. The photo shoot turned out perfect! The old cars were pulling in as I pulled up on my 1956 BMW R50.
Copyright: W. Davison 2014
With an assistant, two models, a very trusting friend loaning me her SLR camera and three great guys driving their old classics to the staging area, our photo shoot began (of course after some signing of waivers and providing some information to all participants about drinking lots of water, describing the style of photography and that no one was going to get rich).
Copyright: W. Davison 2014
The day presented many great photographs, classic cars, open fields and scenic backgrounds. With a few adjustments and filtering I had over 400 photos to begin the task of searching for those two or three “Great Shots” and use them to create a portfolio to show business owners my ideas and present to them why there business should “pony up” for the advertising calendar.
Copyright: W. Davison 2014
With the lessons learned from my first photo shoot I do believe that the next “Fall Scene” photo shoot will turn out great and I should have enough to get 6 or 7 months of the calendar completed. I have already started planning the next shoot, and will hope to present more “Great Shots” at the end of September.
August 1st, Adrienne and I went for our first “Drive 4 Corners” BMW meet and had a blast!
A great event with an amazing drive to Pagosa Springs Colorado. Three days of scenic views, curvy roads, Bimmer talk and meeting new people with the same passion for BMWs.
With 98 BMWs at the event there was plenty of eye candy from over 4 decades, representing 6 states. It was an event that will grow and Adrienne and I are already planning for next year… the only problem is deciding which of my BMWs to take on the drive.
The link below will take you to the offical website for the “Drive 4 Corners” BMW meet gallery
Yesterday was hot in the city with a high of 93 degrees it made the hot air blasting into the winglet windows of the 1968 BMW 2002 seem like a hair drier. Keeping an eye on the road I would glance down to the temperature gauge on the cluster to monitor the the severity of stop and go traffic… but once on the freeway with the speedometer at a steady 55 MPH the Stuka seemed to float with no care in the world. A calm took over the engine and the little car with 45 years of driving pleasure lived up to its name once again.
North of Denver, I25 in my 1968 BMW 2002. Photo credit Stephanie Chamberlin
Going to Denver is always a production, I25 is notorious for having bad traffic and even worse drivers, accident at every major on and off ramp plague the morning commute during the week… but on the weekend it is a sea of cars with drivers that don’t care if you are in your collector car as they cut in front, wiz by you as they champion their right given lane even if that lane is stopping… they are winners at getting in front of you… just to change back after they feel that the other lane is better suited to their speed.
Once in denver it does calm down, and the little shops and bookstores are a cool little spot on Broadway for an afternoon adventure to unfold. I pull into a street parking space and before I am out of the car I get my first question.. “What Year is THAT!?” A common question I hear almost everywhere I go… I tell them it is a 1968 2002… and an instant confusing look takes over their face and so i have to explain the 2002 is the model.
Good food, good conversation, and a great group of friends to discuss what friends discuss while appreciating the time shared. Music, art and work, a blender of topics that all seem to connect back to the fact that we get each other, we are friends and life right now is easy. An easy feeling that the rest of the week calls out for, but never quite gets due to work schedules and errands.
After our day in Denver I come back to the little car and check to make sure my time on the parking meter is good… it is. I have 8 minutes left, but why do I have a ticket on my window? A closer look describes the reason… my plate does not have a month tag… and I have a 5 year collector plate and it is going to expire in September… I look at the ticket and decide it is not worth my time nor effort to explain that I never received a month tag and being new to the area I thought that this was a standard on all 5 year collector plates… I was wrong. I will however use this experience to remind myself the next time I want to go to Denver to just head over to Louisville and save my money for better things like old tube amps and brisket at “LuLu’s”.
The drive home was nice… the sun was setting and I was feeling the blister on my hand from the steering wheel (with no power assist, makes you appreciate power steering) and the soreness in my legs from the “pedal dance” over the stop and go day driving. But all in all a great Saturday drive with good friend and fun memories.
My father passed away in September of last year and my mother was kind and asked if I would like to take it home with me to Colorado… she helped me load the machine into my car and gave me this Coke Machine with the understanding that in the future, it would belong to our younger family members as they grew old enough to hold such a treasure in their homes. I do want to start off by saying this will look great in my man cave… my old 1956 BMW R50 sitting next to this classic Coke machine. Which of course I would like to keep the same in the outside appearance (but with some TLC like cleaning and buffing the paint, a few new decals, etc) and then repair and replace and find the remaining required parts for the inside of the vending machine so that I can bring this “piece of art” back to presentable condition. I will display this in my home and plan to keep fresh ice cold cokes at the ready in the summer and fall.
I have provided the following information with pictures so that anyone looking to see a Model 27 can see can have a bit of history to view , and appreciate the great condition this one is in, and see the excellent quality of what America use to make in the good’ol USA in the 40s and 50s.
A Vendorlator Model 27 (1948 through 1951)
A Vendorlator Model 27 (1948 through 1951)
Serial number of this soda machine is 27.6348.
I am Missing a drum, drum wheels, wheel axles, and the coin mech not operating (would like this part reworked/restored). I am also Missing the back panel (I would like to see if one can be fabricated or if not too costly a new Old Stock purchased).
Other photos:
Top view and of the gasket, which is in still good condition.
A Vendorlator Model 27 (1948 through 1951) coin mechanismleft side door (inside).Missing the drum and drum wheels
Side note… it is sitting next to my 1956 RCA console (FM/AM, Record player, with iPOD dock) which had all the tubes replaced and a restoration on the tube amp electronics and receiver about 8 years ago. (Which of course I did!)
Inside looks great!
I hope to explore a restoration done by a professional, but if cost prohibit, I will be sure to show my progress and detail the work myself. more photos to follow.. and I hope to build the tube stand myself… who wants to teach me to weld?!
Want more information…..
A good description I pulled of the web somewhere…
“The VMC 27 was the smallest in size soda machine manufactured by the Vendorlator company (in 1948 through 1951), and one of the smallest Coca-Cola machines ever made by any company. The machine stands only 27 inches high (measured 23″ x 27″ x 19”) and vends 27 6.5 ounce bottles. Vendorlator manufactured the 27 with space enough to pre-cool 10 Coca-Cola bottles. Many people refer to the 27 as the “Tabletop” because it could be placed on a counter. There were a variety of stands made for it manufactured by a variety of companies, including a pipe stand made by Vendorlator and an all-wood stand made by Kay Display Products. The popularity of the Model 27 prompted Vendorlator to open a third plant in Picqua, Ohio in April, 1949, in addition to the two plants they already had in Fresno. The fact that the cabinet of this machine was made of aluminum (although steel versions were also made) helps to explain why this model is often found with dents, particularly around the bottle chute.
It was right around January, 1950 that Vendorlator began selling the VMC Dual 27. This extremely small upright machine used the same vending mechanism as the countertop Model 27 but had a 27 bottle pre-cool capacity, hence, the designation “Dual 27”. It also used a more conventional arrangement for the refrigeration unit with the condenser housed in the bottom of the machine. Its new found popularity led to the discontinuance of the 27 about a year later in 1951. Subsequently, the Dual 27 was dropped from Vendorlator’s line by 1954 and replaced by the Model 33,with a slightly modified bottle drum allowing for six more bottle capacity. The physical size was the same as the Dual 27 with the only outside distinguishing feature being a one piece coin door, although two piece “split door” versions are also known.
Side note: Vendorlator machines are found with the 7 UP as well as Pepsi-Cola logo, among others, giving them broader collector appeal.
It is that time of year again when the small towns surrounding Denver close off the streets, gather the local business owners, growers and makers and group them into one big blob of dis-function… insurance, honey and time share get-aways all in small tents that provide no real shade and have people walking by quickly to avoid the sales pitch… and the sample of free honey gets passed up again. (You would think the planners would put the honey next to the jelly and the insurance next to the attorney OR the bounce house…. giggle giggle!)
Every year my wife and I go to Louisville on Saturday morning to enjoy the fresh cool air. We ride our BMW R50 over on the farm roads and park in the center of town. I like to get a cup of coffee and she likes to have a crepe. We walk down the street and see if there is anything that catches our eye or discuss buying fresh fruit or veggies to add to our dinner meal. Most of the time we make it quickly through the booths and move to a more air conditioned, indoor, with a bar… establishment. Most of the time the people know our names and we feel quite welcome. We order our food and drink and sit back for the discussions to follow.
I always recommend going to the small town USA markets… a connection to the community, the neighbors that you see everyday, your friends and the the very people who thrive when their goods are sold. Like a way to say to the global economy… “Hey Walmart! You might beat the prices but you can’t beat real people and the goods!” These are the people that they produce high quality goods for a very small and appreciative group of the community… check a market out one weekend, you won’t be disappointed when you meet a new friend and find a preserve for your toast on sunday.
It sounds like common sense but how many time have you seen a car or van off on the side of the road and the hood is open. Now I try to stop and help if I am just commuting to work or out and about running errands and the person I stop to help says “My radiator coolant is low” or “My oil light came on a while back…” I think the easiest way to have a bit of piece of mind is to check all the fluids, get the air to the right pressure in the tires (accounting for the added weight of luggage and supplies), while filling and checking the tires look for signs of wear, tread depth, etc. Take a look at the belts for wear or fraying, and check and clean the battery. Change your wiper blades and look for items that may need to be cleaned (Mirrors, rear glass, headlamps). Simple and easy to do, so Vehicle preparation is one of the main topics of preparing for a road trip.
Roads, high traffic and weather check:
Construction, floods and bad drivers…
Road repair is a summertime nightmare… good weather means the best time to repair, resurface or widen the roads that have been beaten up all winter. Go on line and get the latest road reports for the states you plan on traveling. Check the weather for potential bad weather days and forecasts. Spring and summer storms move fast and when they do hit, roads can be a mess cause lengthy delays and unplanned stops. It has been said a million times… when the holiday weekends hit the number of drivers make it feel like the 300 cars in front of you are going to the same destination you are but with a snails pace… be patient, travel on the off peak days, take the more untraveled scenic route.
Supplies and maps:
Bullets, Beans and Band-aids!
Now I know it isn’t a military movement for your road trip, but go prepared. A few tools, some food and water and a first aid kit are not to hard to add to the trunk or back seat in a small backpack. This definitely adds to the prep time by gathering all the basic stuff, but it is a life saver in the unlikely and unlucky event that something does happen on the road. Carry an extra bottle of motor oil, have some spare bulbs for your tail/turn lights and maybe even a belt for the water pump and alternator. A one hour fix on the side of a deserted road is definitely better than waiting for a tow to the next town that might not even have the parts. Have a few simple maps printed out of your planned route, and actually look at them. the GPS talking to you is good, but you are better at driving safely if you already know where you are going.
Prepare yourself
Music, sleep and road fatigue…
Get lots of sleep before heading out on a long road trip, take breaks often and stretch. Stay hydrated and have fun… it is a road trip after all… the destination is there but the journey can sometimes be half the fun. Good music, good conversation and a feeling of the open road is a magical time. Stay aware of your driving position. Good posture ensures your alert and staying comfortable.
What is some of your items you check or carry when going on a road trip? Having any tips from your experiences? Please share!
It is not very often I get up early enough with a good forecast for the afternoon and have time to be able to ride my motorcycle to work. Today was one of those mornings… it was perfect. the breeze was cool but not cold. The sun was up but not in my eyes, the roads were clear from traffic and my “scooter” fired right up. The tank was full from my ride on Sunday and the crisp clean air made the engine come alive with a very gentle kick. Having an air cooled engine the morning air must have been perfect for it, as I started on my journey to work it was running with ease. I thought to myself with not a car behind me or in front that this must have been what it was like 25 years ago… to be able to be the king of the road. To not have a care in the world and to be at peace.
No one trying to cut me off to get in front of me… no one looking to pass in a rush… just me, my motorcycle and the open road. With my new clock mounted on my handlebar I looked at it when I left my driveway… not to see “How Fast” I can get to work, but as a reminder that work was calling and to see just how long it takes me to go the “Back way”.
Water tower near Dacono, Co
Now the back way means to me… farm land, two lane, maximum speed 55 miles per hour, no stops, country cruising. The kind of ride you see on movies… the kind you wish you had all the time. To my left I can see the Rockies, to the north I can see the rolling hills of the green fertile plains and the large water tank in Dacono, to my right … the sun filled sky. How nice to be able to drive and really feel one with the road. I could hear the engine hum along… no stress, no over taxing the well balanced machine. The feeling of floating along at a quick pace but not feeling rushed. The smell of wet fertile soil on the freshly sowed land brought back to mind a time of care free lazy summer days. An easier time of days in the Marine Corps when all I had to do was get up and run. My legs now replaced by my scooter, but the same feeling of going down the path, seeing the farm land in North Carolina, smelling the morning air, feeling the sun on my cheeks, listening to my breath. One with my thoughts. Now a Morning Run was slightly changed… for this very brief moment in time, this calm and inviting morning…. it is replaced by my Morning Ride.
I have been working on my BMW R50 to get it ready for this summers riding season, and this time I was tinkering inside the head light housing. I had a small issue, my key plunger would not seat the contact correctly and thus the motorcycle’s lights and engine were intermittent… which is not good when riding as you never want the engine shutting off thus I was unable to ride the past few weeks until I got this figured out and fixed permanently.
Lucky for me it showed up in my garage right after I replaced the chrome cover for the key hole with a newer one. I wanted to fire the engine up and check stuff out… but it wouldn’t stay running.
Removing the headlight and looking at the plunger key area on the ‘inside’ of the housing, I noticed a very light contact was being made. This was an easy fix… I looked at the copper “finger” that was making contact with the key plunger and notice is was barely making contact, thus I bent the thicker copper contact up and verified that when my key was inserted a good contact was made… a bit of cleaning and an emery cloth over the contact point to ensure the mate of copper was clean and with no build up of carbon.
Mess of wires in the head light housing.
I was on to my next project… the little bulb for the speedometer was out, so while I was in there I figured it would be good to fix it!
Try to find this size of bulb anywhere local would be a joke…(it is small and 6 volts) … PN 07119978270… I guess I could order it online and have it in a few days, or I could use a super bright LED and build one out of the blown bulb.
I found this bulb for sale on http://www.bmwhucky.com/
07 11 9 978 270
bulb 6V 1,5W speedometer
all 6V
$ 5.50
So here is the quick and dirty when putting together your own LED bulb… First go with super bright LEDs, next do some very simple calculations, purchase resistors, LEDs and shrink tubing (Or as I did, dig around in my electronics bins and find the parts) and prepare to hone your soldering skills!
Note: when purchasing your LEDs be sure to open the data sheet and find out the Maximum forward current and the voltage of the LED…. this will be important! You will want to have a really bright LED “light bulb”so the next step is to calculate the smallest resistor you can use and not damage the LED (The maximum operating current, typically 20 to 40 mAmps).
So to get to the heart of the topic, and to not have a bunch of calculations… I will describe my design.
Using a quick calculator I can verify my design and the size of the resistor (OHMS AND WATTAGE)
My motorcycle is 6 Volts DC, I have an LED that operates nominal at 30 mAmps (That is milliAmps)! I will use a 220 OHM resistor (1/4 watt)… and that puts the current at 27 mAmps… which is good because when the generator charges the battery, the voltage can go up a bit and thus at 6.5 Volts the current is at 29.5 mAmps, just below the max current.
Super Bright LED
Be careful and break the glass off of the old burnt out bulb. I use a paper towel and wrap it around the glass before I break it to capture the glass fragments. Try not to break the filament in the bulb, you will use this! (Unless the bulb has a solder tab on the bottom of the connector (photo below).
Bulb ‘tit’ that allows soldering the leads of the resistor and the LED
Next find the positive lead, mark it so when you go to put the LED on it is in the right polarity! If you are using the bulb like the one above, the outer metal is usually ground the the center is positive. The nice thing about making your own LED bulb is that if you want to go back to the Bulb type light, you can take out the LED bulb and the housing (holder) is the original.
Bulb housing for the Speedometer
Now with the resistor, LED, heat shrink tubing and the bulb housing you are ready to solder it all together. Try and make the leads short and cover all leads with heat shrink tubing to protect from shorting out.
Check the polarity of the LED and try it on a power supply or a battery before installing.
LED bulb, Finished assembly!
So, in a few minutes I had an LED bulb that is very bright and works great.
Here is a few photos of a multi LED bulb I did for a brake light.
The Goal of course is to put enough LEDs to get the brightness of the bulb to the same or better LUX .
On a Sunday morning I decide I would get my 1969 BMW 2002 ready as spring is just a few weeks away and warmer days with longer day light in the late afternoons means I could be cruising to Louisville for some Texas Bar-B-Que and talking about the fun of driving BMW’s reason they “made it” in the automotive world. (BMW “Neue Klasse”: technically new, modern, fast, sports sedan, which changed the automotive industry for decades).
I changed out the Belt, added brand new bushings to my alternator, checked the valve rocker clearance and did an oil change and tune up. There was another reason I needed to drive my “Stuka” (Named after the Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German dive bomber) for my BMW 525i Wagon had just had the serpentine belt DISINTEGRATE while driving to work one morning and I had to wait for tools and parts to be mailed to me. (You can read about my belts and pulley replacement here : http://blog.fcpeuro.com/2014/03/18/bmw-525i-diy-belt-and-pulley-replacement/ ) So, I thought what a good time to get her running again and enjoy some quality time.
My 1969 BMW 2002
Monday morning I headed out and the Stuka was running great, the engine warmed up and the drive was pleasant. Getting off on my exit I had a large truck carrying propane jump from the middle lane all the way over tot he exit and before I knew it I was slamming on the breaks and seeing the large bumper at the level of my front grill and hood quickly approaching… not wanting to total the front end I dropped the transmission into 3rd gear in a panic and let the clutch out to be awaken by a large pop and a grinding sound… I had blown the transmission… but avoided the crash. Knowing I had high speed traffic behind me I forced it into neutral and coasted to the side of the road. Not a great way to start a Monday. Nursing it into 2nd gear and crawling through the stop light, two left turns and several rude drivers later I made it to the safety of my work’s parking lot.
Later in the afternoon I got it home by means of a flat bed tow truck and started my research for a used replacement. How painful.
I ended up on a Pittsburgh Craigslist to find a suitable donor transmission and after speaking with the gentleman on the phone about the condition, approximate miles and what other items would come along in the package I made my purchase. He was very nice and understood my vocal and in depth discussion about my concerns. It arrived that Friday via FedEx Ground and I had been talking with my neighbor about my near miss when it showed up. “Is that your transmission?!” he asked, seeing how the box was no bigger than a small wine cooler refrigerator and weighed about 80 pounds as I picked it up and brought it into the garage. I told him that this car is not build on being large and bulky but clean, light and fast. Thus the transmission is very small and does the job nicely with out trying to look like a Muscle car.
New “Used” Transmission prior to clean up.
This morning I am embarking on the adventure of removal of the bad transmission, clearing critical work shop space and cleaning up, replacing the fluid and gaskets on the new “used” one.
I will be posting more about this adventure as I go, I will try and post as many pictures as I can through out my experience. I also will be using my very informative and vintage (first edition 1970) Autopress workshop manual to guide me through the process.
Autopress workshop repair manual. First edition 1970
I hope you will enjoy this adventure as much as I will. As learning something new on my Stuka, is always a fun filled experience.
Turns out... I am Crazy! 